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CHUMASH
Parshas Noach - Revi'i with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we start to learn about what happened right after the Mabul.
Hashem told Noach that his family and all of the animals should go out of the Teivah now. On the Teivah, they weren’t allowed to have children, but now all of them will be allowed to again.
So Noach and his family, and all of the animals and birds left the Teivah. From now on, the animals would only marry the same kind.
Since Hashem asked Noach to bring 7 pairs of the kosher animals, Noach realized that Hashem wanted him to bring korbanos. Noach brought from each kind of kosher animal and bird as a Korban Olah — a korban that is all burned on the Mizbeiach.
When Hashem smelled these special korbanos, it brought Hashem a Nachas Ruach. Hashem now promised never to destroy the world again, “Ki Yetzer Leiv Ha’adam Ra MeiNe’urav” — because people are not perfect, they are born with a Yetzer Hara, and they deserve Rachmanus.
During the Mabul, aside for everything in the world being destroyed, the Mazalos in Shomayim stopped moving. The sun didn’t move, the moon didn’t move, the stars didn’t move. There was no day and night, and of course there could be no seasons!
Now Hashem said that from now on, the world will have seder. The Mazalos would start to move again, and continue forever! Every day would have a day and a night, and the seasons of the year would never stop — “Lo Yishbosu.”
Hashem tells Noach about SIX seasons! You probably only know four. The seasons Hashem says are (in order of how they happen, starting in the middle of Tishrei): Planting time (Zera), cold (Kor), winter (Choref), harvest (Katzir), summer (Kayitz), and hot (Chom).
Hashem gave a bracha to Noach and his family, and told them, “Pru Urevu” — to have many children and fill up the earth again! They don’t need to worry that Hashem will destroy the world, because Hashem promised not to. They also don’t have to worry about the animals. During the time when people started acting in a not nice way before the Mabul, the animals stopped being afraid of people. But now they don’t have to worry about it being dangerous to live in the world, because the animals will be afraid of them again.
Before the Mabul, people weren’t allowed to eat meat. Now Hashem is allowing them to eat meat, but with certain rules:
- A person isn’t allowed to eat Eiver Min Hachai, a part of an animal or its blood while it is alive.
- A person is only allowed to kill animals, not people. A person isn’t even allowed to make himself bleed for no reason! So if an animal kills a person, it will get punished, and if a person kills another person, Hashem will make sure he is punished. A person is made Betzelem Elokim, to look like Hashem. If a person is killed, it takes away part of the Tzelem Elokim from the world, and the world looks less like Hashem. Someone who does this doesn’t deserve to live.
Hashem now gave Noach and his sons a mitzvah — “Pru Urevu!” Go have children!
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In today’s Tehillim, we have a very important kapitel: Kapitel Chof! This kapitel has special kochos to help someone. The Frierdiker Rebbe said we should say this every day.
Usually, we say it in davening — but not on a day when we don’t say Tachanun!
The Frierdiker Rebbe said that this kapitel is so important that if we don’t say it IN davening, we should say it AFTER davening!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Hey
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Now that the Alter Rebbe finished explaining the vort of the Baal Shem Tov (about a goy bothering a Yid in the middle of davening), he explains why some people didn’t want to accept this vort.
Like we learned, if you are in the middle of davening, and a Goy tries to confuse you and there’s nothing you can do about it, you need to think about how the Shechinah is in Golus in the words of that person, and Hashem is sending you a message to daven harder and with more kavana.
Even though some people learned Kabbalah, they didn’t think it made sense to say that the holy Shechinah can be in the words of a goy that is bothering a Yid. So they laughed at Chassidus. But every one of us knows that Hashem is everywhere, all the time. This is an emunah that every Yid has!
Together with the emunah, the Alter Rebbe also explains that Hashem CHOSE to put himself in Golus there, even in a goy who is bothering a Yid. Of course, we don’t understand why, but it is not surprising that a person is not able to understand the ways of Hashem.
This was only one example to understand things the Baal Shem Tov taught. If anyone has any other questions, the Alter Rebbe says not to laugh, but to send somebody and he will try to explain it to them so there will be no more questions on the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings.
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Today’s Hayom Yom is a continuation from yesterday. We learned that the Alter Rebbe said to Chassidim that we need to live with the parsha of the week. We should think about it during that week, and find lessons in the way we should live.
