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CHUMASH
Parshas Bo - Shvi'i with Rashi
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The Yidden learn that firstborns are special to Hashem. They also learn about Pesach, and about remembering the Geulah by writing about it in our Tefillin.
Yesterday, we learned about Yetziyas Mitzrayim! The Yidden left Mitzrayim and came to a place called Sukos.
In Sukos, Hashem said that since the Yiddishe firstborns were protected from Makas Bechoros, they are special to Hashem. The firstborn boys should become kohanim until the Mishkan is built. The firstborn animals should be given to the kohanim and brought as korbanos. For the firstborn donkeys, you should do Peter Chamor, giving the kohen a lamb or goat instead.
Now that the Yidden weren’t in such a rush, Moshe told them about the Yom Tov of Pesach. He told them about eating only matzah, and about telling the children about the nissim of Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
He also told them to write about the Geulah from Mitzrayim and put it into their Tefillin. These pieces of Chumash are written on the parchment in Tefillin, to remind us every day about Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
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Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Nun-Hey through Nun-Tes.
In the end of today’s first kapitel is the very special niggun Padah Veshalom, which we sing on the Geulah of the Rebbeim. In this kapitel, Dovid Hamelech is talking about his OWN Geulah, because there were people who fought against him.
Dovid Hamelech says at the end, the last three words, “Va’ani Evtach Bach” — “and I trust in You.” Dovid Hamelech didn’t think about the people who were trying to hurt him, and only trusted in Hashem, that Hashem will help him. And of course, Hashem did!
We should feel this way too with all of the things we need: If we do what we are supposed to and trust in Hashem, Hashem will surely help us!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Yud-Tes
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In today’s Tanya, we are learning more about the Ahava Mesuteres, the “hidden” love for Hashem that every single Yid has, which is passed down from the Avos.
What does the Ahava Mesuteres make us want?
The neshama is like the flame on a candle. You can see that a flame ALWAYS wants to go up. It looks like it wants to jump off the candle and fly up to Shomayim! Of course, if the flame could let go, it wouldn’t be able to burn anymore down here, and Shomayim is the source of the light, and it wouldn’t be noticed there. But still, that’s what the fire wants!
A Yid’s neshama is like that, too. Our neshama always wants to go up to Hashem, even though next to Hashem, the neshama would not be noticed as anything special! Even though it doesn’t make sense that the neshama would want to not be noticed anymore, this is still the nature of the neshama, what the neshama always wants. This comes from the “Chochma” part of the neshama.
So then how can a Yid do an aveira which separates him from Hashem? The Chochma of the neshama, which always wants to be close to Hashem, should never let it happen!
The Alter Rebbe tells us that the Chochma of the neshama could be in Golus, hiding. This is what happens when a Yid does an aveira — the chochma is hidden.
In fact, this is why the Ahava Mesuteres is called this, the “hidden love.” Because this love, which comes from the Chochma of the neshama, can sometimes hide! This makes it possible for the Yetzer Hara to convince someone to do an aveira, which is real narishkeit!
The reason why a person can ever do an aveira is because the chochma is asleep, and not reminding the person that aveiros are narishkeit!
But when it comes to a nisayon in Emunah, it’s like poking the Emunah! And where does the Emunah come from? The Chochma of the neshama! What happens when you poke something? It wakes up! So a nisayon in emunah wakes up the chochma of the neshama. With that koach, a person will only do what Hashem wants.
The Chochma of the neshama is so strong that when it’s awake, a person can’t even say or do something that doesn’t show Emunah — like to bow to an idol even if he doesn’t believe in it, or say something that sounds like he doesn’t believe in Hashem, even if he doesn’t mean it.
Usually, the Ahava Mesuteres is only woken up if a Yid is really “pushed against the wall.” When a Yid is threatened that his Yiddishkeit will be taken away from him, like if a goy is forcing him to convert, then the Ahava Mesuteres will wake up and not let it happen.
But with a “small” aveira, the Ahava Mesuteres might not wake up. That’s how the Yetzer Hara can convince a Yid to do an aveira.
In the next few perakim, the Alter Rebbe is going to teach us a new thought process that will help us wake up the Ahava Mesuteres for ANY aveira: We will learn to think about how serious every aveira is, and that there is no such thing as a small aveira. This will help us use our Ahava Mesuteres to not let us do ANY aveira, and give us koach to do ANY mitzvah, even one that is very hard! (Here is a video for kids with a story about how no aveira is small: http://www.chabad.org/2098674)
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In today’s Hayom Yom, the Rebbe first makes a correction to Torah Ohr, which is also a reminder to chassidim that every chossid needs to learn these seforim of the Alter Rebbe. In fact, at the last Kinus Hashluchim with the Rebbe, the Rebbe said that Chassidim should make a hachlata to learn the whole Torah Ohr and Likutei Torah — from beginning to end!
