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CHUMASH
Parshas Bereishis - Chamishi with Rashi
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In Revi’i of Parshas Bereishis we learned the sad story of Kayin and Hevel. We also learned about Kayin’s children and grandchildren, until Lemech was born, the sixth generation from Kayin. Today the Torah tells us more about Lemech and his children, who were the seventh generation, and in tomorrow’s Chumash we will see the end of the story with Kayin.
By now, the people living in the world were not acting the way Hashem wanted.
In those days, the men would marry two women. One of them was to have children, and the other one was just to have a pretty wife. They were afraid that if she had children, she wouldn’t look as beautiful anymore! Lemech also married two women — one of them to have children (Adah), and the other one (Tzilah) to be beautiful.
Adah had two boys — Yaval and Yuval.
Yaval invented a new way of being a shepherd. He would bring his sheep around to wherever he could find good grass for the sheep to eat, and set up a tent there to live. When that grass was finished, he would take his tent and his sheep and move to another place. He also built places for Avodah Zarah.
Yuval invented playing musical instruments. He also played these instruments for Avodah Zarah.
Even though Lemech didn’t want Tzilah to have any children, she had children too. She had a son, Tuval-Kayin, who made tools and weapons like Kayin did. She also had a daughter, Naamah, who later became Noach’s wife.
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In today’s Tehillim, we start kapitel Kuf-Yud-Tes. It is the longest kapitel, and we only say half of it today — it takes us two days to finish it in Chitas! This kapitel goes according to the Alef-Beis, and every letter has eight pesukim that start with it.
In the letter Beis, there is a posuk that says “Bameh Yezakeh Naar Es Orcho Lishmor Kidvorecha.” The posuk means, “How does a person make the way he acts pure? By listening to what Hashem says.” By doing mitzvos and acting the way Hashem tells us in the Torah, we will be pure and holy.
But there is another meaning to this posuk too!
The Alter Rebbe once went to his Rebbe, the Maggid, and asked for a bracha to have a baby boy. The Maggid said: “Bameh Yezakeh Naar? How does a person have the zechus to have a baby boy? ‘Es Orcho’ — by having Hachnosas Orchim.”
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Chof-Hey
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Today we are starting a new letter from the Alter Rebbe. One of the things we learn from this letter is what we can do so we don’t get angry.
When someone says something to us that we don’t like, we can get angry at them. Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that if we had stronger Emunah in Hashem, we wouldn’t get angry.
What does Emunah have to do with getting angry?
The Alter Rebbe explains: Why does a person get angry when someone says something not nice to him? Because he is sure that the person wanted to hurt him on purpose! That’s a good reason to get angry, right?
But it isn’t really true! Everything that happens in the world is from Hashem. Even if someone is saying something not nice to you, it is only because the chayus of Hashem is in that person and is letting him say that not nice thing. If Hashem didn’t want him to say it, he wouldn’t be able to!
(Of course there is no excuse to say or do not nice things to other people! Someone who does is doing an Aveira, and Hashem will take care of that. But that is HASHEM’S business! All WE need to know about is that it was Hashem who gave the person the koach to say or do what they did. Hashem decided that this thing should happen to us. If it wouldn’t have happened through that person, Hashem has many other messengers.)
Instead of getting angry at the other person, we should think about the chayus of Hashem that is doing it, and ask Hashem why it is happening, and what we need to do to make it stop.
Sometimes we are so upset about what’s happening that it’s hard to think about our Emunah in Hashem. That’s why some people will walk away for a few minutes or just take some deep breaths to remind themselves that everything is really from Hashem, and they don’t have to get angry.
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The Alter Rebbe made ten niggunim. Some are only very short tunes and not even a whole niggun, but they were made by the Alter Rebbe himself!
The niggunim that we have from the Mitteler Rebbe aren’t really made up by the Mitteler Rebbe — they were made by chassidim and sung in front of the Mitteler Rebbe.
The Mitteler Rebbe had a choir, a “kapelye.” Some chassidim would sing, and some played instruments. The songs that they sang in front of the Mitteler Rebbe are what we call the Mitteler Rebbe’s niggunim.
There are certain times, like at the end of Yomim Tovim, when it is a minhag to sing the niggunim of all the Rebbbeim. We sing a niggun made by the Alter Rebbe, and a niggun called “Kapelye” from the Mitteler Rebbe which was made by these chassidim.
For many years, on Simchas Torah, the Rebbe would teach a niggun himself! Those are the niggunim that we call “the Rebbe’s niggunim.” There were also niggunim that Chassidim wrote or sang for the Rebbe’s Yom Huledes, with a posuk from the Rebbe’s kapitel. Many times Chassidim would whistle during niggunim when the Rebbe would want them to!
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Shiur #155 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #75, #76, Asei #24, Lo Saasei #69, #70, #71
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Today we learn 6 mitzvos for kohanim in the Beis Hamikdash:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #75) A kohen who is tamei is not allowed to do any Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: וְיִנָּזְרוּ מִקָּדְשֵׁי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא יְחַלְּלוּ אֶת שֵׁם קָדְשִׁי
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #76) A kohen who already did all the steps to become Tahor, but still is supposed to wait until the night to become completely tahor (called a “Tevul Yom”), is also not allowed to do any Avodah until he becomes completely tahor.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: וְלֹא יְחַלְּלוּ שֵׁם אֱלֹקֵיהֶם
3) (Mitzvas Asei #24) The kohanim need to wash their hands and feet (from the Kiyor) before they do their Avodah.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Sisa: וְרָחֲצוּ אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת יְדֵיהֶם וְאֶת רַגְלֵיהֶם בְּבֹאָם אֶל אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
The details are explained in Mesechta Zevachim perek Beis.
