BSD

Brochos 10a (2)

Sivan 10, 5786.  05/26/2026

Some short notes:

1 – We concluded last week’s topic of דוד המלך, as the גמרא notes, that he said the word הללו-יה in תהילים for the first time only after he witnessed the downfall of his enemies.

The famous מהרש”א that asks: One of the reasons we do not say the full  הלל on שביעי של פסח is based on the גמרא that הקב”ה told the מלאכים not to say שירה during קריעת ים סוף  ‘when my creations are drowning’.

Gemara: וְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, מַאי דִּכְתִיב: ״וְלֹא קָרַב זֶה אֶל זֶה כׇּל הַלָּיְלָה״ — בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם, וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה?

So how can דוד המלך have been singing with הללו-יה when his enemies were obliterated ?

:מהרש”א ט

Some (חות יאיר) say that singing שירה is improper only while it is happening. Thus the מלאכים were frowned upon. After the fact however, on the contrary, as it says – וּבַאֲבֹד רְשָׁעִים רִנָּה . More on this next Shiur  explaining also the משנה in פרקי אבות –

שמואל הקטן אומר, בנפול אויבך אל תשמח ובכשלו אל יגל לבך, פן יראה ה’ ורע

בעיניו והשיב מעליו אפו.

2 – The juxtaposition of Kapital ג to ב and the future story of גוג ומגוג with דוד המלך saying:

If one wonders how can someone rebel so against הקב”ה, just look at my personal history when my own son rebelled against me.

3 – The five ways the נשמה gives חיות to the גוף is similar to the way הקב”ה imbues life into this world.

מַה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מָלֵא כָּל הָעוֹלָם, אַף נְשָׁמָה מְלֵאָה אֶת כָּל הַגּוּף; מַה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא רוֹאֶה וְאֵינוֹ נִרְאֶה, אַף נְשָׁמָה רוֹאָה וְאֵינָהּ נִרְאֵית; מַה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא זָן אֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ, אַף נְשָׁמָה זָנָה אֶת כָּל הַגּוּף; מַה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא טָהוֹר, אַף נְשָׁמָה טְהוֹרָה; מַה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יוֹשֵׁב בְּחַדְרֵי חֲדָרִים, אַף נְשָׁמָה יוֹשֶׁבֶת בְּחַדְרֵי חֲדָרִים. יָבֹא מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ חֲמִשָּׁה דְּבָרִים הַלָּלוּ, וִישַׁבֵּחַ לְמִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ חֲמִשָּׁה דְּבָרִים הַלָּלוּ.

1- Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, fills the entire world, so too the soul fills the entire body.

2- Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, sees but is not seen, so too does the soul see, but is not seen.

3- Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, sustains the entire world, so too the soul sustains the entire body.

4– Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, is pure, so too is the soul pure.

5 – Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, resides in a chamber within a chamber, in His inner sanctum, so too the soul resides in a chamber within a chamber, in the innermost recesses of the body.

4 – The fascinating story of  הנביא ישעיהו and חזקיהו המלך.

We left the many topics related to this story for next Shiur.

The story in short:

Now חזקיהו המלך did not marry since he foresaw בנבואה that his descendants would be not יראי  – שמים at the very least.

[Topics: How could he have ‘seen’ when by his action they would not have been born?

And how could this נבואה have predetermined his children’s actions if הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים i.e. man has free choice?]

Feeling some regrets, [this happened while סנחריב, who had surrounded ירושלים and was about to destroy it] he wanted to discuss it with his משפיע…who happened to be ישעיהו. Did he do the correct thing by remaining a bachelor?

[Topic: was he perhaps married and just didn’t want/have children?]

So he asks ישעיהו to come to his palace.

Need to keep in mind that חזקיהו המלך was a great צדיק and if not for some unfortunate incident, would have been…. משיח צדקנו!

However, ישעיהו felt that as a נביא the King would need to come to him.

Each one claimed that the history of the relationship of kings and prophets was on his side.

[Topic: According to הלכה the King חזקיהו was correct. So what was the logic to ישעיהו’s insistence for חזקיהו to come to him?]

So הקב”ה causes חזקיהו to become ill causing ישעיהו to come and be מבקר חולים!

ישעיהו visits King חזקיהו while סנחריב surrounds the city

[Topic: Up to a certain time in history people would not recuperate from an illness. Becoming sick would mean the end of a patient’s life ר”ל. The first person to recuperate was it חזקיהו or perhaps אלישע הנביא? BM 87a]

(רש”י: ונתרפא) – עַד דַּאֲתָא אֱלִישָׁע לָא הֲוָה דְּחָלֵישׁ וְאִתְּפַח…

When they finally meet, ישעיהו begins berating him for not getting married. חזקיהו counters, as above: What’s the point, if my children will not follow בדרך השם ?

