Shavuos
Vov Sivan 5766
Volume 2
Issue 32
The Connections people
Chinuch Yaldei Hashluchim:
Rabbi & Mrs.
Kasriel & Chana E. Shemtov
Connections:
Mr. & Mrs.
Yochanan & Peri Brook
Mr. Mrs.
Zalman & Raizy Cousin
Chinuch Yaldei Hashluchim:
Rabbi M. Shemtov
Rivky Lokshin
Dabrushy Pink
Aydla Vechter
Connections
Proof-Readers:
Mrs. B. Wineberg
Mrs. G. Junik
Rabbi L. Zirkind
Rabbi Schmerling
Va’ad Hashluchim:
Rabbi Y. Deren
Rabbi O. Goldman
Rabbi Y. Greenberg
Rabbi B. Levertov
Rabbi Y. Shemtov
A project of
CHINUCH YALDEI HASHLUCHIM
cyh@shluchim.org
a division of
THE SHLUCHIM OFFICE
SHAVUOS
On their way to the lunchroom, Levi and Yossi passed by the first-grade classroom. The first graders were rehearsing the play they were going to put on for the school assembly before Shavuos.
"I am the biggest mountain," one youngster was saying. "Surely Hashem will give the Torah on me."
"You don't stand a chance," another taunted. "I am covered with the most beautiful flowers. Hashem will choose me."
Levi and Yossi looked at each other and smiled. "Remember when we put on that play in first grade?" Levi asked.
"Sure!" said Yossi. "I had the part of Har Sinai, and I even remember my lines: "Compared to the others, I'm so small, Hashem will never consider me at all."
Levi laughed and the boys walked on.
"You know, Yossi, I was thinking about that Midrash. Hashem chose Har Sinai because it was small, right?"
"Yes, to teach us how important it is to be humble," Yossi agreed.
"Well," asked Levi. "If it's so important to be humble, why did Hashem give the Torah on a mountain at all? True, Har Sinai is not very high, but it's still a mountain. If Hashem gave the Torah in a valley, wouldn't that teach us more about being humble?"
Yossi was thoughtful. "You have a point, Levi. I hadn't thought of it that way. Let's ask our teacher after lunch."
The teacher listened closely to their question. "Boys," he replied, "how did you feel two weeks ago as you marched down the street at the Lag B’Omer Parade?"
"Proud of who we are," Levi answered.
"Happy to be special," said Yossi.
"That kind of pride is good," explained the teacher. "It's not being haughty. When we realize how special we are, we feel more responsible and are more likely to do the right thing.
"Now think about Moshe Rabbeinu. The Torah tells us that 'Moshe was the most humble of men.' Yet Moshe does not hesitate to say: 'I stand here between you people and Hashem.' Moshe realized he held an important position. His humility did not prevent him from being a strong leader."
"I get it," said Levi. "Hashem chose the smallest mountain to teach us to be humble. But He still chose a mountain to teach us that we should be proud of being His special nation."
The teacher nodded. "Feeling sure and confident gives us the strength to do what Hashem expects of us."
The lesson the teacher taught Levi and Yossi is very important, but so are their questions. They show that the boys did not think about the giving of the Torah only as a story that happened many years ago, but as something still happening today.
We should all feel this way. And to show our connection to the giving of the Torah, every Jewish man, woman and child - even young babies - should come to Shul on the first day of Shavuos to hear the Aseres Hadibros.(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II)
‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
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My birthday and יאהרצייט are on the same day ____ ____ ____ ____ |
Congratulations to Mendy Steinmetz, age 7 from Sarasota, Florida for solving the brain buster. |
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Dear Junior Shluchim
Hmm ... Aperture f /11, lens speed 1/5000, long focus ... excuse me, let me just adjust this, and then I’ll explain what I’m doing. Aperture f / 8, lens speed 1/8000 ... I’m in the middle of working on my new super-magnificent lens, the one I told you about. It’s called the Lo-Lo Lens, and when you look inside of it, and you focus the lens, it takes you back in time to a LOng, LOng time ago.
Try it. It goes like this. Take an old pair of glasses, and spray them with Windex window cleaner. Then put them on until they slide to the end of your nose and close your eyes really tight. Turn off all other noises and turn on the imagination button inside your head. This is your LO-LO lens.
Do you see what I see? Oh wow, this is so exciting. I see lots of sand in my lens. Lots and lots of it. Hey look, there’s a sign that says “Sinai Desert.” And that big mountain over there, the one with a gate around it, it must be Har Sinai.
Do you see that tall man over there, near the mountain? Wow, there is a light shining from his face, and his eyes look so kind. Right now he looks very serious, as if something magnificatious is going to happen. He must be Moshe Rabbeinu. Oh my, I see tons and tons and tons and tons of people. They stretch for a few miles. I see girls with freckles and boys with yarmulkas, men with thick bushy brows and ladies holding tiny babies. I see grandmothers with knitting bags, and grandfathers with long white beards. Wow, the people go on and on. They don’t even fit into this super cool LO-LO lens.
