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CHUMASH
Parshas Shemini - Shishi with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash, we learn which kinds of animals are kosher! An animal that chews its food over and over again (Maaleh Gera, “chews its cud”) and has hooves that are split in half (Mafreses Parsa, “split feet”) is a kosher animal.
There are a few animals that have only ONE of these signs, and they are NOT kosher. One of them is the camel, which chews its cud but doesn’t have split feet. Another is the chazir, which has split feet but does not chew its cud.
We also learn about kosher fish. If a fish has “wings” that it uses to swim with (Snapir, fins) and hard circles over parts of the fish to keep it from getting hurt (Kaskeses, scales), then it is a kosher fish.
When the Torah teaches us about kosher birds, it only tells us which birds are NOT kosher! This is because most birds are kosher, and the Torah only needs to tell us which ones aren’t!
Since nowadays we don’t know the Torah names of all of the birds we see, we can’t be sure that they aren’t the ones that the Torah says not to eat. Because of this, we only eat birds we KNOW are kosher, either because we do know their proper Torah names, or because we know that our Bubbies and Zaidies ate them! (This is called a Mesorah, passed down from generation to generation. For example, one of the birds we don’t know the Torah name of, but we have a Mesorah for, is chicken. Many people also have a Mesorah for turkey.)
There is also a kind of kosher grasshopper (nowadays, only Sefardim eat these).
Touching a dead non-kosher animal makes a person tomei, and it can also make things tomei. They will need to be toiveled in a mikvah to become tahor again.
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Today’s Tehillim is very special! We are finishing the LONGEST kapitel in the whole Tehillim, kapitel Kuf-Yud-Tes! This kapitel is so long that we don’t even say the whole thing in one day — it is split up between Yom Chof-Hey and Yom Chof-Vov!
One of the pesukim in today’s half is, “Sas Anochi Al Imrosecha Kemotzei Shalal Rav” — “I am so happy with Your words (the Torah), like someone who finds a huge treasure!”
The Rebbe’s father, R’ Levi Yitzchak, explains this posuk: He shows us that the first letters of the words “Kemotzei Shalal Rav” are “Kosher!”
What is the connection?
The Rebbe once said in a rally for kids that this teaches us an important lesson in fighting with our Yetzer Hara: A person might think that it shouldn’t matter if a teeny little candy isn’t kosher. But if we don’t listen to our Yetzer Hara, and only eat kosher, it’s like a HUGE treasure! Even just a “small” thing that we win over the Yetzer Hara is a VERY big deal!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Ches
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Now we’re going to learn about two different types of kavana, that are compared to the chayus that’s in an animal, and the chayus in a person.
Did you ever look out the window and see an animal running? It may be running to get food, or to get away from another animal.
But it’s not running away because it makes sense to run away from something bigger, it runs away because Hashem made it feel scared of bigger animals! And it’s not running after food because it knows how important it is to eat properly, it runs after food because Hashem made animals want to eat.
But a person is different!
When we have Kibud Av Va’eim, or eat healthy food, it’s not something that we did automatically from when we were born. We learned how important it is to act this way, and we decided to do the right thing. A person uses his sechel to decide how to act.
The difference between animals and people is a good mashal for the two kinds of kavana we can have when we do mitzvos.
The first kind is the kavana we were born with. We were all born with a hidden love for Hashem that is a part of us. So we don’t have to think deeply to get ourselves to love Hashem. As soon as we remind ourselves that we are ready to have Mesiras Nefesh for Hashem, we will be ready to do any mitzvah.
This kavana is compared to an animal, which also does things automatically — just because that’s the way Hashem made it. We do mitzvos just because that’s what our neshama wants!
Then there is a second kind of kavana. This kavana comes from thinking about how great Hashem is. Then we feel Ahava and Yirah to Hashem, and decide that we should do the mitzvah. This kind of kavana is compared to a person, who does things with sechel.
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In today’s Hayom Yom, the Rebbe inspires women to do their special job of Akeres Habayis!
