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CHUMASH
Parshas Chukas-Balak - Shishi with Rashi
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Bilaam brings korbanos, and asks Hashem for a nevuah. Hashem gives him a nevuah, and instead of cursing the Yidden, he gives them many brachos! Balak is very angry!
Yesterday we learned how Bilaam finally came with the officers of Moav to the king, Balak. Balak wanted Bilaam to curse the Yidden, since he was afraid that the Yidden were strong and might want to attack Moav, like they did to Sichon and Og.
That day, Balak took Bilaam to a big city in his land, with busy marketplaces full of people. Balak wanted him to see the people of Moav, so that he should feel bad for them and want them to be safe.
In the evening, Balak prepared only a cow and a sheep for Bilaam and all of the officers that were with him. Balak had promised to give Bilaam a lot of kavod and treat him well, but now he hardly even gave him enough food for everyone!
The next morning, Balak took Bilaam up to the high place where they did Avodah Zarah, because he could see part of the Yidden’s camp from there. That would be a good place, he thought, to curse the Yidden from!
Before he could try to convince Hashem to let him curse the Yidden, Bilaam decided it would be a good idea to give Hashem a korban. He told Balak to build 7 Mizbechos, and to bring two korbanos for each Mizbeiach — a Par (bull) and Ayil (ram). Balak and Bilaam brought these korbanos.
Then Bilaam told Balak to stay by the Mizbeiach, because he was going to try to get Hashem to talk to him, even though it was during the day, and Hashem usually only talked to him at night.
Hashem decided to talk to him for the sake of the Yidden, but Hashem appeared to Bilaam in an insulting way. Bilaam said to Hashem, “Look! I made as many Mizbechos as the Avos did! And I brought even MORE korbanos than they did!” (If you look at all of the places where the Avos made a Mizbeiach for Hashem, you will see that there were seven, and that Avraham only brought one Ayil.)
Hashem gave him a nevuah, showing Bilaam that Hashem loves the Yidden and he won’t be able to curse them. Hashem told him to go back and tell Balak.
Bilaam went back to Balak, who was standing with his officers, and said his nevuah: “Balak the king of Moav brought me here, asking me to curse the Yidden! But how can I curse people that Hashem didn’t curse? And how can I get angry at them if Hashem isn’t angry?
“I see the Yidden from their beginning, from the Avos. I see that they are as strong as mountains! In the zechus of the Avos and Imahos, they will live alone and not be destroyed like the other nations will.
“Who can count the Yidden, who were promised to be as many as the dust of the earth? I wish I was like them!”
Balak now was FURIOUS! “What did you do? I asked you to curse my enemies, and you are giving them brachos!”
Bilaam answered, “What can I do? I have to say whatever Hashem tells me to say!”
Bilaam and Balak try again: Balak thought that maybe it would be easier to curse a few of the Yidden, since he won’t see them all together with all of their mitzvos. So they went up onto Har Nevo. Bilaam and Balak also knew that something sad for the Yidden would happen there, and thought this would be from their curse! (Really, this is the mountain where Moshe Rabbeinu would later pass away.)
Hashem tells Bilaam to give the Yidden brachos: Again Balak made 7 Mizbeiachs and brought 2 korbanos on each. Bilaam tried to talk to Hashem again, and Hashem gave him another nevuah. Hashem told him that he can’t curse the Yidden, but he should BLESS them! Bilaam didn’t want to go back to do it, but Hashem told him he has to.
Balak made fun of Bilaam, asking him what Hashem told him THIS time. First Bilaam told Balak that Hashem is not a person — He never changes His mind. Then he told him what Hashem said — Hashem wants the Yidden blessed — so that is what he will have to do:
Bilaam gives the Yidden brachos: “Hashem doesn’t look at the aveiros of the Yidden — Hashem loves them very much! The Yidden DESERVE brachos. They say Shema every day in the morning and at night, and Hashem protects them.”
Balak said, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them! If you can’t curse them, don’t say anything!”
But Bilaam reminded Balak that he has to say whatever Hashem tells him to…
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Today’s kapitelach of Tehillim are Samach through Samach-Hey.
In today’s Tehillim, Dovid Hamelech says how his neshama wants to be close to Hashem. He compares himself to a person who is thirsty for water in a place where there is none: “Tzoma Lecha Nafshi!”
The Rebbe explains that when a person is VERY thirsty and doesn’t have any water, when he finally gets the water it tastes so delicious to him, much better than any other water!
The same thing is when the neshama feels like it’s not close to Hashem, and it’s really “thirsty” to feel close.Then, when it DOES learn Torah and do mitzvos and feel close to Hashem, the Torah that it learns and the mitzvos that it does are much more geshmak!
That’s why Dovid Hamelech says in the next posuk, “Kein Bakodesh Chazisicha” — “If only I would see You like this bakodesh,” even when I feel holy and I don’t feel far away. Even then, I wish I would feel the same geshmak in the Torah and mitzvos!
