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CHUMASH
Parshas Eikev - Shvi'i with Rashi
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Moshe is still talking to the Yidden, begging them to listen to Hashem so they can have all the brachos!
“If you keep all the mitzvos, and stay close to Hashem (by learning from the Chachomim and Tzadikim), Hashem will send away all of the Goyim from Eretz Yisroel! The WHOLE land will belong to the Yidden!
“Nobody will try to make problems for the Yidden, because Hashem will make them scared of you!”
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Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Pey-Ches and Pey-Tes.
In Kapitel Pey-Tes, there’s a posuk, “Ki Amarti Olam Chesed Yibaneh” — Hashem said, “I will build a world of chesed.”
Chassidus explains that Hashem created the world with the midah of Chesed. Why did Hashem choose this midah?
To use the midah of Chesed, there needs to be someone else to give to or help. We see this with Avraham Avinu, whose strongest midah was the midah of Chesed. When there were no guests, it bothered him very much! Without someone to GIVE to, you can’t use Chesed.
This is one of the reasons Hashem created the world — so that He could show His Chesed! In order to use Hashem’s midah of Chesed, there needed to be a world to do Chesed for!
Hashem also gave each of us the Midah of Chesed! We use our Chesed when we have Ahavas Yisroel to help another Yid.
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Hey
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Since Hashem is so hidden in the world we need to do something special so that Hashem will give it chayus. When we give chayus to another Yid by giving tzedaka, Hashem gives chayus to the world!
Now we understand what it means, that someone who gives tzedakah “makes” Hashem’s name (“Vayaas Dovid Sheim”). Because when we give Tzedakah, it makes Hashem give chayus to Olam Hazeh which is made with the Hey of Hashem’s name, and not only to Olam Haba which is made with the letter Yud! So by giving Tzedakah, the letter Yud and ALSO the letter Hey give chayus — and only with the letter Hey is Hashem’s name complete!
This is another letter where the Alter Rebbe gets Chassidim excited to give more tzedakah, by explaining the special things that happen when we do this mitzvah.
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Here’s something that the Mitteler Rebbe heard from the Alter Rebbe about Ahavas Yisroel:
A Yid has to be so full of Ahavas Yisroel for another Yid, that no matter how hard it is to love him (like even if he is very annoying or hurt us), we will still love him and treat him with Ahavas Yisroel no matter what.
Here is a story that shows us that we need to have Ahavas Yisroel even when it is very hard:
A chossid once came to the Rebbe Rashab in yechidus. He told the Rebbe that he was at the doctor, and the doctor told him he has to take a very yucky medicine! He asked for a bracha that it should get easier.
The Chossid was very surprised at the answer he got: The Rebbe told him that he doesn’t even have a little bit of how much Ahavas Yisroel he really needs to have!
The Rebbe Rashab explained: “Do you think that Ahavas Yisroel is just dancing with another Jew on Simchas Torah? Ahavas Yisroel can be very hard! Sometimes it can even hurt!”
The Chossid understood that if he was careful with his Ahavas Yisroel, and was even ready to do things that were uncomfortable or hurt, in order to help another Yid, then the medicine wouldn’t bother him so much!
Heard from the Chossid R’ Moshe Rubin A”H
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Today we started a new sefer — Sefer Hafla’ah — and a new set of halachos in Rambam, about Shevuos, promises. Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #61) is that we are not allowed to make a not-true promise using Hashem’s name — that’s called a Shevuas Bitui or Shevuas Sheker. (We learn what these mean in today’s Rambam!)
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: וְלֹא תִשָּׁבְעוּ בִשְׁמִי לַשָּׁקֶר
The details of how to keep this mitzvah are explained in the third perek of Mesechta Shevuos.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn about the four different kinds of promises (Shevuos) that a person is not allowed to make. Here are two of them:
1) Shvuas Bitui — A Shvuas Bitui is a false promise. One way a person makes a Shvuas Bitui is by promising that he did not do something, but he already did that thing. Another way is if he promises not to do something in the future, and then does it.
2) Shvuas Shav — A Shvuas Shav is a meaningless promise. One type of Shvuas Shav is if someone makes a promise about something that everyone knows is not true (like if he promises that a tree is made of gold). Another kind of Shvuas Shav is a promise that everyone knows is true (like a promise that the sky is the sky).
It is also a Shvuas Shav to make a promise we can’t keep. For example, a promise not to do a mitzvah (we can’t make a promise like that!); or a promise that it’s impossible to keep (like saying we won’t sleep for 3 days).
We also learn what counts as a promise. One halacha is that if a person makes a mistake and says a promise, they are allowed to change their mind if they do it right away.
