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Parshas Shemos
Yud Tes Teves
Volume 1
Issue 13

PARSHAS SHEMOS
This week's parshah tells us about the slavery of the Jewish people in Mitzrayim. But the parshah begins, Vaeileh Shemos Bnai Yisroel Haboim Mitzrayma‘’ - "These are the names of the children of Israel who came into Mitzrayim."
But even before they were enslaved, they had already entered galus. When a Jew leaves Eretz Yisrael and goes to Mitzrayim - he is in galus. He can immediately feel the difference between Eretz Yisrael and Mitzrayim.
Let's take an imaginary journey with Bnei Yisrael. They had recently arrived in Mitzrayim. We might hear one Jew talking to another.
"It sure is hot here. Doesn't it ever rain? The rain would cool off the air and clear it up a bit."
"Oh no! It hardly ever rains here in Egypt."
"No rain?! Then how do the crops grow?"
"Why, from the Nile River, of course."
"The river? Do you mean we will have to draw buckets of water from the river to water our fields? That will take forever!"
"Not at all. The Nile River overflows, and streams of water gush into long irrigation ditches which stretch out for miles and bring water to the fields. Everyone depends upon the river to grow their food."
"What a difference between this land and Eretz Yisrael! The rain which watered our fields in Eretz Yisrael came down from the heavens. We Jews look upwards to HaShem for rain. Here, the people look down into a river. They depend upon it to make their crops grow. No wonder they worship the Nile River as a god."
Life in Mitzrayim makes people feel completely dependent on the Nile River. They are always looking down toward this natural force.
That is also the way people in galus often think. But it is a mistake to feel that we are totally dependent on nature.
The truth is - and this is the what we should all believe - that HaShem controls everything, including nature. When we look up to the sky and ask HaShem for rain to water our fields, we remember that our food and our very lives depend upon Him.


(‘Please tell me what the Rebbe said’, Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VI, Shmos)

The answer to last week’s brain buster is Menashe (in hebrew letters)
Congratulations to Mendel Katzman from The Hague, Netherlands, for solving the brain buster.

Parshas Shemos

My name is made up of two animals
which can be brought as a Korban.
Who am I?

____ ____ ____ ____

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.

Tes-Vav Teves
Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah was born on 15 Teves. She was the wife of the Rebbe Rashab. They had one son - the Frierdiker Rebbe. Her parents were Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok, who was the son of the Tzemach Tzedek and Rebbetzin Chana, who was the daughter of Rabbi Yaakov Yisroel of Tcharkes, the son-in- law of the Mittler Rebbe.
Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah lived through a difficult time for the Jews. It is known that when the Frierdiker Rebbe’s family lived in Warsaw during the bombing of World War II, she was seen near an Aron Kodesh, davening that Hashem should spare the house of the Rebbe so that, Chas Veshalom, the holy dynasty of the Alter Rebbe should not come to an end.


(Taken from col.org.il)

Hey Kids,
Beeb – blip – bloop - beep. Hmmmm. That’s not it. Maybe I should sprinkle it with a pinch of this funny smelling green powder. Or maybe I should turn the gnopfle toward the combobulator. Oy, vey . . . Do I have a problem. The light switch in my office is stuck. It’s so dark in here that I can’t even see my own glasses. I’ve been trying to un-stick the light switch all morning but it won’t budge no matter what I do. I tried tickling it. I tried talking to it. I even tried singing a nigun to it! I have one last idea. It’s my super-powerful, hi-tech, automatic MM Flashlight. This flashlight is a ‘vonderful’ invention (as my Alte Bubbe Baila used to say!) and it might finally solve the problem. Let’s test it out together.
First go into a room and pull down all the window shades. Next, close the door and turn off the lights. Now we’re going to start by looking. Look as hard as you can. Do you see what I see? I can’t see a thing! It’s so dark in here that I’m tripping over my own shoelaces (And I don’t even have shoelaces. My shoes are Velcro!) Maybe we’ll be able to see if we take some of the darkness and throw it out the window. Or maybe we can stuff the darkness into a closet. Oh! I forgot all about my MM Flashlight. Let me turn it on . . WOW! It worked! I can see! It’s so light in here that I can count the freckles on my nose.
My MM Flashlight really is ‘vonderful’. As soon as I turned on my flashlight the whole room brightened. By adding just a little bit of light we were able to get rid of a whole lot of darkness.
As Junior-Shluchim, each one of you is like a flashlight. Each time you look in your siddur when you daven, or listen to your parents, or share with your younger sister, it’s like turning on a little light. All of your little lights shine away a lot of darkness and make the world a brighter place that’s ready for Moshiach.
Bye-bye


