For the safety and security of the Yidden in Eretz Yisrael
and the success of the soldiers fighting for its protection
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||
In today’s Chumash, the last shevet gets his bracha, and all of the shevatim are also included in everyone else’s brachos! Yaakov Avinu passes away and is buried in Me’aras Hamachpeilah. Now Yaakov gives a bracha to the last shevet, Benyamin. His bracha is that he should be like a wolf, who grabs its food. One reason for this bracha is that the mizbeiach of the Beis Hamikdosh will be in Benyamin’s part of Eretz Yisroel. The mizbeiach will “eat” all of the korbanos, like a wolf grabs its food! Even though it looks like Reuven, Shimon, and Levi didn’t get brachos, really they ALL got brachos. In fact, they all got the same brachos, but each shevet got one special bracha that they got a lot of. Yaakov knew he was going to pass away. He asked his sons to bury him in Me’aras Hamachpeilah, with the other Avos and Leah Imeinu. Only the Shevatim and their children should help, not any Mitzriyim. Yaakov told them to carry his Aron the same way the Yidden will camp around the Mishkan. Levi shouldn’t help, because his family will carry the Aron in the Mishkan, and Yosef shouldn’t either because it’s not right for the second to the king to do it. Menasheh and Efrayim will help carry it instead. Then Yaakov lay down, and his neshama left his body. But the Torah doesn’t say that Yaakov passed away! Since Yaakov’s whole life was to raise his children to go in the way of Hashem, as long as his children are still going in the way of Hashem, his neshama is still alive in this world! It is doing its job through his children who are alive in this world, and living in the way that he taught! Yosef saw that his father’s holy Guf had finished its job in the world, and he cried. He went to Paraoh and told him that he made a shvuah to bury Yaakov in Eretz Yisroel. Paraoh really wanted to keep Yaakov’s body in Mitzrayim for an Avodah Zarah, but he knew that he couldn’t tell Yosef to break his promise. If he did, Yosef might break a promise that HE made to Paraoh, and tell everyone that Paraoh didn’t know Lashon Kodesh! Many people joined Yaakov’s levayah. When the kings of Canaan heard that the Shevatim were coming, they came out to make a war. But when they came, they saw Yosef’s crown on top of Yaakov’s Aron. Instead of fighting, they put their crowns there too, out of respect. When the Shevatim got to Chevron, they buried Yaakov in Me’aras Hamachpeila, and then they all went back to Mitzrayim. The shevatim were worried that Yosef wouldn’t be as nice to them anymore after Yaakov passed away. They weren’t sure he forgave them yet for selling him. They told Yosef that Yaakov asked him to forgive them. Even though it wasn’t really true, they said it so there would be shalom in the family. Yosef answered that Hashem WANTED his brothers to sell him, so he could take care of them! They shouldn’t be worried, Hashem doesn’t want any of them to be hurt. |
||
|
||
Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Nun-Hey to Nun-Tes. In Kapitel Nun-Hey, Dovid Hamelech says “Erev VaVoker VeTzohorayim Osicha,” that he davens to Hashem in the night, the morning, and the afternoon. The Rebbe explains why the posuk says Maariv before Shacharis and Mincha. This is because Dovid Hamelech is saying that the Maariv of the night before is the Tefillah which gives Chayus for the whole next day. So Maariv isn’t just finishing off the day before, it also gives chayus and starts off the next day! When you say Shema at night, the same thing happens! It finishes off the day, but it also gives you chayus and koach for whatever will happen tomorrow! |
||
|
||
Now that we know where the Nefashos are in our bodies, the Alter Rebbe is going to tell us what happens with them: The body is like a city which two kings are fighting over. Each one wants to be in charge, so everyone will say that THEY are the king and everyone needs to listen to whatever they say! The two kings are the two nefashos. The Nefesh Elokis wants to be the only one in charge, so that the whole body will listen to it and only do mitzvos and good things — and that even the Nefesh Habehamis should listen to it! The Nefesh Habehamis wants the same thing! He wants to be the only one in charge of the body, so the body will only listen to it! And they are always fighting! The truth is that Hashem only gave us the “other king,” the Nefesh Habehamis, to make us strong. When you have to fight, you become stubborn and strong! Since that’s the job Hashem gave the Nefesh Habehamis, he really doesn’t want us to do the wrong thing — he WANTS to lose the war, because that’s why Hashem sent him! It is written in Seforim that if a person is not sure if they did the right thing, they should see how they feel afterwards. If they’re happy, it means it was the right thing. The reason is that the Yetzer Hara is happy when you don’t listen to it! So if you do the right thing, everyone is happy — the Yetzer Tov (because you did the right thing) and the Yetzer Hara (because you won over him)! If someone chas veshalom doesn’t do the right thing, nobody is happy — not the Yetzer Tov, and not even the Yetzer Hara. |