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We end the second sefer of Rambam! As an addition to this sefer, where we learned the halachos of davening, we start reading through the whole davening according to the Rambam’s siddur.
If you pay attention, you will see many differences between our nusach and the Rambam’s nusach!
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A few days ago was the Yom Tov of Chamisha-Asar B’Av.
We learned that the lesson the Chachomim tell us to take from this day is to add in learning Torah. But, as we asked before, how does this fit with the full moon after Tisha B’Av? The MOON only gets smaller afterwards, but WE are supposed to keep adding in our Torah learning as the nights get longer and longer!
We will understand the answer by looking at how the moon really works:
When we look at the moon at different days of the month, it can look to us that it is bigger or smaller. Sometimes it is only a thin line, but in the middle of the month, it is full and round!
Still, the moon doesn’t ACTUALLY get smaller after the middle of the month! The moon LOOKS smaller because we can only see the part of it shining on the world.
Really, the moon is always the same size, and is always shining the same amount! If we flew up to space, we could go around to the other side of the moon and see how it is full and shining!
A Yid, like the moon, also has a part of himself that is shining where other people can’t see. That is the part of us that connects to Hashem through davening and learning. When we do mitzvos and help and teach others, that is like the way we can see the moon, shining in the world. But our personal davening and learning and connecting to Hashem is the other kind of shining, that can’t be seen by other people in the world.
This is the lesson of Chamisha-Asar B’Av:
We need to be like the moon in BOTH ways! There are times when we need to make sure we are shining in the world, through helping other Yidden and making a Kiddush Hashem in the world, and there are times when we need to work on shining in ways that other people can’t see.
Starting from Chamisha-Asar B’Av, we make sure that we are adding in our learning Torah, together with davening so we will feel a bittul and strong connection to Hashem. This personal connection becomes more each day, just like the moon in the second half of the month, which shines more and more on the side that we can’t see!
This continues throughout the month, getting us ready for the new Avodah of the month of Elul which is coming very soon!
See farbrengen Parshas Va’eschanan Tof-Shin-Mem-Hey
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One of the messages of the posuk Yogaaati is that especially when we are learning Torah or growing in Yiddishkeit, we need to work hard — Yogaati!
But the posuk also tells us that the hatzlacha we will have is much more than the effort we put in!
The posuk says, “Yogaati Umotzosi,” I worked hard and I found.
The Gemara could have said, “I tried and I succeeded,” “I tried and I did it.” But instead it uses the word “Motzosi,” I found.
When we find something, it isn’t based just on how much work we put in. A person can dig a little hole in the ground and even find a diamond that is worth a huge amount of money!
Here the Gemara is telling us that when we work hard, with yegiyah (Yogaati), then we will have hatzlacha from Hashem in a much greater way than what we expect to come from it (Umotzosi)!
The girls of the Chabad school in Kiryat Gat wrote a letter to the Rebbe when they were starting 8th grade. They asked for a bracha for hatzlacha in their learning. The Rebbe answered them with this posuk of Yogaati, and said that even though bracha comes from Hashem, we need to work hard, we need to put in effort! But when we do this, the hatzlacha will be way more than the effort we put in! Hashem promises that when we do our part, Hashem will give us much more than we expected.
See Igros Kodesh chelek Chof-Gimmel, p. 448
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Seforim have Hashem’s holy Torah inside. We need to treat seforim with kavod.
One halacha is that if we see a sefer upside down, we shouldn’t leave it. We should turn it the right way!
See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch siman Chof-Ches se’if 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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After the days of Shlomo Hamelech, the Yidden split into two groups, each with their own king. Unfortunately, they never got back together, and the group under the Malchei Yisrael was sent into Golus and lost.
But as we see in the words of the Neviim, when Moshiach comes, all of the Yidden will be gathered together again under one king!
The Navi Hoshea also says this in one of his nevuos:
וְנִקְבְּצוּ בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַחְדָּו וְשָׂמוּ לָהֶם רֹאשׁ אֶחָד וְעָלוּ מִן הָאָרֶץ כִּי גָדוֹל יוֹם יִזְרְעֶאל
Venikbetzu Bnei Yehudah Uvenei Yisrael Yachdav — The Yidden of Yehudah and the Yidden of Yisrael will be gathered together
Vesamu Lahem Rosh Echad — And they will make themselves one leader
Ve’alu Min Ha’aretz — And they will go up from the land of Golus to Eretz Yisroel
Ki Gadol Yom Yizre’el — Because the day of Kibbutz Galuyos will be great!
See Hoshea perek Beis posuk Beis
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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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