Parshas Beshalach
Yud Bais Shevat 5766
Volume 2
Issue 15
The Connections people
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Rabbi Y. Shemtov
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THE SHLUCHIM OFFICE
PARSHAS BESHALACH
The first time that Moshe Rabbeinu announced Hashem's promise to take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim, everyone believed him and bowed to Hashem gratefully. But when they saw that this promise was not being kept straightaway, they became very disappointed. Their hard work made it difficult for them to listen to Moshe.
Moshe brought the message of geulah to Pharaoh. After the ten plagues, Pharaoh gave in and let the Jews go.
But even after they left Egypt, the Jews were still afraid of the Egyptians. Many Jews became so terrified when they were chased by the Egyptian army that they spoke of returning to the slavery in Egypt. They did not feel secure and free until after the Red Sea split.
Still, there was one group which stood out all along. These were the Jewish children who had learned to trust in Hashem from the time that He protected them from being killed by Egyptians.
The Jewish adults stood fearfully at the brink of the Red Sea, but the Jewish children were calm. They knew that Hashem would save them. Later, even young babies joyfully sang Az Yashir, praising Hashem for the great miracles of geulas Mitzrayim.
In many ways, Moshiach's coming will be like geulas Mitzrayim, and Jewish children will have a large share in it. We read, "Do not touch My anointed ones (meshichoi)." Our Sages tell us that the word meshichoi means the Jewish children. Why are children called with this name? Because they have the strongest desire for Moshiach to come.
Everyone wants Moshiach to come. But adults are busy with work and with paying bills. Children are not bothered with these worries and responsibilities. They can concentrate on what they really want, which is Moshiach. That is why children were the first to sing "We Want Moshiach Now."
The dictionary says that "want" also means a lack or a need. Jewish children feel that something is missing because Moshiach has not yet come.
But we will not have to wait much longer, because Moshiach is coming very soon. When he does come, as at the Red Sea, the children will recognize him first.‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
(Adapted from Sichos Simchas Torah, 5752)
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My beginning has 41 and my end is an end Last weeks’ brain buster: Come = 3 Answer: בא |
Congratulations to Shoshana Shemtov, age 8 from Washington DC for solving the brain buster. |
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Hey Kids,
Go outside and look at a tree. (If you are in Montreal, Russia, or Sweden, and the trees are all covered with snow, just imagine a tree.) Feel the bumpy brown bark, the soft leaves, and the strong branches. Can you peek under the grass and find the roots? Because all you kids come from all over the world, you will find many sorts of trees with different kinds of bark and roots. Look very closely. You will see the beautiful world Hashem created and how wonderful each tree is. Draw a picture of your tree and give it a name. On Tes-Vov Shevat (Monday), we celebrate a New Year for trees and for all growing things.
Then, look again at the tree you found, drew, and named. What else do you see? This is a tricky one. I’ll tell you. But before I do, I want you to add eyes, nose, and mouth to your tree drawing. Now, what does the picture look like? A tree-man or man-tree? This is a very good picture. Trees and people are very similar. Both of us grow from something small to something very big. A new baby is like a seed that has just been planted. If the seed gets a lot of sun, and water (rain) it will grow quickly and will be a beautiful tree. If, however, the little seed is neglected and doesn’t get water and sun, it will stay weak and sad.
You junior Shluchim all over the world are mini-trees, and one day you will be magnificent tall trees, Shluchim, giving shade and fruit to the world. But in order to become the tallest and strongest tree on the block, you kids have to give yourselves rain and sun. Rain comes from learning a lot of Torah and Chassidus and the warmth of the sun from surrounding yourself with only Jewish tapes, books, and games. Then, one day, you will be a really magnificent tree with strong branches and delicious fruit.
During this week look at the trees again and again. That’s my job; I’m the famous Dr. Getzel who teaches how to see and has an office in Iowa with a green roof and wooden door. Enjoy the trees, look at them very closely and see their secrets, and I’ll be back next week.See Ya’,
Dr. Getzel
Yisroel posner, age 7
Boston, MAMy name is Yisroel Posner. I am on shlichus in Boston, MA. We speak English. The weather is very cold and snowy at Chanukah time. Our Chabad House is a brick, very tall building with 6 floors. My favorite program is the matzah bakery. At the matzah bakeries I help by giving out the rolling pins and forks to make holes. I go to school in New Lubavitch Yeshiva. In school I learn Chumash and Parsha….. I like to play High-Q. My favorite hobby is going on mivtzoyim. My friend on shlichus is Mendel Zarchi. I go on mivtzoyim to be proud of being a shliach.
י“ג שבט
יאהרצייט of רביצין שטערנא שרה
י“ג שבט is the יאהרצייט of רביצין שטערנא שרה . She was the wife of the רבי רש“ב , and mother of the פריערדיקער רבי . רביצין שטערנא שרה was in the house and watched her son being arrested for his work to keep אידישקייט alive in Communist Russia. After the פריערדיקער רבי was released, the family moved to Latvia and later, Poland. In 1940, they survived the bombing of Warsaw, were rescued from the Nazis who occupied Poland, and moved to the United States. רביצין שטערנא שרה passed away in New York in תש“ב (1942) and is buried in the אוהל .
שבת שירה
This שבת is called שבת שירה because in this week’s קריאת התורה , we read the שירה - “אז ישיר ”, that the אידן sang to ה‘ after קריעת ים סוף .
Our חכמים tell us that the birds in the sky joined the אידן in their singing; for this reason it is a מנהג to put out food for the birds for this שבת .
