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CHUMASH
Parshas Re'eh - Revi'i with Rashi
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Moshe is farbrenging more with the Yidden, reminding them how special they are so they will keep all the mitzvos!
Yidden, you are children! You are children of Hashem!
You are different than the Goyim, so do not act like them.
Don’t hurt yourself or cut off all your hair like Goyim may
To show how sad they are when someone passes away.
You have Kedusha from the Avos! And Hashem picked ONLY YOU!
You are such a special nation — so you should LOOK special too!
Don’t eat things Hashem tells us are not so nice to eat —
Like animals that don’t chew their cuds or do not have split feet.
(Moshe tells the Yidden now which animals ARE fine
And which ones to be careful of, since they have just ONE sign.)
Make sure fish are kosher, ones with fins and scales can stay.
And except for birds the Torah lists, all birds are okay.
Bugs are not kosher either, don’t eat them even if they’re small.
And an animal that wasn’t shechted isn’t good for us at all!
We are holy to Hashem, so only kosher things we eat.
Also, don’t forget that we can’t mix milk with meat!
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Today’s kapitelach are Kuf-Vov and Kuf-Zayin.
Kapitel Kuf-Zayin starts with the words “Hodu LaHashem Ki Tov, Ki LeOlam Chasdo!” “Thank Hashem because He is good, His kindness is forever!”
The first word is “Hodu,” which means to thank. But it also means something else! Hodu also means to “admit.”
What are we admitting to?
The Tzemach Tzedek explains that we know that Hashem is creating the world EVERY SECOND and is here inside us EVERY MOMENT. But we don’t see it! So we need to admit that it’s true anyway.
But when Moshiach comes, we won’t have to admit it anymore — we will all be able to see it!
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TANYA
Igeres Hakodesh Siman Zayin
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The chayus of Hashem is brought into the world for the Yidden to keep Torah and mitzvos, so the chayus is split up into as many “parts” as there are Yidden!
“Ashreinu Mah Tov Chelkeinu!” “We are so fortunate, our chelek (part) is so good!” In yesterday’s Tanya, the Alter Rebbe showed us that we can ask many questions about the word “Chelkeinu,” our chelek. What is our chelek? Also, the Chachomim use this same word, Chelek, about Hashem. What does it mean that there are separate parts of Hashem?
In today’s Tanya, the Alter Rebbe explains that the Ha’arah, the ray of Hashem that shines in the world, CAN be split up into parts. We also will learn the connection between the chelek of Hashem and the chelek that each Yid has in Torah and mitzvos!
The chayus of Hashem is very strong. If it would all come into the world at once, the world wouldn’t be able to handle it! So Hashem sends the world “pieces” of chayus, through the Torah.
What are these “pieces”? There are 613 main pieces, one for each of the 613 mitzvos! Each of those mitzvos is split up into many parts too, a part for each halacha about that mitzvah. Since the halachos about each mitzvah have no end (Ein Sof), there is also no end to the pieces of chayus that come down into the world!
Since the reason for the creation of the world is so that Yidden can do mitzvos, our neshamos are also split up in the same way! The neshama of Adam Harishon had 613 main “parts,” and from the parts of that neshama came the neshamos of the Avos and the Shevatim and all of the Yidden until Moshiach comes!
Then, in the times of the Geulah, we will see what the Navi Hoshea said in his nevuah, that the Yidden will be too many to count!
So we see that the neshamos of the Yidden are also split up like the chayus of Hashem which comes into the world through the mitzvos: 613 main parts, which are split up into so many that they won’t be able to be counted!
So we see that there is the idea of a “chelek,” a part, both in Elokus (by Hashem), in Torah and mitzvos, and in neshamos of Yidden!
This will help us understand the posuk “Ashreinu, Mah Tov Chelkeinu” — we are so fortunate for the chelek (part) that we have.
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In today’s Hayom Yom, we learn about the importance of cleanliness in Avodas Hashem.
Do you say brachos in the morning? You probably know that you need to wash a second Negel Vasser first, but there’s something else you need to wash too — your mouth! The Rebbe Rashab said that we should make sure to rinse out our mouths before brachos every day! (Except on a fast day.)
The Rebbe chose the Hayom Yoms from sichos or letters of the Frierdiker Rebbe. This Hayom Yom comes from a letter that the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote to the hanhala of the Mechinos (Yeshivos) of Tomchei Temimim in Warsaw. In the letter, the Frierdiker Rebbe was telling the hanhala how important it is for the bochurim to have cleanliness.
In the letter, the Frierdiker Rebbe told a story that happened with the Rebbe Rashab, showing how important this is:
The Rebbe Rashab was the Nasi of Tomchei Temimim, but the Frierdiker Rebbe was the Menahel Poel, in charge of running it. The Frierdiker Rebbe would give a report to the Rebbe Rashab every month, and the Rebbe Rashab would give horaos based on the report.
