Parshas
Acharei Mos
Yud
Gimmel
Nissan
Volume
1
Issue 29
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THE SHLUCHIM OFFICE
Parshas Acharei Mos
"Tatty," Shneur asked his father, "this week's parshah begins with HaShem's commandment to Aharon 'after the death of his two sons.' But didn't the Torah tell us what happened to Nadav and Avihu in Parshas Shemini which we read a couple of weeks ago? If this commandment is connected to their death, why didn't the Torah mention it in Parshas Shemini?"
"That's a good question, Shneur. Let's think about it together. First, what is the commandment?"
Shneur had learned Parshas Acharei Mos. "The Torah says, 'And he should not come at all times to the holy place.' That means that the kohanim are only allowed to enter the holy areas of the Mishkan and the Beis HaMikdash at specific times, not all the time."
"Right," nodded his father. "Now, how is this commandment connected to the passing of Aharon's two sons?"
"Well, they entered the holy area of the Mishkan when they weren't supposed to," replied Shneur.
"Did your teacher explain more about Nadav and Avihu?" asked his father. "Were they simply careless when they entered a place where they were not allowed?"
"No," answered Shneur. "They weren't just being careless. Our teacher told us that they felt very holy and wanted to be very close to HaShem - so close that their neshamos left their bodies."
"And that was their mistake," his father explained. "HaShem wants us to be holy, but not in such a way that our neshamos leave our bodies. HaShem puts our neshamos in our bodies so that we can fill ourselves and the world around us with His holiness."
"But Tatty, that still doesn't explain why the Torah gives us this lesson here and not in Parshas Shemini," insisted Shneur.
"I am coming to that. You see, HaShem's commandment to Aharon is a lesson to every Jew. A person may think: 'I know what I have to do. I have a family and I need to work, so I am a storekeeper. I know HaShem wants me to go out into the world and do business and bring His holiness into everything I do, everywhere I go.' But you know, Shneur, it's not so easy. That storekeeper may get discouraged and say, 'This is too hard. It would be easier to sit all day in a shul, surrounded by Sefarim and davening.' Still, that's not what HaShem wants. He tells us, 'You shall not come into the holy areas at all times.'
"The Torah wants that storekeeper, and everyone else, to understand how we can bring holiness into our lives at all times. So before we learn the lesson from the commandment in Parshas Acharei Mos, the Torah teaches us many laws about how a Jew can live in a holy manner. We learn these laws specifically in the parshiyos before Acharei Mos - Tazria and Metzora. By learning, we receive strength from the Torah to know how to separate what is holy from what is not holy. This makes it easier for us to make ourselves and everything around us shine with HaShem's holiness."
Please tell me What the Rebbe Said (Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXVII)
If you take the ה out of me, I’ll be a closet.
What am I?
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________
Please send your answers to connections@shluchim.org
Last weeks’ brain buster: My head runs backwards and is before time. What am I?
Answer: צרעת
Congratulations to all the UW- Madison students by the Matusof's Shabbos table in Madison, WI from for solving the brain buster.
(Not Getzel, yet!)
Wow, that was one unbelievable week! Hang on one minute while I empty the sand from my shoes. Let’s see, where was I? Oh yes, we were about to review the exciting events that we just experienced. We started off as slaves in Mitzrayim (My back is still hurting from carrying all those stones.). Then our hero, Moshe, arrived on the scene. He showed those mean Egyptians who the real Boss was with all those neat Makkos.
During the last makkah, Mrs. Getzel was in the middle of kneading dough for our trip out of Mitzrayim when she looked out the window and almost dropped the dough on the floor. There was Paraoh himself, in his royal pajamas, with a stripy night-cap on his head, running through the streets looking for Moshe. Hours later, we were on our way out of Mitzrayim! Mrs. Getzel didn’t even have time to bake the dough in the oven, so I carried it on my back in my new knapsack.
We had to walk through the desert for six days (Next time I take a trip to the desert remind me to bring suntan lotion!) and on the seventh day we finally got to the beach. I was getting ready for a pleasant swim with my inflatable floaters but then I looked behind me. Uh oh. The Egyptians were back and they must have forgotten their bathing suits because they sure didn’t look like they were in the mood of swimming.
