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CHUMASH
Parshas Toldos - Revi'i with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we learn how Avimelech comes to Yitzchak to renew his promise to have peace with him.
Earlier, Yitzchak left Gerar and went to live in the Gerar Valley, when Avimelech told him to move away. But while he was in the Gerar Valley, the Pelishtim kept fighting with him over his wells.
Now, Yitzchak moved again and went to live in Be’er Sheva.
Hashem appeared to him that night and said, “I am Hashem. Don’t worry about all the fighting, I am with you! I will give you a bracha to have many children coming from you, in Avraham’s zechus.”
Yitzchak built a mizbeiach there to thank Hashem. (We learned before in Chumash, like with Noach and Avraham, that making a Mizbeiach was a way of showing thanks to Hashem.)
Yitzchak set up his tent, and his servants tried to dig another well, but they didn’t find water right away.
In the meantime, Avimelech came from Gerar together with his friends and Fichol his general. Yitzchak asked, “Why are you coming here? You hate me, and sent me away!”
They answered, “We see that Hashem is with you, like with your father. We want you to keep your father’s promise not to bother us, just like we didn’t hurt you when we told you to leave.”
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Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Yud through Yud-Zayin.
Tehillim tidbits from the Rebbeim of Chassidus:
Baal Shem Tov: In Kapitel Yud, it says “Rasha Kegova Apo Bal Yidrosh” — “A Rasha, because of his gaavah and chutzpah, doesn’t think about how Hashem will punish people who deserve it.”
The Baal Shem Tov tells us that this posuk shows us why it is important to be humble to learn Torah properly: A person who is humble will learn from the Chachomim to understand better the way Hashem wants us to live. But a person with gaavah, “Bal Yidrosh” — he thinks he doesn’t need to hear from anyone else to understand better (“Yidrosh” can also mean to learn), he thinks he is smart enough on his own and doesn’t need to learn more.
See Keser Shem Tov siman Kuf-Mem-Tes
Maggid: In Kapitel Tes-Vov, there is a posuk that starts with the words, “Lo Ragal Al Leshono” — “he doesn’t speak Lashon Hara.” This kapitel is talking about the special things a tzadik has in order to go up to Gan Eden.
Because the tzadik is careful with how he speaks, something special happens!
When a person says Lashon Hara, those words go up to Shomayim. Later, when he speaks words of Torah, the Yetzer Hara tries to push away those words because of the words of Lashon Hara that he said. But because a tzadik DOESN’T have Lashon Hara, his words of Torah and Tefillah go straight up to Hashem!
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TANYA
Kuntres Acharon Siman Daled
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It says in Kabbalah that learning Torah, doing mitzvos, and davening make sparks of Ruchnius that are hiding in Gashmius go up to kedusha. In today’s Tanya we see how davening is extra-special! Davening brings the koach of Ein Sof of Hashem into the world to make a change in the world because of what we asked in our Tefillah!
Hashem made the world work in a natural way. The way the world works can make someone get sick chas veshalom, or to chas veshalom not have parnasa, or have a problem in the family. Only the koach that Hashem uses to make the world can change those things — because Hashem MADE it, Hashem can CHANGE it!
Guess what? We bring THIS koach of Hashem in the world when we daven! When we daven, we can ask Hashem to change something in the way the world works!
Chana, the mother of Shmuel Hanavi, didn’t have children for many years. Penina would try to make her feel bad that she wasn’t special. She was very hurt and davened hard to Hashem. That caused Hashem to make a CHANGE in the nature of the world and she had a child — Shmuel Hanavi.
Everything that Hashem does in the world needs to come through the Avodah of a Yid.
What do we need to do so we can deserve to have this special koach when we daven? We need to do just what Hashem does! Hashem’s strongest koach is used to make a change in the world, and WE need to use OUR strongest koach to serve Hashem! When we give all of our chayus to do what Hashem wants — Bechol Me’odecha — Hashem acts the same way, and uses the strongest koach of Ein Sof to change things in the world so Yidden will have all the good things we need.
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The Gemara tells about an Amora called R’ Elazar. He used to be careful to give tzedakah before he davened.
In a maamar, the Rebbe Maharash explained why: Davening needs to be done with chayus. But we need Hashem’s help to get chayus! When we help ANOTHER Yid to have chayus, by giving tzedakah or helping him in another way, Hashem gives US a lot of chayus for our davening to be very special! (When saying the maamar, the Rebbe Maharash showed with his hands that the chayus is VERY much!)
The Rebbe Rashab was very careful to do this. Before davening, he would LOOK for a poor person to give Tzedakah to!
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Today we learn the same mitzvah one last time: (Mitzvas Asei #108) This mitzvah is about Mei Nidah — the water that is mixed with the ashes of the Parah Adumah. There are some kinds of things that it makes tamei, and other things that it makes tahor! The mitzvah is to follow all of these halachos.