Hey listen, it’s getting very quiet. The mothers and fathers, the boys and girls, the grandmothers and grandfathers all look very serious. The birds are quiet, the trees are still, and the butterflies are resting in the sand. Yikes, I see thunder! And double yikes, I hear lightning. I’ve seen lots of things, but I’ve never seen thunder before. And look, Moshe is climbing up the mountain. His face looks so bright, I need to turn away; the light might break my lens.
Now, Moshe is up at the top. I know what’s going to happen next. I learned about it in Chumash with Rabbi Knowall. I know exactly what’s going to happen now. Hashem is going to come down and talk to all His children, and give us the whole Torah so that we could be close to Him forever.
This is the greatest moment that ever was. MY HANDS ARE SHAKING... I better close my lens. Soon all the people are going to faint from hearing Hashem’s voice, and Mrs. Getzel will be upset if I faint.
Do you also see the mountain of Sinai in your old-glasses-Windex-sprayed-LO-LO-lens? Isn’t it spectacular? Do you think I’ll win the Nobel Peace prize of Lens Formation for making this lens?
Next week is Shavuos, the day Hashem came down to earth and gave us the Torah. And do you want to hear the best part? Rabbi Knowall told me that every year Hashem gives us the Torah again, so the Torah is always brand new. During the next few days, use your LO-LO lens and SEE the picture, what it must have been like when Hashem came down the first time. And get ready, because on Shavuos, it’s going to happen again...yippee!
Dr. Getzel
Gitty Alperowitz, age 11
Bournemouth, EnglandMy name is Gitty Alperowitz and I live in Bournemouth, England.
I am 11 years old. We have no Jewish school so I go to London on Sunday, stay at my grandparents for the week, then come back home on Thursday, so I go to a Lubavitch school the whole week. Besides me, there are 2 other girls in my class who are on shlichus. But since they live much closer to London, they do not need to sleep away from home. When I am home I help my mother and father with all the programmes. We make a lot of children's programmes and I love to help out with them. I have some not frum friends my age and I am trying to bring them closer to Yiddishkeit.
What makes me proud to be a shlucha is the fact that I am a lamplighter, bringing Yidden closer to Yiddishkeit and bringing Moshiach closer.
ו‘ סיון
(1760) יום א‘ דחג השבועות תק“כ
Right before the בעל שם טוב passed away, he asked his חסידים to sing the ניגון ofר‘ מיכאל of Zlotchov and when they were finished, he said that anyone who sings this ניגון in a state of תשובה , the בעל שם טוב will join in and bring רחמנות on him.
The בעל שם טוב passed away on Wednesday, the first day of שבועות and is buried in מזיבוז .ז‘ סיון
(1761) יום ב‘ דחג השבועות תקכ“א
After the בעל שם טוב passed away, his son ר‘ צבי became the new Rebbe. The חסידים saw that he did not have the כוחות needed to be a Rebbe and they didn’t know what to do.
A year after the בעל שם טוב passed away, on the second day of שבועות , after ר‘ צבי gave over a מאמר , he said that his father (the בעל שם טוב ) has visited him and told him that in שמים the נשיאות had passed to ר‘ דובער the מעזריטשער מגיד and he should do the same. ר‘ דובער now become the Rebbe. ר‘ צבי wished מזל טוב to ר‘ דובער and the חסידים stood up to hear תורה from their new נשיא .
This Friday and שבת is שבועות
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I stayed up late the first night of שבועות as long as my parents let me.
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I said תקון ליל שבועות the first night of שבועות .
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I heard the עשרת הדברות being read from the תורה .
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I ate מילכיג foods on the first day of שבועות .
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(Girls) I lit יום טוב candles on Thursday night and יום טוב and שבת candles on Friday night.
When the אידן received the תורה at הר סיני they began to keep כשר , but it was שבת and they couldn’t שעכט any animals or כשר their dishes. Instead of eating meat they ate מילכיג foods. Since then it became a מנהג to eat מילכיג foods on שבועות . Another reason we eat מילכיג is because the גימטריא of the word חלב is 40 – the same number of days משה רבינו was on הר סיני .
דוד המלך was born and passed away on שבועות . דוד came from שבט יהודה and his great-grandmother was רות . All the Jewish kings were descendants of דוד and משיח will also come from him.
דוד fought many wars against the enemies of the אידן . He conquered ירושלים , bought the הר הבית and laid the foundations for the בית המקדש , which was built by his son שלמה המלך . Because of him, the אידן lived in peace throughout the reign of שלמה המלך .
דוד was the head of the סנהדרין . He is known as the ‘sweet singer of Israel’ and he wrote ספר תהלים .
