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CHUMASH
Parshas Acharei - Shishi with Rashi
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Since we are Hashem’s holy nation, we need to remember that getting married is a very holy thing! Hashem gives us very specific rules about getting married.
- A person can’t marry his mother or stepmother
- He can’t marry his sister or stepsister
- He can’t marry his grandchildren
- He can’t marry his aunt
- He can’t marry his daughter-in-law
- He can’t marry a woman and her daughter
- He can’t marry two sisters
- He needs to act differently with a woman who has Tumas Niddah (like we learned in Sefer Hamitzvos)
- He can’t get married to a woman who is married to someone else
Hashem also tells us NOT to do the Avodah Zarah of Molech.
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In today’s Tehillim we have a very interesting posuk: “Al Tig’u Bimeshichoi” — “Do not touch My anointed ones.”
The Chachomim tell us that one of the things that “Meshichoi” (My anointed ones) means is Yiddishe children.
The reason for this is since it is because of the children that Moshiach will come!
The Gemara (in Mesechta Shabbos) says that the reason the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed was because the Yidden weren’t careful that the children should learn Torah. Since that is the reason for the Golus, if we make sure that Yiddishe kinderlach DO learn Torah, it will make the Geulah come!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Beis
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In this perek, the Alter Rebbe is teaching us how to have Yiras Shomayim. The Alter Rebbe told us that we get the koach of Yiras Shomayim from the neshama of Moshe Rabbeinu and the Moshe Rabbeinu (the “Rebbe”) of each generation.
In yesterday’s Tanya, the Alter Rebbe tells us that even though the koach of Yiras Shomayim is already there, hidden inside our neshama, if we want it to do its job and make us behave the way Hashem wants, we need to work to wake it up.
Why?
Because our neshama is inside of a body, which can cover up and hide this Yiras Shomayim. There are two things we need to do to wake up this Yiras Shomayim:
1) The first thing is to take away the distraction of the guf. (The Alter Rebbe calls this Yegiyas Basar.) How do we do this? By having thoughts of teshuvah which make us feel humble. These are the kinds of thoughts the Alter Rebbe taught us to think about in Perek Chof-Tes and Lamed.
In today’s Tanya we learn the second thing:
2) We need to train our mind to be able to spend time thinking about how Hashem is with us and watching everything we are doing. (The Alter Rebbe calls this Yegiyas Nefesh.)
Even though this might be hard, especially if a person has done certain aveiros, with the koach of teshuvah and learning and thinking about how Hashem is watching us, the Yiras Shomayim WILL wake up in the end.
If we try hard, we will succeed, like the Chachomim say — Yogati Umotzosi Taamin!
We can understand this with a mashal: If a person knows that a treasure is buried in a certain spot, he will dig and dig, not stopping, until he finds it! Even if it takes time, and is hard work, he knows it is there and worth all of his work. The same is true with our Yiras Shomayim: We know there is a treasure of Yiras Shomayim, buried inside of our neshama! If we keep “digging” by thinking about how Hashem is always with us and watching us, we will find this treasure! Our Yiras Shomayim will become active, and will make sure we are doing what Hashem wants us to do.
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Today is the sixth day of the Omer!
When we read Az Yashir in the Torah, we should stand up.
In Lubavitch, there is a minhag to stay up all night THREE times every year: Shvi’i Shel Pesach (that’s today!), Shavuos, and Hoshaana Rabbah.
The Frierdiker Rebbe said that, already from when he was nine, he stayed up on Shvi’i Shel Pesach!
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We have started to learn the last Sefer in Rambam! There are 3 mitzvos today, related to the halachos of courts:
1) (Mitzvas Asei #176) This mitzvah is that we need to set up a system that makes sure that Yidden follow the Torah. We need to have Shoftim (judges) and Shotrim (officers to make sure people listen).
In a big city, there should be a “small Sanhedrin,” with 23 judges by the gates of the city. In Yerushalayim, there should be the full Sanhedrin of 70 judges, with a Nasi over them, altogether 71. In a city that is too small for a small Sanhedrin, there should at least be a Beis Din of 3 judges to pasken on smaller questions, and send people to a bigger court if needed.
There should also be Shotrim to go around to the marketplace and make sure people are doing business according to Torah.
A judge can only get semicha in Eretz Yisroel, and then he can pasken outside of Eretz Yisroel too. A question about if someone is chayav misa can only be paskened when the Beis Hamikdash is standing.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Shoftim, שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ
The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #284) This is an aveira for the person in charge of making someone a judge:
A person is fit to be a judge if he is an expert in Torah and its halachos, and acts according to them. It is asur to choose a person to be a judge for any other reasons.
For example, we can’t choose someone as a judge because he is good looking, or because he is strong. We can’t choose someone as a judge because he knows many languages, because he is related to us, or because he did us a favor. Only a judge who is an expert in the chochmah of Torah and follows the mitzvos properly will be able to judge right!
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Devarim: לֹא תַכִּירוּ פָנִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט
3) (Mitzvas Asei #175) This is a mitzvah about judges, but also a mitzvah about deciding halacha in general:
When Chachomim don’t agree about a halacha, we decide what to do based on what most of the Chachomim say.
When judges disagree, we pasken based on what MOST of the judges think.
