|
|
CHUMASH
Parshas Vayikra - Sheini with Rashi
|
|
In today’s Chumash, Hashem is still speaking to Moshe Rabbeinu, telling him more about the korbanos that the Yidden will bring in the Mishkan.
Hashem told Moshe that sometimes a person wants to give Hashem a korban as a present (nedavah). One way to do this is by giving a Korban Olah, a korban that is burned up completely on the Mizbeiach, with no parts left for the person or the kohen to eat. (That is why it is called “olah”, because the whole korban “goes up” to Hashem.)
In yesterday’s Chumash, Hashem told Moshe about bringing an ANIMAL as a Korban Olah.
Now Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu that if a person can’t afford to bring an animal as a present, he can bring a BIRD as a Korban Olah instead. Even though the birds are smaller than animals, if the person gave it with a good kavana, it brings Hashem the same nachas as a bigger korban!
After the kohen shechts the bird, he should take out the inside parts of the bird, that are used for eating food (the digestive system). With a korban of an animal, we take these parts and wash them out, but with the bird, we throw these parts away.
Rashi tells us that this is because of the kind of food birds eat! An animal that can be brought as a korban is a kind of animal that lives on a farm, and only eats what its owner gives it. But a bird flies around and eats whatever it finds, which is like stealing. We throw these parts away so our korban won’t have a connection to stealing.
Hashem told Moshe that after taking out these parts, the bird should be burned on the Mizbeiach. Even though feathers are very smelly when they are burned, they shouldn’t be taken off! Hashem wants the korbanos of poor people to look as big and important as possible.
Still, for some very poor people, even a bird can be too expensive! Hashem told Moshe that there is another, cheaper korban that can be brought as a present to Hashem. This korban is made of flour, and is called a “Korban Mincha”.
When Hashem was telling Moshe about the Korban Mincha, Hashem didn’t use the same word as usual for the person bringing the korban. Instead of saying “Adam” (a person), Hashem said “Nefesh” — a neshama! Hashem wanted Moshe to know that when a person is very poor, but still wants to give a present to Hashem, his korban is very precious! Hashem counts it as if he is giving his whole nefesh as a present!
Hashem told Moshe about the different ways that flour is used as a korban. (Three of these ways are in today’s Chumash.)
One kind of flour korban is actually raw flour. The person brings fine flour, and the kohen should pour oil and spices on top. One handful should be burned on the Mizbeiach, and the rest of it the kohanim will be allowed to take home and eat.
For another kind of Mincha, the kohen should bake the flour. This baked Mincha has two kinds: One is called “Challos Matzos,” where the kohen will MIX the flour with the oil and then bake it. The other is called “Rekikei Matzos,” where the kohen will SMEAR the oil on top of the baked Mincha.
There is also a kind of Mincha that should be fried in a pan until it gets crispy.
Hashem told Moshe that for all of the kinds of Mincha where the flour is already cooked or baked, the kohen should break it into pieces and then pour oil in it.
|
|
|
|
Today we are saying the 15 Shir Hamaalos! Every kapitel in today’s tehillim (15 kapitelach) starts with the words “Shir Hamaalos” or “Shir Lamaalos.”
Maalos means steps, going up! They bring us higher and closer to Hashem!
These fifteen kapitelach were first said by Yaakov Avinu when he was in Lavan’s house.
They were also said by Dovid Hamelech when he was digging a stream under the place of the Beis Hamikdash, and the underground water was about to make a big flood! Dovid asked a Rav if he can write Hashem’s name on a piece of clay, and when Achitofel said yes, he did it. The water went back down, but too far down! So Dovid Hamelech said the 15 Shir Hamaalos, and the water came up 15,000 amos, so the ground wouldn’t be too dry to grow things.
Do you know what else is 15 in Yiddishkeit? Here are some of them!
- There are 15 steps in the Seder on Pesach
- There are 15 things that are done every day in the Beis Hamikdash (we say them in davening, in a paragraph that starts “Abaye”)
- There are 15 steps into the Beis Hamikdash
- There were 15 years where all of the Avos were alive at the same time!
