Parshas Vayakhel

ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אליהם אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם

Why did Moshe says 'laasos osam', which denotes activity when Shabbos is called Shabbos because it calls for a cessation of activity (the 39 melachos)?

On Shabbos there is an activity through which we celebrate the day. Gathering together with friends in unity and singing and speaking divrei torah are the positive action we do on Shabbos.

This type of activity cannot be given as instructions, it needs to be tasted first to appreciate and understand it. Moshe first gathered together the yidden on Shabbos - ויקהל משה - and then when they were together he demonstrated what needs to done. Then he said "אלה הדברים", exactly what i am showing you now is what you should do every Shabbos. Gather together and spend time with friends singing and learning.

Likutei Imrei Chaim

Let's say a person is lazy, selfish and arrogant. Let's say he keeps seeing the bad traits and actions of another person. Let us say that he knows that all that is wrong. He still has those feelings however. Short of pouring Draino into his heart what can he do to move in the right direction?

וקשרתם לאות על ידיך
Tefilin are worn on our arm, yet in the tefila before tefilin we say that it is in order to meshabed taavos umachshevos libenu la'avodaso yisbarach shmo. Why don't we tie the tefilin around our heart?

We cannot work directly with the heart. We cannot manufacture emotions. We can nurture them and encourage them but only indirectly. A very powerful mode of influence is through action. Act kind, act efficient, act with a good eye to another. The actions talk to the heart and nurture the requisite feelings. That is why the tefilin are worn on the arm which is the medium of action.

Bardichev (Bards - Rebbe

That may be why we daven 'vetaher libenu le'avdecha be'emes', on shabbos amd yom tov. Shabbos is a day of reaping the rewards of efforts that were expended. A day of being, not becoming. The tahara - refinement of the heart is not something we can directly undertake. Rather it is the culmination and product of our effort, which parallels Shabbos being the culmination of the efforts of the week.

During the week we say 've'sain belibainu binah lehavin...', and 'hu yiftach libainu betoraso veyasaim belibainu ahavaso veyiraso..', requesting that Hashem open our hearts and place within them ahava and yirah and binah. On Shabbos we ask for purification and refinement, which is a by-product of what we (hopefully) did all week.

Parshas Vayakhel

Vehanesi'im haviu es avnei hashoham... 'vehanesi'im' is missing a yud.
Chazal explain that the nesi'im were lazy and waited until everyone else brought donations. Why is specifically the yud missing and not a different letter?
Every lazy person is missing some 'yid'...

Chidushei Harim

The Chazon Ish was very careful with regards to netilas yadayim. Someone once asked him why he did not become rich as a result of being meticulous in the mitzvah of netilas yadayim, as the gemara says. He answered "I am a 'heimishe'".
He later explained that if a king has a loyal subject who serves him faithfully but lives far way then the king will need to send him rewards and riches to show his appreciation. But a minister who lives in the palace and eats with the king daily, for such a person no further reward is needed.

heard beshem Rabbi Zoberman of Boro Park

lekovod Rebbe Elimelech's yartzeit -zy'a

העושה תפלתו קבע אין תפלתו תחתונים

A person who acquires a precious item enjoys it immensely at first, but as time goes by he becomes accustomed to the item and does not appreciate it or enjoy it anymore. תחנונים can be used as a lashon of חן, appeal and a perception of an item's preciousness.
A person who davens and does not exert himself to add a new dimension to the davening - more, better, and different than the previous prayer - will not find his davening to have חן in his eyes.

Noam Elimelech - Likutei Shoshana

Parshas Pekudei

Aileh pekudei hamishkan mishkan ha'aidus.
The midrash says that Moshe used the extra donations that were brought to make a mishkan ha'aidus, besides for the mishkan itself. How can this be understood?

The mishkan was built for one purpose: to make a place where the Shechinah can rest among klal yisrael.
The donations brought by the yidden were significant not only because of their physical value but even more importantly because of the intention and motivations of the yidden bringing them. The ahava, yirah and enthusiasm with which they were brought was what enabled and activated the dwelling of the Shechinah in the mishkan. Moshe was able to discern that the donations brought were in excess of what was needed, both in the physical sense as well in the holy emotions and intentions of klal yisrael when they brought the nedavos.