This is clear from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: אַחֲרֵי רַבִּים לְהַטֹּת
We can find the details of this mitzvah in many places in Mesechta Sanhedrin.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn the first three perakim of Hilchos Sanhedrin.
In Perek Alef, the Rambam teaches about the BIG Sanhedrin with 71 judges, the SMALL Sanhedrin (which should be in most cities) with 23 judges, and in a small city there should be 3 judges. There are halachos about how the Sanhedrin should sit, and about who writes down what happens. When Moshiach comes, we will have a big Sanhedrin again, in the Beis Hamikdash!
In Perek Beis, we learn about who is allowed to be a judge. For a regular judge, there are seven qualifications which are written in the Torah. They are: Chochmah to know the halachos of the Torah well, Yiras Shomayim, to be humble, to hate money, love truth, people should like him, and he should have a good name. The Rambam explains what all of these are, and how we see them in the pesukim when Moshe Rabbeinu chose judges for the Yidden.
The judges in the big Sanhedrin need to have all of these things and many more!
Perek Gimmel talks about when the Sanhedrin should get together to judge. A small Sanhedrin or a Beis Din should start after Shacharis, and stop at chatzos. A big Sanhedrin starts in the morning and ends at Mincha time. A Sanhedrin is not supposed to start judging a case at night.
One halacha is that the big Sanhedrin with 71 judges didn’t always need all of the judges there at the same time, but there have to be at least 23 there always. So if a judge from the big Sanhedrin has to leave, he needs to make sure there will be at least 23 left — otherwise he has to stay!
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This perek teaches us about dead birds, and how they make things Tomei.
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One year, the Rebbe told us something very special about today: Shvi’i Shel Pesach is the Rosh Hashana for Mesiras Nefesh!
Why?
Because on Shvi’i Shel Pesach, there was Kriyas Yam Suf. How did it happen? Because Nachshon ben Aminadav jumped into the water just because Hashem said to keep going.
This gives us a special koach for the whole year, to do what Hashem wants with Mesiras Nefesh!
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One of the parts of davening we say every day is Az Yashir, the song that Moshe and the Yidden sang at the time of Kriyas Yam Suf.
The word “Yashir,” though, doesn’t mean “he SANG.” It means that he WILL sing! If we are talking about the song that was sung by the Yam Suf, why does it say that Moshe WILL sing it? The Chachomim teach us that this is hinting to Techiyas Hameisim, that Moshe Rabbeinu and the Yidden will sing this song when Moshiach comes!
Why is Techiyas Hameisim hinted to specifically here, and not somewhere else in the Torah?
At the time of Kriyas Yam Suf, a special koach of Hashem’s name, Havaya, was shining. This name of Hashem includes the past, present, and future together! This name of Hashem includes all times together, including the time of Techiyas Hameisim. It gave the koach that this song of Az Yashir should last for all generations! That’s why Techiyas Hameisim is hinted to specifically in Az Yashir, because it is a tefillah that is relevant for all times!
This gives us the koach that every day, and especially on Shvi’i Shel Pesach, we can relive Kriyas Yam Suf. That way we can sing with true joy, the song of Az Yashir!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof-Beis, p. 30
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On the night of Shvi’i Shel Pesach, we have a minhag to stay up all night. On the night of Shvi’i Shel Pesach, the Yidden were also awake, crossing the Yam Suf. We stay up like they did, taking a part in the great nissim.
While we are awake, we should learn Torah, Niglah and Chassidus. But even if we can’t learn, it is still important to stay up.
The Frierdiker Rebbe told Chassidim to learn specific maamarim in Likutei Torah. One of those maamarim is “Hayam Ra’ah.” The Rebbe also said to learn the maamar “Veheinif,” which speaks about Kriyas Yam Suf and Moshiach!
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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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The Haftora we say on Acharon Shel Pesach is from the Navi Yeshaya, which is a nevuah about Moshiach and the time of the Geulah.
Many of the things we know about the times of the Geulah come from these pesukim!
Here is one posuk:
וְגָר זְאֵב עִם כֶּבֶשׂ וְנָמֵר עִם גְּדִי יִרְבָּץ וְעֵגֶל וּכְפִיר וּמְרִיא יַחְדָּו וְנַעַר קָטֹן נֹהֵג בָּם
Vegar Ze’ev Im Keves — A wolf will lie down together with a lamb
VeNamer Im Gedi Yirbatz — And a leopard will rest with a goat kid
Ve’egel Uchefir Umeri Yachdav — And a calf, a lion cub, and a fat ox will lie down together
VeNaar Katon Noheg Bam — And a young child will lead them.
The Rambam tells us that this nevuah is a mashal that the nations of the world will live peacefully together with the Yidden. Even though nowadays the Yidden are compared to a lamb surrounded by 70 wolves that want to attack it, when Moshiach comes, no nation will try to hurt the Yidden.
Does that mean that the animals won’t rest together after all? The Rebbe explains that the Rambam isn’t saying that. But in the Rambam’s sefer of halachos about Moshiach, he only talks about the things that will need to happen according to halacha in the first stage of the Geulah.
Many more nisim will happen later too! One of the biggest ones is Techiyas Hameisim, which the Rambam also doesn’t talk about, since it happens later. At that time, this nevuah will also be literally true! Even the animals who usually eat each other and hurt each other will live together peacefully!
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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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