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CHUMASH

Parshas Beshalach - Shvi'i with Rashi

We are learning about the travels of the Yidden after Kriyas Yam Suf, on their way to receive the Torah.

The Yidden traveled to another place, and there was no water there. The Yidden (except for Shevet Levi) complained AGAIN! Moshe got very frustrated with the Yidden.

Hashem told Moshe to hit a rock with his stick, and water would come out. Moshe did, and the water came out of the rock!

Since Hashem saw that the Yidden didn’t believe that He was taking care of them all the time, Hashem let the people of Amalek have the chutzpah to fight against the Yidden! Most of the Yidden were inside of Hashem’s clouds, so they were safe, but a few Yidden who did aveiros were outside.

Moshe told Hoshea (who would later become Yehoshua) that they need to fight against Amalek, even though most of the Yidden are safe. Hoshea picked soldiers to fight, and Moshe (with Aharon and Chur) went up onto a hill to daven. Whenever Moshe picked up his hands to remind the Yidden to daven to Hashem, the Yidden were winning! When they forgot to daven to Hashem, Amalek was winning.

Since Moshe should have fought himself, Hashem didn’t give Moshe koach to hold up his hands for so long. So Aharon and Chur gave Moshe a stone to sit on, and held his hands up. Moshe didn’t let the sun set until the Yidden won the war!

Hashem told Moshe not to kill all of the Amalek people yet. He should write down in the Torah that we should remember what Amalek did — and that when the Yidden come to Eretz Yisroel, they should wipe out the nation of Amalek!

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TEHILLIM

69 - 71

Today’s Shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Samach-Tes, Ayin, and Ayin-Alef.

One of the pesukim at the end of kapitel Samech-Tes (69) is “Ki Elokim Yoshia Tziyon,” “Hashem will save Yerushalayim!” The Medrash tells us a story about this posuk:

One time there was a king who had sheep which were watched by a shepherd. One day, the king got upset and sent the sheep away, took apart the fence, and took away the shepherd. Later on, he decided to bring back the sheep. So he rebuilt the pen for the sheep, but didn’t call back the shepherd. So the shepherd went to the king and said, “You built the pen and brought back the sheep — but what about me?”

Dovid Hamelech was saying that he is like the shepherd taking care of the Yidden who are in Golus. He is so busy helping Yidden and making sure that Hashem brings them back, that he doesn’t have enough time to take care of himself!

That’s why the next kapitel starts with the words “Lamenatzeiach LeDovid Lehazkir” — “A song for Dovid to REMEMBER.” Dovid Hamelech asked Hashem to please remember him too! So Hashem gave him a special bracha to have extra hatzlacha in his own needs.

The same thing is true for anyone who takes care of other Yidden, like Mommies and Tatties and Shluchim — Hashem gives them a special koach that they should have hatzlacha to have everything they need for themselves!

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TANYA

Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Gimmel

The unity that a Yid has with Hashem by learning Torah is so special, that it is even stronger than the way it is in the Ruchnius worlds! Even though our guf doesn’t feel it, our neshama feels that we’re united with the ratzon of Hashem even more than malachim are!

That’s why the Gemara says that the mitzvah of learning Torah is greater in some ways than all other mitzvos — even davening! When we daven, we bring the unity of Hashem in Ruchnius worlds, but Torah brings even a greater unity.

By thinking about the special unity a Yid has with Hashem by learning Torah, which was explained earlier in the perek, that could bring a Yid to have a special Yiras Shomayim when he learns Torah!

Only a Yid with a high neshama can really feel the special unity with Hashem that happens when we learn Torah, which is even greater than the chayus of Hashem felt in the Ruchnius worlds. But even if we can’t FEEL it, knowing about it shows how great our connection is with Hashem when we learn Torah.

So in this perek we saw how a Yid is connected with Hashem when doing a mitzvah, and especially when learning Torah. We need to remember how special our connection with Hashem is, to wake up our koach of Mesirus Nefesh to do whatever it takes to keep this connection with Hashem strong.

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HAYOM YOM

Yud-Gimmel Shevat

Today is the yartzeit of Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s mother. The year the Hayom Yom was written, it was her first yartzeit. So if you look inside, before today’s Hayom Yom there is a halacha about the first yartzeit.

