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| Parshas
Tetzaveh
Tes Adar Alef 5765
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Volume
1
Issue 20 |
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PARSHAS
TETZAVEH
Shimon is a nice boy. He likes to study, help around the house and share
with his friends. But Shimon is only a young boy, and there are things
he still has to learn. Like the proper way to daven.
Of course Shimon davens; he says every word loud and clear. But often
he looks up from the siddur to make sure someone is watching.
Shimon knows that when a Yid davens, he should think about the words
and imagine himself standing before HaShem. He knows that davening is
between him and HaShem, and that it's not to impress people around him.
Still, Shimon's eyes wander about looking to see who is watching and
listening to his davening.
Perhaps we can help Shimon learn a lesson from this week's Parsha. Parshas
Tetzaveh speaks mostly about the bigdei kehunah - garments worn by the
kohanim while they served in the Mishkan. Yet in this parshah, we also
read about one of the holy objects in the Mishkan - the mizbeach haketores,
or incense altar.
Isn't this strange? Shouldn't this Mizbeach have been mentioned with
all the other keilim in Parshas Terumah? Why is the mizbeach haketores
singled out? How is it different? Didn't it stand along with the menorah
and the shulchan in the kodesh - the holy area of the Mishkan?
It did. But there is a difference between the avodah carried out upon
the mizbeach haketores and the avodah of the other holy vessels. When
the menorah was lit or the lechem haponim was put on the Shulchan, other
kohanim could be present. But when the kohain offered the ketores on
the mizbeach, no one else was allowed to be in the holy area. Twice
every day, in the morning and evening, the kohain would offer the ketores
standing alone - only him and HaShem.
The word ketores comes from the root ktar - a bond. A Jew creates a
very special closeness between himself and HaShem when he is alone.
There are many mitzvos which we do in public or which other people take
part in, but there must also be a closeness with HaShem that comes only
when a Jew is alone with Him.
From
‘Please Tell me What the Rebbe Said’ (Adapted from Likkutei
Sichos, Vol. I, Parshas Tetzaveh)
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Last
Week's Brain Buster:
Without my head, Bnei Yisroel ate me in the Midbar, without my tail
I am Noach’s son. I am used in the Mishkan.
Answer: shemen (in hebrew letters)
Parshas
Tetzaveh
Without
my head, I'm a son
Without my tail, I'm a father
What am I?
____ ____ _____
Please
send your answers to connections@shluchim.org
Congratulations
to:
Mattisyahu
Charytan, Winnipeg; Mushkie Freundlich, Beijing;
Chavi Konikov, Satellite Beach; Mendy Schapiro,
Sydney; Avrohom Yeshaye Raskin, Melbourne; Estie
Shemtov, Yardley; Heshel Mangel, Blue Ash;
Rivka & Shternie Epstein, Chicago; Rochie
Krinsky, Manchester, NH; Bracha Hershkovitch,
Des Plaines; Mouchki Gorodetsky, Paris; Junik
Kids, London; Menachem Mendel & Shaina Rapoport,
Long Beach; Mendel Katzman, The Hague; Menachem
Mendel Altein, Winnipeg; Yisrolik Kievman,
Liverpool; Levi, Blumi & Shneur Keselman, London,
Mendel Chein, Cheadle for solving the brain buster.
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This Wednesday & Thursday, Yud Daled and Tes Vav Adar
I, is Purim Katan and Shushan Purim Katan. We celebrate by being extra
joyful and not saying any tachanun. We also don’t say tachanun
during mincha before Purim Katan.
The Rebbe says that Purim Katan must have a special connection to
“Ketanim” – children, because katan and ketanim
both come from the same word!
The Rebbe also tells us that the story of Purim has a very special
connection to children. What did Mordechai do when he heard that Haman
wanted to kill all the yidden? He gathered thousands of children and
taught them Torah. He taught them about the korban omer that was brought
in the Bais Hamikdosh on Pesach. And when Haman came to call Mordechai
for the parade, Mordechai thought that Haman was coming to kill him
so he told all the children to go home but they said “No Mordechai,
we want to stay with you and learn Torah!”
The Rebbe says that it is in the zechus of these children that the
yidden were saved in the time of the Purim story, and it is a lesson
for us now. Whenever a ‘Haman’ comes and wants to destroy
the yidden either b’gashmiyus or b’ruchniyus we should
do what Mordechai did—gather the children and teach them Torah
and about yiddishkeit.
We should tell them that we can bring Moshiach and the holy Bais Hamikdosh
will be rebuilt and we will serve Hashem in it and when the Jewish
children are ready to say “We want to stay with the Torah whether
we live or die”, then the Torah assures us that we will be victorious
over all the Haman’s and all yidden will have “Orah Vesimcha
Vesason V’iykor”.
