For the safety and security of the Yidden in Eretz Yisrael
and the success of the soldiers fighting for its protection
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After Nadav and Avihu passed away, Hashem told Moshe to teach Aharon how to act in the Mishkan. Even if he feels that he wants to be close to Hashem, Aharon is not allowed to go into the Kodesh HaKodoshim whenever he wants to, so that he shouldn’t make the same mistake as his sons did. Inside the Kodesh Hakodoshim, Hashem’s Shechinah rests, on the Aron, and it is asur to go inside unless it is the proper time. Aharon Hakohen (and every other Kohen Gadol) is only allowed to come into the Kodesh Hakodoshim when he brings the Ketores on Yom Kippur. Even then, he needs to follow all of the steps of the Yom Kippur Avodah: He will not be wearing the regular clothes of the Kohen Gadol, the Bigdei Zahav — instead he wears Bigdei Lavan, four pieces of white linen clothing. The regular clothes of the Kohen Gadol have gold in them, which is a reminder of the Cheit Ha’egel, when some Yidden served a cow made of gold. On Yom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol is asking Hashem to forgive the Yidden, it is not right to wear clothes that are a reminder of an aveira. First, wearing the regular clothes, the Bigdei Zahav, the Kohen Gadol does the regular morning Avodah — bringing the Korban Tomid and ketores, cleaning out the menorah, and bringing his daily Korban Mincha. Then he puts on the Yom Kippur clothing to do the special Yom Kippur Avodah. The Kohen Gadol first says vidui over a korban that he will bring to Hashem to be forgiven for any aveiros connected to the Mishkan or korbanos. Then he makes a goral: The Kohen Gadol stands between two goats. He picks two lots from a container, one with his right hand, and one with his left. The side with the lot that says “For Hashem” will be brought as a korban, and the side with the lot that says “For Azazel” will later be sent away to be killed in the desert. Once the goral is decided, the Kohen Gadol shechts his korban, saving the blood for the next part of the Avodah. Now that he has asked Hashem to forgive him for his own aveiros, the Kohen Gadol brings the ketores inside of the Kodesh Hakodoshim. Nobody is allowed to be even inside of the Kodesh at this time. The Kohen Gadol leaves the burning ketores on the floor near the Aron, and goes to get the blood of his korban. He comes back and sprinkles the blood of his korban on the side of the Aron’s cover — one time upwards, and seven times downward. He then shechts the korban for the Yidden’s aveiros, and brings its blood into the Kodesh Hakodoshim to be sprinkled there too. This will help Hashem forgive the Yidden for aveiros they did by eating korbanos or coming into the Mishkan when they weren’t tahor — by mistake or on purpose. To forgive the Yidden in case they made the Menorah, Shulchan, or Mizbeiach Haketores tomei, the Kohen Gadol then sprinkles blood on the Paroches. |
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The first kapitel of today’s Tehillim is kapitel Samach-Tes. If you look through the kapitel, the beginning looks very sad. Dovid Hamelech is asking Hashem to please save him from everyone who wants to hurt him. At the end, though, Dovid Hamelech is sure Hashem will help! He says that he will sing and praise Hashem, because He always listens to people who need His help! The skies and the seas will sing to Hashem when he rescues the Yidden — “Ki Elokim Yoshia Tzion” — “because Hashem will redeem Yerushalayim.” In Tof-Shin-Lamed (5730), the Rebbe was saying this posuk in a sicha at every Farbrengen! So on Shavuos, some of the bochurim had an idea — to sing these words to the same tune we use for Dayeinu. The Rebbe was very happy with this “new” niggun, and there are many recordings and videos where you can see and hear the Rebbe singing it! |
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The Alter Rebbe tells us that in order to be a good Jew, it’s not enough to just do the mitzvah — you need to do it with chayus and neshama. And it’s not even enough for a Yid to remind himself how he loves Hashem, but he needs to think about his YIRAS Hashem, how he’s afraid to do anything that will go against what Hashem wants. When we think about this before learning Torah or doing a mitzvah, it makes our mitzvah or Torah learning into an Avodah Sheleima, complete. The Alter Rebbe also tells us today a special kavana that a person should have when he puts on his tallis, which is to accept upon himself Malchus Shomayim. |
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Today is the Yartzeit-Hilula of the Tzemach Tzedek, on Yud-Gimmel Nisan Tof-Reish-Chof-Vov (5626). The Tzemach Tzedek’s Ohel is in Lubavitch. The Rebbe Maharash told the Rebbe Rashab that when the Tzemach Tzedek was only 12 years old, he already started writing Niglah and Chassidus! |
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Today we learn two NEW mitzvos! 1) (Mitzvas Asei #26) A kohen has a mitzvah to bentch the Yidden every day! (Outside of Eretz Yisroel, the kohanim bentch the Yidden only on Yom Tov.) We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Naso: כֹּה תְבָרֲכוּ אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אָמוֹר לָהֶם The details are explained in the last perakim of Mesechta Megillah, Mesechta Taanis, and Mesechta Sotah perek Zayin. 2) (Mitzvas Asei #12) Men need to wear Tefillin Shel Rosh, tefillin on their head. This mitzvah is said four times in the Torah! We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Vaeschanan: וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ The details are explained in Mesechta Menachos perek Daled. |
