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CHUMASH
Parshas Pekudei - Chamishi with Rashi
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Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu that he should put up the Mishkan on Rosh Chodesh Nissan!
Here is the way he should set it up:
1) Put up the Mishkan building.
Then he should set up the keilim INSIDE the Mishkan:
2) Put the Aron in the Kodesh Hakodoshim.
3) Put up the Paroches between the Kodesh and the Kodesh Hakodoshim, to be a mechitzah in front of the Aron.
4) Set up the Shulchan and the Lechem Hapanim on it.
5) Bring in the Menorah and light it.
6) Put the Mizbeiach Hazahav opposite the place of the Aron.
Now he should set up the outside of the Mishkan:
7) Put up a curtain by the entrance of the Mishkan.
8) Put the Mizbeiach Ha’olah (the big copper Mizbeiach for korbanos) in front of the entrance to the Mishkan.
9) Set up the Kiyor between the Mishkan and the Mizbeiach, and fill it with water.
10) Set up the Chatzer around the Mishkan.
11) Put up a curtain by the entrance to the Chatzer.
Then, he should get the Mishkan and its keilim ready to be used. He should first anoint the Mishkan and all of the keilim inside of it with the Shemen Hamishcha, to make them holy. He should also anoint the keilim outside of the Mishkan, the Mizbeiach and the Kiyor.
He should bring Aharon and his sons to the entrance of the Mishkan and toivel them in the mikvah.
Afterward, he should put the clothes on Aharon the Kohen Gadol and anoint him with the Shemen Hamishcha.
Then, he should dress the regular kohanim, Aharon’s sons, by putting on their Kesones, the main piece of clothing of a kohen. Then he should anoint them with the Shemen Hamishcha so they will be ready to do the avodah. This will make them kohanim now, and forever!
The Torah finishes by telling us that Moshe did just what Hashem told him to!
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The first posuk of Kapitel Chof-Hey starts with Dovid Hamelech saying to Hashem, “Eilecha Hashem Nafshi Esa,” “I raise up my nefesh to You Hashem.”
The Alter Rebbe tells us in Tanya that this is a kavana that every Yid needs to have when davening and learning! We need to feel that we are actually giving Hashem our nefesh.
We should try to feel the same way that a neshama in Gan Eden does: A neshama in Gan Eden doesn’t think about what the body needs, it just thinks about connecting itself to Hashem through the words of Torah that it is learning.
We should have this kind of Mesiras Nefesh when we are davening and learning too! We should only be thinking about connecting to Hashem through the words of our Torah and Tefillah.
Of course, before we daven and learn we need to eat well! That’s part of the Chassidishe minhag to eat before davening, so that we won’t be hungry during davening. During davening, we don’t think about these things, we only think about the words of davening and learning that are connecting us to Hashem!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Hey
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In the beginning of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe taught us something that the beinoni needs to always know: It is his job to use his koach of Moach Shalit Al Halev, in order to win over the Yetzer Hara.
How do we do this avodah? We need to use our moach, our mind, to remember how we are ready to have Mesiras Nefesh to do whatever Hashem wants, and we need to use our sechel to think about the greatness of Hashem, so we understand how important it is to do what Hashem wants us to.
We also learned that to have hatzlacha with Moach Shalit Al Halev, our lev can’t be worried! If we have atzvus because we are worried about things, or Timtum Halev, we won’t be able to do this properly.
But a beinoni might get very frustrated! He keeps fighting to win over his Yetzer Hara, but his Yetzer Hara never goes away! He ends up winning and doing what Hashem wants, but his Yetzer Hara is still there!
Now the Alter Rebbe will explain that it’s not our job to beat our Yetzer Hara completely! That would be very frustrating, since we would never finish! A beinoni doesn’t have the koach to change his Yetzer Hara into a Yetzer Tov. That’s the avodah of a tzadik. Only when Moshiach comes, will Hashem change our Yetzer Hara into a Yetzer Tov too!
So what is the beinoni’s job? Why does he have to keep fighting?
The Alter Rebbe will teach us that the point is to bring the Shechinah down into the world and to bring the Geulah! The way to do this is by doing mitzvos and Maasim Tovim, and winning over the Yetzer Hara who is trying to keep us from doing them. That is what will bring Moshiach, and that’s a job that a beinoni should be very happy that he IS able to accomplish!
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When the Mitteler Rebbe said Chassidus, it was very quiet in the Zal. But the Mitteler Rebbe would still say, “Sha, Sha!”
Why did he have to say “Sha Sha?” Nobody was making noise!