ישעיהו  respond with the famous saying :

בַּהֲדֵי כְּבָשֵׁי דְּרַחֲמָנָא לְמַה לָךְ?

מַאי דְּמִפַּקְּדַתְּ אִיבְּעִי לָךְ לְמֶעֱבַד, וּמַה דְּנִיחָא קַמֵּיהּ, קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לִעְבֵיד.

Why do you involve yourself with the secrets of the Holy One, Blessed be He? That which you have been commanded, the mitzvah of פרו ורבו , you are required to perform, and that which is acceptable in the eyes of השם , Blessed be He, let Him perform, as He has so decided.

5. We mentioned that the Rebbe often quoted this line:  בַּהֲדֵי כְּבָשֵׁי דְּרַחֲמָנָא לְמַה לָךְ?

In particular to people who would write to the Rebbe that they are reluctant to go forward with a project when they ‘foresee’ the lack of success.

The Rebbe’s response: בַּהֲדֵי כְּבָשֵׁי דְּרַחֲמָנָא לְמַה לָךְ? You do what is required from you and do not try to figure out the secrets of ה’  as to why he has directed you to do so.

Here is a letter written 20 days after the הסתלקות of the Previous Rebbe, when everyone was in shock and looking for a reason to explain the tragedy.

6. חזקיהו is convinced to get married and ask from ישעיהו to allow him to marry his daughter! His reasoning was the זכות of both will ensure proper children. ישעיהו tell his it’s too late for the גזירה for him to die cannot be reversed. He turns to the wall, prays and lives many years afterward.

The rest of the history is not mentioned in our גמרא.

[Topic: Did he marry? Whom did he marry? Who were his children? The הגהות הב”ח And much more]

7 – Tragic/comic story of the argument on how to say אקדמות in the DP camps.

BSD

Brochos 10a

Sivan 3, 5786.  05/19/2026

Short notes.

1 – We continued with the topic of how many Kipitlach תהילים there are – 150 or 147.

Both numbers have sources to back them.

A -150 – as it is printed in all our ספרי תהילים. [From our גמרא is seems to be that there are perhaps 149; since Kapital 1 and 2 are actually counted as one. See further on]

B – 147 – ירושלמי.

See here from Likkutei Sichos, 10.

[Speaking of numbers we mentioned the ‘frumakes’ in the past generation that ensured to have exact change when boarding a bus so as not to have to interact by asking for change from the bus driver if she happened to be a a woman….

In a particular town, if they did encountered a woman driver, they would drop the money in her hand and mumble שלא לשם קידושין….]

3 – Mentioned the Rebbe’s answer to the obvious question asked by many:

How do we reconcile these two numbers? Is it 150 or 147?

The Rebbe adds to their question: Why were none of the primary מפרשים on תהילים bothered by this discrepancy when all our ספרי תהילים  printed show 150 chapters!

The Rebbe’s answer: There is more than one singular way to count the Kapitlach.

We find in the חומש itself, although we commonly refer to them as חמשה חומשי תורה, the גמרא says that they can also be divided into 7 חומשים.

Similarly, we say that there are 24 ספרי תנ”ך when one, תרי עשר,  is actually a combination of 12!

Although we say that there are ג”ן סדרים in the תורה, meaning 53 פרשיות read throughout the year, in reality there are 54. So 53 is one way of counting them, but so is 54.

60 מסכתות when the number may be 61 or 63.

[Is the Rebbe saying that the numbers are arbitrary? Not hewn in stone?]

4 – We discussed two Kapitlach that some consider as one.

Both in הלל:

114 and 115.

Also 117 is not a stand alone Kapital but is the conclusion of 116.

See further in Likutei Sichos a deep explanation on the idea if Kapitalach 1 and 2 are one Kapital or two.

5  – Story with Reb Meir and his neighbors who so embittered his life that it caused him to pray that they should die. His wife Bruria corrected him that his prayer should be that they should do תשובה.

 הַנְהוּ בִּרְיוֹנֵי דַּהֲווֹ בְּשִׁבְבוּתֵיהּ דְּרִבִּי מֵאִיר, וַהֲווֹ קָא מְצַעֲרוּ לֵיהּ טוּבָא. הֲוָה קָא בָעֵי רִבִּי מֵאִיר רַחֲמֵי עִלָּוַיְהוּ כִּי הֵיכִי דְּלִימוּתוּ. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ בְּרוּרְיָא דְּבִיתְהוּ: מַאי דַּעְתָּךְ? מִשּׁוּם דִּכְתִיב ״יִתַּמּוּ חַטָּאִים״ (תהלים ק״ד:ל״ה), מִי כְתִיב חוֹטְאִים? חֲטָאִים כְּתִיב!

