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CHUMASH
Parshas Behaalosecha - Chamishi with Rashi
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Today we see the first time that the Yidden traveled in the Midbar!
On the twentieth day of the month of Iyar, the year after the Yidden left Mitzrayim, the cloud went up from on top of the Mishkan, and the Yidden traveled for the first time after Matan Torah, from Har Sinai to Midbar Paran. Here’s how they traveled:
First, Yehudah, Yissachar, and Zevulun GOT READY to go. While they were doing that, the kohanim covered up the keilim of the Mishkan so they would be ready for the Leviim to carry. Then the Yidden actually started to travel!
1) First Yehudah, Yissachar, and Zevulun went
2) Then Gershon and Merari (who carried the Kerashim (boards) and Yerios (curtains) of the Mishkan) went
3) Reuven, Shimon, and Gad went
4) Kehos (who carried the keilim of the Mishkan, like the Aron, the Menorah and the Shulchan) went. (They didn’t go together with Gershon and Merari, they left later. That way by the time they come with the keilim to the place where the Yidden would settle, Gershon and Merari will have had enough time to set up the Mishkan itself.)
5) Then Efrayim, Menasheh, and Benyamin went
6) Finally, Dan, Asher, and Naftali went.
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Now the Torah tells us about something that happened right before the Yidden began to travel.
Before they left Har Sinai, Moshe told Yisro that the Yidden were going to Eretz Yisrael. He asked Yisro to come, even though he was a Ger and wouldn’t get his own part of Eretz Yisroel.
Yisro said he had to go home. How would he be able to take care of his family if he comes to Eretz Yisroel and doesn’t have a place there?
Moshe convinced Yisro that he SHOULD come to Eretz Yisroel. If he leaves, Moshe told him, it will look like he only became a Ger because he thought he would get part of Eretz Yisroel! Also, Yisro can help the Yidden with good advice. Moshe promised Yisro that he would get a part of Eretz Yisroel for a while if he comes. (When the land in Eretz Yisroel was divided up many years later, part of the city of Yericho was set aside for the Shevet that would give up part of their land to build the Beis Hamikdash. Until the Beis Hamikdash was built, Yisro’s children were allowed to live there.)
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Now we continue learning about the Yidden’s first journey from Har Sinai.
Hashem made a special neis: In one day, they went very far — what usually takes THREE days to go, they went all in one day! That was because Hashem really wanted the Yidden to able to go into Eretz Yisroel right away! (As we will see in the next parsha, because of the story of the Meraglim, in the end the Yidden needed to stay in the Midbar for 40 years.)
An Aron went ahead of the Yidden, to prepare the place where the Yidden were going to camp next.
This was not the same Aron as the one that was in the Mishkan. Before Moshe Rabbeinu went up to Har Sinai to get the second Luchos, Hashem told him that he would need to keep the luchos in an Aron. There was no Mishkan yet, and Moshe himself prepared an Aron to hold the broken Luchos and the second Luchos. When the Mishkan was built, the second Luchos were kept in the Aron in the Mishkan, and the broken Luchos stayed in Moshe’s Aron and traveled in front of the Yidden, and together with them when they went to fight.
When the Yidden traveled, there were seven clouds with the Yidden: One on top, one on bottom, and four around on each side. The seventh cloud went in front of them, flattened out the mountains so the Yidden would have a smooth path, and killed the snakes and scorpions so the Yidden would feel safe.
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Many of the Kapitelach in today’s Tehillim are about when Moshiach comes!
Kapitel Tzadik-Hey and Tzadik-Vov are about how we will tell each other to come sing to Hashem and thank Him for His nissim.
In the third posuk of Kapitel Tzadik-Hey, it says that we will thank Hashem because He is a Melech Gadol, a big King. Hashem will be King over the WHOLE world when Moshiach comes — EVERYONE will follow Hashem’s rules!
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Zayin
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Right in the beginning of Shaar HaYichud VeHaEmunah, the Alter Rebbe said we are going to understand about Yichuda Ila’ah and Yichuda Tata’a. The Alter Rebbe will soon explain what this means, but first we need to learn about another name of Hashem. We learned about the names of Havaya and Elokim, and today we will learn about the name of Alef-Daled-Nun-Yud.
