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CHUMASH
Parshas Behaalosecha - Revi'i with Rashi
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Today we learn about how the Yidden travel, and about the trumpets.
Here’s how the Yidden traveled in the Midbar:
A cloud from Hashem used to rest on top of the Mishkan. At night, it looked like a fire!
When it was time for the Yidden to go, the cloud would move away from the Mishkan and cover over Shevet Yehudah.
When the kohanim saw this, they would blow their trumpets so all the Yidden know it’s time to go! Moshe Rabbeinu would say a posuk asking Hashem to keep the Yidden safe, and then the cloud would stand up like a pillar for the Yidden to follow.
When they reached the place where Hashem wanted them to be, the cloud would look like a house over Shevet Yehudah. After the Yidden set up their tents, Moshe would say a posuk asking Hashem to rest with the Yidden, and the cloud would go back over the Mishkan.
Sometimes the Yidden would stay in one place for a long time, even for many years, and other times they would only stay for one day! They went only when Hashem wanted them to.
What are the trumpets that the kohanim blow?
Hashem told Moshe to make two trumpets out of silver. They were used to give the Yidden messages. If the kohanim blow:
Tekiah using BOTH trumpets: means ALL of the Yidden should come to the Mishkan
Tekiah using ONE trumpet: Only the Nesiim should come to the Mishkan to hear what Moshe has to say
Tekiah-Teruah-Tekiah: The first group of Yidden (on the east) should start to travel.
Tekiah-Teruah-Tekiah again: The second group (on the south) should start to go.
Later on, the Yidden will make new trumpets, and use them for other mitzvos!
If there is a war: Blow a Teruah to ask Hashem to help the Yidden
On Yom Tov, by the korbonos: Blow the trumpets for Hashem to remember us
On Rosh Hashana: Also blow the shofar to ask Hashem to remember us!
Whenever we blow the shofar or trumpets to ask Hashem to remember us, WE also need to remember that Hashem is our king! That’s why we talk about how Hashem is the king (the pesukim of Malchios) before we blow the Shofar.
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In Kapitel Pey-Tes, we have another posuk (like yesterday) that we learn about in Tanya!
The posuk says, “Ki Omarti Olam Chesed Yibaneh” — Hashem says, “I said that the world will be built with Chesed.”
What is chesed? We will soon learn in Tanya that there are two names of Hashem — the name Havaya GIVES us chayus. It is also called chesed, which is giving.
The other name of Hashem is Elokim. It HIDES the chayus. It is also called gevurah, which means to hold back.
We learn in Tanya that to have the world, we need BOTH — chesed (Havaya) to give us chayus, and gevurah (Elokim) to hide it so we can live.
But in this posuk, it says that Hashem made the world only with chesed!
We learn the answer to this in Tanya too. Even the way Hashem HIDES the chayus is for the reason of chesed — to GIVE us the world! Even the gevurah becomes part of chesed — even the hiding the chayus is just so Hashem can give us the chayus!
So even though the world is made with chesed AND gevurah, the Tehillim talks only about the chesed, because even the Gevurah is for the purpose of Chesed.
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Vov
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Today we are going to answer a question the Alter Rebbe asked at the beginning of Shaar Hayichud Veha’Emunah: Moshe says a posuk “Veyadaata Hayom,” reminding Yidden that Hashem is the same Hashem — in Shomayim and underground — there is nothing else.
The Alter Rebbe asked, who would think anything else? Would we think that there is another Hashem hiding under the ocean!? What is Moshe Rabbeinu trying to teach us?
Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t want us to make a mistake: A person might think that the chayus Hashem gives the world, is like the chayus our body gets from the neshama: That the body is already there, and the chayus of the neshama makes it ALIVE. So we might think that the world is there already, and the chayus of Hashem makes things in the world grow and live.
That’s like a car — if the car is parked, it doesn’t go anywhere, but it’s still a car! When a person turns on the engine, he makes it go and move, but the car was still a car before that!
But with the world, it’s NOT that way! Hashem makes the neshama AND the guf! Hashem makes the world AND gives chayus to it! There is nothing else except for Hashem.
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Before the Yidden left Mitzrayim, some of the Yidden didn’t believe that there would be a Geulah. They passed away during Makas Choshech, right before the Yidden left.
In this Geulah, we are promised that every Yid will do teshuvah in the end and leave the Golus! Since this is what will happen, every Yid needs to help the Yidden they know so they are ready for the Geulah. Like this, every Yid will be ready for Moshiach!
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #155) is the same as yesterday’s — to make Shabbos holy, by saying special things when Shabbos comes in and when Shabbos goes out. We speak about how great and special Shabbos is, and how it is different than the days before and after it.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Yisro (one of the Aseres Hadibros): זָכוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ
The posuk means, “Remember Shabbos to keep it holy.”
Torah Shebaal Peh explains what this mitzvah is. The Mechilta, the Midrash of halacha, explains that this means to make a bracha. In Gemara, the Chachomim tell us that to make this bracha over a cup of wine. The Gemara says we should make a bracha when Shabbos ends as well, to separate it from the rest of the days.
That’s why we keep this mitzvah by making Kiddush and Havdalah!