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When the Rebbe Maharash was a little boy, he knew the whole Nach (the books of the Torah after the Chumash, like Navi and Tehillim) baal peh! The Tzemach Tzedek would sometimes test him, and the Rebbe Maharash would ask questions about things he learned.

One time, when he was 7 years old, the Rebbe Maharash asked the Tzemach Tzedek about a certain posuk, where it says that Hashem made a person straight, “yashar.” The meforshim explain that it means that Hashem did a chesed to make people walk standing up.

The Tzemach Tzedek explained why this is such a big chesed: Because an animal has all four feet on the ground, so it doesn’t look up at the sky.

But a person, who stands, DOES look up and can see Shomayim.

Why was the Tzemach Tzedek telling this to him? The Frierdiker Rebbe explains this in a letter. The posuk says that a person is born like a wild animal. Animals don’t care about acting the way Hashem wants, just what they want. But when the child’s parents and teachers show him how to act, he starts to live the way a Yid should and be a mentch.

The Tzemach Tzedek was telling the Rebbe Maharash that we need to remember the chesed that Hashem does for us that we are “Yashar Holech” — that we are able to walk on two feet like a person. We don’t just have to look down at the Gashmius like an animal and think only about what we want or need, we can look up to Shomayim and think about how Hashem wants us to act!

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SEFER HAMITZVOS

Shiur #262 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #299, Asei #202, #203, Lo Saasei #270

In Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn four mitzvos:

1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #299) Lifnei Iver — we are careful not to make someone else do the wrong thing, by giving them bad advice, or helping them to do an aveira.

We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: וְלִפְנֵי עִוֵּר לֹא תִתֵּן מִכְשֹׁל

2) (Mitzvas Asei #202) If we see an animal that fell down because of the load it was carrying, we need to help unload the bags from the animal, and not leave the animal stuck under its load!

We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: כִּי תִרְאֶה חֲמוֹר שׂנַאֲךָ רֹבֵץ תַּחַת מַשָּׂאוֹ ... עָזֹב תַּעֲזֹב עִמּוֹ

The details of this mitzvah are explained in the second perek of Mesechta Bava Metziah.

3) (Mitzvas Asei #203) We need to help reload the bags back onto an animal that fell down because of what it was carrying. This mitzvah is also to help if a person is having a hard time carrying his things.

We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: הָקֵם תָּקִים עִמּוֹ

The details of this mitzvah are also explained in the second perek of Mesechta Bava Metziah.

4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #270) We are not allowed to ignore a person or an animal that need help because of what they are carrying, even if we don’t like the person.

This mitzvah comes from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְחָדַלְתָּ מֵעֲזֹב לוֹ

The details of this mitzvah are also explained in the second perek of Mesechta Bava Metziah.

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RAMBAM

Hilchos Rotzeiach U'Shmiras HaNefesh

In today’s Rambam, we finish this set of halachos, AND the whole Sefer Nezikin!

Perek Yud-Alef teaches us halachos about being careful of dangerous things. For example, we need to have a fence around the roof, to keep people from falling.

Perek Yud-Beis explains more about how to stay safe. We make sure food is safe before we eat it. We don’t go into a house that might fall down. We are also careful about not selling something to a person who might use it to hurt Yidden. In fact, we should ALWAYS be careful not to make another person do something wrong (today’s first mitzvah)!

Perek Yud-Gimmel teaches us about the mitzvah of “Azov Taazov” — helping another person if the bags on his donkey fell down. (These are the details about today’s last three mitzvos.)

Mazel Tov! Now we finished the eleventh sefer of the Rambam!

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RAMBAM PEREK ECHOD

Hilchos Sanhedrin - Perek Daled

We learn about a special kind of Semicha, which passes down a koach of Hashem to judge as part of the Sanhedrin. This koach was passed down from one judge to another, and goes all the way back to Moshe Rabbeinu!

Unfortunately, for certain reasons we don’t have this kind of Semicha nowadays — it was not passed down all the way to our times.

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INYANA D'YOMA

When We Need to Fight

In this week’s parsha, Parshas Beshalach, we learn about two people who tried to hurt the Yidden. At the beginning of the parsha we have Paraoh, and at the end of the parsha Amalek attacks the Yidden.

When the Mitzriyim were chasing them, Moshe Rabbeinu told the Yidden that Hashem will fight for them. The Yidden didn’t need to do anything. But with Amalek, the Yidden needed to fight themselves!

