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CHUMASH
Parshas Shemini - Shlishi with Rashi
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At the beginning of today’s Chumash, we learn something very happy! Hashem was happy with the korbanos that Aharon brought, and Hashem made a fire come down onto the Mizbeiach to burn the korbanos, and show the Yidden that Hashem WAS “resting” in the Mishkan!
The Yidden were so happy! They sang praises and bowed to Hashem.
Then, we learn a very sad story.
Two of Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, wanted to be very close to Hashem. They knew that one of the most special parts of the avodah in the Mishkan is to burn the ketores. So they took pans of ketores, and went into the Mishkan. They knew that they weren’t supposed to do this without asking, but they wanted so much to be close to Hashem that they did it anyway. Their neshamos got so close to Hashem that they couldn’t stay inside of their bodies anymore, and Nadav and Avihu passed away.
In Chassidus this is called “Ratzo without Shuv.” When a person wants to come very close to Hashem (Ratzo), he needs to remember that Hashem wants Yidden to do mitzvos here in this world (Shuv). Even when we want to be very close to Hashem, we need to remember that Hashem wants us to learn Torah and do mitzvos in the world and make it a Dira BeTachtonim.
Moshe told Aharon that Nadav and Avihu were tzadikim. Aharon was quiet and did not complain to Hashem about the very sad thing that had happened.
Kohanim are not allowed to become tomei, so Moshe sent other relatives, Mishael and Eltzafan, to bury Nadav and Avihu. Moshe also told the kohanim (Aharon’s other sons, Elazar and Isamar) that they couldn’t sit shivah for Nadav and Avihu, because their job of being a kohen couldn’t be stopped.
After this happened, Hashem told Aharon that the kohanim need to remember not to drink wine before they work in the Mishkan.
Rashi tells us that we see from here that Nadav and Avihu went into the Mishkan without permission because they drank wine. That’s why afterwards Hashem told Aharon the mitzvah not to drink wine before going into the Mishkan.
Even though usually Hashem spoke to Moshe, or Moshe and Aharon together, Hashem now spoke ONLY to Aharon! This was a reward for accepting what happened to his children without complaining.
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The first kapitel of today’s Tehillim is kapitel Samach-Tes. If you look through the kapitel, the beginning looks very sad. Dovid Hamelech is asking Hashem to please save him from everyone who wants to hurt him.
At the end, though, Dovid Hamelech is sure Hashem will help! He says that he will sing and praise Hashem, because He always listens to people who need His help! The skies and the seas will sing to Hashem when he rescues the Yidden — “Ki Elokim Yoshia Tzion” — “because Hashem will redeem Yerushalayim.”
In Tof-Shin-Lamed (5730), the Rebbe was saying this posuk in a sicha at every Farbrengen! So on Shavuos, some of the bochurim had an idea — to sing these words to the same tune we use for Dayeinu. The Rebbe was very happy with this “new” niggun, and there are many recordings and videos where you can see and hear the Rebbe singing it!
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem
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In this perek, the Alter Rebbe continues to tell us about why it’s so important to learn Torah or do a mitzvah lishmah, to connect our neshama with Hashem.
Today we learn where the Torah goes if we learn for the wrong reason, or for no specific reason — just because we’re used to learning.
If we learn for NO specific reason, then our Torah only goes to the “Heichalos and Madorin” where the malachim are, but not where Hashem’s Sefiros shine.
But if we learn for the WRONG reason, like if someone learns Torah because he wants to be called a Talmid Chochom, the Torah doesn’t even go up there! It just stays right down here in the world.
Why?
A person’s reasons for learning Torah get attached to the Torah that he learns. Since this person’s reason for learning was his gaavah, which comes from kelipah, it keeps the Torah stuck in Golus in the kelipah of the world! It’s not even able to go up to the place of the malochim.
Only when the Torah is learned lishmah, in order to connect our neshama to Hashem, can it go all the way up to where Hashem’s Sefiros shine.
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Today is the Yartzeit-Hilula of the Tzemach Tzedek, on Yud-Gimmel Nisan Tof-Reish-Chof-Vov (5626). The Tzemach Tzedek’s Ohel is in Lubavitch.
The Rebbe Maharash told the Rebbe Rashab that when the Tzemach Tzedek was only 12 years old, he already started writing Niglah and Chassidus!
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In today’s Rambam, we are finishing the set of halachos called Sanhedrin, and starting to learn Hilchos Eidus, which is all about witnesses. So today, we will have one mitzvah from Hilchos Sanhedrin, and one mitzvah about Eidus.
