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CHUMASH
Parshas Mishpatim - Chamishi with Rashi
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There are many mitzvos in Parshas Mishpatim! Hashem taught these mitzvos to Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai, to teach the Yidden later. Here are the ones we learn about today:
- The Beis Din is not allowed to have Rachmonus and judge differently even if the person is VERY poor. They need to judge based on who is right.
- A Beis Din has to be very careful to stay away from anything which is a lie.
- A Beis Din should try not to pasken that someone should be killed. So if they already said that a person is not guilty, and another eid comes and says that he really deserves to be killed, they shouldn’t bring him back to give a new psak. But if they already did pasken that he needs to be killed, and a new eid comes to say that he didn’t do it, we should listen to that eid. If he really did deserve to be killed, Hashem will take care of it.
- A judge should never let someone bribe him (give him a present so he will decide that that person is right) — even if he already knows that the din is that the person who is giving him the bribe is right! A bribe changes the way a person thinks, and makes a chochom forget his learning.
- Be very careful not to be mean to a Ger — we should all understand how a Ger feels, because at one point we were all geirim (strangers) in Mitzrayim!
- Shemitah: We work in our fields for six years. During the seventh year, called Shemitah, we need to leave the fields to rest.
- Even in a year when the whole year is a year of resting from our work in the fields, Shabbos is still Shabbos, and we need to rest along with all of our animals and servants.
- We need to be extra-careful about Avodah Zarah, which is equal to all of the mitzvos of the Torah! We shouldn’t even make a partnership with a goy that might make him swear in the name of his Avodah Zarah.
- Even though the Yomim Tovim of Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos are connected with the times when things are grown in the fields, and in Shemitah we don’t grow things in the field, still we go up to the Beis Hamikdash and bring korbanos to Hashem during the Shemitah year too.
- The Korban Pesach is shechted only after we get rid of the chometz.
- If a part of a korban was supposed to be burned on the Mizbeiach, we should not let it stay overnight without it being burned.
- We bring Bikurim even during Shemitah.
- The Torah tells us three times not to cook milk and meat together. The Chachomim teach us that these three times teach us that we are not allowed to cook it, eat it, or benefit from it. Today we learn the first posuk where it says this mitzvah.
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In today’s Tehillim, there is a posuk, “Tikon Tefilasi Ketores Lefanecha” — “I bring my davening before Hashem like Ketores!”
(The Rambam chooses this posuk to put at the beginning of his sefer about korbanos.)
The Rebbe teaches us that when the kohen brings the ketores, nobody else is allowed to be there — it’s just the kohen bringing the ketores to Hashem. The same thing is when we daven — it’s private, between us and Hashem!
Also, the word ketores is like the word “Kesher” (in Aramaic, “Ketar”) — a connection. Davening is one of the ways we make a special connection with Hashem.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Hey
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We have been learning about bringing out the Ahava Mesuteres, the hidden love for Hashem, the koach of Mesiras Nefesh we have in our neshama, to do a mitzvah even when it is very hard. But the Yetzer Hara comes to us many times and says, “Great! I will have Mesiras Nefesh — tomorrow.” Is it worth having Mesiras Nefesh to do a mitzvah now?
We might think that losing a chance to do a mitzvah is not such a big deal. After all, we’ll have plenty more chances tomorrow!
But really, every mitzvah is a connection with Hashem which lasts FOREVER.
How can that be?
A person can only be in one place, and in one time. If I’m in New York, I’m not in California. If it is my 10th birthday, it can’t be my 9th birthday at the same time.
But Ruchnius isn’t stuck in one place at a time. It is HIGHER than times and places! So something in Ruchnius can be everywhere, all the time!
When we do a mitzvah, we are connecting Gashmius and Ruchnius. So even though we are doing the mitzvah in a certain time and a certain place, the koach of that mitzvah and the connection with Hashem is everywhere, forever.
So we shouldn’t think that a chance to do a mitzvah is just for right now. The koach of this mitzvah will last forever — and we don’t want to miss that!
This shows us how special Mivtzoyim is! We might think that the person is doing just one mitzvah, but today’s Tanya shows us that even one mitzvah really lasts forever.
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The Alter Rebbe teaches something very special about Rashi:
What Rashi teaches in Chumash is like the “wine of Torah!” Just like wine can make a person say secrets, when we learn Rashi, the wine of Torah, it makes the “secrets” in ourself come out too — the Ahavas Hashem and Yiras Hashem that are hidden inside of us!
What Rashi teaches in Gemara makes the wisdom that hides in ourselves become revealed!
In the Rebbe’s Rashi sichos, the Rebbe would first explain in detail how to understand the peshat of Rashi. Then, based on this Hayom Yom, the Rebbe would add lessons in Avodas Hashem that bring us to Ahavas Hashem and Yiras Hashem — the “Yeina Shel Torah.”
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Today we learn the last perek about workers, and we’ll start a new set of halachos — the halachos of borrowing.
We have two mitzvos today in Sefer Hamitzvos:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #219) You can’t stop an animal from eating while it’s working.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: לֹא תַחְסֹם שׁוֹר בְּדִישׁוֹ
Even though the posuk only talks about a cow which is plowing a field, the mitzvah is for any animal and for any kind of work.
