Parshas Ki Sisa
Yud Zayin Adar 5766
Volume 2
Issue 20
The Connections people
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Connections
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Rabbi A. Lipsey
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Rabbi B. Levertov
Rabbi Y. Shemtov
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THE SHLUCHIM OFFICE
PARSHAS KI SISA
Parshas Ki Sisa begins with the mitzvah of Machatzis Hashekel. Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to count the Jewish people. Instead of counting heads, every Jew is commanded to give half of a silver shekel. By counting the half shekalim, Moshe would know the number of Jewish people.
As the people brought their machatzis hashekel, the silver coins added up. What did they do with all that silver? It was used for the adonim of the mishkan. The adonim are the sockets which are the base for the wooden boards which make up the walls of the mishkan.
The mitzvah of machatzis hashekel teaches us about ahavas Yisrael. Every Jew brought exactly half a shekel - no more, no less. This mitzvah reminds us that we all need each other, and that in order to have one whole, we need two halves. The shekel that each Jew gave was not complete until another Jew also gave half a shekel.
These half shekalim were used to make the base of the Mishkan, showing us that ahavas Yisrael is the basis for our lives.
After the mitzvah of machatzis hashekel, the parshah tells us about the kiyor hanechoshes, a large copper water-basin in the mishkan. Every morning, the kohanim would wash their hands and feet from this basin before offering up the korbanos in the mishkan.
Copper is a simple, common metal. Although we can polish it and make it look bright and shiny, it is not used like gold, to make expensive jewellery, or like silver, to make silver dollars or other valuable coins. It's not even like nickel, which is used to make quarters or nickels. Copper is like the smallest coin, the penny.
The beautiful adonim were made of silver, and many parts of the Mishkan were made of gold. Why was the kiyor made of simple copper? Because Hashem wants us to use everything in this world in a holy way. If we only used gold and silver in the Mishkan, we might think that less precious materials cannot be made holy. The Kiyor was made of copper, a less precious metal, because Hashem wants us to remember that everything can be used in a holy way.
And this was the first keili which the kohanim used every day. This helps remind us that we should begin our day knowing that everything in this world should be used in a holy way.‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VI)
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My first opens, my second lifts. Last weeks ’ brain buster: My end is 59 and I have father in me. Answer: אבנט |
Congratulations to Gitty Alperowitz from Bournemouth, England for solving the brain buster. |
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Dear Junior Shluchim,
Do you know anyone who lives in Paris, Munich or Prague? They used to have benches and sidewalks and lots of other things on their streets. But now they’re gone. No, they haven’t been stolen. They haven’t gone on vacation, either. They’ve been buried! Everything there is covered in two feet of snow. That’s almost as high as the mail piled on my desk! (Now imagine if all that snow was Mrs. Getzel’s Shabbos cholent. That would really be something to get excited about.)
Here in Iowa the only thing I see out the window are some cows munching on grass. But if there was snow outside the first thing I would do is build a snowman. Everyone knows what a snowman looks like. Dark glasses, dark suit and . . . Ooops, I mean button eyes, carrot nose and raisin mouth. But have you ever seen a snowman without a head? I’m Dr. Getzel, world famous eye specialist, and I’ve seen lots of things. But I’ve never seen a snowman without a head. Just think, without a head the snowman would forget to be cold and it would melt into a puddle!
I’ve never seen a person without a head either (Although I almost did. Do you know why my forgetful Zaidy Zelig wore a tie? It was to keep his head attached to his neck; otherwise he’d lose it!). The head is a very important part of the body. It leads the whole body and keeps it alive. It reminds the heart to beat and tells the feet to walk. Without it, we’d run around like a chicken without a head.
In Hebrew, the word REBBE stands for Rosh Bnei Yisroel. That means the head of Bnei Yisroel. Just like our head leads us and gives us guidance, the Rebbe leads us too.
As Chassidim, we need to look to the Rebbe to see how to act. Before a Chossid does something he always asks himself: Would the Rebbe (my head) want me to do this? If a Chossid doesn't follow the advice of the Rebbe, he looks as silly as a snowman without a head! So please, all you junior Shluchim out there, doing the Rebbe's mission, day in, day out, Hold Your Heads On Tight! Before you kids do anything -- ask yourselves the heady question: Is this something the Rebbe would want me to do?
Hold onto your heads and enjoy the snow!
Dr. Getzel
Lieba Laufer, age 6 1/2
Warwick, Rhode IslandHi there!
My name is Yashe Lieba Laufer, I am 6 1/2 years old and I am on shlichus in Warwick, Rhode Island, with my parents, my sister and 3 brothers.During the winter the weather is very cold and snowy.
We live in the same building as our Chabad House so I love being the first to be in shul on Shabbos.
