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CHUMASH
Parshas Bamidbar - Shishi with Rashi
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Hashem tells Moshe to count all of the bechorim, the firstborns of the other Shevatim, who are at least 1 month old. This is to make sure that there is someone from Shevet Levi working in the Mishkan instead of each bechor.
Hashem also tells Moshe that instead of the Yidden bringing their firstborn donkeys to Hashem, they should “trade” those donkeys for a lamb that will be given to Shevet Levi.
Now Moshe counted the firstborns, and found 22,273 bechorim.
We learned yesterday that there were 22,300 Leviim, but only 22,000 of them could work in the Mishkan instead of a bechor. That’s because 300 of the Leviim were bechorim themselves! That left 273 bechorim who didn’t have a Levi working instead of them.
So what should the extra 273 bechorim do? They should pay Shevet Levi 5 shekels (20 gera), the same amount that Yosef (who was Rachel’s bechor) was sold for.
How did Moshe decide WHICH bechorim need to pay? He made a goral (a lottery), with 22,273 pieces of paper, for the 22,273 bechorim. 22,000 of those papers said “Levi”, and 273 pieces of paper said “5 shekel.” Every bechor picked one piece of paper. If his paper said “Levi,” then someone from Shevet Levi would be working instead of him. If his paper said “5 shekel,” he needed to pay 5 shekel to Shevet Levi.
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In today’s Tehillim we have Kapitel Kuf-Lamed-Vov (136), which has 26 pesukim. That’s the same number of generations from Adam Harishon until Matan Torah! The 4-letter name of Hashem (Yud-Kay-Vov-Kay) has a Gematriya of 26, too!
We say this kapitel before Baruch She’amar on Shabbos and Yom Tov. If you look in the Siddur, it has the letters of Hashem’s name in the right place — after the first 10 pesukim there is the letter Yud, after the next 5 pesukim the letter Hey, then 6 pesukim later Vov, and after the last 5 pesukim there is another Hey.
Each of the pesukim end with the words “Ki Le’olam Chasdo” — Hashem does all of the things it says in the pesukim “because Hashem’s kindness is forever.”
The fourth posuk is “Le’oseh Niflaos Gedolos Levado” — Hashem does nissim Himself. What is this posuk telling us? Of course Hashem doesn’t need any help! The Chachomim tell us that these are nissim that we don’t even KNOW about — Hashem does nissim that only HE knows about, and is always watching over and protecting us!
(We also say this posuk before Hakafos on Simchas Torah!)
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Nun-Beis
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Yesterday we learned that the Chayus which Hashem gives to the world comes through the Shechinah.
We learned before many of the names of the Shechinah, and today the Alter Rebbe tells us one more: “Dvar Hashem” or “Ruach Piv” — meaning the words of Hashem.
When someone says something, they show somebody something that they were thinking, that was hidden inside them. When they say it, the other person sees what they were thinking!
The Shechinah is the way Hashem makes the world, which lets us see Elokus, Hashem’s chayus!
Like we said yesterday, the Shechinah by itself is too strong for the world, so it has to be covered over by the Chochmah of Hashem, Torah. Since the Torah has a lot to do with Gashmius, things we can hear and see and feel and touch, we can handle it!
Now the Alter Rebbe tells us that there are a lot of steps before the Chochmah of Hashem, the Torah, can connect to Gashmius. Today we learn about the first “stop,” Beriyah. Many malachim and neshamos are created there, and the part of the Torah that is the reasons for the mitzvos, called “Talmud”, also come from there.
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Today is forty-three days of the Omer!
After the Mitteler Rebbe passed away, the Tzemach Tzedek didn’t want to become Rebbe. For a year and a half, the Tzemach Tzedek said maamorim and had Yechidus with Chassidim. He said that he was doing it only to help people, and not as a Rebbe.
Because of the story in today’s Hayom Yom, the Tzemach Tzedek agreed to become Rebbe:
During the Shloshim (the first 30 days) after the Alter Rebbe passed away, the Alter Rebbe came to the Tzemach Tzedek, like in a dream. The Alter Rebbe told him a maamar that started with the words “Al Shloshah Devarim” (from the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos).