The dinim of this mitzvah are explained in Perek Zayin of Mesechta Bava Metziah.
2) (Mitzvas Asei #245) If someone borrows something, he needs to follow the halachos of a borrower, a shoel.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְכִי יִשְׁאַל אִישׁ מֵעִם רֵעֵהוּ
The halachos are explained in Perek Ches of Mesechta Bava Metziah, and Perek Ches of Mesechta Shevuos.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Sechirus - She'eilah Upikadon
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In Perek Yud-Gimmel, we learn more about today’s mitzvos: When an animal is working, we need to let it eat whatever it’s working on. We can’t cover its mouth, or scare it so it won’t eat. But if it’s working on something that will make the animal sick, we can cover the animal’s mouth — because this mitzvah is there to make the animal feel good. Eating something that will make it sick WON’T make the animal feel good, so we are allowed to stop it from eating!
We also start learning halachos about borrowing, Hilchos She’eilah Upikadon:
Perek Alef talks about your responsibilities if you borrow something. One halacha is that if you ask your friend, “Can I borrow your pencil to do my homework?” — then you can’t use the pencil for anything else.
If the pencil breaks while you’re doing your homework, you don’t need to get him a new pencil, but if it breaks while you are carrying it home, you DO need to get him a new pencil.
In Perek Beis we learn that when the owner is working together with the person who borrowed something from him, it’s not counted as borrowing according to halacha. So if you are working on a poster with your friend, and you borrow your friend’s markers since you forgot to bring yours, you don’t have to pay him back even if you stepped on one of the markers and broke it.
If a husband and wife borrow something from each other, it is ALWAYS counted like they are working together! So if your Mommy borrowed Tatty’s hammer and broke it, she doesn’t have to buy him a new one.
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In today’s Rambam, we start to learn about Yayin Nesech, wine that a goy touched. We are not allowed to drink it, in case the goy used it for Avodah Zarah. If there was Yayin Nesech in a bottle, the bottle can become not kosher.
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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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Before Boruch She’amar, there is a line in the siddur that starts with the words “Lesheim Yichud.” In this line, we say that our davening will connect “Kudsha Brich Hu” (Hashem) with “Shechintei” (the Shechinah). Chassidus explains that the level of Hashem that is called “Kudsha Brich Hu” is the source of all Torah and mitzvos. Shechintei (Shechinah) is the source of all of the neshamos of Yidden.
When we say Lesheim Yichud, we are saying that Kudsha Brich Hu, as the source of all Torah and mitzvos, connects with all Yidden together.
When we say Lesheim Yichud, we should think:
I am not just davening myself. I am part of Shechintei, part of Klal Yisroel! It is not just me that is davening to You Hashem, WE are all asking You to give us everything we need to serve You! When we all come together, Hashem, You will have to give us what we ask for. This will bring us all close to You, Hashem!
Many have a minhag to say Lesheim Yichud before EVERY mitzvah. In Chabad, we say Lesheim Yichud only once a day, before Boruch She’amar. That becomes the Lesheim Yichud for the whole day!
This kavana is an avodah. It can change how we think, and can change our whole day!
For example, I might see an article about how some Yidden didn’t make a Kiddush Hashem when they went on their Chol Hamoed trips. I could think, “Well, my family made a Kiddush Hashem! I’m so glad we’re not like that.” But then I need to stop and think: Hashem doesn’t just want ME to be doing the right thing, Hashem needs all of us together! How can I help make sure that ALL OF US are making a Kiddush Hashem wherever we go?
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The Chachomim teach us that Kiddush needs to be in connection with a meal, called “Kiddush Bemakom Seudah.” The Chachomim learn this from the posuk “Vekarasa LeShabbos Oneg.”
When we make Kiddush, we should have in mind that we will be eating right afterwards. If someone wasn’t planning on eating right afterwards, he has only a very short time (Kedei Achilas Pras, like the amount of time we have to eat the shiur of matzah in) to start eating, or else he wasn’t yotzei the mitzvah of Kiddush!
Bedieved, if we were planning on eating our seudah, but weren’t able to right away, or had to interrupt because of something we needed for the seudah, we are still yotzei Kiddush.
We should be careful, though, not to leave the house, and try not to even go to a different part of the house before we start our seudah.
See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Reish-Ayin-Gimmel se’if Hey; Kitzur Halachos p. 178 fn. 10, from the Badei Hashulchan; and audio shiurim of Rabbi Farkash, halachos of Kiddush, tape 3
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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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Here in the last moments of Golus, we are all waiting and hoping for Moshiach to come already.
But we are not the only ones! Yidden from all the generations before us are sitting in Gan Eden and ALSO waiting for the Geulah! They can’t do anything about it from Shomayim, they are waiting for Yidden here in Olam Hazeh to bring Moshiach. Only a living person can do it!
This should make us feel a strong achrayus to bring Moshiach — not just for us, but for all Yidden that ever lived!
See Parshas Mishpatim Mem-Ches, Migolah L’geulah p. 157
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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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