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CHUMASH
Parshas Bereishis - Chamishi with Rashi
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In Revi’i of Parshas Bereishis we learned the sad story of Kayin and Hevel. We also learned about Kayin’s children and grandchildren, until Lemech was born, the sixth generation from Kayin. Today the Torah tells us more about Lemech and his children, who were the seventh generation, and in tomorrow’s Chumash we will see the end of the story with Kayin.
By now, the people living in the world were not acting the way Hashem wanted.
In those days, the men would marry two women. One of them was to have children, and the other one was just to have a pretty wife. They were afraid that if she had children, she wouldn’t look as beautiful anymore! Lemech also married two women — one of them to have children (Adah), and the other one (Tzilah) to be beautiful.
Adah had two boys — Yaval and Yuval.
Yaval invented a new way of being a shepherd. He would bring his sheep around to wherever he could find good grass for the sheep to eat, and set up a tent there to live. When that grass was finished, he would take his tent and his sheep and move to another place. He also built places for Avodah Zarah.
Yuval invented playing musical instruments. He also played these instruments for Avodah Zarah.
Even though Lemech didn’t want Tzilah to have any children, she had children too. She had a son, Tuval-Kayin, who made tools and weapons like Kayin did. She also had a daughter, Naamah, who later became Noach’s wife.
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Today we say the 15 Shir Hamaalos, which Dovid Hamelech made to be said on the 15 steps that lead from the Ezras Noshim into the Azara in the Beis Hamikdash!
Kapitel Kuf-Chof-Beis talks about when Yidden go up to Yerushalayim. Dovid Hamelech calls Yerushalayim an “Ir Shechubra La Yachdav” — “a city that is connected together.”
What is this talking about? Together with WHAT?
In the Gemara it says that there are TWO Yerushalayims! There is a Yerushalayim Shel Maalah, a ruchnius’dike city in Shomayim, and Yerushalayim Shel Matah — the city of Yerushalayim that we see. They are both connected!
The Gemara says that Hashem doesn’t go into the Gashmius Yerushalayim until He goes into Yerushalayim Shel Maalah, the ruchnius’dike Yerushalayim.
What makes Hashem go into these two Yerushalayims? It’s because of things WE do!
The Tzemach Tzedek explains that there are two things that bring Hashem into the two Yerushalayims — Teshuvah Tata’ah and Teshuvah Ila’ah.
When we do Teshuvah, it brings Geulah, bringing Hashem’s Shechinah back into Yerushalayim!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Hey
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We are learning about the Emunah we have, that everything that happens is from Hashem, and what it says about this in Kabbalah.
Yesterday we said that Hashem makes the world again from nothing every second!
The chayus that Hashem gives to the world has many names:
- In Tanach, it is called Dvar Hashem — Hashem’s word.
- In the Gemara it is called the Shechinah.
- In the Zohar it is called Ima Tata’ah and Matrunisa — which means a mother and a queen, that give chayus to their children and subjects.
- In Kabbalah it is called Malchus.
In Kabbalah, when it speaks about the chayus of Hashem called Malchus, it says that there are levels of Malchus that give chayus in different ways:
- There is the Malchus from the world of Atzilus that gives chayus for big neshamos like Adam Harishon, Moshe Rabbeinu and the Neviim.
- There is a level of Malchus from a lower Ruchniyus world called Beriyah that gives chayus to neshamos that aren’t as big, and another level from the world of Yetzirah.
- And there is the level of Malchus of Asiyah, which gives chayus to our Gashmiyus world and everything that is in it.
IY”H in tomorrow’s Tanya, we will see how Hashem gives chayus in a way of Golus to even kelipah. Then we will be able to understand what the Baal Shem Tov said to do if there is someone who gets their chayus from kelipah that is bothering you during davening. We should think that it is from the chayus of Hashem, which is in Golus, and Hashem is making it happen to bring us to put more effort into our Avodas Hashem!
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Even someone who grows up in a frum, Chassidishe home will need to make their own decision that they want to live a life of Yiddishkeit and Chassidus. In today’s Hayom Yom, the Rebbe reminds us that this choice is a very good one, because the Torah gives us the highest quality of life possible.
Some people think that living like it says in the Torah is only important for a person’s neshama. But that’s not true!
The Torah teaches a Yid how to live their whole life — from when they are born until they pass away. The Torah gives a person a healthy way of thinking, tools to make their midos into the best type of midos, and the right way to have a good relationship with Hashem and with other people.
A person who lives a life according to Torah and the way the Chachomim teach us lives the BEST kind of life, in Ruchnius AND in Gashmius!
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We already learned the mitzvos of not LEAVING OVER any meat from a korban past the time we are supposed to eat it, and NOT EATING IT after that time. Today we learn another mitzvah about that kind of meat:
(Mitzvas Asei #91) If any meat was left over (Nosar) from a korban after the time we have to eat it, we need to burn it! It is also part of this mitzvah to burn Pigul, meat from a korban where the kohen PLANNED to eat it at the wrong time.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Tzav: וְהַנּוֹתָר מִבְּשַׂר הַזָּבַח בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בָּאֵשׁ יִשָּׂרֵף
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Pesachim and in the end of Mesechta Temurah.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Pesulei HaMukdashin
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about kavanos that can make a Korban not good.