Yud Shevat is also the yartzeit of Rebbetzin Rivkah, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s grandmother, and the Rebbe Rashab’s mother. In today’s Hayom Yom we learn a story about her.
Once when Rebbetzin Rivkah was 18, she was sick, and the doctor told her to eat right away in the morning. She didn’t want to eat before davening, so she got up earlier so she could first daven and then eat! When the Tzemach Tzedek (her father-in-law) heard about this, he said “A Yid needs to be strong! Mitzvos need to be done with chayus, and you need to be strong and happy to do them!” The Tzemach Tzedek told her, “Better to eat so you can daven, than to daven so you can eat.” Then the Tzemach Tzedek bentched her to have a long life.
When the Rebbe Rashab told this story to someone at yechidus, he added “and you should do this with simcha!”
The Rebbe teaches that really, eating is an example for all of the gashmiyus’dike things that we do, and davening is an example for all of the ruchniyus’dike things we do. The lesson from this story is that the MAIN thing in our lives needs to be the ruchniyus’dike things — all of our “eating” and the Gashmius needs for ourselves should be for the purpose of “davening” and serving Hashem.
Once at a Yud Shevat farbrengen the Rebbe said that the Frierdiker Rebbe saw all of the Hayom Yoms and approved of all of them, which means that this Hayom Yom is the Torah and the hora’ah for Yud Shevat.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #245) is one that we learned not too long ago! We need to follow the halachos about buying and selling things. If we do, then we’re doing a mitzvah every time!
This section of halachos in Rambam is about getting something from hefker or a gift. It doesn’t have any new mitzvos, but keeping these halachos is connected to this mitzvah about buying and selling. So we review this mitzvah that we learned before.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Behar: וְכִי תִמְכְּרוּ מִמְכָּר לַעֲמִיתֶךָ
The details of this mitzvah are explained in many places in Gemara — Perek Alef of Kiddushin, Perakim Daled and Ches in Bava Metziah, and perakim Gimmel through Zayin of Bava Basra.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Zechiya U'Matana
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In today’s Rambam, we start to learn a new set of halachos, about getting things that are “hefker,” and about giving or getting presents.
Perek Alef teaches us about when something is called hefker, that it has no owner. Fruit that grows in a forest is one example of hefker things. Whoever picks it up first — it belongs to him!
Perek Beis explains how we can show that a hefker field is ours. We need to do something to make the field better, and have in mind that we are doing it to make the field ours!
In Perek Gimmel we learn about presents. When a person gives someone a present, he needs to make sure that the other person understands what belongs to him! If he just says “I’m giving you a field,” the person doesn’t get anything, because we’re not sure which one we’re supposed to give him!
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Today we learn more about a Ger Tzedek. We learn many halachos about how the Beis Din tries to make sure that a person wants to be a Yid because he wants to do Hashem’s mitzvos, and not for other reasons (like wanting to marry a Jew).
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Today is the very special day of Yud Shevat. Every day is an opportunity to make good things happen and to bring the Geulah closer. But there are some days that have extra special kochos hidden in them! Yud Shevat is one of those days.
There are two inyonim in this day. What is closer to us is that today is the beginning of the Rebbe’s nesius, and we need to use today to work on our hiskashrus and keeping the Rebbe’s horaos. Yud Shevat is also the histalkus of the Frierdiker Rebbe, and the Rebbe taught us to keep minhagim connected to the yartzeit.
This year, since Yud Shevat is on Shabbos, we did some of the minhagim already on Erev Shabbos.
Here are some of the minhagim for today, Shabbos Yud Shevat:
- Men and older boys get an aliyah
- Make a farbrengen
- Talk about the life and Mesiras Nefesh of the Frierdiker Rebbe to help every Yid and bring the Geulah (and especially for the chinuch of young children)
- To learn through the maamar of Bosi Legani
- Say Mishnayos with the letters of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s name
- Learn a perek of Tanya before Shacharis and after Mincha
In the Maamar Bosi Legani, the Rebbe tells us a story about each of the Rebbeim, about how they showed Ahavas Yisroel. Here is an amazing story of Ahavas Yisroel that happened with the Rebbe the night before saying this maamar:
The night before Yud Shevat, Tof-Shin-Yud-Alef (5711/1951), Rabbi Moshe Groner was the only one in the secretaries’ offices in 770. It was already later at night, when he heard the phone ringing. Since he wasn’t really one of the secretaries, he didn’t answer the phone at first, but when it kept ringing, he finally picked it up.
He was very surprised to hear the Rebbe on the phone! The Rebbe asked Rabbi Groner if he could come over to his house! Rabbi Groner of course ran over right away. The Rebbe wanted him to find the name of the doctor who was in charge of a certain patient, and then get him on the phone.
