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CHUMASH
Parshas Vayakhel - Shvi'i with Rashi
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Betzalel and Oholiav made parts of the Mishkan, using Ruach Hakodesh to understand exactly how Hashem wants it to look!
Betzalel made the Mizbeiach Hanechoshes, the big Mizbeiach that was used for korbanos.
He also made the Kiyor, using the mirrors that the women brought! At first Moshe didn’t want to take the mirrors that they brought, because he thought that women use mirrors only to think about how they look. Hashem told Moshe to take them and use them for the Kiyor, because they used the mirrors for a mitzvah — to make sure they look nice for their husbands, so they will have Shalom Bayis!
Betzalel also made the curtains that hang around the Chatzer of the Mishkan.
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In one of today’s kapitelach is a posuk you all know very well, because you say it every day at the end of davening! “Ach Tzadikim Yodu Lishmecha!”
In Tof-Shin-Mem-Daled (forty years ago), the Rebbe asked that EVERYONE, not only chassidim, should say this posuk after davening, and also to say Hareini before davening. Saying these pesukim help bring shalom into the world!
Here is an interesting story about when that started:
In 5744, like now, there wasn’t much shalom between many countries. To help this, in a sicha for Yud-tes Kislev, the Rebbe said that every Jew should say “Hareini Mekabel” before davening, and “Ach Tzaddikim” after davening — whatever nusach they daven.
The Rebbe said that even though when the Frierdiker Rebbe sent shluchim to Morocco and Tunisia, he had told them not to change any of the minhagim there, he still asked that these two lines be added. Really, the Rebbe said, it was not a new minhag, since these pesukim are in the siddurim of the Rambam, the Arizal, and other tzadikim.
The tmimim (bochurim) who were shluchim in Morocco went to the shuls by the next day to tell people to start saying these pesukim. And because the Rebbe said it was so important, someone had an idea to ask if they can glue these pesukim into siddurim in shuls and schools. Out of kavod for the Rebbe, the teachers in the schools and the Gabboim in shuls let them do it, even though they daven a different nusach! One of the tmimim found these pesukim in Morrocan Siddurim from 200 and 300 years before, and the Yidden there now felt much better because just like the Rebbe said, it wasn’t a new minhag — it really WAS their nusach!
Then the tmimim decided that they need to teach the pesukim to all of the children in Tzivos Hashem. So they used a tune from the Moroccan army that everyone knew, and sang the pesukim to this tune. All of the kids loved singing it! The tmimim were hoping that just like we sing Ho’aderes Ve’ho’emunah to a tune from the French army, they would also help this song become a song of kedusha.
A few months later, when their shlichus was over, they went back to 770 for Simchas Torah (5745). They also brought some children along so they could see the Rebbe. On Motzei Simchas Torah, the bochurim took the kids to get Kos Shel Bracha. As the Rebbe poured the wine, he asked these children to come up and sing “Hareini Mekabel” for everyone there!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Gimmel
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One day a week in a Shana Me’uberes we have a very long Tanya, and this year it is on Shabbos. We will learn the whole Perek Lamed-Gimmel:
Can you think of somewhere beautiful and special that makes you happy to be there? Is it a wonderful garden, a tall mountain, a waterfall or a fancy chasunah? If someone would bring you there, but you’re busy playing with a toy, you might not even notice that you are there. But once you pay attention to everything around you, you will feel so happy!
In this perek of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe is teaching us a hisbonenus that will bring us simcha. Thinking happy thoughts will make us feel happy!
The hisbonenus in this perek of Tanya is the last two pesukim of the Twelve Pesukim, Vezeh and Yismach!
This hisbonenus isn’t about something new, it is paying attention to something that is always there. Every one of us knows that Hashem is truly everywhere, but we don’t always feel it. When we think about it properly, it will make us feel very happy!
Imagine if a very important person that you really respect comes to your house. You will feel so proud and special that he came! You will be very happy because he is spending time with you.