Dr. Getzel

Learning Rambam
The Rambam was the first one to write down all the Mitzvos that are in the Torah in an organized way, so that Yidden could see clearly what we are and are not allowed to do. First the Rambam wrote the Sefer Hamitzvos, organizing the positive and negative Mitzvos and then he wrote the Mishne Torah, writing down all the Dinim, laws that are connected to each Mitzvah in an organized way. He started this in the year 4928 (1167) while he was living in Alexandria, Egypt.
The first Siyum HaRambam was in 5745- 1985, The Rebbe introduced the cycle of learning the Mishne Torah, every year. This project was started by the Rebbe to unite all Yidden, and for the benefit of studying all the Dinim of all the Mitzvos, as compiled by the Rambam. The Rebbe wanted all Yidden to learn Rambam every day, either 3 Perakim of Mishne Torah,, or 1 Perek, or even the Sefer Hamitzvos of the day. The Rambam is accepted by ALL Yidden, as it says on his Matzevah, which is engraved with the words “From Moshe (Rabeinu) to Moshe (the Rambam) there arose none like Moshe.”

“Mimoshe Ad Moshe Lo Kom KeMoshe”

Shneur Zalman Mangel,8
Cincinnati, Ohio

On the 6th day of Chanukah, my mother made a Chanukah Brunch for the Hebrew School students and families. Most of the families were not frum and didn't know a whole lot about Yiddishkeit. When the brunch began, my mother asked all the children what holiday it was, and they all answered correctly: Chanukah! After a grand dreidel game, the children were called up to the front of our Chabad House to build a Lego menorah. Together, they made a 4 foot menorah out of legos! The TV stations and newspapers came to our Chabad House and took pictures of the Menorah. Now, on the front page of a newspaper, there is a picture of my 3-year-old brother, Levi, lighting the lego menorah. What a way of publicizing the miracle of Chanukah!!
Send us a short paragraph about your shlichus and we will publish it in our future “connections”! Please include your name, age, and location.
E-mail us at: connections@shluchim.org

Chof Teves—The Yartzeit of the Rambam


Moshe was dreaming again. He stood next to his father and brother by the eastern wall of the Shul. This was a place of honor, for Moshe's father was the Chief Rabbi of Cordova, just as his father and grandfather had been. But Moshe was not davenning. His eyes wandered.
A sharp tap on his shoulder made him look up guiltily. His father looked at him with a stern gaze, full of disappointment and sadness. Moshe knew it was because he, the eldest son, could not learn Torah.
Every day his father would give away precious hours to learn with him. But at the end of the lesson, he would just sigh and shake his head. Yesterday it had happened again. Moshe had been sent away from his lesson. His eyes stinging with unshed tears, he made his way to the kitchen where Batsheva, their housekeeper, was frying cakes in hot oil.
"Did it not go well today?" she asked gently. "Not everyone is cut out to be a Talmud Chacham. Maybe you take after your mother's side of the family."
"You mean my mother's father, the butcher?" Moshe asked.
"Yes, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Your grandfather was a kind, honest, and G-d-fearing man, as generous as the day is long. Little wonder Hashem sent him such an honorable son-in-law as your father."
The congregation was already rising for Shemoneh Esreh. Quickly Moshe turned the pages, wondering if his father had caught him daydreaming again. Moshe bent his head in tefillah--and came to the words "Grant us wisdom, understanding, and knowledge..."
The words seemed to spring at him from the page. Perhaps Hashem would grant him wisdom and understanding so that he would remember every word, and his father would be proud of him. Moshe resolved to try. During the lesson that morning Moshe concentrated on his father's words, "And Hashem said, 'Let there be light, and there was light.'" Light. Through the open window, Moshe saw his familiar world. The fountain glistened in the sun, palm and myrtle trees swayed over the patio.
"Moshe!" his father's voice cracked like a whip. "If you don't understand, at least you could look at the holy letters! Can't you follow where I'm pointing?" Moshe shook his head miserably, "I can't."
"You can't because you don't try! Enough! Get out of my sight."
For a moment Moshe could not move. His father's words pierced his heart like a spear. Then he ran. To the very outskirts of the town he ran. He threw himself into the cold, clear water of the river there, reaching with strong strokes into the soothing waves. Then, exhausted, he dropped onto the river bank and dozed off. When he awoke, it was night.
Where should he go now? His father had driven him away. Moshe found himself wandering toward the Shul. In the shadowy depth of the Aron, the Torah scrolls glistened in their silver mantels. Suddenly the cold, hard knot inside his chest loosened, and his eyes filled with tears. "Please Hashem!" he whispered. "Give me wisdom! Open my brain and let me understand Your holy Torah so my father can be proud of me! Please, teach me Your Torah!"
One by one he kissed the glowing scrolls, and carefully closed the doors of the Aron. Then as a feeling of peace flowed over him, he recited the Shema, curled up on a bench and slept.
Dawn poured through the Shul window. Had he really slept the whole night in the Shul? Moshe murmured Modeh Ani, thanking Hashem for returning his Neshama. Then, he realized what he had to do next. He would travel to the Yeshiva in Alisena and learn Torah from his father's teacher--the great Rabbi Yosef Ibn Migash. He would study until he could return home and make his father proud.
Moshe washed his hands, said the morning prayers with feeling, and hurried to the marketplace. The large square was filled with farmers unloading their wagons. "Sir, can you tell me which way is Alisena?" Moshe asked.
The farmer smiled. "That's just where I'm headed, son. You must be going to Yeshiva, little scholar that you are! Hop into my wagon."
The sun had already set when they finally reached Alisena. Inside the Yeshiva rows of men and boys were learning. "What do you want, boy?" said a tall youth smiling down at Moshe. "I, I came to learn Torah with Rabbi Yosef Ibn Migash," he stammered at last. "Come back when you are bar mitzvah. Now your mother must be looking for you." Suddenly a kind voice said, "Bring the boy to me. What is your name, son?"
"I am Moshe, son of Rabbi Maimon from Cordova."
"Ah, my student from Cordova! Your father sent you to learn here?" But the true story came out. When Moshe finished, he felt the lips of the tzaddik on his forehead. "May Hashem bless you, my son!" Moshe felt a great weight had been lifted from him, and that something deep and good inside of him was opening up. Years later he would say that at this very moment, the wells of Torah wisdom were revealed within him.

