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CHUMASH
Parshas Vezos Habracha - Sheini with Rashi
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Moshe is giving brachos to the Shevatim on the day he will pass away:
Levi: Aharon, who was the most famous Levi, was such a Tzadik! The Kohanim, who come from Aharon, will teach the Yidden Torah, and bring Ketores and Korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash.
If anyone tries to fight because they want to be Kohanim, Hashem should help the Kohanim win.
And if the Kohanim need to fight for Yiddishkeit, Hashem should help them! (This happened in the story of Chanukah — the family of Matisyahu Kohen Gadol won over the Greeks who wanted to stop the Yidden from doing mitzvos.)
Since Moshe talked about the Beis Hamikdash, now he gives the brachos to Benyamin who had the Beis Hamikdash in his part of Eretz Yisroel, and in tomorrow’s Chumash to Yosef, who had the Mishkan in his part of Eretz Yisrael.
(Even though Yosef should really be next, because he is older, Moshe gives the bracha to Benyamin first since the Beis Hamikdash — which is more important than the Mishkan — is in HIS part of Eretz Yisroel.)
Benyamin: The Shechinah will be in his part of Eretz Yisroel, as soon as the Beis Hamikdash is built! Once it is built, the Shechinah will never leave there.
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In Kapitel Pey-Daled of today’s Tehillim, we have a very familiar posuk! “Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha, Od Yehalelucha Sela!” “Happy are those who live in Your house, they will praise You forever!” (The posuk afterwards is NOT “Ashrei Ha’am Shekacha Lo,” though!) This posuk was added as an introduction to Ashrei, which we say in davening every day.
The main part of Ashrei actually starts with the words “Tehillah L’Dovid,” a song of Dovid. In this song, Dovid Hamelech praises Hashem with all of the letters of the Alef-Beis!
Why did we add this posuk of “Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha” before Tehillah L’Dovid?
Ashrei is in the section of davening called Pesukei Dezimra. In this part of davening, we praise Hashem before we ask for our needs in Shemoneh Esrei. The Chachomim tell us that Tehillah L’Dovid is actually the main praise of Pesukei Dezimra!
We add the posuk of “Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha” at the beginning to remind ourselves how special it is to praise Hashem, in Tehillah L’Dovid and in the rest of Pesukei Dezimra. We say, happy are those who live in Hashem’s house and spend time to praise Him before Shemoneh Esrei!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Beis
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In this letter, the Alter Rebbe is telling Chassidim that they should come to Yechidus only for RUCHNIUS things, like learning how to daven with kavana, how to learn Torah, and how to serve Hashem with chayus. For Gashmius things, a person shouldn’t run to get a bracha.
If something happens to him that hurts or is uncomfortable, he should remember that everything is from Hashem! Hashem loves him, and He is making this happen. He shouldn’t complain to the Rebbe and tell him to make it stop.
But if it is bothering him, is there something he SHOULD he do? He can’t just leave it alone!
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that Hashem also told us what to do:
(We know that the Chachomim who taught us Torah had Ruach Hakodesh. They only said things that Hashem put in their minds to say. So Hashem, who made these things happen, also is giving us an eitza through the Chachomim of what to do.)
In the Gemara, the Chachomim tell us “If a person sees that there are things he doesn’t like that are happening to him, he should think about his behavior, and see if there is something he needs to do better the way Hashem wants.”
That’s the answer! We need to think about WHY this is happening to us. Hashem cares that we act the right way, and when we start acting the way He wants, Hashem (who ALWAYS loves us!) will SHOW us how much He loves us, and we won’t feel uncomfortable anymore!
Still, we know that the Rebbeim DID give Chassidim brachos for Gashmius things too. In Tof-Shin-Mem-Ches, the Rebbe asked Chassidim (like the Alter Rebbe writes here) not to bring this kind of question to the Rebbe, and told us some other ways to get help.
Later, some Chassidim STILL sent questions and asked for brachos! The Rebbe asked the secretary, “Didn’t I ask them to stop sending these kinds of letters? Why are they still sending?”
The secretary answered that maybe it is like with the Alter Rebbe, where even though he said not to, Chassidim still kept asking…
The Rebbe heard this answer, and accepted it. The Rebbe kept answering the letters asking for brachos even for Gashmius things.
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The Rebbe tells us some Minhagim of Chol Hamoed, and especially for Shabbos Chol Hamoed. These minhagim are all printed in our siddur.
