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CHUMASH
Parshas Ki Sisa - Rishon with Rashi
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Today’s Chumash is extra-long! We will see IY”H in tomorrow’s Chumash why.
In today’s Chumash we finish learning Hashem’s instructions of how to build the Mishkan. We learn about the Machatzis Hashekel, the Kiyor, the Shemen Hamishcha and Ketores, and who should build the Mishkan. Even after learning all about the Mishkan, we learn that the Yidden need to rest on Shabbos and not build it then.
First, we learn about the Machatzis Hashekel.
The order of the way things are written in the Torah are not always the order they actually happened in. Later in this week’s parsha, we will learn about how after Matan Torah, the Yidden did the Cheit Ha’eigel and how Hashem forgave them. But really, what we will learn now about the Machatzis Hashekel happened AFTER the Cheit Ha’eigel!
Hashem forgave the Yidden on Yom Kippur, and gave Moshe Rabbeinu the second set of luchos. Then Hashem was ready to show His love to the Yidden again! Hashem asked Moshe to count the Yidden who didn’t die from the plague that happened after the Cheit Ha’eigel (which we will learn about later), and asked that the Yidden should build a Mishkan where Hashem can rest among them.
The way the Yidden should be counted then is by every Yid giving a half-shekel coin, a Machatzis Hashekel, which will be counted to see how many Yidden there are. The coins will be used for the Mishkan. Counting this way will also keep the Yidden from getting an Ayin Hara, which can come from counting people directly.
The Yidden actually were told to give a terumah (donation) THREE times for the Mishkan! First was the terumah we learned about in Parshas Terumah, where the Yidden were told to give the materials, like gold, silver and copper, to build the Mishkan with. Then there is this terumah, the Machatzis Hashekel, which will be used to make the silver Adanim (sockets) on the bottom of the Mishkan’s walls. The third terumah is when the Yidden will be counted again using a Machatzis Hashekel, on Rosh Chodesh Iyar, a month after the Mishkan is put up. Those coins will be used to pay for the korbanos brought for all of the Yidden, the Korbanos Tzibur. (We’ll learn about this at the beginning of Chumash Bamidbar!) These three terumos are hinted to in this week’s parsha, and in Parshas Terumah, where the word terumah is used in both places three times!
Hashem showed Moshe Rabbeinu a half-shekel made of fire. This helped Moshe understand that when the Yidden do this mitzvah, they are doing it “with fire,” with their whole heart! This will help them be forgiven for the Cheit Ha’eigel.
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Now we learn about the Kiyor:
Before the kohanim start working in the Mishkan, they need to wash their hands AND their feet. To do this, there is a special container of water called the Kiyor. It has two places for water to come out — one for the kohen to wash his right hand and foot, and the other for the kohen to wash his left hand and foot. A kohen is not allowed to go into the Mishkan or do Avodah on the Mizbeiach outside of the Mishkan before he washes his hands and feet from the Kiyor.
Next we learn about the Shemen Hamish’cha:
Hashem tells Moshe how to make the Shemen Hamish’cha (anointing oil), the special oil that is used to get something ready for a holy job. It is olive oil mixed with certain spices (some of the same ones that are used in the Ketores). Moshe will smear some of the Shemen Hamish’cha on the Mishkan and its tools and furniture, and on the Kohanim. When they are smeared with the Shemen Hamish’cha, they become holy and can do their special job for Hashem. It is asur to use the Shemen Hamish’cha for any other reason.
Now we learn about the Ketores:
Hashem gives Moshe the recipe for making the Ketores which should burned on the Mizbeiach Hazahav (golden Mizbeiach) in the Mishkan. There are 11 spices (not all of them are written in the Torah). We count them every day in Korbanos in the beginning of davening! One of the spices (the Chelbenah) does not smell good, to remind us that even a Yid who acts in not such a nice way (chas veshalom) is allowed to daven with us!
Now Hashem tells Moshe who gets the job of building the Mishkan: Hashem says that He will fill up Betzalel with the spirit of Hashem and with wisdom to know how to build and carve and weave all sorts of things needed for the building of the Mishkan! (Betzalel was from Shevet Yehudah, the grandson of Chur, who was killed during the Cheit Ha’egel.) Together with Betzalel will be Oholiav (from Shevet Dan), and Hashem will also give wisdom to many others who will help build the Mishkan.
Finally, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to tell the Yidden that even though the Yidden are very excited to build the Mishkan, they still need to rest on Shabbos.
Because the Torah connects these two things, working on the Mishkan and resting on Shabbos, we also learn that any kind of work done to build the Mishkan is asur on Shabbos. The Chachomim teach us that there are 39 kinds of work to build the Mishkan, and that’s why there are 39 melachos that are asur on Shabbos! Do you know some of them?
The last few pesukim of today’s Chumash, that teach us about resting on Shabbos, are part of Shmoneh Esrei on Shabbos and are in Kiddush for Shabbos day!
