ויאמר… קח לך סמים Class Two. Introduction: Food vs. Medicine; Ketores is medicine, given in very strong concentrated doses to heal. Consequently it includes from the highest (לבונה זכה) to the lowest (ויאמר הוי’ אל משה [.הלבנה soft rather than hard speech, but from a high level almost like thought (like ברוך שאמר). It does…

ViShuchat Oso. After saying Parshas HaTamid, this Possuk is added to describe the Korban practically, or to remember the Akaida or some other reason. There’s the face of Hashem (the haichal, צפון) and there’s the face of the Mizbeach (דרום), The Shchita begins in the face of God.

פרשת התמיד Class Seven. We explored the third and fourth Possuk in the Perek this time. Here an actual korban is being discussed, so the issue of sacrificing and joining worldliness with God is emphasized. Two sheep, not one, 365 days (a solar year) one in the morning and the other at night, each was…

קטרת Introduction. Each day we say three things: A) קרבן תמיד B) הרמת והוצאת הדשן C) קטרת. Only קטרת includes Torah SheBiksav and SheBa’al Peh. The controversy about saying it before Davening. We say it three times a day, once before, and again after Shacharis, and again before Mincha. The Zohar says to say it…

רבון העולמים Class Two. Examining relative נוסחאות. A) How Hashem is addressed: רבון העולמים or רבון כל העולמים or רבונו של עולם, a personal G-d or the Creator of all. Also, is this paragraph only a prayer or a praise and a prayer? B) The mention of קטרת first appears in the Chassidic נוסחאות, why…

אתה הוא… prayer introducing קטרת part two. This class has some repetition because of the Pesach break. In this paragraph the key word is לפניך underscoring the essence quality of קטרת. However it must be drawn down from אתה הוא into הוי’ אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו.

אנא בכח Version two. אנא בכח Class One. Introduction, this is שם מ”ב which is a name of גבורה or ascent, like קדיש. When one goes from one world to another he says קדיש. And on occasion this is replaced by אנא בכח. Some connect it to creation and place it before ברוך שאמר for…

Hanosein Lasechvi Vina… Class One. Wednesday 24 Kislev 5774/ Nov. 27 2013. The idea that we open these blessings by thanking Hashem for the rooster’s wisdom seems odd. What is the big deal? 1) This is about being in control of time even as we sleep which God created the rooster to help with. 2)…

רבון העולמים Class Three. The class began with reading the most unusual version of ר’ יעקב עמדין. The class as a whole explores the Alter Rebbe’s Nusach. This class explores one and a half lines of the text of the AR’s Nusach. The most important “big idea” is the RaMaK’s explaining להקריב קרבן התמיד as…

פרשת התמיד Class Six. PDF, this is for all the classes that will follow where we read the text inside, most of the ideas are culled from these sources. This class finally begins the reading of the paragraph inside. The word אמר has three meanings: 1) to speak softly’ 2) to favor like האמרת האמירך,…