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Parshas Balak
Volume 1 |
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The
Parsha Alive
Brain Buster
Dr. Getzel
Kids Speak
Pocket Calendar
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The
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Most of the fifth graders at Yeshivas Levi Yitzchak were talking about summer camp. But Yankie, Moishe, and Berel were three of a group of boys who were not going to camp. "Let's organize a program for ourselves," suggested Moishe to his friends. "What do you mean?" the boys asked. "Well," Moishe began. "We can get a group of five or six kids together. Every day, someone else's parents will be in charge of that day's program. So if we do it for four weeks, our parents will each have only four days or less. That's not a lot to ask if we will be busy for a whole month." "What will we do?" asked Berel. "We can start by davening together, then learning. We can do arts and crafts, go swimming, go on trips. We can do a lot of the things that kids do at camp, but we'll just organize it ourselves with a little bit of our parents' help." The boys got their parents involved, and soon everyone was busy planning the program. One evening, while Yankie and his father were working out their schedule, Yankie said: "Tatti, everyone keeps calling our program 'Moishe's group.' That's not really fair; we're all working on it." Yankie's father patted him on the head gently. "Don't be offended. You are all working hard for the program," he told him. "But you're right, I have heard other parents also call this 'Moishe's group.' There is a similar question about the name of this week's parshah. "This week's parshah is called Balak. Wouldn't you think it should have been called Bilaam? After all, the entire episode centers around him. As a matter of fact, when the Rambam speaks about the prophecies mentioned in this parshah, he calls it Parshas Bilaam." "I never thought of it that way," said Yankie. "You're right. Bilaam is the main character in the parshah. So why is it called Balak?" "Because Balak was the one who started it all," replied his father. "It was Balak's idea to curse the Jewish people. Even though Bilaam is the one who was hired to utter the curse, Balak was the man behind it. Just like the Haftorah says: 'Remember what Balak advised and Bilaam responded.' Balak had the idea. All Bilaam did was respond. "So we see that the people who get things started are the ones who are singled out. If this is so with very bad ideas like the one Balak had, how much more should we give credit to people who suggest good ideas and get good things going?" ‘Please Tell Me What The Rebbe Said’ (Adapted from Sichos Shabbos Parshas Balak, 5733) |
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From the Desk of Dr. Getzel,
Hello Young Shluchim! Well it finally happened! It took a whole year but it was worth waiting for. I’ve been looking forward to it since about 10 months ago and counting down the days on my Super-duper Extra-large Automatically Updating Yiddishe Sun/Moon Calendar. It really is a special calendar. And how I came to invent it is a special story too. But first—can you guess what I was counting down to? Nope! Not my birthday. The start of the summer!!!! No more school (even famous professors go to school, except we go to teach not to learn!)! Camp! Fun! Yup—in just a few days I’ll be off to a special camp for Professors, Inventors and other Chassidishe Scientists in the Catskills of New York! The camp isn't too long—us professors are busy people you see– but it is a special time to get together with other Chassidishe professors from around the country and spend some fun time together and swop some ideas. It was actually in the Chassidishe Scientist Summer Camp that I came up with the idea for my Super-duper Extra-large Automatically Updating Yiddishe Sun/Moon Calendar. You see as you probably know already know, us professors are rather absent minded people. I guess that is why we are such good professors—we forget how things normally work and we have to invent new things to do the job instead. Which brings me back my Super-duper Extra-large Automatically Updating Yiddishe Sun/Moon Calendar. You see normal young shluchim like you and your friends can use an ordinary calendar and will have no problem remembering all the important things that they need to remember. But I kept on forgetting what day was which and what I had to do each day. I would do Chitas for Sunday and Rambam for Tuesday. And then there was the time that I had to go to a meeting with the President—the President of the Scientists, Professors and Inventors Over Sixty Society that is—and I got the day mixed up! I went of the 10th of Elul instead of the 10th of September. And of course there is the time that I almost kept Shabbos for two days! Anyway a few summers ago I sitting relaxing outside my bunkhouse when I saw my good friend Professor Pinya from Pennsylvania looking rather sorry for himself. Being a good friend and not wanting to miss the chance to do a mitzvah I went over to Professor Pinya and asked him what the problem was and if I could be of any help. Professor Pinya was sooo happy that I came over to him. You see he had lost his Beeping and Flashing Toothbrush—he couldn't find it anywhere– and now he couldn't remember if he had brushed his teeth that morning or not. You see his toothbrush wasn't a regular flashing one—it flashed and beeped every morning until Professor Pinya brushed his teeth. And then every evening it beeped and flashed again until Professor Pinya brushed his teeth at night. It was a really clever toothbrush and it knew exactly how long Professor Pinya had to brush his teeth for and stopped beeping and flashing all by itself when he had brushed for long enough. Well that got me thinking. You see there are so many thing that I have to remember in one day. Things to learn, things to do, things to eat. And most of the time I didn't remember them. Now if Professor Pinya could just help me then maybe we could invent a calendar to help me remember all these things. Anyways, in the meantime we got down to work—we looked inside the bunkhouse and outside the bunkhouse and on the roof of the bunkhouse but we couldn't find it anywhere. So we sat down to think where on earth the toothbrush could be. Well like they say, two Yetzer Tovs are better than one and pretty soon we worked out where the toothbrush was—right there in Professor Pinya’s suitcase, wrapped up inside a sock, cushioned by a towel, beeping and flashing away! Professor Pinya was so happy that he sat right down (after brushing his teeth) and together we invented my Super-duper Extra-large Automatically Updating Yiddishe Sun/Moon Calendar. Have a happy Summer! Dr. Getzel | |||||
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שבת after מנחה פרק חמישי |
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Leicester, England My name is Mendel Pink, I am 5 years old and I live in Leicester, England. I put on Tefillin with somebody, every Friday before Shabbos. His name is Uncle Aubrey. We have two big Kinderlach and two little ones. Me, Mushkie, Avremi and Tzivi. There are no other frum children in Leicester so we are also best friends. Tatty is the Rabbi of Leicester. The way I help out in Shul is by being very quiet. Sometimes I get to put on the Mantle of the Torah or the Pa’amonim. I learn in a school at home because in Leicester there is no Jewish school. So we made our school at home. The name of our school is Pink’s Primary. My teacher is my Mummy. Sometimes I go to London and there is a Jewish school there. My best friend is Mendel Heller and his Tatty is also a Shliach. My Tatty leins in Shul and he davens and he also makes a drosha. We are very different from everybody else here but we are proud because we are the Rebbe’s Shluchim. My name is Mushkie Pink. I am 3 1/2 years old. I make a bracha on challah with my mummy. Tomorrow I am going to London and now my house is at 16 Stanley Road. In the nighttime my mummy goes out to do shlichus. We typed a lot so now we would like to say bye-bye from Mendel and Mushkie Pink, Leicester, England.
