Parshas Noach
Bais Cheshvan 5765
Volume 2
Issue 2
The Connections people
Chinuch Yaldei Hashluchim:
Rabbi & Mrs.
Mendel & Sara Shemtov Rabbi & Mrs.
Kasriel & Chana E. Shemtov
Connections:
Mr. & Mrs.
Yochanan & Peri Brook
Mr. Mrs.
Zalman & Raizy Cousin
Chinuch Yaldei Hashluchim:
Rabbi M. Shemtov
Rivky Lokshin
Dabrushy Pink
Aydla Vechter
Connections
Proof-Readers:
Rabbi A. Lipsey
Mrs. G. Junik
Rabbi L. Zirkind
Va’ad Hashluchim:
Rabbi Y. Deren
Rabbi O. Goldman
Rabbi Y. Greenberg
Rabbi B. Levertov
Rabbi Y. Shemtov
A project of
CHINUCH YALDEI HASHLUCHIM
cyh@shluchim.org
a division of
THE SHLUCHIM OFFICE
PARSHAS NOACH
In this week's parshah, we read about the Flood and the teivah. The Hebrew word teivah has two meanings. It means "ark," like the ark which Hashem commanded Noach to build, and it also means "word," like the words in our siddur and chumash.
The instructions which Hashem gave Noach about the teivah also teach us about the words of our davening and learning. Hashem tells Noach - “ בא אל התיבה ” - "Come into the teivah." We can learn from this that when we daven and learn, we shouldn't just hurry through the words. We should "come into the teivah" - put ourselves into the words by putting our minds and hearts into what we are saying.
Hashem also tells Noach - “ צהר תעשה לתיבה ” - "You should make light for the teivah." Noach built a window which allowed light into the teivah. We must also make sure our teivos - our words of davening and learning - are bright. They should shine with the bright light of our neshamah.
Later, the Torah describes how the teivah floated on the waters. “ ותרם התיבה ” - "And the teivah was lifted up." The gushing waters of the Flood are like the busy world around us. When we put ourselves into the words of our davening and learning, their holy words lift us above the world.
We start our day with בא אל התיבה , putting our minds and hearts into our davening and learning. We make those words shine with the light of our neshamah, and as we concentrate on these holy words, we feel lifted up. We are not bothered by all the things going on in the world around us.
Then, we are ready to go about our daily activities, spreading the light of our davening and learning all around. This is what we learn from Hashem's next command to Noach: “ צא מין התיבה ” - "Go out from the teivah." Hashem tells Noach "Be fruitful and multiply, rule over the land and conquer it." We too can conquer the world for the Torah, spreading Hashem's holiness in everything we do.
Our Rabbis tell us that Noach's teivah was like the time of Moshiach. When Moshiach comes, lions, tigers, and other wild animals will live together with the sheep and goats, just like they did in Noach's teivah. When Noach left the teivah, his job was to take that spirit of Achdus with him, and make not only the ark, but the entire world ready for Moshiach.
‘Please Tell me What the Rebbe Said’
(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Noach, 5733; Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXV, Parshas Noach)
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I’m 2 nd or 8 th out of 12 and a little bitter. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
Please send your answers to connections@shluchim.org Last weeks’ brain buster: Who in the Torah did not have a father or mother? Answer: אדם |
Check out Dr. Getzel's letter for the Brain Buster winners! |
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For the פרשת בראשית Connections, we had so many responses to the Brain Buster and Test Your Knowledge, that we decided to make all of the ילדי השלוחים winners!
