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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The Yidden get ready for Matan Torah, and Hashem comes onto Har Sinai! Moshe came down from Har Sinai and told the Yidden what Hashem said. All of the Yidden answered: “We’ll do whatever Hashem said!” Moshe went back up on Har Sinai and told Hashem what had happened with his shlichus. He told Hashem that the Yidden were ready to do whatever Hashem wanted! Hashem told Moshe that all of the Yidden would hear the words of Hashem through Moshe. When the Yidden heard this, they said “We don’t want to hear through a shliach, we want to hear straight from Hashem! And we don’t only want to hear, we also want to SEE Hashem!” Hashem told Moshe that the Yidden would be able to see Hashem, but they would need to prepare themselves. They should make sure to stay tahor, because in 3 days, Hashem will come onto Har Sinai and give them the Torah! Hashem will make sure everyone who is sick or blind or has anything wrong with their body will get better, so that everyone can appreciate Matan Torah! When Hashem goes onto Har Sinai, it will become holy, and none of the Yidden will be able to touch it. So Moshe had to make a fence around Har Sinai so nobody would touch it by mistake. When the Yidden hear the shofar blow for a long time at the end of Matan Torah, that means that the Shechinah that was there by Matan Torah has left, and the Yidden can go on the mountain. Moshe helped the Yidden become tahor so they would be ready to get the Torah. In the morning of Vov Sivan, even before the Yidden got to Har Sinai, Hashem started Matan Torah. There was thunder and lightning, and a big cloud on Har Sinai. A very loud shofar blew, and all of the Yidden got scared. They could feel that Hashem was on Har Sinai, and Moshe led them to Har Sinai, where they all stood. Hashem picked up Har Sinai, and told the Yidden that if they don’t accept the Torah, Hashem will squash them under the mountain! The Yidden went under Har Sinai, though, because they DID want the Torah! So Hashem had the Yidden move away, and put the mountain back down. Har Sinai was covered in smoke, and it shook very hard. Hashem made a shofar blow first softly, and then louder and louder, and it didn’t stop until after the Aseres Hadibros! |
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Today’s Tehillim is kapitelach Ayin-Zayin and Ayin-Ches. In today’s Tehillim, we have a posuk: “Vayivchar BeDovid Avdo.” This posuk means that Hashem chose Dovid Hamelech to be the leader of the Yidden. Throughout the generations, we find that Yidden have many leaders and teachers. We have leaders to show the Yidden what to do, parents and teachers to help us, and Rabbonim and others who tell us the right way to act. But there is only one Nasi Hador! That is one person that Hashem chooses to be in charge of ALL of the Yidden. What is the difference between the Nasi Hador and all of the other leaders? The way our parents and teachers and leaders guide us is like food. Every person gets what he needs. Some people need more, and some people need less! But the Nasi Hador gives us the Nekudas Hayahadus, waking up a part of the neshama that is the same for everyone! We see an example of this in last week’s parsha, Beshalach. ALL of the Yidden sang Az Yashir together as one, including great and simple Yidden, and even the small babies! That means that it came from a deep part of the neshama, where every Yid is the same. But in order for everyone to sing this praise to Hashem together, the Nasi Hador had to wake up that part of every Yid’s neshama! That is why we see in the posuk, “Az Yashir Moshe U’vnei Yisroel.” First Moshe, the Nasi Hador, had to wake up their neshamos, and then that made all of the other Yidden to be able to praise Hashem together in the same way. See Likutei Sichos chelek Lamed-Alef, Beshalach sicha Alef |
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Yesterday, we learned that someone who does an aveira (chas veshalom) is separating himself from the kedusha of Hashem, and instead connects to the kelipah and Avodah Zarah in the world! In a way, he is even MORE separated from Hashem than they are! If a Yid has a hidden love (Ahava Mesuteres) for Hashem, and would be ready to have Mesiras Nefesh to stay connected to Hashem, why would a person ever do an aveira? The Alter Rebbe gives the answer to this in today’s Tanya. Hashem gave permission to the Yetzer Hara to try and convince a Yid to do an aveira. This is called a “Ruach Shtus.” The Yetzer Hara tells the Yid that an aveira does NOT separate a Yid from Hashem. Only when it comes to something VERY BIG, like a Yid giving up their Yiddishkeit, then the Ahava Mesuteres will come out and not let the person leave their Yiddishkeit. But we need to understand that EVERY time we do something that is not the way Hashem wants it is just as serious! EVERY aveira separates us from Hashem just like Avodah Zarah does! When we understand that, the Yetzer Hara won’t be able to convince us that an aveira is not such a terrible thing. The Gemara tells us that if the Yetzer Hara bothers us, we should shlep him to the Beis Medrash to learn Torah! Here we see that with the koach of learning Torah, like what the Alter Rebbe is teaching us, we will not let ourselves be convinced by the foolish thoughts of the Yetzer Hara. There is a kuntres which the Rebbe Rashab wrote, called Kuntres Umaayan. In this kuntres, he brings what it says in Tanya, and also other foolish thoughts that the Yetzer Hara uses to try and convince us to do an aveira. For example, “Nobody will see,” or “Nothing will happen to me.” The Rebbe Rashab explains how to answer these thoughts and to understand why what the Yetzer Hara is telling us is so foolish! |