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One of the niggunim made in honor of the Rebbe’s Yom Huledes is in Kapitel Ayin-Tes, “Vaanachnu Amcha Vetzon Marisecha.” These words were put into a niggun made by the Chassidim of Nikolayev, in honor of the Rebbe’s Yom Huledes, Yud-Alef Nisan Tof-Shin-Mem.
With these words, we thank Hashem for the special zechus to be His nation!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed
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Sometimes Hashem lets a person’s Yetzer Hara start to feel big and proud. It gets so big that it covers the light of the neshama, and makes it hard for a person to do what he is supposed to do with an open heart! This is called Timtum Halev.
By following the advice in the Tanya, a person can make himself feel humble. This will take away the Yetzer Hara’s koach and let him serve Hashem with an open heart.
Usually we need to think encouraging things, and about the incredible kochos we have inside of our neshama. But sometimes, when there is a need, it is appropriate to think thoughts that make us feel humble.
We learned to think about how we are not tzadikim, and how there are aveiros we once did, and narishkeit we are involved in. In this perek, the Alter Rebbe adds another thought process based on the words of the Chachomim, “Vehevei Shfal Ruach Bifnei Kol Ha’adam” — “You should (truly) feel humble in front of every person.”
The Chachomim say, “KOL Ha’adam” — EVERY person! That means even the lowest kind of person who does terrible things!
How can we truly feel that way? If we are Yidden who keep Torah and mitzvos the best we can, how can we be humble in front of a person who is always following his Yetzer Hara?
The answer is that Hashem doesn’t judge a person just by what they DO, but how hard it is and how much effort they put into what they’re doing.
The chachomim say that we can’t judge someone until we come to his place. They mean that the Gashmius place where a person lives and works and the friends he has, and his Ruchnius place, how strong his Yetzer Hara is, are what make him do the aveiros.
So we can’t compare ourselves to the other person — we don’t live or work in the place that they do, and even if we do, our Yetzer Hara might not be as strong! Thinking about this will make us feel humble.
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There were many beautiful things in the Mishkan. There were things made of gold and silver that glowed, but nothing shone like the Kiyor, which was made of the mirrors brought by the women. (The women donated the mirrors that they used in Mitzrayim to help them have more children.)
The Kiyor was very special because (like we learn in this week’s parsha) it was the last thing made for the Mishkan, but it was always used first — the Kohanim needed to wash their hands and feet before they could do their avodah!
That’s because “Na’utz Techilasan BeSofan” — the beginning and end are very connected.
Today’s Hayom Yom are words from the Alter Rebbe, first said to the Chosssid R’ Gavriel Nossai Chein. Read the story behind today’s Hayom Yom in short in today’s Darkei HaChassidus!
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In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn the same mitzvah one last time, and then we learn a new mitzvah that we will learn over and over again!
1) (Mitzvas Asei #246) When people have an argument about money or other things a person can have, the Beis Din needs to judge the case the way the Torah teaches.
2) (Mitzvas Asei #248) We also learn a new mitzvah: When someone passes away, who gets their things (yerusha)? We need to follow the rules in the Torah — including that the firstborn gets double!
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RAMBAM
Hilchos To'ein Venit'an - Nachlos
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In today’s Rambam we finish learning the halachos about people arguing in Beis Din.
Perek Tes-Zayin: The Rambam teaches us about when the Beis Din shouldn’t trust someone — like if someone was a witness for another person selling a field, he can’t later come to the Beis Din and say that the field was stolen from him! If the field had really been stolen from him, he wouldn’t have been a witness for the other person selling it.
The last halacha of this set teaches us to be very careful not to lie in Beis Din, even when it is to get the money back to the right person!
We start a new set of halachos today, halachos about nachalos — who gets someone’s things after they pass away? The halacha is that usually it goes to the children, with the firstborn getting double!
Perek Alef teaches us how to figure out which relatives get the yerusha.
In Perek Beis, we learn how the bechor gets his double portion of the yerusha! We count how many people are supposed to get the yerusha, and add one to that number. Then we divide up the yerusha into that many equal parts. The bechor gets two of those parts, and the rest of the people get one.
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Today we learn more about things that can make an animal tereifah.
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Background: In Vitebsk lived a man named R’ Gavriel, a true Talmid Chochom with aidelkeit and good midos. He was the grandson of the old R’ Gavriel, who was respected in the whole city of Vitebsk — even by the governor!
When he was old enough to get married, the young R’ Gavriel married the daughter of a rich man who also lived in Vitebsk. His father-in-law gave him money so he could sit and learn Torah all the time.
When he had questions in his learning, he would often ask another young man living in Vitebsk, named Shneur Zalman. (He would later become the Alter Rebbe!)
After nine years, though, R’ Gavriel’s father-in-law passed away. Now R’ Gavriel had to work, so he took over a store that his father-in-law used to own. Still, he made time to learn, and to listen to R’ Shneur Zalman explain things in Torah.