- There were 15 years where all of the Avos of Chassidus were alive at the same time — the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe!
|
|
|
TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Lamed-Zayin
|
|
Today’s Tanya is a very famous section brought in the Rebbe’s sichos many times, about how special the mitzvah of tzedakah is and why the Chachomim tell us that it brings the Geulah closer.
The chachomim say many special things about the mitzvah of Tzedakah — it is equal to all of the other mitzvos together! In the Talmud Yerushalmi, when it says the word “mitzvah” without telling us which mitzvah, it means the mitzvah of tzedakah!
Why is tzedakah so special?
We learned that when we do mitzvos, we use every part of the world for Kedusha, so it will be ready for the Geulah! So when we do mitzvos with different things, it’s getting the world ready for Moshiach.
Most mitzvos only use one part of our body to do the mitzvah — like wearing Tefillin with our hand and head, or smelling besamim with our nose.
But to get money, a person needs to work very hard with ALL of his koach and use many Gashmius’dike things. Then, when he uses some of that money for Tzedakah, he is making ALL of these kochos ready for the Geulah!
That’s why the Chachomim teach us that Gedolah Tzedakah Shemekareves Es HaGeulah — tzedakah is a great mitzvah because it brings Moshiach closer!
Other mitzvos make only some parts of the world ready for Moshiach, but tzedakah makes MANY, MANY parts of the world ready!
|
|
|
|
The year the Hayom Yom was first made in was a Shana Me’uberes (a leap year) and there were two Adars. This year is a Shana Peshuta which has only one Adar, so we need to learn the Hayom Yom for BOTH Adars so we will finish the whole Hayom Yom!
Chof-Zayin Adar Alef
When a person makes a Cheshbon Hanefesh, thinking about where things are holding and how to improve, he might not be doing it in a true way (in a way of emes).
Sometimes, a person can be extra strict with himself. He tries to find problems, things that maybe were aveiros — even if that’s not true.
Other times, it is the opposite! A person ignores things that really need to be fixed, because he isn’t interested in working on them.
Neither of those are emes! A Yid needs to be truthful in his own Avodas Hashem! He shouldn’t be too machmir on himself, finding things that are not wrong, and he shouldn’t be too meikil, not paying attention to things that really need to be corrected.
Chof-Zayin Adar Sheini
In the year the Hayom Yom was written, Chof-Zayin Adar Sheini was Shabbos Mevorchim Nissan, and Parshas Hachodesh. The Rebbe reminds us to do the minhagim of Shabbos Mevorchim.
In Parshas Shemini, we learn the story of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon Hakohen, who came into the Mishkan without permission, and Hashem made them pass away.
The Rebbe Rashab explains in a sicha about how their mistake was that they did “Ratzo without Shuv.” What does that mean?
RATZO is when a person wants to come close to Hashem! A person may get very excited after learning a lot of Torah and Chassidus, and want very much to come close to Hashem!
But, because of this excitement, with just Ratzo, a person can forget that even MORE important than being CLOSE to Hashem is doing what Hashem WANTS — to do mitzvos in the world.
That’s SHUV — remembering that even though we want to be so close to Hashem, we can’t forget that the main thing is to do what Hashem wants.
That is also what happened with Nadav and Avihu, that they went into the Mishkan with Ratzo, without Shuv. After that, Hashem gave instructions to Aharon to make sure that this mistake doesn’t happen again.
Today’s Hayom Yom shows us the meaning of this posuk according to Chassidus, how the posuk teaches us to make sure not to do Ratzo without Shuv.
|
|
|
|
We are learning the same mitzvah again in Sefer Hamitzvos, (Mitzvas Asei #246) that the Beis Din needs to pasken according to halacha when there is an argument between people about money.
|
|
|
RAMBAM
Hilchos To'ein Venit'an
|
|
We are learning halachos about when two people disagree in Beis Din about what belongs to them.
Perek Zayin: One halacha in this perek is that if someone says something in Beis Din, he can’t change his mind and say he was joking.
Perek Ches: Usually, the halacha is that we assume that whatever a person has belongs to him. If another person says the opposite, that person would need to prove that it really belongs to him. But for something that is usually rented, the halacha is different. So let’s say that Reuven usually rents out his lawn mower, and people know he does. Now Shimon has it in his house and says that Reuven gave it to him! Reuven is allowed to make a Shevuas Heses (a promise Miderabanan) saying that he didn’t give it to Shimon, and then he can take it back.
