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Yiddish
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| Parshas
Vayeishev
Chof Kislev
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Volume
1
Issue 9 |
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PARSHAS
VAYEISHEV
Do you dream in your sleep? Many people do. Sometimes we dream about
important things. But often, we forget our dreams when we wake up. Sometimes,
we might not even remember that we dreamt at all. But when a tzaddik,
a righteous man, has a dream - and especially when that dream is mentioned
in the Torah - the dream holds a lesson for us.
Let's
take a closer look at Yosef's first dream and compare it to Pharaoh's
dreams, which we will read about next week. In his dream, Pharaoh is
a bystander, watching what happens to the cows and the corn stalks.
He's not doing anything himself.
Yosef's dream begins with activity. "Behold, we are standing in
the fields gathering bundles of sheaves." A Jew is always busy.
"Man was created for work," our Rabbis teach us. HaShem has
made us His partners in Creation and has instructed us to make this
world a home for Him.
What type of work must we perform? Yosef's dream also teaches us a lesson
about that. What are Yosef and his brothers doing in the dream? They
are gathering stalks of grain and bundling them together. Each stalk
grows separately, but Yosef and his brothers bring them together.
The world around us appears to be full of separate things, and we don't
always see a connection between them. But everything is really part
of HaShem's oneness. It is our job to show that there really is Achdus
in everything HaShem created; His holiness is found in every part of
creation. That's why the Jewish people are called "One nation in
the world." Through the Torah and its mitzvos, we bring out the
oneness of the world.
At the end of Yosef's dream, all the bundles of grain bow down to his
bundle. In every generation, there is a Jewish leader who tells people
how to carry out the mission of revealing Achdus in this world. The
strength to carry out this mission comes from bittul, giving ourselves
over to the leader's guidance and following his instructions on how
to carry out HaShem's will.
From ‘Please tell me What the Rebbe Said’ (Adapted from
Likkutei Sichos, Vol. III, Parshas Vayeishev
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The
answer to last week’s brain buster is Shechem
Congratulations to Mattisyohu Charytan, Winnipeg, Canada, for solving
the brain buster.
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Parshas
Vayishlach
Without
my head, I am there; Without my tail, I am there
If you add on the end of a window, I’m one of the Shoftim
What am I?_____ _____
_____
Please send your answers to 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.
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Hey
Kids!
Wow, this week has been a real busy one. I was innocently minding
my own business when I got an urgent call from a Shliach. “Dr
Getzel, you MUST help us! It’s like the days of the Chanukah
story. There’s NO bottles of pure olive oil to be found anywhere!
And there is less than a week left till Chanukah!”
Well, I never refuse to help a Shliach, so off to Italy I went, to
the huge olive oil factories there. It was an amazing experience!
I learnt so much there that I want to share some of my experiences
with you children.
Did you know that when oil was made to be used in the Beis Hamikdash,
only the first few drops that were squeezed out of the olive were
used.
You know I was thinking about Yidden and olives and I realized that
Yidden are a bit like olives. When we look at an olive, it looks pretty
ordinary. It doesn’t look like we can get the most amazing,
useful liquid out of this plain green olive-shaped olive! So it’s
sort of like Yidden. Sometimes we see a Yid who is not-yet frum. He
or she looks pretty ordinary. But they aren’t! Inside that plain-looking
Yid is a beautiful Neshama, that like olive oil, we can light with
Torah and Mitzvos and it will burn with a beautiful flame!!!
Hmm..
Maybe that’s why Chanukah is also called ‘The Festival
of Lights’!!
Dr. Getzel
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Chanukah
& Moshiach
Everything
is connected to Moshiach, even playing dreidel! The B'nei Yissachar
explains: There are four Hebrew letters written on the dreidel - Nun
Gimmel Hey Shin. This is an abbreviation for the words "nes gadol
haya sham-a great miracle happened there." When adding up the gematria
of the four letters on the dreidel one comes up with the total of 358.
This is also the gematria of the word "Moshiach"!