דוד המלך passed away on ו‘ סיון at the age of 70.*******
Two special events in our history happened on שבועות and are connected to משיח : the יאהרצייט of דוד המלך and the יאהרצייט of the בעל שם טוב , founder of חסידות . דוד המלך represents מלכות of the אידן . This מדה will come back when משיח brings מלכות back to the בני ישראל . The בעל שם טוב started the spreading out of רוחניות knowledge. His teachings are a small taste of the time of משיח when "the occupation of the entire world will be only to know ה‘ ."
(Adapted from ‘Keeping in Touch’ by Rabbi E. Touger)
This story happened before the בעל שם טוב became famous. Still, some of the few people who heard of him were already against him. Rumors were flying that the בעל שם טוב was bringing in dangerous new ideas against the תורה , and all kinds of false accusations were spread about his teachings. Some people got great pleasure from spreading these lies.
ר‘ יעקב יוסף , the famous רב of Polnoa, was among those who had believed these half-truths. Thinking that the rumors were true, he had publicly come out against the בעל שם טוב .
Around that time a שידוך was arranged between the daughter of someone who lived in Polnoa and the son of one of the בעל שם טוב 's חסידים , and the חתונה was to take place in the כלה 's town. As part of the agreement between the families, the חסיד wanted the בעל שם טוב to be the מסדר קידושין .
In the beginning the כלה 's father had no problem with this, but as the date of the חתונה got nearer he worried that the רב of Polnoa would be upset that the בעל שם טוב was מסדר קידושין . However, the חתן 's father did not give in. The only choice was to either fulfill the condition or break off the engagement.
After a lot of thinking the כלה 's father decided to ask the רב , and told him that he was willing to cancel the חתונה if that was what the רב wanted. ר‘ יעקב יוסף insisted that it wasn't necessary, and gave the young couple his ברכות and good wishes.
The night before the חתונה finally arrived. ר‘ יעקב יוסף was in his study poring over a מסכת of גמרא but his mind kept wandering. For some reason, he couldn’t concentrate. Suddenly he thought that he should go and meet the בעל שם טוב for himself. Didn't the תורה demand that a judge conduct a thorough investigation before making his decision? How had he allowed himself to decide that the בעל שם טוב was wrong without even seeing him? He stood up and returned the ספר to the bookshelf.
It was pitch black outside as the רב made his way to the hall where the wedding would take place the following day. Peeking inside a window, he saw a crowd of people gathered around a middle-aged איד . The stranger's face shone with goodness and nobility. "That must be the בעל שם טוב ," ר‘ יעקב יוסף thought to himself, and pressed his ear against the glass to listen.
It was surprising how he could hear the בעל שם טוב 's words so clearly. "Your רב is a very holy man," the בעל שם טוב was saying, "but on two occasions he made a mistake in judgment." The רב was startled to hear that they were talking about him and paid even closer attention.
"The first time was a few weeks ago, when everyone in the רב 's house was busy preparing for פסח . To avoid getting in their way, the רב decided to go up to the attic to study. A few hours later he was thirsty, and not wishing to disturb anyone, went down to the street to wait for a passing water-carrier. Sure enough, a few minutes later one walked by. But the רב got very upset when the water-carrier didn't offer him a drink. The רב took it as a personal insult, but he didn’t know the water-carrier was a hidden צדיק , who was on his way to meet with some other hidden צדיקים ."
The רב was shocked, but there was no time to think about what he'd heard as the בעל שם טוב continued:
"The other time was on the night of תשעה באב , when the רב was sitting in the שול crying over the destruction of the בית המקדש , long after everyone else had already gone home. The רב was in such a state of mourning over the גלות that he suddenly felt very weak.
"It was the moment the שטן had been waiting for. Disguising himself as an old beggar, he entered the שול and offered the רב a juicy apple. He encouraged him to break his fast, reminding him that the תורה allows a person to eat on תשעה באב if his life is in danger. With a trembling hand the רב took the apple and said the ברכה , but before he could bring it to his lips he realized what had happened and sent the man away. True, he hadn't actually eaten the apple, but he had recited a ברכה לבטלה . Till this day it remains a מום on his נשמה ."
How could the בעל שם טוב have known these things? ר‘ יעקב יוסף was horrified as he regretted what he had done. "The בעל שם טוב is a holy man, and I was greatly mistaken," he admitted to himself.
At that moment the בעל שם טוב lifted his eyes and looked through the window. "רב of Polnoa!" he called out. "If you wish to correct the mistakes, come to me!"
That very day ר‘ יעקב יוסף became one of the בעל שם טוב 's closest חסידים . His ספר , תולדות יעקב יוסף , was the first to be printed praising the בעל שם טוב 's teachings.(Adapted from L’chaim Weekly)
See the printable version of Connections for incredible fun pages!
Last Week’s Winners:
Level 1:
Shiena Edelman, age 7.5 from Brunoy, France
Level 2:
Mendel Hodakov, age 9 from New Haven, Connecticut
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