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CHUMASH
Parshas Vayeilech - Rishon with Rashi
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Moshe is farbrenging with the Yidden, on his last day in the world — Zayin Adar:
“Today I turned 120 years old, and even though I am still healthy and strong, I am not allowed to decide things anymore — now Yehoshua is in charge. I also don’t have the koach to decide things in Torah anymore.
“Hashem won’t let me cross the Yarden, but Hashem will go ahead of you and fight against the Goyim living there, and Yehoshua will lead you into Eretz Yisroel.”
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Today we are going to finish the whole Sefer Tehillim! Since there are only 29 days in Elul, we say the Tehillim for day 29 AND day 30, kapitelach Kuf-Mem to Kuf-Nun. We also say three kapitelach for Chodesh Elul: Pey-Hey, Pey-Vov, and Pey-Zayin.
In Kapitel Kuf-Mem-Zayin, Dovid Hamelech talks about the greatness of Hashem and how He runs the world! At the end, he says “Maggid Devarav LeYaakov, Chukav Umishpatav L’Yisrael.” “Hashem tells over His words to the Yidden, and His mitzvos.”
The Medrash says about this posuk that people will sometimes tell others to do something, even though THEY don’t do it! Like a person will say “Eat all the food on your plate” — even though they didn’t finish their chicken.
But Hashem does everything that He tells us to do! That’s why it says HIS words and HIS mitzvos — Hashem does them too!
For example, Hashem puts on Tefillin. The Gemara tells us that in OUR Tefillin, it says how great Hashem is. In HASHEM’S Tefillin, it says how special the Yidden are and how proud Hashem is that we make the world into a comfortable place for Hashem!
(We learn about this in the Bar Mitzvah Maamar!)
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Yud-Tes
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This letter wasn’t printed in the Tanya at first — it was added in later! It doesn’t have a Perek number itself, and we just count it as part of Igeres Yud-Tes which is before, since it is about the same thing.
In the last letter, we learned how Moshe Rabbeinu had his nevuah from the “back” (so to speak) of Hashem. The posuk says that he couldn’t see Hashem’s face. In this letter, we learn a mashal about this from the way a person thinks and speaks. Like the posuk says, “MiBesari Echezeh Elokah” — when I look at the way my guf works, I can understand Hashem.
Here is the mashal:
When a person talks, they are saying a lot of letters put together into words and then sentences and ideas. Where did those letters come from? They came from what the person was thinking. A person’s thought has the Pnimius and the Chitzonius, the “face” and the “back.”
Sometimes a person just thinks an idea, without words. That’s the pnimius of a person’s thought (Machshava ShebeMachshava).
Then there are times when a person thinks something with letters and words. That is the Chitzonius of a person’s thought (called Dibur ShebeMachshava).
When a person talks, they have to use words that they thought about before in the Chitzonius of their Machshavah. Even if you are thinking about something else and talking at the same time, you can only say things that you have thought about before with letters and words.
That is a mashal for what we learned about Moshe Rabbeinu: The nevuah that he told the Yidden came from the “back” of Hashem, not straight from Hashem’s pnimius. That’s like our talking, — it can’t come straight from the Pnimius, it has to come first from the Chitzonius of the Machshavah that has letters and words.
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Today is the birthday of the Tzemach Tzedek!
In a letter to a chosid, the Frierdiker Rebbe tells him that he needs to be very careful to stay healthy — the Torah warns us about this! Then the Frierdiker Rebbe tells him:
The Alter Rebbe says that we have NO IDEA how precious a Yid’s body is to Hashem!
This is also very important to think about Erev Rosh Hashana! Hashem judges us for all of the Gashmius things we will need this coming year — we need to remember how important it is to Hashem that Yidden should be healthy and have everything Gashmius that they need.
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Today’s mitzvah is that certain women are not allowed to eat Terumah or parts of a Korban Shelamim that are given to a kohen (the chazeh and the shok).
This includes two kinds of women:
1) A Chalalah. This means someone who got married to a kohen when she wasn’t allowed to, or their daughter.
2) A Bas Kohen (daughter of a kohen) who married someone who is NOT a kohen. While she is married, she is not allowed to eat terumah OR korbanos, since her husband is not a kohen.