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Perek Yud-Daled: In this perek, the Rambam teaches us about Birchas Kohanim, the special words that kohanim say to bring Hashem’s brachos to the Yidden! In the Beis Hamikdash, the kohanim would bentch the Yidden using the special Sheim Hameforash, the name of Hashem that is written Yud-Kay-Vov-Kay, and pronouncing it properly. After Shimon Hatzadik passed away, they stopped using this name of Hashem, even in the Beis Hamikdash, in case someone who didn’t act properly would learn it. Perek Tes-Vov: We learn about times when a kohen shouldn’t do Birchas Kohanim, like a kohen who is drunk. But being a rasha shouldn’t stop a kohen from bentching the Yidden — because it’s a mitzvah, and we don’t make a rasha into a bigger rasha by stopping him from doing more mitzvos! In the last halacha, the Rambam says that any kohen that bentches the Yidden is bentched himself, like the posuk says, that Hashem says to Avraham, “Va’avarecha Mevarachecha, “I will bentch those who bentch you.” From here we see, “Kol Hamevarech Misbarech” — when someone gives a bracha to another person, he is bentched from Hashem! Then we start a new set of halachos: Halachos about Tefillin, mezuzah, and Sefer Torah! Perek Alef: The Rambam starts by telling us about Tefillin. (Many of these halachos are also for mezuzos and Sifrei Torah, which is why these halachos are all in the same set of halachos.) There are 10 things that Tefillin need to have in order to be kosher! The first two are about how they are made: 1) They need to be written with ink: We make ink by mixing soot from burning candles with sap and honey, crushing it into powder, and drying it. We mix it with a liquid (like gallnut juice) and write with that. One halacha is that the ink has to be BLACK — if even one letter is written in another color, even gold, they are posul! 2) They have to be written on parchment: There are actually three kinds of parchment! Parchment is made from the skin of an animal, which we soak in things that make it get smaller and harder. Once it is ready, it is called g’vil. But the g’vil can be separated into two parts — the klaf (the part facing outside of the animal, where hair grows) and the duchsustos (the part facing inside, where the meat of the animal is). It is best to write a Sefer Torah on g’vil, a mezuzah on duchsustos, and Tefillin on klaf. (Nowadays, we use only one kind of parchment, which has some of the top and most of the bottom rubbed off. This makes the parchment a lighter color.) The Rambam also teaches us about the kavana the sofer needs to have when he is writing. If he writes Hashem’s name without thinking about the kedusha of Hashem, the tefillin (or mezuzah, or Sefer Torah) is posul! |
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In this perek, we learn the halachos of Kilayim in clothing — shatnez. Shatnez means mixing wool and linen together. Any way we mix them — by sewing them together, making a kind of material with wool and linen, or even just sewing one thread of wool into linen — are all asur! But it IS okay to wear a linen belt over wool clothes, because they are not connected. Shatnez isn’t just for clothes — if it can touch your skin and make you warm, it is also asur! So sheets, towels, and soft squishy beanbags also can’t have shatnez. Mazel Tov! We have now finished learning this set of halachos! |
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Today is the day of the Tzemach Tzedek’s histalkus. The Tzemach Tzedek’s mother, Rebbetzin Devorah Leah, passed away when he was just three, and his Zaidy, the Alter Rebbe, took care of him. The Tzemach Tzedek wrote a lot of Torah, like we see in today’s Hayom Yom, even when he was young! The Rebbe tells us that on Yud-Gimmel Nissan we should learn some of the Torah that the Tzemach Tzedek wrote. Here is something that the Tzemach Tzedek teaches us about Ahavas Yisroel: (There is a sefer from the Tzemach Tzedek that explains what many of the mitzvos mean in Ruchnius, called Derech Mitzvosecha. Here is something he explains about the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel.) There are two important things that will help us with this mitzvah: 1) Remember that all of the neshamos of the Yidden together are one thing! Only because of the guf is each person separate. We are only complete when we connect ourselves to the rest of the Yidden. That is why we accept the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel before davening — so that our neshama is complete before we stand before Hashem in davening. 2) We should treat others the way we would like to be treated! When we make a mistake, we realize that we were trying, and next time we will try even harder and do better. We should treat other people the same way — we can accept and respect them even if they did something wrong. We understand that they also are trying, and next time they will try harder too. We don’t start screaming at ourselves and say “I don’t want to sit next to me anymore! I’m never going to be friends with myself again! I don’t want to have anything to do with me ever again!” We say, “I did something wrong, but I’m still a good person.” We should also say that about other people. Even if they did something wrong, we can still be nice to them, sit next to them, and treat them with respect. When all of the Yidden show respect and love for each other, Hashem will do the same to us, and give all Yidden brachos — including the main bracha that we all need, the Geulah! |
