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CHUMASH
Parshas Shemos - Shvi'i with Rashi
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The suffering of the Yidden in Mitzrayim becomes very intense. Hashem chooses Moshe Rabbeinu as the one who will take the Yidden out of Golus.
In today’s Chumash we will learn how Moshe begins his shlichus. Moshe and Aharon go to Paraoh, but like Hashem said, he doesn’t listen. Instead, he calls the Yidden lazy and makes them work much harder! Moshe complains to Hashem, and Hashem tells Moshe he won’t get to go into Eretz Yisroel.
Now it was time to go to Paraoh and tell him to let the Yidden go. Even though the leaders of the Yidden were supposed to come too, they were scared and so in the end, only Moshe and Aharon went.
They told Paraoh to let the Yidden go and serve Hashem in the desert for a few days.
Paraoh said, “Who is Hashem? I don’t know Him, so I don’t have to listen.”
Moshe and Aharon told Paraoh that if he doesn’t let the Yidden go, he will get punished!
Paraoh said, “You’re just trying to make the Yidden stop working! You must be lazy, and they must be lazy. Go back to whatever you usually do.” Then Paraoh decided to make it hard for the lazy Jews! He said that they now need to get their OWN straw to make bricks! Then they will stop being lazy.
Now the work was MUCH harder for the Yidden! They had to get their own straw, and still make enough bricks! All of the Yidden were punished by the Mitzriyim because it was too hard!
Dasan and Aviram saw Moshe and Aharon by the palace and were very angry at them for making things so hard.
Moshe asked Hashem, “Why are You making it so hard for the Yidden? I went to Paraoh, and now instead of making things better, things are worse for the Yidden!”
Hashem wasn’t happy that Moshe was asking questions like that, and He told Moshe that he wouldn’t get to go into Eretz Yisroel. Still he would see how with a mighty hand, Hashem would take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim. Even if the Yidden would not want to leave, Paraoh himself would send them out to their Geulah!
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Today we say the first half of the LONGEST kapitel of Tehillim, kapitel Kuf-Yud-Tes! It has 176 pesukim, 8 pesukim for every letter in the Alef-Beis!
Most of the pesukim in this kapitel talk about how special Torah is and how much we love it!
Here is one of these pesukim: “Az Lo Eivosh, Behabiti El Kol Mitzvosecha.” It means, “I will not be embarrassed because I think about all of your mitzvos.”
The Rambam uses this posuk at the beginning of his sefer Yad Hachazakah (the Mishnah Torah), where he explains all of the halachos of the mitzvos of the Torah.
Why does the Rambam choose this posuk?
All of the mitzvos are in the Torah. We can find them by learning the pesukim!
For example, the mitzvah of Tefillin comes from the posuk which we say in Shema — “Ukshartam Le’os Al Yadecha, Vehayu Letotafos Bein Einecha.” “You should tie these words as a sign on your hand, and they should be a sign between your eyes.”
But if we try to keep the mitzvah of Tefillin just by learning the worlds of the Chumash, we will not end up with kosher Tefillin! Someone who tried that would be very embarrassed.
That’s why the Rambam uses this posuk at the beginning of his sefer: Because by learning the halachos in the Mishnah Torah, we won’t need to be embarrassed — we will know how to keep every mitzvah of the Torah properly!
See Yein Malchus (new edition) siman Beis
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Yud-Gimmel
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The Tanya begins with the words a neshama is told before it comes into a body, that it should be a tzadik and not a rasha. And even if the whole world tells you that you are a tzadik, you should see yourself as a rasha. One of the questions we asked is, if we see ourselves as a rasha, won’t that make us sad and keep us from serving Hashem joyfully?
Now that we know what a beinoni is, the Alter Rebbe gives us the answer to the question!
It doesn’t say that a Yid should think that he IS a rasha, it says that a Yid should think he’s “KeRasha” — like a rasha! A beinoni isn’t like a tzadik who doesn’t have a Yetzer Hara, a beinoni HAS a Yetzer Hara just like a rasha does — it’s just that he doesn’t listen to it.