Brain Buster Winners:
Boys :
Menachem Mendel Banin; Venice, Italy
Mendel Levertov; Santa Fe, New Mexico
Yisrolik Baumgarten; Rockaway, NJ
Shaya Liberow, Baranquilla, Columbia
Mendy Litvin, Louisville, Kentucky
Levi Weingarten age 7, Grand Rapids Michigan
Mendel Spalter
Sholom Posner age: 10 from: Boston, Massachusetts
Yoni Bekhor, Randolph, New Jersey
Girls :
Elisheva Hecht
Sheina Liberow, Baranquilla, Columbia
Shaina Litvin, Louisville, Kentucky
Chaya Mushka Mochkin, Rochester, NY
Mussi Levertov, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mushka Backman; Glendale CA
Chedva Ban; Panama
Menucha Ban , Panama
Test your Knowledge Winners:
Boys :
Dani Namdar, age 11 from Goteborg, Sweden
Yudi Namdar, age 9 from Goteborg, Sweden
Shmuel Dovid Raichik, age 7 from Gaithersburg, Maryland
Yosrolik Baumgarten, age 5 from Randolph, New Jersey
Menachem Mendel Kahn, age 7 from Paris, France
Levi Weg, age 7 from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Girls :Pessi Fischer, age 6 from Augusta, Georgia
Dassi Mochkin, age 6 from Rochester, New York
Esther Bechor, age 6 from Randolph, New Jersey
Sarah Bechor, age 4.5 from Randolph, New Jersey
Bayla Chein, age 6 from Cheadle, England
Lieba Fischer, age 9.5 from Augusta Georgia
Chanchi Namdar, age 12 from Goteborg, Sweden
Did you know that your fellow Tzeirei Hashluchim like to read articles that were written by you? Together with your brothers and sisters, you can write an article about any of the subjects below or about your family and your shlichus, to be published in the Kids Speak section of “Connections.”
Choose topics from the following list:
Use the questions below to help you. Try to be original.
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What is the name of the city and country where you live? What language is spoken there?
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What is the weather like?
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How big is your Chabad House? What does it look like?
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What programs do your parents do?
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What is your most favorite program on shlichus? How do you help?
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Where do you go to school? What do you learn?
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What types of games do you like to play? What hobby do you enjoy most?
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Are you friends with any other Tzeirei Hashluchim and where do they live?
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What do you do that makes you proud to be a shliach?
Menucha Rochel Sneiderman
Newark New JerseyMy name is Menucha Rochel Sneiderman. I live in Newark, Delaware USA. The weather here is cold in the winter and hot in the summer.
My parents have a Chabad House. It is not very big, but it is cool. My father has a creative eye, so everything is painted in bright, light, cool colors. The dining room is smallish, it can only fit 40-50 people, even though we try to squeeze in more.
My parents do a lot of fun programs. The one I like the best is the program they do for College students in the Sukah. The way I help with programs is to look good and behave.
I go to school called Torah Academy of greater Philadelphia. The drive from home to school is about 1 hour and a half. Torah Academy is not a Lubavitch school. In fifth grade we have our day split between English and Hebrew subjects. I love the teachers. My Hebrew teacher is especially good. She speaks mostly in Hebrew. While it is tough now, I think it will be good in the long run. I hope to be fluent by the end of the year. Which will help when I eventually go to Israel to study. I like the way she makes everything so clear and uses a lot of mushalim and stories.
" נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו את האלקים התהלך נח ."
There are many different types of people. Some people keep תורה and מצוות at home, but when they are with their friends they are embarrassed that they are frum, and they do things which a frum איד should not do. For example, at home they are very careful with כשרות , but when they eat out with friends they are not as careful. Others act very frum when they are with their friends, but when they are alone at home with no one watching, they don’t act so well. For example, in שול they daven with a lot of כוונה , and at home, they race through davening in a few minutes.
The תורה is telling us that נח was a צדיק , and goes on to explain what type of צדיק he was: 1) " תמים היה בדרתיו " - when he was among the people of his generation he acted the way he should. 2) " את האלקים התהלך נח " - when he was alone, with only ה ‘ to see his behavior, נח walked in the path of ה ‘ and kept the תורה and מצוות .
Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’
Names of the Month
בול
The month of חשון is called בול in the תורה . בול is related to the word יבול , meaning produce. During חשון , the planting of the new produce began in ארץ ישראל .
בול also comes from the word מבול – a flood. During this month there is lots of rain. The flood in נח ’s time also began during חשון .
חשון
This is the commonly used name. The אידן brought this name back with them from בבל .
מר-חשון
מר means bitter. חשון has no ימים טובים or happy days. Many troubles happened to the Jewish people during חשון .
מר can also mean a drop of water. During חשון , the rains begin.
