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CHUMASH
Parshas Shoftim - Chamishi with Rashi
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Moshe Rabbeinu explains to the Yidden what is a true Navi, and a Navi Sheker. Moshe also tells the Yidden about separating Arei Miklat, and that an Ir Miklat doesn’t save a person who killed on purpose!
Hashem doesn’t let us try to figure out the future by asking magicians or people who use Tumah to tell us about what will happen later. Still, Hashem DOES give us ways to know what will happen in the future when it is needed. Hashem tells a Navi what will happen, and the Navi tells the rest of the Yidden. A Navi can tell us what Hashem wants us to do, and warn us that we need to do Teshuvah so that not good things won’t happen.
But if someone is a Navi Sheker, a FAKE Navi, he needs to be punished by the Beis Din! We know that someone is a fake Navi if they say what will happen later and then it doesn’t happen, or if they say that Hashem wants us to do an aveira.
Moshe Rabbeinu also reminds the Yidden what they learned before about the Ir Miklat: In Eretz Yisroel, we have to set up Arei Miklat, cities that are a safe place for someone who killed a person by mistake. The person can run there, and then the family of the person who was killed (the Goel Hadam) won’t hurt him.
But if someone killed a person ON PURPOSE, it doesn’t help to stay in an Ir Miklat — we send him out, because he needs to get punished by the Beis Din.
In today’s Chumash, we have a mitzvah that will be kept for the first time only when Moshiach comes! The Torah tells us that when Hashem makes Eretz Yisroel bigger, which will only happen when Moshiach comes, we will need to add three more Arei Miklat.
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Today we are finishing the entire Sefer Tehillim, kapitelach Kuf-Mem-Hey to Kuf-Nun!
The first kapitel of today’s Tehillim is very special! It starts with the words “Tehillah LeDovid,” which is the third posuk of Ashrei. We say Ashrei three times every day in davening! (Twice in Shacharis and once in Mincha.) Ashrei goes in the order of the Alef-Beis — one posuk for each letter (except for Nun).
The posuk that starts with Zayin is “Zecher Rav Tuvcha Yabiu.”
There is a long maamar of the Alter Rebbe in his “Siddur Im Dach” (Siddur with maamorim of Chassidus) that explains this posuk. (The Rebbe tells us about this maamar in today’s Hayom Yom!)
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Tes
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The Alter Rebbe tells us today how important the mitzvah of tzedakah is for us, especially now, before the Geulah!
In Eilu Devarim (at the end of morning Brachos) we talk about some of the mitzvos and the reward we get for them. One of these mitzvos is Gemilus Chasadim, which is tzedakah. The last thing it says is “VeSalmud Torah Keneged Kulam” — learning Torah is worth as much as ALL of them together! So we see that Torah learning is greater than tzedakah.
The Alter Rebbe says that this was only in the time of the Gemara, when the main mitzvah was learning Torah, and there were many great Chachomim, Tannaim and Amoraim. But nowadays, in order to bring Moshiach, TZEDAKAH is the most important!
The Rebbe explains that what the Torah says, “Vesalmud Torah Keneged Kulam,” doesn’t ever chas veshalom change. It is just that the situation can change! For example, in halacha, it says that if there is a mitzvah that nobody else can do, we need to stop learning Torah in order to do it. The Alter Rebbe is saying here that according to the Torah, because of the situation in Ruchnius and Gashmius in the time right before Moshiach comes, the most important mitzvah to do is the mitzvah of tzedakah!
This letter is another one of the letters the Alter Rebbe sent with the shluchim who would go around each year collecting money for the Yidden in Eretz Yisroel, to inspire the Chassidim to give more.
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We start saying Ledovid Hashem Ori today in davening! It is the minhag of the Rebbeim to practice blowing the Shofar — just one time — during the day. Tomorrow we will start blowing the shofar after davening.
We learned earlier in the Hayom Yom about how the Alter Rebbe’s maamorim started off as short pieces, called “verter,” and later became longer and longer until the Alter Rebbe was saying long maamorim.
The Mitteler Rebbe was the next generation of Chassidus after the Alter Rebbe — and the Chassidus was on a whole new level! The Mitteler Rebbe’s Chassidus is called “Rechovas Hanahar” — the wideness of the river. His maamorim took the inyonim that the Alter Rebbe first taught, and explained them very well, with lots of long mashalim.
