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SPONSORS THE 12 PESUKIM A MESSAGE Sunday, 18 Iyar, 5771 • May 22, 2011 Which is the most 7 LUBAVITCH WORLD HEADQUARTERS important letter in From the Lubavitcher Rebbe 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY Fundamentals of Judaism are encapsulated in .¤r¨t¨v ,¥t±u o°h©n¨J©v ,¥t oh¦eO¡t t¨rŠC ,h¦Jt¥r‰C these verses and sayings of our Sages, which B’rayshis boro Elo-him ays hashomayim v’ays ho’oretz. the entire Torah? Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth. the Lubavitcher Rebbe selected for children to If any single letter of the Torah’s 304,805 (G eneSIS 1:1) ה מה טוב ומה study and recite each day. letters is missing, the whole Torah scroll הנ נעי has to be wrapped up and put away 8 ״ אחים ג ם ,Q¤r¤s‹c W§T‰f†k‰cU W¤,h‡c‰C W§T‰c¦J‰C oŠC ¨T§r‹C¦s±u Wh®bŠc‰k o¨T±b³B¦J±u until it is fixed. So if someone asks you שבת ם יח 1 ד״ W¤nUe‰cU W‰C‰f¨J‰cU “What’s the most important letter in the abbi Akiva and his c«e…g³h ,‹k¦v§e v¨J¨rIn v¤«n UbŠk v²uˆM v¨rIT Torah?” the answer is, “Every letter is!” Torah tzivoh lonu Moshe moroshoh kehilas Yaakov. V’shinantom l’vonecho v’dibarto bom, b’shivtecho Rstudents play an The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the b’vaysecho u’v’lech’techo vaderech u’v’shochb’echo now imagine all the Jewish people as one Torah important part in the story .congregation of yaakov. (D euTeROnOMy 33:4) scroll. each person, big or small, rich or poor, a of Lag B’omer בית שמואל– חב”ד America ’ s L ar g e s t Independent J ewish Weekl y u’v’kumecho. pious scholar or just a simple Jew, is one letter. And you shall teach the Torah to your children, and you should Let us see what we can 2 That makes everyone just as important as every - speak about it when you are home and when you travel, learn from the life of Rabbi s¨j¤t wv Ubh¥eO¡t wv k¥t¨r§G°h g©n§J one else, right? Shema Yisroel, Ado-noi Elo-haynu, Ado-noi echod. before you lie down to sleep and when you wake up. Akiva. (D euTeROnOMy 6:7) Children from across the globe living in dif - Hear O Israel, G-d is our L-rd, G-d is One. (D euTeROnOMy 6:4) Our sages tell us that ferent cultures come together through this 3 9 Rabbi Akiva didn’t begin to Torah. children, the Torah tells us, are consid - o°h¨r‰m¦N¦n tŠm²h tUv Uk¦t‰F In‰m‹g ,¤t ,It§rˆk o¨s¨t ch²H©j rIs²u rIS kŠf‰C ih¦n£t©T k©t h¦,tŠm¨nU h¦T‰g³d²h tO ih¦n£t©T k©t h¦,tŠm¨n tO±u h¦T‰g³d²h learn Torah until he was ered to be pure and without sin. Thus the chil - forty years old. When he B’chol dor vodor chayov odom liros es atzmo k’ilu hu The Crown ih¦n£t©T h¦,tŠm¨nU h¦T‰g³d²h dren’s unity, through the Torah, is much purer began, it was very difficult for him, and he wondered if yotzo mi’mitzrayim. Yogati v’lo motzosi al ta’amin. Lo yogati u’motzosi than a unity between those who are older. It ties he would ever succeed. Heights Shul In every generation one must look upon himself as if he al ta’amin. Yogati u’motzosi ta’amin. all the Jewish people to each other and to our personally had gone out of egypt. (T ALMuD , p eSAcHIM 116 B) Then, Rabbi Akiva learned a lesson in a very unusual If someone says, “I have worked hard, and I have not been precious Torah. way. One day, he noticed water dripping onto a rock. He 4 successful,” don’t believe him. If someone says, “I have not Get your own letter in the children’s Sefer Torah! realized that the water had worn away at the rock, oŠkUF Q¥N‹g±u r©n¡t®b¤J tŠC©v oŠkIg‰k e†k¥j o¤vŠk J¯h k¥t¨r§G°h kŠF worked hard and I have been successful,” don’t believe him. If someone says, “I have worked hard, and I have been visit kidstorah.org today! creating a hole. Rabbi Akiva wondered, “How is it jewishfilms.com r¥tŠP§,¦v‰k h©s²h v¥G…g©n h‹g¨Y©n r†m¯b .