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CHUMASH
Parshas Vayigash - Shishi with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we learn how Yosef and Yaakov finally meet again. Yosef brings his brothers and father to Yaakov, and Yaakov gives Paraoh a bracha.
Yaakov’s whole family was coming down to Mitzrayim! Yaakov sent Yehudah to hurry ahead, to get things ready for everyone else. What’s the most important thing he needed to get ready? To set up a place to learn Torah, a yeshiva!
Finally, the whole family came to Goshen. Yosef came to meet them right away! In honor of seeing his father, Yosef set up his carriage by himself instead of having a servant do it.
When Yosef saw his father, he hugged him and cried for a long time. Yaakov did not do anything then, because he was in the middle of reading Shema and was not allowed to interrupt.
When he finished, Yaakov said to Yosef, “Now I can die happy, because I can see you and I know that you’re still alive.”
Yosef told his whole family that he would tell Paraoh that they are shepherds, and they have their sheep with them. He told them that if Paraoh would ask, they should also say they that they are shepherds. This way, Paraoh will have them live in Goshen, the best part of Mitzrayim, where there is plenty of grass for sheep to eat. Goshen isn’t so close to the big cities of Mitzrayim, and the Goyim won’t have to see them taking care of sheep to shecht later. This would bother the Mitzriyim, who used sheep as Avodah Zarah.
Yosef brought some of his brothers to Paraoh, and Paraoh did tell Yosef exactly what he had wanted, that his brothers should live in Goshen. Paraoh asked them to take care of his own (Paraoh’s) sheep too.
Yosef then brought his father Yaakov to Paraoh. Paraoh asked Yaakov how old he was, and Yaakov answered that he was 130 years old. But those were 130 HARD years, not happy years like his father’s and grandfather’s! Then Yaakov gave him a bracha that whenever Paraoh would come to the Nilus river, it would overflow and water the ground in Mitzrayim. This way, the hunger would be over!
When the Mitzriyim saw that the bracha of Yaakov, who believed in Hashem, is what made the Nilus overflow, they didn’t believe in the Nilus as an Avodah Zarah as much anymore.
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Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Nun-Hey to Nun-Tes.
In Kapitel Nun-Hey, Dovid Hamelech says “Erev VaVoker VeTzohorayim Osicha,” that he davens to Hashem in the night, the morning, and the afternoon.
Why does the posuk say Maariv before Shacharis and Mincha? Dovid Hamelech is saying that the Maariv of the night before is the Tefillah which gives Chayus for the whole next day. So Maariv isn’t just finishing off the day before, it also gives chayus and starts off the next day!
When we say Kriyas Shema at night, the same thing happens! It finishes off the day, but it also gives us chayus and koach for whatever will happen tomorrow!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Zayin
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What happens if a person gets married to a goy Chas Veshalom? This is a very sad thing. Hashem put every Yid in this world as a half of a neshama. Only by getting married do you become a whole Yiddishe neshama.
If a person Chas Veshalom decides to get “married” to a person who is not Jewish, they will only have a half of a neshama for their whole life!
The Torah tells us how happy a person is when they become a whole neshama: They get brachos, and happiness, and goodness. But if a person decides to only have a half neshama, that is very very sad!
One of the things we learn in today’s Tanya is that if a person gets “married” to someone who is not Jewish, that is an aveira and comes from Shalosh Kelipos Hatmeios.
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Today is a fast day. We say Selichos in Davening, and the long Avinu Malkeinu in Shacharis and Mincha.
When we daven Mincha on a fast day, we read the Torah. The haftorah for a fast day is from Yeshayahu. There is a posuk there that says, “Yaazov Rasha Darko, Ve’ish Avon Machshevosav.” This means, “A rasha should leave his path, and a person should leave the aveiros in his mind.”
The Tzemach Tzedek once explained this posuk to a chossid in Yechidus:
The word “avon”, which means an aveira, can be changed (by switching the nekudos) to say “oin,” which means strong. The Tzemach Tzedek said to the chossid, “If a person has very strong opinions, and isn’t ready to listen to other people, that is also something they need to do teshuva for. Because when people don’t listen to each other, it brings to the opposite of Ahavas Yisroel.”
So just like a rasha needs to stop what he is doing, a person needs to leave the “oin” (stubbornness) of what he thinks — not to always say “I think, I say so, I know.” Because if a person only thinks about their own opinions, it brings machlokes between people.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #238) is that if someone has a hole in the ground and another animal falls inside, the owner of the pit is responsible, and he needs to pay.
This mitzvah comes from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְכִי יִפְתַּח אִישׁ בּוֹר
The details of this mitzvah are explained in perek Gimmel and perek Hey of Mesechta Bava Kama.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about when the owner of an animal is responsible to pay for things it breaks.
Perek Vov explains what kind of animal is called mu’ad — that we can expect it to hurt another animal. If an animal hurts other animals on 3 different days, it is called mu’ad. If it only hurts animals on Thursdays, it is only mu’ad for Thursday!
When a mu’ad animal is sold to someone else, it changes back to a tam, an animal we don’t expect to hurt someone else.
Perek Zayin teaches us how much we need to pay if our animal hurt another one or broke something. The owner of a mu’ad has to pay for the WHOLE thing his animal hurt, but the owner of a tam only has to pay half. How do we figure out how much money that is? We figure out how much the thing was worth before, and how much afterwards, and the owner of the animal has to pay the difference.
Perek Ches tells us when these halachos are different — like for example an animal that is from hefker which means that it doesn’t belong to anyone, or hekdesh which belongs to the Beis Hamikdash. We also learn the halachos of when a Beis Din forces someone to pay.