(Adapted
from a Letter of the Rebbe to Jewish children for Purim)
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“Ve’Ata Tetzaveh” was the
last ma’amor that was given out before Chof Zayin Adar I 5752.
We daven that Moshiach should come very, very soon and we will hear
ma’amorim and sichos from the Rebbe again.
The words “Ve’Ata Tetzaveh” seem to mean that the
command comes from Moshe and not from Hashem. And then the possuk
says “Veyikchu Eilecha” which seems that the yidden should
bring the olive oil for the Menorah to Moshe. But didn't Aharon light
the Menorah?
The Rebbe explains that the Frierdiker Rebbe said that the word “Tzaveh”-command,
is similar to the word Tzavsa which means connection or bond. So the
Possuk is teaching us that Moshe connects and binds the Yidden with
Hashem.
The Frierdiker Rebbe referred to Moshe as the Ra’aya Mehemna—
the shepherd of Emunah. He is the one that makes the yidden internalize
their emunah (bring it into their neshama). This also applies to the
“Moshe” of every generation.
In the time of the Purim story, Mordechai was the Ra’aya Mehemna
and he inspired the yidden to have Mesiras Nefesh. Although there
is a “Moshe” in every generation, Moshe Rabbeinu was the
leader for ALL the yidden in his generation, Mordechai was the leader
for ALL the yidden in his generation and so was the Frierdiker Rebbe.
The avodah of the Ra’aya Mehemna is to bring out the emunah
that is in the neshama of every yid until they can fulfill the ratzon
of Hashem even in the darkest galus and their neshama shines brightly.
And through the effort of this we will have the zechus of the Geulah
Hashleima immediately!
(Ma’amor
Ve’Ata Tetzaveh – Yud Adar Alef, 5741)
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Olive
Oil Insights
Pure Olive Oil
The oil in the Bais HaMikdosh was pressed in nine stages. Each pressing
yielded a different quality oil, but only the best and purest oil was
used for the Menorah!
Compared
to Olives
The Jewish people are compared to an olive tree. Just as an olive tree
does not shed its leaves in summer or winter, the people of Israel will
never disappear, not in this world and not in the World to Come.
Burned
twice as Long
The Menorah in the Bais HaMikdosh had seven branches. Each of them held
exactly the same amount of oil, but the branch closest to the Kodesh
Hakedoshim always burned much longer than the rest.
A
Source of Light
The Navi Yeremiah compared the Jews to an evergreen olive tree because,
just as olive oil burns with the purest most beautiful light, so too,
the Jewish people are a source of light to all mankind.
(From Tzivos Hashem Newsletter)
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I got beautiful e-mails from the Namdar
Children, telling me all about their Mikdash Me’at.
Hi
my name is Chavale Namdar and I live in Sweden. About my Mikdash Me’at:
I share a room with my sister Mushky. She is 13 years old. There is
a shelf next to my bed with a Tanya and Siddur which i don't use so
much but on my desk there is a Chumash, Tehilim, Tanya, Machzor and
a Siddur. I use the Siddur on days that I daven Shacharis at home and
the Tanya I use sometimes and learn katointi baal peh .Sometimes I do
Chitas and I have 3 Tzedaka pushkes on my desk.
Hi
my name is Dani Namdar and I live in Gothenburg Sweden. About my Mikdosh
me’at I have a chitas and a pushke.
Hi
my name is Mendele Namdar and I live in Gothenburg Sweden. About my
Mikdosh me’at I have a Chitas and a pushke. I share a room with
my brother Yudi.
Hi my name is Yudi Namdar and I live in Gothenburg Sweden. I share a
room with my brother Mendele. We have a Chitas and a pushke in our room
I am 8 years old and my brother Mendele is 9 years old. We have desks
in our room.
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The
Gulf War
Fourteen years ago, in January 1991, war exploded in the Middle
East.
Iraq, headed by the hate-filled madman, Saddam Hussein, launched
the attack. In August, 1990, he had invaded Kuwait. Now he boasted
that he would burn Israel to the ground.
For Joey Kelman, (10), of Baltimore, and many others like him,
the war meant that their Dad was far away in some sweltering desert.
Who knew when or if he would be coming home?
Hussein had been building up his army for years, with unlimited
billions of dollars worth of missiles, tanks, and planes. His
troops were experienced and ready for war. U.N. troops nervously
prepared for a long, nasty, conflict. This was not going to an
easy war.
Hussein's weapon of choice was the Soviet-built Scud missile.
Weighing 8 tons, a Scud is bigger than a tractor trailer. When
it hits, the impact smashes through buildings for blocks around.