If we “live with the time,” then during the week we will feel like the mood of what’s happening in the Chumash. That’s why the first two weeks in the Chumash aren’t the most completely happy weeks.
In Bereishis, even though it’s happy and exciting when we think about how Hashem makes the world and is with us every moment, it’s a little sad to think about how people can act in a way that will make a Mabul happen.
And in Parshas Noach, even though the end is so exciting when we think about Avraham Avinu being born, still it is sad when we think about the world being destroyed through a Mabul.
But Parshas Lech Lecha is the first week that we are thinking only happy and exciting things from the WHOLE parsha! We are thinking about Avraham Avinu and his Mesiras Nefesh. We know that because of him, each Yid has that koach inside of his Neshama! We learn from the example that Avraham Avinu showed us — every day of the week!
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Shiur #179 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #114, Asei #55, Lo Saasei #115, #116
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Today we review the mitzvah of yesterday:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #114) We are not allowed to cut the hair of a sheep that is meant for a Korban.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Reeh: וְלֹא תָגֹז בְּכוֹר צֹאנֶךָ
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Bechoros.
We also learn 3 mitzvos about the Korban Pesach, since we are starting those halachos today!
1) (Mitzvas Asei #55) It is a mitzvah for every Yid to bring (or be part of a group that brings) a Korban Pesach on Erev Pesach.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Bo: וְשָׁחֲטוּ אֹתוֹ כֹּל קְהַל עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Pesachim.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #115) We can’t bring the Korban Pesach if we have chometz in our house!
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: לֹא תִזְבַּח עַל חָמֵץ דַּם זִבְחִי
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Perek Hey of Mesechta Pesachim.
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #116) The fat of the korban needs to be burned on the Mizbeiach before the next day. We are not allowed to leave it overnight. If it is left, it becomes nosar and is not allowed to be burned on the Mizbeiach anymore.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְלֹא יָלִין חֵלֶב חַגִּי עַד בֹּקֶר
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Me'ilah - Korban Pesach
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In today’s Rambam, we learn the last Perek of Me’ilah — which is also the last perek of the entire Sefer Avodah!
Perek Ches: We learn about people who are working using Hekdesh, like farmers, builders, or Kohanim. We learn that even these people also need to be careful with Me’ilah!
The Rambam finishes by reminding us that we need to do mitzvos carefully, even if they are chukim — mitzvos we don’t understand!
Mazel Tov! With that halacha, we finished the eighth Sefer in Rambam! Now we are going to start the NINTH sefer, called Sefer Korbanos. This sefer will talk about specific Korbanos.
The first set of halachos is about the Korban Pesach. In 10 perakim, the Rambam will teach us about the 16 mitzvos connected to the Korban Pesach! Only four of them are Mitzvos Asei, things we need to do. All the rest are Lo Saasei — things we have to be careful NOT to do. We will IY”H learn them all in Sefer Hamitzvos.
Perek Alef: In this perek, we learn the answers to the questions “What? Where? When? How?” about the Korban Pesach. (The Rambam usually doesn’t teach us the details of the WHY, which is explained in other places in Torah.)
Perek Beis: Now we learn WHO — who brings the Korban Pesach, and about eating it together as a group.
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Today we start to learn the halachos of Kiddush Hachodesh. We learn how the Beis Din decides when the new month starts. Because a month can be 29 days or 30 days, depending on if we see the new moon. If someone sees the moon, they come tell the Beis Din! The Beis Din asks them lots of questions to make sure that they are telling the truth.
How do they know?
There are ways to figure out how the moon should look at different times of the year.
The Beis Din knows which part of the sky the moon should be in, and which way it should be pointing. They know how wide the moon should be, and when you should be able to see it.
After we learn about the witnesses in the next few perakim, we will be learning about how the Beis Din figures all of these things out! This way they will be able to be sure that the eidim are telling the truth.
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When Hashem was about to send the Mabul, he told Noach to come into the Teivah so he would be safe from the water.
Did you know that the whole world is a little bit like a Mabul? The world is full of things that can be dangerous to our Neshama or to our body. Every morning we wake up and we have to go out into the Mabul again!
