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CHUMASH
Parshas Beshalach - Shvi'i with Rashi
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We are learning about the travels of the Yidden after Kriyas Yam Suf, on their way to receive the Torah.
The Yidden traveled to another place, and there was no water there. The Yidden (except for Shevet Levi) complained AGAIN! Moshe got very frustrated with the Yidden.
Hashem told Moshe to hit a rock with his stick, and water would come out. Moshe did, and the water came out of the rock!
Since Hashem saw that the Yidden didn’t believe that He was taking care of them all the time, Hashem let the people of Amalek have the chutzpah to fight against the Yidden! Most of the Yidden were inside of Hashem’s clouds, so they were safe, but a few Yidden who did aveiros were outside.
Moshe told Hoshea (who would later become Yehoshua) that they need to fight against Amalek, even though most of the Yidden are safe. Hoshea picked soldiers to fight, and Moshe (with Aharon and Chur) went up onto a hill to daven. Whenever Moshe picked up his hands to remind the Yidden to daven to Hashem, the Yidden were winning! When they forgot to daven to Hashem, Amalek was winning.
Since Moshe should have fought himself, Hashem didn’t give Moshe koach to hold up his hands for so long. So Aharon and Chur gave Moshe a stone to sit on, and held his hands up. Moshe didn’t let the sun set until the Yidden won the war!
Hashem told Moshe not to kill all of the Amalek people yet. He should write down in the Torah that we should remember what Amalek did — and that when the Yidden come to Eretz Yisroel, they should wipe out the nation of Amalek!
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Every single kapitel in today’s Tehillim has a special niggun which was made in honor of the Rebbe’s Yom Huledes! Can you find the niggun in each one?
In Kapitel Pey-Daled, the niggun is “Yeilchu Mechayil El Choyil, Yeiro’eh El Elokim BeTzion.” This means that people who trust in Hashem go from strength to strength, and they will go before Hashem in Yerushalayim.
The Rebbe tells us that Yeilchu Meichayil El Choyil, when we are always doing better than before, brings Yeiro’eh El Elokim Betzion, that we will be able to go to the Beis Hamikdosh! When we keep trying to do better, every single day and every single hour, we will bring Moshiach!
Chassidus says that there is a new chayus from Hashem that comes into the world, not just every day, but every hour! When that chayus comes, we get more opportunities to grow in Yiddishkeit! We need to make sure to use that new energy to do more!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Beis
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We’re learning in short about the inyan of Achdus Hashem. Every Yid believes with emunah that there is nothing that exists aside for Hashem. Still, a person’s mind might understand differently than what he believes, and keep him from acting the way he should! That’s why it’s important to make sure we also understand Achdus Hashem with our sechel, so that our sechel will guide us to act the way Hashem wants us to.
The Mitteler Rebbe writes in the introduction to his sefer Imrei Bina, that the purpose of all of the maamorim that the Alter Rebbe said every Shabbos in public and in private were all with this goal — so that Chassidim, each one at his own level, will be able to understand and appreciate the inyan of Achdus Hashem. This will make a difference in everything they do!
When a person looks around at the world, it might seem (to his sechel) that there are things that are separate from Hashem.
The Alter Rebbe tells us that, of course nothing is separate from Hashem! Hashem created the world for us to have free choice, so He created something that will be the “opposite” of kedusha so we will have what to choose between.
Hashem hid the chayus He used to create the world so much, that things which are tomei and kelipah and Sitra Achara can also exist. These things deny Achdus Hashem, they seem to be against Hashem!
They are called “Elokim Acheirim,” which is related to the word “Achorayim.” Achorayim means “from the back.”
They are called this because they get their chayus of Hashem “from the back,” and not “from the front.” What does this mean?
Let’s say you want to give a present to your friend. You wrap it up beautifully, bring it to a nice place, and give it to him with a smile! That’s like giving something “from the front.”
