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"We'll see you soon in ארץ ישראל," Miriam called out, waving to her uncle.

"השלימה!" shouted Miriam's uncle as he disappeared among the crowd of passengers on the El Al flight.

Miriam asked her mother as they drove home from the airport, "Mommy, why does Uncle Chaim always add 'השלימה' whenever anyone mentions ארץ ישראל?"

"You should know by now, Miriam," her mother replied smiling. "For an entire week, we have all been listening to Uncle Chaim describe how his family lives in the settlement town of בית א-ל."

"Yes, I know that he and all of us, too, want ארץ ישראל to stay whole. We don't want any land to be given up. Still, why does he say it every single time?"

"Let's think, Miriam. Look at the invitation to Cousin Brachi's wedding that he left for us. What does it say after the address of the wedding hall?"

"'ירושלים, may it be rebuilt'," read Miriam.

"You see," her mother explained, "this is not a page of a סידור - it's only an invitation. Yet when we mention ירושלים, we automatically miss and yearn for the בית המקדש and we immediately pray that it should be rebuilt.

"In the same way, whenever ארץ ישראל is mentioned, Uncle Chaim - and many Jews all over the world - immediately think about the danger to the wholeness of the land. That's why they automatically add the word 'השלימה', praying that it will be so.

"Actually, there is a similar example of this in the words of the רמב“ם on the first מצוה in this week's פרשה. Do you know what מצוה is?"

"Sure, we learned it in class: the פרה אדומה."

"Good. Now, one of the most important works of the רמב“ם is his set of fourteen books called the משנה תורה. There he goes through every מצוה, explaining clearly how we are supposed to fulfill each one.

"When we learn about the פרה אדומה in the רמב“ם's book we would expect to find out all the details about fulfilling this מצוה and no more than that.

"But the רמב“ם surprises us. He says that there have only been nine פרות אדומות offered throughout history and that the tenth one will be prepared by משיח. As soon as the רמב“ם mentions משיח, he immediately adds, 'May he come speedily, אמן, so be His will.' Here, in a book of הלכה, we certainly do not expect to find תפילות like this.

"Besides, the רמב“ם has a whole section specifically about משיח. Shouldn't such תפילות be written there and not here? Here the main topic is the פרה אדומה and משיח is only mentioned in passing.

The answer to our question is that the רמב“ם, is teaching us a clear הלכה. A Jew must always yearn for the גאולה, so much so that whenever משיח is mentioned, even if he is only brought up in passing, a Jew should automatically pray that he come speedily.

"At that time משיח will prepare the tenth פרה אדומה and purify all the Jews. Then we will live securely and happily in the holy atmosphere of ארץ ישראל."

"השלימה!" added Miriam.

 (Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXVIII)

From the Desk of Dr. Getzel,

Dear Children,

I’ve been so busy this week, preparing myself for Gimmel Tammuz that I’ve simply not had any time to have any adventures.  So, instead, I’ll tell you all about another special day that happens this week.  In fact, this year it falls out tomorrow - on Friday.  Here goes:

It was early Thursday morning, Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, in the year 5687 (1927). The Previous Rebbe, Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak, was informed that he would soon be released from prison. He would be allowed to spend six hours with his family, but in the evening, he would have to leave the city. He was to travel to Kostrama, where he was sentenced to three years of exile.

"And how long is the trip to Kostrama?" the Previous Rebbe inquired.

"You will arrive there on Saturday," he was told.

"I will not travel on Shabbos," declared the Rebbe firmly.

One of the officials who had arrested the Rebbe became furious. "If you refuse to travel tonight so that you will arrive in Kostrama on Saturday," he raged, "I will see to it that you will not be released from prison at all!"

The Rebbe was not frightened by his threat. "If I must stay in prison - so be it," he replied courageously. "But on Shabbos, I will not travel."

