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CHUMASH
Parshas Shoftim - Shvi'i with Rashi
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Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Yidden two things: To try to make peace with the Goyim before attacking them, and about the mitzvah of Eglah Arufah.
Hashem promised the Yidden the cities in Eretz Yisroel. So the Yidden need to make sure that the people living there all leave! But if the Yidden are fighting a war with a different city, they have to first ask the people living there if they want to make Shalom (peace) first.
Moshe Rabbeinu tells them what to do if the people DO want to make shalom (they should pay taxes and can continue to live there), and what to do if they DON’T want to make shalom (that the Yidden should then make a war with them).
Still, when they are fighting, they shouldn’t cut down a fruit tree — “Ki HaAdam Eitz HaSadeh?” “Is a tree a person?” Why should you cut down the tree? You are just fighting with the people! Don’t cut down the tree because of Bal Tashchis.
Now Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Yidden about the Eglah Arufah:
If someone finds a person who passed away, lying in a field, and nobody knows who killed him, the Beis Din needs to come and see where it is. They measure to see which city is closest.
The Zekeinim of the closest city take a young cow (eglah) and kill it in a valley where nothing grows, to be a kaparah for the person who was killed. It’s a cow that is young so it never had any children, in a place that doesn’t grow anything — to make up for someone killing a Yid who now can’t “grow” any mitzvos.
The Zekeinim say, “It wasn’t our fault that the person was killed!” And the kohanim say, “Hashem, please forgive the Yidden.” And Hashem forgives them. (Still, if they find the person who did it later, they need to punish him.)
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Today’s kapitelach Tehillim are Yud through Yud-Zayin. (Don’t forget to also say Daled, Hey, and Vov for Chodesh Elul!)
Kapitel Yud-Alef in Tehillim talks about how Hashem brings tzaros to a Tzadik, but really it’s all for his good.
The last posuk says, “Tzadik Hashem Tzedakos Ahev” — Hashem loves giving tzedakah.
When Hashem gave us the Torah, we were able to feel Hashem in the world and help the whole world to know Hashem. That’s the best kind of tzedakah there could be!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Yud
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With all Gashmius things, we need to have the right amount! Too much food is no good, and too little food isn’t good either!
Since mitzvos are in Gashmius, they need to be done just right so we can get chayus from them. That’s why the Shofar has to be made a certain way, and a Lulav has to be a certain size. A Sukkah can’t be too small, and it can’t be too tall!
Tzedakah is also a mitzvah that has a “size!” Tzedakah is a very important mitzvah that brings Chayus to the whole world — it’s one of the mitzvos that the whole world exists because of! (“Al Shlosha Devarim Ha’olam Omeid”) We give a “chomeish” (1/5th of our money) to Tzedakah if we want to do the mitzvah in the best way, or maaser (1/10th of our money) for the basic mitzvah. That is the “size” of the mitzvah of Tzedakah.
Doing the mitzvah with the proper size brings the right amount of chayus of Hashem into the world!
IY”H tomorrow we will see ANOTHER kind of tzedakah that brings a different and stronger chayus of Hashem into the world!
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Every Yid has a treasure of good midos hiding inside. Our job is to inspire ourselves and others to want these kochos to shine!
Imagine that someone you respect tells you that there is a treasure buried in your backyard. He is SURE that it is there, he’s just not sure how deep it is buried. Maybe it is right near the top, or maybe it is very deep down.
Would you go out and start digging?
Every Yid is called an Eretz Cheifetz, a land with treasures buried inside! The treasures in each Yid are the Yiras Shomayim, Ahavas Hashem, and good midos. In some Yidden, they are right there! In other Yidden, they might be harder to find — but they are there FOR SURE.
In the mashal of a buried treasure, we see that some people will go and dig for a few minutes, and then give up and go back inside, while another person will keep on digging until he finds the treasure!
Why? Because that person has patience and is willing to keep trying!
This is true also with the nimshal of a Yid:
If we have patience and keep trying, we will find the first treasure inside of ourselves and other Yidden — the Ratzon that we WANT to be a better Yid. Once we have that first treasure, all of the other treasures will come too, because NOTHING stands in the way of Ratzon! Once someone WANTS to become better, NOTHING can stand in his way!
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Today we are learning the last perek in Sefer Hafla’ah, and starting a new Sefer in Rambam, called Sefer Zera’im! In this new sefer, we will learn all about the mitzvos of planting!
We learn one last mitzvah about Cherem (Mitzvas Lo Saasei #111): That a person is not allowed to change his mind about a field he made into Cherem. He cannot decide instead to redeem it by giving as much as it is worth, like he can if he promises his field to the Beis Hamikdash. If he gives his field in a way of plain Cherem, the actual field goes to the kohen and he can’t redeem it.
We learn this mitzvah from Parshas Bechukosai: לֹא יִמָּכֵר וְלֹא יִגָּאֵל
(Mitzvas Lo Saasei #215): We also learn a mitzvah about Kilayim, mixing seeds: In Eretz Yisroel, we aren’t allowed to plant two kinds of seeds together.
We learn this mitzvah from Parshas Kedoshim: שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרַע כִּלְאָיִם
The details are explained in Mesechta Kilayim.
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RAMBAM
Hilchos Erchin V'Charamin - Hilchos Kela'im
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In Rambam, we learn the rest of the halachos about donations to the Beis Hamikdash.
Perek Ches: On Tes-Vov Adar (Shushan Purim), the Beis Din checks on the donations they got all year for the Beis Hamikdash and puts the money together with the Machtzis Hashekel they just collected, so it will be ready to use for all of the things the Beis Hamikdash will need. All of the things that were given need to be sold, because the Beis Hamikdash will only use the money!