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #69) A kohen with a mum is not allowed to GO INTO parts of the Beis Hamikdash that are only for doing Avodah.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: אַךְ אֶל הַפָּרֹכֶת לֹא יָבֹא וְאֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לֹא יִגַּשׁ וְגוֹ׳
5) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #70) A kohen with a mum is not allowed to DO Avodah.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בוֹ מוּם לֹא יִקְרַב
6) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #71) If a kohen has a mum that will go away, he is also not allowed to do Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash until it does go away.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: כָל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ מוּם לֹא יִקְרָב
The details are explained in Mesechta Bechoros perek Zayin.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Biyas HaMikdash
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In today's Rambam, we learn more about the kohanim and their Avodah.
Perek Hey: Before the Avodah, a kohen needs to make himself tahor by using the kiyor. One halacha is that the kohen needs to wash his hands and feet every morning, even if he was up all night doing his avodah.
Perek Vov: We start learning the halachos about a kohen who has a mum.
Perek Zayin: There are 15 things that could be wrong that count as a mum if they are in a person, and ALSO if they are in an animal.
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This perek teaches us about people who share a courtyard. There are many halachos that teach us about privacy. For example, we can’t build a new window that faces the courtyard, because then we can look at our neighbors all the time and see what they are doing.
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We learn in this week’s Chumash about the Cheit Eitz Hadaas. Adam and Chava were told not to eat from the Eitz Hadaas, but they ended up doing it anyway.
When we learn the story in Chumash, we might wonder: What’s so hard about not eating a fruit? There were plenty of other fruits in Gan Eden! Why did Adam and Chava not manage to keep such an easy mitzvah?
Chassidus teaches us that when there is a very important mitzvah, then the opposite side of kedusha fights EXTRA strong against it! It makes it feel VERY hard to keep even a small or easy mitzvah!
That is an important lesson for us:
When there is something that feels that it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is very hard for us anyway, then that might be a mitzvah that is so important for us to do! Since it is so important for our neshama, our Yetzer Hara is fighting very hard against it! When we realize that, we can find the koach to do the mitzvah no matter how hard it seems!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Gimmel, Parshas Bereishis
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The Rebbe didn’t teach all of the Yud-Beis Pesukim at once. The Rebbe taught the first six pesukim on Rosh Chodesh Iyar, Tof-Shin-Lamed-Vov, and then the Rebbe taught the next six pesukim on Lag B’Omer, a few weeks later.
Each set of six pesukim is set up in the same way: There are two pesukim from Torah Shebichsav (the Chumash), then there are two pesukim from Torah Shebaal Peh (Mishna, Gemara, or Medrash), and then there are two pesukim from Chassidus (Tanya).
Even though we call them all pesukim, only the first two of each set of six are actually pesukim from the Torah. The rest are Maamarei Razal, sayings of the Chachomim.
Let’s go through the first six!
The first two pesukim are from Torah Shebichsav:
Torah Tziva — This posuk comes from Parshas Vezos Habracha, which we just leined on Simchas Torah!
Shema Yisroel — This posuk comes from Parshas Va’eschanan, and it is the first posuk of Shema which we say many times in davening.
Then we have two Maamorei Razal from Torah Shebaal Peh:
Bechol Dor Vador — This is a Mishna in Mesechta Pesachim, which we also say in the Haggadah.
Kol Yisrael — This is a Mishna in Mesechta Sanhedrin. We say this Mishna before beginning each perek when we say Pirkei Avos!
The last two are from Tanya:
Ki Karov — This is in the Shaar Blatt of Tanya. Even though it is also a posuk, the Alter Rebbe bases the whole Tanya on this posuk!
Vehinei Hashem — This is from the beginning of Perek Mem-Alef of Tanya.
The reason why the Rebbe chose these pesukim is because they have messages that are important even for small children! So besides for knowing them by heart, we need to make sure that we know what they mean and the lessons they have for us!
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When Yidden keep a minhag for a long time, it becomes as important as a halacha!
One minhag that has been kept by Yidden throughout the generations is to have Shabbos guests. Even during hard times, and for all Yidden, rich or poor, Yidden have always made sure to have guests at their Shabbos meals. The minhag has been not just to invite one guest, but many guests!
We give our guests from the best foods we have, and happily. We don’t want the guests to feel like they are taking away food that we wanted for ourselves! We want our guests to know that we are HAPPY to have them join us for the Shabbos seudah. Having guests brings simcha to every singe person in the family!
See Shulchan Menachem vol 2, page 25
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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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A chossid once wrote a letter to the Rebbe, sharing good news.
In the letter back, the Rebbe asked that this chossid shouldn’t just share this kind of good news, he should also include another very important kind of good news! “Ain Tov Ela Torah” — “There is no good except for Torah!” The Rebbe asked the chossid that he should also write about his learning Torah, especially Chassidus!
Learning Chassidus is especially important, since it brings the Geulah! As R’ Chaim Vital, a talmid of the Arizal, explains, not learning enough Pnimius HaTorah keeps the Geulah from coming faster.
The Gr”a, the Vilna Gaon, also writes about this, in his pirush on Mishlei.
And it is important to not only learn Chassidus, but to also spread the teachings of Chassidus to others, so that the Geulah comes much faster!
See Igros Kodesh chelek Yud-Gimmel, p. 32
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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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