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CHUMASH

Parshas Mishpatim - Shvi'i with Rashi

Hashem tells the Yidden about all the ways He will make it easier for them to live in Eretz Yisroel.

If the Yidden keep the mitzvos, Hashem will give them so many special rewards!

In Eretz Yisroel, all of the mothers will have kinderlach, and everyone will live a good long life.

Hashem will scare away everyone who is not supposed to live in Eretz Yisroel with a kind of wasp, so the Yidden won’t even have to make a war.

But if everyone leaves Eretz Yisroel right away, who will take care of the fields and make sure that there are not too many wild animals? Because of that, Hashem will only send out the goyim little by little, until the Yidden are able to take care of the whole land.

Hashem will do His part to give the Yidden Eretz Yisroel, but the Yidden need to do THEIR part and make sure that they don’t learn from the goyim to serve Avodah Zarah.

Now that Hashem finished telling the Yidden the way the deal will work, the Torah goes back and tells us more about Matan Torah (which we learned about in Parshas Yisro).

Hashem had told Moshe that some of the Zekeinim could go partway up Har Sinai, but only Moshe can come all the way up to the top. Moshe reviewed these rules and the halachos of the mitzvos they were told about before Matan Torah. The Yidden all said, “We will do whatever Hashem said to do!”

Then Moshe wrote down all the parts of the Torah that already happened, from Bereishis until Matan Torah! The next morning, he made a Mizbeiach and brought korbanos, as a promise to Hashem that the Yidden agree to keep the Torah.

Moshe went up on Har Sinai, and the Zekeinim didn’t follow him — but they looked. They saw how Hashem had been with them in Mitzrayim, and how happy Hashem was that they were free.

After Matan Torah, Hashem told Moshe to come back up on Har Sinai for 40 days and nights, to get the Luchos. Moshe told the Yidden he would be back in 40 days, and left the Zekeinim in charge.

While he was on Har Sinai, Moshe didn’t need to eat or drink anything, and Hashem taught him all of the mitzvos of the Torah!

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TEHILLIM

120 - 134

A Chossid once complained to the Rebbe Maharash about how hard it is for him at home, because he has no money. He said (from today’s Tehillim), “MeiAyin Yavo Ezri?” “Where will my help come from?”

The Rebbe Maharash answered, “Your answer is in the next posuk! ‘Ezri Me’Im Hashem, Osei Shomayim VaAretz!’ Your help comes from Hashem, Who takes care of everything in the Shomayim and the earth. He gives everything what it needs in the right time, and He will take care of you too!”

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TANYA

Likutei Amarim Perek Chof-Ches

We learned before what to do with distracting thoughts in davening and learning. The Alter Rebbe explains to us how the Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Hara work, so that these thoughts should not upset us and we’ll know how to deal with them.

How do you think the Yetzer Tov and the Yetzer Hara split up their jobs? Maybe the Yetzer Tov works during the day and the Yetzer Hara works at night? Or do they switch off every hour?

Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that they aren’t two separate things in a person, but they are there together!

When you’re playing soccer, do the teams take turns playing? No! They play together, and each one wants to win, and not let the other team get any goals!

The same is with the Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Hara. They are working at the same time.

For example, when you see your friend’s markers on her desk, it’s not JUST the Yetzer Tov or JUST the Yetzer Hara that will have something to say! You will think TWO things: The Yetzer Hara will say, “She won’t know if I just borrow them! Probably she won’t really mind… right?” The Yetzer Tov will answer, “No! If they aren’t yours, you can’t take them without permission, even if you’re planning on putting them back later.”

Our job is to make the right choice and listen to the Yetzer Tov!

In the example of a soccer game, if one team starts getting a bunch of goals, the other team works even harder to win! The same is true with the Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Hara. During davening, when the Neshama is doing what Hashem wants, the Yetzer Hara gets scared and starts to fight back harder. It tries to make us think about other things so we won’t think about the words we’re saying.

So, if we are trying to daven and can’t concentrate because we keep thinking about other things, it doesn’t mean that our davening is no good! It means that our davening is SO good that the Yetzer Hara is scared! It wants to fight back so IT will be in charge of us!

So we should pretend that those thoughts are like goyishe music blasting in our ears during davening: We would just ignore it and try to daven our best anyway. And when these thoughts (from the Yetzer Hara) keep bothering us, we should just ignore them and try to daven with even more kavana.

But what happens if you’re trying to ignore the thoughts and concentrate, but it’s just too hard?

Then the Alter Rebbe tells us that you daven to Hashem in your mind, that He should have Rachmonus on you and help you stop these thoughts of the Yetzer Hara that are bothering your davening. A Yid’s neshama is part of Hashem, and Hashem will surely help!

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HAYOM YOM

Chof-Zayin Shevat

Have you ever made a hachlata at a farbrengen? What was it? To learn something extra, or have more Ahavas Yisroel?

In today’s Hayom Yom, we learn about a hachlata that early Chassidim made: That any time that they feel that they have a taavah for something (that they want it very much), they won’t have it! This way, they would break the taavah!

There is a famous story with R’ Shmuel Munkes that helps us understand this.

