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CHUMASH
Parshas Tzav - Shvi'i with Rashi
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Moshe Rabbeinu sprinkled some of the Shemen Hamish’cha (“anointing oil”) on Aharon and the kohanim, along with some of the blood from the korban. This made them holy enough to work in the Mishkan!
Moshe told them to eat the meat of the korban inside of the courtyard of the Mishkan, because it is very holy and can’t be eaten outside.
The kohanim are not allowed to leave the Mishkan, because this needs to be done again every day for the whole seven days (Shivas Yemei Hamiluim, the inauguration of the Mishkan).
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In today’s Tehillim there is a posuk “Moshe VeAharon BeChohanov, U’Shmuel BeKorei Shemo.” “Moshe and Aharon among Hashem’s kohanim, and Shmuel among those who call in Hashem’s name.”
The Gemara explains that Shmuel Hanavi in his generation was as great as Moshe and Aharon in their generation!
The Rebbe teaches us that when the Yidden went out of Mitzrayim, Hashem gave them TWO leaders: Moshe, who taught them the Torah that is the same for everyone, and Aharon, who helped each person do their best to connect to Torah on their own level.
Shmuel Hanavi did BOTH jobs together. He taught Yidden the truth, AND helped the Yidden grow in Yiddishkeit, each according to his own level.
The Rebbeim in later times were also like Shmuel, who had both qualities together. They taught Torah and how we need to serve Hashem, and helped each Yid according to his level to come closer to doing what Hashem wants.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Zayin
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Today’s Tanya has a very famous section brought in the Rebbe’s sichos many times, about how special the mitzvah of tzedakah is and why the Chachomim tell us that it brings the Geulah closer.
The chachomim tell us that the most important mitzvah is Tzedakah — it’s as important as all of the other mitzvos together! Why?
We learned that when we do mitzvos, we use every part of the world for Kedusha, so it will be ready for the Geulah! So when we do mitzvos with different things, it’s getting the world ready for Moshiach.
Most mitzvos only use one part of our body to do the mitzvah — like wearing Tefillin with our hand and head, or smelling besamim with our nose.
But to get money, a person needs to work very hard with ALL of his koach and use many Gashmius’dike things. Then, when he uses some of that money for Tzedakah, he is making ALL of these kochos ready for the Geulah!
That’s why the Chachomim teach us that Gedolah Tzedakah Shemekareves Es HaGeulah — tzedakah is a great mitzvah because it brings Moshiach closer!
Other mitzvos make only some parts of the world ready for Moshiach, but tzedakah makes MANY, MANY parts of the world ready!
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Now, what about learning Torah? Don’t we say every day at the end of brachos, “Talmud Torah Keneged Kulam” — that learning Torah is more important than everything?
The Alter Rebbe teaches us three special maalos of learning Torah:
1) We are using a more pnimius’dike part of ourselves when we learn Torah!
Our neshama has three levushim, three ways to use the guf: It can make the guf think something (Machshava), say something (Dibur), or do something (Maaseh). When we do mitzvos, we mainly use our Maaseh. But when we learn Torah, we use our Machshava and Dibur, which are more pnimius’dik than Maaseh.
2) Even if a person does many mitzvos, it doesn’t change the Yetzer Hara into a Yetzer Tov. But learning a lot of Torah can CHANGE our thinking into a way of kedusha!
The main kochos we use to do mitzvos (our midos) are also used very much by the Yetzer Hara. Because of that, most people are only able to USE those kochos, but not to change them into kedusha. But the koach we use for Torah, our sechel, can be changed into kedusha by learning a lot of Torah!
3) The Elokus which shines into the neshama when a person learns Torah is higher than what shines into a person when he does mitzvos!
The Chachomim were speaking about these maalos when they told us that Torah is the most important thing!
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Still, if there is a mitzvah and there is nobody else to do it, the halacha is that a person needs to stop learning Torah and go do the mitzvah.
That’s because mitzvos make the world into a Dira Betachtonim, and that’s the whole reason the neshama came into the world! If nobody else can do that mitzvah, you need to stop learning and make sure the world can be a Dira Betachtonim!
But if someone else can do the mitzvah, you shouldn’t stop learning, because of the maalah of Torah. Torah makes the neshama connect to Hashem in a higher way than mitzvos can!
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Then the Alter Rebbe gives us a mashal to tell us what happens when we learn Torah:
What happens with a little child whose parents go outside for a minute? The child starts crying, “Tatty, Tatty!” He wants Tatty to come to him right away so that he is not alone.
In this world, the neshama can sometimes feel alone, and it wants to be feel close to Hashem. The neshama can also call out to Hashem like a little child calling to his Tatty so he is not alone. When we learn Torah, we are “calling” out to Hashem that we want Hashem to be close to us, so that we don’t feel alone!
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The Alter Rebbe was a Neshama Chadasha, a new neshama that came into the world to reveal Chassidus Chabad to prepare the world for Moshiach. The Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, who knew about this special shlichus, also knew that there would be many not-good things he would have to deal with in order to fulfill his shlichus. This Hayom Yom is a “Torah” that the Alter Rebbe’s Rebbe, the Maggid, told him to strengthen him in his shlichus.
