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CHUMASH
Parshas Lech Lecha - Sheini with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we learn what happened when Avram and Sarai were in Mitzrayim.
When Avram came to Mitzrayim, Sarai was hiding in a big box. The officers at the border of Mitzrayim told him he has to open the box so they can see what is inside. When they saw Sarai, they decided that she was so beautiful, she should get married to Paraoh — so they took her away to Paraoh’s palace.
Sarai said that she was Avram’s sister, like Avram had asked her too. The Egyptians gave Avram a lot of presents, to make him happy to let his sister be Paraoh’s wife.
Sarai didn’t want to be married to the goyishe king Paraoh, of course! Hashem made everyone in Paraoh’s palace get a very bad rash that hurt a lot. This way he wouldn’t be able to even touch Sarai! Paraoh STILL tried, but Hashem gave Sarai a malach that she could ask to hit Paraoh any time he tried to come too close to her.
Paraoh realized that Sarai must be married to Avram, since all of these things were happening.
He called Avram to come, and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were married to her? Why did you say she is your sister? Now you got me in trouble with Hashem!
“Go out of Mitzrayim, since people here aren’t good people and will try to steal Sarai since she is so beautiful.”
Paraoh sent guards to go with Avram when he went out of Mitzrayim. He also sent his daughter, Hagar, to be a servant to Sarai. He decided that it was better for her to even be a servant in the house of a Tzadeikes who Hashem loves, than to be a princess!
Avram went back on his way to Eretz Yisroel, on the same road as before. (He felt that it was mentchlich to stay in the same places he did before, and he wanted to pass by the same places to pay back anyone he owed money to.) He went back to Beis-Keil, where he first brought a korban to Hashem, and davened there again.
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In today’s Tehillim, Kapitel Mem-Vov talks about how when Moshiach comes, Hashem will make no more wars. The world will be quiet and peaceful. “Lechu Chazu Mifalos Hashem Asher Sam Shamos BaAretz” — “Go look at what Hashem did — He made the world empty (of war).”
The Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Ohr that this isn’t ONLY talking about wars with soldiers and guns, it’s talking about fighting with our Yetzer Hara too! Nowadays we always need to fight with our Yetzer Hara to do the right thing, because Hashem wants us to work hard and become better Yidden.
But when Moshiach comes, we will rest from our fighting with the Yetzer Hara, just like we rest on Shabbos from our hard work all week!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Vov
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Yesterday, we learned how in the Zohar, the Torah is called the “Eitz HaDaas Tov VaRa” — “the tree of knowledge, with good and not good.” How can we say that any part of the Torah is not good? We explained that the Torah IS only good, but it puts on the “clothes” of the world, so it will be easier for people in the world to learn it. Since the Gashmius of the world is mixed with good and not good, it makes it look like Torah is too.
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us we shouldn’t be surprised that the Torah could wear that kind of costume — the Shechinah wears these “clothes” too!
Gashmius in the world is mixed with good and not good. This is called Kelipas Noga (a “see-through peel,” with good inside). The good that is inside everything is the Shechinah!
The Shechinah is in Golus, since it is inside of a “wrapper” that is Kelipah. When we learn Torah (which also wears the “wrapper” of Kelipas Noga in the world), and understand what’s tomei and what’s tahor, what’s mutar and what’s asur, we take the Shechinah out of Golus!
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Imagine that you got a message that the Rebbe wants you to come into Yechidus to speak to you. When you went into Yechidus to speak to the Rebbe, the Rebbe told you to do a special shlichus. Wouldn’t you be so excited to do exactly what the Rebbe asked from you?
This is what happens every time we do a mitzvah! Hashem is asking us to do something for Him — to wash negel vasser, to daven, or to learn Torah. Even though we’re just regular people, now we become very important, since we’re doing something especially for Hashem!
That’s what the word “mitzvah” means — in Aramaic, “tzavsa” (which is like the word “mitzvah”) means “connected.” When we do a mitzvah, we become connected to Hashem, like a great Chochom who asks for a special favor from a very simple person!
The Chachomim say that the reward for a mitzvah IS a mitzvah — “Schar Mitzvah Mitzvah!” Because the best reward for doing a mitzvah is that we become connected to Hashem!
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Today we learn two mitzvos about firstborn animals (bechor):
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #144) The bechor has to be brought as a Korban, and the meat belongs to the Kohen. This mitzvah has two parts: Someone who is not a kohen can’t eat the bechor. The second part of the mitzvah is that if the bechor was brought as a korban, the kohen is not allowed to eat it outside of Yerushalayim. (This mitzvah is only kept when the bechor doesn’t have a mum, and it can be brought as a korban.)
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Reeh: לֹא תוּכַל לֶאֱכֹל בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ וְכוּ׳ וּבְכֹרֹת בְּקָרְךָ
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #108) We are not allowed to be podeh (redeem) a bechor for money or for another animal. The bechor itself needs to be given to the kohen and brought as a korban. In the time of the Beis Hamikdash we are allowed to sell it if it has a mum, and nowadays we can sell it even without a mum.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Korach: אַךְ בְּכוֹר שׁוֹר אוֹ בְכוֹר כֶּשֶׂב אוֹ בְכוֹר עֵז לֹא תִפְדֶּה קֹדֶשׁ הֵם
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about the mitzvah of bechor!
Perek Beis: We learn about a bechor that has a mum. One of the things we learn about is what kinds of mum make a Bechor not good for a korban. If the bechor has one of these kinds of mum, the kohen is allowed to eat it also outside of Yerushalayim.