The Alter Rebbe had many Chassidim. One of these Chassidim was named R’ Shmuel Munkes. R’ Shmuel was known as a big joker, who always had a funny thing to say or a funny way to teach something.

But one day, the other Chassidim learned that he was also a very great chossid!

R’ Shmuel Munkes was sitting at a farbrengen with other Chassidim in shul, late at night. They were singing, making lechaims, and encouraging each other to grow in their avodah. It was a great farbrengen!

But as it got later, the Chassidim started to run out of farbeisen. Farbeisen is something to eat after making a lechaim. Without farbeisen, you can’t have lechaims. And without lechaims, what kind of farbrengen will it be?

The Chassidim felt bad that their farbrengen would have to end. But suddenly, the door of the shul opened, and the butcher came in. He was carrying a big, steaming pot that smelled delicious!

“It’s a fresh cow lung,” the butcher said proudly. “I had two cows shechted today, and one of them was kosher, Boruch Hashem! I decided that the best part, the lung, belongs to the Chassidim. My wife cooked it up, and now I want you to enjoy it at your farbrengen.”

The Chassidim thanked the butcher, and R’ Shmuel Munkes jumped up and took the pot so the butcher could go home. The Chassidim were very excited to have such special farbeisen by their farbrengen, and waited impatiently for R’ Shmuel to serve the roasted lung, which smelled so good.

But R’ Shmuel didn’t give out the meat.

After a few minutes, one of the other Chassidim started to get annoyed. He got up and tried to grab the pot out of R’ Shmuel’s hands so he could give it out himself. But R’ Shmuel turned and jumped onto a bench!

A few of the younger Chassidim started to chase R’ Shmuel so they could grab the pot and continue their farbrengen already, but R’ Shmuel kept running away — jumping onto the tables or benches to get away from them.

Finally, they managed to trap R’ Shmuel in a corner. But before they could take the pot, R’ Shmuel turned and dumped the whole delicious lung into a smelly garbage pail!

The Chassidim were very upset! How dare he have the chutzpah to waste good food and mess up their farbrengen? The Chassidim let him know that they were upset, but R’ Shmuel, with a smile still on his face, left the shul for a few minutes to get something.

R’ Shmuel Munkes came back to the farbrengen with a bowl of cabbage salad, but the Chassidim were very disappointed. Salad is good, but it’s not a steaming plate of fresh meat!

Still, they continued the farbrengen.

Suddenly, the door to the shul burst open, and the butcher came in, crying. “Oy vey, what have I done? How will Hashem ever forgive me for giving treife food to all of the holy Chassidim?” The butcher explained that the lung of the non-kosher cow had gotten mixed up with the kosher cow, and by mistake the treif lung got cooked and brought to the Chassidim!

The Chassidim calmed down the butcher, telling him that nobody had eaten even a bite of the meat, and the butcher finally went home, feeling much better.

But now the Chassidim were upset at R’ Shmuel again! Was he showing off that he had Ruach Hakodesh? That’s not a very nice way to behave!

R’ Shmuel explained: “I don’t have Ruach Hakodesh at all. All I know is that for many years I have been working on being stronger than my taavos. Over the years, I stopped having taavos for food at all!

“But then, today, I had a very strong taavah to eat the meat. I started to wonder why that would be. But when I saw so many big Chassidim getting so upset because they wanted to eat a piece of meat, I realized that there must be something wrong with it. Why else would the Yetzer Hara want us to eat it so much? So I put it where it belongs — in the garbage.”

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SEFER HAMITZVOS

Shiur #276 - Mitzvas Asei #245

Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #245) is the same mitzvah AGAIN! (When we are learning many halachos connected with the same mitzvah in Rambam, we just keep reviewing it in Sefer Hamitzvos!) When we do business, buying or selling things, we need to do it the way the Torah teaches us.

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RAMBAM

Hilchos Zechiya U'Matana

In today’s Rambam, we learn more about a present from a person who is very sick (a “Shechiv MeRa”).

Perek Yud explains what we do when the Shechiv Mera says that money belongs to another person, or if another person says that the Shechiv Mera owed him money.

In Perek Yud-Alef the Rambam tells us what to do when the words of the Shechiv Mera aren’t so clear. Like if he says, “give this money to Tuvia,” what do we do if two people called Tuvia come and ask for the money? (If one of them is a Talmid Chochom, we say that probably the Shechiv Mera meant him, or if one of them is his friend we say it is probably him.)

In Perek Yud-Beis we learn about how carefully we listen to the words of a sick person and do exactly what he asked.

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RAMBAM PEREK ECHOD

Hilchos Sanhedrin - Perek Yud-Ches

The Rambam tells us about the kinds of aveiros that make a person deserve malkos. These aveiros are all from the Torah, but a Beis Din can give Makas Mardus, another kind of malkos, for doing an aveira Miderabanan.

