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CHUMASH
Parshas Vaeira - Revi'i with Rashi
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Moshe and Aharon begin their shlichus to take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim. They make a sign in front of Paraoh and bring the first two makos.
Hashem told Moshe and Aharon one last thing before they went to Paraoh: How to show Paraoh that Hashem is really sending them. Moshe should have Aharon throw his stick on the floor, and it will become a snake.
Moshe and Aharon went to Paraoh, ready to do exactly what Hashem told them to.
When Paraoh asked them to make a sign to show that they are coming from Hashem, Aharon threw the stick on the floor and it turned into a snake. Once the miracle was over, it turned back into a stick.
Paraoh’s magicians were able to do the same thing with their tumah magic! They all threw down their sticks, and they turned to snakes.
But now, Aharon’s stick ate up all of their sticks, and didn’t even get bigger! This was a neis that they COULDN’T do, and it showed that Hashem is in charge.
But Paraoh was stubborn and didn’t listen to Moshe and Aharon anyway.
Now Hashem would have to send the Makos to punish Paraoh for not listening, and get him to change his mind…
Makas Dam:
Before the first makah, Hashem told Moshe and Aharon to meet Paraoh at the Nilus in the morning in order to warn him. (Paraoh would secretly go to the bathroom there, so he could tell people he is like Hashem and doesn’t do things that regular people do!) They should warn Paraoh that if he doesn’t listen, Hashem will show him who is in charge! Hashem will make the Nilus turn into blood. (Since the Mitzriyim worshiped the Nilus, it would also show them that their Avodah Zarah is wrong.)
Since the Nilus saved Moshe when he was a baby in the basket, Hashem told Moshe that AHARON should hit the water. This was because we need to show Hakoras Hatov when someone or something helps us. It wasn’t right for Moshe to hit the water, when that was what saved him.
After hitting the Nilus, all of the water in Mitzrayim would turn to blood.
Moshe and Aharon did what Hashem told them. They warned Paraoh for three weeks, but he didn’t listen. Then Aharon hit the water in the Nilus, and all of the water in Mitzrayim turned to blood. The people were able to dig wells and find fresh water, though. This way the Mitzriyim could see that they shouldn’t worship the Nilus!
Some of Paraoh’s magicians did tumah-magic and turned the water from the wells into blood, and Paraoh decided that Moshe and Aharon were just doing magic. He didn’t want to believe that it was from Hashem, so he decided to ignore what Moshe and Aharon told him.
This first Makah lasted a week.
Makas Tzefardeia:
Right after Makas Dam was over, Hashem told Moshe and Aharon to warn Paraoh about the second makah, frogs. They should say: “Let the Yidden go, or else Hashem will send frogs to go all over Mitzrayim! They will first go into your palace, and then all over — even into people!”
After three weeks, Hashem told Moshe that Aharon should pick up his hand with his stick over the water in Mitzrayim, and the frogs will come out.
Aharon did this, and a big frog came out of the Nilus. When the Mitzriyim hit it, it turned into many many frogs. Paraoh’s magicians also made a frog that turned into many frogs, so Paraoh decided the makah was just magic and he ignored Hashem.
Paraoh wanted the frogs to go away, so he told Moshe and Aharon he would let the Yidden go if they got rid of the frogs. Moshe asked when the frogs should leave. Paraoh answered “tomorrow.” Moshe agreed to daven for the frogs to go away, to show Paraoh that Hashem is in charge.
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Today we are going to finish the whole Tehillim, from kapitel Kuf-Mem to Kuf-Nun! Since there are only 29 days in Teves, we say the tehillim for Yom Chof-Tes AND Yom Lamed.
There are five very special kapitelach at the end of Tehillim, where Dovid Hamelech says special things about Hashem! The Chachomim who put together the davening made these kapitelach the main part of Pesukei Dezimra, the part of davening where we praise Hashem. In fact, in certain cases, if someone doesn’t have enough time for the whole davening, the halacha is that these kapitelach are more important than saying some of the other parts.
The first kapitel begins with the words “Tehillah LeDovid,” “a song by Dovid,” and ends with Hallelukah, and then each kapitel starts and ends with this word.
The very last posuk in Tehillim is “Kol Haneshama Tehalel Kah, Halelukah!” “Every neshama praises Hashem — praised is Hashem!” The Gemara says that the word neshama can also mean “neshima,” breath. We learn from here that we should thank Hashem for every breath! Even though we only say thank you to Hashem at certain times, we need to remember it in our mind always.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Tes-Vov
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The Alter Rebbe started the Tanya with the words of the Gemara that tell us about the promise a neshama is told to make before it comes into a body: “Tehi Tzadik, Ve’Al Tehi Rasha” — you should be a tzadik and do not be a rasha.
Over the last 14 perakim, the Alter Rebbe explained what this promise means. First we learned about the difference between the levels of tzadik, beinoni, and rasha. Then we learned that every Yid can be, and should try to be, a beinoni, and in certain ways should even act like a tzadik. That is what the promise means: “Tehi Tzadik,” in certain ways be like a Tzadik, “Ve’al Tehi Rasha,” and not to be a Rasha, meaning to be a Beinoni.
In this next perek, the Alter Rebbe will tell us that there are even different kinds of beinoni — a regular beinoni and an oved. We will learn that a person should not only try to be a beinoni, but the type of beinoni that is an oved.