So what’s OUR “Teivah”? How can WE stay safe from the things in the world that want to stop us from doing what Hashem wants?
The word “Teivah” also means “word.” We can come into our Teivah, the words of davening and learning. Right away in the morning, we daven, and remember that everything is from Hashem! When we think about how Hashem made the world and is ALWAYS making it, and the reason for it is for a Yid to do what it says in the Torah, then we won’t be scared to do the right thing! We will know that Hashem is with us, helping us to fulfill our shlichus, and we will do it with simcha!
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Shlomo Hamelech built the first Beis Hamikdash. His father, Dovid Hamelech, had wanted to do it, but it was only built in the time of Shlomo Hamelech.
The Beis Hamikdash was a huge project! Tens of thousands of people worked on it, with over 3,000 people just in charge of making sure that the workers were doing it right! It took seven years to build it. When it was finally finished, Hashem had a permanent home in the world.
Do you know what month the Beis Hamikdash was finished in? It was in Cheshvan!
The Rebbe tells us that this is a special bracha for the month of Cheshvan — it has in it a segulah to get things of kedusha done! Just like the Beis Hamikdash, a house of kedusha, was completed in this month, this month has the segulah to help finish ALL kinds of Torah and mitzvah projects which spread kedusha in the world!
So if you have a project you want to do, this is the month to work on it. If you are studying for the Chidon, doing a private learning project, or trying to make a new Gemach, the koach of Cheshvan will help you get it done! We should make sure to use this koach as much as possible to accomplish great things in Cheshvan.
See rally Beis Cheshvan Tof-Shin-Mem-Gimmel
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The second posuk of the Twelve Pesukim starts with the words Shema Yisroel.
This is a posuk we all know, and we say it in davening and before we go to sleep!
The posuk Shema Yisroel has a very important message for us:
When the Yidden were in the Midbar, Hashem took care of everything for them. They had mahn to eat, their clothes grew with them, and the clouds washed their clothes! It was easy for them to see that Hashem is in charge!
When they came close to Eretz Yisroel, Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to the Yidden to get them ready for the new Avodah in Eretz Yisroel.
In Eretz Yisroel, there would be no more mahn. The clouds would not wash their clothes or smooth the way for them. They would see many new things — fields, wheat to grow, and animals to work with. It would be harder to remember who is in charge of the whole world!
So Moshe Rabbeinu reminded them:
Shema Yisroel! Listen, Yidden!
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echod — Hashem, Who took care of us in the Midbar, is the same ONE Hashem Who takes care of every thing that happens in Eretz Yisroel!
We are not in the Midbar now, but the same message is still important!
Shema Yisroel — listen, Yidden!
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echod — there is only One Hashem, and the whole world belongs to Hashem! Everything we see, and everything that happens, is all from Hashem.
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In Parshas Behar, the Torah teaches us about doing business like a Yid should. One of the pesukim has the words, “Konoi Miyad Amisecha,” “when you buy from your fellow.”
The Chachomim learn from this posuk that if a person has a choice, he should buy from a Yid.
Many years ago, there was a terrible terrorist attack in Kfar Chabad. After this attack, the Rebbe sent a group of bochurim to raise the spirits of the Chassidim and Yidden of Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe made sure that the tickets for these bochurim were bought from a Jewish airline, based on this halacha.
The Rebbe writes about these airline tickets in this letter of 5716
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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 this week’s Chumash, Parshas Noach, we learn the story of the Yonah, the dove that Noach sent away three times.
The main way we learn Chumash is pshat, understanding the meaning of the story the way the Torah teaches it. There are also other ways to understand the stories of the Torah. One of these is called remez, hinting.
We learn a very interesting remez from the story of the Yonah:
Yidden are compared to a dove. We are like the yonah that was sent away. We were sent into Golus. The first time, we did teshuvah and came back, rebuilding the Beis Hamikdash. Again we were sent away into Golus, again coming back ourselves to the Beis Hamikdash.
Then the yonah was sent away for the third time, and it didn’t come back. This is like us in this last Golus. We were sent away into this long and painful Golus, but we won’t come back on our own. Instead, Hashem will BRING us back, so that we can enjoy the Geulah forever and never again be sent away!
See Yalkut Moshiach U’Geulah Al HaTorah, Parshas Noach
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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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