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CHUMASH
Parshas Balak - Chamishi with Rashi
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Bilaam continues to give brachos to the Yidden.
Bilaam and Balak try again: Balak thought that maybe it would be easier to curse a few of the Yidden, since then Bilaam won’t see all of the Yidden together, the way they are with all of their mitzvos. So they went up onto Har Nevo, where they could only see part of the Yidden. Bilaam and Balak knew that something sad for the Yidden would happen there, and thought this would be from their curse! (Really, this is the mountain where Moshe Rabbeinu would later pass away.)
Hashem tells Bilaam to give the Yidden brachos: Again Balak made seven Mizbechos and brought two korbanos on each. Bilaam tried to talk to Hashem again, and Hashem gave him another nevuah. Hashem told Bilaam that he can’t curse the Yidden, but he should BLESS them! Bilaam didn’t want to go back to do it, but Hashem told him that he needs to.
When Balak saw Bilaam, he made fun of him, asking what Hashem told him this time. First Bilaam told Balak that Hashem is not a person — Hashem does not ever change His mind. Then he told him what Hashem said, that Hashem wants the Yidden blessed — so that is what he will have to do:
Bilaam gives the Yidden brachos: “Hashem doesn’t look at the aveiros of the Yidden — He loves them so much! They DESERVE to have brachos. The Yidden say Shema every day in the morning and at night, and Hashem protects them.”
Balak said, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them! If you can’t curse them, just don’t say anything!”
But Bilaam reminded Balak that he has to say whatever Hashem tells him to…
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Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Ayin-Zayin to Ayin-Ches.
Kapitel Ayin-Ches talks about all of the Nissim that Hashem did for the Yidden, from the time of Yetzias Mitzrayim until Dovid Hamelech became the king.
In the first posuk that talks about Dovid Hamelech, it says “Vayivchar BeDovid Avdo, Vayikacheihu Mimichle’os Tzon.” “Hashem chose Dovid, and He took him from the sheep pens.” (This is also a Chassidishe Niggun!)
Rashi explains how Dovid Hamelech took such special care of the sheep:
While Dovid Hamelech was taking care of the sheep, he noticed that not all of the sheep were getting food to eat! The big strong sheep would run very fast into the field and eat as much as they wanted. Then the older sheep and the baby sheep would come into the field, but there was no more soft grass left! The hard grass was hard for them to eat, so they were hungry.
So Dovid Hamelech built fences for the sheep. He put the strong sheep behind one fence, the baby sheep behind another fence, and the older sheep behind the last fence.
When it was time for them to go out to the field to eat, Dovid Hamelech first let out the baby sheep. They ran into the field and ate the very soft grass that was easy for their baby teeth to chew. Then Dovid Hamelech let the older sheep come in. There was plenty of softer grass left for them, and they ate until they were full. Finally, Dovid Hamelech let the strong sheep come out into the field. Even though most of the grass that was left was very hard and chewy, their teeth were strong and they were happy to eat it all up.
Hashem saw how Dovid Hamelech was careful to take care of every single sheep with exactly what it needs! Hashem knew that someone who takes good care of even a little sheep will also take good care of every single Yid! That’s why Hashem chose Dovid to be the king of the Yidden.
Moshe Rabbeinu was also a shepherd who took care of every single sheep, and he took care of every single Yid very carefully throughout all of his years of leading the Yidden.
Hashem makes sure that every Nasi who leads the Yidden will take care of each of them! Our Rebbe, our Nasi, also takes care of every single Yid, making sure that each of us have exactly what we need.
(Here’s a video clip that shows this: http://chabad.org/929769 )
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TANYA
Igeres Hateshuvah Perek Gimmel
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Today we learn how the matanah that we bring to Hashem is not through fasting, but through tzedakah.
