|
|
CHUMASH
Parshas Terumah - Shvi'i with Rashi
|
|
In this week’s parsha we learned how Hashem gave Moshe Rabbeinu instructions on Har Sinai about the Mishkan that the Yidden should build. Today we learn the final section in building the Mishkan. We learn about the Chatzer, the “fence” around the Mishkan, made to show that the area around the Mishkan is holy too! The Yidden will make a long curtain, like a net, to hang on poles that go all the way around the Mishkan.
The Chatzer will be shaped like a big rectangle, 5 amos (almost 8 feet, or 2.4 meters) high, with the long side measuring 100 amos, and the short side measuring 50 amos (about 80'x40' or 24x12 meters). There will be 20 poles on the longer sides, and 10 poles on the short sides. Each side will have a long hanging curtain made of linen, made in a way that you can see through it (like a loose net). The curtains will hang on hooks attached to each pole.
On the front side, there will be TWO curtains, one on each side (15 amos wide each), leaving space in the middle as a doorway. Hanging by the “door” will be a fancy curtain like the ones inside the Mishkan, made of colorful thread with patterns of birds and lions.
The poles to hang the chatzer should be very fancy — they were wood covered with gold, wrapped with a silver pattern and silver hooks! The bottom of each pole will be put into a copper piece.
The Mishkan shouldn’t be right in the middle of the chatzer — it should be closer to one of the sides. In the empty space of the Chatzer, the kohanim should put the mizbeiach and the kiyor.
All the tools the kohanim will need to put the Mishkan together, like hammers and stakes to keep the curtains from flying up, should all be made of copper!
According to the Hora’ah of the Rebbe, during these parshios when we learn about the Mishkan in the Torah, we learn more from Torah Shebaal Peh about the Mishkan. This helps us “live with the times,” and brings the Geulah faster!
In today’s Chumash, we learned about the Chatzer of the Ohel Moed. The Rambam says that the Azara in the Beis Hamikdash was similar to the Chatzer of the Mishkan.
|
|
|
|
Before Kapitel Mem-Ches (like for most kapitelach) there are a few words that tell us what the Kapitel is about.
The words before this kapitel tell us that it is about when Moshiach will come — how beautiful Yerushalayim will be, and how we will bring the korbanos and see all of the things the Neviim told us will happen when Moshiach comes.
|
|
|
TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Ches
|
|
Today’s Tanya is very long. You may have noticed that since Yud-Tes Kislev, every Shabbos we learn a whole perek (or a big part of it), and during the week we only learn much smaller sections. If you look in the shiurim of Tanya in Hayom Yom, you will see that the first year of Chitas, which was also a Shana Me’uberes, this long day was also on Shabbos. The Frierdiker Rebbe set up that on every day of the week we learn a few lines of Tanya, and on Shabbos we learn a long section. We keep the same Moreh Shiur every year, and so other years, we may have the longer part on a different day.
When we’re in the middle of davening or learning or trying to do what Hashem wants, we sometimes get distracted by other thoughts.
That might make us feel frustrated — see, our Avodas Hashem is worthless, because we keep getting distracted!
But the Alter Rebbe tells us that we shouldn’t feel frustrated, we should be happy!
We need to remember that our Yetzer Hara and our Yetzer Tov don’t take turns. They are both fighting the whole time! It’s not like playing jump rope where only one person can jump at a time, it’s like playing soccer where there are two teams that are fighting for the ball the whole time!
So when we are doing something very good and connected to Hashem, the Yetzer Hara gets scared and needs to fight back harder! That’s why the Yetzer Hara tries to distract us specifically when we are doing something good.
So instead of being frustrated and upset, we should realize that those distractions are a sign that we are doing really well, and the Yetzer Hara is getting scared! We should be excited to work even harder, since we are winning the fight against the Yetzer Hara! We should ignore those distractions just like we would try to ignore loud noises that we can’t stop in the middle of davening.
