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CHUMASH
Parshas Vayigash - Revi'i with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we learn how Yaakov Avinu starts traveling down to Mitzrayim.
Yaakov said, “I am so happy! Yosef is alive! Let me go see him before I pass away!”
Yaakov thought he might pass away in Mitzrayim, so he prepared a place to be buried in Me’aras Hamachpeilah before going. He paid Eisav with big piles of gold and silver that he earned from Lavan, so that Eisav would not fight over this place.
Yaakov packed up everything and took the whole family out of Chevron. They stopped at Be’er Sheva and Yaakov gave a korban to Hashem.
Be’er Sheva was the last city he stopped in before leaving Eretz Yisroel, and Yaakov was bothered about leaving this holy land.
Hashem came to him in a dream and said in a loving way, “Yaakov! Yaakov!” Yaakov said, “Here I am.”
Hashem said, “Don’t be afraid to go to Mitzrayim, because that’s where you will really become a big nation. I will come down with you to Mitzrayim, and make sure that you are buried in Eretz Yisroel.”
Yaakov and his wives and children went down to Mitzrayim in the wagons. They brought all of the animals and the things that they had from Canaan. All of Yaakov’s children and grandchildren came.
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Today’s kapitelach are Mem-Daled to Mem-Ches.
Kapitel Mem-Daled in Tehillim is the words of a Yid who cries out because of this bitter Golus. He asks Hashem to take us out of Golus for the sake of His holy Name which is with us in Golus.
In one of the pesukim, Dovid Hamelech gives a mashal for Golus. Golus is like a person sleeping, since the chayus of Hashem is in the world in a way that doesn’t seem to be awake and active.
We ask Hashem, “Urah, Lomo Sishan Hashem?” We ask Hashem to “wake up,” meaning to end this Golus which is like a person sleeping, and then we will be able to see Hashem’s chayus in its full glory in this world.
We can make this happen sooner through the Mesiras Nefesh of Yidden to keep Torah and mitzvos in the time of Golus!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Zayin
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In short: There is a second kind of Kelipah called Kelipas Noga, which if used Lesheim Shomayim can become Kedusha, and if not, it becomes a part of the Shalosh Kelipos Hatmeios.
In the last Perek, we said that anything which is not kedusha is called Kelipah. But there are two kinds of Kelipah. We talked about the Shalosh Kelipos Hatmeios, which is non-kosher things and aveiros.
Today we are learning about the other kind of Kelipah, Kelipas Noga. This kind of kelipa is anything which is kosher or allowed which doesn’t have any aveiros in it.
Kelipas Noga is in between Kedusha and the Shalosh Kelipos Hatmeios we talked about yesterday. Because sometimes it can become Shalosh Kelipos Hatmeios, but other times you can make it into Kedusha!
Here is an example of the two ways: It doesn’t say anywhere in Torah that we can’t have candies and treats! So we know they must be Kelipas Noga.
Now if a person wants candy but not especially to help him serve Hashem, the chayus the person gets from it goes down to the Shalosh Kelipos Hatmeios. It can’t go up to Kedusha because Kedusha is ONLY something done for Hashem and for His Torah and mitzvos.
But let’s say a person gets a treat in honor of Hey Teves, and is enjoying it at a Farbrengen, and it’s adding a lot of chayus and helping make good hachlatos — THAT treat becomes Kedusha!
One more example, from speaking:
Saying silly things and telling jokes isn’t an aveira, so it must be Kelipas Noga.
If we’re being silly just because we’re bored, it is not Kedusha, because we’re not doing it for Hashem.
But if we see that a friend is sad, and make some funny jokes so he’ll laugh, it becomes Kedusha, because we made jokes for the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel!
(Did you know that the Gemara talks about two jokers who used to make people happy? The Torah says that they have a special place in Olam Haba.
One famous Chossid who used all of his jokes for Kedusha was R’ Shmuel Munkes. Once Chassidim saw him in front of the Rebbe’s house, hanging upside down from a tree! They asked him, “What are you doing?!?” R’ Shmuel Munkes answered, “In front of a shoemaker’s house he hangs a shoe so people know what he makes. In front of the fish store you’ll see a fish hanging, so people will know what he sells. In front of the baker’s house you’ll see bread so you’ll know what he makes. So I decided to hang in front of the Rebbe’s house — so everyone will know that the Rebbe makes Chassidim!”