I n the days when we had the בית המקדש , the אידן would travel up to ירושלים from every corner of ארץ ישראל to spend יום טוב there. As they celebrated יום טוב in the בית המקדש , they soaked up the holiness and joy for the entire year.
After יום טוב , the אידן began to return home. This journey home took several weeks for those who lived furthest from ירושלים . The seventh day of חשון is the day when the last איד , the one who lived the greatest distance from ירושלים , arrived home.
The seventh day of חשון was an important day in the רוחניותדיקע life of every איד . Having arrived home, he could begin to put to use the ‘treasures’ he had gathered from the בית המקדש . From the seventh day of חשון onward, he would apply the inspiration he had gained from יום טוב to his daily life in his own place.
The seventh day of חשון teaches us an important lesson, even while we are still in גלות . Even though we did not go up to the בית המקדש to celebrate יום טוב , we too gained inspiration from the month of תשרי . We packed into our ‘luggage’ spiritual treasures from every יום טוב . From ראש השנה , the day we crowned ה ‘ as our King, we gained קבלת עול to ה ‘ . From סוכות , the זמן שמחתינו , we took treasures of happiness.
Now, the seventh day of חשון has arrived. It is time to unpack our ‘luggage’. It is time to apply the joy and holiness we gathered from יום טוב to our daily lives in our own homes, throughout the year.
‘The Rebbe Speaks to Children’
One year, there was a terrible drought in ארץ ישראל . There lived at that time a great man named חוני , and all the אידן went to him for help . They pleaded with him to daven together with them. חוני promised that he would daven, and so the people returned to their homes to wait for the rain.
חוני prepared himself for the tremendous task of davening on behalf of the holy land and its holy people. He davened hard, but nothing happened.
חוני grabbed a stick, went outside and stood in the muddle of the field. With the end of the stick he drew a circle around himself on the earth. Then he cried out, " רבונו של עולם , Your children need rain desperately. They have asked me to daven to You, and I promise that I will not step out of this circle until You have answered Your children."
The hint of a cloud appeared in the sky. The air became heavy. Slowly, tiny droplets began to fall. The excited people ran outside, but when they saw the little amount of rain they asked, "Will a rain like this be enough to help us? It seems to be just enough to release the צדיק from his promise to not leave the circle."
A group returned to חוני and begged him to daven again, but this time for a strong rain to satisfy the dry fields. חוני davened once more and in minutes clouds covered the sky. A heavy rain burst forth, flooding the earth and sending people running for shelter from the sheets of rain. This was a rain never before seen. Each drop held the amount of four cups!
The terrified people ran to חוני . He wrapped himself in his טלית and davened once more, crying out, "This is not the kind of rain I requested. Please send your children good rain." Slowly a blessed rain descended, filling wells, drenching the cracked earth, falling and falling without end.
The people left their homes and gathered high on the הר הבית to escape the flood. Worried, they came again to חוני , begging for him to daven that the rain stop. But this time he refused, saying: "My teachers taught me that it is not permitted to daven to take away a ברכה ."
The people were puzzled by their problem. How could they show proper gratitude to ה ‘ but still ask him to stop the downpour? Finally they came up with an answer. They brought חוני a cow to be used as a קרבן תודה . Laying his hands on the cow's head, חוני said the following תפילה : " רבונו של עולם , Your children are unable to stand too much bad or too much good. Please, ה ‘ , stop this rain and bring peace to the world."
חוני 's prayers were accepted. The people returned to their homes and fields, overjoyed that ה ‘ had answered their תפילות . The recently empty fields were full of ripe mushrooms and other edible plants that they picked and ate. Then, the people were able to understand that the rains had been a true ברכה , and they offered thanks to ה ‘ .
The head of the Jewish Court sent חוני a letter saying: ה ‘ grants your requests in the same way as a father answers his favorite son. The son asks for a warm bath, then wants a cold one; then he asks for fruits and nuts, which the loving father hurries to provide. So does ה ‘ hurry to fulfill your wishes. Fortunate are the parents who bore you. Our generation was filled with darkness and sorrow, but your prayers have led us to light and joy."
From that time on, חוני became known as " חוני המאגל - חוני the circle-maker" because of the circle he drew around himself and refused to leave until his תפילות were answered.
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