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Parshas Bo
Daled Shevat 5765
Volume 1
Issue 15

PARSHAS BO
Shlomie was sulking all afternoon. "I want Tatti to fix my computer game," he whined to his mother over and over.
Shlomie's mother patiently explained. "I'm sorry Shlomie, but the mark on the test you brought home yesterday upset Tatti very much. Besides being very busy today, he's disappointed with you. I don't think he'll take the time and effort to fix your game today."
Shlomie knew his mother was right, but all he was thinking about was the game. "Doesn't Tatti love me?" he blurted.
"Of course he does," replied Shlomie's mother gently. "Parents love their children very deeply, so deeply that sometimes they are willing to overlook what they do wrong. But not all the time. Sometimes it's proper to hold back the deep love which overlooks wrong. After all, it makes sense not to reward wrongdoing."
"But I still want my game fixed," muttered Shlomie. "What can I do to get Tatti to overlook those marks for now?"
"Well," said his mother, "Let's try to find a way."
Shlomie looked up hopefully. "We can learn a lesson from this week's parshah," his mother continued. "The parshah tells us that the Jewish people put a sign on their doorposts so that HaShem would pass over their homes during makkos bechoros. But why did they need a sign now? In all the other makkos, they didn't put up any signs.
"Because makkos bechoros was different," his mother went on. "Complaints were heard in the Heavenly Court saying: 'How are the Jews different from the Egyptians? Many worship idols just like the Egyptians, so they should be punished too.'
"The complaint was true. But HaShem said: 'I have a deep love for the Jewish people which overlooks wrongdoings; it's an unreasonable love.' And so HaShem gave the Jewish people an opportunity to do something to bring out this deep love.
"What were they supposed to do? Something which showed that their love for Him was also beyond reason. He told them to fulfill the mitzvos of bris milah and the korban pesach. Fulfilling these mitzvos and making signs on their doorpost showed their deep love for HaShem.
"Bris milah shows how our love for HaShem is beyond reason. It creates a bond between HaShem and a baby, when the baby is only eight days old. At that age, a baby doesn't understand, and yet the bond remains in his body forever.
"And the Pesach sacrifice surely showed a bond above reason. Is there anything more unreasonable than a slave taking a lamb - which his masters worship as a god - keeping it for four days so everyone will see, and then slaughtering and eating it? The Egyptians could have killed them for doing this. When the Jews showed a love for HaShem that went beyond reason, HaShem showed His deep love for them, and agreed to overlook their faults."
Shlomie turned and walked towards the bookshelf. "Mommy, you know how hard it is for me to memorize mishnayos. It's absolutely unreasonable to expect me to learn 15 mishnayos by heart. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. That will make Tatti happier with me, won't it?"

(‘Please tell me what the Rebbe said’, adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. III, Parshas Bo)

Last weeks’ brain buster: I am a mixed up thing. What am I?
Answer: Borod / Dever (in Hebrew letters).
Congratulations to Mendel Chein from Cheadle, England, for solving the brain buster.

Parshas Bo

Which three people’s grandfather and great-grandfather was the same person?
1. ___________ 2.___________ 3. ___________

connections@shluchim.org

We are so happy with all the responses we are getting to the brain busters. Unfortunately, we are not able to print all of your names. Please continue sending your feedback and responses as we will make a gorel each week and pick one winner.

 

Beis Shevat
The Yartzeit of Reb Meshulam Zushe of Anipoli. He was one of the Mezeritcher Maggid’s Talmidim. He is buried in Anipoli, next to the Kever of the Mezeritcher Maggid.
Tes Shevat
In 1952 / 5602 the Frierdiker Rebbe asked that a Sefer Torah should be written to ‘welcome Moshiach’. The writing was started on Beis Iyar but for various reasons, it wasn’t finished at that time. Then, almost 28 years later the Rebbe asked that the Sefer Torah be finished before the Frierdiker Rebbe’s 20th Yartzeit. The Siyum Sefer Torah was held on Friday afternoon, Tes Shevat 5730, because that year Yud Shevat fell on Shabbos.

Hey Kids,

Wow! We have a big week coming up! I'm getting dizzy just seeing the big date and how much it means to me. I'm the famous Dr. Getzel who is professional at seeing and teaching people how to see. I am in the process of inventing a new lens called the COL (Chassidic Outlook Lens) and the junior Shluchim, girls and boys, from all over the universe, are helping me form the clearest lens I've ever made. But now I'm a little discumboblled, and that means that I can't see straight. In fact, I'm only seeing funny stars and squiggles because Yud Shevat is such a special day and I don't know where to look.
I think I know. I need the INSIDE lens. With the INSIDE lens, you look deep inside your heart. This is very hard for grownups like me, because we confuse ourselves with many different unimportant things. But kids are expert at the INSIDE look. When Thursday, Yud Shevat comes, close your eyes and look inside yourself. My research says that you are going to see something very wonderful and simple. You are going to see that: 1) You want very much, with all your heart, to be a Chossid. 2) You want very much to feel close to the Rebbe.
On Yud Shevat, the day we celebrate that the Rebbe became Rebbe, this is a very good thing to do. Some of you kids will see it right away, and some of you will have to look very hard and very long, but then you'll see how much you want to be close to the Rebbe.
Then after you look into the INSIDE lens, you can decide to make a small Hachlata (resolution) for something extra that will make you a better Chossid. I like little things (like saying Modeh Ani in the morning, being nice to younger brothers or sisters, or listening to Mommy), because Iowa is a little place with only cornfields, cows, and my office with the green roof and wooden door.
I know the INSIDE lens is a bit hard to use, but start practicing now. Like I said, grownups find this very hard, but kids are super good at using this lens. So please tell me how it went for you and I'll be back next week. Good luck, SEE WELL!