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #317) We aren’t allowed to curse another Yid.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: לֹא תְקַלֵּל חֵרֵשׁ
This posuk means, “You should not curse a person who is deaf.” The Rambam explains how we learn today’s mitzvah from this posuk:
When someone gets angry, he wants to take revenge — to hurt the other person the way he feels that he was hurt, to make things “fair.” Depending on how angry he is, he might think it is fair to destroy the other person’s things, or even to hurt him very badly! Then he will calm down and not be angry anymore.
If the other person did something small, he might only be a little angry. He will feel better after he screams at the other person, or even only curses him quietly, so the other person can’t hear.
We might think that there is nothing wrong with this! Why should it matter if we curse someone when he can’t hear, and it won’t hurt his feelings?
That’s why the Torah says “don’t curse a person who is deaf.” We might think, why should it matter if we curse someone who is deaf and can’t hear?
The Torah teaches us that the reason why not to curse another person is not only that the other person will hear and feel bad, but because WE shouldn’t be cursing other people! We are not allowed to let ourselves get angry and take revenge on another person.
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Shevuos perek Daled.
2) (Mitzvas Asei #178) If a person knows about something that Beis Din is judging, he needs to come be a witness, an Eid.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Vayikra: וְהוּא עֵד אוֹ רָאָה אוֹ יָדָע
The details of this mitzvah are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin and Mesechta Shevuos.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Sandhedrin - Eidus
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Perek Chof-Hey: In this perek, we learn halachos about how a judge needs to treat his community. (This is probably important for ANY person who works with the community!) The Rambam reminds a judge not to act in a mean way to the people, because even if they are simple and not so ruchnius’dik, they are the children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov!
Mr. George Rohr, a big Baal Tzedakah who supports many of the Rebbe’s mosdos, once came to the Rebbe. He wanted to share good news with the Rebbe, so he told the Rebbe about a minyan he organized for Yidden who didn’t have any Jewish background.
“What?!” the Rebbe asked. Mr. Rohr told the Rebbe again. “Go back to them and tell them that they DO have a Jewish background!” the Rebbe said. “They are all children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov!”
Judges also need to be careful not to do things that would make people lose kavod for them, like getting drunk at parties.
We also learn that people need to have kavod for the Beis Din, and come if a Beis Din tells them to. The Beis Din is careful when they call someone, to make sure it is possible for him to come. For example, they don’t call people to come to a case on a Friday, because everyone is busy getting ready for Shabbos.
Perek Chof-Vov: Now the Rambam teaches halachos about the punishment for cursing. Even though there is already a mitzvah not to curse ANYONE, there is a special mitzvah not to curse a judge. Someone who does, gets malkos twice.
The last halacha reminds us how it is asur to go to a non-Jewish court (Arka’us). Yidden take care of their own disagreements in a Beis Din. Only if someone refuses to come to Beis Din are we allowed to take him to court.
Now we start a new set of halachos about witnesses.
Perek Alef: If someone is able to be a witness, he has a mitzvah to say what he knows in Beis Din.
We learn the way the judges ask the witnesses questions, in order that we can make sure they are really telling the truth, and that all of the witnesses agree. They first ask seven basic questions, about when and where the thing happened. Then they ask more details, like “Which melacha did he do?”
But the judges should also ask questions that don’t have to do with the specific thing, just to make sure that the person is telling the truth. For example, they will ask what color clothes the person was wearing.
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There are certain things a person does when they are in Aveilus, mourning for someone who passes away. This perek has the halachos about tearing clothing as part of aveilus.
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Today is the day of the Tzemach Tzedek’s histalkus. The Tzemach Tzedek’s mother, Rebbetzin Devorah Leah, passed away when he wasn’t even three yet, and his Zaidy, the Alter Rebbe, took care of him.
The Tzemach Tzedek wrote a lot of Torah, like we see in today’s Hayom Yom, even when he was young!
The Rebbe tells us that on Yud-Gimmel Nissan we should learn some of the Torah that the Tzemach Tzedek wrote.
Here is something that the Tzemach Tzedek teaches us about Ahavas Yisroel: (There is a sefer from the Tzemach Tzedek that explains what many of the mitzvos mean in Ruchnius, called Derech Mitzvosecha. Here is something he explains about the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel.)
There are two important things that will help us with this mitzvah:
1) Remember that all of the neshamos of the Yidden together are one thing! Only because of the guf is each person separate. We are only complete when we connect ourselves to the rest of the Yidden. That is why we accept the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel before davening — so that our neshama is complete before we stand before Hashem in davening.
2) We should treat others the way we would like to be treated! When we make a mistake, we realize that we were trying, and next time we will try even harder and do better. We should treat other people the same way — we can accept and respect them even if they did something wrong. We understand that they also are trying, and next time they will try harder too.
