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CHUMASH
Parshas Naso - Shlishi with Rashi
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Now the Torah tells us about the day when the Mishkan was first put up — on Rosh Chodesh Nissan. On this day, the different sections of the camp of the Yidden were also set up, with different levels of kedusha. There were the Machaneh Yisroel, where most of the Yidden camped, Machaneh Leviah, where the kohanim and Leviim camped, and Machaneh Shechinah, where the Mishkan was.
Hashem told Moshe that the Yidden who are tomei with a strong source of Tumah (like Tzoraas, Zav/Zava, and Tumas Meis) need to go outside of where the Yidden are camping in the Midbar, so that the camp will be tahor.
Now Hashem tells Moshe about what happens if a Yid steals and lies to Beis Din that he did not do it. (This isn’t only talking about someone who actually took someone else’s money — it could also be someone who says that he didn’t borrow money when he really did, or is not paying someone who worked for him, or found something someone else lost and is not telling the truth about it.)
If someone did one of these things, and promised in Beis Din that he did not do it, later he might want to do Teshuvah. What does he do? He has to pay back what he stole, PLUS another 1/5. (That’s like giving maaser from that money two times.)
What happens if the person he stole from passed away? Then he should pay back the money to the person’s closest relative.
But what if the person was a Ger Tzedek, and he doesn’t have any relatives (since when someone becomes a Ger, it’s like he’s a new person, and not related to anyone)? Then to do teshuvah, the one who stole has to pay the money to a kohen. He also needs to bring a Korban as a kaparah (forgiveness) for his aveira, like we learned earlier in Chumash.
Hashem also tells Moshe about another thing that needs to go to the kohanim:
The Bikurim that the Yidden bring to the Beis Hamikdash should go to the kohanim. Even though it’s hard to give away our very first fruits to the kohanim, we will get brachos from Hashem to become rich because of this mitzvah. Hashem warns us that if we DON’T give the kohanim what we’re supposed to, then Hashem will only give us as much as we were supposed to have given to the kohanim!
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In today’s Tehillim, Kapitel Mem-Vov talks about how when Moshiach comes, Hashem will make that there will be no more wars. The world will be quiet and peaceful. “Lechu Chazu Mifalos Hashem Asher Sam Shamos BaAretz” — “Go look at what Hashem did — He made the world empty (of war).”
The Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Ohr that this isn’t just talking about wars with soldiers and guns, it’s talking about fighting with our Yetzer Hara too! Nowadays we always need to fight with our Yetzer Hara to do the right thing, because Hashem wants us to work hard and become better Yidden. Then Hashem will be able to reward us for our hard work.
But when Moshiach comes, we will rest from our fighting with the Yetzer Hara, just like we rest on Shabbos from our hard work all week! Instead, we will put our energy into becoming better in kedusha itself.
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Beis
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The Alter Rebbe tells us about people, who even though they believe that Hashem made the world, they make a big mistake. They don’t think that there is such a thing as Hashgacha Protis or that Hashem does nisim.
How do they make this mistake? They think that Hashem makes the world the way a person makes a clay bowl. He can make the bowl and then walk away, and the bowl just stays there.
But Hashem makes the world from NOTHING! The world always needs the chayus from Hashem in it so it can exist.
Even though those people don’t believe in the miracles of the Torah, the Alter Rebbe tells us — so that we should know — we can see this from Kriyas Yam Suf! With Kriyas Yam Suf, the water stood up like a wall — but only when Hashem kept the wind blowing against it. Even though this was a neis with something that was already there, and Hashem just made it work in a different way, it STILL needed a constant koach of Hashem.
If that’s the way it is with something that is already there, of course the world, which is created from nothing, needs a constant koach of Hashem so it can exist!
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In Shir Hashirim, there are two pesukim that tell us about the world. From one posuk we learn that the world is called “Genuni” (we know about this from Bosi Legani!), and the other posuk calls it “Ginas Egoz.”
“Genuni” is a meeting place — where Hashem meets people. This is the way the world was at the beginning.
After Adam Harishon did the Cheit Eitz HaDaas, the world got another name: Ginas Egoz — a nut garden. Nuts (“egoz”) is the Gematria of “Cheit” — an Aveira. (That’s why we don’t eat nuts on Rosh Hashana!) The world is full of chances to do Aveiros, like nuts growing on trees.
Hashem gives us the choice to live in the world in a way of “Genunia Shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu” — a place where we spend time with Hashem, or chas veshalom to choose to live in a way of Ginas Egoz — a world of aveiros. It is our choice.
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In today’s Rambam, we finish Hilchos Teshuvah and the whole Sefer Mada! We start a new sefer, Sefer Ahava, which starts with the halachos of Kriyas Shema. So we have two mitzvos, one about teshuvah and the other about Kriyas Shema.
We learn the same mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #73) one last time: If someone does an aveira (Chas Veshalom!) he needs to SAY to Hashem what he did and ask Hashem to forgive him.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Vayikra: וְהִתְוַדָּה אֲשֶׁר חָטָא
The details are explained in the end of Mesechta Yoma.
We learn the mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #10) to say Kriyas Shema two times every day — one time in the morning (by a certain time) and once at night.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Vaeschanan: וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ
The details are explained in Mesechta Brachos.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Teshuvah - Hilchos Kriyas Shema
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Perek Yud: In this perek, the Rambam tells us that the best way to serve Hashem is lishma, since a person knows it’s the right thing to do. But that doesn’t happen on its own, it takes time and work! In the meantime, a person first serves Hashem for rewards and prizes, until he learns how to serve Hashem lishma.
