Parshas Matos-Masei
Yud Ches Tammuz 5766
Volume 2
Issue 41
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PARSHAS MATOS-MASEI
"Attention, campers and counselors!" the head counselor's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. "It's learning time. Please go to your learning groups now."
Mindy's group sat in the shade of a large oak tree and listened as Simi, their counsellor, began. "In this week's Parsha, the shevatim of Reuven and Gad approached Moshe Rabbeinu with a request. What did they ask for?"
"I know," answered Mindy. "They asked Moshe for permission to settle in the area on the east side of the Yarden river."
"Very good, Mindy. Why did they choose that area?"
"Wait a minute, Simi," Esther called out. "What do you mean by choosing? Wasn't the land divided by a lottery?"
"It was, but years before the lottery was held, the shevatim of Reuven and Gad said they would rather settle on the eastern side of the river, which was covered with luscious green pastures."
"Oh! I remember," said Chavi. "They were shepherds, and they wanted to have plenty of pasture to raise their sheep."
"That's right. But Moshe was not pleased with their request."
"Why?" asked Dinah. "What's wrong with raising sheep?"
"There's nothing wrong with raising sheep," replied Simi. "As a matter of fact, some of our most famous ancestors were shepherds."
"Like Avraham," called out Mindy. "And Yitzchak and Yaakov and even Moshe Rabbeinu himself!"
"Many of our people chose to be shepherds, because it's peaceful and it doesn't take so much time and effort," explained Simi. "That way they would be able to devote their time and energy to serving Hashem, davening, and studying."
"That sounds just like learning in camp under a shady oak tree," said Esther, smiling dreamily. "So why didn't Moshe agree?"
"Think, girls," challenged Simi. "When the shevatim of Reuven and Dan made this request, Moshe compared them to the miraglim."
"Oh, I get it," said Chavi. "In school, we learned that the miraglim didn't want to go into Eretz Yisrael, because they thought that the life in the desert, where Hashem took care of their food, clothes, and homes, was more suited for people who wanted to serve Hashem. They could devote most of their time and energy to davening and learning. The shevatim of Reuven and Gad seemed to have the same idea."
"Excellent, Chavi," Simi complimented her. "But there is a difference. Those two shevatim promised Moshe that they would enter Eretz Yisrael with all the rest of the people. They were prepared to leave their wives, children and possessions on the eastern side of the river, while they marched at the head of the people to conquer Eretz Yisrael and to help the others settle the land. They would not return to their own territory until everyone was settled.
"To this, Moshe agreed. Hashem wants the Jewish people to live in Eretz Yisrael and make the Torah and its mitzvos part of their everyday life. The people should farm, work, and build up the land, serving Hashem with many different types of activities. Though much time is spent dealing with ordinary matters, doing this the Torah way makes the world a dirah bitachtonim, a home for Hashem.
"Still, our nation needs people who can devote most of their time to peaceful study and davening. But these people should also be part of settling Eretz Yisrael like the shevatim of Reuven and Gad. When they help the others who spend most of their time working in the land, they themselves can serve Hashem with the peaceful ease of a shepherd's life."(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VIII)
‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
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I start with 4 and end with a sea Please send your answers to connections@shluchim.org Answer: פנחס |
Congratulations to Chayaleh Turk, age 8 from Chicago, IL for solving the brain buster. |
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Hey there kids,
Do you remember my nameless massive, mammoth, pool-size telescope that I told you about last week? I wanted to use it to see the wonders of Moshiach’s times (you know me, I’m a world renowned vision specialist; I specialize in seeing things in a special Chassidishe way), but it only worked if I sang “We want Moshiach Now” and danced around in a circle and really, really wanted Moshiach to come.
This week, Sunday, at exactly 4:46 and 8 seconds, I had a sudden brilliant inspiration. I envisioned a tall tower for my nameless Moshiach-times-telescope. I could see it in my mind already and I wanted to build it right away. I needed some help, though. I called my good friends Boom and Bam, and we started building. Boom brought the boards, and Bam brought the bricks, and Dr. Getzel brought the toolbox. We started working. Boom, bam, bang... Boom, bam, bang...
Boom was short, but Bam was very tall. Boom was also unusually chubby, while Bam was incredibly skinny. Boom looked like a round, juicy tomato; Bam looked like a thin, green asparagus. They were good assistants. It started out well, but soon enough, things started getting very complicated.
Bam worked very zooming quick, and Boom worked very dreamy slow. Soon they started fighting.
“Speed up, you slow poke,” said big Bam to small Boom.
“Slow down, you fast poke,” said chubby Boom to thin Bam.