||
|
||
Today is a fast day. We say Selichos in Davening, and the long Avinu Malkeinu. When we daven Mincha on a fast day, we read the Torah. The haftorah for a fast day is from Yeshayahu. There is a posuk there that says, “Yaazov Rasha Darko, Ve’ish Avon Machshevosav.” This means, “A rasha should leave his path, and a person should leave the aveiros in his mind.” The Tzemach Tzedek once explained this posuk to a chossid in Yechidus: The word “avon”, which means an aveira, can be changed (by switching the nekudos) to say “oin,” which means strong. The Tzemach Tzedek said to the chossid, “If a person has very strong opinions, and isn’t ready to listen to other people, that is also something they need to do teshuva for. Because when people don’t listen to each other, it brings to the opposite of Ahavas Yisroel.” So just like a rasha needs to stop what he is doing, a person needs to leave the “oin” (stubbornness) of what he thinks — not to always say “I think, I say so, I know.” Because if a person only thinks about their own opinions, it brings machlokes between people. |
||
|
||
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #201) is a new mitzvah about workers: We have to let your workers eat from what they’re working on when they are harvesting. If they’re picking grapes, we have to let them eat grapes while they’re working. If they’re picking oranges, they can eat oranges! We learn this from two pesukim in Parshas Ki Seitzei: כִּי תָבֹא בְּכֶרֶם רֵעֶךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ עֲנָבִים וְגוֹ׳ כִּי תָבֹא בְּקָמַת רֵעֶךָ וְקָטַפְתָּ מְלִילֹת בְּיָדֶךָ The details of this mitzvah are explained in Perek Zayin of Mesechta Bava Metziah. |
||
|
||
In today’s Rambam, we learn more halachos about renting, and we start to learn the halachos of hiring a worker. In Perek Zayin, the Rambam explains that renting is like buying for a short time. So just like we can make conditions when we sell something, you can make conditions when we rent. For example, we can rent someone our printer with a condition that we need them to print us 5 papers every week. Perek Ches teaches us about renting a field, in exchange for part of the food that grows. An old man might rent someone his peach orchard, and they will have to give him 1/4 of the money that they make from the peaches every year. We learn that the renter has to take good care of the field! He can’t decide to stop taking away the weeds. In Perek Tes, we also start learning the halachos about a worker. One halacha is that if we send a worker to pick up a package, and he goes to the right place but can’t find it, we still have to pay him — because he did his best to do what you asked him to do! |
||
|
||
We learn WHO can check to see if Tzoraas is Tomei (only a Kohen, who knows the halachos or is listening to someone else who knows), WHEN to check (only certain times during the day, and not during Yom Tov, for example), and HOW he checks (how the person stands). |
||
|
||
On Asara B’Teves, in the time of the first Beis Hamikdash, Nevuchadnetzar’s armies camped around Yerushalayim, not letting anyone out or in — even to bring food. Less than three years later, on Tes Tamuz*, the army of Bavel broke into Yerushalayim, and on Tisha B’Av the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. That’s why adults fast today. (*In the time of the second Beis Hamikdosh, the walls were broken on Shiva Asar B’Tamuz, so the fast was pushed off until then.) The Gemara says that the reward that a person gets on a fast day is for the tzedakah that he gives, even more than the reward that we get for fasting! It is important to remember to give extra tzedakah, which is the minhag on a fast day. We should also take some time during the fast to think about the reason for these fasts in general, and Asara B’Teves specifically, and make good hachlatos in our heart to be better in the future, so the reason for the fast will go away! The Rebbe explains that one of the hidden messages of Asara B’Teves is Achdus. The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because Yidden didn’t have Ahavas Yisroel, so Hashem gave Nevuchadnetzar the idea to make a siege around Yerushalayim — forcing everyone to be together. This was a message to the Yidden, that they should learn to live together nicely, with Ahavas Yisroel! Unfortunately, we didn’t get the message then, but the potential was there to do teshuva and make a change. In fact, there was a similar situation in the times of Chizkiyahu, which was much scarier! The army of Sancheriv, which was MUCH stronger than Nevuchadnetzar’s, and could have broken into the city right away, surrounded Yerushalayim. But because of the tefillah of Chizkiyahu, the righteous king, Hashem made a big neis and took the Yidden out of danger! The Gemara even says that Hashem wanted to bring the Geulah sheleimah right then. This shows us that even one Yid has the koach to change the situation of Golus, especially on a day like today, and bring the Geulah for all the Yidden! See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof, p. 518; Likutei Sichos chelek Chof-Hey, p. 267 |