Mazel Tov! We just finished learning Sefer Hafla’ah! Now we start learning the next sefer, Sefer Zera’im, which begins with the halachos of Kilayim:
Perek Alef: We learn about two kinds of Kilayim, things we are not allowed to mix. There are Kilai Zeraim, different kinds of seeds or plants which are not allowed to be planted together, and Kilai Ilanos, different kinds of trees that are not allowed to be forced to grow into one tree.
The mitzvah of Kilai Zeraim is only in Eretz Yisrael, but Kilai Ilanos, forcing two kinds of trees to grow into one tree, is asur everywhere. But even though we can’t GROW those kind of trees, we ARE allowed to eat fruit that grew from them!
Perek Beis: What happens if someone realizes that his field was by mistake planted with different kinds of seeds? How can he fix it? There are many halachos about what to do!
Every year, the Beis Din reminds everyone to check their fields to make sure there is no Kilayim. On Tes-Vov Adar (like with Erkin), the Beis Din comes around to check everyone’s fields!
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Today we learn more of the Melachos that we are not allowed to do on Shabbos. We learn about shechting an animal, taking off the skin, cutting it, and writing on it. One halacha we learn about writing is that a person can only be punished if they wrote at least two letters.
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A group of students once came to the Rebbe for Yechidus a few days before Rosh Hashana.
The Rebbe told them that they should know that time is such a special present from Hashem! Before Rosh Hashana especially, we need to think about this present and make a hachlata to always use our time in the best way.
“You are very young,” the Rebbe told them. “Hashem gives young people a koach to do lots of good things with lots of energy! But you only stay young for a certain amount of time. Remember to use this special koach as much as you can!”
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Who made the brachos of bentching?
R’ Nachman, an Amora, tells us in Mesechta Brachos. Today we will learn where the fourth bracha comes from:
It is because of a very sad story from the time of the Churban, but with a neis at the end.
The Yidden in Beitar, a city in Eretz Yisroel, had an interesting minhag. When a baby boy was born, they would plant a certain kind of tree, and when a baby girl was born they would plant another type. When the children grew up and were ready to get married, they would cut down “their” tree and use it to make the chuppah.
A princess, the daughter of Hadrian the Caesar, was once traveling through Beitar. On her trip, a part of the wagon wheel broke. Her servants, not knowing that the trees were special, cut one down to fix the wheel. The Yidden of Beitar got angry and attacked them, and the servants told Hadrian that the Yidden were rebelling.
Hadrian right away sent an army of soldiers to attack Beitar.
But in Beitar, there was a very powerful general named Bar Kochba. Bar Kochba made his soldiers prove that they were very strong and brave!
Bar Kochba was so strong himself that when the enemy would shoot huge stones at the city, he would catch them and throw them back at the Romans!
Hadrian tried to attack the city for three and a half years, but couldn’t beat Bar Kochba and his soldiers. He was going to give up and go back to Rome, but then one of the enemies of the Yidden came and told Hadrian the real reason why the Yidden could not be beaten:
In Beitar, an old tzadik, R’ Elazar, fasted and davened during this entire time. He asked Hashem not to let Beitar be captured.
This man told Hadrian that he would fix the problem. He came and pretended to whisper something into R’ Elazar’s ear while he was davening. When Bar Kochba heard, he asked the man what he said, but he refused to tell. Bar Kochba then asked R’ Elazar what he said, but R’ Elazar hadn’t heard anything. Bar Kochba got angry at him and kicked him, and R’ Elazar passed away.
That day, the Romans attacked Beitar again, and this time they were able to capture the city and Bar Kochba was killed. The Romans angrily killed everyone they could find in the city.
Hadrian was so angry that Beitar had won against him for so long that he wouldn’t even let the Yidden bury the people who were killed for many years.
Finally, fifteen years later, on Chamisha-Asar B’Av, the Yidden were allowed to bury the people.
Hashem had made a neis! All of the bodies of the Yidden from Beitar were still perfectly whole, and the Yidden were able to bury them with proper kavod.
To thank Hashem for this neis, a fourth bracha was added to bentching, Hatov Vehameitiv, speaking about the goodness of Hashem.
See Gemara Brachos daf Mem-Ches amud beis, Gemara Gittin daf Nun-Zayin
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If we have a Ha’eitz and a Ha’adamah food in front of us, it is usually better to make the bracha Ha’eitz first, since it is a more specific bracha. But if we LIKE the Ha’adamah food more, or we WANT it more (“Choviv”), we make the bracha on the Ha’adamah food before.
This is a detail in the halachos of “Kadimah Bebrachos,” which brachos are made first, which we will IY”H learn more about later.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Seder Birchos Hanehenin perek Yud
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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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Ovadiah was a ger from the nation of Edom, the nation of Eisav. Even though he was an officer in the palace of the wicked Achav and Izevel, he saved 100 neviim from being killed. Hashem rewarded him by making him a Navi!
Since Ovadiah was from Edom, Hashem gave Ovadiah the zechus of saying the nevuos about the end of the nation of Edom, in the times of the Geulah.
This posuk might sound familiar, because we say it every day at the end of Az Yashir!
וְעָלוּ מוֹשִׁעִים בְּהַר צִיּוֹן לִשְׁפֹּט אֶת הַר עֵשָׂו וְהָיְתָה לַה׳ הַמְּלוּכָה
Ve’alu Moshi’im Behar Tzion — Moshiach, who saves the Yidden, will go up together with his officers from the mountain of Yerushalayim
Lishpot Es Har Eisav — They will go to Har Se’ir, the mountain of Eisav, to punish them for the terrible things they did to the Yidden
Vehaysa LaHashem Hamelucha — And then Hashem’s melucha will be complete, since everyone will agree that Hashem is the King of the entire world!
See Ovadiah perek Alef posuk Chof-Alef
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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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