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CHUMASH
Parshas Korach - Shlishi with Rashi
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Korach’s group didn’t want ANYONE in charge of the Yidden. They brought ketores to the Mishkan to show that they didn’t think kohanim should get any privileges! But Hashem didn’t punish them yet. He first had to tell Moshe something!
Hashem told Moshe and Aharon to move away from the Yidden, since Korach had convinced all the Yidden to agree with him! Hashem was going to punish them all.
Moshe and Aharon asked Hashem to please only punish the people who WANTED to make trouble, and not the people who just got excited later when they heard about it. Hashem agreed.
Hashem told Moshe that all of the Yidden should go away from the tents of Korach, Dasan, and Aviram (the ones who started it)! Moshe went and warned everyone, hoping that Dasan and Aviram would also do teshuvah. Everyone moved away, showing that they realized that Korach was wrong.
But Dasan and Aviram stood by their tents with chutzpah, to show that they thought they were right.
Moshe said, “You will see that these people will die! Then you will know that Hashem asked me to be in charge of the Yidden — I didn’t choose the job myself.”
The ground opened up, and Korach, Dasan, and Aviram — together with all of their families and all of their things — were all sucked into the ground. (Korach’s sons did teshuvah, so Hashem saved them, and let them come out of the ground later.)
All of the Yidden heard them screaming and were very scared! They thought that maybe they would fall into the ground too!
Hashem sent a fire to burn up all the people who brought ketores since they also wanted to make trouble.
Since they had brought the ketores to Hashem, the spoons they used for the ketores were now holy, and had to be used for something in kedusha. So Elazar the Kohen had the copper spoons melted to cover over the Mizbeiach. This would remind the Yidden not to act like Korach and his group!
The next day, the Yidden complained that Moshe and Aharon killed those Yidden by making them bring dangerous ketores!
Again, Hashem sent His cloud to the Mishkan with a new important message…
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Today is the second day of Rosh Chodesh. We start the Tehillim again from the beginning, and will finish at the end of Chodesh Tammuz! Today we say from kapitel Alef to kapitel Tes.
In Kapitel Hey, there is a posuk “Ki Lo Keil Chofeitz Resha Ata, Lo Yegurcha Ra.” This means “You are Hashem Who does not want evil, and bad doesn’t exist with You.”
What is this talking about?
Chassidus explains that this posuk is talking about Atzilus, the highest Ruchnius level of the world, where Hashem isn’t hiding! There, it is impossible for there to be anything bad.
But in order to make the Gashmius world, Hashem had to “hide” so much that Hashem cannot be felt here. That’s why there can be bad in the world, and resha’im who aren’t afraid of Hashem.
Most neshamos also have to go down through the Ruchnius levels, where Hashem is hidden more and more — until our neshamos don’t feel Hashem so strongly. But neshamos of tzadikim, like a Rebbe, come straight from Atzilus into the world! Their neshamos can still feel Hashem strongly, even in this Gashmius world.
Hashem spreads out these neshamos of Atzilus, sending them into the world at different times. They are called the Tzadik Yesod Olam, the tzadik who is the foundation of the world. They are very close to Hashem, they can see the truth, and they show us and teach us the way Hashem wants us to be.
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TANYA
Shaar Hayichud Veha'emunah Perek Yud
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The Torah gives us a mashal to understand how Hashem and the sefiros are one, from the sun and its light.
The way Hashem made us, we can’t understand how Hashem is One when there are so many different midos (Sefiros), and all of the Gashmius things which come from them, which seem separate and different.
But the truth is that just as the midos are one with Hashem, and everything in the world, which comes from them, are also one with Hashem! This is not something we can really understand, but it is the truth.
Even though this is called Raza D’Mheimenusa, the secret of Emunah, still Hashem gave permission with Ruach Hakodesh to Mekubalim (people who teach Kabbalah) to talk about the sefiros and give a mashal for them. The mashal they gave is not from our own neshama, but from something ELSE Hashem created: Light.
They called the Sefiros “Oros” (lights) — giving a mashal from the light of the sun, which has rays that shine from it. The sun’s rays are also inside the sun, but when they’re in the sun, they don’t have a name — they’re just part of the sun!
This helps us understand the oneness of Hashem with the sefiros a little.
The Sefiros are like sun rays from Hashem. When they shine on us, we call them different names, but the truth is that they are one with Hashem, like the rays of the sun are part of the sun!
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Today we learn about the Mesiras Nefesh a person who learns Torah needs to have.
Do you think it’s easy to learn in Yeshivah?
A person who has a job to learn Torah (a Ben Torah) needs to learn Torah all the time, and WANT to learn Torah all the time! If he wants to eat ice cream instead, he won’t be able to learn Torah with the right kind of chayus.
A Ben Torah can’t let himself get excited about Gashmius if he wants to have the right geshmak in learning Torah.
It takes real Mesiras Nefesh to live this way!