When Moshiach comes, we will all be able to see Hashem! Halevai that then we should feel the geshmak in Torah and mitzvos like we do when our neshama is “thirsty” during Golus.
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TANYA
Igeres Hateshuvah Perek Gimmel
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We learned how we do the mitzvah of Teshuvah: We make a hachlata to do whatever Hashem wants, and of course never to do this specific aveira again. If we do this, we will not be punished chas veshalom, but we still won’t have the same connection to Hashem as we had before the aveira was done! To become close to Hashem again, we need to give Hashem a present. In the time of the Beis Hamikdash, that present was a Korban. After the Churban, when the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, that present was fasting. But now that also changed!
Nowadays, we can’t use fasting as a “korban” to come close to Hashem. Our bodies aren’t as strong as they used to be, so fasting will hurt us.
A Yid’s body doesn’t belong to him — it belongs to Hashem. Hashem only lets us USE it, and we need to take good care of it. If fasting will hurt us, that’s not a way to come closer to Hashem! It will chas veshalom accomplish the opposite.
Even in the times of the Mishna and Gemara, only people who were healthy and could fast without it hurting them, or making it hard to daven or learn, were allowed to fast.
So what CAN we do, if we can’t fast so much?
We can give tzedakah! Since it takes hard work to get money, it’s like we’re giving a piece of OURSELVES to tzedakah, just like fasting is giving a part of ourselves to Hashem. Even if we didn’t work hard for the money (like if we got it for a present), since we COULD have gotten something for ourselves with the money, and instead we gave it to tzedakah, it’s like we gave that part of us to Hashem! So it’s like fasting — giving a part of ourselves to Hashem.
So nowadays this is the eitzah we use: To give of ourselves through tzedakah, which brings us back to be close to Hashem, the way bringing a korban did in the times of the Beis Hamikdash.
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Today the Rebbe tells us a little bit about the history of the part of Tanya we are learning now.
Igeres HaTeshuvah was printed for the first time in a city called Zalkvi, in the year 5559 (Tof-Kuf-Nun-Tes). This year has the same Gematria as the words “Mevaser Tov” — sharing good news (because it is the year that the Alter Rebbe came out of prison on Yud-Tes Kislev)!
We know from the Hayom Yom of Chof Kislev that the first Tanya was printed in Tof-Kuf-Nun-Zayin, but that was only the first two chalakim. Only two years later, in Tof-Kuf-Nun-Tes was this third chelek printed.
The first time Igeres HaTeshuvah was printed, it was a little bit different — it wasn’t split up into perakim. There were also a few differences in the way the Alter Rebbe wrote things.
Igeres HaTeshuvah was printed for the first time the way we have it today only 7 years later, in Tof-Kuf-Samach-Vov, in the city of Shklov.
On Shavuos in Tof-Shin-Lamed-Ches, the Rebbe asked that the first version of the Tanya and also the maamarim and kesovim of the Alter Rebbe which have other versions, should all be printed. The Mahadura Kama (first version) of the Tanya was printed by Kehos in the year Tof-Shin-Mem-Beis. If you look in the sefer Likutei Amarim Mahadura Kama, you can actually see the version that is mentioned in today’s Hayom Yom!
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Shiur #69 - Hilchos Megillah V'Chanukah Perek Gimmel - Daled, Mitzvas Asei #213
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Because there are no mitzvos for this set of halachos, we learn the perakim of Hilchos Megillah V’Chanukah in Rambam, even if we usually just say Sefer Hamitzvos!
We also learn the mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #213) of getting married according to Torah! This is called Kiddushin. One of the ways we do Kiddushin is for the Chosson to give the Kallah something worth at least a perutah, and says that she is his wife. That’s called “Kiddushei Kesef.” Another way is that he writes down on a paper that she is his wife, and she accepts it from him in order to get married. That’s called “Kiddushei Shtar.”
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Ki Seitzei: כִּי יִקַּח אִישׁ אִשָּׁה וּבְעָלָהּ
The details are explained in Mesechta Kiddushin.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Megillah V'Chanukah - Hilchos Ishus
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about Chanukah! Even though lighting the menorah and hearing the Megillah are mitzvos, since they are mitzvos from the Chachomim, they don’t count as part of the 613 mitzvos.
One of the things we learn is about saying Hallel on Chanukah. Did you know that there are 18 days a year when we say the whole Hallel? (8 days of Sukkos, 8 days of Chanukah, first day of Pesach, and Shavuos.) Outside of Eretz Yisroel, we say the whole Hallel 21 days — can you figure out why? (Saying Hallel on Rosh Chodesh is a minhag, and that’s why we don’t say the whole Hallel.)
We learn many halachos about lighting the Menorah. Here is one very important halacha: If someone only has enough money to do one mitzvah — lighting the Menorah or lighting Shabbos candles, he should get the Shabbos candles!