But what if those thoughts are really bothering us and we can’t concentrate on our Avodas Hashem, no matter how hard we try? Then we should remember that we are not fighting by ourselves. We should make ourselves humble before Hashem, and ask Hashem to help us ignore those thoughts — for His sake, and for the sake of our neshama, which is a part of Hashem inside of us. And then certainly Hashem will help us!
In a letter of the Rebbe, the Rebbe says that this is not just in davening, but in ALL areas of kedusha! Whenever kedusha is strong and successful, that’s when the kelipah in the world will fight hard to try not to let the kedusha win! When we see that happen, it shouldn’t make us disappointed. Instead, it should be a sign for us that we’re having hatzlacha, and give us chayus to work harder for kedusha!
|
|
|
|
When the Alter Rebbe needed a melamed to teach his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, when was still a young boy, he chose one of the talmidim of the Maggid.
The Alter Rebbe told him, “We’ll make a deal! I have a mitzvah to teach my son, and you have a mitzvah to earn money for your family. Let us switch mitzvos: You will learn with my son, and I will pay you so you can take care of your family.”
Then the Alter Rebbe told the Melamed how he should teach: “You need to start with Alef.” And the Alter Rebbe told him what an Alef is.
An alef is a dot on top, and a dot underneath — that’s an Alef.
Then he explained what this means:
A child needs to know that the Alef of Torah is the Yud on top — Hashem, the Yud underneath — the Yid, and the line of Emunah which connects them.
Another version of what the Alter Rebbe told him: A Yud above is the neshama, a Yud underneath is the body, and a line of Yiras Shomayim connects them.
During a Yud Shevat farbrengen in the early years of the Rebbe’s nesius (5716), the Rebbe told this story. The Rebbe repeated the Alter Rebbe’s words with the same niggun the Alter Rebbe used: s3.wasabisys.com/chitas/Alef.m4a
|
|
|
|
In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn that not only is it not allowed for someone to lend with Ribbis (interest), it’s not even allowed for someone to BORROW from a Yid with Ribbis! So even if the person we’re borrowing from doesn’t know about the mitzvah, we’re not allowed to borrow from him and pay interest.
|
|
|
|
Perek Yud-Tes: One of the things we learn in today’s Rambam is that when the Beis Din needs to take away someone’s field to pay back a loan, they shouldn’t take the best field, and they shouldn’t take the worst field — they should take the middle kind, the “beinonis.” (Really, the Rambam says that from the strict Torah rule, the nicest way to do it is to take the worst field away from the person, the “ziburis.” But the Chachomim were afraid that nobody would want to make any more loans if they did that, if people would know that all they would get back from a loan that was not paid was a bad field. That’s why they made the halacha that we should take from the beinonis, the middle kind of field.)
In Perek Chof, we learn about what the Beis Din should do if someone doesn’t have a lot of money or property, and TWO people come to the Beis Din because their loans weren’t paid back. Who gets paid back first? The halacha is that whoever’s loan was made first gets paid back first. If both loans were made at the same time, whoever went to the Beis Din first gets paid back first!
Perek Chof-Alef: This perek has halachos about taking a field that used to belong to the person who borrowed the money, but was now sold to someone else. Let’s say that Reuven borrowed money from Shimon, but never paid it back. In the meantime, Reuven sold his field to Levi! Levi worked very hard on the field, and fixed it up so it is now worth more money. Now Shimon wants to take the field instead of his loan. We learn about if he can take the fixed-up part of the field to pay back the loan, since it is now worth more.
|
|
|
|
In today’s Rambam, we learn about the 5 things that a shochet has to be careful NOT to do — otherwise the animal he shechted isn’t kosher:
1) Shehiyah — stopping in the middle of shechting
2) Chaladah — shechting without being able to see the knife
3) Drasah — pushing down with the knife instead of going back and forth
4) Hagrama — shechting on the wrong part of the animal’s neck
5) Ikur — if the part that he is supposed to shecht moves before he finishes
Any animal that the shochet does one of these 5 things on is called a Neveilah, and we are not allowed to eat it.
|
|
|
|
In the times of the Beis Hamikdash, the Gemara says that the Keruvim were facing each other. That showed the love Hashem and the Yidden had for each other! One of the Keruvim was like Hashem showing us His love, and the second Keruv was like us showing our love back to Hashem!