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INYANA D'YOMA

Chassidishe Parsha

The first posuk in this week’s parshah, Parshas Mishpatim, is about how Hashem told Moshe to tell the Yidden the mitzvos, the Mishpatim. “Ve’eileh Hamishpatim Asher Tasim Lifneihem…

In the first maamar in Torah Ohr of this week, the Alter Rebbe explains something deep this posuk is teaching in Ruchnius! Like all of the maamarim of the Alter Rebbe, these inyonim were explained by the later Rebbeim in more detail. One of the FIRST maamarim that the Rebbe said after Bosi Legani, “Ve’eileh Hamishpatim,” explains this maamar.

Hashem made two main kinds of neshamos — “Zera Adam” and “Zera Beheimah.”

Neshamos that are called “Zera Adam” are neshamos that are able to feel Hashem! Neshamos called “Zera Beheimah” are neshamos that are not able to recognize and feel Hashem on their own.

Nowadays, most neshamos are “Zera Beheimah,” neshamos that can only feel Gashmius, and not Ruchnius. Of course we can still LEARN about these things, but we are not able to FEEL it on our own (daas).

Some neshamos are called Zera Adam, like the neshamos of great tzadikim! These neshamos are able to feel Hashem even in this world.

But the koach of Moshe Rabbeinu is so strong that he can help even the rest of the Yidden to FEEL Hashem too, even though they can’t on their own!

That’s what Hashem was telling Moshe in this posuk: Give the mitzvos (mishpatim) that are part of Hashem, to the Yidden “Lifneihem” in a way of pnimius, that they can feel it inside. By giving them the halachos of the Torah, so that they will be able to understand them in their minds, that will make them able to also come to recognize Hashem.

That is why Moshe Rabbeinu is called the Raya Mehemna, the faithful shepherd, because he helps the Yidden not only have Emunah in Hashem, but that they can also recognize Hashem in their sechel.

In the LAST edited maamar of the Rebbe, “Ve’ata Tetzaveh,” the Rebbe explains to us (based on the words of the Zohar) that in our times, the Rebbeim are like Moshe Rabbeinu. The Rebbe adds there that not only do they help us recognize Hashem in our minds, but they bring out within us the feeling of Mesiras Nefesh from a very deep part of our neshama so that we are able to serve Hashem with every part of our being.

See Torah Ohr, dibur hamas’chil “Ve’eileh Hamishpatim”

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TEFILLAH

Sim Shalom (part 1)

We are learning the meaning of the last bracha of Shemoneh Esrei.

At the end of Shemoneh Esrei, we ask Hashem to accept our tefillos. Then, we ask Hashem to bring back the Avodah of the Beis Hamikdash, because our tefillos are in place of the korbanos.

After the daily korbanos were brought, the kohanim would bentch the Yidden. Here, at the end of our “korban,” Shemoneh Esrei, the chazan says Birchas Kohanim.

The last bracha of Shemoneh Esrei speaks about the most important bracha that the kohanim give the Yidden, the bracha of Shalom. That is why this bracha starts with the words, “Sim Shalom” — “Give us the bracha of shalom.”

The reason why Birchas Kohanim ends off with the bracha for shalom is because shalom is a keili for bracha, it is like a container that catches and holds brachos. After asking Hashem for all of the brachos during Shemoneh Esrei, we ask Hashem that we should be able to keep all of the brachos, which is only possible when we have shalom.

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HALACHOS HATZRICHOS

Havdalah

On Motzei Shabbos, we make four brachos in Havdalah. The Roshei Teivos for these brachos, and the order they are in, is “Yavneh” — Yayin (the wine), Besamim, Ner (the candle), Havdalah (the bracha thanking Hashem for separating between Shabbos and the weekday).

Why do we use a ner at Havdalah?

On the first Motzei Shabbos, Adam Harishon took two stones and hit them together, making fire. This was the first time a person had ever discovered fire! On Shabbos, we aren’t allowed to use fire, so on Motzei Shabbos it is like it is created for us then, too! So on Motzei Shabbos, we thank Hashem for creating fire.

It is best to do this by lighting a torch — a flame with at least two wicks, because we say in the bracha Borei Me’orei Ha’Aish, that Hashem makes the LIGHTS of the fire, meaning more than one light.

It is a minhag to look at our fingernails in the light of this ner, so that we are able to use the light for something.

Another reason we look at our fingernails is because nails are a siman bracha, since they are always growing!

When we finish Havdalah, we put out the ner using the wine of Havdalah that is left in the kos. We dip our fingertips in this wine. It is a segulah for seeing well to put some of the wine on the outside of our eyes.

See Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Reish-Tzadik-Ches se’if alef; Igros Kodesh chelek Yud-Beis p. 226. Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch siman Reish-Tzadik-Vov se’if Hey, and Reish-Tzadik-Ches se’if Vov

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

Wanting Moshiach

One Sunday (Asara B’Teves 5750), a man came to the Rebbe to receive a dollar for tzedakah and a bracha.

While standing by the Rebbe, the man asked for many brachos. He kept asking for more and more things, until the Rebbe finally suggested, “Maybe you should ask for Moshiach to come?”

The man agreed, and answered, “Im Yirtza Hashem.” (“If Hashem wants”)

The Rebbe told him, “Hashem already wants! It’s up to the Yidden to want Moshiach as well!”

From the sefer Zoreia Tzedakos (stories about Dollars), translated in Moshiach Weekly #17

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