See Ya’,
Dr. Getzel

Special mention to Aizik, 12, and Gavi, 11, Schwei from Luton, England and to Mendel Krinsky from Vilna, Lithuania for answering my Mitzvah Mission correctly.

 

In this weeks Parsha the Torah tells the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim. To commemorate the Nissim that Hashem did at that time for Bnei Yisroel, every year we celebrate the Yom Tov of Pesach.
Did you know that Pesach has 4 names? Yet we (the Yidden) still call it Pesach. Do you know why? The answer is that the name ‘Pesach’ praises Hashem for passing over the Jewish houses in Mitzrayim and killing only the Mitzri firstborns. So, when we call this Yom Tov by the name Pesach we are praising Hashem.


In the Torah the Yom Tov of Pesach is called Chah HaMatzos. Do you know why? This is because the name ‘Chag HaMatzos’ praises the Yidden for leaving Mitzrayim in a hurry, with hardly any food. The Yidden took only the dough they had prepared and it didn’t even have time to
rise. Even so, they had Emunah that Hashem
would take care of them. So every time
Hashem wrote Chag HaMatzos in the Torah, He is
praising the Yidden.

SAVE THE DATE!!!
Attention all Children!
In honor of Yud Shevat there will IY”H be a
conference call - rally.
Date: Wednesday – Tes Shevat, Ohr LeYud Shevat, January 19.
Times: 12:30 pm EST
6:00 pm EST
9:00 pm EST
This will IY”H be a very exciting program, so keep your eyes open.
You will be getting an e-mail next week with all the information you need.

Yud Shevat —The Yartzeit of the Frierdiker Rebbe


Yud Shevat, the tenth of the month of Shevat, is the Yartzeit (anniversary of the passing) of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The following story was told by Rabbi Zalman Notik of Yeshivas Toras Emes in Yerushalayim:
A group of yeshiva students were on their regular Friday afternoon Mitvtzoim schedule of helping Jewish boys and men put on Tefillin. The students met a group of recent immigrants from Russia.
The students were teaching the men how to put on Tefillin when all of a sudden an old Russian-born Jew approached them excitedly: "You're from Lubavitch?" he asked them. "Do I have a story to tell you!
"When I was a young boy back in Russia," he began, "I used to attend the secret farbrengens of the Lubavitchers. I also used to daven with them and went to their classes.
"At one farbrengen I will always remember, the main discussion was the desire to be reunited with the Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (the Frierdiker Rebbe). We sang:
‘Der Aibesher vet geben gezunt un leben, vellen mir forun tzum unzer Rebben’. You could almost touch our intense yearning to be with the Rebbe, and it was growing from minute to minute.
"In the middle of the farbrengen, a few of the Chasidim suddenly stood up and decided to 'take action.' Grabbing some chairs, they turned them upside-down and arranged them in a row to make a 'train.' Just picture it - grown men behaving like kindergarten children, sitting on overturned chairs and making believe they were going to the Rebbe!
"Most of the others, myself included, stood around watching. We laughed at them and told them they were crazy. What ridiculous, childish nonsense!
"But, do you know," concluded the man in amazement, "within a short time, all of the Chasidim who rode the 'train' received permission to leave Russia, and actually did go to the Rebbe. Whereas the rest of us, the 'normal' ones, were left behind. As you can see, most of us did not have the strength to keep up our observance of Torah and Mitzvos, and are only now beginning to catch up..."


Taken from L’chaim Weekly

What are you doing to prepare yourself for Yud Shevat?
Please e-mail me and let me know:
connections@shluchim.org

Congratulations to Yudi Namdar, age 8, from Gothenburg, Sweden, and Shternie Bell, age 12 from Montreal, Canada for
winning last week!

 

See the Printable Version of Connections for an incredible FUN PAGE on Parshas Bo and the Makkos!!

 

The Parsha we read this week, Parshas Bo , contains the Mitzvah to observe the Yom Tov of Pesach: “Shivas Yomim Matzos Tocheilu ” - “For seven days you shall eat matzos". The Mitzvah to eat Matzah on Pesach applies in our times as well.
Both Chometz and Matzah contain flour and water, so what makes Matzah different? What can we learn from the Mitzvah to eat Matzah on Pesach and theMitzvas Lo Sa’aseh against eating chametz?
Chometz is dough that was allowed to rise and grow. Matzah is dough that is thin and flat; even after it is baked it stays the same height.
Chometz is proud and arrogant. It reminds us of a person who thinks he is greater than everyone else around him.
Matzah, on the other hand, is humble. Its flat dough reminds us of a person who is completely nullified to others - the exact opposite of Chometz.
The Hebrew letters of the words Chometz and Matzah are almost the same: Ches-Mem-Tzadik and Mem-Tzaddik-Hey. The only difference between them is one letter - one has a Ches and the other has a Hey. Also, the Ches and the Hey are almost the same shape; both have three lines and have an opening at the bottom.
Here we see the important difference between Chometz and Matzah: The Ches in Chometz is completely closed at the top. The Aveira that has entered can’t escape; it remains inside and can't get out. The person who did an Aveira finds it difficult to stop himself from doing more Aveiros.
The Hey in Matzah, however, has a small opening at the top - the opening through which a person can do Teshuvah and return to Hashem. Yes, it's only a small opening, but all we need to do is show Hashem that we are sorry, and Hashem accepts our Teshuvah and helps us return. Through the tiny opening in the Hey he draws nearer to Hashem, he corrects his behavior and returns to Hashem with a full heart.

Taken from L’Chaim Weekly

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