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CHUMASH
Parshas Behaalosecha - Shvi'i with Rashi
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Hashem punishes the Yidden with the Slav birds. In the next place the Yidden go to, Chatzeiros, Miriam says Lashon Hara about Moshe and she gets Tzoraas. Moshe davens for her to have a Refuah Sheleimah, and after a week she can come back into the place where the Yidden are camped.
The very next day after the Yidden started to travel, on Chof-Alef Iyar, the Yidden who complained about the mahn were punished. Hashem sent tons and tons of a bird called Slav to fly right near them. Moshe Rabbeinu had warned the Yidden that they would die if they ate from this meat, so most Yidden didn’t take any of the birds. But the people that complained about the mahn took HUNDREDS of slav and shechted them!
Some people died right away, and others got sick — but they all kept eating it anyway! They didn’t do teshuvah, and after a month everyone who was eating the slav died. The Yidden called that place “Kivros HaTaavah,” because they buried (Kivros, like Kever) all the people who had the Taavah to eat meat. After this, the Yidden traveled to the next place, Chatzeros.
Moshe always had to be ready to talk to Hashem, so he didn’t stay married to Tziporah.
When his sister Miriam found out, she thought that Moshe decided to do it without asking Hashem, and thought he didn’t make a good decision. But instead of talking to Moshe about it, she told Aharon, and they both talked about how they thought Moshe was not doing the right thing.
The Torah tells us that Moshe was a very humble person, more humble than anyone else! Even Miriam and Aharon didn’t know how special he was. That’s why they thought he did something wrong, but really, HASHEM told him not to stay married.
Hashem told Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam to come to the Mishkan. Hashem told Aharon and Miriam (where Moshe couldn’t hear) that Moshe did do the right thing! Hashem speaks to Moshe “Peh El Peh” — “mouth to mouth” — not only in a dream like most neviim. They shouldn’t have said something not nice about Moshe!
Hashem stopped talking to Aharon and Miriam, and had the cloud give Miriam tzoraas because she said Lashon Hara about Moshe.
Aharon asked Moshe to please daven to Hashem to give Miriam a Refuah Sheleimah. Moshe davened only a few short words, “Keil Nah Refa Nah Lah.” “Hashem, please make her feel better.” He didn’t daven a long time for her, so the Yidden wouldn’t think he only davens a lot for his sister and not the rest of the Yidden.
Hashem told Moshe that Miriam would have to stay outside of the camp of the Yidden for a week. All of the Yidden waited in Chatzeros until the end of the week, when Miriam was better. Then the Yidden traveled to Ritmah.
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Today’s kapitelach are Kuf-Daled and Kuf-Hey.
R’ Meir was one of the greatest Tanna’im of the Mishna.
His neighbors, though, were not such great tzadikim. They were wild and noisy, and when they started their wild parties, it made it hard for R’ Meir to learn! He was so upset, he once davened that Hashem should get rid of them.
When R’ Meir’s wife, Bruriah, heard this, she reminded him of a posuk from today’s Tehillim:
In the last posuk of Kapitel Kuf-Daled, Dovid Hamelech says: “Yitamu Chata’im Min Ha’aretz, U’resha’im Od Einam — Barchi Nafshi Es Hashem Hallelukah!” “
We usually translate “Yitamu Cha’atim Min Ha’aretz” as “those who do aveiros should be taken away from the world.” But, Bruriah said, the posuk says “Chata’im,” the AVEIROS should be taken away, not “Chotim,” the PEOPLE who do aveiros! Instead of davening for these wild people to go away, R’ Meir should daven for them to do teshuvah!
R’ Meir did what Bruriah said, and davened that his wild neighbors should do teshuvah.
And they did!
See Gemara Brachos daf Yud amud Alef
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Zayin
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Yesterday, we learned about Yichudah Ila’ah, and today we are learning about Yichuda Tata’ah!
There are two names of Hashem that we are speaking about here that become united:
1) Sheim Havaya — this is Hashem the way Hashem is ABOVE time and place.
2) Sheim Ad-nay — this is the way Hashem gives chayus to the world, where things do have a set time and a set place.
When both of these join together, that is a Yichud, a connection. Depending on which name of Hashem is the main name, it is Yichudah Ila’ah or Yichudah Tata’ah.
Yichuda Ila’ah is the higher kind of unity, where Sheim Havaya is the main name, and Sheim Ad-nay is botul to it. Yichuda Tata’ah is the lower kind of Yichud. Sheim Havaya comes together with Ad-nay, which means that Elokus gets a set time and a set place.
