|
|
CHUMASH
Parshas Naso - Sheini with Rashi
|
|
Today Hashem tells Moshe to count the THIRD family of the Leviim, the family of Merari, to find out how many of them are the right ages to do the job of carrying parts of the Mishkan. Only Leviim who are older than 30 and younger than 50 are strong enough to do it right. (When someone is 30, they are as strong as they will get, but once they turn 50 they start being less strong.)
The Torah tells us their job again: To carry the walls of the Mishkan (with all of their pieces), and the poles with all of THEIR pieces from the Chatzer (the courtyard — the “fence” around the Mishkan).
Isamar, the son of Aharon, was in charge of making sure they knew how to do it right.
Now Moshe did what Hashem told him, and counted the men from the 3 families of the Leviim to see who was strong enough to do the work. Here’s how many he counted:
- Kehos: 2,750
- Gershon: 2,630
- Merari: 3,200
These Leviim were the right age to carry the parts of the Mishkan and play music with heavy instruments for the Avodah.
|
|
|
|
Kapitel Yud-Alef (11) in Tehillim talks about how Hashem brings tzaros to a Tzadik, but really it’s all for his good.
The last posuk, some meforshim say, is talking about Matan Torah. It says “Tzadik Hashem Tzedakos Ahev” — Hashem loves giving tzedakah. When Hashem gave us the Torah, we were able to feel Hashem in the world and help the whole world to know Hashem. That’s the best kind of tzedakah there could be!
|
|
|
TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Nun-Gimmel
|
|
We said that “Hashra’as Hashechinah”, the Shechinah resting, is the way that we can feel Hashem. Of course Hashem is EVERYWHERE, but we can only feel Him in certain places (like in the Beis Hamikdash). We said that the Shechinah needs a “cover,” which is Torah. So in the time of the first Beis Hamikdash, the “cover” was the Luchos.
Before the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, King Yoshiyahu buried the Aron under the Beis Hamikdash so that the Goyim wouldn’t be able to touch it. So in the time of the second Beis Hamikdash, the Kodesh Hakodoshim was empty.
In the time of the second Beis Hamikdash, since there was no Aron and no Luchos, only a lower level of Hashem’s Shechinah was able to rest there. The Yidden couldn’t feel Hashem as much.
But how does the Shechinah come into the world after both the first and second Beis Hamikdash were destroyed?
The Chachomim tell us that when we learn Torah, the Shechinah is with us! The Shechinah uses the Torah that we’re learning as a cover, so we can feel Hashem when we’re learning Torah!
Still, this level of the Shechinah is even less than the Shechinah that was felt in the second Beis Hamikdash. This is the way the Shechinah comes all the way into the world Asiyah, and that’s why the place where the Shechinah rests is in the Torah and in the mitzvos we do, which are also done with Asiyah, which means that we DO them — and especially when we learn halacha, which teaches us how to do the mitzvos!
|
|
|
|
Today is forty-six days of the Omer!
The Rebbe tells us two minhagim of Shabbos, because Beis Sivan was Shabbos in the year the Hayom Yom was written:
1) In Kabolas Shabbos, we say “Ana Bekoach” quietly
2) In Maariv, before Shmoneh Esrei, we stand up when we say the words “Ufros Aleinu.” (That’s when the extra Shabbos neshama, the Neshama Yeseira, comes in!)
~
Now we learn about many Shavuos maamarim that were said one year when the Tzemach Tzedek was Rebbe:
In the year Tof-Kuf-Pey-Tes (5589), Shavuos was on Sunday. The Tzemach Tzedek said a maamar on Erev Shabbos, on Shabbos afternoon, on the first day of Shavuos, AND one on the second day of Shavuos!
The maamar on Erev Shabbos was about the parsha, Parshas Bamidbar, explaining what it means to count the Yidden according to Chassidus. The maamar explains that only a part of the neshama comes into the body, but when a Yid uses that part of the neshama to serve Hashem, it makes a difference for the part of the neshama which is still in Shomayim too! Based on this, the Tzemach Tzedek explained many pesukim, and pieces of the Zohar and Medrash.
The Tzemach Tzedek chazered maamarim of the Alter Rebbe — which are printed in Likutei Torah — for the rest of the days.
The maamar on Shabbos afternoon (Erev Shavuos) speaks about Hashem getting “married” to the Yidden by Matan Torah. It is based on the last posuk from the haftorah of Parshas Bamidbar — “Ve’eirastich Li Le’olam.”
The maamar the Tzemach Tzedek said on the first day of Shavuos speaks about Sefiras Haomer, and the maamar on the second day of Shavuos is about Shavuos being on the 50th day.
The year Tof-Shin-Mem-Ches was like the year Tof-Kuf-Pey-Tes, and Shabbos was also Erev Shavuos. At the Rebbe’s farbrengen on Shabbos afternoon, the Rebbe said that in a year that Shavos is on Sunday, these maamarim should be learned. The Rebbe said “I will start,” and said over part of the maamar “Ve’eirastich Li Le’olam” with additional explanations!
|
|
|
|
Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #14) is to wear tzitzis! We need to attach special tzitzis strings to the corners of clothes that have four corners. One of those strings is supposed to be blue, called techeiles! But even if we don’t have the blue string, we still do the mitzvah with just white strings.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Shelach: וְעָשׂוּ לָהֶם צִיצִת וְגוֹ׳ וְנָתְנוּ עַל צִיצִת הַכָּנָף פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת
The details are explained in Mesechta Menachos perek Daled.
|
|
|
|
We learn the WHOLE Hilchos Tzitzis today. The Rambam explains all of the halachos in just three perakim!