The Maggid of Mezritch said this short maamar to the Alter Rebbe in Yechidus:
There is a posuk that says, “Eish Tomid Tukad Al Hamizbeiach Lo Sichbeh” — there has to be a fire burning on the Mizbeiach ALL the time, which we are not allowed to put out!
The Maggid explained that in the avodah of a Yid there is also a Ruchnius “mizbeiach,” and the Avodah of a Yid is to bring a “korban” — to give something of ourselves to Hashem.
Even though in the Mishkan a fire came from Hashem to burn the korban, there also always needed to be a fire lit by a person burning on the Mizbeiach, like the posuk says, “Aish Tomid Tukad Al Hamizbeiach.” By bringing a fire from below, that will bring the fire of Hashem from above.
On the Ruchnius Mizbeiach, there also needs to be a Ruchnius fire. Fire is the idea of chayus. The fire is chayus from learning Chassidus, and it also needs to be constantly lit on a Yid’s Mizbeiach!
The Maggid told the Alter Rebbe the maamar TEN TIMES, so it would go into all 10 of the neshama’s kochos. The Maggid told him that he will need to have the chayus of this “fire” all the time, because a lot of people will try to fight against Chassidus!
The Maggid told him: “Just like the fire on the Mizbeiach in the Mishkan needed to burn ALL the time, YOUR fire will need to burn all the time, and “Lo Sichbeh” — it will put out the “lo,” the not-good things trying to get in the way of your shlichus.
Just like in the Gashmius Mishkan first you have to do your part, and then Hashem brings the fire from above, the same thing is here.
“When you will do your part with the chayus of Chassidus burning all the time, to put out the ‘lo,’ Hashem will do His part from above to change the not-good things into good things — to make the ‘lo’ (no) into hein (yes)!”
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In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn the last few rules about what we count as one of the 613 mitzvos:
10) Things you need to do before you can do the mitzvah aren’t counted as separate mitzvos (like squeezing the olive oil for the menorah).
11) If a mitzvah has a lot of parts, we still count it as only one mitzvah (like lulav and esrog).
12) If doing the mitzvah has a lot of steps, we still count it as only one mitzvah (like building the Mishkan).
13) Even if we need to do the mitzvah for many days, it is still counted as one mitzvah (like sitting in the sukkah for seven days is only one mitzvah).
14) We don’t count the punishment for each aveira as its own mitzvah.
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In today’s Rambam, the Rambam tells us the list of mitzvos again, but shows us where we’ll learn them in the 14 books of the Rambam. These 14 seforim include 83 sections that teach us different sets of halachos.
Here are the seforim:
1) Mada — “to know.” In this sefer we learn the mitzvos that are important for a Yid to know FIRST, so he will do all of the other mitzvos. We need to know that Hashem is one, and that we can’t serve Avodah Zarah.
2) Ahava — “love.” This sefer has the mitzvos we need to do all of the time, like loving Hashem. It also has the mitzvos that help us love Hashem, like saying Shema.
3) Zmanim — “times.” This sefer teaches us mitzvos that we do on special days, like Shabbos and Yom Tov.
4) Nashim — “women.” In this sefer, we learn the mitzvos that have to do with marriage and divorce.
5) Kedusha — “holy.” Hashem gave us certain mitzvos that show us how a Yid is different than other nations. In this sefer, we learn about who we can’t get married to, and what we can’t eat. For a Yid, getting married is holy, and we can only marry who the Torah says we can. A goy can eat any food that he wants, but a Yid can only eat kosher.
6) Hafla’ah — “separation.” This sefer has the mitzvos about when a person separates HIMSELF from something, by making a promise that he won’t use it.
7) Zera’im — “plants.” In this sefer we learn the mitzvos that have to do with planting, like Shemitah and Yovel, and the terumah and maaser we have to give from things that grow.
8) Avodah — “work.” In this sefer of the Rambam, we learn about the work we do for Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash. We learn the mitzvos of building the Beis Hamikdash, and the korbanos that ALL of the Yidden bring to Hashem, like the Korban Tomid that we bring every day!
9) Korbanos — “sacrifices.” This sefer has the mitzvos about the korbanos Yidden have to bring by themselves, like the Korban Pesach that every Yid has to be part of, and the korbanos a person brings if he does an aveira.
10) Tahara — “purity.” In this sefer, the Rambam will teach us all of the mitzvos that have to do with tumah and tahara.
11) Nezikin — “damages.” In this sefer we have all of the mitzvos about if one person hurts another person or ruins his things.
12) Kinyan — “acquiring.” In this sefer we learn how property can belong to a person, like if he buys it. It also has the halachos about neighbors and partners.
13) Mishpatim — “judgments.” This sefer has the mitzvos about when two people argue about something in Beis Din, like halachos about a person who watches something for his friend, or lends him money.
14) Shoftim — “judges.” In this sefer we learn the mitzvos for a Sanhedrin, like when a person is punished for doing an aveira. We also learn about a king, and the wars he fights — ending off with the halachos about Moshiach!