In our Avodas Hashem, there is also Yichuda Ila’ah and Yichuda Tata’ah!
When our Avodas Hashem is in a way of Yichuda Ila’ah, then when even we’re in time and place (connected to Sheim Ad-nay), we can feel Hashem in a way of Sheim Havaya — higher than time and place. For example, when someone watches a video of a farbrengen today, they might feel like they are really in 770 during the farbrengen!
When our Avodas Hashem is in a way of Yichuda Tata’ah, then even when our main avodah is with Gashmius things that have a time and place, we remember that inside is Elokus which is higher than time and space!
For example, when we say Shema Yisroel, we cover our eyes and try to forget about the world around us and ONLY think about Hashem and His Torah and mitzvos. When we open our eyes and say Baruch Sheim, we see the world around us (which Hashem made with Sheim Ad-nay), but we still remember that it’s connected and one with Hashem Who MADE it and is HIGHER than it — Sheim Havaya.
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Today we learn about the koach of Mesiras Nefesh that every Yid has, and where it comes from.
Chassidus teaches how special a Yid is, and the special kochos Hashem gives to our neshamos.
We learned in Tanya about the neshama’s kochos that Hashem gives us so we can learn Torah and have Yiras Shomayim. They are called sechel and midos. They help us feel close to Hashem and act like Hashem wants.
But there’s something even more special than these kochos: The koach of Mesiras Nefesh.
The koach of Mesiras Nefesh makes it that a Yid is never able to act differently than what Hashem wants. “A Yid Nit Er Vil, Un Nit Er Kon Zain Chas Veshalom A Nifrad Fun Elokus!” “A Yid doesn’t want to, and CANNOT be Chas Veshalom separated from Elokus!
This koach comes from the DEEPEST part of our neshama, which is connected to the deepest part of Hashem — to Atzmus Ein Sof, Baruch Hu!
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Today in Sefer Hamitzvos we review another mitzvah about Shabbos (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #321): On Shabbos we can’t go more than 2,000 amos (about 1 kilometer, or over a half mile) outside of the city — that’s called Techum Shabbos.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Beshalach: אַל יֵצֵא אִישׁ מִמְּקֹמוֹ בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי
This means, “No person should leave his place on the seventh day.”
The Gemara says that this means not to go more than 2,000 amos outside of the city. The Mechilta (a midrash on the Chumash) also teaches that this posuk is talking about not going out of the Techum Shabbos.
The Gemara in Mesechta Eiruvin teaches us the halachos about this mitzvah, and tells us that if someone does go outside of the Techum Shabbos, they get Malkos.
We are doing this mitzvah again, since the Rambam is about Eiruvin, which is Miderabanan — it doesn’t have a mitzvah from the Torah of its own. So during this set of halachos, we are reviewing some of the mitzvos of Shabbos.
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In Perek Vov, Zayin, and Ches, we learn about an Eruv Techumin. This means that if a person puts some food in a place which is outside of the Techum Shabbos before Shabbos starts, it is counted as if he is there, and it makes his Techum Shabbos only start from 2,000 amos past that place. There are many halachos connected to this, explaining how and when a person can make such an eruv.
To help understand this, the Rambam teaches us how to find out where the Techum Shabbos ends. It needs to be measured from where the city ends. The houses in a city have to be close together. If the houses are too far apart, it might not be counted as a city. In some small towns, the houses are so far apart that a person isn’t allowed to even go more than 2000 amos past his own house!
Now we finish the halachos about Eiruvin, and tomorrow we will IY”H start to learn about the Yomim Tovim!
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If a person does an aveira, he needs to admit what he did to Hashem. For some aveiros, Hashem will then forgive the person right away, and sometimes will forgive the person on Yom Kippur.
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All of the things we have in Gashmius come to us in the zechus of the Nasi Hador!
When the Yidden were in the Midbar, Hashem gave them everything they needed! The Chachomim tell us that it was in the zechus of their Nasi, Moshe Rabbeinu.
At first, the mohn was in Moshe’s zechus, the Ananei Hakavod (clouds) were in Aharon’s zechus, and the water was in Miriam’s zechus. When Aharon and Miriam passed away, they came back in Moshe’s zechus. Moshe Rabbeinu had the responsibility for all of the Yidden’s Gashmius and Ruchnius needs. As soon as Aharon and Miriam passed away, Moshe Rabbeinu had to make sure that these brachos came back because the Yidden needed them.
