|
|
CHUMASH
Parshas Shemini - Shvi'i with Rashi
|
|
If something touches the body of a non-kosher animal that died, it becomes tomei. If it is something that you can’t kasher, you need to break it. These pesukim teach us many of the halachos about Tumah and Tahara!
Hashem tells us to eat only kosher animals, birds, and fish because we need to be holy, just like Hashem is holy!
|
|
|
|
In today’s Tehillim, in Kapitel Pey-Daled, it says, “Ki Shemesh UMagen Hashem Elokim!” “Because the name of Hashem and Elokim is like the sun and its cover.”
A mashal for the chayus of Hashem is the sun, which shines very strong. If the sun shines on us with all of its might, it would make the word too hot! The world can only be a place where we can live because there is a cover on the sun, so we can enjoy its light.
The same is with the chayus from Hashem: The chayus from the name Havaya is so strong that we wouldn’t be able to feel like people — we would all just become a part of the chayus of Hashem. But the chayus from Hashem’s name Elokim covers up the chayus that comes from the name Havaya so the world can keep on being the way it is.
The Gemara says that Le’asid Lavo, Hashem will take the sun out of its cover and it will bring a Refuah to Yidden! That’s because Le’asid Lavo, every Yid will have the koach to be able to live and still see the chayus of Hashem in the world.
|
|
|
TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Alef
|
|
In the last six perakim the Alter rebbe taught us that our shlichus in making a dira btachtonim has two parts: First, making the world itself a place for Hashem to be comfortable in. This we do by actually doing the mitzvos! But to make the dira beautiful we also need to have kavana. Today we learn the first step we need to have in kavana!
Many times, the Rebbe would tell Chassidim to memorize the beginning of this Perek (until “Ke’omed Lifnei Hamelech”) and think about it during the day. Thinking about this can help a person in many ways in his Avodas Hashem. In today’s Tanya, we also have one of the Twelve Pesukim, the posuk of Vehinei!
Just like every Yid LOVES Hashem, every Yid also has YIRAS Shomayim. When we think about how Hashem is with us and what Hashem expects from us, it will keep us from doing something Hashem doesn’t want.
How do we do this?
We need to think:
Hashem is the chayus of everything in the world. Hashem gives every single part of creation — from rocks to people, planets and stars, malochim and Olamos — the exact chayus they need, and brings them all into existence from nothingness. Still, Hashem puts all of this aside. What does Hashem care about? What is Hashem looking at? Yidden! And not just at all Yidden — Hashem is looking at ME!, the one who is thinking this. And I need to ask myself:
Am I serving Hashem as He wants me to?
This will help us have Yiras Shomayim. We will be ready to serve Hashem like a servant who does everything he can for his master!
The Alter Rebbe says to think about this before learning Torah or doing a mitzvah, like before putting on Tallis or Tefillin.
|
|
|
|
Today is the second day of the Omer!
It says in the Haggadah that anyone who speaks a lot about Yetziyas Mitzrayim at the seder deserves to be praised! “Vechol Hamarbeh Lesaper BeYetzias Mitzrayim — Harei Zeh Meshubach!”
The Rebbe tells us today that the word Zeh also means a level in kedusha. So the words “Harei ZEH Meshubach” can also be talking about the kedusha inside of us. When we talk about Yetzias Mitzrayim, our “zeh” becomes “meshubach” — the kedusha inside of us becomes even better!
The Rebbe brings this vort from what the Frierdiker Rebbe said at the seder in the year Tof-Reish-Tzadik-Zayin. The F”R reviewed this vort again the next year, and added that talking about Yetizyas Mitzrayim can also be about simple things, like what kinds of clothes or pants the men were wearing when they were leaving Mitzrayim!
The Rebbe also chazered this vort at the seder in the year Tof-Shin-Yud-Alef.
|
|
|
|
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #286) is that a judge isn’t allowed to listen to an eid (witness) who is a rasha, like someone who is known to be a robber.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: אַל תָּשֶׁת יָדְךָ עִם רָשָׁע לִהְיֹת עֵד חָמָס
The details are explained in Mesechta Sanhedrin perek Gimmel.
|
|
|
|
In today’s Rambam we are learning more about people who can’t be eidim:
In Perek Yud-Alef we learn that a person who isn’t a mentsch — like if he doesn’t learn Torah at all, and doesn’t have normal friends, is considered a rasha and we can’t use him as an eid. If he has no aidelkeit and will take off his clothes in front of other people while he is working so he can be more comfortable, he might not be embarrassed to lie in front of Beis Din either!