He did it in a funny way, because he knew that was the best way to teach Chassidim that they need to be Chassidim in a way they will always remember.)
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Do you know what you’re saying when you daven?
The Tzemach Tzedek made sure that the melamdim (teachers) who taught his grandchildren also made Pirush Hamilos part of their curriculum. Every month, the children would come to their Zeidy, the Tzemach Tzedek, to get a test on the meaning of davening which they learned with their teachers!
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Today we learn the mitzvah of Mikvah one last time (Mitzvas Asei #109). Dipping in a mikvah has the koach to make something that used to be Tomei, Tahor!
This mitzvah comes from a posuk in Parshas Metzora: וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם אֶת כָּל בְּשָׂרוֹ
The details are explained in Mesechta Mikvaos and Tvul Yom.
We also learn a new mitzvah from the new Sefer in Rambam! This mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #237) is that if one of our animals hurts or breaks things, we need to pay for what it broke.
This mitzvah comes from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְכִי יִגַּח שׁוֹר וְגוֹ׳
The first six perakim of Mesechta Bava Kama explain the halachos of this mitzvah.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Mikvaos - Hilchos Nizkei Mamon
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In today’s Rambam, we finish learning the tenth Sefer of the Rambam, which is about Tahara, and start learning a new Sefer, called Nezikin (damages)!
Perek Yud-Alef is the halachos about making hands Tahor, by dipping them in a Mikvah or washing them, which is the mitzvah of Netilas Yodayim!
The Rambam finishes off this Sefer with a lesson in Avodas Hashem: He reminds us that a person can also make his neshama Tahor, by going in a “mikvah” of the neshama! What’s a “mikvah” for a neshama? Learning Torah and deciding to do Teshuvah.
In Perek Alef of Hilchos Nizkei Mamon, we learn some general rules about what happens when an animal breaks something. The amount that the owner has to pay depends on whether he should have known his animal could do something like that (Mu’ad) or it was something it doesn’t ever do (Tam). It also depends how the animal broke it — by fighting, eating, or walking; and where it happened (in public property, or in someone’s private property).
Perek Beis explains more about the halacha that things that break while the animal is walking in public aren’t the owner’s responsibility, and he doesn’t have to pay. We also learn about times when it’s partly the owner’s fault, and he has to pay half.
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If someone marries a girl that is too young to get married according to halacha, if she decides she doesn’t want to be married to him, they don’t need a get at all. Instead they do something called miun.
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Just like in the Yomim Tovim on the Jewish calendar the Jewish women had a big part (like in the story of Chanukah, with Yehudis), also in this Yom Tov of Hey Teves, a woman — the Rebbetzin — had a very big part in the nitzachon of Didan Notzach!
A little over a year after Hey Teves, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was nistalek.
In a sicha after the Rebbetzin’s histalkus, the Rebbe spoke about something very special that the Rebbetzin had done. As part of the story of Didan Notzach, the Rebbetzin said about her father, the Frierdiker Rebbe: “My father himself, together with his seforim and all of his things, belong to the Chassidim!”
By saying this, the Rebbetzin made it clear to everyone that the Rebbeim of Chassidus continue until Moshiach comes!
The truth is, the Rebbe said, that this is not something new. The Alter Rebbe already told us this, saying that it was heard from his Rebbe the Maggid, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, that Chassidus will have hatzlacha for all the generations until Moshiach comes!
But there was something new and special about this: This time, it wasn’t just something that Chassidim knew. It was understood even by goyim! In fact, the words of the Rebbetzin were what made them decide that the seforim should stay where they are until today!
Today is also the yartzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the wife of the Tzemach Tzedek — who our Rebbetzin was named after.
See sicha Shabbos Teruma 5748
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In the Beis Hamikdash, the Leviim would sing a special song each day, connected to that day of the week. The song for Yom Revi’i was kapitel Tzadik-Daled, starting with the words “Keil Nekamos Hashem.”
The words “Keil Nekamos Hashem” mean that Hashem is an Aibershter Who will take revenge.
