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CHUMASH
Parshas Tetzaveh - Revi'i with Rashi
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Now that Hashem told Moshe how to make the Bigdei Kehunah (clothes for the Kohanim), Moshe now is told how to make the Kohanim ready to do the Avodah, during the Chanukas Hamishkan, after the Mishkan will be built:
Moshe should take three korbanos — 1 bull and 2 rams, and make three different kinds of matzah, made with flour, water and oil:
1) Ten “Lechem Matzos:” A dough is made of flour and water, and that dough is boiled, then baked, and then fried in the oil.
2) Ten “Challos Matzos:” A dough is made with flour, water, and oil mixed together, and then baked.
3) Ten “Rekikei Matzos:” A dough is made with flour and water and baked, and they are smeared with oil in the shape of a Kof afterwards.
Put all of these matzos into a basket, and bring them and the korbanos to the Chatzer of the Mishkan.
Aharon and his sons, the other kohanim, should go into the Mikvah, and then Moshe should dress Aharon in the clothes of the Kohen Gadol.
Then Moshe should get the things for the Mishkan ready to be used by putting Shemen Hamishcha (a special kind of oil) on them. He should also put Shemen Hamishcha on Aharon, with a matching Kof-shape like on the matzah!
Then Moshe should dress the rest of the kohanim, making them and their children kohanim forever.
After that, Moshe should prepare the korbanos and bring them on the Mizbeiach.
IY”H in the next two days of Chumash we will learn the rest of the instructions of how to prepare the Mishkan and the Kohanim in these days of preparation, called the Shivas Yemei Hamiluim.
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Before Kapitel Mem-Ches (like for most kapitelach) there are a few words that tell us what the Kapitel is about.
The words before this kapitel tell us that it is about when Moshiach will come — how beautiful Yerushalayim will be, and how we will bring the korbanos and see all of the things the Neviim told us will happen when Moshiach comes.
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Alef
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In today’s Tanya, we finish Perek Lamed-Alef, which is the end of the hisbonenus of how we can reach simcha after merirus, how we come to feel a real happiness even after knowing all of the negative things about ourselves.
Yesterday we learned that we should think to ourselves that even though our guf is low, our neshama is the main thing, and by davening and learning Torah we can connect our neshama back with Hashem the way it was before it came into a body. This makes us very happy, so that our Avodas Hashem will be with true simcha!
Today the Alter Rebbe adds something we can think about to make our teshuvah and simcha even STRONGER!
We can think to ourselves: Did we choose to have such a low guf that will try to shlep us away from being connected to Hashem?
Of course not! Hashem is the One Who GAVE us this guf.
And why did Hashem do this?
Because Hashem wants us to bring our guf (and the world around us) closer to Hashem too!
When we learn the halachos of Torah which speak about Gashmius things and do mitzvos using our guf (and things from the world), we are not only connecting our neshama to Hashem, we are bringing our guf (and the world around us) up with the neshama too! This is even a greater teshuvah, because it is returning not only the neshama, but also the guf and the world, to their source!
That will also bring us a stronger simcha because we will realize that not only does it bring joy for our neshama, but for our guf as well, because it is doing what Hashem created it for!
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Since the Hayom Yom was written in a year where there were TWO Adars (a Shana Me’uberes), and this year there is only ONE Adar (a Shana Peshuta) we learn TWO Hayom Yoms every day!
Ches Adar Alef
When the Alter Rebbe needed a melamed to teach his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, when was still a young boy, he chose one of the talmidim of the Maggid.
The Alter Rebbe told him, “We’ll make a deal! I have a mitzvah to teach my son, and you have a mitzvah to earn money for your family. Let us switch mitzvos: You will learn with my son, and I will pay you so you can take care of your family.”
Then the Alter Rebbe told the Melamed how he should teach: “You need to start with Alef.” And the Alter Rebbe told him what an Alef is.
An alef is a dot on top, and a dot underneath — that’s an Alef.
Then he explained what this means:
A child needs to know that the Alef of Torah is the Yud on top — Hashem, the Yud underneath — the Yid, and the line of Emunah which connects them.
Another version of what the Alter Rebbe told him: A Yud above is the neshama, a Yud underneath is the body, and a line of Yiras Shomayim connects them.