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There are some times when a Nazir SHOULD do things that a Nazir usually is not allowed to do. Like if he got Tzoraas while he was a Nazir, he has a MITZVAH to cut his hair!
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This week is Parshas Parah. We lein the part of the Torah about the Parah Adumah, from Parshas Chukas. This is because around this time is when the Yidden would begin their travels up to Yerushalayim for Pesach, and they were reminded that they need to make themselves tahor to bring the Korban Pesach and go into the Beis Hamikdash for Yom Tov. To remember this, the Chachomim said that we should lein this part of the Torah even now during Golus as a preparation for the Yom Tov of Pesach.
The Torah calls the mitzvah of Parah Adumah a chok (“Chukas HaTorah”), a mitzvah that doesn’t have a reason we know about. Hashem did not give us the reason for this mitzvah, and some parts of it don’t even make sense to us! (For example, even though the Parah Adumah makes a person tahor from the most serious kind of tumah, anyone who helps prepare the Parah Adumah becomes tomei and needs to go to the mikvah!)
The Medrash tells us that Hashem told Moshe that He would reveal the reason for the Parah Adumah only to him. But if Moshe Rabbeinu knew the reason for the Parah Adumah, why is it called a chok for everyone?
The Rebbe explains in a maamar that even though Moshe Rabbeinu was very great in Torah, that is not what Moshe is all about. The MAIN inyan of Moshe Rabbeinu is that he was the Nasi of the Yidden, taking care of every Jew.
If a Yid didn’t have something, Moshe Rabbeinu would feel like something was missing, even if he had it himself. This was also true with understanding: If the Yidden didn’t understand something, that was what was important to Moshe Rabbeinu. Even if he knew what it meant himself, he felt like it was not understood as long as the Yidden didn’t understand it.
That is why the Parah Adumah is called a chok for everyone, also for Moshe Rabbeinu, because the Yidden didn’t know the reason, and that meant that even Moshe Rabbeinu felt that it was not understood. Because that was the main inyan of Moshe Rabbeinu, that he was the Nasi taking care of every Jew. So if there was something missing in their understanding, it was missing for Moshe too.
See Kuntres Yud-Beis Yud-Gimmel Tammuz 5751
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TEFILLAH
Two Kinds of Needs - Shemoneh Esrei
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The Chachomim put together Shemoneh Esrei as the main part of each tefillah. In Shemoneh Esrei, we ask Hashem for all of our needs.
Here is how the brachos of Shemoneh Esrei are organized:
- The first three and last three brachos of Shemoneh Esrei are praise and thanks TO Hashem.
- The middle 12 (now 13) brachos are what we ask FROM Hashem.
These middle brachos are split up into two sections as well:
- First, we ask for our personal needs. These are the first six of the middle brachos. We are asking Hashem for the things we need for ourselves, like sechel, health and parnasa, and a personal Geulah from the things that bother us from living the way a Yid should.
- Then, we ask for what we need for all Yidden together, in the other six middle brachos.
What do we need for all Yidden together? We ask Hashem to bring back the Yidden to the way things used to be, so that we can again fulfill all of the mitzvos properly in Eretz Yisroel. In these brachos, we ask Hashem to bring the Geulah for all the Yidden!
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Before the search for chometz, we first clean our house. We sweep up and straighten up the house to make it easier to look everywhere for chometz. We have to be extra careful to clean any parts of the house that might come in contact with our Pesach food.
One of the places we should search is under and behind heavy appliances, like the stove and refrigerator. Pieces of chometz end up under there very often! Because it can be hard to move them, we can do this before the actual night of Bedikas Chometz. We can move the refrigerator to clean behind it, and then search there right away with a candle (but without saying a bracha). Then we won’t need to move it again on the night of Bedikas Chometz, if there was no chance chometz got pushed under there again since we checked.
See “Notes for Pesach,” by Dayan Raskin
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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 Frierdiker Rebbe taught that the Alter Rebbe was a Neshama Chadasha, a new neshama.
What is a “new neshama”?
Most neshamos nowadays are neshamos that were already used before. Hashem sends them back into the world again, in a different guf, to finish things that the neshama didn’t finish before. This is called gilgul. So we might think that a Neshama Chadasha means a neshama that Hashem set aside and didn’t bring into the world until the Alter Rebbe was born.
But the Rebbe says that this is not what it means!
In this week’s Chassidishe Parsha (the Likutei Torah for Parshas Tzav), we learn that L’asid Lavo there will be new neshamos. These neshamos will be a much higher Ruchnius level than the neshamos that were in this world until then.
The Alter Rebbe’s neshama was one of those special new neshamos of L’asid Lavo, a neshama of Geulah!
This fits together with what we know about Chassidus Chabad, which was taught by the Alter Rebbe: Chassidus is a taste of the Pnimius HaTorah that will be taught by Moshiach L’asid Lavo!
And the neshama that revealed this Pnimius HaTorah today as a preparation for the Geulah was also a Neshama Chadasha, one of these special neshamos that will be revealed to all of the Yidden when Moshiach comes.
See Kuntres Inyana Shel Toras Hachassidus, ha’arah 45 and Sefer Bedarkei Hachassidus p. 110 ff
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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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