Then the Alter Rebbe told him what the Chachomim say about the posuk “Isha Ki Sazria,” that a father has a special connection with his daughter, and a mother has a special connection with her son.
The Alter Rebbe said: A father has a special connection with his daughter — that’s your mother (Rebbetzin Devorah Leah). A mother has a special connection with her son — that’s you (the Tzemach Tzedek).
This shows the special connection that the Tzemach Tzedek had with the Alter Rebbe, through his mother Rebbetzin Devorah Leah!
This dream happened right after the histalkus of the Alter Rebbe, but for many years, the Tzemach Tzedek did not know the reason for the dream. Only after the histalkus of the Mitteler Rebbe did the purpose of this dream become clear.
A year and a half after the histalkus of the Mitteler Rebbe, on Erev Shavuos, a group of chassidim came to the Tzemach Tzedek to ask him to become Rebbe. One of them, a Chossid by the name of Reb Peretz Chernigover, asked if he could share a proof that the Tzemach Tzedek should take the Nesius. After he was given permission to speak, Reb Peretz said that the Tzemach Tzedek has a very strong connection to the Alter Rebbe: His mother was the Alter Rebbe’s daughter, and like the Chachomim say, there is a special connection between a father and his daughter, and a mother to her son.
This reminded the Tzemach Tzedek of his dream.
Then the Tzemach Tzedek again saw the Alter Rebbe, who told him that he should take the Nesius, and he should say over the maamar “Al Shlosha Devarim.” And that’s how the Tzemach Tzedek agreed to take the Nesius and become the Rebbe!
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In Sefer Hamitzvos, we learn (Mitzvas Asei #147) that after a kosher wild animal (chaya) or a bird (oif) is shechted, we need to cover the blood with dirt.
We learn this mitzvah from a posuk in Parshas Acharei: וְשָׁפַךְ אֶת דָּמוֹ וְכִסָּהוּ בֶּעָפָר
The details are explained in Mesechta Chulin perek Vov.
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In today’s Rambam (Perek Vov, Zayin, and Ches), we learn about different things that make an animal a treifah. If the shochet finds out after shechting an animal that it had been hurt or sick, we can’t eat the animal. There are certain parts of the animal that the shochet needs to check, like the lungs (that help the animal breathe). If the animal is missing part of its body, like if one foot is missing, it is also a treifah.
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We start learning about the mitzvah of giving a baby a bris, when he is 8 days old. The halacha is that if the baby is sick, we don’t do the bris right away, because danger for life pushes away all mitzvos. We can do the bris later, when it’s not dangerous for the baby.
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One of the things that Chassidus teaches us is that Yomim Tovim aren’t just about things that happened a long time ago, but every year they happen again in a Ruchnius way! Every year on Pesach Hashem helps us get out of whatever “Mitzrayim” we are stuck in, every year on Rosh Hashana we crown Hashem as King, and every Shavuos Hashem gives us the Torah again!
But that doesn’t just happen by itself. The Maggid of Mezritch teaches that whatever happens in Shomayim, in Ruchniyus, comes from what WE do!
So how do we make sure that Hashem will give us the Torah again this year?
The Chachomim tell us the zechus that the Yidden had at Har Sinai to be able to get the Torah: That they were all there together, with achdus. Since loving the Torah goes together with loving another Yid, having Ahavas Yisroel helped us deserve to have Matan Torah!
As we prepare for Matan Torah, we also need to have that same zechus! We have a mitzvah to have Ahavas Yisroel EVERY day, but now we need to have even MORE Achdus and Ahavas Yisroel. That will make us able to get the Torah again this year!
One of the reasons it can be hard to have Ahavas Yisroel is that people are so different! Some people are fun or nice to be around. Others are not. Some people are helpful, and some people are mean. Some people might be annoying or make us feel uncomfortable.