The Rebbe Rashab explained that this was because of the Mitteler Rebbe’s Nevius Hamochin. His mind would think so much and so fast, that he was saying “Sha, Sha” to his thoughts to slow them down enough to be able to explain them to the Chassidim!
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #285) is that it is asur for a person to say not-true eidus. This is one of the Aseres Hadibros!
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro: לֹא תַעֲנֶה בְרֵעֲךָ עֵד שָׁקֶר
The mitzvah is repeated in Parshas Vaeschanan: עֵד שָׁוְא
The Torah uses the words “Eid Sheker” about this mitzvah in the Aseres Hadibros, and then different words, “Eid Shav” when Moshe Rabbeinu repeats the Aseres Hadibros in Parshas Vaeschanan.
People who say not-true eidus (with certain conditions) are called Eidim Zomemim, and whatever their eidus would cause the other person to be punished with becomes THEIR punishment — so if their eidus would have made the person chayav to get malkos, the Eidim Zomemim each get malkos. (Giving this punishment is tomorrow’s mitzvah.)
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the beginning of Mesechta Makos.
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In today’s Rambam we learn the halachos of today’s mitzvah, about not saying not-true eidus.
Today’s perakim of Rambam are Perakim Yud-Zayin, Yud-Ches, and Yud-Tes.
When we learn about not-true eidus, we see certain halachos that are much stricter than any other mitzvah!
1) Before eidim say their eidus, the Beis Din gives them a very strong warning, saying that if their eidus is not true, they will be embarrassed in this world and in Olam Haba!
2) If someone asked another person to just STAND there, without even saying anything, so a person will think that there are two eidim, it is still asur.
3) We also see by Eidim Zomemim, that the Beis Din makes an announcement about it in all the cities so everyone will know.
In the farbrengen of Purim Katan Tof-Shin-Mem-Vov, the Rebbe explained why the Torah is so strict with Eidus Sheker: Most mitzvos are DETAILS in how a person does his shlichus in the world, but this mitzvah is the GENERAL shlichus of a Yid in the world. The Navi calls Yidden Eidim (witnesses) of Hashem, because when people see how a Yid behaves, it is like an eid — showing the world that Hashem is here! But if a person is chas veshalom an Eid Sheker, he is making a Chillul Hashem and going against his whole shlichus! That is why these halachos are so strict.
This shows us how important it is to behave in a way that will make a Kiddush Hashem!
That farbrengen, which was about today’s shiur in Rambam, which is about two weeks before the Siyum HoRambam. The Rebbe encouraged everyone to be involved in making and going to the siyumim!
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The Rambam explains what is different about a Shevuah and a Neder, and the halachos that are different for each kind.
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The story of Purim actually starts 57 years earlier, in Eretz Yisrael, with the churban of the first Beis Hamikdash. The Navi Yirmiyahu promised it would be rebuilt 70 years after Golus Bavel.
King Achashverosh made his feast to celebrate that 70 years of the Golus had passed and the Beis Hamikdash still hadn’t been rebuilt. He calculated the 70 years from the time when Yechuniah Melech Yehudah was brought into Golus, which was before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed.
The neis of Purim happened 10 years after this feast, and three years after that, Esther’s son Daryavesh gave permission for the Yidden to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash again, exactly 70 years after the churban! Daryavesh asked to put a picture of Shushan in the Beis Hamikdash. A picture of Shushan was engraved and hung up on one of the gates of the Beis Hamikdash, which they called Shaar Shushan. This is the gate that is used during the burning of the Parah Adumah, which we will IY”H need to use so we can all go into the Beis Hamikdash when Moshiach comes!
During the second half of this party, Achashveirosh invited everyone in Shushan, including the Yidden. At this party, he asked that it be “Kirtzon Ish Va’ish” — the way each person wants. Achashverosh asked that there should be kosher food for the Yidden, so they could eat at the feast.
Of course, a non-Jewish party celebrating that the Beis Hamikdash was not rebuilt is NOT the right place for a Jew to be! The Yidden were punished for going and enjoying that feast, with the decree of Haman HaRasha.
Still, the Rebbe teaches us, there is an important lesson we can learn from Achashverosh’s instructions, since they are written in the Megillah, and everything in the Megillah has a lesson for us!
Hashem made Yidden just a small part of all of the people in the world. We sometimes might feel that we shouldn’t be so careful with some mitzvos, since it might bother other people or make us stick out.
But we can learn from the Megillah that we shouldn’t think that way! Hashem gave Achashverosh the idea to have kosher food for the Yidden, and so too, Hashem will make sure the rest of the world HELPS us to do the mitzvos. When we show that we are ready to stand strong in our Yiddishkeit, Hashem will make sure that all of the nations of the world help us to keep each mitzvah properly.