The חכמים also give us another reason: In this week's פרשה we read that when the אידן were given the מן , they were told to collect two portions on Friday because no מן would fall on שבת . דתן and אבירם wanted to make משה look silly so they saved some of their מן , and very early on שבת morning, went out and spread it on the ground. They knew that when the אידן got up, some would want to see if what משה said was true, so they would go out and look for מן . Even if they would only see a little bit of מן , it would be enough to make them think that משה hadn’t been telling the truth.
Later on, דתן and אבירם went to see how their plan was working. But to their surprise, there was no מן to be seen anywhere! Where had it gone? The birds had come and taken it all away. So, we put out food for the birds this week to reward them for this.
On ראש השנה , the first day of תשרי , ה‘ decides everything that will happen to a person during the coming year. But א‘ תשרי is not the only ראש השנה in the year. The משנה calls ט“ו שבט ‘ראש השנה לאילן ’ - the new year for trees and plants.
On the 15th day of שבט , ‘ט“ו בשבט ’, ה‘ decides what will happen to all the trees and plants everywhere: how they will grow, give fruit and flourish.
The תורה tells us, ‘כי האדם עץ השדה ’ - ‘a person is like a tree of the field’. A person, especially a איד , is like a tree in many ways. The תורה calls the אידן ‘מטעי נצר ’, a branch planted by ה‘ Himself.
As every איד is like a tree, there is a special connection between the new year for trees and the אידן . For this reason אידן celebrate ט“ו בשבט by eating many different kinds of fruit, especially fruit for which ארץ ישראל is praised.
As we celebrate ט“ו בשבט we remember that every אידישע child is like a young tree planted by ה‘ in His garden. ה‘ is constantly watching over this little ‘plant’, to see if it acts in a way that that is fitting for a tree in ה‘ ’s ‘garden’. Is he carrying out his mission, which is to grow big and strong ברחניות as well as בגשמיות ? Is he constantly producing ‘fruit’ for which ארץ ישראל is praised? Is he learning תורה and doing מצוות ?
If a אידישע child does all of these things, he will make a big קידוש ה‘ , causing everyone to praise ה‘ and say ‘what wonderful trees ה‘ has planted, trees that give such good fruit and bring כבוד to ארץ ישראל and the אידן .’
‘The Rebbe speaks to children’
In a village near Liozna lived a widow with her son and two daughters. The children helped their mother manage the family inn. A few years later the older daughter married a young man, וועלוול , who knew a lot of תורה , but also a big show-off and full of himself.
One of the frequent guests at the inn was the local priest. He spent many hours arguing with וועלוול . The young תלמיד חכם always won, which only made him more boastful. Even when the priest brought along two of his friends to debate with him, וועלוול managed to win.
After one of their debates, the priest mentioned that the bishop of Vitebsk wanted to meet the young תלמיד חכם . He persuaded וועלוול to go to Vitebsk.
וועלוול got more honor in Vitebsk than he had ever dreamed. He met with the bishop and answered every argument, point by point. One of the senior priests convinced וועלוול to remain for a few days in Vitebsk and help other members of the church get better at debating. וועלוול never dreamed that he could be shown so much honor. The many compliments he got, the more big-headed he became.
וועלוול returned to the inn, no one knew how he had spent the past few days. Some weeks later, a group of well-known תלמידי חכמים stopped at the inn. They became involved in a תורה discussion וועלוול , the show-off, kept interrupting and giving his opinions. An elderly scholar smiled at וועלוול and said, "A young man should learn to listen to what his elders have to say, and to treat תלמידי חכמים with respect."
וועלוול was very offended at these words. He thought, "Who are these men who are not showing me proper honor? I even won the bishop when I debated him about אידישקייט !"
Several weeks later, וועלוול disappeared. His family got a letter from him saying that he was living in Vitebsk where the bishop of the city was giving him great honors. The bishop had assured him that he would receive a very important job if he would join them.
The family didn’t know what to do! They went straight away to the אלטער רבי in Liozna. They burst into the שול and cried out, "Rebbe, help us! וועלוול wants to become a goy!"
The Rebbe simply said, "I cannot help you. But I will tell you a story that happened while I was in Mezritch.
"One winter, a young man suddenly got a תאווה to become a גוי . He went to the local priest who began arranging everything. The young man's father ran to my Rebbe, the מעזריטשער מגיד and cried: 'Rebbe, rescue my son from becoming a גוי !'
"The מגיד listened to the story that the broken-hearted father told and then, after a few minutes, began to explain the פסוק , 'If a person should sin and act against ה‘ '" And then, the אלטער רבי repeated the מאמר as he had heard it from the מגיד .
Then, the אלטער רבי continued to tell the story: "When the מגיד was finished, he told ten of his חסידים to stay awake all night, saying תהילים until dawn. I was one of the ten. At noon, the young man wandered into our שול . No one asked him what had happened. He stayed with us for a few days, spoke privately with the Rebbe, then went home." The אלטער רבי finished telling the story and went back into his study.
The Rebbe's חסידים immediately chose a מנין of ten men and spent the whole night awake, saying תהילים . The widow and her daughter returned home and soon after that a young man appeared in the שול . He sat down with the others, and with tears, said תהילים . The חסידים knew who the young man was, but no one breathed a word.
The young man spent the entire week in Liozna, and the following week, after speaking privately with the Rebbe, he returned home. A few weeks later, he and his family moved to another town. He remained close with the אלטער רבי and became one of his devoted חסידים .
(Adapted from L’chaim Weekly)
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Uziel Weinstein, age 6 from Newtown, PA
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