‘The Rambam’ by Rochel Yaffe, Hachai Publishing

Do you want to know why I call my flashlight the MM Flashlight? Do you really, really, really want to know? Well, I’m not going to tell you! I want you to try to figure it out and e-mail me your answers to connections@shluchim.org
P.S. I’ll give you a hint. It doesn’t stand for Meshuganeh Meatballs.

Kids! Fill out the answers to the questions below and fax it to the Shluchim Office at (718) 221– 0985. We will IY"H be making a raffle and mailing prizes to the winners!


Level 1: Ages 5-7

1. What does Rambam stand for?
2. When is the Rambam’s birthday?
3. Where was the Rambam born?
4. Name 2 Sefarim that the Rambam wrote. A: B:
5. Which city in Eretz Yisroel is the Rambam buried?
6. What famous quote is written on the Rambam’s Matzeivah?

Congratulations to Mendel Backman, age 8 from College Park, MD for winning last week!

 

Level 2: Ages 8-12

1. How old was the Rambam when he and his family had to run away from Cordova?
2. How many years did it take the Rambam to write the Mishneh Torah?
3. What is the name of the Rambam’s son?
4. Which country did the Rambam write a special letter to, to guide the Jews with their problems?
5. How many Mitzvos Aseh (positive) are there? How many Mitzvos Lo Sa’aseh (Negative) are there?
6. What is the 12th of the Rambam’s Yud-Gimmel Ikrei Emunah (13 principles of faith)? (in Hebrew - hint: it’s a famous song!)
7. What is the last Sefer that the Rambam wrote?

Congratulations to Moshe Piekarski, age 7 from Hamden, CT for winning last week!

 

See the Printable Version of Connections for incredible FUN PAGES on Chof Teves!!

 

In this week's Parsha - Parshas Shemos ,Pharaoh decreed that every Jewish boy should be thrown into the Nile River. Pharaoh made this decree because he realized that the number of Bnai Yisroel was growing very fast. and Pharaoh and his advisers were worried that Bnai Yisroel would get together with his enemies and destroy Mitzrayim . He hoped that if he threw the baby boys into the Nile River, this wouldn’t happen.
Amram, who was the father of Aaron and Miriam, was the leader of the Jewish people during this time. Amram decided that the Yidden shouldn’t have any more children and so he divorced his wife, Yocheved. All the Bnai Yisroel did the same thing.
Then Miriam spoke up. She was only five years old at the time, and she knew that her father was a special man and the leader of the nation, she bravely said: "Your decree is worse than Pharaoh’s! Pharaoh only decreed that the boys should die, but your decree is against the boys and the girls. Pharaoh wants to kill their body—Guf, but their Neshamos will live on in Olam Habah. Your decree stops Neshamos from even being brought into this world! Pharaoh is an evil man, so his decree may or may not work out. But you are a Tzaddik and your decree will work out."
Amram realized that his little daughter's words were true. He immediately remarried Yocheved, and all the Yidden did the same.
Then what happened? Moshe was born and as soon as his mother placed him in the river, Pharaoh‘s astrologers said, "Their leader has already been thrown into the water." The decree to drown all baby boys was stopped. And this little Moshe grew up to be Moshe Rabeinu and took the Yidden out of Mitzrayim.
Miriam's behavior can be a shining example for us. She teaches us the power of children. Every Jewish child can accomplish much more than we might imagine!


(From the L’Chaim Weekly)

 We'd love to hear your feedback! Send us your comments, ideas and suggestions to: connections@shluchim.org