Ches Adar Sheini
We will learn in Tanya that this world is called Tachtonim, the lowest part, because Hashem is most hidden here. This can make the world confusing, and many times it looks like things aren’t going right.
When this happens, it can make a person upset! Many times, this will make us groan or sigh. In Yiddish, this is called a krechtz, or an anacha in Hebrew.
Groaning about the fact that something needs to change is an important part of avodah, like we learn in a different Hayom Yom. (Do you know where?) But there is something MUCH more important to do!
The Rebbe Rashab writes a letter to a Yid who was upset about something that wasn’t going right, and was krechtzing about it. The Rebbe Rashab tells him that it is better to do one peulah, one action, than to groan a thousand times!
No matter what happens to us, and no matter how we feel, Hashem is always there. Torah and mitzvos have a tremendous koach, and they never change! And when we stop krechtzing and work on doing what we’re supposed to, Hashem will definitely help us.
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There are 3 mitzvos in today’s Sefer Hamitzvos:
1) (Mitzvas Asei #235) A non-Jewish slave works for a Yid forever, unless the Yid hurts him in certain ways.
We learn this from a posuk in Parshas Behar: לְעֹלָם בָּהֶם תַּעֲבֹדוּ
The halachos of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Kiddushin and Mesechta Gittin.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #254) If a non-Jewish slave runs away to Eretz Yisroel, he becomes free and becomes a ger. It is asur to give him back to whoever bought him. Instead, the amount of money he is worth needs to be paid to the person who owned him before, and he doesn’t go back to being a slave.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: לֹא תַסְגִּיר עֶבֶד אֶל אֲדֹנָיו
The dinim of this mitzvah are also explained in Mesechta Kiddushin and Mesechta Gittin.
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #255) It is asur to say anything mean to a non-Jewish slave who ran away to Eretz Yisroel and became a Yid.
We learn this mitzvah from the next posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: עִמְּךָ יֵשֵׁב בְּקִרְבְּךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ... בַּטּוֹב לוֹ לֹא תּוֹנֶנּוּ
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more of the halachos of the shtar (document) that the master gives to his servant to make him free.
In Perek Zayin, we learn that if many servants are going free, each servant needs his own shtar to say that he is free. We also learn that the master has to say that he owns NOTHING that belongs to the servant! If he writes that the servant is free, but he still has to polish the master’s shoes, the shtar isn’t good.
Perek Ches teaches us that if a Jew sells a slave to a non-Jew, he gets a knas (fine) that he has to pay up to 10 times as much as the slave is worth to set him free!
There are also other things that the master can do that will set his slave free. For example if he puts tefillin on his slave, that shows that he doesn’t consider him a servant anymore, and he goes free! But if he taught him Torah that’s not a proof that he doesn’t consider him a servant.
We also learn the last two mitzvos of a slave that escapes to Eretz Yisroel, not to send him back, and to treat him well.
Finally, in Perek Tes, the Rambam teaches us a very important lesson in our lives. Although we are allowed to be strict and make our non Jewish slave work hard, a Yid should have rachmanus. The Chachomim would give from all of their food and drink to their slaves and feed them first. Hashem has rachmanus on those who have rachmanus on others.
With that we finish the halachos of avadim (slaves), and the whole sefer, Sefer Kinyan!
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The Rambam tells us that the Chachomim were not as strict with court cases about money. That’s because if we ask too many questions, there is a very good chance that the witnesses will get confused, and very few cases will be won by people who lend money! If people see how hard it is to get their money back in Beis Din, they will stop lending money. That’s why the Beis Din was not as strict, so more people will help each other by lending money.
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The story of Purim actually starts 57 years earlier, in Eretz Yisrael, with the churban of the first Beis Hamikdash. The Navi Yirmiyahu promised it would be rebuilt 70 years after Golus Bavel.
King Achashverosh made his feast to celebrate that 70 years of the Golus had passed and the Beis Hamikdash still hadn’t been rebuilt. He calculated the 70 years from the time when Yechuniah Melech Yehudah was brought into Golus, which was before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed.