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We don’t say Tachanun, because it’s Chamisha Asar Bishvat. Today we will learn something about Likutei Torah, which we actually begin learning in Parshas Beshalach. The Tzemach Tzedek wrote notes on the maamorim in the second half of Torah Ohr (called Likutei Torah). Some of the chassidim found out about them, and when they were about to print Likutei Torah, they asked the Tzemach Tzedek if they could put the notes into the sefer. At first, the Tzemach Tzedek said no. Then the Tzemach Tzedek had a dream that his zeideh, the Alter Rebbe, came to him and told him to print the notes. The Tzemach Tzedek didn’t tell anyone, but three of the Tzemach Tzedek’s sons had the same dream! When they told him, he agreed to print the notes in Likutei Torah. So even though Likutei Torah seems to be just the second half of Torah Ohr, it is very special because it has something new — the notes of the Tzemach Tzedek inside of it! |
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #288) is that ONE eid (witness) is not enough — the Beis Din needs to have TWO eidim in order to punish someone. (One eid is enough for the Beis Din to have someone make a shevuah (a strong and special kind of Torah promise), but is not enough of a proof for someone to be punished). We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Shoftim: לֹא יָקוּם עֵד אֶחָד בְּאִישׁ לְכָל עָוֹן וּלְכָל חַטָּאת |
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One of the things we learn in Perek Ches is that an eid has to actually REMEMBER what he saw. It is not enough for him to say something he saw in his diary, unless it reminded him and now he does remember. Otherwise, it is like him being an eid based on something his friend told him, which is not true eidus. In Perek Tes we learn about who is not allowed to be an eid. There are ten kinds of people that can’t be an eid, for example, someone who is related to the person who had to come to Beis Din. A rasha also can’t be an eid, as the Rambam explains in detail in the next perek. In Perek Yud we start to learn the halachos of tomorrow’s mitzvah, that the Beis Din can’t accept the eidus of a rasha. What is a rasha? Someone who does an aveira that deserves to be given malkos for. A rasha is also a person who steals or wastes his life on games and gambling. |
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Now we learn about how tomei food and drinks make things that they touch tomei too. |
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Today is Chamisha Asar Bishvat, the new year for trees! Chassidus explains that every Yid is like a little Eretz Yisroel! Just like Eretz Yisroel has seven special fruits, we also have these seven special “fruits” inside us. There are many pesukim and Maamorei Razal about these fruits, which are used in Chassidus to show how to use our Ruchnius “fruits” to do better in our Avodas Hashem. Here are two examples: Gefen (grapes): There are pesukim in Nach that say that grapes, which make wine, make Hashem and people happy. Chassidus teaches us that our “gefen” in Avodas Hashem is the simcha we need to have! In everything that happens, we should look for the good parts, and that will make us happy. Rimon (pomegranate): The Gemara says that every Yid is full of mitzvos like a pomegranate. In our Avodas Hashem, we should be trying to fill ourselves up with mitzvos, by always looking for more mitzvos to do! We can try to find ways to learn more Torah, do favors for other people, or say Tehillim! (Here is a link to a poem that explains each of the fruits according to the Rebbe’s sicha of Chamisha Asar Bishvat, Tof-Shin-Nun-Beis.) |
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In the second half of Hodu, we said many pesukim about the greatness of Hashem and asking Hashem to bring the Geulah. We continue speaking about the Geulah in the next paragraph. We say a kapitel of Tehillim, “Mizmor Shir Chanukas Habayis,” a kapitel which is a song for the Chanukas Habayis for the Beis Hamikdash. The Sforno explains that this is a song that the Yidden will sing to Hashem at the Chanukas Habayis of the third Beis Hamikdash! This is also connected to the section of korbanos which we just finished. We ask Hashem to rebuild the place where we can bring the REAL korbanos, and do the Avodah like Hashem asked us to. |
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If you ask anyone what bracha we make on fruit, they will answer right away — Ha’eitz! But there are some fruits that are NOT Ha’aeitz, like bananas. Why? The halacha is that for something to be counted as a tree to make a bracha Ha’eitz, it has to have its branches all year, even in the winter when the fruits aren’t growing. The banana tree doesn’t work that way though! Even though part of the trunk usually stays all year, the banana tree loses all of its branches in the winter, and they grow again in the spring. So according to the Alter Rebbe, the banana tree isn’t counted as a tree, and we make the bracha Ho’adamah. This is also why other foods that we call “fruits” are really Ho’adamah. To see pictures and learn more about these halachos, see https://kidschitas.org/resources/articles/hoadamah-fruits-and-haeitz-berries |
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק בן ר׳ אפרים ע״ה מאסקאוויץ
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Planting an orchard is hard work. It starts by planting a seed, watering it, and waiting patiently for months and months. Once the tree starts growing, it needs careful trimming and watering, and protection from bugs and animals. So why does a farmer spend so many years growing an orchard? Because the fruit that will grow in the end is worth it! This is one of the lessons of Chamisha Asar Bishvat. The minhag on this day is to eat delicious fruit. This reminds us how wonderful the fruit is, and we will know that it is worth all the effort to grow it! Knowing about the fruit that comes at the end gives us encouragement for the avodah that a Yid does in the time of Golus. The Geulah is the same way. It takes a lot of hard work to do what we are supposed to do during Golus, but eating the delicious fruit on Chamisha-Asar B’Shvat reminds us that it is worth it to do all of this difficult work for the delicious “Geulah fruit” which we will get in the end when Moshiach comes! See sicha of Chamisha Asar Bishvat 5741 |
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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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| Credits: Chumash based on Kehos Chumash | thanks Chabad.org/dailystudy | most images chinuch.org |
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