First, the Alter Rebbe explains why only a beinoni can be called an oved, and not a tzadik.
An oved means someone who IS working, someone who is in the middle of doing the work of fighting with the Yetzer Hara to not let it do anything in the body.
A servant of Hashem (an eved) is a tzadik. Just like calling someone “a king” means he’s already a king, calling someone a servant means he’s already done his job of working on fighting the Yetzer Hara and it is completely gone.
So an oved can only be someone who is in the middle of fighting with the Yetzer Hara, and that is the Beinoni.
IY”H in tomorrow’s Tanya we will learn about how it is possible to have a beinoni who is not an oved, and then we will see what we need to do to be the kind of beinoni that IS called an oved.
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“Anan Poalei Deyemama Anan!” The avodah of a chossid is to bring the light of Torah into the world.
How do we do this?
Certainly, we need to make sure that we act properly like Chassidim ourselves. But that’s not enough! We need to teach other Yidden to act like Chassidim and bring lichtigkeit to them as well! We need to help people understand that learning Torah and doing mitzvos itself is not enough, it needs to be done with a chayus! This chayus we get through davening the way Chassidus teaches us.
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We start a new Sefer in Rambam, called Kinyan (changing who something belongs to)!
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #245) is that we need to follow the halachos about when something is counted as sold. The Torah teaches us that the person who bought it has to show it belongs to him, like by picking it up.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn halachos of buying things.
In Perek Alef we learn about buying a field or house. Just saying that you are selling it doesn’t make it sold according to halacha! There are three ways that make the sale happen: One is by giving money. The second is with a shtar document. The third way is by the person walking through it, getting a key, locking it or other things that show that it is his.
In Perek Beis we learn how to buy an Eved to work for you, and how to buy an animal.
In Perek Gimmel we learn about buying things like furniture, and the Chachomim said that it is bought by shlepping it or picking it up.
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This perek teaches us many halachos about Taharas Hamishpacha.
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In today’s Chumash, Hashem sent Moshe and Aharon to Paraoh to do a special job: To tell Paraoh to let the Yidden go! To prove to him that Hashem sent them, they had a sign to show him! Moshe would take his stick and throw it on the floor, and it would turn into a snake! Then when he picked it up, it would turn back into a stick!
Why did they do this sign and not a different one? The Alter Rebbe, in Torah Ohr, tells us what message Hashem was giving to Paraoh:
Paraoh and the Mitzriyim thought they could do whatever they want. They didn’t believe in Hashem, and thought they could be mean to the Yidden and didn’t need to listen to Moshe and Aharon.
Moshe showed Paraoh that the chayus of Hashem is like a stick — a long, straight line. It comes into this world and hides even in the form of a snake! It goes into sneaky mean people and gives THEM chayus too.
Now it’s time for the kelipah in the world to realize where it gets chayus from to stay alive. Moshe showed them how the stick became a snake. And then afterwards, he showed them how the snake became a stick again, showing how the chayus of Hashem that was hiding inside can come out of the kelipah and go back to Hashem.
That’s what happened when the Yidden came out of Mitzrayim — they brought all of the kedusha of Mitzrayim out with them, and none of the kelipah remained!
See Torah Ohr, Dibur Hamas’chil Vayomer Hashem El Moshe
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▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
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Since davening today is instead of the Avodah of the Beis Hamikdash, we say the words from Torah that speak about the Avodah every day in davening.
In the Beis Hamikdash, after bringing the Korban Tomid, they would bring the Ketores. So after reading the part of Torah speaking about the Korban Tomid, we read about the Ketores.
We say a short paragraph as an introduction, and then read the parsha of Ketores from the Chumash. Afterwards we say the words of the Mishna that explain the details of the mixture of spices.
The Arizal writes that speaking about the details of the Ketores is very special. It is connected with birurim, taking sparks of kedusha that are stuck in kelipah and elevating them again.
The Zohar in Parshas Vayakhel speaks at length about the special rewards we get for saying the Ketores every day, especially when we say it with kavana!
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Many times we have things that are mixed together, like a bowl of fruit or a bag of candy. Choosing just one or some of them can be the melacha of Borer, which is not allowed on Shabbos.
We need to follow the conditions the Chachomim gave us to separate what we want Bederech Achilah, in a way of eating.
But what about other things that are not food?
Is it borer if I want to pick out only the wooden blocks from a big box of toys? Is it borer if I want to pull out my pajamas from a basket of clean laundry? Is it borer for me to pick out a sefer from a big pile on the desk?
There are some different opinions, but we pasken that borer is not only for food. Whenever we are choosing things on Shabbos, we need to be careful to do it not in a way of melacha.
See Shabbos Kehalacha perek Yud-Beis; Hilchos Shabbos by Pansa’im
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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 once wrote to a Chossid in a letter:
“Whether we like it or not, we are taking over for the Chassidim of the previous Rebbeim, all the way back to the Alter Rebbe, who started Chassidus Chabad!
“In every generation, the way we need to behave as Chassidim was set up for us, so we don’t have to figure everything out on our own. But WE have a very big job — to finish the work and bring Moshiach!
“If you think about this, even just a little, it will feel like a very big responsibility. We learn so many special things about Moshiach — and it’s all up to us to bring him!”
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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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