The main targets were Tel Aviv (with 2 million people), and Haifa,
where over a million tons of explosive materials are stored in
tanks above ground.
Saddam also had poison gas. Every Israeli had to have a gas mask,
and every home had to be equipped with a specially sealed room
in case of attack.
Then it began, on January 18, at 2 am. Sirens pierced the night
air. A missile attack. People jumped out of bed. Women screamed.
Children cried with terror. People a little older remembered Poland
and the War.
Families huddled in their sealed rooms. Finally, an army spokesman
came on the air. 5 Scuds had been fired at Tel Aviv. 400 apartments
had been blown up. Hospitals prepared for thousands of dead and
injured.
Ambulances raced to the scene, and found... that almost no one
had been injured! It was incredible. One man had a few scratches.
A woman had a sprained ankle.
9 Scuds had been fired on Haifa. One landed across the road from
an oil refinery. That was a close call. The other 8 sailed out
into the Mediterranean.
Open miracles were happening. Could it be true? How long would
Israeli luck hold?
In Israel, the media began to publicize what the Lubavitcher
Rebbe had been saying all along.
"There is no need to fear, or to leave Israel.... Gas will
not be used.... Israel is the safest place in the world, for the
eyes of Hashem are always on it...”
Just before the war had started, Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Goldstein,
a Chaplain (Rabbi) in the US Army, had gone to see the Rebbe,
before being sent to the Middle East.
He was astonished, when out of the blue, the Rebbe told him that
the war would be conducted rapidly. "No doubt it will be
over by Purim."
During the six weeks that the war lasted, 39 Scuds fell on Israel.
Life was totally disrupted. Schools were shut down. Businesses
closed. Thousands of apartments and dwellings were destroyed or
damaged.
Yet miraculously, almost no one was hurt. 6500 people were actually
present in the place where Scuds had exploded. Of these, only
1000 needed to go to hospital. Only 60 had needed to stay more
than a few hours. Only 30 suffered a broken arm or leg. There
was one direct fatality.
Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir summed up Israeli feeling: "Saddam
Hussein, the faithful disciple of Amalek, Haman, and Hitler, promised
to burn half of Israel. He believed his words would be fulfilled.
But with the help of G-d, his evil plans came to nothing."
On Purim Day, February 28, 1991, Hussein surrendered. The "lightning"
Gulf War was over.
And the Jews had a new reason to celebrate Purim.
(Tzivos
Hashem Newsletter)
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Purim
Katan & Shushan Purim Katan Checklist:
I remembered not to say tachanun on Wednesday and Thursday.
I made sure to be a extra happy on these special days.
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Level
1: Congratulations to Pessi Fischer, age 5, Augusta, GA; Mushka
& Sara Rivkin, ages 5 & 7, New Orleans, LA winning last week!
Level
2: Congratulations to Menachem Mendel Schapiro, age 10, Sydney,
Australia; Shmuel Chanowitz, age 9, Monticello, NY winning last week!
See
the Printable Version of Connections for an incredible FUN PAGE on Parshas
Tetzaveh!!
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Parshas Tetzaveh is the only Parsha in Sefer Shemos where Moshe Rabbeinu’s
name is not mentioned. On many occasions Bnei Yisroel rebelled against
Hashem. When Hashem threatened to destroy Bnei Yisroel and make Moshe
Rabbeinu the father of a new nation, Moshe Rabbeinu said, "If you
will not forgive the Jewish people, - please wipe me out of your book!"
Although Hashem forgave Bnei Yisroel, He still took Moshe Rabbeinu’s
name out of this Parsha. This shows us Moshe’s Mesirus Nefesh
and Ahavas Yisroel. It also teaches us that the words of a tzaddik should
not be taken lightly.
When Moshe Rabbeinu was caring for his father-in-law—Yisro‘s-
sheep, he ran after a little lamb that left the flock. When he finally
caught up with the lamb, he saw that it was looking for soft grass to
eat. Moshe Rabbeinu picked up the lamb and said, "Little lamb,
if I had known that this is what you wanted, I would have brought it
to you myself!" Hashem heard Moshe’s words and said, "If
Moshe shows such concern and Mesiras Nefesh for his sheep, he surely
is the right person to lead Bnei Yisroel!"
(From RabbiRiddle.com)
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Chinuch
Yaldei Hashluchim
Rabbi M. Shemtov
Rivky Lokshin
Dabrushy Pink
Aydla Vechter |
Connections
Proof-Readers:
Rabbi A. Lipsey
Mrs. G. Junik
Rabbi L. Zirkind |
Va’ad
Hashluchim:
Rabbi Y. Deren
Rabbi O. Goldman
Rabbi Y. Greenberg
Rabbi B. Levertov
Rabbi Y. Shemtov
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