Perek Tes: In this perek, we learn some of the Halachos about what happens if two people are holding onto something, and both of them say it belongs to them. In Mishnayos, this halacha is called “Shnayim Ochazin BeTallis” — “Two people are holding on to a tallis.”
The halacha is that both people need to take a shevuah, a very strong kind of promise, that it belongs to them, and then the Beis Din splits it (or how much it is worth) between both of them.
Chassidus teaches us about this halacha, that in Ruchnius it is talking about two people who say that a certain mitzvah was done because of them. (Like if a teacher and a student both want to say it was THEIR mitzvah that the student was successful in learning Torah.) Each person needs to make a promise to say how hard they really worked on this mitzvah, and that’s how much of the mitzvah they get.
|
|
|
|
What do we do if two groups of witnesses each say something different? We know one group is lying, but don’t know which one!
Let’s say that two groups of people come to be eidim, one from Chevron and one from Yerushalayim — but they say different things. One must be lying! If one person from each group later come to be eidim about something else, we don’t believe them! That’s because one of them must be a liar, so we really don’t have two witnesses.
|
|
|
|
Today is Chof-Zayin Adar. On this day, sadly, Hashem took away from us the zechus of being able to hear the Rebbe speak to us and farbreng. It is a day when we hope and daven for the time when we will be able to hear the Rebe farbreng with us again, when Moshiach comes.
We will learn one of the things the Rebbe spoke about during the last farbrengen we were zoche to hear from the Rebbe, Parshas Vayakhel Tof-Shin-Nun-Beis:
The main hora’ah that the Rebbe taught at that farbrengen was about giving tzedakah.
There are different levels of giving tzedakah:
- There is giving maaser (1/10), which is the regular way of doing the mitzvah.
- There is giving chomeish (1/5) which is a Mitzvah Min Hamuv’char.
- Then there is giving in a way of “Kol Asher L’ish Yitein Ba’ad Nafsho,” that a person would be ready to give everything he has in order to save his life.
In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe tells us that this shouldn’t only be for his Gashmius health. In order for a person to have a kapara for his neshama, his Ruchnius health, he should be ready to give all he has — to tzedakah!
At the farbrengen, the Rebbe said that our tzedakah today should be in this way, “Kol Asher L’ish Yitein Ba’ad Nafsho” — we should be ready to give completely of ourselves!
The Rebbe didn’t just say this hora’ah. As with all horaos, the Rebbe SHOWED us how to live this way! The Rebbe would use every opportunity to give tzedakah himself, or to encourage others to give.
We know how the Rebbe gave out dollars every Sunday for people to get a bracha and to be encouraged to give tzedakah!
The Rebbe would especially make sure that kids give tzedakah! The Rebbe would carry coins to give to children, for them to give to tzedakah. You can see in videos how the Rebbe would stop on his way into shul to hand children nickels for tzedakah. At rallies also, the Rebbe would make sure they all were given coins.
The Rebbe always wanted there to be a pushka everywhere. We were taught to have a pushka in our kitchens, in our businesses, and in our cars! The Rebbe asked specifically that children should have a pushka in their rooms.
These are only SOME of the examples! We can see that the Rebbe really encouraged us to use every opportunity we have for tzedakah. And not only with our money, but also to give Ruchnius tzedakah, by helping others with our time, our knowledge, and the talents Hashem gave us!
By learning from the Rebbe’s example, this gives us koach to give tzedakah in this special way of Kol Asher L’ish Yitein Ba’ad Nafsho!
|
|
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
|
|
|
We learned that the seder as printed in the Haggadah helps us make sure that in an organized way we are able to fulfill all of the mitzvos from the Torah and the Chachomim, along with the minhagim added later.
But it is important to realize that the MAIN mitzvah of the night is telling over the story of Yetziyas Mitzrayim — Haggadah, telling over. All of the other mitzvos of the night, and all of the minhagim and steps of the seder, help us to understand and relive the idea of coming out of Mitzrayim.
Remembering Yetziyas Mitzrayim is a mitzvah every day of the year, but it is especially important on the night of Pesach, and gives us chayus the rest of the year.