The Alter Rebbe reminds us of two mashalim explained in Tanya, that will help us realize that HASHEM is right here with us!
1) Hashem created the world with the koach of Dibur, speaking, like the words “Yehi Ohr” — let there be light. A person might think that means that Hashem said words, and the sound of those words became a world, separate from Hashem, like the way it is when a person speaks. No! When Hashem “says” something, the words don’t leave Hashem because there is nothing separate from Hashem!
That means that the whole world is a part of Hashem! WOW! It seems like we see so many different things, and really the are all part of Hashem! That means Hashem is right here with me!
2) We will learn a mashal later in Tanya (in Shaar Hayichud Veha’emunah) that also helps for this hisbonenus, from the sun and the rays of the sun.
As we will learn, the world isn’t separate from Hashem at all — it only LOOKS that way! The whole world is a part of the Aibershter. WOW! That means that Hashem is right here!
When we think about these things, and realize that Hashem is right here, and we don’t feel separate from Hashem, then we — in our mind and heart — become a comfortable place for Hashem to be. WE become a Dira, a home for Hashem!
And that is exactly what Hashem made the world for, to be able to have a Dira Betachtonim! Vezeh Kol Ha’adam Vesachlis Briyaso Uvrias Kol Ha’olamos, Eloyim Vesachtonim, Lihiyos Lo Dira Zu Besachtonim — This is what Hashem created us for, and the purpose of the entire world, the Heavens and the earth, to become a comfortable place for Hashem to be!
Then we learn something very special that happens when we have this simcha:
One of the Neviim, Chavakuk, said: “Tzadik Be’emunaso Yichyeh” — a tzadik lives with his emunah.
The Gemara tells us that with these words, Chavakuk was summarizing the entire Torah. By doing the mitzvah of emunah, a Yid can keep ALL of the mitzvos!
What is this emunah?
As we learned, every Yid believes that there is nothing except for Hashem. When we pay attention to this, by thinking about the mashalim Chassidus brings to explain it (like we just learned), we will feel that Hashem is with us! This will bring us a tremendous simcha, which will give us the koach to overcome ANYTHING that tries to stop us from doing mitzvos and connecting to Hashem!
Sometimes there are things bother us. They can be from inside of ourselves, or from someone or something else. But with the simcha and bitachon we have from knowing that Hashem is always with us, it will keep anything from getting in our way of living the way Hashem wants us to!
When we think about how “Ein Od Milvado,” that there is nothing besides for Hashem, and that Hashem is here with us all the time, our neshama will be very happy.
But really, a Yid needs to be DOUBLE happy. Why? Because, not only are WE happy that Hashem is with us, but HASHEM is also happy! When we know that Hashem has nachas from us doing our Shlichus in the world, that makes a Yid extra happy.
That’s what we learn in the last posuk of the 12 Pesukim — which comes from today’s Tanya!
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In the year Tof-Shin-Gimmel, like this year, today was Shabbos Mevorchim Adar Sheini. It is a minhag to farbreng on Shabbos Mevorchim, and say Lechaim!
Today the Rebbe tells that there are two nuscha’os of what to answer when someone says Lechaim at a farbrengen:
1) “Lechaim Tovim Ul’Shalom!” — “for a good life, and for shalom.” Why do we say these words? We say this because we need to be careful with wine — in the Torah, when Adam and Noach drank wine, not such good things happened. So we give a bracha that THIS wine should only be good!
2) The way the Maggid of Mezritch used to answer: “Lechaim Velivracha!” “For life and for bracha!”
The Alter Rebbe said this for the first time once at a farbrengen. The Chassidim discussed this nusach, which was new to them! One chossid explained the reason for these words: “Livracha” (“for bracha”) can also be split into two words — “Lev Raka,” a soft heart. Since when we drink wine, people can see what we feel, we need a bracha that only a Lev Raka should come out.