If her husband passes away or she receives a get, and she does not have children, she can eat Terumah again if she goes back to live with her father who is a kohen. Still, she is not allowed to eat from these korbanos.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn the last three perakim about Terumah, perakim Yud-Gimmel, Yud-Daled, and Tes-Vov.
These perakim talk about what happens if Terumah gets mixed up with regular food.
One thing we learn is that it doesn’t become botul (not counted) unless there is 100 times as much regular food! (For milk and meat, if there’s 60 times as much it is enough.) So, for example, if one Terumah apple gets mixed up in a box of 100 other apples, we can take one apple and give it to the kohen, and the rest is all fine to eat.
If there is less, then the food is called “Medumah” and only a kohen can eat it.
The last halacha in today’s Rambam teaches us about the special bracha on Terumah. First the kohen makes the regular bracha on food, and then he says the bracha “...Asher Kidishanu Bikdushaso Shel Aharon Vetzivanu Le’echol Terumah!”
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more halachos of how a person can make something belong to him in the Torah way. We see from these halachos how important it is to stay away from cheating by being very clear about exactly what we are selling.
In this perek, we learn about selling something that isn’t there yet, like selling “whatever will grow on this tree.” A person isn’t allowed to do that, because it didn’t grow yet! But the Rambam says that if someone says that “whatever grows in this field” belongs to tzedakah, he needs to keep his promise!
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Today is the Tzemach Tzedek’s birthday!
In the time of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Chassidim were hoping more than ever before that Moshiach would come. The Tzemach Tzedek made shalom between the Chassidim and Misnagdim, and explained how Niglah and Chassidus fit together.
With all of that Achdus, Chassidim were sure that Moshiach must be coming right away!
Our Rebbe also made Achdus with all kinds of Yidden, and showed us how all parts of Torah are really connected! So we can be SURE that Moshiach MUST be coming right away!
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TEFILLAH
Maariv of the Night of Rosh Hashana
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Today is Erev Yom Tov, so we don’t say Tachanun! We also don’t blow the shofar after davening, like we usually do during Chodesh Elul. One of the reasons why is so that we separate between the shofar blowing of Elul which is a minhag, and the shofar blowing on Rosh Hashana which is a mitzvah. It is a minhag to have extra kavana and daven Mincha, the last tefillah of the year, with extra kavana!
~
The Rebbeim would always have a very special davening on the first night of Rosh Hashana. In Tof-Shin-Nun-Beis, the Rebbe asked us that we also try to make our davening on the first night of Rosh Hashana extra special!
It is our minhag that after davening on the first night of Rosh Hashana, we wish each other personally, “Leshana Tova Tikaseiv Veseichaseim!” “You should be written and sealed for a good year!” (For a girl, we say “Leshana Tova Tikaseivi Veseichaseimi.”)
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Here are some halacha newsletters for Rosh Hashana: Halacha Newsletter by Rabbi Lesches (Melbourne) and Day By Day Halachic Guide by Badatz of Crown Heights
Some of the things we need to do Erev Rosh Hashana are:
- An extra-long Selichos
- Hataras Nedarim (it’s not our minhag for women to do it)
- This year, Pruzbul
- We DON’T blow the Shofar
- Give extra Tzedakah
- Write a Pa”n — we ask the Rebbe to ask Hashem for us that we should have a Shana Tova (The Rebbe is like the “head” of all Yidden, and since the head sometimes feels pain from the body more, and since the head is closer to Hashem, we make sure to ask the Rebbe — the head — to ask Hashem for a Shana Tova for each of us and for all Yidden together.)
- Make a hachlata
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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 Frierdiker Rebbe once said that in a higher Ruchnius’dike world, Moshiach already came. They are already celebrating there! But here in this world, Hashem is waiting for Yidden to do teshuvah so that Moshiach can come.
The Rebbe also told us similar words, that Moshiach is already here and all we need to do is open up our eyes! Each of us just needs to do our part to prepare to greet Moshiach B’poel Mamosh!
See Sefer Hasichos Tof-Shin-Alef p. 81, Sefer Hasichos Tof-Shin-Nun-Alef and Nun-Beis in many places
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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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