Each of the parts of the seder help us understand and appreciate what happened when Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim and made us free!
Here are some of the mitzvos and takanos of the Chachomim for the night of the seder:
1) Eating matzah, a mitzvah from the Torah, like the Yidden did when they came out of Mitzrayim.
2) Eating maror. This is a mitzvah Derabanan nowadays, and it reminds us of the bitterness of when we were slaves.
3) The takana from the Chachomim of drinking four kosos. One of the things these remind us of is the four expressions of Geulah written in the Torah about Yetziyas Mitzrayim!
4) There is a takana from the Chachomim that when we eat on the night of the seder, it must be done in a way of freedom, so we do it when we are leaning — Haseibah.
5) We need to praise Hashem, Hallel, for taking us out of Mitzrayim and making us free to receive the Torah and serve Hashem!
6) There are certain things that are supposed to be in front of us when we celebrate and relive Yetziyas Mitzrayim, the things that are on the kaarah. They help us remember and appreciate what happened!
7) In the Mishnah it tells us that we need to make sure to talk about Pesach, Matzah and Maror to properly keep the mitzvah of talking about Yetziyas Mitzrayim.
8) We do things Lehatmiha Hatinokos, to make kids wonder and ask questions. The best way to understand Yetziyas Mitzrayim is to ask questions and get answers. That is also why children ask the Mah Nishtana, so they will understand better!
Each one of these things has specific halachos and minhagim of exactly what to do and how to do them, and these are all organized in the Haggadah and throughout the seder, so we are doing all of the mitzvos of the night in the proper way. This way we can really relive and appreciate that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim!
|
|
|
|
One of the things that the Rebbe would speak about every year is Maos Chitim.
Before Pesach, it is very important to give Maos Chitim, tzedakah to those who need so they will have enough money to buy what they need for Pesach. Of course, it is best to give it early enough so they will have plenty of time to cook it and get it ready!
Especially in these hard times, we should look out for each other to make sure everyone has what they need. Part of Maos Chitim is to help make sure that everyone we know has what they need for Pesach, especially if it is hard to get it.
If your city has its own Maos Chitim fund, that is a very important place to give tzedakah to.
Here are some other places we can give online:
- Colel Chabad (Eretz Yisroel) - http://colelchabad.org
- Chevra Simchas Shabbos V’Yom Tov (Crown Heights) - http://www.cssy.org
- The Shluchim Fund (Shluchim worldwide) - http://theshluchimfund.com
- Adopt a Family (Anash and Shluchim in Eretz Yisroel) - http://charityforisrael.com
The Rebbe says in a sicha that together with giving as much money as we are able to for Maos Chitim, we should also give Ruchnius “Maos Chitim” by teaching people how to keep Pesach properly! (26 Adar 5751)
See Shevach Hamoadim, Kitzur Hilchos Pesach
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
|
|
|
R’ Yoel Kahan tells a story that happened at the farbrengen of Parshas Shemini, 5712:
A certain chossid came over to the Rebbe during the farbrengen to tell a story that happened to him with the Frierdiker Rebbe. The chossid said, “This story happened with the Rebbe, Nishmaso Eden,” (whose neshama is in Gan Eden), meaning the Frierdiker Rebbe.
When the Rebbe heard these words, his face became very serious. The Rebbe stopped the chossid, and said: “Why are you sending the Rebbe to Salavki?!” (Salavki is a city in Siberia. The Rebbe meant that saying that the Frierdiker Rebbe is only in Gan Eden is like saying that he is in Golus in Siberia!)
The Rebbe cried a lot while saying these words, and finished off, “The Rebbe is here with us!”
R’ Yoel explained the hora’ah we can take from this. Even though this farbrengen was two years after the Frierdiker Rebbe’s histalkus, and the Rebbe was there with Chassidim, still the Rebbe said that the Frierdiker Rebbe was still with his chassidim, not just sitting and enjoying Gan Eden! Certainly today, this is true as well, that the Rebbe is with us.
When we learn the Rebbe’s Torah and follow the Rebbe’s horaos, we will very soon be zoche that the Rebbe will take us all out of Golus to the Geulah Sheleimah right away!
See sefer Bedarkei Hachassidim p. 121
|
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