So a person needs to be careful not to make a mistake and think he’s a tzadik if he’s really a beinoni — because then he could think he doesn’t need to fight his Yetzer Hara!
Even if he’s doing his shlichus ALL day, it doesn’t mean the Nefesh Habehamis went away. He’s just not listening to it at all.
Even during davening, when the Nefesh Habehamis has no say at all (like a tzadik) — it’s really just sleeping. Just like a person who sleeps can wake up, the sleeping Yetzer Hara can also wake up and go back to trying to make the beinoni get involved in the Yetzer Hara’s ideas.
There can even be a beinoni that can feel like the Yetzer Hara is not there ALL DAY, because he is learning torah Lishma. But in truth, his Nefesh Habehamis is still there, just that it sleeps all day. He’s not a tzadik as long as the Nefesh Habehamis is still inside.
That’s why the Gemara says that Raba considered himself a beinoni. Raba learned Torah all day, and he couldn’t feel his Yetzer Hara. But he thought that it could have been that the Yetzer Hara was just sleeping, and wasn’t really gone the way it is by a tzadik.
So we learned that the beinoni feels a very strong connection to Hashem during davening. But after davening, he doesn’t feel that strong love anymore! Compared to the level of a real tzadik, this avodah is not called Emes, true, because it isn’t the same all the time.
Still, the Alter Rebbe says that this avodah IS Emes for the beinoni, since a beinoni is always able to reconnect to Hashem by davening properly. So for a beinoni, this is called Emes.
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We are learning now in Chumash about Yetziyas Mitzrayim. In today’s Hayom Yom we see how Chassidus is like Yetziyas Mitzrayim, and one of the main differences!
The Rebbe Rashab said in a sicha that Chassidus makes a kind of Yetziyas Mitzrayim!
Being in Mitzrayim meant being stuck in a place that didn’t let the Yidden be the way they should. Yetziyas Mitzrayim is when they left that place and were able to serve Hashem fully!
Chassidus also does that! There are things in the world that distract us from living the way we should. Learning Chassidus and living the way it teaches us helps us come out of that “Mitzrayim” and serve Hashem fully!
But there is one main difference:
When the Yidden came out of Mitzrayim, they were never supposed to go back there! They were FINISHED with it!
But that’s not how we should act with the “Mitzrayim” of the world that tries to distract us. Chassidus teaches that we shouldn’t push it away and try to run away from it. We remind ourselves that Hashem made it and it is good, and figure out how to use it for kedusha!
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Today we learn three mitzvos about a Rotzeiach, someone who kills another person:
1) (Mitzvas Asei #225) The first mitzvah is that if someone kills another person by mistake, the Beis Din needs to send him to the Ir Miklat, and he has to stay there until the Kohen Gadol passes away.
This mitzvah, along with the rest of today’s mitzvos, are from Parshas Masei: וְיָשַׁב בָּהּ עַד מוֹת הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדֹל
The dinim of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Makos.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #295) As we learned, if someone killed another person by mistake, he needs to run to an Ir Miklat. This mitzvah is that the Beis Din is not allowed to take money from him instead of making him go to an Ir Miklat.
We learn this from the posuk: וְלֹא תִקְחוּ כֹפֶר לָנוּס אֶל עִיר מִקְלָטוֹ
The details of this mitzvah are also explained in Mesechta Makos.
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #292) The Beis Din cannot punish a Rotzeiach unless they follow all of the rules of having a trial with witnesses like we learn in Torah.
The posuk where we learn this mitzvah from is: וְלֹא יָמוּת הָרֹצֵחַ עַד עָמְדוֹ לִפְנֵי הָעֵדָה לַמִּשְׁפָּט
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Rotzeiach U'Shmiras HaNefesh
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In today’s Rambam, we learn when the Beis Din punishes a Rotzeiach.
Perek Beis teaches us the difference if the Rotzeiach did it himself or got someone else to do it. Of course, even if the Beis Din is not able to punish someone, Hashem will punish him if he deserves it!