The Tzemach Tzedek said about this chossid, that he understood this because he davened and worked hard in his avodah for 30 years!
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #179) is for a Beis Din. When witnesses come and tell the judges about something they saw or heard, they are not allowed to believe them right away and make a decision. They need to ask many questions to make sure they understand what the witnesses are saying before they pasken the din. If they would just pasken right away, they might end up punishing someone who wasn’t guilty!
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Re’eh: וְדָרַשְׁתָּ וְחָקַרְתָּ וְשָׁאַלְתָּ הֵיטֵב וְהִנֵּה אֱמֶת נָכוֹן הַדָּבָר
The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about the questions we ask witnesses.
In Perek Beis, we learn what happens if the eidim contradict each other in any of the questions. If one person says “he was wearing black clothes!” and the other person says “he was wearing white clothes!”, we don’t listen to what those witnesses say.
In Perek Gimmel, the Rambam tells us that the Chachomim were not as strict with court cases about money. That’s because if we ask too many questions, there is a very good chance that the witnesses will get confused, and very few cases will be won by people who lend money! If people see how hard it is to get their money back in Beis Din, they will stop lending money. That’s why the Beis Din was not as strict, so more people will help each other by lending money.
Perek Daled teaches us more halachos about not being strict with the witnesses in a money case. For example, if the witnesses saw what happened from different places (like different sides of the street) and didn’t see each other, we still count them as good witnesses. Why? So the special mitzvah of Gemilus Chasadim (which includes lending money to others) will be easier to keep, and Yidden will have the money they need.
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We learn more details about Shvuas Ha’Eidus, when someone is asked to be a witness and he makes a Shevuah that he doesn’t know. If he really did, he will only get punished if because he didn’t say his Eidus, the person lost money.
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Vezeh Kol Ha’adam — The purpose of a person and the entire Creation, the higher Ruchnius worlds and this Gashmius world, is all that we should make it into a Dira Betachtonim, a place for Hashem!
From this posuk we see that serving Hashem with our own neshama and all of our kochos is also the “neshama” and the purpose of the whole Creation!
When we know this, it will make us feel fulfilled and happy with what we are doing! We realize this is IT! We don’t need to look anywhere else, we are fulfilling the Tachlis of Hashem’s Creation!
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In Shema, we say that we are ready to have Mesiras Nefesh to do whatever Hashem wants. The brachos before Kriyas Shema help so that when we say Shema, we really mean it!
The first bracha, Yotzer Ohr, speaks about the Malochim who praise Hashem. They call Hashem “Kadosh,” which means holy and separate. Even the Malochim can’t understand the greatness of Hashem, so they feel that Hashem is separate from them.
But where is Hashem? “Melo Chol Ha’aretz Kevodo!” Hashem’s glory is right down in Olam Hazeh, with the Yidden.
The second bracha tells us that even though Hashem has so many powerful Malochim, Hashem puts aside all of them to bring the Yidden close to Him. Hashem loves every Yid, and chose us to be His special people at Matan Torah!
When we think about this in the brachos of Shema, we will want to love Hashem right back! We will also be ready to put aside everything else to do mitzvos and come closer to Hashem. When we say Shema, we will be ready to have Mesiras Nefesh to do all of Hashem’s mitzvos!
See Tanya Perek Mem-Tes
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After the Shabbos meal, we clean up. But don’t take off the tablecloth!
It is the minhag to keep our table covered with a tablecloth the WHOLE Shabbos, to show kavod for Shabbos.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Reish-Samach-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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The Rebbe teaches us how to look at the world in a Moshiach’dike way!
We learned that we can look at everything and think about how it will be when Moshiach comes. Another way to do this is to think about how everything can be used to bring Moshiach closer!
For example, when we see the clock, and notice that we have another five minutes, we should think about how we can use these five minutes to bring Moshiach closer! We can use them to learn a little bit of extra Torah, do another mitzvah, or have Ahavas Yisroel by helping another Yid!
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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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