We learned how a person does the mitzvah of Teshuvah: He makes a hachlata to do whatever Hashem wants, and never to do this aveira again. If he does this, he won’t be punished chas veshalom, but he still won’t have the same connection to Hashem as before the aveira was done! To get close to Hashem again, he needs to give Hashem a present. In the time of the Beis Hamikdash, that present was a Korban. After the Churban, when the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, that present was fasting. But now that also changed!
Nowadays, we can’t use fasting as a “korban” to come close to Hashem. Our bodies aren’t as strong as they used to be, so fasting will hurt us.
A Yid’s body doesn’t belong to him — it belongs to Hashem. Hashem only lets us USE it, and we need to take good care of it. If fasting will hurt us, that’s not a way to come closer to Hashem! It will chas veshalom accomplish the opposite.
Even in the times of the Mishna and Gemara, only people who were healthy and could fast without it hurting them were allowed to fast. They were able to still daven and do mitzvos, even when they were fasting.
So what CAN we do, if we can’t fast so much?
We can give tzedakah! Since it takes hard work to get money, it’s like we’re giving a piece of OURSELVES to tzedakah, just like fasting is giving a part of ourselves to Hashem. Even if you didn’t work hard for the money (like if you got it for a present), since you COULD have gotten something for yourself with the money, and instead you gave it to tzedakah, it’s like you gave that part of you to Hashem! So it’s like fasting — giving a part of ourselves to Hashem.
This is the eitzah we use nowadays: We give of ourselves through tzedakah, which brings us back to be close to Hashem, the way bringing a korban did in the times of the Beis Hamikdash.
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The Rebbe Rashab writes in a maamar that Ruchnius can sometimes make our Gashmius body feel full! We can enjoy Ruchnius so much that it’s even better than food!
R’ Nachum of Chernobyl loved answering Amen Yehei Shmei Rabbah (in Kaddish) so much, that it made him fat!
Someone once came to the Rebbetzin in her home after a farbrengen with the Rebbe that ended very late. When the Rebbetzin asked him if he wants to eat something, he answered that he is not hungry. The Rebbetzin replied, “That’s not surprising — a farbrengen zetikt ohn, a farbrengen makes you feel full.”
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In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn one mitzvah about Sukkos (Mitzvas Asei #168): We need to live in the Sukkah on Sukkos.
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Emor: בַּסֻּכֹּת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים
This posuk means, “You should live in a sukkah for seven days.” Can you guess which mesechta in Mishnayos and Gemara talk about this mitzvah? You got it, Mesechta Sukkah!
This is one of the mitzvos that women do not need to keep.
The Rambam organizes all of these halachos in Perek Daled, Hey, and Vov of the section of halachos we are learning now.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Shofar V'Sukah V'Lulav
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Perek Gimmel: In this perek we finish learning the halachos of the shofar. We learn how to blow the shofar, including about the three kinds of sounds, Tekiyah, Shevarim, and Teruah.
Perek Daled: We start learning the halachos of a sukkah. We learn the smallest and biggest size a sukkah can be, and the many different shapes it can have! Did you know that a round sukkah is kosher?
Perek Hey: This perek teaches us the halachos about sechach, the most important part of the sukkah. We learn what kosher sechach is, and what happens if non-kosher sechach got mixed into it!
One halacha in this perek is that you need to put on the sechach yourself. So if you see a haystack and you make a hole in it so you can crawl inside so that the sechach is already there, that’s not a kosher sukkah!
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This perek explains how we figure out how much the fine should be. We also learn the halachos about what happens if the animal that was supposed to get killed gets mixed up with other animals, or if it is pregnant.
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Here’s a story with a lesson about Ahavas Yisroel, that the Rebbe told over at a farbrengen.
One time, when the Rebbe Rashab was still a little boy, he was playing a game with his older brother, the Raz”a (R’ Zalman Aharon). They were playing a game of Rebbe and chossid, something they were used to seeing at home!
The Rebbe Rashab pretended that he was a chossid coming into Yechidus. “Rebbe,” he said. “I need a tikun! What should I do?”
“What did you do wrong?” asked the Raz”a, who was pretending to be the Rebbe.