In Perek Yud-Beis, we answer a very important question: There are many ways a person can be considered a rasha, but how do we know if he did teshuvah and isn’t counted as a rasha anymore?
The Rambam tells us some ways how we can know, depending on the kind of aveira a person did. For example, if someone lent money with ribbis (interest) like we learned about before, we know he did teshuvah if he apologizes, rips up any contract that had ribbis, and stops lending with ribbis even to goyim, when he is allowed to! Or a person who sold non-kosher food to make more money, if he moved to a place where people don’t know him, and lost a lot of money because of kashrus, we know he did teshuvah.
In Perek Yud-Gimmel, we start to learn about tomorrow’s mitzvah — that relatives can’t be witnesses together.
|
|
|
|
This perek speaks more about Kavod Hameis, showing kavod for a person who passed away.
One thing we learn is that if someone cries when he hears that another Yid passed away, it is very precious to Hashem.
|
|
|
|
The Yidden suffered in Mitzrayim for many years. When it came time for them to be freed, Hashem did not send malochim to save the Yidden. Hashem HIMSELF took the Yidden out! This was important because the Golus of Mitzrayim was very strong. The Yidden needed the direct koach of Hashem to be able to leave.
In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe teaches that even this koach of Hashem only pulled the NESHAMOS of the Yidden out of Golus. But their Nefesh Habehamis, which was used to the tumah’dik way of living in Mitzrayim, didn’t change so quickly. It still was living the way it did in Golus.
To be ready for Matan Torah, the Yidden needed to prepare for 49 days. They slowly helped their Nefesh Habehamis to be more aidel so it could start to live in a way of Geulah!
Every year on Pesach, our neshama has a kind of Geulah. However, we also need our Nefesh Habehamis to feel the Geulah too! This is the reason we have Sefiras Ha’omer, to work on ourselves, step by step, so our Nefesh Habehamis can live with the new level of Geulah that our neshama got on Pesach. This way, we’ll be a keili for receiving the Torah on Shavuos!
See Maamar Usefartem 5711
|
|
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
|
|
|
The way we think and act when things happen comes from our midos. Sometimes we have good midos that help us do the right thing, but we can also have midos that are not so good. We can get angry or jealous or act chutzpadik. Those kinds of midos need to be changed!
There are two ways to change our midos: We can work on how we behave, or we can spend time working with our sechel to make ourselves feel differently.
Of course, we need to do both!
We work on how we behave by giving ourselves new habits. When someone says something that gets us upset, we can come up with an idea to help us react differently. We might decide to wait some time before we do anything, and do something to keep us from thinking about it until then. Every time we do this, it will make our not-good midos weaker!
That is a very good way of working on our midos when something happens.
When we learn Chassidus and daven properly, we are ALSO able to work on our midos. When we learn and daven, we are using our sechel, our Chochma, Bina, and Daas, to think about Hashem and what we are in the world to do.
When we think about this, we will realize that Hashem and His mitzvos are the most important things.
When our minds get used to thinking this way, our midos will start to change. When we know what really counts, we won’t waste our time and energy getting angry about what other people do, or feel like giving up if a mitzvah gets too hard. Our midos will start to match up with what we understand, and become beautiful.
See Sefer “Lodaas Es Hamidos” by Rabbi Zalman Gopin
|
|
|
|
Many of the halachos of Sefiras Ha’omer are connected to mourning. We don’t start these halachos, like not listening to music, until AFTER Pesach.
The best time to count Sefiras Ha’omer is right after Maariv, at the beginning of the night. But we are allowed to count all night.
Starting at Shkiah, we are careful not to say what day of the Omer today is, because that might be like counting, and then we wouldn’t be able to count with a bracha that day. Instead, we try to answer how many days we counted yesterday.
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
|
|
|
After counting the Omer, we say “Horachaman Hu Yachazir Lanu Avodas Beis Hamikdash,” asking Hashem to let us do the Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash again. What does this have to do with Sefiras Ha’omer?
The real mitzvah of Sefiras Ha’omer is to count the days after the Korban Omer was brought. Nowadays we don’t have an Omer to count afterwards, but the Chachomim taught us to count, “Zecher Lemikdash,” to remember the way it was done in the Beis Hamikdash.
So after we count the best way we can, we ask Hashem to bring back the Beis Hamikdash so we can do the mitzvah in its proper way!
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Tof-Pey-Tes se’if Yud-Alef
|
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
