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CHUMASH
Parshas Lech Lecha - Shlishi with Rashi
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Lot became very rich because he went with Avram. He had lots and lots of animals and tents.
In fact, he had so many animals, that between Avram’s animals and Lot’s animals, there weren’t enough grassy fields where they lived for all of the animals to eat!
Avram’s shepherds knew to only let the sheep and cows eat from grass that didn’t belong to anyone, but Lot’s shepherds gave the animals food even from other people’s fields! They thought that Eretz Yisroel belonged to Avram already, and since Avram didn’t have anyone to pass it down to except for Lot, they thought they could take any part of Eretz Yisroel already.
Avram’s shepherds argued with them, because taking grass from someone else’s fields is stealing! The Torah tells us that the shepherds of Lot were wrong — the land didn’t belong to Avram yet either, and the Canaani and Perizi lived there.
Avram didn’t want to be in a fight with his nephew, so he told him to maybe move a little bit further away, so that each of them have their own space. He promised to stay close by so he could always help him if he needed it. (As we will see later, that actually happened.)
Lot saw that Sedom and Amora had plenty of water, so things grew well there. It had lots of beautiful trees, like Gan Eden, where Adam Harishon lived when he was first created. It had lots of plants growing, like in Mitzrayim. Lot also saw that the people acted in not very tznius’dike ways, and he liked that too.
So Lot decided to move there, and also to move away from the way Avram served Hashem.
The people in the area were very not nice. They did aveiros on purpose, just to make Hashem angry. But Lot didn’t mind living with them anyway…
In the meantime, now that Lot moved away, Hashem spoke to Avram again. He promised him again that Eretz Yisroel would belong to his children, the Yidden. Hashem told Avram to look all over Eretz Yisroel, in all directions, and it would all belong to him.
Avram continued to travel through Eretz Yisroel, until he reached Chevron, where he built a Mizbeiach to thank Hashem.
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In today’s Tehillim, there is a posuk that says “Avon Akeivai Yesubeini” — “the aveiros of my heels surround me.” Dovid Hamelech was saying that he’s not worried that he’s not keeping the “big” mitzvos that are written in the Torah or taught by the Chachomim, he’s worried that the “small” mitzvos — even though he’s keeping them — might not be kept carefully.
The Rebbe teaches: When we say this in Tehillim, we are also talking about our own mitzvos. Of course we are doing mitzvos — like keeping Shabbos and davening — and even being very careful with them. But we need to be worried about the “small” mitzvos, our Chassidishe Hanhagos — like saying Chitas or having Ahavas Yisroel for a Yid we never met, since we might not be doing these as carefully.
We need be careful with ALL of our mitzvos, the “big” ones AND the “little” ones!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Vov
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Even though the Torah itself is from the world of Atzilus, which is completely kedusha, it comes down into a world that has not-good mixed inside of it. By working hard to understand the reasons for the halachos of the Torah properly, a Yid takes the Torah out of its Golus in the kelipah of the world!
Yesterday, we learned how in the Zohar, the Torah is called the “Eitz HaDaas Tov VaRa” — “the tree of knowledge, with good and bad.” How can we say that any part of the Torah is bad? 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 bad, it makes it look like Torah is too.
Really, the source of Torah doesn’t have these things! But for us to understand it, the Torah needs to wear this kind of “clothing.” The Torah comes down to this world in a way that we can understand it, so we can connect to Hashem by learning Torah.
Gashmius in the world is mixed with good and bad. This is called Kelipas Noga. That is why the Torah, the way it is in the world, is in Golus inside the Gashmius of the world.
But when we understand the Torah properly, we are able to take the Torah out of this Golus!
How does this work?
The Raya Mehemna says that the questions on the Torah, which make it hard to understand the Torah, are also part of the kelipah surrounding the Torah. When we try to understand the Torah and take away the questions, we are taking away the kelipah, and letting the kedusha of Torah shine. That’s why when we learn Torah and understand it properly, we are taking the Torah out of its Golus!
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When the Rebbe Rashab was 4 or 5, he came to his Zaide the Tzemach Tzedek on Shabbos Parshas Vayeira. He started to cry, and asked how come Hashem appeared to Avraham Avinu and not to us?
The Tzemach Tzedek answered that when a 99 year old tzadik decides to have a bris, he deserves that Hashem should appear to him.
This story was told by the Frierdiker Rebbe in Tof-Reish-Tzadik-Gimmel and was recorded in the Rebbe’s Reshimos. The Rebbe repeated and explained this story many many times throughout the years.
