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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We learned before about the Cheit Ha’eigel, the aveira that the Yidden did with the Eigel Hazahav, and how when Moshe Rabbeinu saw what happened, he broke the Luchos that Hashem had given him. Then, Moshe asked Hashem to forgive the Yidden. He also asked that Hashem’s Shechinah should rest only among the Yidden. Hashem agreed to what Moshe asked, and said that He would tell Moshe the Yud-Gimmel Midos HoRachamim. In today’s Chumash, we learn how Hashem told Moshe to make a new set of Luchos, and Hashem actually teaches him the Yud-Gimmel Midos. Hashem told Moshe that he did the right thing by breaking the Luchos, but now Moshe needs to make NEW luchos himself. In the ground under Moshe’s tent was sapphire — a very special shiny kind of stone. He should use that stone to make the Luchos. Moshe should also make a box to hold the Luchos until the Aron in the Mishkan will be ready! The next morning, Moshe should come up on Har Sinai again (for the third time!), but this time, not like by Matan Torah, nobody should be at Har Sinai — some things are better to be done quietly. Moshe did what Hashem asked, and went up onto Har Sinai on Alef Elul, bringing the Luchos that he made along with him. Hashem appeared to Moshe like a person wearing a Tallis and Tefillin, and told Moshe the Yud-Gimmel Midos HaRachamim. Moshe bowed down when he saw that Hashem revealed Himself to him. Then Moshe davened to Hashem using the Yud-Gimmel Midos he just learned, asking Hashem to forgive the Yidden. He asked Hashem for all of the things he asked before: That Hashem should come with the Yidden to Eretz Yisroel (and not just a malach), “Vesolachta La’avoneinu Ulechatoseinu Unechaltanu” — to forgive the aveiros done on purpose or by mistake, that the Yidden should be special to Hashem, and Hashem should only dwell among the Yidden. |
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In today’s Tehillim, we say a posuk, “Yemalei Fi Tehilasecha.” “My mouth should be full of Your praises.” The Gemara says that this teaches us that when we say a bracha, our mouth needs to be FULL of the bracha. That’s why if a person forgets to say a bracha, he should take the food out of his mouth before saying the bracha if the food won’t get ruined (for example a lollipop), because our mouths need to be full of Hashem’s praises when we say a bracha, not full of food! See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch siman Nun, se’if Yud |
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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. Today we learn that a Yid should really be DOUBLE happy. Why? Because, not only are WE happy that Hashem is with us, we have another reason to be happy too! When we know that Hashem has nachas from us doing our Shlichus in the world, so we know that we made Hashem happy, that makes a Yid extra happy. That’s what we learn in the last of the 12 Pesukim — which comes from today’s Tanya! |
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The Hayom Yom was written for a year where there were TWO Adars (a Shana Me’uberes). This year there is only ONE Adar (a Shanah Peshutah), so we learn BOTH Hayom Yoms every day! First the Rebbe tells us that we don’t say Tachanun in Mincha like we do on a regular fast day, because it is Erev Purim! Yud-Gimmel Adar Alef One of the basic ideas in Darkei Hachassidus is that a chossid should want to share something good that he has with others. The Rebbe Rashab would often speak to the Frierdiker Rebbe about how special it is that Chassidim don’t just learn and enjoy Chassidus for themselves, but they share what they know with others! Today’s Hayom Yom is one of the things that the Rebbe Rashab told the Frierdiker Rebbe: When a Chassidishe Yid sits in shul and either teaches Chassidus from a sefer or explains it by heart, this brings a great simcha to the Rebbeim! This brings down so much bracha, that the bracha is enough not only for the chossid himself, but for his children and grandchildren too! Yud-Gimmel Adar Sheini Chassidus explains the deeper meaning of mitzvos and halachos, both in Ruchnius and in Avodah. Today we see how Chassidus explains what the mitzvah of fighting Amalek means in Avodah! In the parsha about Amalek, it says that Amalek fought with the Yidden when they were in Refidim. Refidim can be split into two words “Rafu Yedeihem,” which means “their hands were weak.” The Chachomim tell us that the reason Amalek was able to fight the Yidden was that their hands were weak from Torah. This means that the Yidden forgot the kedusha of Torah, and that we need to live the way the Torah teaches. That was the way Amalek was able to come fight with the Yidden. So how did the Yidden win over Amalek? Yehoshua chose Yidden who were connected to Moshe Rabbeinu, “Anshei Moshe.” They were able to win over Amalek. The same is true in the fight against Amalek in our Avodas Hashem! Our “Amalek” is when we don’t see the Kedusha of Torah, and forget that the Torah is teaching us how to be better Yidden. The way to win over this kelipah of Amalek is to be from the Anshei Moshe, to be connected to Moshe Rabbeinu. In every generation there is a Moshe to connect to, which is the Rebbe of that time. The Rebbe teaches us and gives us koach and chayus to feel the holiness of the Torah and that it should bring us to be Yidden the way we should be. Then the posuk says, “Tzei Hilachem B’Amalek” — “Go fight Amalek!” The Torah doesn’t say it the way we speak to a group of people (plural), but the way we say it to just one person (singular)! The Torah is telling EACH of us individually, in every time and in every place, to fight against our Amalek and learn Torah and do mitzvos with a chayus! |