The neis of Purim happened 10 years after this feast, and three years after that, Esther’s son Daryavesh gave permission for the Yidden to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash again, exactly 70 years after the churban! Daryavesh asked to put a picture of Shushan in the Beis Hamikdash. A picture of Shushan was engraved and hung up on one of the gates of the Beis Hamikdash, which they called Shaar Shushan. This is the gate that is used during the burning of the Parah Adumah, which we will IY”H need to use so we can all go into the Beis Hamikdash when Moshiach comes!
During the second half of this party, Achashverosh invited everyone in Shushan, including the Yidden. At this party, he asked that it be “Kirtzon Ish Va’ish” — the way each person wants. Achashverosh asked that there should be kosher food for the Yidden, so they could eat at the feast.
Of course, a non-Jewish party celebrating that the Beis Hamikdash was not rebuilt is NOT the right place for a Jew to be! The Yidden were punished for going and enjoying that feast, with the decree of Haman HaRasha.
Still, the Rebbe teaches us, there is an important lesson we can learn from Achashverosh’s instructions, since they are written in the Megillah, and everything in the Megillah has a lesson for us!
Hashem made Yidden just a small part of all of the people in the world. We sometimes might feel that we shouldn’t be so careful with some mitzvos, since it might bother other people or make us stick out.
But we can learn from the Megillah that we shouldn’t think that way! Hashem gave Achashverosh the idea to have kosher food for the Yidden, and so too, Hashem will make sure the rest of the world HELPS us to act as a Yid. When we show that we are ready to stand strong in our Yiddishkeit, Hashem will make sure that all of the nations of the world help us to behave the way the Torah teaches us.
See Hisvaaduyos 5742, p. 950; Megillas Esther with the Rebbe’s explanations p. 87
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TEFILLAH
Why Isn't There Pesukei Dezimra in Mincha?
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When a Yid wakes up in the morning, his neshama is mostly hidden. This makes it hard to feel a connection to Hashem.
By praising Hashem in Pesukei Dezimra, we make a connection. This way, we can stand before Hashem in tefillah and ask for all of our needs.
Once we already made this connection, it lasts all day! We don’t have to set up a new connection to Hashem by saying Pesukei Dezimra again before Mincha, or any time during the day that we want to ask Hashem for something. By davening Shacharis with Pesukei Dezimra, we connected ourselves to Hashem and it is much easier for us to ask Hashem for whatever we need at any time.
See Maamar Lag B’omer 5745
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In the Shulchan Aruch, it says that it is a Minhag Tov, a good minhag, to bring young boys and girls to hear the Megillah reading.
There are some poskim who write that we need to be careful bringing young children who might disturb the Megillah reading, since it is very important for everyone in shul to hear every word of the Megillah. If kids are making noise, others might not be able to hear some of the words.
Still, for children this is their mitzvah of having simcha Ad D’lo Yada, having simcha in a very great way — by shaking their graggers with lots of chayus and drowning out the name of Haman! There are ways to make sure that the kids can be part of the Megillah, while still being careful that they don’t make noise and keep others from hearing. One way is to give the kids plenty of time to shake their graggers when we read Haman’s name, and wait until they are done before reading further.
See sicha Motzei Shabbos Parshas Vayakhel, Tof-Shin-Lamed-Ches
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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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In Chumash, we are learning about the Shivas Yemei Hamiluim, the Chanukas HaMishkan.
The Gemara discusses a detail of how the avodah was done then that is not written in the posuk.
The Gemara asks, why does it matter, if the Chanukas Hamishkan already happened? Why do we need to know about a detail that was not written in the Torah?
The Gemara answers, because we need to know for Le’asid Lavo! When the Beis Hamikdash is built, we need to know exactly how things should be done!
But, the Gemara continues, we still don’t need to worry about that detail now. Moshe and Aharon will be there with us, and they will tell us what happened so we know just what needs to be done with the Beis Hamikdash.
From this, we see something else very important too: Even though the Beis Hamikdash will be built BEFORE Techiyas Hameisim, certain tzadikim (like Moshe and Aharon) will have Techiyas Hameisim before then too, so they will be right there when the Beis Hamikdash is built, and they will tell us exactly what we need to do!
See Gemara Yoma 5b
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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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