Then R’ Shneur Zalman went to the Maggid of Mezritch. The people in Vitebsk were sure that Chassidus was against Torah, and they were all furious! They told R’ Yehuda Leib Segal (the Alter Rebbe’s father-in-law) to send him away from his house and not let his daughter stay married to him!
The Alter Rebbe made a public debate, explaining how Chassidus IS Torah. Many people (but not everyone) now understood and agreed that Chassidus was good. R’ Gavriel was one of these people, but his family didn’t like it at all! They started being mean to him because he wanted to learn more Chassidus from R’ Shneur Zalman.
R’ Gavriel’s father was so upset, he even tried to get the governor to kick the Alter Rebbe out of Vitebsk! But because the Alter Rebbe had figured out two mysteries for the governor (one of them you may know, the story of the sundial), the governor didn’t want to do anything to him.
R’ Gavriel had a very hard life. He didn’t have any children (even though he was married for 25 years already), and he didn’t have money either, since his family made so much trouble for him he couldn’t earn anything. But he never complained to the Alter Rebbe, and in fact gave a lot of tzedakah to the Alter Rebbe’s tzedakah funds.
Once R’ Gavriel came home in a sad mood. He told his wife, Chana Rivkah, that the Alter Rebbe had asked Chassidim to give money for Pidyon Shevuyim, but he didn’t have that much money to give. Chana Rivkah said, “Didn’t you tell me that the Rebbe teaches us to have bitachon? Don’t worry, we’ll be able to give the right amount!”
Chana Rivkah sold her jewelry, and brought the money to her husband in a closed bag. “Go bring it right away to the Rebbe,” she told him.
R’ Gavriel said that usually Chassidim wait until the Rebbe’s messenger comes, and send it with the messenger. But soon R’ Gavriel’s brothers made up a story about him to the government, and he lost a lot of money. R’ Gavriel was afraid he would use the money himself if he kept it for too long, so he went himself to bring it to the Alter Rebbe in Liozna.
When he put the bag of money down in front of the Alter Rebbe, the Rebbe told him to open the bag and count it. He was amazed to see that the coins shone like they were brand new!
The Alter Rebbe said the words of today’s Hayom Yom — that the shiniest part of the Mishkan was the Kiyor. Even though it was made last, it was used first!
The Alter Rebbe asked where he had gotten such shiny coins. R’ Gavriel explained how his wife had gotten the money, and how he was afraid he would spend the money, so he brought it now.
The Alter Rebbe told him, “Your wife has destroyed the gezeirah against you! Hashem will give you children, a long life, and wealth! Close your store, and start selling jewelry and diamonds instead.”`
When R’ Gavriel came home and told this to Chana Rivkah, she told him how she had shined the coins with sand, so Hashem could help their mazal shine.
Within three years, R’ Gavriel became very rich, and they were bentched with children. Everyone liked R’ Gavriel — so much that he got a nickname, “R’ Gavriel Nossai Chein!” (“who finds favor”)
You can read the whole story at http://chabad.org/85441
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The first part of Vayevarech Dovid is the words Dovid Hamelech said to the Yidden before he passed away. They are pesukim from the sefer Divrei Hayamim.
After telling the Yidden that the Beis Hamikdash would be built by his son Shlomo Hamelech, Dovid Hamelech praised Hashem.
The expressions of praise we give Hashem in Yishtabach are based on the praises that Dovid Hamelech used in these pesukim, the pesukim that follow, and in Az Yashir. This is one of the reasons why we say Vayevarech Dovid before finishing Pesukei Dezimra and saying the bracha of Yishtabach.
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The halacha we will learn today is about what to say when someone sneezes, but it also teaches us how special it is to bentch another Yid!
When we hear someone else sneeze, we should say “Asusa” (which means “Tzu Gezunt,” or “Labriyut”). This is a bracha that the person should be healthy.
The person who sneezed answers, “Boruch Tihiyeh,” you should be bentched.
He then says, “Lishuas’cha Kivisi Hashem,” I hope for Your yeshuah, Hashem. Since he just davened to Hashem by bentching his friend with Boruch Tihiyeh, he asks Hashem that he should be answered first. Like the Chachomim teach us, when someone davens for another person, he is answered first.
See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 61:5
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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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In today’s Chumash, we finish learning Hashem’s instructions to Moshe about making the Mishkan.
The Rebbe said that when we learn about these things from Torah Shebichsav, we should also learn about them from Torah Shebaal Peh, which will bring the Geulah faster.
Today we learned about the Shemen Hamishcha, the special oil that was smeared on the kohanim and the Mishkan to make it holy. The Torah says that this oil should be “Ledoroseichem,” for generations to come.
Rashi tells us that the Chachomim learned from here that the entire 12 lug of the Shemen Hamishcha are hidden away, so that they can be used again Le’asid Lavo — for the Beis Hamikdash Hashlishi!
See Rashi 30:31, from Gemara Horiyos 11
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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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