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In the last perek of Hilchos Gerushin, we learn about an agunah — a woman who THINKS her husband passed away, but we’re not sure. Like if a man was on a ship that sunk, we don’t know for sure what happened to him — maybe he was able to swim to an island somewhere.
An agunah is not allowed to get married to anyone else. Of course this is very sad for her.
In the time of the Tzemach Tzedek, there were unfortunately many agunos. The Tzemach Tzedek used to work very hard to find a way in halacha for agunos to be able to get married again! We see this through many answers in the seforim of halacha that the Tzemach Tzedek wrote.
Mazel Tov! We have now finished learning this set of halachos!
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On Asara B’Teves, in the time of the first Beis Hamikdash, Nevuchadnetzar’s armies camped around Yerushalayim, not letting anyone out or in — even to bring food. Less than three years later, on Tes Tamuz*, the army of Bavel broke into Yerushalayim, and on Tisha B’Av the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. That’s why adults fast today.
(*In the time of the second Beis Hamikdosh, the walls were broken on Shiva Asar B’Tamuz, so the fast was pushed off until then.)
The Gemara says that the reward that a person gets on a fast day is for the tzedakah that he gives, even more than the reward that we get for fasting! It is important to remember to give extra tzedakah, which is the minhag on a fast day.
We should also take some time during the fast to think about the reason for these fasts in general, and Asara B’Teves specifically, and make good hachlatos in our heart to be better in the future, so the reason for the fast will go away!
The Rebbe explains that one of the hidden messages of Asara B’Teves is Achdus. The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because Yidden didn’t have Ahavas Yisroel, so Hashem gave Nevuchadnetzar the idea to make a siege around Yerushalayim — forcing everyone to be together. This was a message to the Yidden, that they should learn to live together nicely, with Ahavas Yisroel!
Unfortunately, we didn’t get the message then, but the potential was there to do teshuva and make a change.
We know that Teshuvah can change things, even in very dangerous times! In fact, there was a similar situation in the times of Chizkiyahu, which was much scarier! The army of Sancheriv, which was MUCH stronger than Nevuchadnetzar’s, and could have broken into the city right away, surrounded Yerushalayim.
But because of the tefillah of Chizkiyahu, the righteous king, Hashem made a big neis and took the Yidden out of danger! The Gemara even says that Hashem wanted to bring the Geulah sheleimah right then.
This shows us that even one Yid has the koach to change the situation of Golus, especially on a day like today, and bring the Geulah for all the Yidden!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof, p. 518; Likutei Sichos chelek Chof-Hey, p. 267
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The song the Leviim would sing in the Beis Hamikdash on Yom Shishi is Kapitel Tzadik-Gimmel. It starts with the words “Hashem Malach Ge’us Lavesh,” “Hashem has ruled, He has worn greatness.”
On Yom Shishi, Hashem created all of the animals (the birds and fish were created on Yom Chamishi), and the first people, Adam and Chava!
Once Adam was created, he recognized that Hashem ruled over the world, and told all of the creations to come and bow before Hashem! Now, once there was a person, Hashem was able to be a King. That’s why we say this Shir Shel Yom on Yom Shishi, because the first day that “Hashem Malach,” Hashem ruled, was on Yom Shishi.
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Usually we do not fast on Erev Shabbos because it is not kavod for Shabbos. But because this is the beginning of the Churban, we don’t push it off even though it is on Erev Shabbos. We want to fast and do teshuvah for this day so that all of the rest of the fasts will not be needed!
Children who understand what it means to be sad about Yerushalayim should be given only simple foods to eat, and not any treats, so that they also feel uncomfortable because of the fast.
On fast days, it is a minhag to give tzedakah before Mincha. Some people give the amount it would have cost them to eat that day. This way, even the food you DIDN’T eat becomes elevated to kedusha, through the money you gave to tzedakah!
Even if someone takes in Shabbos early, we do not make kiddush and eat until after Tzeis Hakochavim when the fast ends.
Like we saw in today’s Hayom Yom, we add extra parts to davening on a fast day. We learned that we add Selichos and Avinu Malkeinu to our davening. Because this year is Erev Shabbos, we do not say Tachanun or Avinu Malkeinu during Mincha.
We also have Kriyas HaTorah on a fast day. We lein “Vayechal,” about the teshuvah for the Cheit Ha’eigel and the second Luchos. In Mincha we lein a haftorah from Yeshaya, who was the Navi that spoke the most about the Geulah.
In Shemoneh Esrei of Shacharis, the chazan says the paragraph of Aneinu, and in Shemoneh Esrei of Mincha, EVERYONE says Aneinu. We ask Hashem that on this special day of the taanis, Hashem should answer us (“Aneinu”) and fulfill our requests — especially to bring the Geulah!
Of course, we ask for the Geulah EVERY day. But on a fast day, which is a special time, we ask Hashem for the Geulah even more!
See Halachos Uminhagei Chabad p. 126, 129, See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof p. 362, ha’ara 22, Day-to-Day Guide by Badatz of Crown Heights, p. 54 and on
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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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One of the sections of halacha in Rambam is called Hilchos Taaniyos, the halachos of the fast days. At the end of this section, the Rambam tells us that when Moshiach comes, the fasts are going to go away — instead they will become days of Sason and Simcha, joy and happiness!
There is an important reason why the Rambam tells us the halacha.
One of the basic rules of Torah is that Torah lasts forever. So how can the fasts, which are a part of Torah, go away?
That’s why the Rambam tells us here that the Torah planned the fast days to be this way from the beginning! While we are in Golus they will be days of fasting, and when Moshiach comes they will be Yomim Tovim!
So when the fasts go away, it isn’t that part of the Torah is going away, it is just that the fasts are turning into happy days like the Torah planned them to be from the beginning!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Chof p. 353, ha’arah 17
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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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