But what if a person has someone that he doesn’t like, and he needs to pay him money? He won’t wrap it up in fancy paper! He will drop it off, with an upset face, and leave as quickly as he can! Because he is just throwing it down and turning away, it is like giving something “from the back.”
The same is with Hashem giving chayus to everything in the world. Since Hashem wanted to reward tzadikim who break their Yetzer Hara and act the way Hashem wants, He has to give us a choice. We need to have a choice between kedusha and kelipah — so Hashem “needed” to create kelipah too. But the chayus Hashem gives to kelipah is in a way of Achorayim, like the way someone gives something to a person he doesn’t really want to give it to.
Because Hashem made kelipah to deny Achdus Hashem and feel that it is separate, we can use the mashal for Hashem creating the world with Dibur (speaking) the way we use the mashal of speaking. When we say something, the words become separate. This fits with how Hashem made the world, because Hashem made kelipah in a way that it can feel separate from Hashem.
That’s why kelipah and Sitra Achara are called “Elokim Acheirim,” other G-ds — because they are just like Avodah Zarah. Just like people who serve Avodah Zarah don’t believe in Hashem or deny that Hashem is one, kelipah and Sitra Achara don’t agree that Hashem is the only thing that exists!
It isn’t only tomei things and kelipah that deny Achdus Hashem and are like Avodah Zarah. The Chachomim teach us that any time a person has gaavah, that’s like Avodah Zarah too!
People who serve Avodah Zarah think that there is something that exists aside for Hashem. A Yid who has gaavah thinks about how he is very special and important. He doesn’t think about how he is really botul to Hashem. He acts as if he is something separate!
When a Yid understands Achdus Hashem in his sechel, he won’t let his sechel be involved in anything else! He won’t be willing to have gaavah or let himself go running after things that are fun or exciting without thinking about what Hashem wants.
Knowing what is Achdus Hashem and what is the opposite will help us appreciate the value of every mitzvah we do and every choice we make. As we will soon see, through every mitzvah we connect to Achdus Hashem, and every aveira separates us. So it is worth it to even have Mesiras Nefesh to ALWAYS stay connected to Hashem!
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In the year the Hayom Yom was written, it was Shabbos Shirah, so the Rebbe tells us some of the minhagim of the day.
One minhag is that during the reading of Az Yashir we stand. The Rebbe also tells us the haftorah according to our minhag, and that it’s a minhag to eat shvartze kasha (buckwheat).
There’s a maamar from the Alter Rebbe in Likutei Torah (it’s called “Re’u Ki Hashem”) which the Tzemach Tzedek repeated one year on Parshas Beshalach. Afterwards, he told the Rebbe Maharash the whole history of the Maamar:
The Alter Rebbe once heard a certain maamar on Parshas Beshalach from the Maggid of Mezritch. Afterwards, the Maggid called the Alter Rebbe in and told him that he heard this maamar from the Baal Shem Tov three times — once while the Baal Shem Tov was alive, again the year after he passed away (with an additional explanation), and that he just heard it again right before saying it now (nine years after the Baal Shem Tov’s histalkus)!
Thirty-six years later, the Alter Rebbe said this maamar himself, and it begins with the words “Re’u Ki Hashem.”
Then he called in the Tzemach Tzedek and told him this story.
Fifty-six years later, the Tzemach Tzedek said this maamar (the way it’s printed in Likutei Torah), and then told the Rebbe Maharash the story.
Then he told him: “Today, the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe came to me, and each one said the maamar in their own way.” A few hours later, the Tzemach Tzedek called the Rebbe Maharash in again, and told him his own explanation on the maamar.
One of the things it says in the maamar is how much pleasure a neshama has in Gan Eden. Imagine the yummiest food, the most comfortable chair, the prettiest view, the nicest music, the fanciest clothes, and the funniest book — and imagine having it for a thousand years! All of that isn’t as much as one second of how good the neshama feels in Gan Eden. And we can create that feeling in Gan Eden by doing mitzvos in this world!