Why? Because the most important thing is to have Shalom Bayis, which is what Shabbos candle lighting is about!
Now we finished a whole Sefer of the Rambam, Zemanim! We are starting the next sefer, called Noshim (women). It talks about getting married.
Some of the halachos are about which people aren’t allowed to get married to each other. One halacha is that a Kohen Gadol can’t get married to anyone who was married before.
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We learn the brachos we say at other times of the day, like Kriyas Shema She’al Hamita, and morning brachos.
The Rambam tells us that we should say 100 brachos every day! (If you daven Shacharis, Mincha, and Maariv, and wear Tallis and Tefillin, you will already have most of the brachos. If you wash for bread and bentch, then you have even more. So it shouldn’t be too hard to say 100 brachos every weekday!)
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In today’s Hayom Yom, we learned about the Tanya that we are learning now, the beginning of Igeres Hateshuvah. We will also learn two minhagim about Tanya that kinderlach need to know:
1) We need to have a Tanya in our room! (Along with a Chumash, Siddur, Haggadah, other sefarim, and Tzedakah) This way it becomes a Cheder Tzivos Hashem, like our own little Beis Hamikdash, where we can get ready for the big Beis Hamikdash! We should also make sure that we are USING the Chitas from our Cheder Tzivos Hashem.
Can you make sure yours are still in your room?
2) When we learn Alef-Beis with little kids, it is our minhag to start with looking in the Tanya. This helps have a Chassidishe Chayus in the Alef-Beis!
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One of the things we do when we daven is give ourselves ways to explain to our Nefesh Habehamis that it should help us in our Avodas Hashem. We give ourselves words to convince it not to be selfish and think about the things it wants, but that it should join the neshama and do what Hashem wants!
One of the parts of davening is Birchos Kriyas Shema, the brachos before we say Shema. In this section, we talk about the avodah of malochim.
Why do we talk about what malochim do in the middle of OUR davening?
Because really, our Nefesh Habehamis comes from the same Ruchnius place as the malochim come from!
The main difference between our Nefesh Habehamis and the malochim is that Hashem isn’t hiding in the malochim, and they have a lot of bittul. In our Nefesh Habehamis, Hashem is very hidden, and so we become selfish.
By speaking about the avodah of the malochim, we explain to the Nefesh Habehamis that it should be more like the malochim, which come from the same place as it does! We want our Nefesh Habehamis to have more bittul and not just think about what it wants.
See Likutei Torah Vayikra, alef, amud beis
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Imagine you are going on a field trip with camp. It’s time for lunch, and you brought a bagel with cream cheese. Yum — but you need to wash!
Don’t worry, you brought a small kvort with you. You pour in water from your water bottle and get ready to wash over the grass.
You see a bunch of bags on the grass that belong to other kids. Do you need to be careful not to splash on them?
Yes! We aren’t allowed to ruin people’s things, even if it happens by itself while we’re doing something else. We need to be careful of other people’s property and not cause any damage.
See Shulchan Aruch, Dinei Gezeilah Ugeneivah, se’if 14
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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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In this week’s parsha, Parshas Balak, we learn about the nevuos of Bilaam.
In Bilaam’s last nevuah, he speaks about the coming of Moshiach! The Rambam brings this nevuah in his halachos about Moshiach!
Bilaam starts by saying, “Arenu Velo Ata” — “I see it, but not now.” “Ashurenu Velo Karov” — “I can picture it, but not soon.” The whole nevuah is said like this, in a double way.
The Rambam explains that the first half of each posuk is speaking about Dovid Hamelech, and the second half speaks about Moshiach!
But if the first half of each posuk is about Dovid Hamelech, why does the Rambam include those parts in the halachos about Moshiach?
The Rebbe explains that they help us with emunah in Moshiach!
We know that the first part of each posuk came true. There was a king named Dovid Hamelech, and he built the Beis Hamikdash and made it possible to keep all the mitzvos of the Torah!
Since the first part of each nevuah came true, we can be sure that the second part will also come true!
At one of the Lag B’omer parades, the Rebbe spoke about the Yidden in Russia, saying that soon they would all be able to go free. At that time, people who had been in Russia or knew people there, thought it was impossible! One of the Chassidim there said that it was easier to believe that Moshiach would come, than that Yidden would be able to leave Russia!
When a few years later Yidden WERE able to leave Russia, it helped people’s emunah in Moshiach! People saw that the Rebbe’s words came true even when it seemed impossible, and it made it easier to believe that the Rebbe’s words that Moshiach is coming very soon will also be fulfilled!
This is one of the reasons why the Rambam brings the parts of the pesukim which speak about Dovid Hamelech: Because they help make our Emunah in Moshiach stronger! Since we see that it already happened once, it is much easier for us to accept that it will happen again!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Yud-Ches Parshas Balak sicha Beis, and Farbrengen Motzoei Parshas Balak 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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