Hashem wanted to show His chesed, so He made a world where we can keep Torah and mitzvos and be close to Hashem. That is Hashem’s Midah of chesed, connected with the name Havaya.
But for this world to be a world of chesed, Hashem has to hide Himself with the Midah of Gevurah. If not, the world would feel Hashem the whole time and we wouldn’t feel like people — we’d be like malochim who can’t do mitzvos! That hiding of Hashem in the world is connected to the name Elokim.
But what’s wrong if we ARE like malochim? Why do we need to be regular people?
Because Hashem has a plan for the world. What’s the plan? Hashem wants to be King over the whole world — the midah of Malchus.
The only way Hashem can be a King is if He is hidden. A king can’t rule over his own children, he needs to rule over OTHER people! When Hashem is hidden, we feel like we are separate from Hashem, and Hashem can rule over us.
Hashem’s chesed has a name: Havaya. Hashem’s gevurah (hiding) has a name — Elokim. Hashem’s being King, the Midah of Malchus, ALSO has a special name — the name Ad-nay.
Now that we learned about these three midos and names of Hashem, we will be able to understand what Yichuda Tata’ah and Yichuda Ila’ah are, which we will start to learn in tomorrow’s Tanya.
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When the Rebbe Maharash was 18 years old, the Tzemach Tzedek started to learn an extra shiur with him:
They learned for 2 and a half hours every day, starting at 10:00 at night in the winter, and at 4:00 in the morning in the summer.
For two years, they studied Kabbalah with how Chassidus explains it, and then for the next almost 2 years, they learned seforim of Chakirah (philosophy) — like Moreh Nevuchim and Kuzari, according to Chassidus.
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #155) is the same mitzvah again, 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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RAMBAM
Hilchos Shabbos - Eiruvin
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Perek Lamed: In this perek, we learn about how to show kavod to Shabbos, and how to have Oneg Shabbos. One thing we do is that EVERYONE helps for Shabbos! The big tzadikim in the times of the Gemara used to help with the cooking, the cleaning, or the shopping, to show kavod to Shabbos.
We also start learning the halachos of an Eruv.
Perek Alef: This perek talks about a kind of eruv called Eiruvei Chatzeiros. If many families use the same piece of property, like the hallway of a building or a courtyard, the Chachomim made a takana that it should not be called a Reshus Hayochid, and it is asur to carry there on Shabbos. But with an Eruv Chatzeiros, they can make the property into a shared Reshus Hayochid, so that everyone can carry there.
Perek Beis: We learn what kinds of things can ruin this eruv, like if one person doesn’t participate by giving some food to show that they are living together in this space.
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In Perek Yud-Alef, the Rambam tells us that it’s a goyishe thing to try to figure out what will happen in the future. Yidden need to believe in Hashem, and trust that He will take care of us.
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Today we are going to learn about what a nisayon is, which is connected with what we are learning about now in Tanya, the names of Havaya and Elokim.
Let’s say your mother asks you, “Did you daven today?”
Right away, you think, “If I say ‘no,’ Mommy will ask me to daven now, and I don’t want to! It will be hard! Plus, she might get upset that I was playing all morning and didn’t daven first like I was supposed to.
“But I remember that I’m in Tzivos Hashem, and I need to win over my Yetzer Hara! I know it’s the right thing to tell the truth.
“But then again, what if Mommy gets angry at me?”
Really, we don’t know if Mommy will really be so upset, and we don’t know if davening will really be so hard. This is a nisayon! It’s a test from Hashem where something seems very hard, but if we decide to do the right thing, we might discover that it wasn’t so hard after all!
Mommy might be very proud that you told the truth, the davening could turn out to be fun, and you might get a prize afterwards too!
In a nisayon, Hashem is hiding Himself. Hashem is using the name of Elokim, where Hashem is hiding. That way we can be free to choose! But when we make the right decision, we can break through the hiding place and be able to see Hashem with the name Havaya, where we can feel the goodness of Hashem — feeling proud and good that we did the right thing!