(Taken
from the weekly L’Chaim magazine)
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Yosef
Dovid Lifshitz, 10 Blue Ash, Ohio
When we moved to Blue Ash a few years ago, we planned on building our
Sukkah in front of our house. Our friends told us that there aren't
any Sukkos out in the open in the whole Blue Ash and who knows how the
neighbors will react.
Nonetheless, I helped my parents build a Sukkah in our driveway near
the street. When we Bentched Lulav and Esrog with Yidden on our block,
they told us that they never saw such a nice, big Sukkah in their lives
and that they were proud to have one on their very own block. Of course,
we invited some neighbors into our Sukkah and even Bentched Mezuman
with a Minyan. In fact, the very next year and afterwards, several Sukkos
have been built on our block! I am happy to be able to do the Rebbe's
Shlichus in Blue Ash, Ohio.
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: cyh@shluchim.org
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Soldiers
of the Russian government came to arrest the Alter Rebbe in the
middle of the night. They drove a black carriage, called the “Black
Maria,” which was used to transport the most dangerous prisoners
facing charges of high treason.
Armed guards surrounded the house, as the commanding officer knocked
on the door to arrest the Rebbe.
Calmly, the Rebbe went with him, and boarded the waiting carriage.
His tefillin and his tallis were clenched in his arms. The black
carriage drove off into the darkness. No one knew its final destination.
They drove through the night and the following morning until about
10 am, when the Alter Rebbe motioned that he wished to speak with
the commanding officer.
“In six hours the holy Shabbos will begin,” the Alter
Rebbe said. “I must ask you to stop and rest until the holy
day is over.”
The officer looked at him in disbelief. “Stop?” he exclaimed,
“I am under strict orders to transport you immediately. We
will not be stopping at all!”
Suddenly, they heard a loud crack. The carriage tilted with a jolt
to the side. An axle of the wagon had broken! Perturbed, the officer
sent to a nearby village to have the axle repaired.
Finally they were ready to continue, when suddenly one of the horses
died.
Again, they sent to get a new horse, but once it was in harness,
the carriage still would not move, as if some unseen force was holding
it.
Finally the commanding officer realized that he was not in control,
and no further travel was going to take place. He approached the
Rebbe apologetically and suggested that they stop at a nearby town
until after Shabbos.
“No,” the Alter Rebbe refused. “I will spend Shabbos
here. If you wish, you may move the carriage to the side of the
road.”
Suddenly, the carriage was able to move. The soldiers drove it off
the main road, and the Rebbe observed Shabbos in a nearby field.
All this happened a few miles away from the city of Nevel in the
Province of Vitebsk. The Chassidim of Nevel knew the exact spot
where the Rebbe spent Shabbos, and would point out that on both
sides of the road stood old dead trees, but where they had parked
the carriage, there was a beautiful tall tree, adorned with numerous
branches.
We see from this story, that the Alter Rebbe was completely in control
of what was happening. He was not just taken to prison. He consented
to go and face charges, because he knew that he had to clear chassidism
of all false accusations. And he was victorious!
The story goes on until today. It was set in motion by the Baal
Shem Tov, and now coming to its great conclusion. As the Rebbe announced
to us recently, “The time has arrived for your Redemption.”
In this month of Kislev, the month of Geulah, may we merit to see
it happen, the ultimate Geulah with the coming of Moshiach, immediately
NOW!
(Taken from the Tzivos Hashem Newsletter—Chanukah 5759)
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Yud-Tes
Kislev
On this day the Mezritcher Maggid passed away in the year 5533. He
is buried in Anipoli.
In the year 5559 the Alter Rebbe was released from prison.
In the same year, the Mitteler Rebbe had a baby girl – Rebbetzin
Menucha Rochel.
Chof Kislev
In the year 5557 the Tanya was printed for the first time.
In the year 5559 the Alter Rebbe actually left prison on this day
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Get
Ready….
Get Set…..
For…..
Chanukah
Hey
Kids!