That’s when the most amazing thing happened. This man, named Nachshon Ben Aminodav, just jumped into the sea with all of his clothes. I was so scared that he would drown that I closed both my eyes. Then I heard everyone cheering so I peeked out of one eye to see what happened. And this you’re not going to believe- the sea split and we walked through on dry land!Anyway, after we were all safe on the other side, I approached Nachshon and inquired if I could interview him for my newspaper, Connections. I asked him what made him jump into the ocean without knowing how to swim. “What ocean?” he asked me with a puzzled look on his face. “Hashem said He was giving us the Torah on Har Sinai and I knew that Har Sinai was in that direction so I just kept on walking. But I don’t remember seeing any ocean.”
You all know that I’m an eye specialist who tries to make things clear and easy to see. I help kids see the chassidishe viewpoint through my COL (Chassidic OutLook) lens. Well, after that historic interview with Reb Nachson, I realized that sometimes we need to Over-Look things and keep our eyes focused on our goals. In other words, sometimes when we try to do the right thing there are obstacles on the way. It might be hard to have Ahavas Yisroel to all the people that come to your house or it might seem impossible to daven without thinking about what’s for lunch. But, as Junior Shluchim of the Rebbe, we need to Over-Look all those problems and do what we need to do in order to fulfill our mission and bring Moshiach. Then, just like Nachshon didn’t see the ocean in front of him when he was focused on reaching Har Sinai, we won’t notice any difficulties in keeping mitzvos when we focus on our goal of bringing Moshiach now.
Keep the goal in sight!
Dr. Getz
י“ג
ניסן
יארצייט פון דער צמח צדק
The צמח צדק was born on ערב ראש השנה תקמ“ט 1789. His mother was רביצין דבורה לאה - the daughter of the אלטער רבי. She gave up her life for חסידות and passed away a few days after מנחם מענדל’s 3rd birthday. From then the צמח צדק was raised by his grandfather, the אלטער רבי.
The צמח צדק married רביצין חיה מושקא, his cousin, the daughter of the מיטעלער רבי and after the מיטעלער רבי was נסתלק, the חסידים asked him to take on the נשיאות.
During the צמח צדק’s נשיאות Czar Nicholas instituted the terrible ‘cantonist’ decree where young Jewish boys were taken from their homes and sent to work for peasants or to special schools until they turned 18. Then they were sent to the Russian Army for 25 years. Very few of these boys returned to their families as אידן.
The צמח צדק started and organized a secret committee to rescue as many of these boys as possible by bribing the Russian Army officials. This secret committee was called ‘תחית המתים’. The officials would pretend that the children had died during the journey and they would send death certificates to the parents. Meanwhile the children would be sent to towns very far away from where they lived. Of course, when the parents got a certificate they were very happy because they knew that their son was safe and would stay a איד.
The צמח צדק was נסתלק on י“ג ניסן תרכ“ו and is buried in the town of Lubavitch.
A story for Erev Pesach
One ערב פסח, after בדיקת חמץ, ר‘ לוי יצחק took a walk through the town of Berdichev. It was close to the border and there were a lot of smugglers in this town. ר‘ לוי יצחק approached a Russian peasant and asked him if he perhaps had some silk to sell. Silk was a material that the Czar made it against the law to sell or buy. But smugglers would somehow manage to get some, and they would sell it secretly.
The peasant answered that he had and said he could sell however much ר‘ לוי יצחק wanted.
Next, ר‘ לוי יצחק went over to a איד. “Do you have any חמץ that I could buy?”
Horrified, the איד answered, “חמץ at this time?! חס ושלום!”
ר‘ לוי יצחק
turned his eyes to
שמים
and said: “רבונו
של עולם.
Look! The Czar has forbidden the buying and selling of certain
items. He has posted guards by the border and if people are caught,
they get punished severely. Yet, they still manage to buy and
sell these items. But You only wrote a few words in Your
תורה,
that Your people should not have
חמץ
in their homes and yet even without policemen or guards, they obey Your
commands!”
