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CHUMASH
Parshas Acharei - Revi'i with Rashi
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Now we learn about a new mitzvah!
The Yidden used to be able to bring korbanos wherever they wanted. They would just build a Mizbeiach for Hashem and they could bring a korban there! Now that they have this mitzvah, they can ONLY bring korbanos in the Mishkan or Beis Hamikdash.
This will keep the Yidden from doing Avodah Zarah, because all of their korbanos will be only brought in Hashem’s home.
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The first kapitel in today’s Tehillim was written by Moshe Rabbeinu. Dovid Hamelech later put it in Tehillim. It starts with the words “Tefillah LeMoshe, Ish HaElokim.” “A Tefillah by Moshe Rabbeinu, a person of Hashem.”
Why is Moshe Rabbeinu called an “Ish HaElokim — a person of Hashem”?
Hashem is everything and everything is Hashem — but we can’t see Him! Hashem made the world because he wanted Yidden to act in a certain way that will make Hashem happy here.
But if we can’t see Hashem, how do we know how to act? That’s why Hashem gave Yidden a Moshe Rabbeinu, who is “a person of Hashem.” A Moshe Rabbeinu has two parts — one part of him that is “of Hashem” — very close to Hashem so he knows what Hashem wants, but he is also “a person” — so he can teach us what we need to do!
There is ALWAYS a Nasi, like Moshe Rabbeinu, who helps the Yidden do what Hashem wants at that time. Now, of course, the Rebbe is our Moshe Rabbeinu!
The Rebbe told us that we are about to see the Geulah, and we need to strengthen Yiddishkeit and learn and spread Chassidus everywhere! We need to get excited about the Geulah and ask Hashem for Moshiach NOW!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Beis
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The Yidden are like sheep, and we have shepherds. (These shepherds are also our special Ushpizin guests on Sukkos!) They each help our Avodas Hashem.
They are:
Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, Dovid
For example, Avraham gives us Chesed, and Yitzchak gives us Gevurah.
Moshe gives the neshama of a Yid the koach to be able to REALLY FEEL Hashem! (Moshe showed us Hashem by Kriyas Yam Suf and on Har Sinai, and his Neshama gives Yidden the koach that we can feel Hashem too!)
But that’s not it! There is also a Moshe Rabbeinu in every generation — the Rebbe of that time. The Rebbe gets the strong koach of Moshe Rabbeinu so that he can teach Yidden in his time about Hashem, so that they can feel Hashem in a real way!
This way, we can really feel that “Vehinei Hashem Nitzav Alav” — that Hashem is watching us, and we’ll be able to have the Yirah that the Alter Rebbe teaches us about in Tanya.
When we look at a picture of the Rebbe, it helps us remember that Hashem is watching us!
Do you know something special? The place where the Alter Rebbe tells us about “Vehinei Hashem” is the Tanya for Yud-Alef Nissan in a leap year! Now we understand why — because the Rebbe is the one who gives us the koach to feel that posuk!
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Today is the fourth day of the Omer!
In the year Tof-Shin-Gimmel, the year the Hayom Yom was written, today was Shabbos. We learn some of the minhagim for Shabbos Chol Hamoed: In the last paragraph of Lecha Dodi, we say “Besimcha” instead of “Berina” because it’s part of Yom Tov! When we say Shalom Aleichem and the other paragraphs before Kiddush, we say them quietly.
The Rebbe Rashab once explained how Mah Nishtana is talking about the Geulah!
Mah Nishtana — How is this night (this Golus) different from every other Golus?
Each one of the four questions shows us how this last Golus is different, and prepares us for the Geulah!
The first question is about dipping. Dipping is the idea of becoming tahor, like dipping in a mikvah. It shows us that in this Golus we “dip” twice, which makes us ready for the final Geulah!