Once there was a Talmid in Tomchei Temimim who had bad breath. He didn’t brush his teeth, and he didn’t go to the dentist. A Mashgiach in the Yeshivah told the bochur to go to the dentist, but he didn’t want to go.
The Mashgiach told the Frierdiker Rebbe, who called in the bochur to speak to him. The Frierdiker Rebbe also told this bochur to go to the dentist, but he still didn’t listen.
A little while later, the Frierdiker Rebbe called him in again, telling him that what he was doing was wrong, and that he needs to get his teeth cleaned. Unfortunately, this bochur still refused to go.
In the next report about Tomchei Temimim, the Frierdiker Rebbe had to also write about this.
The Rebbe Rashab answered this part of the report in writing. The Rebbe Rashab wrote that in the Gemara, it says that bad breath is called a mum when someone wants to get married. It is a very serious thing in halacha! If someone has bad breath that could be fixed, but doesn’t want to do anything about it, that is a real problem. Even though this is a very good bochur, he should be warned that unless he works on fixing this problem, he will not be able to stay in Tomchei Temimim.
The Frierdiker Rebbe called in this bochur and showed him what the Rebbe Rashab wrote. That day, the bochur went to the dentist, and became a normal healthy bochur.
In one of the farbrengens in Tof-Shin-Chof-Hey (the year of aveilus for Rebbetzin Chana), when the Rebbe farbrenged very often, the Rebbe spoke about this letter.
The Rebbe said that even though davening is our neshama connecting to Hashem, our body needs to be clean also! That includes brushing our teeth every day except for Shabbos and Yom Tov.
The Rebbe added that since this is a clear hora’ah from the Rebbeim, the Yetzer Hara will try to stop it! But this is part of our Avodas Hashem — to brush our teeth every day.
See sicha Parshas Mishpatim Tof-Shin-Chof-Hey (Hisvaaduyos)
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Today’s mitzvah is that if we say we are going to do something, we have to do it!
We learn this from the words of a posuk in Parshas Ki Seitzei: מוֹצָא שְׂפָתֶיךָ תִּשְׁמֹר וְעָשִׂיתָ
This means “The words of your mouth you should guard and keep.”
So if someone says he will give tzedakah, bring a korban, or makes a shevuah or a neder, he has a mitzvah to keep his word. (That’s why we are careful to say “bli neder,” so that we will not do this aveira.)
The halachos of this mitzvah are explained in Gemara: Mesechta Shevuos, Nedarim, Menachos, and Kinim.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn the first perakim of Hilchos Nedarim!
Perek Alef: There are two different kinds of Neder. One of them is deciding that something will be asur for you. For example, if someone makes a neder not to eat bananas, bananas become asur for him. The second kind is promising to give something to Hashem, like promising to bring a korban.
There are certain words that need to be used when making a neder.
Perek Beis: There are special halachos if someone makes a Neder for another person, and then that person answers amen. A person can also make a neder with a condition — he says he will only do it IF something happens. At the end of the perek, the Rambam explains that making something hefker (saying that it doesn’t belong to anyone right now) is like a Neder, and you can’t change your mind.
Perek Gimmel: the Rambam explains what is different about a Shevuah and a Neder, and the halachos that are different for each kind.
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Today we start a new sefer in Rambam! The first set of halachos in Sefer Zmanim is Hilchos Shabbos.
If a person does a melacha on Shabbos, is he doing an aveira from the Torah, or an aveira from the Chachomim? (Of course both are asur!) To be punished by the Beis Din for doing a melacha, one of the halachos is that he needs to have kavanah, to WANT to do the melacha.
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The Rebbe told a story about his father, HoRav HaKadosh R’ Levi Yitzchak Nishmaso Eden (whose yartzeit was on Chof Menachem Av):
It was getting closer to Pesach. In Yekatrinoslav, one of the biggest cities in Ukraine, the government officials knew that soon the Yidden would be looking for matzah.
Back then, the Russian government owned EVERYTHING. Nobody could have their own store, or their own factory, or their own Matzah Bakery. The government would need to arrange for matzah to be baked. Since Yidden would only buy matzah with a hechsher, the government decided to ask HoRav Levi Yitzchak (the Rav in Yekatrinoslav) to say that it was kosher.
HoRav Levi Yitzchak agreed — but when he explained how they would need to make the matzah Shmurah, they didn’t want to follow all of the rules. It would cost the government more money and be complicated to make the matzah properly! They wanted HoRav Levi Yitzchak to give a hechsher even without doing it right. They tried to convince HoRav Levi Yitzchak to agree.
The Russian government in that time would give people very big punishments, even for little things. (This actually happened to HoRav Levi Yitzchak later in his life, and he passed away early because of it.) Everyone had to listen to exactly what they said — or else!
Even though the Russian government was so powerful and so scary, HoRav Levi Yitzchak didn’t think about what would happen. He knew that it wasn’t right to give a hechsher to matzah that wasn’t made exactly the way halacha teaches. He told the government that he did NOT agree!
