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CHUMASH
Parshas Shoftim - Rishon with Rashi
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Moshe Rabbeinu continues to farbreng with the Yidden, preparing them to go into Eretz Yisroel. In today’s Chumash, Moshe tells them more about the mitzvos that they will need to keep in Eretz Yisroel.
In Eretz Yisroel, the judges will be different than in the Midbar: Now there are judges based on how many people there are (judges for every 10 people, for every 50 people), but in Eretz Yisroel there will be a Beis Din for each city. You need to make Shoftim and Shotrim — judges and policemen for every city. The judges will pasken what needs to be done, and the policemen will make sure that people follow what the judges say!
Make sure the judges know that it is very important to be fair! They can’t be nice to one person and not the other, and they can’t take any presents from people they are judging, because this will make it too hard for them to be fair. If you have good judges, you will deserve to be able to stay in Eretz Yisroel!
Now Moshe tells the Yidden some more mitzvos to be careful to do:
- Don’t plant any trees near the Beis Hamikdash!
- Don’t make a Mizbeiach outside of the Beis Hamikdash!
- Don’t shecht a Korban if you were planning on not following the dinim of eating it at the right time (pigul)!
- If someone worships Avodah Zarah, and there are witnesses, he is punished with Misas Beis Din.
Then Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Yidden some more dinim about judges:
If the judges aren’t sure what the answer is to a question, they need to go ask the Sanhedrin in the Beis Hamikdash! Everyone needs to listen to the Sanhedrin, even a person who is a judge himself and a Talmid Chochom. If he doesn’t listen, he is called a Zakein Mamrei and is chayav misa.
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Today’s Tehillim is very special! We are finishing the LONGEST kapitel in the whole Tehillim, kapitel Kuf-Yud-Tes! This kapitel is so long that we don’t even say the whole thing in one day — it is split up between Yom Chof-Hey and Yom Chof-Vov!
One of the pesukim in today’s half is, “Sas Anochi Al Imrosecha Kemotzei Shalal Rav” — “I am so happy with Your words (the Torah), like someone who finds a huge treasure!”
The Rebbe’s father, R’ Levi Yitzchak, shows a remez in this posuk: The first letters of the words “Kemotzei Shalal Rav” are “Kosher!”
What is the connection?
The Rebbe explained in a rally for kids that this teaches us an important lesson in fighting with our Yetzer Hara:
The nisayon of eating kosher is a very common nisayon. We see a candy that looks so yummy, does Hashem really care that it doesn’t have a hechsher? It’s easy to think that it’s not such a big deal if we just eat it.
But it’s not true! Every time we are careful to only eat kosher, it’s not a little thing, it’s like a huge treasure! Even though we only won over our Yetzer Hara in something that seems small, it is really a very big deal for Hashem.
That’s why the Roshei Teivos of the words “Kemotzei Shalal Rav” spell the word “kosher” — to remind us that our “small” decision to be careful with what we eat is to Hashem like finding a big treasure!
See sicha Yud-Ches Nisan Tof-Shin-Mem-Hey
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Ches
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Sometimes during davening Hashem gives us a little peek into the way things really are! Hashem might give us a thought or a kavana that helps us see the Emes, that Torah and Yiddishkeit are the real truth. This is a wonderful chesed from Hashem.
Hashem doesn’t ALWAYS give a Yid these special thoughts about Ruchnius during davening. Hashem wants us to DESERVE what we get!
So how can we deserve for Hashem to give us this Chesed?
By us having Chesed for other people — by giving them Tzedakah!
That’s why the Gemara says that R’ Elazar used to give tzedakah before he started davening — it was so that Hashem would give him these special kinds of thoughts when he davens.
But how is that a fair trade? WE are giving tzedakah to people so they can have GASHMIUS and live in Olam Hazeh — but Hashem is giving US something that is even more than Olam Haba! Because being close to Hashem in the world is even better than Olam Haba!
Why does that happen? Let’s find out tomorrow!
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Do you remember Pesach, when we asked the Fir Kashes (Mah Nishtanah) at the table? At the Seder, it is a mitzvah to tell the story of coming out of Mitzrayim, so we realize how lucky we are to be Hashem’s chosen Yidden and act the way He wants!
Now, when Hashem gave us the Torah of Chassidus, we ALSO need to tell over Chassidishe stories, to remind us of how lucky we are to learn Chassidus and act in a Chassidishe way, which will give us a special chayus in our Avodas Hashem!
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Today’s mitzvah is the same as yesterday’s (Mitzvas Asei #95) — that if a Yid makes a promise and changes his mind, he needs to go to a Rav or Beis Din to do that.
We also learn two more mitzvos, from the next set of halachos in Rambam, halachos about a Nazir.
1) (Mitzvas Asei #92) A Nazir has a mitzvah to let his hair grow. Like we will see in the next mitzvah, it is asur for a Nazir to cut his hair. In this Mitzvas Asei, we learn that it’s not enough for him not to cut it, the Nazir needs to make sure he is letting his hair grow. So, for example, he isn’t allowed to rub cream on his head that keeps hair from growing.
2) (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #209) A Nazir is not allowed to cut off his hair — not even one single hair!
These mitzvos are explained in Gemara, in Mesechta Nazir.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Nedarim - Hilchos Nezirus
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Perek Yud-Gimmel: (This is the last perek of Hilchos Nedarim.) We learn about HOW we take away a promise. At the end of the perek, the Rambam tells us when it’s a GOOD thing to make a neder. A neder can actually help us in our Avodas Hashem!
