For the safety and security of the Yidden in Eretz Yisrael
and the success of the soldiers fighting for its protection
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In today’s Chumash, Yaakov begins to give the bracha to Efrayim and Menasheh. Yaakov couldn’t see so well anymore because of his old age, so Yosef brought his sons in and brought them close to Yaakov. Yaakov hugged and kissed them! He said to Yosef, “I didn’t even think I would be able to see YOU, and Hashem even showed me now your children!” After Yaakov kissed them, Yosef had his sons move away a little, and bowed to the ground before his father. Yosef then put Efrayim and Menasheh in the proper place to be bentched by Yaakov. He put Menasheh, who was older, near Yaakov’s right hand, and Efrayim near Yaakov’s left hand. This way, the older son would receive a bracha from Yaakov’s right hand. But Yaakov purposely switched his hands, and put his right hand on Efrayim! Yaakov bentched Yosef about the children. “May Hashem, Who Avraham and Yitzchak followed, and Who has always taken care of me and sent me a malach to take care of me, give these boys a bracha. They should be known with my name and the names of the rest of the Avos, and they should have many children like fish do, without being afraid of an Ayin Hara.” The Rebbe tells us another reason why Yaakov bentched them that they should be like fish. Fish can’t be separated from the water, where they get their chayus. Yaakov was giving a bracha for Menashe and Efrayim that they should also be one with the source of their chayus, Hashem. By always being connected to Hashem’s Ratzon and avodah, they will always be a good keili to get brachos from Hashem. (Likutei Sichos chelek Chof-Hey p. 11) |
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Today’s kapitelach of Tehillim are Lamed-Hey through Lamed-Ches. In today’s Tehillim, we have the posuk “Kol Atzmosai Tomarna Hashem Mi Chamocha.” “All of my bones say, who is like Hashem!” Our entire bodies praise Hashem! We use all the parts of our bodies not only for doing mitzvos, but also for davening and learning. Every part of us thanks Hashem and says how special Hashem is. That’s one of the reasons we shuckle when we daven and learn Torah! |
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In Tanya we are learning about how a person can do teshuvah for aveiros that bring down chayus into kelipah. We learned about foods which are asur, and marriages that are asur. They make the chayus of a person go into kelipah, and to bring it back out, the person needs to have a strong teshuvah called Teshuvah Me’Ahava Rabah. In today’s Tanya, the Alter Rebbe tells us about a specific aveira that has to do with marriages. When a man thinks a lot about how much he would enjoy being married to someone, this can cause the aveira of Hotzaas Zera Levatala. This aveira adds a tremendous amount of tumah and kelipah! Still, the teshuvah for Hotzaas Zera Levatala is not as hard as it is for other aveiros. It is easier to take that chayus out of kelipah, by doing a proper teshuvah and having kavana in Kriyas Shema She’al Hamitah. But for actually getting married in a way that is not allowed, especially if a child is born that has the halachos of a mamzer, the teshuvah is much more difficult. |
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There is a posuk that says “Da es Elokei Avicha, Ve’avdo Belev Shaleim.” We need to know Hashem, and serve Hashem with a whole heart. How do we do this? All of the Torah we learn, all of the Chassidus we learn, that helps us “know” Hashem, we need to use it in our avodah — it needs to make us better Yidden and Chassidim! We can’t just learn things and say “oh that’s interesting” and not do anything about it. The things we know need to help us make our midos better and make us more connected to Hashem, which is what Chassidus calls Avodah. |
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Today we learn FIVE mitzvos about Jewish slaves! The first two mitzvos are about letting a Jewish slave go: 1) (Mitzvas Asei #196) We need to give a slave presents when we let him go free. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Re’eh: הַעֲנֵיק תַּעֲנִיק לוֹ מִצֹּאנְךָ וּמִגָּרְנְךָ וּמִיִּקְבֶךָ אֲשֶׁר בֵּרַכְךָ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ תִּתֶּן לוֹ The details are explained in the first perek of Mesechta Kiddushin. 2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #233) We aren’t allowed to send away a slave without giving him presents. This is called Ha’anakah. We learn this mitzvah from another posuk in Parshas Re’eh: וְכִי תְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ חָפְשִׁי מֵעִמָּךְ לֹא תְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ רֵיקָם The details of the mitzvah are explained in the beginning of Mesechta Kiddushin. The next three mitzvos are about a GIRL slave, an Amah Ivriyah. 3) (Mitzvas Asei #234) If someone buys a Jewish maidservant, he needs to let her free when he is supposed to. We learn this mitzvah from one word in a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְהֶפְדָּהּ The details of this mitzvah, and all of the mitzvos about an Amah Ivriyah, are in Mesechta Kiddushin. 4) (Mitzvas Asei #233) If someone buys a Jewish maidservant, it is a mitzvah for him or his son to marry her, if she wants. That’s called “Yi’ud.” If he doesn’t marry her, he needs to let her go free. The Chachomim say that if she wants, it is better to do this mitzvah of Yi’ud than to let her go free (the mitzvah before). This mitzvah, along with all of the other mitzvos about Jewish slaves, are only kept at a time when Yovel is kept in Eretz Yisroel. We learn this mitzvah from the same posuk as the mitzvah before: אֲשֶׁר לוֹ יְעָדָהּ וְהֶפְדָּהּ The halachos are explained in the first perek of Mesechta Kiddushin. 5) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #261) We are not allowed to sell our Jewish maidservant to someone else. We also learn this from the same posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: לֹא יִמְשֹׁל לְמָכְרָהּ בְּבִגְדוֹ בָהּ The dinim are explained in the beginning of Mesechta Kiddushin. |
