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CHUMASH
Parshas Tazria - Rishon with Rashi
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In last week’s parsha, we learned about tumah that comes through an animal. Now we start to learn about tumah that can come from a person, especially Tzoraas, and how to become tahor from these kinds of tumah.
First we learn about the tumah of Yoledes:
If a woman has a baby, she becomes tomei. If the baby is a boy, she is tomei for a week. Afterwards, on the eighth day, the baby has his bris, and she can go to the mikvah. But she isn’t ALL tahor yet — she still needs to wait until 40 days after the baby is born before she can go to the Beis Hamikdash to bring her korbanos.
If the baby is a girl, the mother waits 2 weeks before she can go to the mikvah to become tahor. She has to wait until 80 days are over, though, before she can go to the Beis Hamikdash.
Then, the mother brings special korbanos to Hashem! If she can pay for it, she brings a sheep and a bird, or if that’s too expensive, she can bring 2 birds.
Now we start learning about Tzoraas.
If a person finds white spots on his skin, he needs to go to a kohen to check if it’s Tzoraas.
Sometimes the kohen can see right away that it’s Tzoraas (if the hair in the white spot turns white), and the person becomes Tomei. Other times, the kohen says that the person needs to wait in a place by himself for a week, and the kohen will look afterwards to see then if it looks like Tzoraas or if it went away.
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In today’s Tehillim there are some kapitelach we say during Shacharis on Shabbos. The kapitel “Hodu Lashem Ki Tov, Ki Le’olam Chasdo”, also called Hallel HaGadol (Kapitel Kuf-Lamed-Vov), is one of them. We also have Al Naharos Bavel in today’s Tehillim, which we say before bentching on a weekday.
In Hallel Hagadol, one of the things we thank Hashem for is the big lights that shine on the world — the sun, the moon, and the stars. We say, “Le’oseh Orim Gedolim, Ki Le’olam Chasdo! — Hashem makes the big lights — because He has so much chesed!”
We learn from this that Hashem is ALWAYS making the world! Because it doesn’t say “Hashem MADE the big lights,” but “Hashem MAKES the big lights” — Hashem is always creating the world from nothing, every single second! (We say this in davening — at the end of the first bracha before Shema.)
That shows us how important every single thing we do is — Hashem created the whole world just now for YOU to be learning Chitas!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Tes
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Today is a very exciting day in Tanya! Today we are going to learn about Atzilus, which is a Ruchnius’dike level where nothing can be felt except for Hashem.
Did you help burn the chometz last year? Think about standing in front of the fire, which has big flames burning up all of your chometz. Now imagine taking a little burning match, and throwing it inside. What happens to the fire on your match? Now it is completely a part of the big fire!
That’s what Atzilus is like. When a neshama is there, it becomes part of the great “fire” of Hashem.
Great tzadikim can feel Hashem in a way that there is nothing else that exists besides for Hashem. Smaller neshamos can feel Hashem by using their minds to think about the greatness of Hashem, even though they don’t feel it the way the great tzadikim do.
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It IS our minhag to say a special Horachaman in bentching by a Bris Milah.
Here’s something that the Frierdiker Rebbe once said at a Bris:
At a bris, we say “Kesheim shenichnas lebris, kein yikones leTorah, leChupah, ul’Maasim Tovim!” Since the baby had his bris, we ask Hashem that he should also live a life of Torah, get married, and do a lot of mitzvos!
It is our minhag to start paying for tuition so he can learn in yeshiva when he gets older!
Then the Frierdiker Rebbe gave money, saying “this is for the Yeshiva!”
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #209) in Sefer Hamitzvos is to have kavod for a Talmid Chochom, especially someone who taught us Torah. One way we show this kavod is by standing up for them.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: מִפְּנֵי שֵׂיבָה תָּקוּם וְהָדַרְתָּ פְּנֵי זָקֵן
The details are explained in Mesechta Kiddushin perek Alef.
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Perek Hey: In today’s Rambam, we learn that we need to have special kavod for our teachers since they teach us Torah!
In Perek Vov, we learn that we need to show kavod to every Talmid Chochom, because of the Torah they learned! The Rambam teaches us that we also need to show kavod to ANYONE who is very old — even if they aren’t Jewish.
It is so important to show kavod for a Talmid Chochom, that if someone doesn’t, they are separated from the rest of the Yidden by being put into cherem until they do teshuvah. The Rambam also tells us the other 23 things that might make someone deserve to be put into cherem.
Perek Zayin teaches us that cherem is a very serious thing. Someone who is in cherem isn’t counted as part of a minyan! The Rambam teaches us that a Beis Din shouldn’t want to put someone into cherem, because it is such a serious thing.