Chaya Jaffe, age 11
Brisbane, Australia
Hi! My name is Chaya Jaffe. I’m eleven years old and I’m on Shlichus in Brisbane, Australia for the past 10 years! Brisbane is far away from a frum community. There are a few Shomrei Shabbos families and many people who try to keep kosher as best as they can in their homes. We used to have our own Chabad House for Shabbos and weekday minyonim but 2 years ago my father became the Rabbi of the shul in the city. This means that every Shabbos we go to the city (as we live in the suburbs) and come back on Motzei Shabbos. We still run events through the Chabad House like Chanukah in the Park, Purim Seudah’s, Pesach Sedorim, C.G.I day camp, Sabbaton etc. For last years Purim Seudah we had 50 people in our house (our Chabad House is our house). We organized for a comedian to come who is part of the Jewish community. He had everyone laughing on the floor with a Purim rap he had made! On the day of Purim we went to the school where there was a carnival. Our school is not frum. We don’t even do chumash in school. So we have a private teacher from Melbourne to teach us what we need to know. Our friends in school see us as “really religious” but understand things like Shabbos and Yomim Tovim because we invite them over to experience what it’s like. Some of my brother’s friends started wearing tzitzis and one bought them out of his own money! We will continue spreading Yiddishkeit throughout Brisbane till Moshiach comes NOW!
ספירת העומר
Why do we count the days between פסח and שבועות?
פסח is the time when בנ“י went out of מצרים. When בנ“י left מצרים, משה רבינו told them that they would be receiving the תורה in 49 days. Upon hearing this good news, the אידן were so excited that they began counting down the days. To remember this, we count the days between פסח and שבועות.
The תורה is not a history book. When the תורה tells us to count ספירה, it is not only because of בנ“י’s excitement for מתן תורה over 3300 years ago, but mainly because we actually receive the תורה anew on שבועות each year. Therefore, we count ספירה every year because we are looking forward and preparing for the new מתן תורה of this year.
ספירה as a preparation for מתן תורה
Every year, during the times of the בית המקדש, on the second day of פסח a barley קרבן was offered. This was called the קרבן עומר.
חסידות explains the reason why we bring a קרבן עומר on the second day of פסח, as opposed to the wheat קרבנות which were the usual קרבנות brought in the בית המקדש. When we left מצרים, we were unrefined, that is why barley – an animal food – is brought as a קרבן on פסח. Then, ה‘ gave us seven weeks to improve our character and become better people; a nation worthy of receiving the תורה. Therefore on שבועות we were able to bring a קרבן from wheat – a more refined food.
Today, the time of ספירה should also be spent preparing for שבועות by trying to improve our character a little bit every day. We should act a little bit nicer, a little more gentle, etc.
The שבת before פסח is called שבת הגדול, the Great Shabbos. There are also many special מנהגים associated with this שבת. In מצרים, בנ“י celebrated the very first שבת הגדול on י‘ ניסן, five days before their גאולה from מצרים. On that day, בנ“י were given their first מצוה which applied only to that שבת, but not to future generations: That on י‘ ניסן each household should prepare a lamb that will be used for the קרבן פסח.
This mitzvah of preparing a lamb for the קרבן פסח four days before it was to be brought, was only for that first פסח in מצרים, and the תורה does not tell us that we should do this every פסח. Nevertheless, the people continued to do this to make sure that their lambs had no מום which would mean that they could not be brought as a קרבן.
Many ניסים happened for בנ“י on this first שבת הגדול. The תורה commanded them to take their lambs and tie them to the bedpost. When they did so, their מצריים neighbors saw this and asked:
"What is the lamb for?"
בנ“י answered: "It is to be shechted as a קרבן פסח as ה‘ has commanded us."
The מצריים, for whom the lamb was their god, gnashed their teeth in anger but could not utter a sound in protest.
Many other ניסים as well happened in connection with the קרבן פסח, we therefore refer to this day as שבת הגדול.
On שבת הגדול, after מנחה, we say part of the הגדה from "עבדים היינו" until "לכפר על כל עונותינו"; because that day was the beginning of the גאולה and all its miracles.