For example, if someone eats way too much, and not in an aidel way, he can make a promise not to eat any meat for one or two years. If someone drinks too much wine, he can make a neder to only drink wine on Shabbos and Yom Tov for a few years, or he can promise never to get drunk.
Still, we should be careful not to make too many nedarim, so that we don’t forget how serious a neder is in halacha. Nowadays, when we make a hachlata, we should always say that it is bli neder. Even though we are very serious about keeping our hachlata, we want to be extra careful to not ever end up chas veshalom not keeping a neder.
Now we start the next set of halachos, about a SPECIFIC kind of promise — if someone promises to become a Nazir!
Perek Alef: There are things that are asur if someone becomes a Nazir — cutting his hair or eating things made with grapes. A person doesn’t have to say “I will become a nazir” to become one — he can say things like “I will grow my hair,” while thinking that he wants to be a Nazir.
Perek Beis: We learn more about a Nazir’s promise: What happens if he makes the promise by mistake, or because someone forces him, or because of a reason that ends up not being true? In many cases, he is not a Nazir.
One interesting halacha is that a person STAYS a Nazir until they bring their korbanos, and that a Nazir needs to be in Eretz Yisroel. So if someone makes a promise to be a Nazir nowadays, he has to move to Eretz Yisroel and stay a Nazir until the Beis Hamikdash is built and he can bring his korbanos.
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We learn about the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles! We learn when to light, what kind of wicks and oil we should use, and not using the light of the Shabbos candles so we don’t put it out.
Did you know that the Rambam says it’s a halacha to have a Shabbos alarm in a city? This way everyone knows when to stop working and when to light Shabbos candles.
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In Likutei Torah for Parshas Re’eh, there is a famous Maamar “Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li” — about the month of Elul! It is almost Rosh Chodesh Elul, so now is the time to prepare for the new avodah of this special month!
The Alter Rebbe says that in the month of Elul, the Yud-Gimmel Midos Horachamim shine in the world — the same chayus of Hashem that shines on Yom Tov! So why isn’t the whole Elul one long Yom Tov?
To explain this, the Alter Rebbe gives a mashal of a king: Usually, the king is in his palace. If a person wants to go to the King, he needs to wait for a long time for an appointment, and many guards protect the palace and only let in people who deserve to come in.
But sometimes the King comes into the field, where everyone is. He smiles to everyone and helps them with what they need. When the king is in the field, we can just go over the way we are!
The same way, on Yom Tov, it is like the king is in his palace. We need to be prepared, wear special clothes, not touch muktza, and daven special Tefillos to be able to feel the kedusha. But in Elul, the king is in the field — we can feel this special chayus from Hashem even when we’re just doing everyday regular things!
That’s why even though the Yud-Gimmel Midos are shining in Chodesh Elul, it is not a Yom Tov! They are shining in a way of Melech Basodeh, that Hashem is with us the way we are in a regular weekday.
This helps us do the Avodah of Elul, fixing up the way we act even on regular days of the year, and to get ready to have a Shana Tova Umesuka!
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Vezeh Kol Ha’adam — The purpose of a person and the entire Creation, the higher Ruchnius worlds and this Gashmius world, is all that we should make it into a Dira Betachtonim, a place for Hashem!
From this posuk we see that serving Hashem with our own neshama and all of our kochos is also the “neshama” and the purpose of the whole Creation!
When we know this, it will make us feel fulfilled and happy with what we are doing! We realize this is IT! We don’t need to look anywhere else, we are fulfilling the Tachlis of Hashem’s Creation!
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“LaHashem Ha’aretz Um’loah,” the whole world belongs to Hashem. The Gemara tells us that since the whole world is Hashem’s, you are not allowed to enjoy anything in the world without making a bracha first, our way of asking Hashem for permission.
But EVERYTHING in the world is a pleasure! We enjoy being alive, listening to the birds singing, feeling the wind blow through our hair, playing, reading, talking and laughing! The Medrash even says that we should really thank Hashem for every breath we take! Why don’t we need to say a bracha for all of these things?
We find something similar with the mitzvah of sukkah. The mitzvah is to do EVERYTHING in the sukkah during the week of Sukkos. We should sleep, eat, learn, talk, and relax in the Sukkah. But we only make a bracha on one of these things — eating. Why?
The Chachomim told us to make a bracha on eating, which we do regularly and purposely. When we say this bracha, we have in mind all of the other times we keep the mitzvah of living in the sukkah.
The same is with Birchos Hanehenin: We only make a bracha on formal, established pleasures like eating and drinking, and we have in mind everything else we enjoy!
See Yud-Beis Tamuz 5720 sicha 1
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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 Navi Yoel said some very special nevuos about the times of Moshiach! Yesterday we learned that EVERY Yid will have nevuah!
In this posuk we see that Hashem will give this kind of chochmah even to servants!
וְגַם עַל הָעֲבָדִים וְעַל הַשְּׁפָחוֹת בַּיָּמִים הָהֵמָּה אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ אֶת רוּחִי
Vegam Al Ho’avadim — Even on the slaves
Ve’al Hashfachos — And on the maidservants
Bayamim Haheima — In those days of Geulah
Eshpoch Es Ruchi — I will pour My chochmah and understanding of Hashem!
See Yoel perek Gimmel, 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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