||
|
||
Davening is called Avodah Shebelev, avodah with the heart. We fill our heart with feelings of Kabolas Ol and closeness to Hashem. If our heart is already full of proud thoughts and gaava, we can’t do that. When a person thinks that he is very special and important, those thoughts fill up his heart. He isn’t able to think very much about Hashem at all! That’s why, before davening, we need to make ourselves feel humble. This way our heart will be able to be sensitive to kedusha and be ready to stand before Hashem. One way we can be humble is to compare ourselves to another person, someone that we think is not very special at all. When we first look at him, we might feel very proud of ourselves. We are much better than he is, right? The Alter Rebbe shows us how to follow what our Chachomim teach us, “Vehevei Shfal Ruach Bifnei Kol Ha’adam,” “you should be humble from EVERY person.” Even looking at this person can make us feel humble. Think about how this person has many nisyonos. There are parts of his life that are very hard, and many things he struggles with. Many things that are easy for us are hard for him! When we look at him, we sometimes think, “He really shouldn’t do that. That’s a really important mitzvah! How can he behave that way?” But think about how hard it must be for him. We need to ask ourselves if WE work as hard in the things that are hard for US. We expect this person to try very hard to behave. Do WE try as hard when it comes to OUR nisyonos? Are we also working as hard in OUR Avodas Hashem? We can also look at how a goy may be acting better than us, even though he doesn’t have a Torah to teach him how. For example, we can look at how Dama ben Nesina had Kibud Av Va’em. Is our Kibud Av Va’em as beautiful as his? The Chachomim tell us, “Ain Omdim Lehispallel Ela Mitoch Koved Rosh.” Rashi explains that this means we need to prepare for davening with thoughts of humility. In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe gives us ways to think that will help us daven properly, with an open heart. Even though the Alter Rebbe is saying this about davening, of course we need to keep this way of thinking with us during the rest of the day too, so we look at other people and treat them in a humble way! See Tanya Perek Lamed |
||
|
||
The only fast we keep on Erev Shabbos is Asara B’Teves, when it falls on Friday, like this year. Usually we try not to fast on Erev Shabbos, because it isn’t kavod for Shabbos. The Chachomim say that if Asara B’Teves was on Shabbos (even though that can’t happen with our calendar), we might have to fast even on Shabbos! One of the reasons why Asara B’Teves is such an important fast is that it was the very beginning of the Churban. When we work on a problem while it is still small, it is much easier to fix! If we had worked on our Ahavas Yisroel then, maybe the Churban would not have had to happen. So in one way, this is one of the most important fast days for the Beis Hamikdash. Even though it is Erev Shabbos, we still keep most of the minhagim for a fast day. On fast days, it is a minhag to give tzedakah before Mincha. Some people give the amount it would have cost them to eat that day. This way, even the food you DIDN’T eat becomes elevated to kedusha, through the money you gave to tzedakah! Usually, in Mincha on a fast day we say the long Avinu Malkeinu. But since we don’t say Tachanun on Erev Shabbos, we do not say Avinu Malkeinu in Mincha this year. We need to be careful not to break the fast early, and only make Kiddush when it is already night. But once it is already night, we should try to make Kiddush right away so that we aren’t fasting on Shabbos. See Halacha Newsletter by Badatz of Crown Heights |
||
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק בן ר׳ אפרים ע״ה מאסקאוויץ
|
||
|
||
Like we saw in today’s Hayom Yom, we add extra parts to davening on a fast day. We learned that we add Selichos and Avinu Malkeinu to our davening. We also have Kriyas HaTorah on a fast day. We lein “Vayechal,” about the teshuvah for the Cheit Ha’eigel and the second Luchos. We lein a haftorah from Yeshaya, who was the Navi that spoke the most about the Geulah. In Shemoneh Esrei of Shacharis, the chazan says the paragraph of Aneinu, and in Shemoneh Esrei of Mincha, EVERYONE says Aneinu. We ask Hashem that on this special day of the taanis, Hashem should answer us (“Aneinu”) and fulfill our requests — especially to bring the Geulah! Of course, we ask for the Geulah EVERY day. But on a fast day, which is a special time, we ask Hashem for the Geulah even more! See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof p. 362, ha’ara 22 |
||
|
||||||||||
|
לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
|
||||||||||
|
Give children around the world the gift of Kids Chitas!
KidsChitas.org/sponsor |
||||||||||
|
Copyright © 5785 Chitas for Kids, All rights reserved.
Subscribe, sponsor, or learn more at www.kidschitas.org |
| Credits: Chumash based on Kehos Chumash | thanks Chabad.org/dailystudy | most images chinuch.org |
| ✘ unsubscribe from this list | ✔ update subscription preferences |