Really, that would have been enough for HoRav Levi Yitzchak to deserve a huge punishment! How dare he tell the government that he won’t do what they told him to!
But instead of punishing him, they said that they can’t follow all of his rules unless they get permission from the higher officials in Moscow. They sent him there to ask himself.
HoRav Levi Yitzchak traveled to Moscow, and told the government officials there firmly what he needs in oreder to give a hechsher. Amazingly, they agreed to what he said! They wrote an order that all of the mills where they grind the flour for matzah have to follow the rules that Rabbi Schneerson gives — even if it ends up being more expensive for them!
What HoRav Levi Yitzchak did sounds CRAZY! How could he think of not listening to the big scary Russian government?
It WAS crazy — but a good kind of crazy. In Chassidus this is called Shtus D’Kedusha. We can learn from here that we should do what we know the Torah wants us to, and not be scared of what might happen! We can be strong even if it sounds meshugah, because we know we are doing the right thing!
For example, if Mommy asked us if we washed negel vasser in the morning but we forgot, we know we need to tell the truth. We don’t think about what’s going to happen — how we will have to stop eating and go wash negel vasser and Mommy might be upset. We just do what we need to do!
Or, for example, a Tatty who needs to learn Torah and go to a shiur, but is scared that if he goes, he might miss a chance to earn a lot of money. He needs to do what the Torah tells him to, and not worry what could happen!
Or a Mommy who was asked by someone to do a favor, and she does it — not thinking about how she might miss a chance to go shopping and get the things she really wanted to.
It might seem crazy to not do something that’s fun or good for us, but if we are doing what Hashem wants us to, that’s a GOOD kind of crazy! That’s Shtus D’Kedusha, which comes from a very deep part of the neshama. Acting in this way brings us special brachos from Hashem!
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The tenth posuk in the Yud-Beis Pesukim is the posuk of Ve’ahavta.
Ve’ahavta Lereiacha Kamocha — You should love your friend like yourself!
Rabbi Akiva Omer — Rabbi Akiva says about this
Zeh Klal Gadol BaTorah — That it is a very important rule in the Torah!
This posuk speaks about the very special mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel!
The Rambam tells us that there are two main ways we keep this mitzvah: We should be as careful with our friend’s kavod as we are with our own kavod, and we should be as careful with our friend’s money as we are with our own money!
A person’s kavod is very important to them. We don’t like being embarrassed in front of other people, or when other people make us feel silly or left out. Part of the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel is to be careful about other people’s kavod too! We should be careful not to embarrass other people or make them feel left out.
A person’s money is also important to them. We don’t like if people ruin our things, or make us spend money that we worked hard to earn for no reason. Part of Ahavas Yisroel is being careful with other people’s money too! We should be careful with their toys and their books, and not make them spend money when they don’t want to.
Even though, as we learned before, this mitzvah includes all of the mitzvos Bein Adam Lechaveiro, the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch bring these two specific things which we learn from this mitzvah itself.
When we do that, we are following one of the lessons of this posuk!
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We do many things to show our kavod for the Sefer Torah.
One of the things we do is to be melaveh (escort), to go along with the Sefer Torah.
Any person who helped do something with the Sefer Torah while it was out of the Aron Kodesh, should escort the Sefer Torah if he is nearby. He should continue walking with it until it is brought to where it belongs.
For example, the person who did Hagbah (lifting up the open Sefer Torah for everyone to see) should go along with the Sefer Torah, back to the Aron Kodesh. The person who did Gelilah (tying and covering the Sefer Torah) should also go together with the Sefer Torah if it is brought back right away (like in Mincha of Shabbos). The person who opens up the Aron Kodesh when the Torah is being brought out should also go along with the Sefer Torah until it is brought to the Bimah.
IY”H tomorrow we will learn how everyone else in the shul is also melaveh the Sefer Torah.
See Shulchan Aruch siman 149, and Piskei Teshuvos vol. 2, p. 208
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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 will learn one more nevuah from Hoshea about the Geulah.
The Navi Hoshea says that when Moshiach comes, Hashem will “roar like a lion” and wake up the Yidden to come back to Eretz Yisroel!
אַחֲרֵי ה׳ יֵלְכוּ כְּאַרְיֵה יִשְׁאָג כִּי הוּא יִשְׁאַג וְיֶחֶרְדוּ בָנִים מִיָּם
Acharei Hashem Yeilchu — In the times of the Geulah, the Yidden will all follow Hashem
Ke’aryeh Yish’ag — The way all of the animals of the forest come when the lion (king of the animals) roars
Ki Hu Yish’ag — Because Hashem will “roar” and wake up the hearts of Yidden
Veyecherdu Vanim Miyam — And the Yidden — Hashem’s children — will hurry from the places of their Golus, to the Geulah!
See Hoshea perek Yud-Alef posuk Yud, with Metzudos
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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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