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In Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn the mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #171) of giving a half Shekel every year to the Beis Hamikdash.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Ki Sisa: וְנָתְנוּ אִישׁ כֹּפֶר נַפְשׁוֹ לַה׳
This mitzvah is explained in Mesechta Shekalim, and we only keep it when the Beis Hamikdash is standing.
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In today’s Rambam, Hilchos Shekalim perakim Alef, Beis, and Gimmel, we learn lots of halachos about the Machtzis Hashekel. Here are some of them:
On Rosh Chodesh Adar, they would start to remind people to give the Machatzis Hashekel. They had two of a special kind of pushka that they used for this — it was shaped like a shofar! This way you could put money in easily in the small part, but it wasn’t easy to take the money out. Every man had to give a half shekel, even if he was very very poor.
The money from the Machtzis Hashekel was used for buying Korbanos.
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In the first perek of Hilchos Kriyas Shema, we learn about the mitzvah of saying Shema in the morning and at night. The Rambam tells us that Yaakov Avinu asked his sons, before he passed away, if all of them believed in Hashem. They all answered, “Shema Yisroel,” “listen, our father Yisroel,” “Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echod!” “We all believe in Hashem!” When Yaakov Avinu heard this, he said, “Boruch Sheim Kevod Malchuso Le’olam Va’ed!” to thank Hashem.
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The Alter Rebbe teaches in Tanya that the Rebbe of each generation is like the “Moshe Rabbeinu” of the time.
Before the Yidden went into Eretz Yisroel, Moshe Rabbeinu told them about Matan Torah, “Anochi Omed Bein Hashem Uveineichem,” “I am standing between you and Hashem, to tell you what Hashem wants.”
Moshe Rabbeinu was the first one to teach Yidden the 613 mitzvos, the way Hashem wants us to live. But in each time, there is a special shlichus — what part of Torah they should have an extra chayus in, and special horaos for that time. It is the Rebbe who teaches what Hashem wants for that time.
In our time, the Rebbe told us that it is our shlichus now to prepare ourselves and the whole world for Moshiach, which we’re going to see very soon!
We have so many horaos from the Rebbe how to accomplish this. Can you think of some of them?
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It’s easy to understand that we should to ask Hashem to help us overcome our Yetzer Hara, and to bring Moshiach. But it is okay to daven for a new bicycle, that the stain on our shirt should come out in the washing machine, or to have spaghetti and meatballs for supper? What about davening that the scrape should feel better, or that the headache should go away?
Someone once asked the Rebbe if it is appropriate to spend a lot of time in davening, asking for all of the Gashmiyus’dike things he needs, and davening for health.
The Rebbe answered, “Obviously! Being healthy is actually a mitzvah! We are taught that we need to be careful to watch our health. The Rambam says in Hilchos Deios that a person needs to make sure his body is healthy and complete. Like the Alter Rebbe brings in Shulchan Aruch, you don’t have permission to hurt your body!
“In fact, according to many Rishonim, if a person needs something, it is a Mitzvas Asei Min HaTorah — a mitzvah from the Torah — to daven to Hashem for it!
“Obviously, it is not only appropriate to daven for health and other things, but it is a MITZVAH to ask Hashem to help us in everything.”
See Igros Kodesh chelek Yud-Tes, page 122
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We love mitzvos!
But even if we love them very much, it is NOT a mitzvah to fight to get to do a mitzvah ourselves.
We learn this from what it says in the Mishnah about the kohanim and the Lechem Hapanim:
In the Beis Hamikdash, there were 12 loaves of bread for the Lechem Hapanim and a lot of kohanim who wanted the mitzvah of eating them! The tznuim (the aidel ones) didn’t even stretch out their hands, while the gargeranim (the greedy ones) grabbed all of it. The kohanim knew that it is NOT a mitzvah to fight for the mitzvah!
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Nun-Gimmel, se’if Chof-Tes
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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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Near the end of the Sefer Yeshaya, the Navi Yeshaya says another Nevuah about the Geulah that is similar to his first nevuos, about how the world will look when Moshiach comes.
זְאֵב וְטָלֶה יִרְעוּ כְאֶחָד וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹאכַל תֶּבֶן וְנָחָשׁ עָפָר לַחְמוֹ לֹא יָרֵעוּ וְלֹא יַשְׁחִיתוּ בְּכָל הַר קָדְשִׁי אָמַר ה׳
Ze’ev VeTaleh Yir’u Ch’echad — A wolf and a lamb will eat grass together (even though nowadays wolves try to eat lambs)
V’Aryeh Kabakar Yochal Teven — And a lion will eat straw like a cow (even though nowadays lions eat other animals)
Venachash Afar Lachmo — And for a snake, his food will be dirt (instead of biting and poisoning people)
Lo Yareiu Velo Yashchisu Bechol Har Kodshi — They will not hurt or destroy anyone or anything in the whole Eretz Yisroel.
Amar Hashem — So says Hashem!
See Yeshaya perek Samach-Hey posuk Chof-Hey
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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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