 There were these hooligans in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who caused him a great deal of anguish. Rabbi Meir prayed for God to have mercy on them, that they should die. Rabbi Meir’s wife, Berurya, said to him: What is your thinking? On what basis do you pray for the death of these hooligans? Do you base yourself on the verse, as it is written: “Let sins cease from the land” (Psalms 104:35), which you interpret to mean that the world would be better if the wicked were destroyed? But is it written, let sinners cease?” Let sins cease, is written. One should pray for an end to their transgressions, not for the demise of the transgressors themselves.

 We discussed the famous  מהרש”א –   on the topic of תפילה for oneself (or for another person)  to become a ירא שמים when it flies against the fundamental idea that הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים.

ויש לעיין בזה דודאי באדם המבקש רחמים על עצמו להחזירו בתשובה ניחא דאע״ג דהכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים הרי אמרו (מכות י) בדרך שאדם רוצה לילך מוליכין אותו והרוצה לטהר מסייעין לו (יומא לט:) וזה המבקש רחמים על עצמו להחזירו בתשובה ה״ז בכלל הרוצה לטהר כו׳ אבל לבקש רחמים על חברו להחזירו בתשובה קשה מה יועיל בקשתו הא אמרי׳ (לקמן לג) הכל בידי שמים כו׳ ושאנו מתפללים והחזירנו בתשובה שלימה כו׳ ל״ק כ״כ כיון שהוא כולל את עצמו ויש לישב וק״ל:

Sicha in ת”ש page 57 about the חסיד who said… and he will במילא be a ירא שמים.

The צמח צדק’s dislike for such an expression. ירא שמים is not something that comes במילא… it needs to be acquired thru עבודה.

גוט יום טוב.

קבלת התורה בשמחה ובפנימיות

BSD

Brochos 9b (2)

Iyar 25, 5786.  05/12/2026

Some topics discussed.

1 – We began by asking ‘where is this particular shiur member?’ and he walks in…

Someone said ‘We should have talked about Moshiach, however, we always talk about Moshiach and he’s not arrived yet’.

Story of the physicist who always looked up when his chalk broke and fell to the floor. When asked as to why, he responded: ‘The Boltzmann Statistic says there will always be a particle that will jump the wrong way defying logic. It’s very rare but it happens. So this particular piece of chalk may fly upwards….  I therefore always look up because I don’t want to miss this rare occurrence.

ביאת המשיח is indeed a ‘rare occurrence’. But it will happen. Let’s not miss that moment….

2 – The interesting מצוה to see or greet a king. Even a non-Jewish one.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks A”H, and King Charles

דַּאֲמַר רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן: לְעוֹלָם יִשְׁתַּדַּל אָדָם לָרוּץ לִקְרַאת מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְלֹא לִקְרַאת מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּלְבָד, אֶלָּא אֲפִילּוּ לִקְרַאת מַלְכֵי אוּמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁאִם יִזְכֶּה, יַבְחִין בֵּין מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַלְכֵי אוּמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One should always strive to run to greet the kings of Israel to witness them in their glory. And not only must one run to greet the kings of Israel, but even to greet the kings of the nations of the world, so that if he will be privileged to witness the redemption of Israel, he will distinguish between the kings of Israel and the kings of the nations of the world, to see how much greater the Jewish king will be and how his rule will be manifest.

We discussed if one needs to stop learning to be מקיים this מצוה. OC רכד, ט.

Mentioned the שערים המצויינים בהלכה from Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Braun  (grandfather of Rabbi Braun of CH) that discusses if this applies to a queen as well, as there is an issue to look at woman’s face…..

Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Braun

סימן ס, הערה ז.

3 – The topic of סמיכות גאולה לתפילה and ותיקין.

ותיקין at the כותל

4 – The amount of Kapitlach in תהילים. There is much discussion about this. We just scratched the surface and will continue next week.

To start: Our גמרא discusses if the first two chapters in תהילים are truly 2 separate chapters or really just one.

5 – An interesting note from the Rebbe about the מנהג of the בעל שם טוב to say the Kapital of one’s age plus one. לקו”ש י, 75.

The Rebbe writes that a source for this מנהג is in the תהילים itself. How?

At the conclusion of chapter 72 is the פסוק

כׇּלּ֥וּ תְפִלּ֑וֹת דָּ֝וִ֗ד בֶּן־יִשָֽׁי

Thus concludes the prayer of Dovid ben Yishai.

