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CHUMASH
Parshas Eikev - Rishon with Rashi
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In today’s Chumash Moshe Rabbeinu farbrengs with the Yidden about three things: The brachos they will get from keeping Torah and mitzvos, encouragement that they will be able to conquer Eretz Yisroel, and remembering how Hashem took care of the Yidden in the Midbar and is now giving them the special land of Eretz Yisroel.
Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Yidden that if they will keep the Torah and mitzvos, Hashem will give them great brachos!
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When the Yidden are getting ready to go into Eretz Yisroel, they shouldn’t think — “Oy vey! The goyim are very strong and we won’t be able to go in!”
Instead, they should remember all the nissim that Hashem did before — Hashem will do nissim again for the Yidden! Hashem will even send out the goyim who live there just a few at a time, so that wild animals don’t have a chance to go into the cities before the Yidden get there. But the Yidden need to make sure that they don’t learn from the goyim who serve Avodah Zarah.
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The Yidden should remember how Hashem took care of them in the Midbar. They need to be extra careful to only keep all the mitzvos, because they are going to a very special place, Eretz Yisroel!
Eretz Yisroel is an “Eretz Chitah, Se’orah, Vegefen...” a land that has a special bracha for all of the Shiva Minim! (That famous posuk is in today’s Chumash!)
And when the Yidden enjoy everything that grows in Eretz Yisroel, they will eat and get full and bentch Hashem! (“Ve’achalta, Vesavata, Uveirachta Es Hashem!” That’s where we learn about the mitzvah of bentching after we eat a meal!)
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Today’s shiur Tehillim is kapitelach Samach-Vov, Samach-Zayin, and Samach-Ches.
In today’s Tehillim, we have Kapitel Samach-Zayin, which is also called the Mizmor of the Menorah.
This kapitel, which starts with the words Lamnatzeiach Binginos, has seven pesukim and 49 words. These represent the seven branches of the menorah, and the 49 pieces (22 cups, 9 flowers, 11 buttons, and 7 oil cups) on the menorah.
We say it every day in davening, before Boruch She’amar, and it is counted as if we are lighting the menorah in the Beis Hamikdash!
Dovid Hamelech had this kapitel engraved on a golden plaque in the shape of a menorah. He would carry it with him when he went out to war, to help him have hatzlacha in battle!
In many shuls, you can find an image of the Menorah with this kapitel written on it!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Daled
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Learning and davening and going to farbrengens makes us feel different. We get inspired and want to have more Yiddishkeit!
But do we want Yiddishkeit for a reason, or is Yiddishkeit our life, and we feel that we want and NEED it?
Wanting things for reasons is from our Chitzonius Halev. Wanting things because they are what our life is all about is from Pnimius Halev.
The Alter Rebbe said that if our whole life is busy with other things, our Yiddishkeit will only be able to be in our Chitzonius Halev. Our Pnimius Halev will be in Golus in the Gashmius!
The only way to get it out of Golus, so that our whole LIFE can be Yiddishkeit, is if Hashem takes it out!
What makes Hashem take it out? When we give tzedakah! We take what we put our life into — for example, the money we earned — and give it to Hashem by giving tzedakah! Then Hashem gives us a present, and takes our Pnimius Halev out of Golus!
Today the Alter Rebbe tells us that through giving tzedakah, which takes our Pnimius Halev out of Golus, ALL of our Yiddishkeit can be done in a different way!
Once Hashem takes our Pnimius Halev out of Golus (since we gave Tzedakah), then we can do ALL of our mitzvos, and learn ALL of our Torah, with our WHOLE heart!
This is also why Tzedakah is called Shalom, because it makes Shalom between Hashem and Yidden.
A Yid has a piece of Hashem inside, and it makes Hashem sad when it is in Golus. When it comes out of Golus, Hashem is happy, and there is Shalom between Hashem and Yidden!
The Alter Rebbe tells the Chassidim to give Tzedakah, especially to the Chassidim in Eretz Yisroel — the land which is so close to Hashem.
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The Alter Rebbe said something that he heard from the Maggid, who heard it from the Baal Shem Tov!
Ahavas Yisroel is part of Ahavas Hashem — loving Hashem! Because every Yid has a piece of Hashem inside, the neshama. When we love another Yid, we are really loving Hashem, which is the pnimius of the Yid!
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SEFER HAMITZVOS
Shiur #99 - Mitzvas Lo Saasei #187, #186, #189, #190, #191, #192
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Today we learn more mitzvos about what we are not allowed to eat:
1) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #187) We are not allowed to eat milk and meat together (basar b’chalav).
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Ki Sisa: לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ
The details are explained in Mesechta Chulin perek Ches.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #186) We are not allowed to cook milk and meat together (even if we aren’t going to eat it).
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Mishpatim: לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ
3) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #189) We are not allowed to eat bread (Lechem) from new grain of that year, until the day that the Korban Omer is brought on 16 Nissan. The new grain is called “Chodosh.”
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: וְלֶחֶם וְקָלִי וְכַרְמֶל לֹא תֹאכְלוּ
The details are explained in Mesechta Menachos perek Zayin, and many places in Mesechta Shevi’is, Mesechta Maasros, and Mesechta Challah.
4) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #190) There is a separate mitzvah not to eat roasted grain (Koli) from chodosh.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: וְלֶחֶם וְקָלִי וְכַרְמֶל לֹא תֹאכְלוּ
The details are explained in Mesechta Menachos perek Zayin, and many places in Mesechta Shevi’is, Mesechta Maasros, and Mesechta Challah.
5) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #191) There is a separate mitzvah not to eat fresh grain (Karmel) from chodosh.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Emor: וְלֶחֶם וְקָלִי וְכַרְמֶל לֹא תֹאכְלוּ עַד עֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה
The details are explained in Mesechta Menachos perek Zayin, and many places in Mesechta Shevi’is, Mesechta Maasros, and Mesechta Challah.
6) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #192) We are not allowed to eat fruit from a tree for the first three years it grows (Orlah).
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Kedoshim: שָׁלשׁ שָׁנִים יִהְיֶה לָכֶם עֲרֵלִים לֹא יֵאָכֵל
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Maachalos Asuros
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In today’s Rambam, perakim Yud-Daled, Tes-Vov, and Tes-Zayin, we learn about when a person is chayav to be punished by the Beis Din for eating asur food. Just like at the Seder we eat a certain amount of matzah in a certain amount of time, a person only gets punished if he eats a certain amount of food in a certain amount of time.
We also learn about when a food is botul and is considered as if it’s not there. Let’s say you have a big pot of chicken soup cooking on the stove, when your baby brother comes into the kitchen. He takes his bottle of milk and throws it on the floor. It opens, and the milk splashes all over the kitchen! Is it still okay to eat the chicken soup, since some milk splashed inside? The answer is yes, because it is botul. There is SO MUCH chicken soup, and SO LITTLE milk that it doesn’t make the food non-kosher.
There are many halachos about bittul. Some kinds of food can NEVER become botul, and sometimes you need as much as 200 times more of the kosher food than the non-kosher food!
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Just like we’re not allowed to enjoy eating food without a bracha, we aren’t allowed to enjoy a good smell without a bracha. We do this at Havdalah every week — Borei Minei Besamim!
There are specific brachos for smells, depending on where the smell comes from, like from a plant or from a flower. Just like Shehakol is a general bracha for food, Borei Minei Besamim is a general bracha for smells.
There are certain smells we don’t make a bracha on at all, like smells from Avodah Zarah.
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Today, Yud-Beis Menachem Av, is the day of the Alter Rebbe’s chasuna to Rebbetzin Sterna!
The Alter Rebbe’s chasunah took place only a few months after the Baal Shem Tov’s histalkus on Shavuos.
We know that the Alter Rebbe’s chassidus was based on the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. One of the things the Baal Shem Tov taught is that we should ENJOY helping another Yid!
The Alter Rebbe showed a beautiful example of this at the time of his chasunah:
The Alter Rebbe’s kallah, Rebbetzin Sterna, was the daughter of a very rich and respected man. The minhag in those days was that the family of the kallah would give an amount of money, called a nadden (dowry), to the chosson.
Since Rebbetzin Sterna was coming from a very rich family, the nadden was a lot of money! The Alter Rebbe made a condition that he should be able to use this money for whatever he wants.
As soon as he received the money, the Alter Rebbe set up a program to help Yidden move to farms to make a parnasa. In those days, most Yidden lived in towns and cities, and it was hard for many of them to earn enough money. The Alter Rebbe wanted to encourage them to move to farms, where it would be easier to make a proper parnasa.
It was with this beautiful Ahavas Yisroel that the Alter Rebbe started off his married life!
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Were you ever listening to a story and then started feeling scared? Or do you sometimes get nervous during a thunderstorm? Some people are worried when they see some kinds of animals. Other kids get nightmares from things.
We might sometimes feel like the world is a scary place!
It feels like we can’t stop things from happening, and we don’t want to get hurt!
The seventh posuk of the Yud-Beis Pesukim helps keep us from being afraid:
Bereishis Bara Elokim — In the beginning when Hashem created
Es Hashomayim — the heavens
V’Es Ha’aretz — and the earth.
From the very beginning, the whole world was, and ALWAYS is, created by Hashem!
Nothing in the world happens by itself, Hashem is always deciding what will happen. So we don’t have to be scared of anything!
Whenever we find ourselves feeling scared, we can think about this posuk. We can remember that this is HASHEM’s world, and Hashem is taking care of everything!
See sicha Lag B’Omer Tof-Shin-Lamed-Vov
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We learned in today’s Chumash (Rishon of Parshas Eikev) that it’s a mitzvah to bentch after we eat and are satisfied, as the posuk says, “Ve’achalta Vesavata Uveirachta Es Hashem.”
The Chachomim added that not only should we make a bracha AFTER we eat, we should make a bracha before, too! They said that before enjoying even a tiny drop of Hashem’s food or drink, we need to make a bracha. (For example, even if we’re eating just one chocolate chip, or just a small piece of a cookie.)
The Gemara says that anyone who enjoys something without making a bracha first is like taking from the parts of korbanos that belong to Hashem and are supposed to be burned on the Mizbeiach! The whole world belongs to Hashem, and we need to get permission before we enjoy it. By saying a bracha, we are getting permission from Hashem to enjoy the food or drink!
Seder Birchas Hanehenin, Perek Alef, Halacha Alef
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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 Rambam says that not only do we need to believe in Moshiach, but we also need to be excited and wait for him every day!
It’s easy to understand that we need to believe in Moshiach, but to be hoping that Moshiach will come today — what’s the point of that? Won’t it just make us sad if Moshiach doesn’t come today? Why don’t we just believe that he will come when he will come?
One of the reasons why is because this will help Moshiach come much sooner! If we are expecting Moshiach to come TODAY, we will daven for him to come now, and do more mitzvos to bring him, and then Moshiach WILL come right away!
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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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