Moshe took the intentions and emotions and infused them into the torah of the parshayos of the mishkan. Kol ha'osek betoras olah ke'ilu hikriv olah. It is possible for all who learn these parshiyos to tap into those emotions and enable hashra'as haschinah in his own life.
This is what the Midrash referred to, mishkan ha'aidus, the torah  is called 'aidus' like luchos ha'aidus, Moshe took the intentions and emotion which enable hashra'as hashcinah and placed them into the parshiyos of the building of the mishkan to be accessible for future generations.

Maor Vashemesh

Some things can be accomplished by speech, i.e. prayer. Some things can be accomplished through thought. Some things can only be accomplished by the absence of thought.
For example, someone who has pain and is tormented by some problem and on Shabbos he makes an effort not to dwell on the problem in honor of Shabbos. This effort does more and has a greater effect than anything else on helping him have his wishes and needs fulfilled.

Rebbe Avrohom of Slonim zy'a - the Yesod Ha'avoda, in Toras Avos

from:
loveisthemotive.blogspot.com/2010/05/small-deeds-big-rewards.html
MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Small deeds, big rewards.

My wife and I had a newly-wed couple over as guests for the Friday night meal this past Shabbos. We knew the husband, who had grown up in my wife's neighborhood and went to the same shul as my father-in-law; and older bachur, this man just got married at age 32. His wife is a convert from the Philippines, and while we were at shul, she and my wife were shmoozing, and the conversation came around to the subject of why she converted.
The story she told my wife is beautiful, and I believe that we have an obligation to spread the story around, for the valuable lessons inherent in it.

She grew up in a very religious Catholic home, where the catechism of the Trinity confused her greatly. One elder told her to "Pray to the Father", another told her "Pray to the Son", and yet another told her to "pray to the Holy Ghost". She was in dire straits, because she really wanted to pray - but she didn't know who she should pray to!

Realizing that the faith she had been brought up with didn't have the answers she sought, she began looking into other religions that were prevalent in her country. Islam had no sway over her; Buddhism didn't interest her at all...
She felt lost, and the constant pressure from her peers and family - who were convinced she had "the Devil" in her - began to feel overwhelming. As soon as she was able to move, after graduating from school, she headed for the United States.

What a culture shock! The relative reservedness of the Philippines left her unprepared for what she encountered after moving to Bayonne, New Jersey. Suddenly, random people would stop her on the street and begin conversing with her; strange men would make advances, attempting to get her phone number, take her out for a coffee, and the like. The freedom, the provocatively loose atmosphere seemed to saturate everything American, and it took serious adjustment.

One hot day, she was walking back to her apartment. On the way, she passed a young man dressed very strangely: he was wearing a black jacket and hat, and he had these funny strings hanging out of his pants. As the passed each other, she expected him - like so many other men in the past - to stop her, or get a good look at her in her very revealing clothes. To her astonishment, he averted his eyes, looking down to the ground as he hurriedly passed her.

She couldn't believe it! To be sure, she turned around to see if he would maybe turn back after they had passed each other and sneak a peek, but as far as she could tell, he kept going on his way without stopping.

In a place where everyone is looking to satisfy their urges, could such a thing be possible? Who was that boy? Upon returning to her apartment, her roommate informed her that the boy she had seen on the street was a Jew. Until that point, she had never seen a Jew, didn't know what a Jew was or looked like, knew nothing about Jews at all.

What she did know was that she would have to find out more about these "Jews" and their intriguing ways.

She began to ask around, and meet with Jewish folks and amass as much information as possible. What she discovered was a world of dedication, integrity, sincerity, and consistent commitment. She was hooked, and she began the long arduous process to convert to Judaism. Now, thank God, she is married, and beginning to build a Jewish home in the wonderful tradition of her adoptive forebears.
We simply do not appreciate the impact the slightest gesture, the smallest action, can make. I have no doubt that this Yeshiva boy does not know what he did, what an impression he made. And yet, when he gets "up there" (after 120, God willing), he is going to be presented with the myriads of z'chusim (merits) that will come about from every commandment and good deed faithfully fulfilled by this woman and her family, and he will receive credit for each one!