In Perek Alef, we start to learn about tzitzis! Really, the tzitzis are supposed to have seven white strings, and one techeiles string. But since we don’t have techeiles, we can still do the mitzvah with just white strings.
Perek Beis: Even though there are other ways to make a color that LOOKS like techeiles, only real techeiles will stay the same color no matter what. So to check if a string was dyed with real techeiles, we soak it a strong liquid to see if the color fades! Only real techeiles is kosher for tzitzis.
Perek Gimmel: According to the Torah, only clothes made of wool or linen need tzitzis, but the Chachomim told us to put tzitzis on clothes made of ANY material with four corners.
Did you know that a kapote can have four corners? If you look at your Tatty’s kapote, you will see that one of the corners is rounded, so it doesn’t count as a corner. If it wasn’t round, you would need to put tzitzis on your kapote too!
|
|
|
|
We also start learning the halachos of learning Torah today! One of the halachos we learn is that a father has a mitzvah to make sure his kids learn Torah!
(The Alter Rebbe says in the Shulchan Aruch that this is not just for boys, but a father also needs to make sure his girls learn too. And even though the mitzvah is given to the father, both parents work together to make sure that the children get the best chinuch there could be!)
|
|
|
|
From when the Yidden left Mitzrayim, they started getting ready by counting the days until Matan Torah. But starting from Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the preparations became much stronger!
When we remember these days, we aren’t just talking about something that happened then. In Ruchnius, those same things are happening again! If we learn about what happened and learn from it, we can get the special Ruchnius koach of that day again!
When the Yidden camped near Har Sinai, on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, they all were thinking about one thing: Getting the Torah from Hashem! Because they were all thinking about the same thing, they were able to ignore all of the things that were different about each other, and stand with complete Achdus.
Nowadays that is also how we start our last preparations for Matan Torah: With working on our Achdus!
On Beis Sivan, the Torah tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu told the Yidden some very special words of Hashem: “Ve’Atem Tihiyu Li Mamleches Kohanim Vegoy Kadosh” — “You will be for Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation!” Hashem told the Yidden, “You will be different than the rest of the world, and will be connected with Me!” Because of this, Beis Sivan is called Yom Hameyuchas, the day Hashem chose us as His special nation.
When we think about how lucky we are to be chosen as Hashem’s special nation, we will want to make sure that we do EVERYTHING in the special way Hashem wants!
This is the next step in our last preparations before Matan Torah.
See Likutei Sichos chelek Lamed-Ches, sicha of Beis Sivan
|
|
|
▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
|
|
|
|
As we get ready to start the main part of Pesukei Dezimra, we say some pesukim and another kapitel of Tehillim.
We say the pesukim of Hashem Melech, how Hashem is the King of the world in the past, present, and future. When Moshiach comes, we will all be able to see the Malchus of Hashem in the world!
The Arizal teaches that this is a very special part of Tefillah, connected to the Ruchniyus’dike world of Atzilus. That’s why even if you are in the middle of a different part of davening, it’s the minhag to stand with the minyan when they are saying these lines.
We finish off by asking Hashem, in Hosheinu, to take us out of Golus.
|
|
|
|
There are six constant mitzvos, “Mitzvos Temidiyos,” that we are able to keep ALL the time.
The first three of these mitzvos are about believing in Hashem and knowing about the Oneness of Hashem. The fourth mitzvah is to LOVE Hashem, “Le’ahava Oso.”
We learn this mitzvah of loving Hashem from the posuk, “Ve’ahavta Es Hashem Elokecha,” “and you should love Hashem.” It continues, “Vehayu Hadvarim Ha’eileh, Asher Anochi Metzavecha Hayom, Al Levavecha.” “You should keep these words I am commanding you today on your heart.”
This is HOW we can love Hashem: When we remember these words that Moshe Rabbeinu told the Yidden — about how Hashem is the chayus of every Yid, and how much Hashem loves us, this will help us come to also love Hashem!
We are taught in detail how to keep this mitzvah in the first section of Tanya, and in more detail throughout Chassidus.
~
Here are links to two Halacha Newsletters, to review the halachos for Shavuos: Badatz of Crown Heights and Rabbi Shmuel Lesches of Melbourne
|
|
לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
|
|
|
|
When Moshiach comes, a great shofar will be blown, and then all the Yidden will be brought back together in Eretz Yisroel!
Where is this shofar from? The Medrash tells us!
At Akeidas Yitzchak, Avraham Avinu brought a ram (an Ayil) as a korban instead of Yitzchak. The two horns of this ram were set aside for very special things: The horn on the left side was blown at Matan Torah! The horn on the right side, which was bigger than the other one, was set aside to be blown when Moshiach comes! This is the great shofar which the Navi is talking about, which will be used to gather all of the Yidden together with Kibbutz Galuyos!
See Pirkei DeRabi Eliezer perek Lamed-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
|
|
|
