The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Mattos-Masei

The Rebbe says:

1. In the beginning of the second Torah portion which we read this week (Parshas Masei) the Torah tells us about all the journeys which the Jewish people traveled from the time they left Egypt until they finally entered in to the Land of Israel[1].

Rashi [2] tells us that there were 42 journeys in all [3].

2. The Rebbe shows us the Chassidic insight regarding these journeys:

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Pinchas

The Rebbe says:

1. In the beginning of this week’s Torah portion Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) that Pinchas deserves a great reward for “zealously avenging My vengeance” and therefore Pinchas should now become part of the Kohanim (a holy sect within the Jewish people who served Hashem in the Beis Hamikdash). (See chapter 25, Verses 10 through 13).

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Balak

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion a non-Jewish king named Balak asks Balaam (a non-Jewish man who was able to converse with Hashem and had special gifts) to curse the Jewish people. In the end Balaam was not able to curse the Jewish people, and only Blessings came out of his mouth.

2. One of the Blessings to the Jewish people which came out of Balaam’s mouth was; “For from its origin, I see it rock like, and from hills do I view it. Behold! It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations” (see Chapter 23, Verse 9).

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Chukas

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem sets down the statute of the Red Heifer. The red heifer (Parah Adumah) is a young cow that is sacrificed and whose ashes are used for the ritual purification of people who came into contact with a corpse.

2. The Rebbe discusses the different categories of Mitzvos:

There are three different types of Mitzvos (with regards to how we understand them).

Gimmel Tammuz 5767

Tonight is Gimmel Tammuz, marking thirteen years since the passing of the Rebbe in 1994.

Two weeks after the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880-1950) passed away, my grandfather Reb Yochanan Gordon was in the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, which houses Lubavitch World Headquarters. This was yet before the Rebbe had openly accepted the mantle of leadership. It was a mere two weeks after the Previous Rebbe’s passing!

My Bubbe Zeesy had been seriously ill and the doctors didn’t give her situation much hope. The Rebbe had already heard that she was sick when he met my zayde. “Reb Yochanon, I heard that your wife is not feeling well.” Zayde confirmed his suspicion. Then the Rebbe said, “Why don’t you ask my father-in-law what to do?” Zayde said he had gone to the Previous Rebbe’s resting place but did not know where to turn for guidance. The Rebbe told him, “Ask, ask. My father-in-law will surely find a way to answer you.”

Continued in the Extended Article.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Korach

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion the Torah tells us about how Korach incited the people against Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) and his brother Aharon the Kohen Gadol (High priest). This comes after last week’s story of the Meraglim (spies) who had their own agenda and reported to the Jewish assembly that the Land of Canaan was not for them.

The basic thrust of Korach’s argument was that if every single Jew is a part of one “Holy Nation” (as Hashem calls us) why is there only one Kohen Gadol? Korach said “Why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?” (see Chapter 16, Verse 3).

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Shelach

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) sends 12 spies (12 “Miraglim”) to examine the Land of Canaan (which would later be called the Land of Israel).

When the 12 spies returned from inspecting the land, 10 spies reported to Moshe Rabeinu and the entire assembly of the Jewish people that the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan were too strong for the Jewish people to conquer. The Talmud tells us that the 10 spies were even saying that the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan are stronger then Hashem (!) and “even the householder (Hashem) cannot remove his utensils from there (because the Canaanites are stronger then he)”, (see Tractate Sotah, Page 35, Side 1).

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Beha’aloscha

The Rebbe says:

This talk will be based on a verse in this week’s Haftorah (a short selection from the Prophets which we read after reading the regular Torah portion):

1. In this week’s Haftorah the Torah tells us that the Prophet Zechariya refers to the Jewish people and says “I see and behold there is a Menorah made entirely of gold…with it’s seven branches…”.

2. The Rebbe now explains to us why the Prophet Zechariya compared the Menorah and the Jewish people:

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Nasso

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion the idea of Sotah is discussed (Chapter 5, Verses 11 through 31). A Sotah is a woman who was hidden together with another man other then her husband after her husband zealously warned her saying “do not be alone with so-and-so”. The Sotah is brought to the Kohen in the Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple) and there is a whole procedure (the Kohen offers her the option of confessing to having relations with another man, if she still denies the claim the Kohen prepares a drink with the name of Hashem in it and gives it to her to drink If she was guilty she would die and if she was innocent she would gain great blessings). This is the case even if the woman did not actually sin with the other man, as long as she was hidden with another man she is brought to the Beis Hamikdash.

The Weekly Sedra – Shavuot: The Destination

A professor once lamented to the Lubavitcher Rebbe about the depravity of human nature. “While most people,” argued the academic, “seem very nice and charming on the outside, beneath the surface we all tend to share the same ugly essence. We are all selfish, arrogant, and egotistical. Why should the intrinsic character of man be so abhorrent?”

The Rebbe responded with a parable: “When one strolls in the street one sees lovely houses, green lawns, flowery trees, paved roads and shiny cars. But when one takes a hoe and digs beneath the surface he exposes nothing but dirt and more dirt, all the surface beauty is gone.”