(Adapted from The Book of our Heritage)
Eliyahu’s
Kos
Chaim was a woodcutter. He used to cut wood and branches, and people would buy them from him to burn in their ovens or fireplaces. During the winter, a lot of people bought wood from Chaim so that they could stay warm.
One winter, there was a huge snowstorm that lasted for many days. Chaim could not go anywhere. He could not travel to the forest and cut wood. People bought wood from the wealthier woodcutters instead; they had big sleds and could travel through the snow.
Pesach was coming, and Chaim did not have any money. What could he do? Because of the snowstorm, he had hardly sold any wood that winter. Chaim did not have any money to buy matzah, wine, or food for the seder.
Really, Chaim could have asked for tzedakah to help him prepare for the Yom Tov. Jewish people always give money to help the poor make a Pesach seder; even Chaim had given money for that purpose. But Chaim did not want to take money from anyone else, so he refused to ask.
Chaim's wife Breina was worried; she wanted to prepare for the seder, but there was nothing to prepare. Chaim tried to reassure his wife, telling her that Hashem would surely help them if they wanted to make a seder. But she still worried. What could they do? They did not even have anything in the house that was worth selling for a little bit of money.
Finally, Breina had an idea. She remembered about the special Kos that they used at the seder for Eliyahu Hanavi. They could sell that Kos! At least then they would be able to have a seder. But Chaim could not stand to think of greeting Eliyahu without a Kos for him.
Chaim and Breina had a goat. This goat gave milk, and they used the milk to feed the children. It was the only really valuable thing that they owned. Realizing that there was no way to make a seder, Chaim suggested that they sell the goat and use the money for Pesach. Breina was horrified; if they sold the goat, they would not have any way to feed the children!
Breina wanted to sell the cup, and Chaim wanted to sell the goat. Neither option seemed great, but Pesach was coming and they had no money.
The day before Pesach, Chaim came to his Rabbi to take care of selling his chometz. When Chaim finished, he nervously asked if the Rabbi could answer a question for him. The Rabbi agreed. Chaim asked if he was allowed to use milk for the ארבע כוסות at the seder instead of wine.
The Rabbi realized that Chaim must not have money to buy what he needed for the seder. If he was going to use milk at the seder, then he obviously did not have meat either, because he would not eat milk and meat at the same meal. And Chaim was probably embarrassed to ask anyone for help.
The Rabbi told Chaim that he had to think about the answer, and he did not have time before the Yom Tov began. He offered to loan Chaim some money to buy wine and whatever else he needed for the seder, so that he could have some more time to think about the answer.
Chaim ran home to his wife. They happily bought everything that they needed, and set up a beautiful seder table.
That night, when they opened the door for Eliyahu, a stranger was standing there. Chaim assumed that the man was stuck and needed a place for the seder, so he invited him to come in and join them. The man said that he had already been invited somewhere else, and could only stay for a little while.
While the guest sat at the table, he noticed the beautiful cup set out for Eliyahu. Breina had polished it before the seder, and it shone beautifully. The man commented on how beautiful the cup was, and wished that the family's good fortune should shine like the cup. After that, the man left.
The next day, Chaim looked for the stranger in shul, but nobody had seen the man. Chaim asked the Rabbi if he had seen him. The Rabbi answered that this man visits everyone's seder, but most people do not get to see him. This was Eliyahu Hanavi. Obviously, Chaim was worthy of seeing him.
After Pesach, Chaim went out to the forest again to gather wood. On his way home, his wheelbarrow got stuck in the mud. He tried and tried, but he could not move it. Finally, he started to dump out some of the wood from the wheelbarrow, and the wheels shot out of the mud. Underneath, where the wheels had been stuck, there was something shining in the dirt… it was a golden coin!
Chaim quickly started to dig in the spot, and he found a bag full of golden coins. Chaim was a rich man! His fortune shone, just like the כוס של אליהו shone at his seder table.
LAST
WEEKS WINNERS
Level 1:
Chaya Mushka Bigelman, 7 from Tucson, AZ
Shmuel Mendel Tenenbaum, 8 from Australia
Level 2:
Chani Spiero, 10 from Amsterdam, Holland
Rochel Greenberg, 9 from El Paso, TX
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