But all of those things are from the way the person’s body is — what kind of midos they have, where they grew up, or how much they learned. Really, inside every Yid is a neshama that is just the same, because every neshama is a piece of Hashem Himself!
When we don’t only think about how a Yid looks or acts, and remember that they have a neshama just like ours, we will be able to have REAL Ahavas Yisroel!
The Rebbe asked that on the days leading up to Shavuos, and especially the Shabbos before Shavuos, we should DO things that show our Ahavas Yisroel. We should gather groups of Yidden together, even Yidden that are different from each other. Showing that we do feel Achdus and Ahavas Yisroel with all Yidden will help us all to deserve that Hashem will give us the Torah again this year, and that we will receive it Besimcha UbePnimius!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Beis Parshas Bamidbar, and Shabbosim leading up to Shavuos, Tof-Shin-Mem-Vov
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The Chachomim set up the words of davening to help us express ourselves properly when we stand before Hashem three times a day.
The first three and last three brachos of Shemoneh Esrei praise and thank Hashem. In the middle 13 brachos, we ask for our needs. These 13 brachos are divided into two sections: The first half ask Hashem to help us have a Geulah Protis, and the second half ask Hashem to give us a Geulah Klolis.
The Geulah Klolis is when all Yidden are taken out of this Golus. The Geulah Protis is when we are free of the Golus inside of us — all of the things that stop us from doing our Avodas Hashem properly. Problems with health, parnasa, and our own Yetzer Haras make it hard for us to serve Hashem. In the first half of these middle brachos, we ask Hashem to free us from them.
The first of these brachos is Ata Chonen, where we ask Hashem to give us sechel. It’s very easy to get distracted by things around us, and get confused about what we are supposed to be doing. We ask Hashem to give us sechel to know what to do and how to do it!
The next bracha is Hashiveinu Avinu, that Hashem should give us the koach to actually DO what we know is the right thing!
After that comes the bracha of Selach Lanu. We ask Hashem to forgive us for our past aveiros. Once we prepared for davening properly, and asked Hashem to help us serve Him, we are on a higher level than before! We ask Hashem to help make sure that what we did in the past won’t stop us from doing the right thing now. We ask Hashem to free us from the bad habits we got into, so we can have a fresh start today.
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The Rebbe told us that from Shabbos Mevorchim Sivan (this Shabbos), we should start getting ready for Shavuos! One of the things that the Rebbe told us we should do is that everybody should wish their friends (and kids should too!) a very special bracha for Shavuos:
What is this bracha? “Kabolas HaTorah beSimcha ubePnimius” — “you should get the Torah with simcha (happiness) and make it a part of you!”
The Rebbe said that we should use exactly these words, without adding or taking away any words. This is the way the Frierdiker Rebbe said it, so we should say it too.
When we bentch someone else to have Kabolas HaTorah beSimcha ubePnimius, that helps also that OUR Kabolas HaTorah should be with simcha and pnimius!
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק בן ר׳ אפרים ע״ה מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
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The Navi Yeshaya said many nevuos about the Geulah. He is sometimes called, “HaNavi HaGeulah!”
Here is one nevuah about Kibbutz Galuyos, how the Yidden will all be gathered to Yerushalayim when Moshiach comes.
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יַחְבֹּט ה׳ מִשִּׁבֹּלֶת הַנָּהָר עַד נַחַל מִצְרָיִם וְאַתֶּם תְּלֻקְּטוּ לְאַחַד אֶחָד בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
Vehaya Bayom Hahu — This will happen on that day:
Yachbot Hashem — Hashem will separate the Yidden from the goyim, the way we beat a stalk of wheat to separate the wheat kernels from the stalk
Mishiboles Hanahar Ad Nachal Mitzrayim — From those lost in Ashur to those lost in Mitzrayim.
Ve’atem Teluktu Le’achad Echad Bnei Yisrael— And you, the Bnei Yisrael, will be gathered one by one!
See Yeshaya perek Chof-Zayin posuk Yud-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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