The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Yisro

The Rebbe says:

1. In this weeks Torah portion Hashem gives the Jewish people his most prized possession- the Torah. Hashem came down on Mount Sinai and gave us the Ten Commandments (Exodus, Chapter 19, verse16 until Chapter 20, Verse 19).

Hashem’s first commandment to the Jewish people is “A’no’chee Ha’va’ya E’lo’kecha asher ho’tzay’sicha may’eretz mitz’rayim me’bais avodim – I am Hashem your G-d Who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves” (Chapter 20, Verse 2).

2. In the following paragraph the Rebbe introduces a teaching which will be the basis for a question:

Myth: Lubavitchers Wear Black Hats

I used to think that Lubavitchers wore black hats.

A year spent in Tzfas and witnessing one of the world’s most lively and cohesive bunches of Lubavitchers changed my mind. It’s become pretty clear to me that Lubavitchers definitely do not wear black hats.

Because a Lubavitcher doesn’t wear a black hat, he doesn’t have to get it cleaned by a professional. Nor does he have to put it in a special place when he comes home everyday. When a Lubavitcher travels, he doesn’t have to bring his hat box. For what hat?

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Beshalach

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion the Torah tells us about two wars the Jewish people had (Exodus, Chapter 14, Verses 5-31 and Chapter 17, Verses 8-16). The Egyptians came to wage war with them at the Reed Sea and then later the nation of Amalek attacked them in the desert.

2. The Rebbe now observes how the two wars were handled:

With regards to the war with the Egyptians the Torah tells us that the Jewish people did not lift a finger to fight the Egyptians, Hashem (G-d) fought the war for them. Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) told the Jewish people “Hashem will do battle for you, and you shall remain silent” (Exodus, Chapter 14, Verse 14).

The Weekly Sedra – Parashas Beshalach – Who Is Your Moshe?

Two harrowing centuries of exile and slavery have come to a happy end, as a battery of devastating plagues – no less than ten in total – broke the resolve of the Egyptian tormenters – compelling them to release the children of Israel from their evil clutches.

With their sights now set on Mount Sinai and their long awaited rendezvous with G-d, the Israelites were free at last – well on their way to a future of promise and reward. Or so they thought.

Yud Shvat

1. The Tenth of Shvat is the day that the Previous Rebbe (the 6th Chabad leader) passed away in the year 1950.

The Tenth of Shvat is also the day that our Rebbe officially accepted the seat of leadership one year later (1951).

2. Some information about the Previous Rebbe:

The Previous Rebbe was named (Rebbe) Yoseph Yitzchak Schneersohn and he was the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe. He was born in 1880 in Lubavitch, Belarus. At the age of fifteen he was appointed as the personal secretary of the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe (his father Rebbe Sholom DovBer). At the age of seventeen he married a distant cousin (Nechama Dina Schneersohn). He was then appointed to be the first dean and head of the new network of Lubavitch Yeshivas (named Tomchei Tmimim) in the Russian empire.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Bo

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Parshah Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu (our teacher):
“The Jews should take a lamb on the tenth day of Nissan and slaughter it on the fourteenth day of the month of Nissan (Chapter 12, Verses 3 and 6). After the Jews slaughter the lamb they shall take some of the lamb’s blood and smear it on their doorposts (Chapter 12, Verse 7). The blood on their doorposts will serve as a sign (that the house is Jewish) and I will pass over their houses and you will be saved from the plague of the firstborn (Chapter 12, Verse 13)”.

2. The Rebbe now asks a question on this:

Why did Hashem tell the Jews to hold the lamb for four days? If they were supposed to slaughter the lamb on the Fourteenth of Nissan, why were they commanded to take the lamb on the Tenth of Nissan?

The Weekly Sedra – Parashas Bo – Born Free

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will increase My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. – Exodus 7:3

Come to Pharaoh (and warn him) for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order that I may put my miracles in his midst. – Exodus 10:1

The Mishna states, “If a person says, ‘I will sin, and then I will do Teshuvah (repent),’ then he is not granted the opportunity to do Teshuvah” (Yoma 85a). This appears, at first glance, to suggest that the person is denied the free choice of a later Teshuvah.

However, the Alter Rebbe writes in Tanya (Igeres Hateshuvah ch. 11) that it is still possible for this person to do Teshuvah if, “he pushes himself hard and overcomes his evil inclination,” and then, “his Teshuvah is accepted”.

The same could be argued for Pharaoh, G-d did not take away his free choice; rather, through the evil acts of persecuting the Jewish people he numbed his soul, making it more difficult for him to do Teshuvah. – The Rebbe

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Va’eira

The Rebbe says:

1. This weeks Parshah tells us about the beginning of the redemption from our Exile in Egypt. Seven of the Ten Plagues are mentioned in this week’s Parshah, and the Ten Plagues were what caused Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt (actually at the end of the tenth plague Pharaoh chased the Jews out of Egypt).

2. As we said many times, every story in the Torah is written for us to learn a lesson from.

Seemingly the Torah should be called “Chochmah – Wisdom” because the Torah is the wisdom of Hashem? Instead Hashem named the Torah “Torah” which comes from the word “Ho’ra’ah – lesson”. This is because the Torah is deeper then just having great wisdom, it is a guide book for us as to how we should conduct our daily lives in the service of Hashem.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Shemos

The Rebbe says:

1. This week we begin the second book of the Five Books of Moses, the second book in the Torah. The second book in the Torah is called “Shemos – Names”.

2. In the beginning of this week’s Parshah the Torah enumerates for us the names of Ya’akov Avinu and his children which had gone down to Egypt earlier on.