Here at Chinuch Yaldei Hashluchim, we’re sure you’ll all
working hard, helping to prepare for Chanukah. We want to know what
kind of programs you’ve done in your city or
neighborhood. Email us at
connections@shluchim.org
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Hey
Kids! I wanna know what YOU are doing to prepare for the Yom Tov of
Chanukah. Write it up and send it in to me at
connections@shluchim.org
Dr. Getzel
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Kids!
Fill out the answers to the questions about Chanukah below, and fax
it to the Shluchim Office at (718) 221– 0985 no later than Wednesday,
December 8th, Chof-Hey Kislev. We will IY"H be mailing prizes to
the winners!
Level
1: Ages 5-7
1. What date does Chanukah begin on?
2. What are the 3 Mitzvos that Antiochus did NOT let the Yidden keep?
A: _______B:______ C: _______
3. Who was the leader of the Macabbis?
4.
What does Maccabi stand for?
5. Who was the famous woman who saved the Jewish people?
6. What was the miracle of the oil?
7. What 2 tefiolos do we add in davenning during Chanukah?
8. What his the best thing to use to light the Menorah?
9. What do we sing after we light the Menorah?
10. How long does the Menroah have to burn?
Name: _____________________________ Age: _____
Address: ______________________________________
City: _______________ State: _____ Zip: ____________
Phone: _____________ e-mail: ____________________
Congratulations
to Yossi Sued, Barranquilla, Columbia and
Moshe
Gurary (7) Buffalo, NY for winning last week!
Level 2: Ages 8-12
1.
What is the Krias HaTorah on Chanukah about?
2. What is a meaning of the word ‘Chanukah’?
3. In what year did the story of Chanukah happen?
4. How many branches did the Menorah in the Bais Hamikdosh have?
5. Why is it best to use pure olive oil to light the Menorah?
6. What is special about the 5th night of Chanukah?
7. Whose menorah diagram do we follow?
8. What are the 3 Brachos we say when lighting the Menorah and circle
the Bracha we only say on the first night. A: __________B: _____________
C:____________
9. When, according to Minhag Chabad, is the best time to light the Menorah?
10. What are the differences of opinion between Beis Hillel and Beis
Shammai about lighting the Menorah and which one do we follow?
Name: _____________________________ Age: _____
Address: ______________________________________
City: _______________ State: _____ Zip: ____________
Phone: _____________ e-mail: ____________________
Congratulations to Hadassah Silberstein (11) Ithaca,
NY and
Chaya Levertov (10) Scottsdale, AZ for winning last week!
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QUESTION:
Targum Yonatan Ben Uziel says that the brothers used the money they
got from selling Yosef to buy shoes. Why shoes?
ANSWER: The Gemara (Berachot
35b) says that it is forbidden to get any pleasure from this world without
saying a berachah. Therefore, when one buys new clothes, we say a shehecheyanu.
After receiving the money, the brothers had a problem because they would
have to make a berachah before enjoying any new thing they would buy.
But how could they make a beracha over something bought with this money?
Nevertheless, there is a halacha in the Shulchan Aruch that on new shoes
we don’t need to make a berachah of shehecheyanu. Therefore, to
prevent the problem of a berachah, the only thing they could buy with
the money was shoes. QUESTION:
"Yehudah said... 'what will we gain if we kill our brother?' "
What was Yehudah hinting to with the word "Betza" - "gain"?
ANSWER: The word (betza) is a
roshei teivos for "Boker" (morning), "Tzaharayim"
(afternoon), and "Arvis" (evening). These are the three times
a day when a Yid davens to Hashem. Yehudah told his brothers, "If
we kill our brother, Yosef, our hands will be covered with blood and
no longer will we be able to daven to Hashem." The letters of the
word "Betza" are also the second letters of the names of our
Avos: Avraham, Yitzchok, Yaakov. Yehudah told his brothers, "If
we do the Avairah of killing our brother, we will be detaching ourselves
from the ways of our Avos: Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov and lose the
zechusim they give their descendants." (Excerpted
from V’Dibarta Bam)
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| We'd
love to hear your feedback! Send us your comments, ideas and suggestions
to: connections@shluchim.org |
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