"Was the Previous Rebbe really obligated to risk his life now?" one might ask. When there was a question of opening a cheder or a mikvah, the Previous Rebbe had risked his own life as well as the lives of his chassidim to carry out this shlichus. For if not, Yiddishkeit would not continue. But wasn't traveling on Shabbos a personal matter, affecting him alone? Since he would be forced to do this against his will, and would only be a passenger, for him to travel on Shabbos would not be so severe a sin. Why should he have risked his life by enraging his jailors? Some of the officers held a strong personal grudge against him. Originally, he had been sentenced to death, and that order had been changed only by a decree from a higher authority. The jailors would have been only too pleased to see the Rebbe remain in their hands.

Besides, it was only Thursday. Instead of angering the Russians, one might think that the Previous Rebbe should have left prison immediately, and then tried to have others arrange for him not to travel on Shabbos.

Why did he show mesirus nefesh? Because the Rebbe never saw himself as a private individual. Everything he did was known. The Russians wanted to have him travel on Shabbos to show that they had control over him. "The Rebbe agreed to travel on Shabbos," they would tell everyone, so they could show the Jews that they had to listen to the authorities.

The Previous Rebbe wouldn't allow this. He wanted to show the Jews that the Russians could not budge his commitment to Torah and mitzvos. And for that he was prepared to risk his life.

Following the Previous Rebbe's example and showing mesirus nefesh for the Torah and its mitzvos will soon lead us to the coming of Mashiach, when that type of mesirus nefesh will no longer be necessary. Instead, we will have mesirus nefesh in doing good and studying Torah, going beyond our limits to do HaShem's will.

 Dr. Getzel

פרקי אבות

שבת after מנחה

פרק  רביעי

Chaya Mushka Gurary, 8
Buffalo, NY
 

Hi, my name is Chaya Mushka Gurary, I am 81/2 years old & I have two sisters & five brothers. I live in Buffalo N.Y. We have a Chabad House for UB (University of Buffalo) students. Friday nights we have Shabbos meals.  I usually set up the table & help serve the food and sometimes I prepare something for the parsha to show the students. One week I made a doll that had the different garments of the Kohen Gadol. Then we walk back home.  It takes about a 1/2 hour to walk and on the way home my father tells me stories. In the winter there is a lot of snow so it is very cold on the way home.

We also have Falafel nights and Challah baking, Hamantashen baking before Purim and lots of other programs for Yomim Tovim . I went to the student houses for Sukkos with my Tati to shake Lulav and Esrog. Once on Sukkos we ate with the students in the Sukkah then we went to get more students to eat in the Sukkah. On Chanukah we go to Niagara Falls for a Big Menorah lighting. We also have a Chanukah party. On Purim we have a big party and students get dressed up and they enjoy the entertainment and Purim music. On Pesach we have a big Seder and a lot of students come. In the summer we invite students to our house for Shabbos meals.

May we merit seeing Moshiach NOW!

ג' תמוז Checklist

o   Write a פ“ן

o   Make a new החלטה טובה

o   Learn extra תורה

o   Say extra תהילים

o   Give extra צדקה

o   Take part in the World-wide Phone  Rally for Yaldei Hashluchim
 

For older children:

o   Learn some of the מאמר—  ‘ואתה תצוה’
 

פרק רביעי
    “כל המכבד את התורה, גופו מכבד על הבריות”
 “All who honor the תורה will be honored by people”

 Instead of "בריות" - "creatures" - it should have said "אנשים" - "people".

Honoring the תורה means living the way theתורה  teaches and acting and behaving in a respectable way. One who does not follow the תורה and who does not fulfil מצוות is, in a sense, desecrating תורה.

The term "בריות" also includes non-Jews; they, too, are ה’s creatures. The משנה is also telling us that by honoring תורה one will be honored and held in high esteem even by non-Jews. An decent non-Jew will have respect for the Jew whom he sees keeping תורה and מצוות properly . On the other hand, he has little respect for the Jew who doesn’t.

Once on a שבת a very wealthy Jew was riding in his limousine chauffeured by his black driver through the streets of a Chassidic community. When he noticed bearded people in Chassidic garb, he asked his chauffeur if he knew who these people are. The chauffeur told him, "They are Jews." Suddenly, from the back seat he said to his chauffeur, "I do not know if you know this, but I am also Jewish." The black chauffeur innocently turned back and said, "But they are real Jews."