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about slaves — Jewish and non-Jewish. In Perek Daled we learn all of the mitzvos of an Amah Ivriyah, a girl who was sold as a maid when she was little. She needs to be treated with special care, the way a Jewish girl deserves to be, even though she is a maid. In Perek Hey we learn the mitzvah of an Eved Knaani — a goyishe slave, and that he goes free only if the master hurt him in a certain way. We learn all the details of what he needs to have done to go free. Finally in Perek Vov we start learning the halachos of the document that is used to make the slave free and that it is similar to a get between a husband and wife. |
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In this perek, we learn about Tzoraas on a place where a person was hurt: From a burn, which is called a Michvah, and from other things, which is called Shechin. We also learn about Tzoraas in a bald spot, which is called Karachas or Gabachas, depending on where on the head it is. |
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The first year after Hey Teves happened, there was singing and dancing and celebrating in 770 for a whole week, until Yud-Beis Teves — just like there’s Sheva Brachos after a Chasuna! Since then, even though the main Yom Tov is Hey Teves, we continue to relive and learn about what Hey Teves means to us until Yud-Beis Teves. The Rebbe said that the true nitzachon of the sefarim is USING the sefarim! We should make more shiurim, with ourselves and with others, to learn them! True kavod of sefarim is not that they should have a beautiful place on our bookshelf and that we are careful not to touch them, but that they should get used and worn out. Parents should remind their kids that it’s okay if their sefarim get used and ripped and worn out, and that when they need, their parents will be happy to get them new ones! See Hamaaseh Hu Ha’ikar, compilation of horaos for Hey Teves, from sicha of Parshas Vayigash 5748 and others |
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In Mah Tovu and Adon Olam, we show how davening is a special time and place for our neshama to approach Hashem. In davening, we are going to ask Hashem for many things. But what zechus do we deserve it with? The next part of davening is the Akeidah, where we remind Hashem about the zechus of the Avos, Avraham and Yitzchak. The Mesiras Nefesh they had is a tremendous zechus for all of the Yidden! The story of the Akeidah also helps us with another part of davening. When we daven, we are making ourselves more aidel, so we can feel kedusha more. We are working on making our neshamos stronger and overcoming the Yetzer Hara. With the koach of Mesiras Nefesh that we have inside of us, from the Avos, we will be able to win over our Yetzer Hara! See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman alef |
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There is a mitzvah in the Torah that every person should write a Sefer Torah. Nowadays, we fulfill this mitzvah by buying a letter in the Sefer Torah and by buying seforim. Did you know that there are halachos about which seforim to buy first? The most important seforim to buy are the ones you need for learning. So before having a nice set of seforim to put on your shelf, you should first make sure you have the ones that will you will need for learning. Of course we need a Chitas and a Rambam, and basic seforim like a Tanach. But after that, which seforim of learning should we get? The Alter Rebbe tells us in Hilchos Talmud Torah that the first parts of Torah to learn are the ones that teach us how to behave as a Yid, both halacha seforim that teach us what to do and seforim of Mussar and Chassidus which give us the right hashkafa and Yiras Shomayim. See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch siman Chof-Ches, se’if Beis, and the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Hilchos Talmud Torah perek Beis |
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק בן ר׳ אפרים ע״ה מאסקאוויץ
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When Yaakov Avinu first came down to Mitzrayim, he met with Paraoh. There, Paraoh asked him how old he was. Yaakov answered that he was 130, which were “Me’at Vera’im,” few and unhappy years. Why did Yaakov say that 130 years is few years? We know that after the Mabul, people lived to 120 years, and 130 is already much more than that! And even if he did think it was a short life, couldn’t Paraoh see that himself? The Rebbe explains that Yaakov was saying that his life was not enough! One of the main parts of the Avodah of the Avos was to pass on important kochos to their children, all of the Yidden. Since Yaakov was the last of the Avos, he needed to give the koach for the Yidden to bring the Geulah! When Yaakov came down to Mitzrayim, he knew that he would be going to a comfortable place. He knew that now things would be peaceful, and that he would have his whole family together. But he wanted Paraoh to know that this was not enough! Yaakov will not be satisfied until he brings the Geulah! Everything that happened until now, and even the peaceful years he will have now in Mitzrayim, are all “me’at” — they will feel like only a few! Until the Geulah actually comes, Yaakov is not satisfied with his life. This is an important lesson for us too! We need to have such strong Emunah that Moshiach is coming, and be so excited for the Geulah, that nothing else feels like enough! As long as Moshiach is not here, we are not satisfied! We will keep doing whatever we can to bring Moshiach now! See Sefer Hasichos 5752 parshas Mikeitz, p. 204–207 |
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
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