Hashem gave women three main parts of Yiddishkeit to take care of: Chinuch, Kashrus, and Shabbos.
The Torah praises a woman who takes care of her home in a way of Torah! The posuk says, “Chochmas Noshim Bonsah Beisah,” “the wisdom of a woman builds her home.”
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In today’s Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn 4 more mitzvos about how to treat other people:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #256) We can’t make an almanah (widow) or a yasom (orphan) feel bad. We have to be very careful to speak to them and act with them in a VERY friendly and nice way!
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: כָּל אַלְמָנָה וְיָתוֹם לֹא תְעַנּוּן
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #301) We are not allowed to go around talking about other people — even if the things are true, and even if we aren’t saying not nice things! This is called rechilus. When people share information with other people, they probably don’t want everyone to know about it.
This mitzvah also includes Motzi Shem Ra, saying something not nice that ISN’T true about another person. (In today’s Rambam, we see that this mitzvah also includes Lashon Hara, saying something true that isn’t nice.)
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: לֹא תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #304) We aren’t allowed to do nekamah — to look for a way to pay someone back for something not nice they did to us. (For example, if you went to a kid and asked to borrow his ball, but he said no, nekamah would mean that the next time he asks you to borrow something, you say no, to pay him back for not lending you his ball.)
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: לֹא תִקֹּם
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #305) We aren’t allowed to do netirah — to stay angry at someone who did something not nice to us, even if we don’t take nekamah! (So if the kid didn’t share his ball, we can’t say to him, “I’m nicer than you because I’m going to let you play with my toy even though YOU wouldn’t let me play with YOURS!”) That shows that we were holding the hatred in our heart, which is asur.
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: לֹא תִקֹּם וְלֹא תִטֹּר
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Deios - Hilchos Talmud Torah
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Perek Vov: In today’s Rambam, we learn that the people we are friends with, and the people we spend time with, can make a very big difference in the way we will behave! We should make sure our friends are the kind of people we want to be like!
Perek Zayin: The Rambam also teaches us many things about Ahavas Yisroel. We need to care about another person’s respect like we do about our own, and be careful with another person’s money the way we care about our own.
Now we start Hilchos Talmud Torah, the halachos of learning Torah:
Perek Alef: One of the halachos we learn is that a father has a mitzvah to make sure his kids learn Torah!
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We learn about someone who says they want to give as much as PART of a person is worth (like his arms), or how much a person weighs. At the end of the perek, we learn halachos of different rooms in the Beis Hamikdash that were used for different kinds of donations.
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There is a special part of the Torah that is leined this Shabbos, Parshas Hachodesh. This parsha is leined either the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Nisan, or Rosh Chodesh Nisan itself if it is on Shabbos.
It speaks about the mitzvah Hashem gave to Moshe Rabbeinu, about the Yiddishe calendar (which starts from Rosh Chodesh Nisan) and about the Korban Pesach which the Yidden were told then to prepare.
To remember what happened on Rosh Chodesh Nissan in the year of Yetziyas Mitzrayim, we lein this part of the Torah again at this time every year.
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In yesterday’s Chumash (Chamishi of Parshas Shemini) we learned that Moshe Rabbeinu got upset about something that happened, to teach the kohanim how serious it is to not eat a korban that Hashem told them to. The Chachomim teach us that this is the only time a person should show anger — if there is someone they need to teach, and the best way to do it is show that they are upset.
But in all other times, we should be very careful NOT to get upset!
In Igeres Hakodesh, the Alter Rebbe teaches us something we should think about that will help us not to get angry:
Sometimes people can get very angry! Maybe someone did something they didn’t like, or something happened that they didn’t want to happen. Maybe someone pushed them over, or all of the good cereal is gone! Maybe they forgot their homework, or their favorite crayon got lost.