My mother makes a lot of fun programs, and my favorite program is the Pop Purim party. My father goes to visit people in the hospitals, and he does a lot of Mivtzoim. I like going with him to visit the old people to make them happy. I like helping out with mailings and today my brother Mendel and I packed 180 Mishloach manos to give out at our Purim party.
I am home schooled and I love reading the ‘Connections’ every Shabbos and my friend on shlichus is Rivka Sternberg from New London, Connecticut. She lives 50 minutes from me and we try to get together as often as we can, to learn together.
פורים and פסח have something very important in common. אידישע children had a great influence on what happened to the entire אידישע people at both of those times in Jewish history. We see the connection between the two ימים טובים even in הלכה . The שולחן ערוך teaches us that on פורים we already begin to prepare for פסח .
Let us see what part אידישע children played in these two ימים טובים .
Concerning פורים , the מדרש tells us that at the time of המן ’s wicked decree, אידישע children gathered together to learn תורה , to daven and to begה‘ to save them. ה‘ immediately accepted their תפילות and brought about the גאולה of פורים .
A similar thing happened on פסח . The גמרא tells us that when ה‘ made the נס of קריעת ים סוף , it was the children who recognised ה‘ first — even before the adults. These children were close to ה‘ and filled with אלוקת because they followed ה‘ ’s teachings.
What does this teach the children of צבאות ה‘ ?
Starting on פורים , אידישע children must begin to prepare for פסח , including practising the מה נשתנה for the סדר night.
Since פסח is the time of freedom and גאולה , אידישע children must prepare for פסח in a way that shows true ‘freedom’. They must free themselves from the יצר הרע and defeat him until not a speck of him remains. They will then be able to serve ה‘ , daven, learn תורה and do מצוות peacefully and בשמחה .
The תורה tells us that just like we were redeemed from מצרים in ניסן , so too we will be redeemed through משיח צדיקנו in that very month. Very quickly, now!
When משה saw the עגל הזהב , he immediately wanted to break the לוחות . The זקנים grabbed onto them and did not let him throw them down, until he finally overpowered them and shattered the לוחות . What was משה arguing with the זקנים about?
There are people who are very nice to other people, but are not very good in their relationship with ה‘ . They will quickly help a person in need but are not careful in the performance of מצוות that are only רוחניות‘דיק . On the other hand, there are people who are very particular in their relationship with ה‘ , but are not very careful in how they treat other people. The לוחות had the עשרת הדברות on them, five on each stone. The first five belong to the category of מצוות between man and ה‘ , while the other five are מצוות between man and man.
The זקנים argued, "It is true that the אידן were עובר what is written in the first group of מצוות , but they are all from the category of מצוות between man and ה‘ . Let them at least keep the second group of מצוות , which belong to the category of מצוות between man and man."
משה insisted, "Although they were written on separate stones, the two לוחות were united, in order to show that they are really one. We shouldn’t act nicely to other people just because it makes sense or it seems to us like the right thing to do, but rather because these מצוות were given at הר סיני and are the word of ה‘ ."
The special שַׁבָּת of פַּרְשַׁת פָּרָה is connected to the מצוה for every Jew to become טָהוֹר . On פַּרְשַׁת פָּרָה a 2nd Sefer Torah is taken out and pesukim talking about the פָּרָה אַדוּמָה and the מצוה to become טָהוֹרare read. פַּרְשַׁת פָּרָה is always on the שַׁבָּת beforeפַּרְשַׁת הַחֹדֶשׁ . פַּרְשַׁת פָּרָהis scheduled at this time to remind people to become טָהוֹר in time to be able to bring the קָרְבָּן פֶּסַח before פֶּסַח .
A טָמֵא מֵת is someone who touched or was under the same roof as the dead body of a איד . A טָמֵא מֵת remains טָמֵא until he is מטהר himself following the instructions in the Torah. A טָמֵא מֵת may not enter the area of the בֵּית הַמִקְדָשׁ and may not eat or touch קרבנות . So, a טָמֵא מֵת cannot fulfill the Mitzvah of קָרְבָּן פֶּסַח .
A טָמֵא מֵת becomes טָהוֹר being sprinkled with ashes of the פָּרָה אֲדוּמָה . He also must טובל himself in a kosher Mikvah.A פָּרָה אֲדוּמָה must be a perfectly red cow with no more than one hair of another color. In addition the פָּרָה אֲדוּמָה is only kosher if it has never done any work. The ashes of the פָּרָה אֲדוּמָה were mixed with מַיִם חַיִים - spring water and used to sprinkle on the טְמֵא מֵת .
Sprinkling the פָּרָה אֲדוּמָה water on the טְמֵא מֵת made theטְמֵא מֵת become טָהוֹר . The Mitzvah of פָּרָה אֲדוּמָה is considered a חוֹק - a Mitzvah we don’t understand.
There were only 9 פָּרוֹת אַדוּמוֹת made from the time of מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ until after the 2nd בֵּית הַמִקְדָשׁ . The 10thפָּרָה אַדוּמָה will be brought by משיח .