The Rambam also says “Al Pi HaDeiah Tihiyeh HoAhava” — the more we learn about Yiddishkeit and Hashem, the more we will appreciate it, and our love for Hashem and Avodas Hashem will be greater!
Now we have finished Sefer Mada, and we start Sefer Ahava!
In Perek Alef of Hilchos Kriyas Shema, we learn about the mitzvah of saying Shema in the morning and at night. The Rambam tells us that Yaakov Avinu asked his sons, before he passed away, if all of them believed in Hashem. They all answered, “Shema Yisroel,” “listen, our father Yisroel,” “Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echod!” “We all believe in Hashem!” When Yaakov Avinu heard this, he said, “Boruch Sheim Kevod Malchuso Le’olam Va’ed!” to thank Hashem.
In Perek Beis, the Rambam tells us HOW to say Shema. We need to make sure we have kavana when we say the first line of Shema, otherwise we need to say it again! If a person is working and realizes that he will soon miss saying Shema on time, he needs to stop working so he can say Shema properly.
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The Rambam teaches us that tumah is passed on differently with keilim made of clay.
Usually the halacha is that if something is touching a tomei keili, it becomes tomei too. But with a clay keili, something touching the outside won’t become tomei. Only something that is INSIDE of it, whether or not it is touching it, will become tomei.
For example, if you have an oven made out of clay, and something fell inside and made the oven tomei, everything inside becomes tomei too!
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Today is the first day of the seven Yemei Tashlumin of Shavuos. In the times of the Beis Hamikdash, Yidden could use these days to bring Korbanos that they didn’t have a chance to bring on Shavuos.
It is also called “Yom Tavo’ach,” the day of shechting korbanos. In the time of the Beis Hamikdash, many Yidden brought their Olas Re’iyah, the korban that is brought when you come up to the Beis Hamikdash, on Isru Chag! So this became a day of shechting many korbanos.
Now we also have a chance to make up for things we didn’t have a chance to do on Shavuos, like making hachlatos to learn more Torah.
The Rebbe points out that Tashlumin also comes from the word “Shleimus,” complete. Even if we did everything RIGHT on Shavuos, we should still use these days to do even MORE, so that our avodah is complete!
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We don’t say Tachanun from the beginning of Sivan until the end of the Yemei Tashlumin, on Yud-Beis Sivan.
There are many things we do differently in Shacharis when we don’t say Tachanun. Even though the main part of Tachanun is after Shemoneh Esrei (including the longer Tachanun on Monday and Thursday), there are other parts of davening that speak about aveiros or things that are related to tzaar (pain), and we don’t mention them on joyous days when we don’t say Tachanun.
- Before and after the Akeidah, there are Tefillos asking Hashem to remember the zechus of the Avos and not forsake us in Golus, and we do not say them when we don’t say Tachanun.
- We skip the paragraph before the Korban Tomid which asks Hashem to forgive our aveiros like the Korban Tomid did in the time of the Beis Hamikdash.
- We skip the paragraph after we finish going through the order of the Avodah that was done each day in the Beis Hamikdash, which says that because of our aveiros we don’t have the Beis Hamikdash.
- In one of the brachos of Shemoneh Esrei, Selach Lanu, we ask Hashem to forgive us. We still say the bracha, but we don’t do an action that shows that our aveiros are from the Yetzer Hara in our heart. Usually we bang our fist on our chest, over our heart, by the words “Chotono” and “Foshonu.” When we don’t say Tachanun, we don’t do this.
- We don’t say Tachanun after Shmoneh Esrei — including the longer Tachanun on Mondays or Thursdays.
- We don’t say Kapitel Chof after the second Ashrei, which speaks about tzaar. (The Frierdiker Rebbe said that on days we don’t say Kapitel Chof in davening, we should say it before the daily Tehillim, as a part of Tehillim and not a part of Tefillah.)
- We don’t say “Tefillah Ledovid” before the Shir Shel Yom. This paragraph is the conclusion of Tachanun, and also mentions painful things.
We also say Shir Hamaalos (which speaks about Geulah) instead of Al Naharos Bavel (which speaks about the Churban of the Beis Hamikdash) in the kapitelach of Tehillim we say before bentching.
Tachanun is where we ask Hashem to forgive our aveiros. On days we don’t say Tachanun, it means Hashem is ready to overlook our aveiros even without us asking, and on these happy days we only speak about happy things in davening!
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The day after Yom Tov is called Isru Chag. The word “isru” means tied, connected. It is a day that connects the regular weekdays with the Yom Tov that just ended.
On Isru Chag, we bring some of the joy of Yom Tov into a regular day. We eat a little bit more than usual to show that it is special, and we don’t fast.
The Gemara says that someone who eats and drinks more on the day after Yom Tov, connecting it to the Yom Tov, it is like he built a Mizbeiach and brought a korban!
(We hint to this in Hallel: “Isru Chag Ba’avosim Ad Karnos Hamizbeiach.” If you eat “avosim” (fatty food) on Isru Chag, it is like you brought a korban to the corners of the Mizbeiach.)
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Tof-Chof-Tes se’if yud-zayin
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
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In his nevuos about Moshiach, the Navi Yeshaya said “Velo Yikanef Od Morecha,” “And your Teacher, Hashem, won’t hide from you anymore.”
Like we are starting to learn now in Shaar Hayichud Veha’emunah, Hashem gives a chayus to the world the whole time so that it can exist. But this chayus is hidden.
The Alter Rebbe explains that this posuk also means that when Moshiach comes, Hashem won’t hide from us anymore! We will be able to clearly see Hashem’s chayus in the world.
See Tanya Perek Lamed-Vov
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
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