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CHUMASH
Parshas Beshalach - Rishon with Rashi
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The Yidden travel towards the Yam Suf... and the Mitzriyim start to chase them!
The Yidden are leaving Mitzrayim! Hashem had the Yidden go a longer way, in case some Yidden would become scared of going into the big empty Midbar, and because of that would later want to run back to Mitzrayim.
When the Yidden traveled, Hashem went in front of them! During the daytime, Hashem went in a big cloud, so they could see where to go. This cloud also made the road easier for them to go on, kept them safe, and cleaned their clothes. At night, Hashem went in a pillar of fire, which also let them see at night.
On the third day of traveling, Hashem told Moshe that they should go back towards the Yam Suf. Paraoh will see the Yidden going backwards, and will think that they are stuck. He will chase after them, and then Hashem will punish him and the Mitzriyim. Now Paraoh will need to realize that Hashem is in charge!
Even though the Yidden might have been afraid to go closer to the Mitzriyim who made them suffer so much, they trusted in Moshe that he was doing what Hashem wanted him to do.
In the meantime, Paraoh changed his mind about letting the Yidden go! He convinced a bunch of Mitzriyim to come with him and make a war with the Yidden, and take back all of the gold and silver they gave them before. Paraoh took all of the horses and wagons that survived the makos, with more than 600 special small and fast wagons. They were so excited, the Mitzriyim decorated these wagons with expensive decorations!
At first, Paraoh wasn’t sure if he should go, but Hashem made him feel stubborn, and he decided to go run after the Yidden.
Meanwhile the Yidden continued going, proud and strong!
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Today’s Tehillim is kapitelach Lamed-Tes through Mem-Gimmel.
According to some meforshim, Kapitel Mem-Alef, in today’s Tehillim, speaks about the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim.
The second posuk says, “Ashrei Maskil El Dal,” fortunate is the person who thinks about someone who is sick, and comes to visit him. The posuk tells us the words he should use to make the person feel better — “Beyom Ra’ah Yemalteihu Hashem,” he should tell the sick person that even if he is having a Yom Raah, a hard day, Hashem will help him and bring him a Refuah Sheleimah!
The kapitel tells us the special reward that Hashem gives the person who does Bikur Cholim like this, and that Hashem will help him when he needs help!
See Rashi and Radak on this kapitel
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Alef
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In today’s Tanya, we learn more about Achdus Hashem through a mashal of speaking. Today we understand Achdus Hashem better by showing that the mashal is NOT exactly the same as the nimshal.
The Alter Rebbe is explaining how we need to see that every choice we make is important. It is worth putting in even tremendous kochos in our shlichus to fulfill the Ratzon of Hashem. That’s because every mitzvah connects us to Hashem, and through an aveira, we are chas veshalom separated.
Knowing this will help us overcome the shtus of the Yetzer Hara that tells us that it’s not worth trying so hard.
But first we need to learn to learn a bit about what Achdus Hashem means:
We explained before that Hashem created the world “Bidvar Hashem” — with His “words.” Of course, Hashem doesn’t have a mouth like a person, but “words” are a good mashal to understand how Hashem made the world:
A person can say lots of important and interesting things, but compared to how much he COULD say, and certainly compared to the person himself, those words are like nothing! The world is like that too — the whole entire world is just “words” for Hashem, and those words are not important at all compared to Hashem Himself!
Words are a way for us to share something that’s hidden inside of us with another person. This is also true in the nimshal: The Creation of the world is Hashem showing us something that was hidden before!
But this mashal of speaking isn’t the same in EVERYTHING.
When a person speaks, those words become a separate thing from the person. (That’s why we need to be so careful with what we say — because you can’t take back your words!)
This part of the mashal is NOT the same, because NOTHING can become separate from Hashem!
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When the Alter Rebbe was 9, he learned certain parts of math and science that help us understand how the sun and moon work. When he was ten, he made a Yiddishe calendar for 15 years!
When the Alter Rebbe was just 12, he gave a shiur on the Rambam’s halachos of Kiddush Hachodesh, which explain when we see the new moon for Rosh Chodesh. These halachos are very complicated, and it made the Talmidei Chachomim in shul feel very embarrassed next to this young boy!
The Torah teaches us how the world should be according to Torah. Sometimes you first need to understand how the world works to understand what the Torah wants! One of the examples is that you need to know some math and science to understand the way the Yiddishe calendar works. That’s why the Alter Rebbe learned these things.
The Alter Rebbe, who was a posek in Niglah and Nistar (wrote the Shulchan Aruch and Tanya) knew everything that you need to know in order to understand halacha.
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Today we started a new set of halachos, about if a person hurts someone else, or breaks or ruins something belonging to them.