Perek Gimmel: Now we learn about how the bechor is checked for a mum that would make it not good for a korban. A kohen can’t decide for his OWN bechor! We also learn about using the wool that fell off of the bechor.
Perek Daled: The Rambam teaches us when an animal is patur from being a bechor, like if it belongs to a Yid and a goy together, and when it’s a sofek — where we are not sure it is a bechor.
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In this perek, the Rambam teaches us how we can figure out when the molad will be in any month of any year! The molad is when the new moon can be seen in Yerushalayim, which shows us when Rosh Chodesh should be.
We also learn about the Machzor of years, a cycle of nineteen years when the solar year (a year based on the sun) and the lunar year (a year based on the moon) catch up to each other again. In the Machzor, there is a pattern of which years are Peshutah (regular years) and which years are Me’uberes (leap years, with a second Adar added). Here are the years that are Me’uberes in each Machzor: Years #3, #6, #8, #11, #14, #17, and #19.
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The name of this week’s parsha is Lech Lecha. “Lech” means to go!
In the parsha we see how Avraham goes and does what Hashem is asking him to, coming closer B’Gashmius to where Hashem wanted him to go, and B’Ruchnius coming closer to Hashem. Wherever he goes, he is doing his shlichus to teach everyone about Hashem!
But some parts of the parsha don’t exactly seem like Avraham is moving forward! Right when Avraham comes to Eretz Yisroel, there is a hunger and he needs to leave Eretz Yisroel and go down to Mitzrayim. There, Sarah is captured and taken to Paraoh’s palace. Does that sound like going UP in kedusha or going DOWN?
Really, this IS all part of Lech Lecha, going forward! These things that happened were part of Avraham Avinu’s tests. As Avraham passed each of these tests, he became even closer to Hashem! And because of going down to Mitzrayim, he became rich and famous, making it easier to do his shlichus in a much better way. So even these “down” things are all part of going up!
The same thing is with Golus and Geulah. We are trying to go forward, up towards Geulah. But many of the things that happen in Golus seem to look like we are being shlepped even further from the Geulah, chas veshalom! Instead of things getting better, they sometimes look like they are getting worse.
But just like with Parshas Lech Lecha, these “down” times are all part of going up higher! These hard “down” parts of Golus are part of getting closer to Moshiach! It doesn’t always feel that way, but the truth is that the Golus itself is what brings the Geulah!
See Likutei Sichos Chelek Hey, parshas Lech Lecha
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The third posuk from the Twelve Pesukim starts with the word Bechol. It is a Maamar Chazal that comes from the Mishna. Here’s what it means:
Bechol Dor Vador — In every generation
Chayav Adam Liros Es Atzmo — A person needs to see himself
K’ilu Hu Yatza Mimitzrayim — As if he went out of Mitzrayim!
Why should we feel like we went out of Mitzrayim ourselves? The Haggadah explains why!
It tells us that if Hashem hadn’t taken the Yidden out of Mitzrayim so many years ago, we would still be slaves there. So we should feel the same thankfulness for Yetziyas Mitzrayim today!
Since we are NOT slaves, and we do NOT have to work for Paraoh, we are free to serve Hashem! When we think about this posuk, it should help us feel thankful for the chesed Hashem does for us, and help us feel excited to learn Torah and do mitzvos with chayus and simcha!
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In the Zohar Chadash for Parshas Lech Lecha, it says something very beautiful: When the Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai) would go to see kinderlach learning Torah, he would say that he was going to see the face of the Shechinah!
This isn’t just a nice saying. The sefer Kav Hayashar says that a melamed of Jewish children needs to keep this in mind. He should remember that the Shechinah is with them when they are learning, and he should be careful to do his work properly! He should also make sure that the room where he is teaching is clean and kavodik (respectful) for the Shechinah!
Poskim say that a classroom where children learn Torah has halachos similar to a shul or Beis Medrash, that it needs to be kept clean and treated with respect!
See Piskei Teshuvos vol. 2, p. 224
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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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We learn in Parshas Lech Lecha that Hashem promised Eretz Yisroel to Avraham’s children, the Yidden! Since then, every Yid feels connected to Eretz Yisroel and wants to be there.
A Chossid once came to the Tzemach Tzedek. He said that he very much wants to go to Eretz Yisroel.
The Tzemach Tzedek answered him, “Eretz Yisroel isn’t missing for R’ Hillel Paritcher, but it is for you!? Make this place into Eretz Yisroel — Mach Doh Eretz Yisroel!”
This chossid badly wanted to go to Eretz Yisroel. He could work on making his own place more like Eretz Yisroel, but he still won’t be getting what he wanted! So how did the Tzemach Tzedek’s answer help him?
The Rebbe explains that when Moshiach comes, the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel will spread out to the whole world! Part of our job in Golus is to get the world ready for this! When we work on making our part of the world into Eretz Yisroel by bringing in Elokus, we are getting it ready for Moshiach.
Now we can’t see that it is Eretz Yisroel, but when Moshiach comes we will see how our part of the world will change with the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel!
Other parts of the world will only really become Eretz Yisroel when Moshiach comes. But even now, when we prepare it for the way it will be when Moshiach comes, by learning Torah and doing mitzvos wherever we are, it starts to get the kedusha of Eretz Yisroel, which will be complete when Moshiach comes!
So by doing the avodah of “Mach Doh Eretz Yisroel,” the Tzemach Tzedek’s chossid really WAS starting to live —at least in Ruchnius — in Eretz Yisroel!
See Sicha Yud Shevat 5729
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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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