The Alter Rebbe tells us that we don’t need to get angry. We need to remember that EVERYTHING that happens is from the Hashgacha Protis of Hashem! If we remember that EVERYTHING that happens is because Hashem wants it that way and is making it happen, we won’t be upset that it didn’t work the way we were expecting — we’re glad that it happened the way Hashem planned it to be, and now we’ll do whatever new avodah Hashem set up for us to do now!
Maybe Hashem wants us to eat a different cereal, or maybe Hashem wants us to remember not to push anyone else over so we will have better middos. It doesn’t matter even if we never figure out the reason! We can be calm and happy while we try to figure out what to do next, and remember that everything is from Hashem, and that Gam Zu L’Tovah, this too is good.
See Tanya, Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Hey
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We learned that the seder as printed in the Haggadah helps us make sure that in an organized way we are able to fulfill all of the mitzvos from the Torah and the Chachomim, along with the minhagim added later.
But it is important to realize that the MAIN mitzvah of the night is telling over the story of Yetziyas Mitzrayim — Haggadah, telling over. All of the other mitzvos of the night, and all of the minhagim and steps of the seder, help us to understand and relive the idea of coming out of Mitzrayim.
Remembering Yetziyas Mitzrayim is a mitzvah every day of the year, but it is especially important on the night of Pesach, and gives us chayus the rest of the year.
Each of the parts of the seder help us understand and appreciate what happened when Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim and made us free!
Here are some of the mitzvos and takanos of the Chachomim for the night of the seder:
1) Eating matzah, a mitzvah from the Torah, like the Yidden did when they came out of Mitzrayim.
2) Eating maror. This is a mitzvah Derabanan nowadays, and it reminds us of the bitterness of when we were slaves.
3) The takana from the Chachomim of drinking four kosos. One of the things these remind us of is the four expressions of Geulah written in the Torah about Yetziyas Mitzrayim!
4) There is a takana from the Chachomim that when we eat on the night of the seder, it must be done in a way of freedom, so we do it when we are leaning — Haseibah.
5) We need to praise Hashem, Hallel, for taking us out of Mitzrayim and making us free to receive the Torah and serve Hashem!
6) There are certain things that are supposed to be in front of us when we celebrate and relive Yetziyas Mitzrayim, the things that are on the kaarah. They help us remember and appreciate what happened!
7) In the Mishnah it tells us that we need to make sure to talk about Pesach, Matzah and Maror to properly keep the mitzvah of talking about Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
8) We do things Lehatmiha Hatinokos, to make kids wonder and ask questions. The best way to understand Yetziyas Mitzrayim is to ask questions and get answers. That is also why children ask the Mah Nishtana, so they will understand better!
Each one of these things has specific halachos and minhagim of exactly what to do and how to do them, and these are all organized in the Haggadah and throughout the seder, so we are doing all of the mitzvos of the night in the proper way. This way we can really relive and appreciate that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim!
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One of the main mitzvos of Pesach is to tell over the story of Yetziyas Mitzrayim. We do this mitzvah at the seder.
First the kids ask questions, so that they will be more excited to hear about Yetziyas Mitzrayim, since it is answering their questions! According to our minhag, the youngest children ask first.
In Shulchan Aruch, it teaches us that it is very important to UNDERSTAND the answer. We need to understand that Pesach is special because Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim and made us His special nation, so He could give us the Torah and mitzvos.
The halacha is that we need to explain to everyone, especially the children, as much as they are able to understand. We say the story as it is told in the Haggadah out loud, with simcha and great kavana! Even after the Seder, we still should learn more about the halachos of Pesach and Yetziyas Mitzrayim. (For many years, after the seder, the Rebbe would come out and say sichos and maamarim about Pesach and the Haggadah.)
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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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Water is a sign of bracha — but you need a container to hold it in!
The light of Geulah also needs a container to hold it in. That keili is Chassidus! When we spread Chassidus all over the world, we are making keilim to hold the light of the Geulah!
And as soon as the keilim are ready, Hashem will fill them up!
See Igros Kodesh chelek Alef, p. 216
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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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