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Now we have started learning Hilchos Avodah Zarah, the halachos about not serving Avodah Zarah. Hashem gave us many mitzvos about keeping away from Avodah Zarah, so we will be learning many mitzvos every day while we learn these perakim! 1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #10) We are not allowed to learn about or think about Avodah Zarah, for example to learn about a religion which is Avodah Zarah. We are also not allowed to look at and think about an image of Avodah Zarah, like a picture or statue. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: אַל תִּפְנוּ אֶל הָאֱלִילִם 2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #47) “VeLo Sasuru” — This is a mitzvah for our thinking. We are not allowed to feel free in our mind to think into non-Torah ideas. Our thoughts need to be only according to the way Torah teaches us. The second half of this mitzvah is not to let our minds get too busy thinking about taavos, enjoying things which won’t help our Avodas Hashem. (This is one of the 6 Mitzvos Temidiyos, the mitzvos we need to keep ALL the time.) We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Shelach: וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם 3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #60) “Birchas Hashem” — We are not allowed to give the opposite of a bracha to Hashem. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: אֱלֹקִים לֹא תְקַלֵּל The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Zayin. 4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #6) We are not allowed to do things to an Avodah Zara if that is how it is served, even if it is not bowing down to it or bringing it korbanos. So if a certain Avodah Zarah is served by throwing a rock at it, we aren’t allowed to throw a rock (even though it’s okay to throw rocks in other places where they won’t hurt anyone!) We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro: וְלֹא תָעָבְדֵם The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Zayin. 5) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #5) We are not allowed to bow to or bring korbanos to ANY Avodah Zarah, even if that’s not how most people worship that Avodah Zarah. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro: לֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לָהֶם וְלֹא תָעָבְדֵם The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Zayin. 6) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #2) We are not allowed to make an idol ourselves or pay someone else to make an idol, even if we won’t use it. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro: לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְּךָ פֶסֶל וְכָל תְּמוּנָה The details are explained in Mesechta Avodah Zarah. 7) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #3) We are not allowed to make an idol for someone else who will use it as an Avodah Zarah, even for someone who is not Jewish. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: וֵאלֹהֵי מַסֵּכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ לָכֶם The details are explained in Mesechta Avodah Zarah. 8) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #4) We can’t make a statue of a person, even just because it looks pretty. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro: לֹא תַעֲשׂוּן אִתִּי אֱלֹהֵי כֶסֶף וֵאלֹהֵי זָהָב לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ לָכֶם The details are explained in Mesechta Avodah Zarah perek Gimmel. 9) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #15) We are not allowed to say things that get a group of people to do Avodah Zarah. A person who does this is called a Madiach. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: לֹא יִשָּׁמַע עַל פִּיךָ The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Yud. 10) (Mitzvas Asei #186) If there is a city of people who serve Avodah Zarah, we need to burn it down! This is called an Ir Hanidachas, a city that let themselves be convinced by a Madiach to serve Avodah Zarah. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Re’eh: וְשָׂרַפְתָּ בָאֵשׁ אֶת הָעִיר וְאֶת כָּל שְׁלָלָהּ The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin. 11) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #23) We can’t rebuild an Ir Hanidachas after it was burned down. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Re’eh: וְהָיְתָה תֵּל עוֹלָם לֹא תִבָּנֶה עוֹד The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Yud. 12) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #24) We can’t take anything from an Ir Hanidachas — it ALL needs to be burned. We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: לֹא יִשָּׁמַע עַל פִּיךָ The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Yud. |