One of the things that the Rebbe tells us is that since we were told this story by a Rebbe, we need to learn a lesson from it! One thing we can learn from this is that even little children can feel that they want to be able to see Hashem. Even kids can care so much about their connection to Hashem and Yiddishkeit that they will cry if they are missing it!
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Today’s mitzvah is to give Maaser from our animals! This is called Maaser Beheimah.
The tenth one from our animals is special — it is a present for Hashem! We are supposed to take it to Yerushalayim, and bring it for a Korban. Then we eat the meat of the Korban in Yerushalayim.
Really, we should keep this mitzvah nowadays, even without a Beis Hamikdash. We can still set aside our tenth animal and not eat it unless it gets a mum, like we learned before with a bechor. But the Chachomim were afraid that people wouldn’t wait until it got a mum, and would shecht and eat the animal even without a mum, while it still should be a korban. It is a very serious aveira (chiyuv Kareis), to shecht a korban outside the Beis Hamikdash (Shechitas Kodshim Bachutz). So the Chachomim said that we should not keep the mitzvah of maaser at all nowadays. We will have to wait to keep this mitzvah until the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Bechukosai: וְכָל מַעְשַׂר בָּקָר וָצֹאן כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲבֹר תַּחַת הַשָּׁבֶט הָעֲשִׂירִי יִהְיֶה קֹּדֶשׁ לַה׳
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about the Bechor, and about giving Maaser from our animals!
Perek Hey: What happens when we’re not sure which animal is really the bechor? The Rambam tells us what the halacha is in different kinds of cases!
Perek Vov: In this perek, we learn about giving Maaser from our animals.
Perek Zayin: Here’s how we figure out which animal is really maaser: We need to put all the baby sheep into one place, and put the mother sheep outside. We let them go out to their mother, one animal at a time, and count the tenth one. Every tenth one we mark with paint, and that one will be the present for Hashem.
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We learn about deciding when the first day of Rosh Hashana will be, which is different in each kind of year. There are certain days of the week that can NEVER be the first day of Rosh Hashana. We remember these days with an expression: “Lo Ad”u Rosh” — the first day of Rosh Hashana can not be on any of the days with the Roshei Teivos “Adu”, meaning Sunday (Yom Alef), Wednesday (Yom Daled), or Friday (Yom Vov).
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In the year Tof-Shin-Yud-Ches, Chinuch in America was not the same as it is today. There were not as many Yeshivos as we have now, and people weren’t sure if Yeshivos were such a good idea at all.
What parents were worried about was that their children should have “tachlis,” that they would get good jobs and make money for their families. So getting the best Yiddishe Chinuch was not something they worried about so much.
Yes, learning Torah is also important, but they figured that their kids could do that later, once they got a good job for themselves. It was enough that they spent some time in Talmud Torah, or even a day school. It didn’t make any sense to them for their child to learn in a Yeshiva, where they would just learn Torah and Chassidus all day!
Since most people thought this way, it was very hard to get people to give money to a Yeshiva like Tomchei Temimim. And without money, how can you have a Yeshiva? You need money for the building, to pay the teachers, and to buy Seforim! The Askanim that were trying to help Tomchei Temimim were worried. Not only did they not have people ready to give money to the Yeshiva to keep it going, the Yeshiva already owed a lot of money!
Some of the Askanim wondered if it was so important to have a Yeshiva like this, where the students spend their day learning Gemara and Chassidus.
From time to time, the Rebbe would give a group Yechidus to the Askanim. They would come to the Rebbe’s room, and the Rebbe would say a sicha just for them.
On Thursday of Parshas Lech Lecha in Tof-Shin-Yud-Ches, the group of Askanim had one of these kinds of Yechidus.
When they came in, the Rebbe told them something the Frierdiker Rebbe taught: That we can find answers to problems we have in the parsha of the week. The Torah is not a history book, it is a book of horaos! We learn it again every year, because every year we have new issues, and every year the parsha gives us a new koach to know what to do. And this week’s parsha, Parshas Lech Lecha, has an important lesson about Yeshivos:
In this week’s parsha, Hashem tells Avraham Avinu that Yitzchak will be born, and that Yitzchak will be his true nachas.
Avraham doesn’t think he deserves such a neis, and tells Hashem, “Halevai that I should have nachas from Yishmael, that would be enough!”
Hashem tells Avraham, yes, you will have nachas from Yishmael. But your TRUE nachas can only come from Yitzchak.
Why?