In honor of ג‘ תמוז

A world-wide Farbrengen Rally via
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* Please remember to mail in your points from the ג‘ תמוז הכנה to receive a special prize!

n the early 1970s, a young man from California decided to return to his Jewish roots. He left the university in which he was studying and enrolled in the Tiferes Bachurim Yeshiva for Ba’alei Teshuva in Morristown, N.J.

His parents were not very happy about this and thought that this was an irresponsible thing to do. After he was in Yeshiva for a month, the young man went home and tried to explain to his parents why he was doing this and show that that it was really a good thing to do, but he was unsuccessful. His parents were still very upset and did not agree with what he was doing, declaring that their son was simply trying to avoid taking responsibility for his life. When he saw that nothing he could say would influence them, the young man returned to yeshivah.

Now while he had been home, the young man had received a speeding ticket in the family car. For various reasons, he hadn't paid it, and so a copy was sent to his parents' home.

The unpaid ticket made his parents even more upset. "This shows that we are right; see how irresponsible you are," they wrote him. "You break the law, and leave us to pay your fines. Is there anyone in your beloved yeshivah who will pay your traffic ticket?!"

The young man, very upset, wrote to the Rebbe asking him for advice. To explain properly to the Rebbe how angry his parents were, he enclosed their letter. A few weeks later, he received a letter from the Rebbe full of support and encouragement, advising him on how to relate to his parents.

Clipped to the letter was a $30 check - the amount required to pay the ticket.

 When he was eight or nine, Levi  would often go to receive a dollar from the Rebbe on Sundays. One Sunday, after receiving a dollar for himself, he told the Rebbe that the day was his brother's birthday. The Rebbe gave him a second dollar and told him: "This is for Moshie."

At the time, Levi did not think this was anything special, but afterwards he suddenly realised! It was amazing that the Rebbe remembered Moshie’s name. But Levi had two other brothers besides Moshie. How did the Rebbe know it was Moshie's birthday? 

 Every year, on the day before Pesach, the Rebbe would personally distribute matzos to the chassidim. Young Yosef Yitzchak was very excited. This year, he was Bar Mitzvah. Because he father was the Rabbi of a Shul, Erev Pesach was a very busy time for him.  He was unable to go himself, and so Yosef Yitzchak would be bringing a matzah from the Rebbe for the entire family.

Yosef Yitzchak felt very proud about having been entrusted with this responsibility. When he approached the Rebbe and received a piece of matzah, he had a thought, and without thinking much more, he asked: "Can I have a special piece for my father?"

 The Rebbe gave one at once. Seeing the Rebbe's willingness, Yosef Yitzchak asked again: "Can I have a piece for my mother?" And when the Rebbe gave him another piece, he asked again: "And for my zeide, for my bubbe,... for my brother... and for my sister?" With a smile, the Rebbe gave him pieces of matzah for each one.

 Yosef Yitzchak made the trip home in high spirits. The Rebbe had given him so many pieces of matzah for his family!

 But Yosef Yitzchak's happiness was cut short when he presented the pieces to his father. Instead of responding with joy, his father gave him a short, stern lesson on how precious the Rebbe's time was, and how chassidim did whatever they could to prevent that time from being wasted. "It is not important how much of the Rebbe's matzah you have," his father told him. "Even the tiniest piece is enough. We could have all broken off pieces from the piece you received for yourself.

 "And what did you do? You asked for a piece for me, for your mother, for your zeide and so on and so on, causing the Rebbe to wait unnecessarily."

 Yosef Yitzchak understood, and now regretted what he had done.

 A year later, the boy again went to receive matzah from the Rebbe for his family. He had taken his father's words to heart, and resolved to say absolutely nothing when receiving his piece. He approached the Rebbe, received his matzah, and began to move away. The Rebbe looked at him with a warm, gentle smile and called him back: "What about your father? Your mother? Your zeide?" the Rebbe asked him, giving him another large piece.

(Adapted from ‘To Know & To Care’)
 

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