The Zohar says that the leader of the Yidden is like the Moshe Rabbeinu of that time!
Just like with Moshe Rabbeinu, the same thing is true about the Rebbe. He doesn’t only teach us Torah and how to serve Hashem, but all of the Gashmius things that Yidden need come to us in the zechus of the Rebbe.
See Sichos Kodesh, Leil Simchas Torah 5718; Gimmel Tammuz Hachana Booklet p. 14
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There was no farbrengen planned for Shabbos Parshas Behaalosecha in Tof-Shin-Chof-Daled. But in his yechidus on Thursday night, the well-known chossid R’ Zalmon Jaffe asked the Rebbe to please make a farbrengen, since a group of Chassidim from Manchester, England were in New York for Shavuos, and would be going home after Shabbos.
It was also a special week for R’ Zalmon Jaffe — he had just become a zaidy for the first time, and the bris would be the next week!
Even though the Rebbe did not promise to make a farbrengen, there was a farbrengen after all! In the second half of farbrengen, the Rebbe spoke about a Bris Milah and about the guests returning home. The first half of the farbrengen was all about Tefillah!
Here is one of the things the Rebbe spoke about then:
At the end of Shemoneh Esrei, we say a paragraph that starts with the words “Elokai, Netzor.” In this paragraph, we ask Hashem for kochos for our day. One of the things we ask for is, “P’sach Libi Besorasecha!” “Open up my heart in Your Torah!”
Why do we say P’sach LIBI, asking Hashem to open our HEART? Shouldn’t we ask Hashem to open our MIND to learn and understand Torah?
The Rebbe explains the difference between Torah learned with our heart, and Torah learned just with our mind.
The Torah has a tremendous koach to change ourselves and change the world around us! For it to do that, we need to learn Torah with our heart, so that koach can shine.
When we daven, Avodah Shebelev, we get our HEART ready to learn Torah! We feel bittul to Hashem, and remember that the Torah is HASHEM’s Torah, and Hashem is with us when we are learning it! This way, the Torah we learn will shine and change the world!
See Farbrengen Parshas Behaalosecha 5724 (story behind the farbrengen, by R’ Zalmon Jaffe)
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When we hear another person say a bracha, we say Amen — EXCEPT if the bracha is part of a longer bracha. For example, the bracha of Asher Yatzar is a long bracha. It starts with the words “Boruch Ata Hashem,” but there’s another bracha at the end. With this kind of bracha, we only say Amen at the end.
Another long bracha in Birchos Hashachar is “Hamaavir Sheina.” This bracha is a part of the paragraph “Vihi Ratzon” that comes right after it. If we hear someone say the bracha of Hamaavir Sheina, we shouldn’t answer Amen (like we do in the other brachos of Birchos Hashachar), until they end off the bracha with the words “Hagomel Chasadim Tovim Le’amo Yisroel.”
At the end of Birchos Hashachar, we say Birchos HaTorah. There is an opinion that the bracha of Al Divrei Sorah is part of a long bracha, together with the paragraph of Veha’arev Na. According to the Alter Rebbe, though, they are two separate brachos, so we should answer Amen to each.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Mem-Vov
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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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The Gemara says that before Moshiach comes, there will be very hard times for Yidden. Every day will be harder than the day before…
Why would the Torah tell us something like that? So that we can get into a bad mood? To make us upset or sad Chas Veshalom?
The Rebbe teaches us that the reason why the Torah tells it to us is because before Moshiach comes there will be new special kochos every day — that we can use to overcome the new challenges every day!
The Torah tells it to us so we will realize that when Hashem gives us kochos, they aren’t just a nice thing to have. Hashem gives them to us because we NEED them to overcome the hardships and bring Moshiach! So we have to be very careful to use all of the kochos Hashem gives us as much as we can!
How many times a year did your parents (or grandparents) get to see or hear the Rebbe?
Today, we can watch videos of the Rebbe, hear sichos, and learn from the Rebbe like we were never able to do before! What a special gift Hashem gives to us! But this isn’t just a nice thing — Hashem gives it to us because we NEED it to overcome the challenges of Golus.
What ways were your parents able to spread Yiddishkeit to others before? How many ways can we do it today?
It’s not enough to just use the kochos we had before, since the darkness of Golus gets more as we get closer to Moshiach. We need to use all of the kochos we are given to bring Moshiach now!
See farbrengen Shavuos 5738
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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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