The Weekly Sedra – Chag HaShavous

The Rebbe says:

1. The Midrash (a great collection of Homilies) tells us: “The night before Hashem came down to give the Torah the Jewish people went to sleep because the sleep of Yom Tov is sweet and the night is short, and (to top it all off) they didn’t even get bitten by any mosquitoes. But when Hashem came down (the next morning) to give the Torah all the Jewish people were sleeping and Hashem had to wake them up. As the Torah says “(Hashem says) Why do I come and no one calls out for me? No one even answers My calls!” (see Isaiah, Chapter 50, Verse 2).

And this is why we stay up all night on the night before the giving of the Torah (the first night of the festival of Shavous).

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Bamidbar

The Rebbe says:

1. This week we begin a new Book in the “Five Books of Moses” called Chumash Bamidbar or as it is referred to as “The Book of Numbers”.

The first portion in Chumash Bamidbar is called Bamidbar, and we read this Torah portion every year on the Shabbos before the festival of Shavous (which is the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai).

2. The simple reason why we read Parshas (the portion of) Bamidbar before Shavous is to make a separation between the curses which we read in the previous week’s Torah portion of Bechukosai and the giving of the Torah (Shavous). However since everything in Torah is perfectly exact (indeed our Sages learn out numerous Laws from one letter in the Torah), we must say that there is a reason why the portion of Bamidbar was specifically chosen to be the portion which we read before the festival of Shavous and not any other portion.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Behar Bechukosai

The Rebbe says:

1. Right in the beginning of this week’s Torah portion the Torah tells us that Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu (Moshe our teacher) on Har Sinai (Mount Sinai) and told him about the laws of the Shemitah year (the year of rest when you cannot work your land). As it says:

“Hashem spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai saying. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land which I give to you, the land shall be at rest- a Shabbos for Hashem. For six years you shall plant your field and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and you shall harvest its produce. But the seventh year shall be a Shabbos of rest for the land, a Shabbos for Hashem, you shall not plant your field and you shall not prune your vineyard…”.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Behar Bechukosai – Faith Vs. Anxiety

If you will say: “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we may not sow nor gather-in our produce.” (Leviticus 25:20)

Two men in the same town came into sudden wealth. They both decided to bury their treasure in their backyards. Each picked a landmark on their respective properties and paced 20 steps and dug a hole.

Chaim the more anxious of the two kept making sure that there was no one watching as he placed the treasure in the ground. Berel who was by nature more trusting, didn’t bother taking the same precautions. Unbeknownst to him, he was spotted by a dishonest neighbor who eventually stole the treasure.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Emor – Tailor Made?

The story is told of an elderly woman – an expert embroiderer – who approached a prominent Rabbi, with a magnificent mantel (Torah cover) that she produced for their Synagogue’s new Torah Scroll. Enamored by the beauty of the rich velvet and colorful embroidery, the Rabbi immediately rushed to the ark, removed the Torah and placed the mantel over it.
As they shared a moment of delight adoring the lovely new cover, the Rabbi, to everyone’s disappointment, noticed that the new cover was several inches shorter than the scroll.
Thanking the woman for her sincere thoughtfulness and effort, the Rabbi gently explained that although it was a true masterpiece it would not work, since it was too short.
“Rabbi,” exclaimed the woman, “I don’t understand, considering the quality and workmanship of this piece of art, couldn’t we just trim off a few inches from the bottom of the Torah scroll to make it fit?”
“I’m sorry,” said the Rabbi, “In this shul we don’t tailor the Torah to fit the Mantel!”

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Emor

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Hashem commands the Jewish people to count the 49 days from the 2nd day of Passover till the giving of the Torah (Shavous): “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of rest (2nd day of Pesach), from the day which you will bring the Omer wave-offering (2nd day of Pesach), seven complete weeks they shall be (49 days). Until the day after the seven weeks (Shavous) you shall count 50 days and you shall bring a meal offering to Hashem” (see Leviticus, Chapter 23, Verses 15 and 16).

2. The Rebbe now begins discussing “the counting of the Omer”:

The Law is that if one forgot to count one of the 49 days between Passover and Shavous (the giving of the Torah) he continues counting the other days but without a Blessing.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Kedoshim – Break It To Me Gently

People misunderstand the meaning of tolerance. Tolerance doesn’t mean seeing someone harming himself and saying “live and let live.” That’s Indifference. Apathy.
If you see someone going the wrong way and you care about him, you’ll do everything you can to set him straight. Tolerance means that although you see his faults in all their ugliness naked before you, that doesn’t decrease by one iota your respect for him as a fellow human being, and for all the good he has within him…
Until you can see the good within a person, you are incapable of helping him.
– Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down To Earth

In 1927, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch was arrested for his “counter-revolutionary” work to preserve Jewish life throughout the Soviet Union. The harrowing ordeal of imprisonment and torture at the hands of Stalin’s henchmen greatly weakened the Rebbe’s health, necessitating his treatment at various sanatoriums throughout Europe.