|
|
CHUMASH
Parshas Mikeitz - Shlishi with Rashi
|
|
In today’s Chumash, Paraoh makes Yosef second to the king. He starts collecting food for the hunger, and has two sons, Menasheh and Efrayim.
Paraoh said to Yosef, “Just like you said, we need a very smart person to be in charge of the food. Since Hashem made YOU know about this and nobody else, that means that there is nobody as smart as you! I am making you in charge of saving the food. Everyone will have to listen to you, and even though I am still the king, you can do anything just like a king.” (Paraoh ignored what the butler said, that Yosef wouldn’t be a good person to have a job for the king.) He gave Yosef his ring, and fancy clothes, and a special necklace that shows he is a big officer.
Paraoh had Yosef ride through the city in one of the royal carriages, telling everyone to bend their knees in front of Yosef. He said to Yosef in front of everyone: “I am Paraoh, and I am in charge. I am making a decree that nobody can even hold weapons or ride on a horse without your permission!”
Paraoh gave Yosef the name “Tzofnas Paneiach,” which means “the one who explains hidden things” (because he explained the dream that nobody understood) and gave him Osnas, Potifera’s daughter, to marry. (Potifera is the name the Torah now uses for Potifar.) Yosef was now 30 years old, and he went all around Mitzrayim to save food for the hunger years, when nothing will grow.
During the seven years when there was a lot of food, people brought grain to the storehouses where they would keep all of it. They took some of the earth from the places where it grew, to help keep it from going bad. There was so much grain, more than could be counted!
Yosef had two sons before the hunger years started. One son was called Menasheh, which means “makes you forget.” Hashem made Yosef forget the hard years he went through, and he wanted to thank Hashem for that! He also chose this name to help him remember that he is a Yid, because being so great can chas veshalom make a person easily forget. The second son was called Efrayim, because Hashem made him grow in Mitzrayim.
|
|
|
|
Today’s Tehillim is the second half of Kapitel Kuf-Yud-Tes.
Today we are saying the second half of the longest Kapitel in the whole Tehillim! The last posuk says, “To’isi KeSeh Oved, Bakeish Avdecha, Ki Mitzvosecha Lo Shochochti.” “I got lost like a stray sheep, please Hashem, find me, because I didn’t forget Your mitzvos!”
Why did Dovid Hamelech say that Hashem should find him because he didn’t FORGET His mitzvos — why didn’t he say because he was DOING all of the mitzvos?
We can find the answer in the posuk! Dovid Hamelech is saying this posuk for all of the Yidden, how we feel during Golus. We ask Hashem to remember us. We can’t say that we are DOING all the mitzvos of Hashem, because we can’t keep so many of them without a Beis Hamikdash and without living in Eretz Yisroel. But we REMEMBER them!
Most of the day we are busy doing everyday things, and not only doing mitzvos. But even when we are doing “regular” things, we are still thinking about mitzvos, and how we are connected to Hashem. One way we do this is by learning Rambam and Sefer Hamitzvos, so every year we have remembered all of the 613 mitzvos!
When we do this, “Bakeish Avdecha” — Hashem will find us, and bring the Geulah!
|
|
|
TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Gimmel
|
|
Hashem placed 10 special tools in a Yiddishe neshama — sechel and midos — to help us do our Shlichus in the world. In today’s Tanya, the Alter Rebbe shows us how a Yid uses these tools to be connected to Hashem.
Yesterday, the Alter Rebbe taught us about the neshama-tools of Sechel and Midos.
Today we learn about how using the Sechel tools to think about Hashem can make us feel — in our heart — a strong love and fear of Hashem — Midos!
We said in Perek Alef that the first Nefesh has four ingredients. The second nefesh (the neshama) has them also! Ahava comes from the ingredient of fire, and Chochma comes from water. We will see later, in Perek Tes, that by making the ingredients of our neshama stronger inside of us, it will change the matching ingredients of our Nefesh Habehamis into Kedusha!
The Alter Rebbe tells us that it is important to make sure to use our koach of Daas, because that’s the only way to make sure that our Midos will be strong and last!
|
|
|
|
In the year the Hayom Yom was written, Chof-Vov Kislev was Shabbos Chanukah, Shabbos Mevorchim, and the day to start saying Vesein Tal Umatar was on Motzei Shabbos! So the beginning of today’s Hayom Yom has minhagim that were important for that year.
- It is a day to have farbrengens because of Shabbos Mevorchim.