See Hisvaaduyos 5742, p. 950; Megillas Esther with the Rebbe’s explanations p. 87
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Imagine that you are sitting by the table in your house, finishing supper. You’re thinking about reading a book, and about cleaning up your room. Suddenly, you hear a knock at the door. You get up to go see who it is. Peeking through the peephole, you see a man dressed in a fancy uniform. He is holding a badge that shows that he is a messenger from the king.
Your heart starts to pound! You call your mother to make sure that this is not a joke. She looks through the peephole, and starts to tremble. He really is a messenger from the king!
You open the door, and the man asks if he has the right house. You look at the name on the envelope he is holding, and see that it is YOUR name. You’re too nervous to answer, so you just nod.
“This letter is from the king, and he asked me to hand-deliver it to you.”
The messenger leaves, and you bring the letter into the dining room to read it. Your hands are shaking, but the words of the letter are clear:
You are being given a special job from the king. You carefully reread the letter to make sure you understand every detail of what you should do. You are still nervous, but now you are standing proud and tall. The king chose YOU for an important task!
The holy words of Shema are a personal letter from Hashem, giving us our mission. The Shulchan Aruch says that when we say these words, we need to feel the awe of having a job given specifically to us, directly from Hashem, the Creator and the chayus of the entire world! We need to feel the pride and determination to do just what the Aibershter asks us to.
It might look like it is the same mission every day, but it is not. Every day comes with a new chayus, and every day that we are alive, Hashem is giving us a special shlichus. By following the words of Shema, and serving Hashem with all of our kochos, we will fulfill the new mission of today.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Samach-Alef, se’if alef and beis
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There are many different levels in how we do mitzvos. The lowest level is the way the mitzvah is kept beshaas hadchak (in hard circumstances) or bedieved (after something was already done). Then there is lechat’chila (the ideal way to do it), then being yotzei lechol hadeios (fulfilling the mitzvah in a lechat’chila way according to all opinions), then mehadrin, and the highest level is mehadrin min hamehadrin.
As Chassidim, we try to keep all mitzvos behidur, in the most beautiful way. Part of this hiddur is to make sure that as many Yidden as possible keep the mitzvos (even if THEY can’t do it in the best possible way)! Of course, with the mitzvos the Rebbe set up as mivtzoyim, we need to be ESPECIALLY careful that every Yid is able to do them!
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How much do we need to give for Matanos La’evyonim, for each of those levels?
For Matanos La’evyonim, we should try to give as much as we can. The minimum we need to give is at least one penny to at least two poor people.
According to halacha, the minimum needs to be at least one perutah for each person, and the smallest definition of perutah is one penny. Other opinions say that we need to give at least a nickel or a dime, and there are many other opinions, some saying that the minimum is fifty cents.
Other Chachomim say that the best way is give the worth of a meal to the poor people. There are also opinions on how much money that would be, starting from $2.50 and going up to $7.00.
When and how should we give it?
If we live in a place where we can give the money directly to the poor people, or where an organization can give the money for us on Purim, that is the best way. If we can’t, we can give the money before Purim to an organization that will give it out on Purim, or we can put it aside (like in a pushka) for when we will be able to give it to the poor.
Matanos La’evyonim is done during Purim day, after the Megillah is read.
From all of the mitzvos of Purim, this is the one we should increase in the most, because there is no greater simcha for Hashem than to bring joy to the people who need it most!
Matanos La’evyonim is a very easy mitzvah to fulfill, so every man, woman, boy and girl should keep this mitzvah. We should help as many Yidden as possible fulfill the mitzvah on Purim! One practical idea is to bring coins and a pushka together with us on mivtzoyim.
See Shevach Hamoadim p. 152, Halachos Uminhagei Chabad p.150-151, farbrengen Chai Elul 5737
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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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The Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Ohr that the Yidden had to be slaves before they could have the Geulah of Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
Nowadays also, we need to first be slaves, with our suffering in Golus, before we can have the final Geulah. That
doesn’t sound so nice!
But sometimes, Hashem gives us a choice of which kinds of slaves to be! We can choose to be slaves by having Gashmius’dike worries, or we can choose to be servants of Hashem and work hard to do mitzvos that we aren’t used to.
When we choose to be a servant of Hashem (an Eved Hashem), and do things that are hard for us in order to fulfill Hashem’s Ratzon, we won’t need to be a slave to the Golus! We can switch the hardships of Golus for hardships in serving Hashem. Then we will be doing our part in ending the Golus completely, and leave the Golus — but this time to the final and complete Geulah with Moshiach Tzidkeinu!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Alef p. 115–119
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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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