[Earlier on when Yoseph made it known to his brothers that he was in fact their brother and not just an Egyptian ruler he told his family to come down to Egypt and live there. And so it was that Ya’akov (Yoseph’s father) and all his family went down to Egypt].

The Weekly Sedra – Parashas Shemos – In The Eyes Of The Beholder

It happened in those days that Moshe grew up and went out to his brethren and he observed their burdens . . . – Exodus 2:11

“And he observed their burdens:” He focused his eyes and heart so as to feel their suffering and grieve for them – Rashi Exodus 2:11

Among the volunteers that came, after World War II, to visit and aid the thousands of survivors who found themselves in displaced-persons (DP) camps throughout Germany and Poland, was Rabbi Eliezer Silver.

One day, as they were distributing Siddurim (prayer books), the Rabbi came across a man who emphatically refused to accept anything of a religious nature. “After seeing with my own eyes the way religious Jews behaved in the concentration camp,” the man declared disdainfully, “I no longer wish to have any involvement with religion!”

A Nation Apart — A Vayechi Essay

“…If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky way. properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Vayechi

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Parshah Ya’akov Avinu (our father) blesses each one of his 12 children (Chapter 49, Verses 1 through 28).

When Ya’akov Avinu blesses his son Asher he says “From Asher- his bread is rich, he will provide kingly delicacies” (Chapter 49, Verse 20).

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) explains this blessing and says: The food which comes from the land that Asher received as an inheritance is rich and fat because there are many olives in his portion which give oil like a spring. As we see that Moshe Rabbeinu (our teacher) also blessed Asher by saying “and he will (even be able to) dip his feet in oil”.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Vayechi – Let’s Not Sell Ourselves Short

Please speak in the ears of the people: Let each man request of his fellow and each woman from her fellow silver vessels and gold vessels.– Exodus 11:2

G-d asked Moses to make a special effort to prevail upon the Jews to request valuables from their Egyptian neighbors, because unless they did so, the soul of Abraham would have a grievance against G-d. He would say that G-d carried out in full measure the prophecy that his offspring would be oppressed, but not the companion promise that the Jews would leave their captivity with great wealth (Genesis 15:14-15). To forestall this, G-d pleaded, as it were, with Moses to prevail upon the Jews to request valuables from the Egyptians – Rashi from Midrash

“Yaakov never died,” declares the Talmud: “Just as his progeny is alive, so too is he alive.” This revolutionary assertion may be understood on multiple levels, the most basic of which is the idea that the righteous live on through the perpetuation of their progeny and accomplishments.

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Vayigash

The Rebbe says:

1. Towards the end of this week’s Parshah the Torah tells us about Ya’akov Avinu (our father) traveling down to Egypt to see his son Yoseph.

Before Ya’akov Avinu went down to Egypt he sent his son Yehuda ahead of him. Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) tells us- in the name of the Medrash- that the reason Ya’akov Avinu sent his son Yehuda ahead of him was so that Yehuda could set up a Yeshiva (a study-hall to learn Torah in) there first. Ya’akov Avinu did not want to go to a land that did not have a Yeshiva ready. (See Rashi to Verse 28, Chapter 46).

The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Vayigash – Fateful Encounter

“Now, I pledged myself to my father as a guarantee for the lad, saying: ‘If I don’t bring him back to you, I will have sinned against my father forever’ . . . For how could I go back to my father if the youth is not with me?” – Genesis 44:32-34

Yehuda’s conduct contains an everlasting lesson for every Jew: The Holy One, Blessed Be He, endowed him with the responsibility to give his soul for the wellbeing of even a single child – that he shall not part from the walls of Judaism – Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson

This week’s Parsha; Vayigash, opens with the fateful confrontation between Yosef and Yehuda. In light of the elaborate buildup to this dramatic face off – as depicted in the narrative of the preceding several Sedros – coupled by the subsequent historical prominence of these two legendary rivals (as discussed in this week’s Haftorah), one cannot help but share a sense of awe and imagination as to the deep significance of this pivotal encounter.

Parshas Mikeitz

The Rebbe says:

1. The beginning of this week’s Parshah tells us all about Pharaoh’s dreams. Verse 1 through 45 (Chapter 41) tells us about Pharaoh’s 2 dreams with all their details, how Yoseph was called to interpret them, how Yoseph actually interpreted them and how Yoseph became ruler of Egypt.

To summarize these 45 verses:

Pharaoh King of Egypt has a dream. He dreams that out of the Nile comes 7 healthy cows and they start grazing. Right after this 7 sickly cows come out of the Nile and eat up the 7 healthy cows. The 7 sickly cows don’t even get fatter.

A Tale of Two Dreams

“Nothing you have acquired is real unless you worked for it. If you were born a nice guy, the niceness isn’t yours. If you started off not so nice, and now you do a little, that’s divine.”
– Tzvi Freeman Be Within Stay Above

“Nothing of real substance comes without work. Our pioneer forebears could never plow a field by turning it over in their minds. They had to put their hands to the plow and walk forward. The work is, by and large, easier now than in earlier times, but the principle is the same. There must be work, and what a great and wonderful privilege it is.
Again, there is no reason to be averse to some recreation. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a dull girl. But when pleasure or recreation becomes an end in itself, we are in danger. We are in trouble. We simply cannot expect to refine the substance of character from hunks of pleasures.
– Gordon Hinckley, Standing For Something

Never having flown in an airplane, an old-timer was about to embark on just such a trip. While standing at the check-in counter, he queried the ticketing agent: Nu, so tell me, how does the plane stay up in the air?
”Well,“ said the agent, ”there are four engines which impel the jet forward. The force of the impulsion keeps the jet from falling.”