Today we fulfill the Mitzvah of פָּרָה אַדוּמָה by reading the פסוקים in the Torah that deal with פָּרָה אַדוּמָה and by learning the halachos of פָּרָה אַדוּמָה .
Not long before the בעל שם טוב passed away, he gave each of his closest חסידים a special task to make sure that חסידות will continue to grow. One of his חסידים , ר‘ יעקב , was given the task of travelling from town to town telling stories about all he had seen in his years with the בעל שם טוב .
ר‘ יעקב carried out his mission for several years, but after a while, he longed to return to his home. He began to wait for a sign that his mission had been fulfilled.
One day ר‘ יעקב arrived in Italy. He had heard that in Rome lived a wealthy איד who paid a lot of money for every story he was told about the בעל שם טוב . Arriving at this איד 's house, ר‘ יעקב was received royally and given the finest accommodations. He prepared a number of stories to tell on the coming שבת at the meals.
שבת arrived, and ר‘ יעקב stood up to begin telling his stories. But, to his shock and horror, his mind went blank; he could not remember even one story. The crowd was even more surprised than he was; only his kind host was not bothered by this strange happening.
The host advised ר‘ יעקב to rest, and try again later. ר‘ יעקב went to his room and suddenly, in a flash, all the stories flooded back into his mind. However, the next day, on שבת afternoon, when he stood in front of the crowd to begin his tales, he again forgot everything. When, by the סעודה שלישית , ר‘ יעקב was still unable to tell even one story, he was filled with overwhelming sadness and sorrow. "This must be a punishment from ה‘ for some terrible עבירה of mine," thought ר‘ יעקב to himself.
When שבת was over, and ר‘ יעקב joined his host at the מלוה מלכה , the host carefully said, "Now that we are alone, you might possibly be able to remember something about the holy בעל שם טוב ." But try as he might, ר‘ יעקב could remember nothing. With great embarrassment and sorrow, he told his host he would leave straightaway.
"Please, don't hurry," begged the host. "Stay a few more days, and if by then you don't get back your memory, I won't make you stay any longer." When the appointed day arrived and ר‘ יעקב could still not tell one story, he prepared to leave. But no sooner had he climbed into his carriage when a story flashed into his mind.
He lost no time telling the following story: "About ten years ago, just before the גוישע holiday of Easter, the בעל שם טוב and a few of his חסידים set out on a journey to an unfamiliar town. The גוישע townspeople were gathering in the main square to hear a sermon from their bishop. The אידן were terrified that the bishop's words would make the crowd violent, and they locked themselves in their homes. But the בעל שם טוב was completely not worried. In fact, he told me to approach the bishop with the order to come to the בעל שם טוב at once.
"I delivered this message in אידיש , exactly as the בעל שם טוב had told me. The bishop showed no surprise, but told me he would come as soon as he finished his sermon. I hurried back to the בעל שם טוב and told him what the Bishop had said. The בעל שם טוב told me to go to the Bishop and order him to come at once. When I told the Bishop the בעל שם טוב 's words, his face turned pale and he followed me without question. The בעל שם טוב closed himself up with the bishop for many hours. Then, as suddenly as we had arrived, we went back home without even a word of explanation. And that's the end of my story."
The rich איד listened with great attention, then suddenly exclaimed, "ברוך ה‘ ! ה‘ should be praised!" After calming down, he explained to ר‘ יעקב , "Everything you've told me is true in every detail! I know it because I was there...I was that bishop!"
The host continued, "I was born and raised a איד , but the attraction of a great career tempted me to convert, for a איד could not enter the university. At first I kept my אידישקייט secretly, but little by little I forgot how to behave as a איד .
"After I had achieved the post of bishop, I began to be troubled by dreams of my youth - it seems my holy ancestors had pity on my lost soul - but I was able to send them away from my mind. One night the בעל שם טוב came to me in a dream and demanded that I return to my people. I began to think of doing תשובה , but wondered if I had the strength. The night before my sermon, the בעל שם טוב appeared to me again, saying that he was coming to help me. It was hard for me to break with my past, but I finally returned fully to our beautiful אידישקייט . The בעל שם טוב gave me instructions for carrying out my תשובה . When I asked him how I would know that my תשובה had been accepted, he replied: 'When a man comes to you and tells you the story of what happened that day, you will know that your תשובה has been accepted.'
"I carefully followed all of the בעל שם טוב 's instructions. When you came here, I recognized you immediately. And when you could not remember a single story, especially my story, I knew that my תשובה was not yet complete. These past few days I have done a חשבון הנפש and, ברוך ה‘ , now I know that my תשובה has been truly accepted."
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Last Week’s Winners:
Level 1:
Yisroel Slonim, age 8 from Vestal, NY
Level 2:
Chanie Greenberg, age 11 from Solon, Ohio
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