I offered them popcorn with marshmallow fluff and orange soda, and things calmed down. We continued working. Boom, bam, bang... Boom, bam, bang... The bricks were adding up and we already had a tall wall. I rubbed my hands together, said “Moshiach now!” under my breath, snuck some extra popcorn into the pockets of my workman’s overalls, and continued working. This was going to be a magnificent tower. It was going to be as tall as the Statue of Liberty and even more popular. Boom, bam, bang... Boom, bam, bang...
Three days later...
The sun was hot, and it got even hotter. Our tower was tall, and it was getting even taller. My assistants were nervous and they were getting even nervouser. My mosquito bites from last week were itching, and they were itching more and more furiously. All my scientist bells started ringing in my head. I knew there was going to be some trouble ahead.
“Bring that board, please,” boomed busy Bam to lazy Boom.
“Can’t.” Says Boom to busy Bam, “I’m busy blowing bubbles.”
“Blowing bubbles doesn’t make you busy,” said an angry Boom.
I should have gotten involved. After all, scientists like me who specialize in seeing special things can solve important problems. At this particular moment, however, I was very engrossed in scratching my many mosquito bites left over from last week’s boating activity at the camp lake.
Bam and I continued building while Boom continued blowing bubbles. The tension was high and the mood was low. Boom’s face looked as red as a bruised tomato’s, and Bam’s face looked as long and stretched out as an unripe asparagus. Bam snickered and said something nasty to Boom; Boom answered something even nastier.
Then it happened.
BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM! BOOM! BAM!
The tower started to crumble! It made a terrible burping sound and bricks started flying all over the yard. Bam, Boom, and I just watched as the half-built tower slowly collapsed. It took not even seven minutes, and the beautiful building was a hopeless pile of broken bricks and boards. The pile was covered with a thick layer of sawdust, popcorn, and some of Boom’s popped bubbles. Our magnificent tower was lying in ruins, in a pool of orange soda.
We were stunned. Boom started to cry. Bam started to sneeze. I started to sniffle as well, but I knew that scientists are supposed to solve international problems, and so I sat down in the middle of the sorry mess and started to think.
But Bam figured it out first. “It’s like the Beis Hamikdosh,” he said.
“Uh, huh,” agreed Boom, “that’s what the Yidden must have felt like when their tower, the Beis Hamikdosh, was destroyed. Only much, much worse.”
“I’m sorry,” said Bam, “I shouldn’t have been so mean.”
“I’m sorry too,” said Boom in a quiet voice, “I shouldn’t have been so lazy.”
I don’t have a happy ending yet. I would love to say that the bricks and boards jumped up from the pile and became a tower again, but that did not happen. They made funny sounds instead.
“Seedaka,” squawked one badly broken brick, and I knew he wanted us to give more Tzedaka.
“Meetz Vos,” squeaked another, and I knew he wanted us to do more Mitzvos.
Bam, Boom and I left the mess as it was. Boom was still crying, and Bam was still sneezing, and I still sniffle every time I think about our demolished tower. I would sniffle even more, but I am always so distracted by my mosquito bites... besides, I need to give Tzedaka, do extra Mitzvos...Dr. Getzel
Mendel Gordon, age 7
Charlotte , North CarolinaHi my name is Mendel. My Chabad House is in Charlotte, NC. On Shabbos, people come and daven. The kids that come daven, learn the parsha or about the Yom Tov that’s coming up. We have a lot of fun! When davening ends we have a Kiddush with speakers. While the speakers speak the kids play. After the Kiddush, we daven mincha. Sometimes we have a shabbaton with about 140 people! For this Chanukah we had a menorah parade with about 50 people, which was shown on the news and after that we had grand menorah lighting.
We Want Moshiach Now!
Although only the שבטים of ראובן and גד had asked משה to let them live on the other side of the ירדן where they would have plenty of space for their cattle, when משה inspected the land he saw that it was too big for just two tribes to live in and he decided that half of the שבט of מנשה should settle there also.
Our חכמים explain that the שבט of מנשה was split into two as a punishment for the actions of the founder of the tribe, מנשה the son of יוסף . When יוסף ’s eleven brothers had visited him in מצרים he had not revealed his identity to them and had hidden his silver cup in the bag of one of brothers to see if they had done תשובה for selling יוסף or if they would give up another one of their brothers in order to save their own lives. יוסף ’s son מנשה had been the messenger who had chased after the brothers once they had left מצרים to ‘find’ the cup. When the brothers realized what had happened they tore their clothes in half in grief. As a punishment for having caused the holy brothers so much upset, ה‘ punished the שבט of מנשה and split their inheritance into two.
שבת חזק
This שבת is שבת חזק for ספר במדבר .
The בעל קורא reads the last פסוק in a special tune. When he reads the last פסוק everyone in שול stands. After he finishes everybody calls out together “חזק חזק ונתחזק ”. “Be Strong, be strong, may we be strengthened.”
