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Parshas Vayikra
Zayin Adar Bais 5765

PARSHAS VAYIKRA
Vayikra means "And He called." It is the name of the third Sefer of the Torah and the first word of that Sefer.
When we look at the word Vayikra, we can see that it has an unusual sized letter. The last letter of this word, the alef, is very small.
This is not the only alef in the Tanach which is of a different size. In the Sefer of Divrei HaYomim, there is another irregular alef. It is in the word Adam, in the possuk which tells us the order of the generations beginning with Adam HaRishon, the very first man.
The alef in the word Adam is not small like the alef in the word Vayikra. Quite the opposite. This alef is oversized, larger than the other letters.
We can learn something about Adam HaRishon from the oversized alef in his name. Adam knew he was very special, because he was created by HaShem's own hands. He felt very sure about himself, so sure of himself that he wasn't careful and he made the mistake of eating from the eitz hada'as.
Every person should know how special he is, but he should not become proud or careless. Moshe Rabbeinu surely knew that he was special. After all, he was the only one to speak to HaShem "face to face." Yet, Moshe felt more humble than any other person. He used to tell himself: "All that I have is a gift from HaShem. If HaShem had given these opportunities to someone else, he surely would have been much better than me."
Moshe Rabbeinu considered himself smaller and less important than others. That's why there is a little alef in the word Vayikra. Rashi tells us that HaShem's calling Moshe was a sign of special care. HaShem loves humble people. Because Moshe was so humble, HaShem called to him and showed him special attention.
We are all children of Adam and each of us has a spark of Moshe Rabbeinu in his neshamah. To be as great as Adam could have been, we have to act small and humble, as Moshe did.

Please tell me What the Rebbe Said (Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XVII, Parshas Vayikra)

Last Week's Brain Buster:
I have 4 letters and my end is a neighbor. What am I?
Answer: Mishkan (in hebrew letters)

Answer: Mishkan (in hebrew letters)

Parshas Vayikra

You’ll find me in this week’s Parsha.
If you take away 2—I’ll be in a corner
If you take away 50—I’ll come closer
What am I?

____ ____ ____ ____

Please send your answers to connections@shluchim.org

Congratulations to Pinny Spiero, age 8 from Haarlem, Netherlands, for solving the brain buster.

Did you know that when a child starts to learn Chumash, he should start from Parshas Vayikra? That is because Vayikra talks about the karbonos. The Rebbe says that karbonos are heilig and children are heilig – so they go together!
Now can you guess what we are going to talk about in this Parsha? You’ve got it – karbonos.
We finally (after all those parshiyos) finished putting up the Mishkan. Now we get to start using it. It is time to bring karbonos to Hashem.
Do you remember that our own homes are like miniature Mishakan’s? And the children have to help make their homes a place where Hashem feels comfortable? Well, how are we supposed to bring a karbon at home?
In the Bais Hamikdosh, the first thing that they did in the morning was (you guessed it) bringing a karbon. They brought the karbon tamid once in the morning and once at night. Really, this karbon should have been brought all day long, but this was not possible. There were other things that had to be done. So the karbon tamid was brought first thing in the morning to show us that we should think about it all day.
We start our morning by saying Modeh Ani. This is our way of bring a karbon. It reminds us that Hashem is the One who gave us back our neshama, and everything that we do should be for ?‘. We should really spend our whole day Davening to and thinking about Hashem. But there are other things that we have to do. So we start out our day with Modeh Ani, and this counts for the rest of the day.
Remember: keep in mind your Modeh Ani all day long. That means that before you do anything, think: Is this what Hashem wants? Is this what I should be doing right now?
If you do this then, hopefully, we will be able to bring real karbonos in the third Bais Hamikdosh very soon!

Shneur Zalman Matusof, age 7
Madison, Wisconsin

My name is Shneur Zalman Matusof. I am 7 years old. I live in Madison, WI. and I am home schooled.
I love being on Shlichus. I know that I am helping to bring Moshiach closer.
I go on Mivtzoim with my family. On Sukkos we go on campus and I ask people to shake the lulov and esrog. On Chanukah we hand out menorahs. It makes me happy. In front of our Chabad house we have a big menorah. We never know who will see it...One summer, when my sister was a counselor in another city, she had a camper that came from Madison. His father told my sister that the reason he was sending his son to a Jewish camp was because he saw a beautiful big menorah in front of the Chabad house in Madison. I hope I can bring the Rebbe a lot of nachas.

LAST WEEKS WINNERS

Level 1: Chayale Turk, age 6 Chicago IL & Levi Greenberg, age 7, Solon, OH

Level 2: Menachem Greenberg, age 10, El Paso, TX & Yossi Lifshitz, age 11, Blue Ash, OH

See the Printable Version of Connections for incredible FUN PAGES about Tefillah!

PARSHAS ZACHOR

This week we read the second of the four special parshiyos – Parshas Zachor.
Parshas Zachor describes how Amalek attacked the Yidden who were on their way from Mitzrayim to Eretz Yisroel. Reading Parshas Zachor reminds us of what Amalek did to us, and it also reminds us of ?'s commandment to destroy Amalek -“Timche Es Zecher Amalek Mitachas Hashamayim“.
Our Chachomim tell us that we should read Parshas Zachor on the Shabbos before the Yom Tov of Purim. This is significant, as Haman was a descendant of Amalek, and Purim celebrates the downfall of Haman and the nullification of his evil decree to destroy the Yidden. However, the commandment to destroy Amalek applies to every Yid in every generation, because Amalek doesn't just pose a physical threat to Bnei Yisroel, but a spiritual one as well.
The battle against Amalek is an internal battle. In order to fulfill the Mitzvos properly, one must do so with warmth, joy, and enthusiasm. Amalek symbolizes coldness, performing deeds simply out of habit, which can lead to doubt, Chas Veshalom. Our task is to do the mitzvos wholeheartedly, with simcha and gratitude to Hashem for giving us the opportunity to serve Him. In this way, every one of us at every time is destroying Amalek.