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In davening on Pesach, we use the name “Zman Cheiruseinu,” the time of our freedom, when talking about Pesach. In a Michtav Kloli, the Rebbe explains what cheirus, freedom means! Being free is not the same for everything in the world. Being free means being able to use our special kochos and having everything we need without anything holding us back! For a flower to be free, it needs to have plenty of room to spread its roots, lots of water and sunshine. Then, even though it is stuck in the same flowerpot and can’t go anywhere, it is free! It has what it needs and it has room to grow! But if we take an animal and put it into a small pen, then even if we give it lots of food and water, the animal will feel very stuck. One of the main kochos of an animal is that it can move around. If we don’t let the animal use its koach of moving and walking, the animal is very stuck and not free at all! For a person, even that is not enough to be free. It’s not enough to just let a person run around and have the food and drink they need. A person has a special koach of sechel! If we don’t let a person think, and we don’t give them chances to learn more and use their sechel, they are not free! The Rebbe tells us that a Yid has ANOTHER special koach that we need to be able to use in order to really be free. What is that koach? Our neshama! For a Yid to be free, we need to be able to use our neshama to learn Torah and do mitzvos. Only then will we really be able to feel free! Every day, we are given new koach in our neshama. We get new chances to grow and do more mitzvos. So every single day we need to have a “Yetziyas Mitzrayim,” to go free again — to use our new koach to become even better than before! Then we will really be free. See Michtav Kloli, Yud-Alef Nisan Tof-Shin-Chai |
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Today is the last day we say an extra section in davening connected to the Nesiim. We say the paragraph that starts with the words “Zos Chanukas Hamizbeiach,” which is a summary of all of the korbanos that were brought by all of the Nesiim. We also read the beginning of Parshas Behaalosecha, which speaks about how Aharon lit the Menorah, and so this section is connected to Shevet Levi. ~ Tonight (Sunday night) is Bedikas Chometz! Here are some of the halachos: It is good to wash Negel Vasser before starting to search, so we do the mitzvah with clean and pure hands. We start Bedikas Chometz right after davening Maariv in shul. (If someone is usually not able to daven with a minyan, he should start right at Tzeis Hakochavim, when the stars come out at night, and daven Maariv after the Bedika.) We don’t start a meal or sit down to learn from a half hour before, so that we won’t get carried away and push off Bedikas Chometz! We make a bracha before starting to search for chometz. We don’t interrupt after the bracha, so we start searching right away, in the room the bracha was made. Until after the entire house is searched, we don’t talk (unless we need to for the purpose of Bedikas Chometz). We use a candle for Bedikas Chometz. The Gemara learns this from a posuk in Tzefania that speaks about Moshiach, “Achapeis Es Yerushalayim Baneiros” (Hashem says, “I will search Yerushalayim with candles”). We use a beeswax candle, which burns with the clearest light. (It is fine to use a flashlight to search in places where a candle would be dangerous, like under a bed.) There are many more halachos and minhagim about Bedikas Chometz and things we need to know about preparing for Pesach. It is a good idea to read halacha newsletters put out by different Rabbonim. You may find some halachos you didn’t know before! Here are some ideas: |
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
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In a farbrengen in honor of the 100th yartzeit of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe told this story: The Tzemach Tzedek had to go to Petersburg for meetings where they wanted Rabbonim to make changes in Chinuch and how someone can become a Rav. The Tzemach Tzedek spoke out very strongly not to make any changes, even though he was going against the government, which was very dangerous! Someone asked the Tzemach Tzedek how he was able to put his life in danger if there are so many Yidden that are relying on him to show them the right derech in serving Hashem. The Tzemach Tzedek said he would give two answers (like we see a lot of times in Gemara, “Iba’is Eima”): 1) There are the children — if something chas veshalom happens, they (the Tzemach Tzedek’s children) can show Chassidim what to do. 2) Through the Achdus of Chassidim they will overcome all hardships, and will be able to bring the “Emes Hashem Leolam,” the true derech of Hashem, into the world so EVERYONE will know. In that farbrengen, the Rebbe finished by saying that today, the second thing the Tzemach Tzedek said is important for all Chassidim to know, because together we have the responsibility to teach others the derech of Hashem the way the Rebbeim showed us. See farbrengen of Yud-Gimmel Nissan, 5726 |
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
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