May we merit seeing Moshiach NOW! |
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רביצין שטערנא שרה, the mother of the פריערדיקער רבי was married to the רבי רש“ב for quite a few years and they still didn’t have any children. One שמחת תורה a ברכה was made for all the women in the רבי מהר“ש’s family but by mistake רביצין שטערנא שרה was left out. She returned to her room and very upset, started crying and then fell asleep. While she was sleeping, she had a dream. A man came into her room and asked her “My daughter, why are you crying?” She told him about everything that was upsetting her and he said “Don’t cry my daughter. I promise you that within a year you will have a son. There is just one condition. After יום טוב make sure to give 18 rubles from your own money to צדקה.” Then the man disappeared and came back a few minutes later with two other men to whom he told what he had promised רביצין שטערנא שרה and they agreed. רביצין שטערנא שרה told her husband about the dream and he told his father the רבי מהר“ש about it. Theרבי מהר“ש said that the first man was his father the צמח צדק and the other two were the מיטעלער רבי and the אלטער רבי. In order to give 18 rubles of her own money to צדקה, רביצין שטערנא שרה sold one of her dresses and used the money to give צדקה. The next year the פריערדיקער רבי, ר‘ יוסף יצחק was born. (Adapted from ‘Days in Chabad’)
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פרק חמישי
בעשרה נסיונות נתנסה אברהם אבינו
What were the ten tests? In Ur Kasdim, King Nimrod threw him into the fiery furnace when his father, Terach, complained about his destroying the idols. Leaving his homeland to settle in ארץ כנען. Moving from ארץ כנען to מצרים because of the famine. Sarah was taken to פרעה's palace. The war with the kings to free his nephew לוט. ברית בין הבתרים, where he was told that his children being would be sent into גלות. ברית מילה at the age of ninety-nine. Sending his wife הגר from his home. Sending his son ישמעאל from his home. עקידת יצחק. (Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’)
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On Yud-Beis-Yud-Gimmel Tammuz, the Previous Rebbe was released from prison in Soviet Russia. We are so grateful to Hashem that we call the month of Tammuz - Chodesh Hageulah, the Month of Redemption. The Previous Rebbe himself explained that his release was not just a private matter. One year after he was released, he wrote a letter to the chassidim about the celebration of these days. In the letter, the Previous Rebbe writes: "It was not myself alone that Hashem redeemed on Yud-Beis Tammuz, but also all those who love the Torah and fulfill its commandments, and also all those who bear the name 'Jew.' " What did the Previous Rebbe mean by "all those who bear the name 'Jew.' "? Three boys in fourth grade might help us understand. One is Yosef Yitzchak Cohen whom everyone calls Yossi. The second is Yosef Yitzchak Levin, whom everyone calls Yitzi. And the third is Yosef Yitzchak Stein, whom everyone calls Itchie. These boys were all given the name Yosef Yitzchak and that is their real name, but everyone calls them by their nicknames. Every member of our people bears the name Jew. Many of us bear this name proudly. We are proud to be Jews and we do our best to behave in a way that lives up to our special name. There are some people who have not been taught that the name Jew is important, that it is an honor and a responsibility. Although they know that they are called Jews, they don't mind when they themselves or others ignore this name. And there are people who have not even learned that they are called Jews. Other people may call them by this name, but they themselves do not even consider it their name. The Previous Rebbe was thinking about all Jews in his letter. He is saying that the redemption of Yud-Beis Tammuz is important not only to the lives of chassidim, not even only to others who keep the Torah and its mitzvos. It affects all the Jewish people, even those who are merely called 'Jew' by others. And this is exactly what has taken place ever since the first Yud-Beis Tammuz. Immediately after his release, the Previous Rebbe began spreading Torah with increased energy, reaching out to all Jews throughout the world, and making them proud to be called Jews.
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