¤r¨t UJ§rh°h oŠkIg‰k oh¦eh¦S‹m successful,” believe him! (T ALMuD , M eGILLA , 6 B) possible for the soft water to break through the hard Kol Yisroel yaysh lohem chaylek l’olom habo, rock?” Rabbi Akiva understood that the water had been 10 shene’emar v’amaych kulom tzadikim, l’olom yirshu dripping day after day, week after week, and month v¨rIT‹C kIs²d k²k‰F v®z r¥nIt tŠch¦e…g hˆC©r - WInŠF W…g¥r‰k ¨T‰c©v¨t±u after month, until it had finally worn through the rock. oretz, naytzer mato’ay ma’asay yoday l’hispo’air. V’ohavto l’rayacho komocho Rabi Akivo omer All Israel have a share in the World to come, as it is stated Rabbi Akiva realized that if water could penetrate hard Oihel Nosson (Isaiah 60:21): “And your people are tzadikim (righteous). zeh klal godol batorah. Enroll in Tzivos Hashem! rock, then surely, if he learned Torah with all his might, They shall inherit the land forever. They are the branch of Rabbi Akiva says that, “To love your fellow as yourself,” is a he would be able to overcome all the challenges and My planting, the work of My hands, in which I take pride.” great basic principle of the Torah. (L evITIcuS 19:18, M IDRASH ) When you enroll in become a true Torah scholar. (T ALMuD , S AnHeDRIn 90 A) Tzivos Hashem is an 11 Army of boys and Tzivos Hashem, you And so it happened. Rabbi Akiva became one of the 5 ,InŠkIg¨v kŠF ,©th¦r‰cU I,¨th¦r‰C ,hˆk‰f©,±u o¨s¨t¨v kŠF v®z±u girls from all over the start out as a Private. greatest teachers of Torah of all time. MA P I,IG…g‹k W‰cŠc‰kˆcU Whˆp‰C s«t§n rŠc¨S©v Wh†k¥t cIr¨e hˆF As you do more good & C oh°bIT§j©T‰C Iz v¨rh¦s Ik ,Ih§vˆk oh°bIT§j©T±u oh°bIh‰k†g world, children just Additionally, our sages relate that Rabbi Akiva was a EL RS EB EA Kee korov aylecha hadovor m’od deeds and complete RATING 50 Y like yourself, doing very poor man. But when he devoted his life to learning V’zeh kol ho’odom v’salchis b’rioso u’vri’as Mitzvah Missions, you b’ficho u’vil’vovcho la’asoso. acts of kindness, Torah, without being distracted by anything else, G-d GUIDE It is within your close reach to follow the Torah in speech, kol ho’olomos elyonim v’sachtonim, l’hiyos lo diroh earn valuable Mitzvah showing care and blessed him, and he became very wealthy. feeling and deed. (D euTeROnOMy 30:14, AS expLAIneD In TAnyA ) zo b’tachtonim. points which enable you The purpose of the creation of every Jew and of all the worlds is concern for There is much for us to learn from this story. When we to go up in rank. As you A DAY OF 6 (T AnyA , c HApTeR 33) begin to learn Torah, we may find it very hard, and think to make a dwelling place for G-d in this world. others, earn promotions, you Y A uhŠkŠg yhˆC©nU IsIc‰F .¤r¨t¨v kŠf tO§nU uhŠkŠg cŠM°b wv v¯b¦v±u learning also win great prizes. that the Torah just isn’t for us. We think that we might ISH UNIT ND PRI 12 JEW DE בעומר הילולא ד .Torah and not succeed, or that Torah won’t help us in life ל״ג רשב”י hUt¨rŠF Is‰cIg o¦t c‡k²u ,IhŠk‰F i¥jIcU Ik J¯h k¥t¨r§G°h g©r®Z¦n tUv¤J h¦n kŠF¤J JUrh‡P uh¨GIg‰C k¥t¨r§G°h j©n§G°h Good luck! If you try Lag B’omer teaches us, that if we really try, with a V’hinay Hashem nitzov olov u’mlo chol ho’oretz k’vodo doing hard, you will oh°bIT§j©T‰C I,¨rh¦s‰C ©j¥n¨G±u G¨G r¤J£t wv ,©j§n¦G‰C ©jIn§Gˆk sincere effort, we will succeed in our studies and other u’mabit olov u’vochayn k’loyos volayv im ovdo koro’uy. Mitzvot eventually become a Yismach Yisroel b’osov, payrush shekol mi she’hu endeavors. G-d stands over him, and the whole earth is full of His glory, (good General! and He searches his mind and heart (to see) if he is serving mizera yisro’el yaysh lo lismo’ach b’simchas Hashem deeds).