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #236) is that if a person makes someone else get hurt, he needs to pay him to make up for what he did. (In fact, we learn that there are five kinds of damage that he might need to pay: For the part of him that got hurt, the pain, the doctor bills, that he is missing work, and that he was embarrassed.)
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: וְכִי יְרִיבֻן אֲנָשִׁים וְהִכָּה אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Perek Ches of Mesechta Bava Kama.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about the damages that a person needs to pay if he hurt another person.
Perek Alef teaches us that there are 5 kinds of damage a person might be responsible to pay, and explains what each of them are. The Rambam also explains in what kinds of cases each of them would need to be paid.
Perek Beis explains how we figure out how much to pay for each kind of damage. One halacha is that the Beis Din can only force someone to pay if he touched the other person, but if he scared the person without touching him, the Beis Din can’t force him to pay, but Hashem will. (“Patur Midinei Adam, Vechayav Bedinei Shomayim.”)
Perek Gimmel explains how much a person needs to pay for embarrassing someone else. There are certain amounts (called “knasim”) for different things they did to embarrass them. If someone embarrasses a Talmid Chochom, even just with words, they are supposed to pay 35 gold dinarim, which is worth over $9,000 today! The Rambam says that we do this even outside of Eretz Yisroel, and it happened many times when he lived in Spain!
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One halacha in this perek is that if the oldest brother buys fancy clothes, and now everyone is nicer to their family, it doesn’t come out of his money, because it helps all of them.
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In today’s Hayom Yom, we learned that the Alter Rebbe learned certain parts of math and science to understand the halachos of Kiddush Hachodesh. This is connected to the first mitzvah the Yidden got, which we learn about in Parshas Bo: The mitzvah of Kiddush Hachodesh, Hachodesh Hazeh Lochem.
Here’s a story about the Rebbe that shows how understanding how Hashem’s world works helps us understand the halacha properly:
When the Rebbe first came to America, there was a whole discussion about if you’re allowed to use a microphone in shul on Shabbos, so that everyone can hear the chazzan and Baal Korei. Nowadays, of course we all know you can’t do that! But in those days, people weren’t sure, and even some frum shuls wanted to do it. In fact, some Rabbonim even said it’s okay.
The Rebbe said then, “There are some Rabbonim who know the halacha but don’t know how a microphone works. There are some Rabbonim who know how a microphone works and don’t know the halacha... But someone who understands both the halacha and the way the microphone works, will know that it is most definitely asur to use it in a shul on Shabbos!”
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The brachos of Shemoneh Esrei are split into 3 parts: The first part praises Hashem, the middle part asks for our needs, and the last part thanks and praises Hashem again. The middle part of Shemoneh Esrei is also split in half. The first half has brachos for each person alone, and the second half has brachos for Klal Yisroel all together.
We asked Hashem to take away the things that are bothering us, but we still aren’t really satisfied. We can’t rest completely until we are back in Eretz Yisroel with the coming of Moshiach! That’s why we say this bracha of Teka Beshofar, asking Hashem to bring back all of the Yidden together to Eretz Yisroel.
What do the words “Teka Beshofar Gadol,” blow the great shofar, have to do with bringing Yidden to Eretz Yisroel?
In the Navi Yeshaya, it says in the posuk clearly that first the shofar is blown, and then comes Kibbutz Galuyos! “Veyaha Bayom Hahu, Yitaka Beshofar Gadol, Uva’u Ha’ovdim Be’eretz Ashur, Vehanidachim Be’eretz Mitzrayim — Vehishtachavu LaHashem Behar Hakodesh BiYerushalayim!” On that day, first the great shofar will be blown, and then the Yidden will be gathered to serve Hashem in Yerushalayim!
The Chachomim made this bracha based on the words of the Navi, so first we ask Hashem to blow the great shofar, and then gather us and bring us to Eretz Yisroel!
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When we get ready to make Kiddush, we fill up our becher with wine. One of the ten things the Chachomim say about a Kos Shel Bracha is that it needs to be Malei, full. Our minhag is, not only do we fill it up to the top, we pour even more, so the wine overflows!
The Gemara says that overflowing the cup is a siman bracha, a sign of bracha.
But, the Alter Rebbe says, we need to be careful not to spill wine on the floor. That isn’t kavod for the wine of Kiddush.
Because of this, we put a plate under our becher, so that the wine will pour into a keili and not onto the floor.
See Toras Menachem 5742, vol. 3, p. 1692, Shulchan Menachem vol. 2 p. 65
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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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Usually we say that before Moshiach comes, Eliyahu Hanavi first comes to tell us.
But the Acharonim say that this is only when Moshiach comes at the right time, “Be’ita.”
If Moshiach comes earlier, “Achishena,” then Eliyahu Hanavi doesn’t need to come first — Moshiach can come right away!
See Sefer Hasichos 5748, vol. 2, p. 611
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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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