Now if the first two קפיטלך of תהילים are counted as one then this is really chapter 71.

דוד המלך  lived to the age of 70, so he was saying and concluded his writing/saying תהלים with the קפיטל for his age!

6 – Speaking of numbers there is an old Jewish quip about a fellow who made a fortune winning the lottery by choosing the right number, as he explained, using his שכל and מזל.

How?

שכל  – seichel;

18 is חי, which I remember from חדר is a lucky number.

Double חי is even luckier. So 2 x 18 = 37!

So I chose number 37.

Now for  מזל –

I had the מזל to have flunked math.

BSD

Brochos 9b

Iyar 18, 5786. Lag B’Omer. 05/05/2026

Brief notes

1 – ״וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם״ (שמות י״ב: ל״ו), אָמַר רִבִּי אַמֵי: מְלַמֵּד שֶׁעֲשָׂאוּהָ כִּמְצוּדָה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ דָּגָן. וְרֵישׁ לָקִישׁ אָמַר: עֲשָׂאוּהָ כִּמְצוּלָה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ דָּגִים.

With regard to the continuation of the verse: And they emptied Egypt, Rabbi Ami said: This indicates that they made Egypt like a trap in which there is no grain that serves as bait to attract birds. Reish Lakish said: They made Egypt like an abyss in the sea without fish.

Mentioned what is discussed in קבלה וחסידות, that ‘emptying מצרים’ means that whatever ניצוצי קדושה that were there when they arrived, (210 years prior to them exiting) were elevated.

Out of a total of 268 רפ”ח ניצוצות, they elevated 202, alluded to in the פסוק –

ספר שמות • פרק י“ב • פסוק ל”ח

וְגַם עֵרֶב רַב עָלָה אִתָּם וְצֹאן וּבָקָר מִקְנֶה כָּבֵד מְאֹד.  –

רב equals 202.

תורה אור 60, 3

כי רפ”ח נצוצים נפלו בשבה”כ ומזה נתברר בגלות מצרים ר”ב נצוצים וע”ז נאמר וינצלו את מצרים. וז”ש וגם ערב רב עלה אתם.

Also discussed: if מצרים was truly emptied, so where did all the gold and silver that the מצריים brought with them to ים סוף (which resulted in ביזת הים which was greater then בזית מצרים!) come from? 

2 – The Alter rebbe’s question on why the גלות is so long despite there being just 86 ניצוצות remaining.

When the AR wrote  this (תורה אור 27, 4) he said ‘over 1700 years’. Now we are almost at 2,000. 1956 to be exact….

כי הנה ידוע ע”פ ורוח אלקים מרחפת רפ”ח מת דהיינו רפ”ח נצוצין שנפלו מעולם התהו עם הכלים שנשברו. ומספר רפ”ח הוא בחי’ הפירוד של הנצוצין שנפלו כמו שהיו עדיין באצילות שזהו ראשית ירידתן שאז נתפרדו למספר רפ”ח וזהו רפ”ח מת כו’. אבל אח”כ כשנפלו מאצי’ לעולם הבריאה אזי כל נצוץ מרפ”ח נצוצים הנ”ל שבאצי’ נתחלק שם בבריאה לחלקים רבים מאד וכשנפלו מבריאה ליצירה אזי נתחלקו עוד לחלקים ונצוצים קטנים וכן מיצי’ לעשיה נתחלקו ונתפרדו עוד ביותר לאלפים ורבבות. ובזה יובן מה שנמשך הגלות כ“כ הרבה יותר מן י“ז מאות שנה וידוע שהכוונה הכל לברר הרפ“ח ניצוצים וכשיוגמרו הברורי‘ יבא משיח בב“א. וא”כ הוא תמוה וכי אפשר שלא נתברר עדיין רפ”ח נצוצים במשך רב כזה אשר דור הולך ודור בא וכל א’ מישראל מברר חלקו שצריך לברר ומה גם שמספרן של ישראל שצריכי’ לברר הרפ”ח הם ס”ר כיוצאי מצרים והרי עתה ב”ה ישראל רבים יותר ממספר זה יוסף ה’ עליהם כו’ וכ”ש בזמן הקדמוני’ שהי’ נמצא כפרים שהיו בהם יותר מס”ר כמ”ש בגמ’ כפר שחליים כו’.

See previous shiur about this topic and it being the reason on the איסור of going back to live in מצרים.

3 –  The גמרא repeats what it said on 6.