Today the Rebbe will explain a part of the Hoshaanos that we say today, with its “Chassidishe teitch” from a Maamar. To understand what it’s about, we first need to understand a few things:
When a Neshama comes into the world, it has a special job. It needs to use all of the Gashmius it finds each day according to the way the Torah teaches us to use it.
Ever since the Cheit Eitz HaDaas, Hashem made everything in the world mixed — everything has some good and some bad mixed together. So the things we find each day all have some good, and some bad. For example, food that we are allowed to eat has good and bad together:
- The good is that it can be used to get chayus to serve Hashem.
- The not good is that it could be used for selfish reasons. A person can eat just because he likes the taste, and then not use the chayus by just going to sleep or wasting time.
The job of a Yid is to use all of the Gashmius things and bring out the GOOD that is in it! This avodah is called the Avodah of Birurim. To do this avodah, the neshama uses its kochos, but it doesn’t need to use the strongest part of the Neshama.
Today’s Hayom Yom speaks about a different kind of avodah a Yid needs to do:
It can happen that a person feels that someone or something is trying to stop him from doing what Hashem wants! For example, if it’s raining on Sukkos, and he feels like he shouldn’t eat in the Sukkah or do mivtzoyim. Or maybe he wants to do a mitzvah, but he is afraid that someone will laugh at him or say something not nice.
When that happens, a person needs to use the STRONGEST koach of the Neshama! He should think about how there is NOTHING in the world that can stop him from doing what Hashem wants! Many times, these things we are afraid of aren’t even real! Hashem just makes us feel that way so we will have to use the strongest part of our Neshama, the Yechidah. He should just go on Mivtzoyim and do the mitzvos and whatever he knows is the right thing to do. This avodah is called the Avodah of Nisyonos.
Today the Rebbe tells us that when a Yid does the Avodah of Nisyonos, his neshama really shines! It makes him feel so good to do what Hashem wants, and nothing else feels important. He will now be able to feel very excited about the mitzvos he just had Mesiras Nefesh for, the way he usually gets excited about Gashmius like delicious food and fun trips!
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Shiur #163 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #124, Asei #88, #83, Lo Saasei #155
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Today we learn 4 mitzvos about korbanos:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #124) Part of the Korban Mincha (which is made of flour and oil) is usually eaten by the kohen. He is not allowed to prepare it in a way that will make it into Chometz.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Tzav: לֹא תֵאָפֶה חָמֵץ חֶלְקָם נָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ מֵאִשָּׁי
The details are explained in Perek Hey of Mesechta Menachos.
2) (Mitzvas Asei #88) The Kohanim need to eat the rest of the Mincha — the part that isn’t burned on the Mizbeiach.
This mitzvah also comes from a posuk in Parshas Tzav: וְהַנּוֹתֶרֶת מִמֶּנָּה יֹאכְלוּ אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו מַצּוֹת תֵּאָכֵל
The details are explained in Mesechta Menachos.
3) (Mitzvas Asei #83) When we promise to bring a korban or a present to Hashem, we need to give it at the next big Yom Tov (Pesach, Shavuos, or Sukkos).
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Reeh: לְשִׁכְנוֹ תִדְרְשׁוּ וּבָאתָ שָּׁמָּה וַהֲבֵאתֶם שָׁמָּה עֹלֹתֵיכֶם
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #155) We are not allowed to push off bringing a korban that we promised. If three Regalim (the three main Yomim Tovim) pass by and a person still didn’t bring a korban he promised, he is punished for not keeping this mitzvah.
This mitzvah comes from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: כִּי תִדֹּר נֶדֶר לַה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ לֹא תְאַחֵר לְשַׁלְּמוֹ
The details are explained in the beginning of Mesechta Rosh Hashana.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Maaseh HaKorbanos
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more halachos about bringing the Korbanos:
Perek Yud-Gimmel: We learn about the different kinds of Korban Mincha and how we bring them.
Perek Yud-Daled: This perek teaches us some general rules about when someone promises to bring a korban as a neder or a nedava.
Perek Tes-Vov: This perek continues with more detailed halachos about a nedavah, when someone promises to bring a specific animal to Hashem.
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We learn how to properly keep the mitzvah of eating matzah on the first night of Pesach. One halacha is that once a child is old enough to eat bread, we teach him to eat a kezayis of matzah for chinuch.
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Every day of Sukkos, there are guests that come to visit us. These guests are very special — only big tzadikim can see them! Still, we know that they come! We call these guests the “Ushpizin” — which is a word in Aramaic that means “guests!”