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Now we learn the halachos of someone donating his field to the Beis Hamikdash. There are two kinds of fields — a Sedei Achuzah that someone got as a yerusha (like after his parents passed away) or a Sedei Mikna that a person bought or got from hefker.
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Giving out Shmurah matzah to Yidden who wouldn’t have otherwise is one of the Rebbe’s mivtzoyim!
The Rebbe tells us to make sure and ask Hashem to help us have hatzlacha in doing this mivtza. After all, we always ask Hashem to have hatzlacha in the things we do for ourselves. We need to ask even more since we’re trying to help other people — we need EXTRA hatzlacha!
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In a letter, the Rebbe writes that giving out Shmurah Matzah is like giving tzedakah:
The Medrash says, “Yoser Mimah Shebaal Habayis Oseh Im He’oni, He’oni Oseh Im Baal Habayis” — when someone gives tzedakah, what the poor person gives him is worth even more than what he gave to the poor person!
The Rebbe says that it’s the same thing with giving out Shmurah Matzah! Matzah brings special brachos to people, like Emunah and health. When we give matzah to other people, we get even MORE of those brachos for ourselves!
Since everyone needs those brachos from matzah, we should make sure to give out A LOT of matzah this year!
See Mafteichos to Sichos Kodesh, Mivtza Matzah
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In Biur Tefillah, we are preparing for Pesach by going through the Haggadah to understand it a little better.
In the beginning of Maggid, the children ask the Mah Nishtanah, the questions about why we see so many different things at the seder. This is a preparation for understanding what we are celebrating on the night of Pesach.
We start explaining what is special about the night of Pesach with the words “Avadim Hayinu,” that we were slaves to Paraoh, and then Hashem took us out.
Towards the end of Maggid, we also say a paragraph taken from the Mishna, saying “Bechol Dor Vador Chayav Adam Liros Es Atzmo Ke’ilu Hu Yatza MiMitzrayim” — every person needs to see himself as if he came out of Mitzrayim.
How do we do that?
The Rambam explains that we are supposed to really be able to imagine ourselves as slaves in Mitzrayim. We should think about how hopeless we would feel, how there was so much work and so much pain. Then we should think about how happy we feel that we aren’t slaves stuck in Mitzrayim anymore!
In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe explains that in a deeper way, Yetziyas Mitzrayim isn’t something that just happened more than 3330 years ago far away in a place called Mitzrayim. Every day we are supposed to see ourselves as if we came out of Mitzrayim, because this really happens to us every day!
Our guf is like a Mitzrayim. It makes us stuck, keeps us from doing things we know we should, and tries to get us to do things that aren’t good for our neshama. We can sometimes feel like slaves because of our guf!
But our neshama is NOT stuck. Our neshama is a piece of Hashem and always connected to Hashem! We can take our neshama out of the Golus of the Guf, by making it the most important thing in our life. We do this by showing how we are connected to Hashem through Torah and mitzvos, starting with davening at the beginning of the day. This way, we are really having Yetziyas Mitzrayim every day!
On Pesach we have a mitzvah to really spend time thinking about this, discussing it and reliving it at the seder, which will help us feel this in a stronger way every day of the year!
See Rambam Hilchos Chomeitz U’Matzah perek Zayin, halacha Vov; and Tanya perek Lamed-Alef and Mem-Zayin
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On Pesach, there is a mitzvah from the Torah to eat matzah. That’s a fun mitzvah!
But don’t forget another mitzvah from the Torah: To be HAPPY on Yom Tov!
This mitzvah means that every person in the family needs to have things that make them happy. The halacha is that a Tatty has to make sure to prepare things for himself, his wife, and his children, to make them feel the happiness of Yom Tov.
The Chachomim tell us that what makes a Tatty happy is meat and wine! A man has to drink a cup of wine every day of Yom Tov, including on Chol Hamoed.
The Chachomim say that for a woman, clothing and jewelry make her happy! A husband has to get his wife new clothes and jewelry for Yom Tov, based on what he can afford.
The Chachomim say that what makes kids happy is to have nuts or nosh! Parents need to make sure that their children have special treats so they will also be happy on Yom Tov.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 529:6-7
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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 Musaf on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, we ask Hashem to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, and we’ll be able to bring the korbanos “Kemitzvas Retzonecha,” like the mitzvos of Your Will.
We will only be able to do Hashem’s mitzvos properly, the way Hashem wants, when Moshiach comes.
Still, we shouldn’t think that since it’s not going to be done right until Moshiach comes, we shouldn’t bother trying now. A Yid needs to do whatever he is able to do, and Hashem will make it complete when Moshiach comes!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Alef p. 221
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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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