Yishmael was born and grew up in a natural way. His connection to Hashem was also in a natural way — he learned about Hashem in the house of his father Avraham, and when he was 13 years old he understood that it was the right thing for him to have a Bris Milah like his father, and he agreed.
Yitzchak was born and raised in a way of nisim! It was a big neis that he was even born, when Avraham and Sarah were already so old. His connection to Hashem was also not in a natural way. Right away when he was just eight days old, too young to understand or even know what was happening, he was given a Bris Milah! This gave him a connection to Hashem that would last not just for a year or even for ten years, but FOREVER!
This is how Avraham Avinu would have true nachas: From a baby that had a connection to Hashem that was not based on sechel, but was higher than sechel.
And, the Rebbe told them, the same thing is for every Yid! If we want true nachas, to have children that will stay Yidden and pass it on to the next generation, we need to raise them like Yitzchak! We can’t spend time thinking about what makes sense in our sechel. We need to give them a connection to Hashem that is HIGHER than sechel!
If we are only teaching them a little bit of Torah when they are younger, and the main thing we are worried about is how they will get a job when they are older, we are doing it wrong!
Yidden are the oldest nation, and the Torah is older than any ideas in the world. Yidden have gone through many challenges over the years and always survived with Hashem’s nisim.
Is there enough money? Maybe they learned enough Torah for now, do we really need to teach them more? What can we teach them that will help their parnasa?
Those are not questions that a Yid should be asking! We need to be like Yitzchak, that our connection to Hashem is HIGHER than sechel!
We need to give children the FULLEST amount of Torah that we can right now, and not wait until they are older. And, the Rebbe told the Askanim, don’t worry about the money that the Yeshiva owes! It means they are growing and borrowing money to grow even more!
When the students in the Yeshiva grow up, they will have hatzlacha from Hashem. They will become gevirim and be able to give big donations, enough to pay back all of the money the Yeshiva owes!
Of course, we know the end of the story: Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim continued giving the highest quality Chinuch even to the youngest children. It grew and still is growing today — in a way of nisim, higher than sechel!
See sicha of Vov Cheshvan, Tof-Shin-Chai; part of it is also printed in Likutei Sichos chelek Alef, Parshas Lech Lecha
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The words of the posuk Bechol tell us that we should imagine that we were taken out of Golus at the time of Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
This posuk is especially important for us nowadays!
At the end of the Golus, things can feel scary and sad. We don’t always understand what is happening.
We might worry, how can Moshiach fix all of this? We might be nervous, what will Geulah even be like? We might wish we knew, when will Moshiach ever come?
When we say the posuk Bechol Dor Vador, we see that we have nothing to worry about!
Bechol Dor Vador — In every generation
Chayav Adam Liros Es Atzmo — We need to imagine ourselves
K’ilu Hu Yatza Mimitzrayim — As if we went out of Mitzrayim!
Hashem came down to the Yidden in Mitzrayim, made them not slaves anymore, and got them ready to leave the Golus. When we think about that, we will know that Hashem will also do that again!
Hashem will take away the problems of Golus, and help us be ready for Moshiach to come! What Hashem will do for us will be even GREATER than Yetziyas Mitzrayim, taking us out of Golus and bringing us to the complete and final Geulah!
See Der Rebbe Redt Tzu Kinder vol. 5 p. 273
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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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The Rebbe shows us that the time we are living in now is very close to the Geulah, and the things we do now are a preparation for Geulah. One of the things we will have in the times of Geulah is a Beis Hamikdash. As part of getting ready, we make sure that we have a Beis Hamikdash, a home for Hashem, in ourselves and in our rooms and homes.
In this discussion between two of the Rebbeim, we learn how to make the Beis Hamikdash in ourselves shine!
The Rebbe Rashab would sometimes take a walk with his son, the Frierdiker Rebbe. Once, on one of these walks, the Rebbe Rashab explained how the small Beis Hamikdash inside of each of us works.
The Rebbe Rashab said that when Hashem told the Yidden, “Veshochanti Besocham,” “I will live among you,” a small Beis Hamikdash came into the heart of every Yid — from then until Moshiach comes. When a Yid would come to the Beis Hamikdash, it would make the Shechinah in his small Beis Hamikdash shine, just like in the big Beis Hamikdash!
The Rebbe Rashab explained (at length) how this happens in a similar way when a chossid goes to the Rebbe for Yechidus. By going to the Rebbe, it makes the Shechinah shine inside of the little Beis Hamikdash of the chossid!
Sefer Hasichos 5699, p. 297
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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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