One act of shmiras einayim (guarding the eyes) led a woman searching for God in the right direction. How many times are we presented with choices on how to behave, and we have no idea who is watching? It's a very important lesson for all of us to internalize, and may we all act properly at all times, whether or not anyone is watching!

POSTED BY SHMUEL AT 6:04 PM

Parshas Vayikra

Vayikra el moshe vayedaber Hashem ailov

Rashi explains that every time Hashem spoke to Moshe Hashem called out to him with endearment and affection.
Why was this necessary?

Even a tzadik who reaches madreigos and perceptions in ruchniyus should not take it for granted and assume that he will receive the same treatment, perception and madreigos as he is accustomed to. He should realize and resolve that he is unworthy of the madreigos and perceptions. Moshe NEVER ASSUMED Hashem would talk to him and each time he needed to be called and shown that he was the one chosen for the task of transmitting Hashem's words.

Maor Vashemesh

Parshas Vayikra

Vayikra el moshe vayedaber Hashem ailov
Rashi explains that only Moshe heard the voice of Hashem and no one else from klal yisrael heard it.

The mishna in Pirkei Avos says that a bas kol calls out every day from Har Chorev saying woe to people because of the degradement of the Torah. The Baal Shem Tov asks if there is a bas kol why don't we hear it and if we don't hear it why does it issue forth?

He explains that this bas kol is the thoughts and inspirations of teshuva that flow into a person's heart every day that move him to become better and return to Hashem. We need to be aware of them and sieze the opportunity when it presents itself.

Moshe is associated with 'da'as' - consciousness. Someone who is like Moshe and is conscious and aware of the inspirations and messages coming his way, he alone hears Hashem 'speaking' to him

Degel Machaneh Ephraim

Zeh yomar lashem ani vezeh yikra beshem yakov vezeh yichtov yado lashem ubeshaim yisrael yechaneh.  (Yeshaya 45 5)

three levels: first is a person who feels that he is great, he is 'lashem', he is the eved hashem par excellence.
Second is someone who knows that he has much work to do and is nowhere near perfection, he calls himself 'yakov' which denotes a lower level than 'yisrael'.
Lastly is someone who knows his true worth, isn't a baal gaavo and looks with favor at others. He writes with his hand 'lashem ani', signifying that his actions and directions are pointed towards Hashem but he is far from truly realizing and attaining that madreigo, rather he is learning practicing and training - hislamdus, as Rav Volbe calls it. And he looks at others and sees their virtues and good points, ubeshaim yisrael yechaneh, he calls others 'yisrael'.

Gam mizaidim chasoch avdecha al yimshalu bi, az aisom venikaisi mipesha rav.

If there is still a problem with keeping away from 'zaidim', meaning serious aveiros, then a person's focus should be on staying away from the avairo, not on rectifying the past. the priority should be 'al yimshalu bi'. Az aisom, when a person is strong and is safely out of the bad habits then 'venikaisi mipesha rav', he can work to rectify and clean up the past.

ZemirosShabbos wrote on 21 Jun 2010 16:11:

Purim

Yom Kippur, yom ki-Purim, is connected to Purim.
On Yom Kippur we say to the Ribono shel Olam "true, we did aveiros and did not live according to Your standards, but that is not the real 'me', in essence and in truth I want to do the right thing, not the aveiros".
On Purim the yidden were accepted the Torah out of love. At Har Sinai there was an element of coercion, kafa aleihem har ke-gigis. After the nes purim they accepted the Torah wholeheartedly. On Purim we say to the Ribono shel Olam, "When we accepted the Torah at Har Sinai, even though it seemed to have been forced, that really was what we wanted." we reveal our true essence on both days.

Rav Yitzchok Hutner