With Ruach Hakodesh, Shlomo Hamelech says in Shir Hashirim that the Yidden say to Hashem during Golus, “Mi Yitencha Ka’Ach Li?” “Who will be like a (loving) brother to me?” When will Moshiach come when we will be able to see how much Hashem loves us?
We need to wait until Moshiach comes to feel how Hashem loves us in the way we felt it in the Beis Hamikdash, when the Keruvim were facing each other. Still, when we learn Torah, it is a way that we can feel Hashem’s love! Whether we’re learning by ourselves or in Yeshiva, all day or just a little bit when we have time, we can feel the love for Hashem a little bit like the way it was able to be felt in the Beis Hamikdash all the time.
See Torah Ohr Parshas Terumah
|
|
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
|
|
|
In Shemoneh Esrei, we ask Hashem for our needs. The Chachomim taught us that before asking Hashem for the things we need, we should first praise Hashem.
We praise Hashem in the first brachos of Shemoneh Esrei, but those brachos are very short. If we spend more time praising Hashem, it will make much more of a difference for us. For this reason, the Chachomim added Pesukei Dezimra to our davening, before Shema.
The main paragraph of Pesukei Dezimra is “Ashrei.” The pesukim in this paragraph starting from the words “Tehillah Ledovid” come from Kapitel Kuf-Mem-Hey in Tehillim. Dovid Hamelech said this kapitel as a “Tehillah,” “a praise for Hashem,” praising Him with every letter of the Alef-Beis! We start with “Aromimcha,” which starts with an alef, and say a posuk for every letter. (There is no posuk which starts with nun, and the Gemara explains why! We will IY”H learn about it another day.)
The Chachomim added the line “Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha” before “Tehillah Ledovid” to show us how important it is to praise Hashem in Pesukei Dezimra. Someone who spends time in Hashem’s house, speaking about how special He is before davening, is doing something very good!
There is a halacha that we need to have kavana especially when we say a certain posuk, the one that starts with a pey: “Poseiach Es Yodecha, Umasbia Lechol Chai Ratzon.” “Hashem, You open Your hand and satisfy all living things.”
This posuk tells us that Hashem gives parnasa, and helps everyone with whatever they need. We think about how Hashem takes care of every creation and gives it whatever it needs to have. We realize that all that we have comes directly from Hashem, and that Hashem gives us all we need!
|
|
|
|
After Havdalah on Motzei Shabbos, there is a minhag to speak about Eliyahu Hanavi, saying that he should come and tell all the Yidden about the Geulah!
Why do we do this on Motzei Shabbos?
Eliyahu Hanavi can’t come announce the Geulah anytime! Eliyahu Hanavi can’t come on Erev Shabbos, when the Yidden are busy getting ready for Shabbos, and he can’t come on Shabbos because of the halachos of the Techum Shabbos.
But now that Shabbos is over, Eliyahu Hanavi can come to tell all of us about the Geulah, which should happen right away! That’s why, as soon as Shabbos is over, we mention Eliyahu Hanavi and daven that he should come and tell us about the Geulah!
See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Siman Reish-Tzadik-Hey se’if Hey
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
|
|
|
On Asara B’Teves 5750, a certain man came to the Rebbe for dollars.
While standing by the Rebbe, the man asked for many brachos. He kept asking for more and more things, until the Rebbe finally suggested, “Maybe you should ask for Moshiach to come?”
The man agreed, and answered, “Im Yirtza Hashem.” (“If Hashem wants”)
The Rebbe told him, “Hashem already wants! It’s up to the Yidden to want Moshiach as well!”
From the sefer Zoreia Tzedakos (stories about Dollars), translated in Moshiach Weekly #17
|
|
|
|
|
לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
|
|
Give children around the world the gift of Kids Chitas!
KidsChitas.org/sponsor
|
|
|