1) Ain Anu Matbilin — In every other Golus, the Golus didn’t make us Tahor because we had to go back into Golus afterwards, but (Halayla Hazeh,) after THIS Golus we will become Tahor in TWO ways! Our Guf will become Tahor, AND we’ll be able to feel the Neshama!
The second question is about matzah. Matzah is flat, like a person who has bittul, and chometz is puffed up — yeshus, like a person who has gaavah. This Golus prepares us so that we will not have any more gaavah, any more chometz!
2) Anu Ochlim Chameitz O Matza — After every other Golus, we had our Neshama, which is like matzah, and ALSO our Yetzer Hara, which is like Chometz. But after THIS Golus, we’ll only have our Neshama, our “matzah,” because Hashem will take away the Yetzer Hara!
The third question is about vegetables. Yerakos, vegetables, also means green. This is the idea of jealousy, since when someone is jealous, the Chachomim say that their face turns green. This Golus gets us ready for the time when we’ll only have a GOOD kind of jealousy!
3) Anu Ochlim She’ar Yerakos — In all other kinds of Golus, people were jealous in lots of different ways. After THIS Golus, Tzadikim will be jealous (like Maror, in the strongest way) of how close other Tzadikim are to Hashem.
The fourth question is about leaning. Chassidus says that in Ruchnius, leaning is the idea of enjoying a feeling of Taanug, a very good feeling for the neshama.
4) Bein Yoshvim Uvein Mesubin — After every Golus, we feel Taanug, a very good feeling of closeness to Hashem. There are different ways to feel Taanug, but after THIS Golus, we will all feel the HIGHEST and BEST level of Taanug!
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Today, we learn the same mitzvah again (Mitzvas Asei #248) — that we need to give the yerusha (inheritance) to the right people as it says in the Torah. This includes that the bechor gets a double portion.
We learn this mitzvah from Parshas Pinchas: אִישׁ כִּי יָמוּת וּבֵן אֵין לוֹ
The halachos are explained in Mesechta Bava Basra perakim Ches and Tes.
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Perek Vov: In this perek, we learn that we are not allowed to change who is supposed to get the yerusha! A person can give away his property as a present, to keep his son from getting it, but he can’t say that his son doesn’t get part of the yerusha, because that is given by the Torah.
But the Chachomim teach us that it is NOT a good thing for a person to give away all of a his property to keep the children from getting a part of the yerusha.
Perek Zayin teaches us that the Beis Din doesn’t let someone have their part of the yerusha until they are sure that the person really passed away. So if the father disappeared when he was on a long trip, the sons don’t get the yerusha even if they think that their father must have passed away.
Perek Ches is a very short perek! The Rambam teaches us that we don’t let a different relative take care of a field for a child under Bar Mitzvah who got it as a yerusha. That’s because that relative might then say that it was HIS field that he got as a yerusha, and people could believe him, since after all, he is a relative.
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The first perek of Hilchos Shaar Avos HaTumah teaches us about today’s second mitzvah: that a neveilah, the dead body of an animal, or part of one, makes other things Tomei.
If a kosher animal was shechted, it does not make other things tomei.
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During Sefiras Haomer, every day Chassidim learn Mesechta Sotah, which has 49 pages, like the 49 days of the Omer! (Later we will see this in Hayom Yom.)
In today’s page of Sotah, we are starting to learn about how a Yid has to be very careful not to be a Baal Gaavah. A Baal Gaavah thinks he is very important and he needs to have whatever he wants, even if it’s not exactly what Hashem wants.
That’s why the Chachomim said that if somebody is a Baal Gaavah, it’s like he is serving Avodah Zarah chas veshalom! Because he only thinks about what HE wants, and doesn’t remember that we are here in the world to do what Hashem wants. That’s like Avodah Zarah because he’s forgetting that Hashem is really the One in charge.
When we learn this, it helps us make our Midos better, which is what we are supposed to do during Sefira!
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The Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that when we daven and learn Torah, it’s really a kind of Mesiras Nefesh.
Why? It doesn’t put us in danger!