The Zohar tells us that each day there is one main guest, and all of the others also come along with him!
Today’s guest of honor is Yaakov Avinu.
The Frierdiker Rebbe tells us that the Rebbeim, starting from the Baal Shem Tov, ALSO come every day to be our guests. This is called the “Chassidishe Ushpizin!” One of them is also a main guest. Today’s Ushpiz (guest) is the Alter Rebbe!
Yaakov Avinu and the Alter Rebbe were both very special in their Torah learning:
Yaakov Avinu, like the other Avos, learned the Torah even before Matan Torah. We know that he learned in Yeshiva for many years before he went to Lavan’s house, and then when he was at Lavan’s house he also learned Torah all the time — more than the other Avos!
The Alter Rebbe was also very special in his Torah! He wrote the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch, two very important Torah seforim.
We need to take a lesson from our Ushpizin today and add more chayus in our Torah learning!
See Sefer Maayanei Hayeshua
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Our Shemoneh Esrei every day corresponds to the Korban Tomid brought every day in the Beis Hamikdash. On Yom Tov, we say another Shemoneh Esrei as well, called “Musaf.” “Musaf” means “additional,” and this Shemoneh Esrei corresponds to the additional korbanos that were brought on Yom Tov.
(Since Chol Hamoed is also part of the Yom Tov of Sukkos, it also had these korbanos. So we say Musaf every day of Chol Hamoed too.)
The Shemoneh Esrei of Musaf is similar to the Shemoneh Esrei of Shabbos and Yomim Tovim: First we say 3 brachos praising Hashem, one bracha about the special day, and 3 brachos thanking Hashem.
Here is what the middle of Musaf, with its one bracha, means:
1) Ata Vechartanu! We thank Hashem for choosing us as His special nation!
2) Vatitein Lanu — As Hashem’s special nation, He gave us this Yom Tov to keep!
3) Umipnei Chata’einu — Really, we are supposed to bring certain korbanos on Yom Tov, but because the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, we can’t do it. We ask Hashem to please build the Beis Hamikdash again, so we can bring the korbanos of the day!
4) We say the pesukim from the Torah that tell us which korbanos to bring on this Yom Tov.
5) Elokeinu Veilokei Avoseinu — Please, Hashem, in the zechus of the Avos, bring us back the Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash! We want to again come for Aliyah L’Regel, three times a year to serve You properly in the Beis Hamikdash!
6) Vehasi’einu — We ask Hashem to give us the brachos and kochos of the day, so that we will have more chayus in learning Torah and doing mitzvos. We end off with a bracha that Hashem makes the Yidden and the Yomim Tovim holy.
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Here are some halachos we need to know about the Bracha of Leisheiv BaSukkah:
- Even though “Leisheiv” means “to sit” (dwell), we only make this bracha when we are actually eating in the Sukkah.
- Whenever we spend time in a Sukkah, we SHOULD eat, so we can make a Leisheiv Basukkah!
- We only make the bracha Leisheiv Basukkah on Hamotzi or Mezonos, or on wine when we are making Kiddush or Havdalah.
- We need to eat at least a Kebeitza (like one or two pieces of cake) to make a Leisheiv Basukkah
- We make a new bracha only if we leave the Sukkah for at least an hour, OR we PLANNED on leaving for more than an hour (even if we changed our mind and went back in right away)
- If you go into a different Sukkah, you need to make another bracha — even if you’re in the middle of a meal! (So you might not have to make a new bracha on the food, but you would have to make a new Leisheiv Basukkah!)
See Shevach Hamoadim
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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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In the end of this week’s parsha, Rashi tells us that Hashem thanked Moshe Rabbeinu for breaking the Luchos — “Yasher Kochacha Sheshibarta.”
But Moshe Rabbeinu broke the Luchos much earlier in Chumash, in Parshas Ki Sisa. Why does the thank you only come now, at the end of the Chumash?
Right before the histalkus of Moshe Rabbeinu, when he went up to Har Nevo, Hashem showed him everything that would happen until Moshiach comes. Moshe Rabbeinu was then also able to see how the aveira of the Eigel Hazahav and the teshuvah that the Yidden did was all part of Hashem’s plan.
At first, Moshe Rabbeinu was only able to see the hardships and the pain that the Yidden went through because of it. But once he could see what would happen when Moshiach comes, how these things were really for the good, Hashem could thank him even for this painful time.
See Sefer Hasichos 5752, p. 430 ha’ara 81
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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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