Perek Yud-Daled: For a kavana to make a korban not good, there are certain conditions: It only goes by the thought of the kohen who is bringing the korban, not the person who the korban is brought for. The kohen needs to be someone who is fit to do the avodah, the korban has to be fit to be brought as a korban, and the place where the korban is brought has to be fit as well.
Perek Tes-Vov: If the kohen had a thought that he is bringing a different korban (like if he thought he was bringing an Olah when he was bringing a Shelamim), the korban is still kosher to bring on the Mizbeiach, but the owners have to bring a new korban. But for a Korban Chatas and a Korban Pesach, these kinds of thoughts would actually make it posul, and it can’t even be brought on the Mizbeiach.
Perek Tes-Zayin: If the kohen thinks that he is going to bring it at the wrong time, it is called pigul. But that’s only if he did not mix in any other thought that makes it posul at the same time, like thinking that it’s a different korban or that he will eat it in a different place. (There are different halachos for a korban that is posul or a korban that is pigul.)
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We learn about the Daled Minim, the Lulav, Esrog, Hadassim, and Aravos. We learn how to tie them together, how to hold them, and how to shake them. The Rambam says that a child who knows how to shake the lulav has a Mitzvah DeRabbanan to shake the Lulav, because of Chinuch.
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In this week’s Torah Ohr, for Parshas Bereishis, we learn something very important:
Some people think that if they want to understand more Torah, they need to learn more and more. They will daven faster and not be as careful with mitzvos and having Ahavas Yisroel, because they want to learn more.
But Torah isn’t just learning from pages! Torah is the chochma of Hashem, and to be able to know what Hashem really wants from us in the Torah, we need to ACT the way the Torah teaches.
The Alter Rebbe promises us that if we do our mitzvos with Kavana and with a chayus, we will understand Torah much better and faster than if we don’t! What could take us 1000 hours to understand in Torah without our chayus in mitzvos and Ahavas Yisroel will only take us ONE HOUR if we do what we are supposed to! (The Tzemach Tzedek made a note on this maamar, saying that 1000 times faster isn’t an exaggeration — it’s really how much it helps!)
The Rebbe once told an older Chossid in Yechidus that if Chassidim will use chayus to go on Mivtzoyim and do it properly, they will have 1000 times more hatzlacha in their own learning and Chinuch of their own family!
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The Alter Rebbe says in Tanya that when we daven and learn Torah, it’s really a kind of Mesiras Nefesh.
Why? It doesn’t put us in danger!
The words “Mesiras Nefesh” mean “to give up the neshama.” When a person does Mesiras Nefesh, he gives up the life of his guf and returns his neshama to Hashem. We do the same thing, in a different way, when we daven!
We give up the life of our guf by not paying the guf as much attention as usual. We eat before if we need to, so that it won’t bother us in the middle of davening. We focus completely on the words of our tefillos and on our connection to Hashem. Our neshama is returned to the way it felt when it was in Gan Eden, when nothing Gashmius’dik distracted it!
That’s a kind of Mesiras Nefesh.
So when it comes time to stand before Hashem and daven, we need to do it in a way of Mesiras Nefesh. At least during Shema and Shemoneh Esrei (the most important parts of tefillah), we should forget about all of our Gashmius distractions. Only think about how the neshama stands before Hashem, pouring out its heart to Hashem, hoping to be connected to Him and do His Ratzon all day.
See Tanya end Perek Mem-Alef
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It is a mitzvah to cut our nails Lekavod Shabbos. Some are careful to ONLY cut their nails on Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov. They cut their toenails the day before (Thursday in a regular week), so they won’t cut their fingernails and toenails on the same day, which can be a sakana, as brought in Shulchan Aruch.
We are careful not to cut our nails in order, one after another. Instead, we do it by skipping fingers.
We start with the ring finger of our left hand (finger Daled), then skip one to our pointer finger (Beis). Then we go back to our pinky (Hey), skip over to our middle finger (Gimmel), and then do our thumb (Alef). (The siman to remember the order is “DeVeHeGA”.)
Then we do the same pattern with our right hand, but start from the other side. We cut the nail on our pointer finger (Beis), and skip over to our ring finger (Daled). We then go to the thumb (Alef), skip to our middle finger (Gimmel), and finish off with our pinky (Hey). (The siman to remember the order is “BeDeAhGaH”.)
See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Reish-Samach, siman Beis and Gimmel
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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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On Hoshaana Rabbah, the Rebbe would give out lekach in the sukkah to all of the Chassidim who would come and stand on line.
Once, in Tof-Shin-Mem-Ches, a small boy came with his father to get lekach. When it was his turn, he said to the Rebbe, “We want Moshiach now!”
The Rebbe loudly answered him, “Amen, Amen!”
The boy then asked the Rebbe a question: “Why didn’t Moshiach come yet?”
The Rebbe answered the boy: “Because you’re the only one who is asking! Your father is here to ask for a bracha for parnasa. And everyone else on line is here to ask for lekach, and are thinking about important brachos like health, nachas, and parnasa. You’re the only one who thinks to ask for a bracha that Moshiach should come! If you would get everyone to ask for Moshiach, just like you are doing, Moshiach would come now!”
Translated from the Kfar Chabad Magazine, published on Shmais.com
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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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