If we’re busy doing mitzvos during the week, when it comes Shabbos, we can have a tiny little taste of that Ruchniusdike pleasure through the mitzvos we did during the week, just like on Shabbos we can enjoy the food and clean house and beautiful clothes that we prepared during the week.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #236) is the same mitzvah as we learned for the last few days, called Chovel Bachaveiro. If someone hurts another person, the Beis Din makes the person pay a fine (knas) for the damage that they did.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more halachos about being neighbors.
Perek Yud talks about how we need to be careful about bothering other people in a city. We can’t build something very smelly too close to a city, because everyone will be able to smell it!
Perek Yud-Alef teaches us about not bothering people who live close to us with smelly or noisy things, and what happens if we already built something very smelly or noisy: Do we need to stop using it?
Perek Yud-Beis teaches us the halachos of Ben Hametzer: If someone wants to sell a field, they first need to offer it to their next-door neighbor, because it will be the easiest for them to use it.
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Today we learn more about keeping marriages holy.
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In this week’s parsha, Parshas Beshalach, we learned about two people who tried to hurt the Yidden. At the beginning of the parsha we have Paraoh, and at the end of the parsha Amalek attacks the Yidden.
When the Mitzriyim were chasing them, Moshe Rabbeinu told the Yidden that Hashem will fight for them. The Yidden didn’t need to do anything. But with Amalek, the Yidden needed to fight themselves!
Why? What’s the difference?
Paraoh wanted the Yidden to come back to Mitzrayim and be slaves. He wanted to hurt the Yidden begashmius. When it comes to Gashmius, Hashem will do the fighting..
But Amalek’s main point was to get the Yidden to do aveiros, to hurt their Ruchnius. Amalek didn’t want the Yidden to receive the Torah! And when it comes to protecting our Ruchnius, we need to go out ourselves and fight. We get the koach from Moshe Rabbeinu who led the war then, but we need to put in the effort ourselves!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Alef, parshas Beshalach
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When we learn more about davening, we start to realize that it is a special time where Hashem wants us to tell Him all of the things we need. Since we are in Golus, there are MANY things we don’t have. We might want to hurry through the first parts of davening to be able to ask Hashem already to give us all the things we need!
But the Chachomim tell us that we shouldn’t do that. In Pesukei Dezimra, we are praising Hashem. It’s not nice to praise someone quickly, just to get it over with, and then ask for many favors. We need to say Pesukei Dezimra word for word, to show Hashem that we recognize His greatness. Only then will we ask Hashem to help us.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Nun-Alef, se’if Yud-Gimmel
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Yesterday we learned that there are some fruits that have a different bracha.
Just because something is a fruit doesn’t mean that it is Ha’eitz! There are some fruits that grow on trees or plants that are not considered fruit trees according to halacha. These fruits get the bracha of Ho’adamah!
Here are some examples:
- Papaya
- Pineapple
- Passion fruit
- Banana
Some of these are unusual fruits that people often buy… to make a Shehecheyanu on! But there is good news: The Alter Rebbe holds that you can make a Shehecheyanu on a new vegetable, and not only on a new fruit!
See Seder Birchas Hanehenin Perek Vov and Perek Yud-Alef, Seder Birchos Hanehenin Hamevuar by Rabbi Chaim Pruss
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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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This week’s parsha is Parshas Beshalach. We call this Shabbos “Shabbos Shira” because the Yidden sang Az Yashir, a special song to Hashem.
The Medrash Mechilta tells us that there are actually TEN songs that the Yidden sing to Hashem!
One of them is in this week’s haftorah, the shira that Devorah Haneviah sang after winning the war. Another one is the song that Dovid Hamelech sang after he was saved, finishing with the posuk “Magdil (or Migdol) Yeshuos Malko.”
The tenth song will be sung by the Yidden when Moshiach comes! We speak about this in Kabolas Shabbos, saying that then we will sing a new song, “Shiru LaHashem Shir Chadash.”
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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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