״עֲנֵנִי ה׳ עֲנֵנִי״ (מלכים א י״ח:ל״ז), אָמַר רִבִּי אֲבָהוּ: לָמָּה אָמַר אֵלִיָּהוּ ״עֲנֵנִי״ שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים? מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאָמַר אֵלִיָּהוּ לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, עֲנֵנִי שֶׁתֵּרֵד אֵשׁ מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וְתֹאכַל כָּל אֲשֶׁר עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וַעֲנֵנִי שֶׁתַּסִּיחַ דַּעְתָּם כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמְרוּ מַעֲשֵׂה כְשָׁפִים הֵם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְאַתָּה הֲסִבּוֹתָ אֶת לִבָּם אֲחוֹרַנִּית״ (מלכים א י״ח:ל״ז).

Having explained the use of the double language of “I will be that I will be,” the Gemara proceeds to explain the double language employed by Elijah on Mount Carmel: “Answer me, Lord, answer me, that this people will know that You are the Lord, God, and You have turned their hearts backward” (I Kings 18:37). Rabbi Abbahu said: Why did Elijah say answer me twice? This repetition teaches that Elijah said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, answer me that fire will descend from heaven and consume everything that is on the altar, and answer me that You will divert their mind from devising alternative explanations for what they witnessed so that they will say that they were acts of sorcery. As it is stated that Elijah said: “And You have turned their hearts backward,” God can restore them to the proper path as well.

4 – We mentioned the question: How could one think that this fire from Heaven was מעשה כשפים, when the מזבח was flooded with water which caused כישוף to lose its effect and disappear.

Some answer that only מים חיים can counter כישוף.

Speaking of כישוף and water, we discussed the ספר עין שמואל that has a fascinating take on the story in מגילת אסתר.

The reason מרדכי crossed the moat surrounding the palace of אחשוורוש  –

– ויעבור מרדכי  – with the letter from Esther describing גזירת המן was. He suspected that the sender of the letter was not the real אסתר but a שד!

By crossing over a body of water it would have disappeared if it was written with כישוף.

5 –  Being that it was ל”ג בעומר, we discusses many topics about רשב”י  –

רבי שמעון בר יוחי.  Or יוחאי.

To start, we spoke about the ספר by Reb Shmuel Heber of Crown Heights, ספר אפריון לרבי שמעון.  It’s a comprehensive compendium about the life and the תורה of רבי שמעון בר יוחי.

Here are some snippets:

• The story of רבי שמעון and his escape to the cave is in Shabbos דף לג!
• Until that page , רבי שמעון is mentioned 33 times from the beginning of ש”ס.
• Why is the הלכה in general, not like רשב”י?!
• The Alter Rebbe’s words that the רשב”י is mentioned in every פרק in ש”ס and the Rebbe’s footnote on this.
• רבי שמעון’s opinion that some מצוות are limited to their logical reason. רבי שמעון דריש טעמי דקרא .  Such as the returning a משכון only to a poor אלמנה  see (.ב”מ קטו)   (see also .סוטה ח)
• Now the others that disagree with him and say (and such is the הלכה) that this מצווה, for example, applies to all; meaning we are not bound by the reason – does that mean that we, in general, should not search for reasons and meanings in מצוות? Interesting topic.
• The story with the Rebbe when he explained the משנה in אבות פרק ב,

רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי זָהִיר בִּקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וּבַתְּפִלָּה. וּכְשֶׁאַתָּה מִתְפַּלֵּל, אַל תַּעַשׂ תְּפִלָּתְךָ קֶבַע, אֶלָּא רַחֲמִים וְתַחֲנוּנִים לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם הוּא אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל הָרָעָה (יואל ב׳:י״ג). וְאַל תְּהִי רָשָׁע בִּפְנֵי עַצְמְךָ.

The Rebbe seemed to say that this רבי שמעון is רשב”י and connected it with him being one who was תורתו אומנותו .

After a few weeks the Rebbe expressed his frustration that it took weeks until someone wrote to him that this רבי שמעון was רבי שמעון בן נתנאל, as it it obvious from the previous משניות where he is mentioned as one of the 5 student of רבי יוחנן בן זכאי.

The Rebbe further clarified his earlier identification of this “Rabbi Shimon” as Rashbi, drawing a parallel to the Gemara in Berakhot 33b (and Eruvin 13a). In those instances, Rabbah would intentionally present an “incorrect” or puzzling statement to his students as a teaching tool—(a technique required by הלכה) to sharpen the students’ minds and verify their level of engagement and retention.

‘And yet, no one listens to what I say which causes me to get angry…. Now let’s talk about happier topics…לאמיר רעדן פרייליכער זאכן’

See here paragraph 25 and on.

Part of this שיחה was later printed in לקו”ש חלק יז.