We say this kapitel on Yom Revi’i since on Yom Revi’i, the sun, moon, and stars were created. The sun, moon, and stars are what made Avodah Zarah possible, like the Rambam explains.
In this kapitel, we are saying that Hashem will take revenge on and punish those who use Avodah Zarah as an excuse to do whatever they want and not behave properly.
At the end of the Shir Shel Yom, we say the “little Lechu Neranena,” the first three pesukim of the next kapitel of Tehillim. These pesukim are the beginning of Kabolas Shabbos. We add this because the first three days of the week are connected to the Shabbos before, and the days starting from Yom Revi’i are connected to the coming Shabbos! We say the first pesukim of Kabolas Shabbos to remind us to get ready for Shabbos which is coming soon!
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In the year Tof-Shin-Beis, the Rebbe prepared a list of Chabad minhagim, which were supposed to be printed as part of the siddur. (In the end, they weren’t printed until 65 years later, in a sefer called Hagahos L’Siddur Rabbeinu Hazeken, but most of the minhagim written there are found in different Hayom Yoms.)
At the top of the list of minhagim for davening is today’s Hayom Yom, which speaks about how important it is to understand the meaning of davening!
It is a halacha that a Yid should understand the tefillos, and we see from here the importance it is given as a Chabad minhag. We shouldn’t wait until later to learn it, we teach children from a young age to understand the meaning of the words of davening.
When the Frierdiker Rebbe came to America, there were four mosdos that he set up. One of the mosdos is called Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, which was set up to help in all parts of chinuch. When the Rebbe came to America the next year, the mosad was given over to the Rebbe to take care of.
One of the peulos of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, as written in the back of Hayom Yom, was to make a curriculum for day schools, which had only a half day to learn Jewish subjects. One of the very important subjects, which is actually the first on the list, is davening and Biur Tefillah — understanding the meaning of the davening.
There is a very detailed list of what to learn in Biur Tefillah in each grade, starting from first grade and going to eighth. The younger grades, who are doing a shorter davening, start by learning what they actually say. Then, each year the students learn more of the most important tefillos, until by eighth grade they understand the davening for every day, Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, Yom Tov, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur!
We see from here how important it is for us to understand the meaning of davening!
See Hayom Yom Hamevuar, p. 79, Tochnis Limudim, printed in Wolf Bar Mitzvah teshurah
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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 the haftora of this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayigash, we read about the nevuah that all of Bnei Yisrael will become reunited under one king again! For many generations, since after Shlomo Hamelech was king, the Yidden were split up into two separate kingdoms. But when Moshiach comes, we will all again be ruled by just one Jewish king.
The posuk in the haftora says “Ve’avdi Dovid Melech Aleihem,” that Dovid Hamelech will rule over them. This is talking about Moshiach, who will be king over ALL of the Yidden.
Why is Moshiach called Dovid?
The Frierdiker Rebbe explains in a maamar that the name Dovid is a name of bittul. We see this in Tehillim, where Dovid Hamelech, even though he was the king, calls himself a poor man (oni v’evyon)!
Moshiach will also have this inyan of Dovid, of being humble. Moshiach will teach the greatest leaders of the Yidden, like the Avos and Moshe Rabbeinu! At the same time, he will teach the simplest Yidden Torah too.
The Rebbe talks about this in the last maamar edited by the Rebbe for Hey Teves (in 5752). The Rebbe reminds us that everything that will happen when Moshiach comes is dependent on the avodah we do now, in Golus. So to have this special inyan of Moshiach’s bittul, we need to do something differently now!
We can do this by spreading Yiddishkeit and Chassidus in a humble way. Even though when we teach other people, Hashem makes us smarter, that shouldn’t be the reason why we teach. We shouldn’t be thinking about what WE will get from spreading Yiddishkeit, we should think about how it will help the person we are teaching! Being humble in that way will make us deserve to have Moshiach, with his tremendous bittul.
The Rebbe explains, based on this week’s Chassidishe Parsha, that this was the Ruchnius’dike message of when Yehudah approached Yosef to ask him to let Binyamin go. Yehudah was asking Yosef not to think of what he would get, but to think of who would be helped by setting Binyamin free.
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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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