At the end of this mitzvah, the Rambam tells us the source of all of the mitzvos of Tumah and Tahara in the Torah (Parshas Shemini, Tazria, Metzora, and Chukas), where they are explained in Mishnayos (Seder Taharos), and which mesechtos explain which mitzvos.
We also learn a new mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #101) about Tumas Tzoraas — the kind of Tumah that comes from someone who got Tzoraas. This mitzvah includes all of the dinim of Tzoraas when it is on a person, including when it is tomei, when it is tahor, when a person needs to go away for seven days, if he needs to shave the hair around the tzoraas, and all of the other details.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Parah Adumah - Tumas Tzoraas
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In today's Rambam, we finish learning about the Mei Nidah, the water mixed with ashes from the Parah Adumah:
Perek Yud-Daled: The Rambam explains how the container with the Mei Nidah can become tomei, and why we need to be extra-careful with it because of the extra-strict dinim which there are for the Parah Adumah.
Perek Tes-Vov: This perek teaches us about what happens when the Mei Nidah is touched or used for a different reason, not for making someone tahor. If it was touched before the mitzvah was done and the water was kosher, then the person becomes tomei. If it was used after the mitzvah was done or if the water was posul, then the person remains tahor.
Now we start learning about Tumas Tzoraas:
Perek Alef: First the Rambam explains the colors of the different kinds of Tzoraas.
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Some of the halachos in today’s perek are about which people aren’t allowed to get married to each other. One halacha is that a Kohen Gadol can’t get married to anyone who was married before.
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Today is a Chassidishe Yom Tov!
In about a month we will celebrate Hey Teves, the day when we celebrate Didan Notzach, when even goyim in court recognized what a Rebbe is, and that the seforim that were argued about belong to the Rebbe and to Chassidim. But even though this was decided on Hey Teves, the seforim which were taken from the Rebbe’s library were not brought back until today, Beis Kislev.
When the seforim came back to 770, the Rebbe and Chassidim were very happy!
The Rebbe saw some bochurim standing outside during seder (the time of learning in Yeshiva) waiting for the seforim to come back, and reminded them that Didan Notzach means that we should learn from the seforim and live the way a chossid should!
The Rebbe asked to print some of these seforim, so EVERYONE can learn from them!
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The tenth posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim is the posuk Ve’ahavta.
The words come from a Medrash (Sifra, also called Toras Kohanim) that explains a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim, “Ve’ahavta Le’reiacha Kamocha,” “you should love your friend like you love yourself.”
The Medrash says on this posuk, that Rabbi Akiva calls this posuk a “klal gadol” of the Torah!
What is a “Klal Gadol”?
It means a rule that is so important, that if you miss it, you missed the whole thing!
Imagine if someone tells you that he made a big Chanukah party for all of his friends. There were donuts, and latkes, and chocolate gelt. “And what kind of Menorah did you light?” you ask. “Oh, we didn’t light the menorah at all. We had lots of other Chanukah things.” Oy vey, you’ll be thinking. He missed the whole point! How can you have Chanukah without a menorah?
The Torah is so beautiful and so precious! It helps us all the time, in everything we do. But if we don’t have Ahavas Yisroel, if we don’t care about another Yid, and just keep the Torah for ourselves, we don’t have Torah at all! Rabbi Akiva tells us that you can’t have Torah without having Ahavas Yisroel!
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Shema is supposed to help us realize that nothing exists aside for Hashem. That will help us be ready to do all of His mitzvos, no matter what!
In order to feel this, we need to have kavana when we say Shema.
We make sure to say Shema out loud, not just in a whisper, because that helps us have kavana.
We also close our eyes and cover them with our right hand when we say the first line of Shema. This helps keep us from getting distracted by the things around us. We are able to think about what the words mean, and that the words should bring us to have Kabolas Ol and Mesiras Nefesh.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Siman Samach Alef Se’if Hey
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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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There are some halachos that are about things that are not possible to happen. For example, the Chachomim tell us about an Ir Hanidachas, that it never happened and it never will happen. These halachos warn us about something not good we should stay away from, but these actual things can’t really happen.
If these halachos are impossible nowadays, then they DEFINITELY will be impossible when Moshiach comes, and there won’t be any not good things in the world anymore!
Still, the halachos of Torah stay FOREVER, including when Moshiach comes.
One of the reasons is because every halacha has a source in Ruchnius. Even if it’s not practical to KEEP the halacha, the halacha still has a meaning in Ruchnius that we connect to when we learn it.
So even when Moshiach comes, all of the halachos the Torah will stay forever!
See Kuntres Halachos Shel Torah Shebaal Peh She’ainan Beteilin Le’olam, printed in Sefer Hasichos 5752, p. 32, ha’ara 49
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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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