The Mitteler Rebbe’s maamorim are explaining the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim — but they are much longer! You can find maamorim in the Alter Rebbe’s Torah Ohr and Likutei Torah that are just a few pages long. When the Mitteler Rebbe explained these maamorim, they were TENS of pages long!
Today the Rebbe tells us that even the Mitteler Rebbe’s maamorim didn’t start off so long in the beginning. It took time! In the beginning, the Mitteler Rebbe said short maamorim. For example, he chazered a maamar of the Alter Rebbe that is printed in the “Siddur Im Dach,” on the posuk “Zecher Rav Tuvcha” (which is in today’s Tehillim). When he chazered it, it was in six parts, with some explanation, but only a little bit more than is printed in the siddur.
(If you look in the maamarim of the Mitteler Rebbe, you can see that in the first year he was Rebbe, there was a maamar “Zecher Rav Tuvcha,” which maybe is the maamar today’s Hayom Yom is speaking about!)
One of the things we can learn from this helps us in our avodah in Chodesh Elul. We can remember that we have a month to prepare, and we don’t have to do it all at once! It will take us time! At the beginning, our teshuvah might start out small, but it can get bigger and bigger and more and more until we are SURE we fixed up the past year and we’re ready for a Shana Tova Umesuka!
We also see this in the minhag of blowing the Shofar. We don’t start off right away tomorrow blowing the shofar perfectly, on the first day of Rosh Chodesh we practice. On the second day we will already be able to blow the shofar properly!
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In Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn about three of the many kinds of presents a person can give to the Beis Hamikdash. The mitzvah is to follow the halachos if we give these kinds of presents.
We learn all of these mitzvos from pesukim in Parshas Bechukosai:
1) (Mitzvas Asei #115) If someone gives a non-kosher animal (like a horse), or an animal that has a mum and can’t be brought as a korban, he needs to follow the halachos of how it can be given as a present.
The words of the Torah we learn this from are: וְהֶעֱמִיד אֶת הַבְּהֵמָה לִפְנֵי הַכֹּהֵן וְהֶעֱרִיךְ הַכֹּהֵן אֹתָהּ
We learn the details of this mitzvah in Mesechta Temurah and Me’ilah.
2) (Mitzvas Asei #116) If someone promises to give a house to the Beis Hamikdash he has to follow the halachos of how this present is given.
We learn this from the words: וְאִישׁ כִּי יַקְדִּשׁ אֶת בֵּיתוֹ קֹדֶשׁ לַה׳ וְהֶעֱרִיכוֹ הַכֹּהֵן
The Gemara explains the details of this mitzvah and the next one in Mesechta Erkim.
3) (Mitzvas Asei #117) If someone promises to give a field to the Beis Hamikdash he has to keep the halachos of how to give it as a present.
We learn this mitzvah from the words: וְאִם מִשְּׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּתוֹ וגו׳ וְאִם אֶת שְׂדֵה מִקְנָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר לֹא מִשְּׂדֵה אֲחֻזָּתוֹ וגו׳
We learn the halachos about this mitzvah in today’s Rambam; we will IY”H learn about houses and animals in tomorrow’s Rambam.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Erchin V'Charamin
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In Rambam, we are learning more halachos about someone who promises to make a donation to the Beis Hamikdash, as much as someone is worth. We also start learning the halachos about if someone donates a field.
Perek Beis: We learn about someone who says they want to give as much as PART of a person is worth (like his arms), or how much a person weighs. At the end of the perek, we learn halachos of different rooms in the Beis Hamikdash that were used for different kinds of donations.
Perek Gimmel: What if I promised to give as much as my baby brother is worth to the Beis Hamikdash — and didn’t actually give it until my brother was older? Do I give as much as a baby is worth, or how much a kid is worth? The Rambam teaches us that the amount is based on when he made the promise to give, not when the Beis Din wants to take it. We also learn what happens if someone can’t afford to give the donation in the end, or if his present was lost or stolen. Sometimes the Beis Din needs to take his things instead of his money.
Perek Daled: Now we learn the halachos of someone donating his field to the Beis Hamikdash. There are two kinds of fields — a Sedei Achuzah that someone got as a yerusha (like after his parents passed away) or a Sedei Mikna that a person bought or got from hefker.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn many of the Lamed-Tes Melachos that we started in the last perek of yesterday’s Rambam! We learn about not cooking, or even putting something near a warm place so it will cook too. We learn about not cutting hair or nails, cleaning or drying clothes, and weaving.