The Nine Days
The Nine Days are from ראש חודש אב until תשעה באב .
In the Nine Days:
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We don’t buy or wear any new shoes or clothes.
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We don’t do any laundry.
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We don’t take baths or showers for pleasure, (but we do shower in honor of Shabbos).
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We don’t eat meat or drink wine except for Shabbos.
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We try to hear a siyum during the Nine Days.
This שבת is
שבת מברכים חודש מנחם אב
- שבת morning I made sure to say תהילים . (Remember to say even though there is no World-Wide Tehillim club this month)
- I went to Shul and made the special ברכה for the new month of מנחם אב . (The ברכה can be found in the סידור after שחרית for שבת )
ראש חודש מנחם אב
Wednesday א' אב
- I remembered to say יעלה ויבא in שמונה עשרה and in bentching.
- I remembered to say הלל after שמונה עשרה .
- I remembered to daven מוסף .
- I remembered to say ברכי נפשי after the שיר של יום .
- (For Girls) I didn’t sew or do any laundry.
During the time of the רבי מהר“ש there lived a kind nobleman in the area of Vitebsk who owned the entire village of Chekhov. Many אידן lived on his vast estates and he was so friendly toward them that he didn’t demand taxes from those who were poor. In addition he allowed the רב , the שוחט , and the מלמדים to let their animals feed in his fields free of charge.
This count was not a very well man and the older he grew, the weaker and sicker he became, and he had to visit Doctor Bertenson in Vitebsk more and more frequently. The count's illness forced him to leave the running of his properties in the hands of his manager who was a big שונאי ישראל . This manager together with the local priest plotted to change the way the count ran his land and stop the special favors the אידן had enjoyed. They even went so far as to take away the פרנסה of many families and to collect taxes from even the poorest families. This conspiracy between the two anti-Semites continued for two years.
During all that time the local אידן , who were mainly חסידים of the רבי מהר“ש , visited their Rebbe on all the ימים טובים and many שבתות . The מאמרים he said made their lives meaningful and they went often to Lubavitch to receive the Rebbe's ברכות for their health, their children or their פרנסה . But not one of the אידן thought it proper to bring up the topic of the priest and the manager and how they were changing the kind ways of the count.
There was one local איד who did business for many years with the count. He was called ר‘ שמואל Isaacs and was respected throughout the region as a reliable, honest merchant. He spent his all his free time studying תורה , and was very learned in both נגלה and חסידות . Once he was visiting Lubavitch for the יום טוב of שבועות . During their conversation, the Rebbe asked ר‘ שמואל about how the פרנסה of the אידן in the town was going.
ר‘ שמואל answered truthfully and in great detail describing the illness of the count and the resulting problems of his אידישע tenants caused by the troublesome manager and priest. The Rebbe replied that he was aware of the condition of the count, since Dr. Bertenson had described the nobleman's fragile health. "But why," continued the Rebbe, "didn't you tell me about the change in policy towards the אידן on the count's estates?"
The Rebbe sat quietly, thinking deeply, for a few minutes and then said: "Return home now, and when you have the opportunity, tell the count in my name, that I know that his condition is dangerous and that his doctors have all given up. Nevertheless, I promise him that if he helps the Jews of Chekhov and the neighboring villages, ה‘ will grant him one month's health for each family that he helps."
ר‘ שמואל returned home at once and began spending time around the count's home, hoping to meet him, but the nobleman stayed inside most of the time now, due to his ill health. One lovely day his physicians advised him to ride out into the countryside to get some air, and it was then that ר‘ שמואל met him, weak and pale, being helped into his carriage.
The count recognized the merchant and invited him along for the ride. ר‘ שמואל related his conversation with the Rebbe, and the count lost no time in giving ר‘ שמואל the mission to put together an exact list of all the אידן living on his properties.
A short time later the count received a list of more than one hundred and sixty families from the township and others from the surrounding villages. The אידן were again helped in making a living, and the count was helped by ה‘ to regain his health.
ר‘ שמואל enjoyed a close relationship with the count from that time on, and each year the count was sure to sent a לולב from his own palm trees and some הדסים from his gardens as a gift to the Rebbe with which to honor the יום טוב of סוכות .
The count's good health continued for another fourteen years after which he began to feel very weak. He sent at once for ר‘ שמואל and asked him to go to Lubavitch and visit the קבר of the Rebbe, who had passed away some years before. He was to tell the Rebbe that the count was feeling weak. According to his calculations he was owed another year and seven months of life, and he requested that the Rebbe fulfill his promise.
(Adapted from L’chaim Weekly)
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Yosef Bergstein, age 5 from Chicago, IL &
Nechama Bell, age 11 from Montreal, Canada
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