Rabbi Groner managed to do it, and told the Rebbe that the doctor was on the phone. He went into the Rebbe’s study so he wouldn’t hear the private conversation. Rabbi Groner was amazed by what he saw in the room! There was a copy of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s maamar open on the desk, and seforim of all of the Rebbeim!
Then the Rebbe came into the room, and told Rabbi Groner that he was going to the hospital. The Rebbe wanted the doctor to go see the patient in the middle of the night, but the doctor didn’t agree. But when the Rebbe said he would go too, the doctor said he would go…
So the night before, as the Rebbe prepared to accept the job of being the Rebbe of all Yidden, the Rebbe put everything aside and went out in the middle of the night to make sure that a Yid was seen by the right doctor!
Read this story with more details, plus much more about Bosi Legani, in the Chassidishe Derher!
https://derher.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/shevat5773.pdf
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Since today is the yartzeit of the Frierdiker Rebbe, we are going to learn a story about davening from the Frierdiker Rebbe.
At a farbrengen on Yud-Beis Tammuz Tof-Shin-Zayin (printed in Likutei Diburim), the Frierdiker Rebbe spoke about how he learned the Pirush Hamilos of tefillah, the meaning of the words of davening:
“My father (the Rebbe Rashab) learned Pirush Hamilos with me twice. I learned the meaning of the weekday davening, Shabbos and Yom Tov, the Haggadah Shel Pesach, and some of the tefillos of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
“The first time was when I was a child, and the second time was starting from my Bar Mitzvah, on Yud-Beis Tammuz Tof-Reish-Nun-Gimmel.
“When my father started to learn Pirush Hamilos with me the first time, he said: ‘To daven and not know what you are davening is Nit Kein Zach — not right.’ He then started to teach me the basic meaning of davening.
“The second time my father learned with me, he taught me the Chassidishe meaning of davening…
“Starting from Modeh Ani, my father explained every posuk according to Chassidus, with a lesson that can be taken from it. Together with each inyan, he would tell a story, mostly they were “Torahs” that the Alter Rebbe heard from the Chassidus of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid. Sometimes it would also be an explanation of the Alter Rebbe himself or one of the later Rebbeim.”
Later in this farbrengen, the Frierdiker Rebbe explained the Sulam HaTefillah, the ladder of davening, with all of the levels of davening. He also shared how the Rebbe Rashab explains the paragraph of Lamnatzeiach Binginos, that we say before Boruch She’amar.
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We are learning the halachos of borer on Shabbos, separating something from a mixture, which is one of the Lamed-Tes Melachos.
We learned a lot about not doing borer with food, but borer is not ONLY with food. We are also not allowed to separate other types of things on Shabbos, including clothes, books, and toys.
Today we will learn some more about borer with clothes.
If we have a basket of clean laundry, with many types of clothes mixed together, and we want to use some of them on Shabbos, then we need to be careful about borer.
To separate clothes on Shabbos, just like with separating food, we need to follow three conditions:
1) Ochel Mitoch Pesoles — we need to choose the clothes we want to wear, not the ones we don’t want to wear.
For example, if we are looking through the pile of laundry for a shirt, we might first see a bunch of other shirts we don’t want to wear. We shouldn’t take those shirts out and put them on the side while we keep looking. We should just leave them in the pile until we find the one we want to wear.
2) Miyad — we need to choose what we want to wear now, not pick out clothes for later.
For example, if we see our pajamas while we’re looking, we should not take them out now. We aren’t planning on wearing them until later, so taking them now would be an isur of borer.
3) Beyad — we need to choose what we want with our hand, not a special keili for separating (this is not usually something people do for clothes anyhow).
This way we are able to take the clothes we need from a mixture on Shabbos, but not in a way of melacha.
See Shabbos Kehalacha perek Yud-Beis
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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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At the end of the Rambam there is a halacha that says, “At that time all of the Yidden will be great Chachomim, and they will know hidden things, and understand the knowledge of Hashem as much as a person can.”
What are the hidden things the Rambam is talking about? This must be Pnimius HaTorah, which helps us understand Elokus, the knowledge of Hashem!
The Rambam says that when Moshiach comes, everyone will be busy with this.
That means that every Yid will be a chossid, since every Yid will be learning Pnimius HaTorah — Chassidus, which is what makes someone into a chossid!
This also helps us understand why the Rambam says that there is only one difference when Moshiach comes: That there will be no Shibud Malchios, no nations ruling over us. Even though the Rambam also says that when Moshiach comes we will all be Chachomim, that is not something different and new — learning Chassidus is something we start already now!
See Sicha of Zos Chanukah 5746
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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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