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The month of Elul is a “safety zone” for us to fix things up, to prepare to be bentched with a Shana Tova!
We learn about the Ir Miklat in today’s Chumash.
If someone kills another person by mistake, he runs away to the Ir Miklat, where he will be safe.
When a person does an aveira by mistake, it’s like he is “killing” (R”L) the neshama. Hashem gives us a chance to go to an “Ir Miklat” in the days of Elul. Doing the avodah of the month of Elul keeps us safe, like an Ir Miklat!
That’s why the words the Torah uses to teach us about an Ir Miklat are “Ina Leyado Vesamti Lecha.” If a person killed someone else by mistake, Hashem gives him a place to go. These words are also the Roshei Teivos of the word Elul!
There are many Roshei Teivos for the word Elul, which teach us lessons about what to do during this month. This posuk teaches us to learn Torah, which is also like an Ir Miklat — like the Chachomim say, “Divrei Torah Koltin,” the words of Torah save!
If we stay in the Ir Miklat by using the time to do Teshuvah and learn Torah, it will keep us safe from any not good things, and Hashem will send us a Shana Tova Umesuka!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Beis, p. 623
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We are going to start learning about the meaning of Birchas Hamazon.
Most of the brachos that we make are from the words of the Chachomim, except for two.
One is the bracha which we say before learning Torah, Birchas HaTorah. The other is Birchas Hamazon, which we say after we eat bread and are full. Both of these are straight from the Torah.
In Birchas Hamazon, there are four brachos. The Gemara in Mesechta Brachos tells us about these four brachos, and shows that they are hinted to in the posuk that tells us to say Birchas Hamazon!
IY”H we will learn about all of these brachos: Where they come from, why we say them, and what they mean. We will learn about the kavana we should have when we bentch!
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There is an important rule about brachos: “Sofeik Brachos Lehokel.” That means that if there is a sofeik, a doubt about a bracha, we are not strict to say another bracha.
What does that mean?
The halachos about brachos can sometimes be complicated. In halacha, sometimes it is not clear if a person needs to say a certain bracha or not. This is called a sofeik, a doubt. In these cases, the Chachomim say, “Sofeik Brachos Lehokel!” Since by saying a bracha that maybe we don’t need to say, we are possibly saying Hashem’s name for no reason, we DON’T say the bracha that we are not sure about.
But this is only where there is a sofeik in the halacha. It doesn’t mean when WE are not sure about a bracha! If we aren’t sure what bracha to make, we need to go learn the halachos or ask someone who did! Only where the Chachomim weren’t sure about a bracha do we follow this rule.
See Birchos Hanehenin, perek Alef, se’if Gimmel and Daled
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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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We learned in today’s Chumash (Chamishi of Parshas Shoftim) that Hashem gives Yidden Neviim who will tell us the future, and that we should listen to them. One of the main things that the Neviim tell Yidden about is the Geulah that will come through Moshiach! They tell it to us so that our Emunah will be strong, and so that we will do what we need to in order to bring the Geulah sooner!
In our time, the Rebbe tells us that the Geulah is very near, and one of the things we need to do to prepare is to learn the parts of Torah which tell us about Geulah. According to this hora’ah, we have been learning the nevuos from Torah Shebichsav that tell us about the time of the Geulah. We are up to the part of Trei Asar by the Navi Amos.
At the end of his sefer, the Navi Amos tells us some beautiful nevuos about the Geulah!
In the last posuk of the sefer Amos, the Navi tells us that when Moshiach comes, it will be a Geulah that lasts FOREVER. There will never be another Golus!
Hashem promises:
וּנְטַעְתִּים עַל אַדְמָתָם וְלֹא יִנָּתְשׁוּ עוֹד מֵעַל אַדְמָתָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם אָמַר ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ
Unetatim Al Admasam — I will “plant” the Yidden like a tree which doesn’t move, on their land.
Velo Yinaseshu Od — And they won’t be uprooted anymore
Me’al Admasam Asher Nasati Lahem — From their land which I gave them (meaning that they won’t ever be sent into Golus again)!
Amar Hashem Elokecha — So says Hashem Your Aibershter!
See Amos perek Tes posuk Tes-Vov
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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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