“I cracked nuts on Shabbos,” answered the Rebbe Rashab, “and I only found out afterwards that the Alter Rebbe says we aren’t allowed to do that on Shabbos.”
The Raz”a told him, “your tikun is to be careful to daven and say brachos only from a siddur, and not by heart!”
The Rebbe Rashab didn’t agree to do this as a tikun!
When his mother (Rebbetzin Rivka) asked why, the Rebbe Rashab answered that it wouldn’t help — because his brother is not a Rebbe. When a Rebbe helps a Yid, he sighs before he answers, because it bothers him too! Since the Raz”a didn’t sigh, his advice won’t help either.
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The Gemara and the Zohar teach us that there are certain times of night when Hashem cries over the Churban of the Beis Hamikdash. The Zohar says that a person should cry together with Hashem over the Beis Hamikdash. Then, he will also deserve to celebrate together with Hashem when the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt!
The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya that our aveiros send the last Hey of Hashem’s name into Golus. This is called Golus HaShechinah.
During Kriyas Shema She’al Hamitah and Tikun Chatzos, we make a Cheshbon Hanefesh. We do teshuvah for our aveiros, so that the letters of Hashem’s name can come out of Golus and make Hashem’s name in our neshama whole again.
The Alter Rebbe says that even if someone can’t do Tikun Chatzos every night, he should try to do it at least once a week.
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Shortly after the Rebbe became Nosi, someone asked the Rebbe a question: “If it says in Tanya that we should say Tikun Chatzos at least once a week, why aren’t people doing it?”
The Rebbe answered that Tikun Chatzos is only for special people. The rest of us fulfill the inyan of Tikun Chatzos by learning Chassidus, especially on Thursday night!
In a maamar (Margela Bepumei 5746), the Rebbe tells us that since we are so close to the Geulah, now our main learning of Chassidus should be not so much to think about the Golus our aveiros caused. Instead, we should make a Cheshbon Hanefesh to help us come to do teshuvah in a way of simcha, to have more chayus in learning Torah and davening and living the way a Yid should!
This will help us bring a Geulah for ourselves, and for all the Yidden!
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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 this week’s parsha, Parshas Balak, we learn about the nevuos of Bilaam.
In Bilaam’s last nevuah, he speaks about the coming of Moshiach! The Rambam brings this nevuah in his halachos about Moshiach!
Bilaam starts by saying, “Arenu Velo Ata” — “I see it, but not now.” “Ashurenu Velo Karov” — “I can picture it, but not soon.” The whole nevuah is said like this, in a double way.
The Rambam explains that the first half of each posuk is speaking about Dovid Hamelech, and the second half speaks about Moshiach!
But if the first half of each posuk is about Dovid Hamelech, why does the Rambam include those parts in the halachos about Moshiach?
The Rebbe explains that they help us with emunah in Moshiach!
We know that the first part of each posuk came true. There was a king named Dovid Hamelech, and he built the Beis Hamikdash and made it possible to keep all the mitzvos of the Torah!
Since the first part of each nevuah came true, we can be sure that the second part will also come true!
At one of the Lag B’omer parades, the Rebbe spoke about the Yidden in Russia, saying that soon they would all be able to go free. At that time, people who had been in Russia or knew people there, thought it was impossible! One of the Chassidim there said that it was easier to believe that Moshiach would come, than that Yidden would be able to leave Russia!
When a few years later Yidden WERE able to leave Russia, it helped people’s emunah in Moshiach! People saw that the Rebbe’s words came true even when it seemed impossible, and it made it easier to believe that the Rebbe’s words that Moshiach is coming very soon will also be fulfilled!
This is one of the reasons why the Rambam brings the parts of the pesukim which speak about Dovid Hamelech: Because they help make our Emunah in Moshiach stronger! Since we see that it already happened once, it is much easier for us to accept that it will happen again!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Yud-Ches Parshas Balak sicha Beis, and Farbrengen Motzoei Parshas Balak 5738
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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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