The words “Mesiras Nefesh” mean “to give up the neshama.” When a person does Mesiras Nefesh, he gives up the life of his guf and returns his neshama to Hashem. We do the same thing, in a different way, when we daven!
When we don’t pay attention to our guf like we usually do, we are having Mesiras Nefesh, giving up part of its life! We eat before davening if we need to, so that it won’t bother us in the middle of davening. We focus completely on the words of our tefillos and on our connection to Hashem. Our neshama is returned to the way it felt when it was in Gan Eden, when nothing Gashmius’dik distracted it!
That’s a kind of Mesiras Nefesh.
So when it comes time to stand before Hashem and daven, we need to do it in a way of Mesiras Nefesh. At least during Shema and Shemoneh Esrei (the most important parts of tefillah), we should forget about all of our Gashmius distractions. Only think about how the neshama is speaking directly to Hashem, asking to have hatzlacha in fulfilling the shlichus it has in the world, and about the nachas Hashem has from a Yid in this world connecting to Hashem through davening and keeping Torah and mitzvos.
See Tanya end Perek Mem-Alef
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During the summer months of the year, starting from Pesach, we start to say “Vesein Bracha” in the bracha of Bareich Aleinu. We stop asking Hashem for rain, and ask only that He should give bracha.
If someone forgets and asked for rain by saying the words “Vesein Tal Umatar,” he needs to go back to the beginning of Bareich Aleinu. Even if he realized right away, he still needs to start this paragraph again.
If he realized only after finishing Shemoneh Esrei (after the last Yihiyu Leratzon), he needs to go back to the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei and daven again.
What if someone can’t remember if he said Vesein Bracha or not? Does he need to go back? It depends.
For the first 30 days after starting Vesein Bracha, we are still getting into the habit of the new words. It’s much more likely that we still said it the old way, saying Vesein Tal Umatar. Therefore, the Chachomim tell us that we need to go back.
But after 30 days, we already made a NEW habit of saying Vesein Bracha. If we can’t remember what we said, we probably said Vesein Bracha, and we don’t need to go back.
In places like Australia and New Zealand, the halacha is a little different! Even though Vesein Bracha is also said there starting from Chol Hamoed Pesach, if a person already finished the bracha of Bareich Aleinu, they do not have to go back. Then we rely on the opinion that says that it goes according to the LOCAL season, and therefore the bracha should not be said again.
See Shevach Hamoadim, Halachos of Vesein Bracha
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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 Perek Mem-Beis in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe brings a posuk that the Navi Yirmiyah says about Le’asid Lavo (Yirmiya 31:33):
״וְלֹא יְלַמְּדוּ עוֹד אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ וְאִישׁ אֶת אָחִיו לֵאמֹר דְּעוּ אֶת ה׳ כִּי כוּלָּם יֵדְעוּ אוֹתִי לְמִקְּטַנָּם וְעַד גְּדוֹלָם נְאֻם ה׳...״
Velo Yelamdu Od Ish Es Rei’eihu — When Moshiach comes, a person won’t have to teach his friend anymore
Ve’ish Es Achiv — And a person won’t need to teach his brother anymore
Leimor De’u Es Hashem — Telling him, “Know Hashem!”
Why won’t we have to teach anyone about knowing Hashem when Moshiach comes?
Ki Kulam Yeidu Osi — Because EVERYONE will know Hashem!
Lemiktanam Ve’ad Gedolam — From young children to old people, they will ALL know Hashem!
Ne’um Hashem — So says Hashem.
The Alter Rebbe also brings this posuk in the introduction to Tanya. The Alter Rebbe asks that if someone doesn’t understand something in the Tanya, he should go to the greater Chassidim who will help him. They shouldn’t act humble, and should share what they know! The Alter Rebbe finishes off with this posuk as a bracha, that soon we should be zoche to the time when we won’t need to teach each other, because everyone will know Hashem!
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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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