We don’t start screaming at ourselves and say “I don’t want to sit next to me anymore! I’m never going to be friends with myself again! I don’t want to have anything to do with me ever again!” We say, “I did something wrong, but I’m still a good person.” We should also say that about other people. Even if they did something wrong, we can still be nice to them, sit next to them, and treat them with respect.
When all of the Yidden show respect and love for each other, Hashem will do the same to us, and give all Yidden brachos — including the main bracha that we all need, the Geulah!
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In davening on Pesach, we use the name “Zman Cheiruseinu,” the time of our freedom, when talking about Pesach.
In a Michtav Kloli, the Rebbe explains what cheirus, freedom means!
Being free is not the same for everything in the world. Being free means being able to use our special kochos and having everything we need without anything holding us back!
For a flower to be free, it needs to have plenty of room to spread its roots, lots of water and sunshine. Then, even though it is stuck in the same flowerpot and can’t go anywhere, it is free! It has what it needs and it has room to grow!
But if we take an animal and put it into a small pen, then even if we give it lots of food and water, the animal will feel very stuck. One of the main kochos of an animal is that it can move around. If we don’t let the animal use its koach of moving and walking, the animal is very stuck and not free at all!
For a person, even that is not enough to be free. It’s not enough to just let a person run around and have the food and drink they need. A person has a special koach of sechel! If we don’t let a person think, and we don’t give them chances to learn more and use their sechel, they are not free!
The Rebbe tells us that a Yid has ANOTHER special koach that we need to be able to use in order to really be free. What is that koach? Our neshama!
For a Yid to be free, we need to be able to use our neshama to learn Torah and do mitzvos. Only then will we really be able to feel free!
Every day, we are given new koach in our neshama. We get new chances to grow and do more mitzvos. So every single day we need to have a “Yetziyas Mitzrayim,” to go free again — to use our new koach to become even better than before! Then we will really be free.
See Michtav Kloli, Yud-Alef Nisan Tof-Shin-Chai
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Today is the last day we say an extra section in davening connected to the Nesiim. We say the paragraph that starts with the words “Zos Chanukas Hamizbeiach,” which is a summary of all of the korbanos that were brought by all of the Nesiim.
We also read the beginning of Parshas Behaalosecha, which speaks about how Aharon lit the Menorah, and so this section is connected to Shevet Levi.
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Tonight (Tuesday night) is Bedikas Chometz! Here are some of the halachos:
It is good to wash Negel Vasser before starting to search, so we do the mitzvah with clean and pure hands.
We start Bedikas Chometz right after davening Maariv in shul. (If someone is usually not able to daven with a minyan, he should start right at Tzeis Hakochavim, when the stars come out at night, and daven Maariv after the Bedika.) We don’t start a meal or sit down to learn from a half hour before, so that we won’t get carried away and push off Bedikas Chometz!
We make a bracha before starting to search for chometz. We don’t interrupt after the bracha, so we start searching right away, in the room the bracha was made. Until after the entire house is searched, we don’t talk (unless we need to for the purpose of Bedikas Chometz).
We use a candle for Bedikas Chometz. The Gemara learns this from a posuk in Tzefania that speaks about Moshiach, “Achapeis Es Yerushalayim Baneiros” (Hashem says, “I will search Yerushalayim with candles”). We use a beeswax candle, which burns with the clearest light. (It is fine to use a flashlight to search in places where a candle would be dangerous, like under a bed.)
There are many more halachos and minhagim about Bedikas Chometz and things we need to know about preparing for Pesach. It is a good idea to read halacha newsletters put out by different Rabbonim. You may find some halachos you didn’t know before! Here are some ideas:
- Pesach Day-By-Day (Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun)
- Halacha Newsletter (Horav Shmuel Lesches)
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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 a farbrengen in honor of the 100th yartzeit of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe told this story:
The Tzemach Tzedek had to go to Petersburg for meetings where they wanted Rabbonim to make changes in Chinuch and how someone can become a Rav. The Tzemach Tzedek spoke out very strongly not to make any changes, even though he was going against the government, which was very dangerous! Someone asked the Tzemach Tzedek how he was able to put his life in danger if there are so many Yidden that are relying on him to show them the right derech in serving Hashem.
The Tzemach Tzedek said he would give two answers (like we see a lot of times in Gemara, “Iba’is Eima”):
1) There are the children — if something chas veshalom happens, they (the Tzemach Tzedek’s children) can show Chassidim what to do.
2) Through the Achdus of Chassidim they will overcome all hardships, and will be able to bring the “Emes Hashem Leolam,” the true derech of Hashem, into the world so EVERYONE will know.
In that farbrengen, the Rebbe finished by saying that today, the second thing the Tzemach Tzedek said is important for all Chassidim to know, because together we have the responsibility to teach others the derech of Hashem the way the Rebbeim showed us.
See farbrengen of Yud-Gimmel Nissan, 5726
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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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