Perek Gimmel explains how we make sure that the person really was trying to kill. The Beis Din figures out if the kind of thing they did, or what they used, is usually enough to kill a person.
Perek Daled: There are some times where if the Beis Din knows that the person meant to kill, even if they don’t have the right kinds of proofs, they can punish the person in another way to keep these things from happening.
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We learn what happens if the sotah changes her mind and doesn’t want to drink the water. (If Hashem’s name was already dissolved in the water, Beis Din could force her to drink it).
The Rambam finishes off this set of halachos with a lesson for a father: A father needs to feel the responsibility to make sure that his wife and children are doing what they are supposed to and following the way of Torah.
Mazel Tov! Now we finished this set of halachos and the entire Sefer Nashim!
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One night, when the Rebbe was in Vienna, he went into a shul to daven. While he was there, he put some money into a tzedakah pushka.
A knowledgable young man came over to him, and said, “How can you do such a thing? It says in Kisvei HoArizal not to give tzedakah at night!”
Later the Rebbe told the Frierdiker Rebbe what had happened. The Frierdiker Rebbe said, “That person probably doesn’t give tzedakah during the day either...”
The lesson the Rebbe learns from this is that sometimes when we want to do something good, people can say that we shouldn’t do it since we’re not doing it 100% right. But probably that’s because they aren’t doing enough themselves, not because of the excuses they are giving! So we should never let that stop us, and keep doing more good things, even if people tell us it’s not perfect!
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When we say the pesukim describing korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash during davening, Hashem counts it as if we are actually bringing these korbanos!
The first part of the korbanos that we say in davening is the paragraph talking about the Terumas Hadeshen. This is when the kohanim would clean off the ashes on the Mizbeiach from the korbanos of the day before so it would be ready for the new day.
Terumas Hadeshen was the first avodah in the Beis Hamikdash every day, and so it’s also the first part of korbanos in our davening.
Chassidus explains a Ruchnius’dike reason why we say the Terumas Hadeshen first. A person might think he is very special, since he learns Torah and does mitzvos. He thinks he doesn’t have anything he needs to do better. But when he comes to daven, he is reminded that he first needs to clean off his “ashes,” the parts of his behavior that are not appropriate. Coming close to Hashem in davening helps him realize that he needs to fix things up, and he will work on himself to become better!
See Sefer Hamaamarim Tof-Shin-Zayin p. 203, Ohr Hatefillah, vol. 2, p. 232
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We learned that picking something out close to when the meal starts is called “Miyad,” right away, one of the conditions that shows that what we are doing is not the melacha of borer, because that’s the normal way of eating.
The Alter Rebbe says that “close to when the meal starts” means when people start leaving shul to walk home. Having the meal ready for that time is still called Miyad, right away.
Now, what if we have a big bag of different types of challah in the freezer, and want to pick out some to use at the seudah? We can’t pick them out right before the meal starts, because then they won’t have enough time to defrost!
And what if we’re having a lot of guests, and need to make much more food than usual? We need to pick out the vegetables that aren't rotten so we can cut them up, and it will take a long time to make such a big salad!
If it will take a long time to prepare it, like if we need time to defrost food or prepare a big seudah, we are allowed to start as early as we need to be finished on time.
But we would NOT be allowed to pick out vegetables for the Shabbos day seudah on Friday night, because that would not be Miyad.
By only choosing things Miyad, not long before we use them, we are showing that we are not doing borer in a way of melacha.
See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Shin-Yud-Tes, se’if alef to gimmel; 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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A Yid has a chiyuv to believe in Moshiach and hope that he will come.
How do we fulfill this chiyuv? What do we need to know or think to be counted as believing and hoping in Moshiach?
The Torah tells us about many special things that will happen when Moshiach comes, and about the rewards Yidden will get for the mitzvos they did in the times of Golus. But the Rambam tells us that main accomplishment of the coming of Moshiach is that we will be able to keep all of the mitzvos of the Torah in the best way.
This is also what our emunah needs to be: That we know that we will be able to keep all of the mitzvos again, and we hope that it will be very soon!
See Likutei Sichos Chelek Yud-Ches, p. 280
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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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