- Remember to say Vesein Tal Umatar on Motzei Shabbos.
- We light the menorah after Havdalah on Motzei Shabbos Chanukah, before we say V’yitein Lecha.
- In Shul, first we light the menorah, and then we say Havdalah.
Since this is the first Shabbos Mevorchim from the beginning of Hayom Yom, we also learn the minhagim for Shabbos Mevorchim:
On Shabbos Mevorchim, Chassidim should come to shul early to say the whole Tehillim. Then, study a maamar for about an hour, in a way that everyone can understand, and after that daven. The time of the farbrengen is different depending on where you live — whatever is best for your place.
With a minyan, after saying each book of Tehillim on Shabbos Mevorchim, an avel (mourner) or a person who has yartzeit says Kaddish.
|
|
|
|
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #104) is that a man who has a certain kind of tumah that comes from the body which is called Zav, becomes Tomei. This mitzvah includes all of the dinim of how he becomes a Zav and also how he makes others tomei.
|
|
|
RAMBAM
Hilchos Metamei Mishkav U'Moshav
|
|
In today’s Rambam, we learn more about the kind of people who have a body Tumah, how they make other things Tomei, and who is trusted to be careful with this tumah:
Perek Yud: We learn about who we say is PROBABLY tomei, and who is PROBABLY Tahor: A Yid who doesn’t know so much Torah (an Am Ha’aretz) is probably Tomei, since he probably didn’t know all of the halachos, and might not have realized that he became tomei. But if a person wants to, he can become a “Chaver” — a person who is careful about staying tahor.
Perek Yud-Alef: There are some times when we trust an Am Ha’aretz, and believe him when he says that something is Tahor.
During the Shalosh Regalim, we say that EVERY Yid is like a Chaver! Everyone becomes tahor to go to the Beis Hamikdash, so we trust them that they and the things that they touched are tahor!
Perek Yud-Beis: The Rambam tells us the halachos of what happens if an Am Ha’aretz watches something tahor for another person — do we say that those things probably became tomei?
|
|
|
|
We learn more about how a loan is paid back with money inherited by orphans.
|
|
|
|
At a rally for children on Chanukah, the Rebbe told the children about our special Chanukah mission!
Our big mission is getting ready for the Geulah, and the third Beis Hamikdash. One of the ways we do this is to make sure our own homes and rooms are a Beis Chabad, a little Beis Hamikdash! So every house, and every person’s room should be a place of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chasadim. We should have a siddur, a Chumash, a pushka, and whatever else we need to use that room to do mitzvos!
Every community needs a Beis Chabad too, and it’s the job of everyone in the community to help make sure that there is one!
So here’s our special mission for Chanukah:
Every child needs to go to their parents and ask them, with Devarim Hayotzim Min Halev (sincerely), for Chanukah gelt for their Cheder Tzivos Hashem! We should use this Chanukah gelt to buy a siddur, a Chitas, a pushka, negel vasser, or whatever else we need to make our room a little Beis Hamikdash.
Of course, when children ask their parents for such an important thing, the parents will also want to do it! And through the children, the rest of the house will also become a Beis Chabad the way it should be!
From a sicha on the 5th night of Chanukah, 5747
|
|
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
|
|
|
The minhag is that we light a menorah in shul during Mincha, before Aleinu.
The Rebbe says that we should try to keep this menorah lit the whole day, as long as people are in shul. This will keep everyone excited about Chanukah! (We should only do this if we are not worried that kids will play with the menorah.)
See Sefer Hasichos 5750, vol. 1 p. 193, ha’ara 81
|
|
|
|
The Meforshim in the Shulchan Aruch talk about giving tzedakah on Chanukah. They say that on Chanukah, we need to give EXTRA tzedakah. But we don’t only give extra MONEY to tzedakah, we also need to give extra tzedakah from OURSELVES, from our time and our energy!
The Rebbe tells us that a very important way to give tzedakah from ourselves is to do extra mivtzoyim. This way, we are also giving Ruchnius’dike tzedakah to others in honor of Chanukah!
See Likutei Sichos Chelek Hey, sicha of Chanukah and in Hosafos
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
|
|
|
It is written in seforim that the dreidel is connected to Moshiach, because the letters “Nun, Gimmel, Hey, Shin” are the same Gematria as the word Moshiach!
|
|
|
|
|
לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
|
|
Give children around the world the gift of Kids Chitas!
KidsChitas.org/sponsor
|
|
|