The halachos of how to keep this mitzvah are discussed in the end of Gemara Pesachim, and in many places in Mesechta Brachos and Mesechta Shabbos.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn the halachos of the Techum Shabbos, how far we are allowed to walk on Shabbos. We also learn the halachos of making Kiddush and Havdalah.
Perek Chof-Zayin: In this perek, we learn how far the Techum Shabbos is. According to the Torah, you are allowed to go 12 mil, because this is how big the camp of the Yidden was when they got this mitzvah. Moshe Rabbeinu told them not to go out past this camp, so we understand that the Techum Shabbos must be 12 mil. The Chachomim said, though, that we shouldn’t go out even 1 mil past the city, which is 2,000 amos.
We also learn what happens if a person does go out past the Techum — it is asur for him to go in any direction until after Shabbos!
Perek Chof-Ches: We learn how to measure the Techum of a city.
Perek Chof-Tes: In this perek, we learn the halachos of Kiddush and Havdalah, which is today’s mitzvah in Sefer Hamitzvos! We learn what kind of wine to use for Kiddush, and that we need to make Kiddush in connection with a meal (“Kiddush Bemakom Seudah”). The Rambam also tells us why we need to have besamim in Havdalah: Because the neshama is sad that Shabbos is over, so we make it happier by giving it something good to smell.
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One thing that we learn is that we should give tzedakah to poor goyim, and not just poor Yidden, because we want to have shalom. We should be nice to them and say hello when we see them!
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In today’s Hayom Yom, the Frierdiker Rebbe tells a chossid how he needs to help everyone around him get ready for Moshiach by acting like a Yid: Doing teshuvah, keeping Shabbos, putting on Tefillin, Taharas Hamishpacha, Chinuch, eating kosher...
In our time, the Rebbe added something new and very important for us to know: Since we are VERY close to the Geulah, now we have to start LEARNING about what the world will be like when Moshiach comes. When we learn the parts of Torah that talk about how things will be when Moshiach comes, the Torah has a koach to make us feel connected with that time. So even though there is Golus around us, we can live (and help other people live) in a way of Geulah now.
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▼ Jump to Coloring Books & Downloads ▼
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The main part of Ashrei comes from kapitel Kuf-Mem-Hey of Tehillim, which really starts with the words “Tehillah LeDovid.”
The Chachomim added the line “Ashrei Yoshvei Veisecha” (from Kapitel Pey-Daled) before “Tehillah Ledovid” to show us how important it is to praise Hashem in Pesukei Dezimra. We say, “Praiseworthy are those who sit in Your house, they will praise You forever!” Someone who spends time in Hashem’s house, speaking about how special He is before davening, is doing something very good! By spending this time in praise of Hashem, he is prepared before going to speak privately to Hashem in Shemoneh Esrei.
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There is a halacha that we are not allowed to eat before davening.
Why?
A person with a neshama is connected to Hashem in a higher way than food is. When we eat food, we can bring it up closer to Hashem!
But that’s only when our neshama is spread out in our body! Before we daven, our neshama is still sleeping. Our guf is busy thinking about taavos and worrying about parnasa. When we daven, we wake up the neshama so it spreads out through our whole body. This way the neshama is in control and helps us think about the right things!
Before davening, a person isn’t connected to Hashem in a higher way than the food. So if he eats before davening, he can’t bring the food closer to Hashem! He can only do it once he already davened.
(If a person needs to eat in order to daven properly, then he can use the food only in order to help his davening.)
See Likutei Torah Dibur Hamas’chil “Vaachaltem Achol”
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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 Navi Yeshaya tells us in one of his nevuos about the Geulah, that “Ki Besimcha Seitzeiu,” we will go out of Golus with joy! In the farbrengen of Yud Shevat Tof-Shin-Yud-Alef, the Rebbe explained that this posuk shows us how to have shalom and achdus, and what happens when we have it:
כִּי בְשִׂמְחָה תֵצֵאוּ וּבְשָׁלוֹם תּוּבָלוּן הֶהָרִים וְהַגְּבָעוֹת יִפְצְחוּ לִפְנֵיכֶם רִנָּה וְכָל עֲצֵי הַשָּׂדֶה יִמְחֲאוּ כָף
This posuk is split into three sections:
1) First, a good eitza to have Shalom and Achdus is to have simcha! When we are besimcha, it is easier to have Shalom. This is hinted to in the posuk, because first we say “Besimcha Seitzeiu” (go out with simcha), and then “Uveshalom Tuvalun” (and you will be brought with shalom).
From here we see that when we have simcha, it is easier to have shalom!
2) Sometimes things are hard for us. When we have shalom, these things not only won’t be in the way, but they will help us to do even more! We see this in the second part of the posuk, “Heharim Vehagva’os Yiftzechu Lifneichem Rina,” “the mountains and hills,” which usually block people, “will burst into song in front of you” — they will start to help you!
3) Finally, when we have shalom, the nevuos about Moshiach will come true! We hint to this in the end of the posuk, by saying “Vechol Atzei Hasadeh Yimcha’u Chof,” that all the trees of the field will clap hands. Rashi explains that this is because the trees will ALL give fruit, which is one of the nevuos which will take place in the times of the Geulah!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Beis page 503
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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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