(There is a very famous maamar of the Rebbe Rashab called “Veyadaata Moskva” — which is based on the posuk we’re learning about now in Tanya! In this maamar, the Rebbe Rashab explains what a nisayon is and how to overcome it.)
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At the end of Ashrei, there is a posuk added from another kapitel: “Va’anachnu Nevarech Kah, Me’Ata Ve’ad Olam Halelukah.” “And we will bless Hashem, from now and forever, praised is Hashem!”
Why do we add this posuk to Ashrei? There are two reasons:
1) After Ashrei, we will say 5 more paragraphs, the last 5 kapitelach of Tehillim. The last word of each of these kapitelach is exactly the same as the first word of the next kapitel! They all start and end with the word Hallelukah, “praised is Hashem.”
We want to connect Ashrei with these next paragraphs, by having it ALSO end with the word Hallelukah. This way, the last word of Ashrei is the same as the first word of the next paragraph. We add this posuk from kapitel Kuf-Tes-Vov, which ends with the word Hallelukah.
But we add this line EVERY time we say Ashrei, even when we DON’T say the other paragraphs starting with Hallelukah! So that can’t be the only reason!
Here is another reason we add this last line to Ashrei:
2) The Chachomim teach us that someone who says the kapitel Tehillah Ledovid (the main part of Ashrei) three times a day is promised Olam Haba! That’s why we say Ashrei two times in Shacharis, and once in Mincha, so that we say it three times every day.
This last line is asking Hashem to keep the promise of giving us Olam Haba in the zechus of saying Ashrei. We ask Hashem that we should be able to praise Him now (Mei’ata) and in Olam Haba too (Ve’ad Olam)!
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What is the bracha on rice?
It’s actually very complicated! There are two reasons why:
1) Rice is a kind of grain, but it’s not one of the 5 mezonos kinds of grain. Still, since it can fill a person up, and you can make kinds of bread from it, it is possible that it should also be mezonos.
2) In the Gemara, there are two kinds of grain talked about, “orez” and “dochen.” They each have different halachos, and we’re not sure if rice is orez or dochen!
So the Alter Rebbe paskens that a Yerei Shomayim should eat rice only in the middle of a seudah that you washed for.
But if you’re eating rice outside of a seudah, then you should make a Shehakol.
(Some people follow a minhag from older Chassidim, even though it isn’t in the Shulchan Aruch, about eating rice outside of a seudah. They eat it together with other foods that have the bracha of Mezonos, Ho’adamah, and Shehakol, which are all of the possible brachos in halacha for rice.)
See Seder Birchos Hanehenin perek Alef, se’if Yud and Yud-Alef, and Birchos Hanehenin Hamevuar p. 33-34
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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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We are going to learn a famous Medrash, that is connected to what we are learning in Tanya.
In today’s Tanya, we learn that Hashem wanted the world to be a place where Hashem can be King. We see this in the Medrash, that Hashem wanted to be able to rest in a place that is “Tachtonim,” a place that feels lower and separate from Hashem, like a king rules over separate people.
The Medrash says:
אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת הָעוֹלָם נִתְאַוֶה שֶׁיְהֵא לוֹ דִירָה בְּתַּחְתּוֹנִים כְּמוֹ שֶׁיֵשׁ בָּעֶלְיוֹנִים
Amar Rabi Shmuel bar Nachman — Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman says:
Besha’ah Shebara Hakadosh Baruch Hu Es Ha’olam — At the time when Hashem created the world
Nisaveh Sheyehei Lo Dira Betachtonim — Hashem wanted to have a Dira Betachtonim, a resting place below
Kemo Sheyesh Ba’elyonim — Like there is in Shomayim above.
The Medrash explains that as soon as Hashem created a Gashmius world and gave Adam Harishon mitzvos to keep, this happened! But because of aveiros that were done, starting with the Cheit Eitz Hadaas, Hashem wasn’t fully able to rest in the world anymore until the time of Matan Torah and when the Mishkan was built.
When Moshiach comes, Hashem will have a complete Dira Betachtonim! It will still be a Gashmius world, but everyone will be able to see that it’s Hashem’s world.
See Medrash Tanchuma Naso 7:1, Maamar Basi Legani 5711
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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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