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Perek Alef: In today’s Rambam, the Rambam explains how people starting serving Avodah Zarah in the first place. Of course Adam Harishon knew that Hashem created the world! How did so many people start davening to idols? At first, it was just a little mistake — people thought that since Hashem created the sun and moon, they need to show the sun and moon special kavod. Then later, they forgot that Hashem made the sun and moon in the first place... Later, Avraham Avinu thought for a long time and realized that Hashem created the world! He started teaching everyone again to daven only to Hashem, and NOT to Avodah Zarah. In Perek Beis, the Rambam explains to us why we have so many mitzvos to keep us away from Avodah Zarah: Because it is easy for a person to make a mistake. We sometimes have questions about Hashem and Torah, but many times we just didn’t know enough to really understand. If we just do whatever we think makes sense, it would be very easy to end up serving Avodah Zarah. So we have many mitzvos to keep us from making a mistake! Perek Gimmel teaches us halachos about when something a person does is considered Avodah Zarah. If a person makes a statue of a person, he gets punished, but it is fine to paint a picture of someone. |
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This perek has the halachos about when a keili changes and can’t become tomei anymore. If a keili is broken, or it can’t do its job anymore, it isn’t counted as a keili anymore, and it can’t become tomei. And if it is coated with something that is not mekabel tumah, it can’t become tomei either. |
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One of the minhagim of Taanis Esther is that before Mincha, we give Machatzis Hashekel. In the last farbrengen we were zoche to hear from the Rebbe, it was Parshas Shekalim. The Rebbe spoke about Ahavas Yisroel in a way like never before! The Rebbe explained the importance of Ahavas Yisroel, and the lesson we learn from Machatzis Hashekel. Every Yid only gave a half, so that we know that on our own, we are incomplete. We are only whole if we are b’achdus with another Yid. When we know that all Yidden are one big unit, and that we are complete only when we are together with another Yid, it will make us so excited every time we see another Yid! We will know — this person is who makes me whole! We will treat the other person with respect and Ahavas Yisroel, because we are truly one. See sichas Parshas Vayakhel, 5752 |
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In the Megillah we say, “Hayomim Ha’eileh Nizkarim Venaasim” — we remember what happened in those days, and we learn from there how to live today. Everything we read in the story of Purim has a message for us. In farbrengens, the Rebbe would point out lessons we can learn from even the smallest details of the Megillah! One of the easiest things to learn from the Purim story is about the koach of tefillah and bitachon in Hashem. The gezeira at the time of Purim was the worst gezeira possible, because ALL of the Yidden were in danger at the same time! The Yidden knew to reach out to Hashem at such a time. They came closer to Hashem by doing teshuvah and cried out for Hashem to save them. This tefillah, together with their mitzvos, had the koach to overturn the gezeira and make it the happiest Yom Tov that has ever been! This reminds us to also call out to Hashem to help us whenever we are in a hard situation. Right now, ALL Yidden are in a hard situation, Golus. When we cry out “Ad Mosai” with an emes, Hashem will surely hear our tefillos and give us everything we need, and bring Moshiach now! See Purim 5732 (and other sources) |
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Today is Taanis Esther! We learned the halachos about the fast over the last few days. Don’t forget to say Selichos and Avinu Malkeinu in davening! It is best to hear the Megillah being read as soon as the fast is over! Because of this, we aren’t allowed to get busy with anything from a half hour before the fast ends, like eating (if someone didn’t fast), taking a nap, or working. If we won’t be able to hear the Megillah right away, and we are very hungry or thirsty, we can eat a little bit. We should wear our costumes on Purim, or else we should wear Shabbos clothes! Even at night, we should set the table with a tablecloth and candles! We don’t need to eat a seudah, but we should still eat something special in honor of Purim. For more halachos see also Halacha Day by Day by the Badatz of Crown Heights or the Halacha Newsletter prepared by Rabbi Shmuel Lesches, Melbourne Australia |
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק בן ר׳ אפרים ע״ה מאסקאוויץ
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The Rebbe reinstituted an old minhag from the time of the Mishnah, that on a fast day we should hear Divrei Kvushin, words that help us do teshuvah and make our connection to Hashem and Yiddishkeit stronger. Even if there isn’t somebody to say words of inspiration, at least we should think something ourselves during the taanis to keep this minhag. In the later years, following this minhag, the Rebbe would say a sicha on all of the fast days, including Taanis Esther. We will learn something for one of these sichos: A fast day is called a “Yom Ratzon LaHashem,” a day that is special to Hashem. Chassidus explains that Ratzon is a feeling of being interested in another person, and caring about them. On a fast day, not only is it called an Yom Ratzon because Hashem feels a Ratzon, a special care for Yidden, but also because Yidden feel a Ratzon to each other too! This Ratzon, caring about another Yid, is Ahavas Yisroel! This is the opposite of Sinas Chinam, the feeling which caused the whole Golus. So on a fast day, we get rid of the reason for Golus! When the reason for Golus goes away, then the Golus itself goes away too, and the Geulah will be able to come! |
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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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