Why? What’s the difference?

Paraoh wanted the Yidden to come back to Mitzrayim and be slaves. He wanted to hurt the Yidden begashmius. When it comes to Gashmius, Hashem will do the fighting..

But Amalek’s main point was to hurt the Yidden’s Ruchnius. Amalek didn’t want the Yidden to receive the Torah! And when it comes to protecting our Ruchnius, we need to go out ourselves and fight. We get the koach from Moshe Rabbeinu who led the war then, but we need to put in the effort ourselves!

See Likutei Sichos chelek Alef, parshas Beshalach

▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼

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TEFILLAH

Velamalshinim (part three)

In the Hayom Yom of Chof-Vov Teves, we learned a deeper meaning of the bracha of Velamalshinim, that we are asking Hashem to protect us from the source of all not-good things, which is kelipah.

Hashem created the world with kedushah and with kelipah. Whatever brings a Yid closer to Hashem is kedushah, and the koach of kelipah is whatever tries to do the opposite. We ask Hashem not to let that kelipah make it hard for us.

We ask Hashem to destroy the kelipah in three different ways, one way for each of the Shalosh Kelipos Hatemeios, the kinds of kelipah that need to be completely wiped out: “U’se’aker, U’se’shaber, U’se’mager.”

But there is another kind of kelipah that CAN try to pull us away from Hashem, but can also easily be used to bring us closer to Hashem. Most Gashmius things in this world are this kind of kelipah, like food or toys. If we don’t use them for any good reason, they can chas veshalom pull us further from Hashem. But if we use them for a mitzvah, or to help us serve Hashem better, they can become kedusha and bring us closer to Hashem.

In Velamalshinim, we ask Hashem to force that kind of kelipah to help us do the right thing. We say, “Vesachnia,” “and You should subjugate it,” meaning that Hashem should help us use this kelipah and make it into kedusha!

Because this is talking about a different kind of kelipah, we pause between the words “U’se’mager” and “Vesachnia.”

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HALACHOS HATZRICHOS

The Kos of Kiddush

The Chachomim tell us that ten things should be done with a Kos Shel Bracha, a kos used to do a mitzvah such as making Kiddush or bentching. We learned many of these things, that we do practically nowadays. Today we will review them from the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, in the order of how we use the kos:

- First we need to check the kos to make sure it is shalem, it shouldn’t be broken or cracked.

- Then we need to wash and wipe out the kos on the inside and outside, called Shetifah and Hadacha.

Now that the kos is ready, we can fill it up with wine:

- We make sure that the kos is Malei, full, and according to Minhag Chabad it should be overflowing.

- We also need to make sure that the wine is not pogum, that nobody drank from it. If it is pogum, we add some wine to it.

Now that the kos is good and the wine inside it is good, we are ready to pick it up.

- We are Mekablo Bishtei Yadav — we use both of our hands to pick up the kos, by passing it from our right hand to our left hand, and then lower it into our right hand which is cupped like a bowl.

- We are Magbio Tefach, we pick the kos up one tefach high, and according to Minhag Chabad, three tefachim higher than the table, so everyone can see it.

- Finally, we are Nosein Einav Bakos — when we say the bracha, we should look at the kos to keep our attention on the Kos Shel Bracha.

See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Reish-Ayin-Alef se’if Yud-Ches

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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GEULAH U'MOSHIACH

Moshiach Minyan

In the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, it brings the halacha that we don’t count people with numbers. Instead, to see if we have enough men for a minyan, we count by saying a posuk with 10 words, the posuk of “Hoshia Es Amecha.”

Why does the Kitzur choose this posuk? In a sefer about Halacha and Minhag from Rashi, called Sefer Hapardes, it says to count with the posukVa’ani Berov Chasdecha” which also has 10 words.

In fact, it would make more sense to count with the posukVa’ani Berov Chasdecha,” since that posuk speaks about coming to daven to Hashem!

The Rebbe explains that it is because as we get closer to Moshiach, the Golus gets darker. Whenever we have a chance, we remind ourselves that Hashem will save us and bring the Geulah, which is the meaning of the posukHoshia Es Amecha!”

Vayakhel-Pekudei Mem-Gimmel, Migolah L’Geulah p. 87

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