2025-08-13 – LH7 – CM1 – Shutafin 3 – Para. 2-6 – Parshas Bereishis – Shemos – Ekev – VeZos HaBerakha

Shutafin 3 – Parshas Bereishis – Shemos – Ekev – VeZos HaBerakha – The Struggle for Parnassah – Business Partnership – Zevulun and Yissachar – Kinyan – Hands – Yaakov and Esav – Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon.
Hilkhos Shutafin 3 is based on 2Likutey Moharan 8.
00:00 – PARAGRAPH 2. “The struggle for parnassah is as difficult as splitting the Yam Suf…” (Pesachim 118).
03:00 – Parshas Bereishis – Why parnassah can be so difficult. בְּעִצָּבוֹן֙ תֹּֽאכֲלֶ֔נָּה – “…with toil shall you eat of it…” Bereishis 3:17, Bereishis).
10:00 – Reference to Likutey Moharan 56.
15:00 – Parshas Ekev. וְזָֽכַרְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כִּ֣י ה֗וּא הַנֹּתֵ֥ן לְךָ֛ כֹּ֖חַ לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת חָ֑יִל – “But you must remember HaShem Your Master, for it is He that gives you strength to make wealth…” (Devarim 8:18, Ekev).
20:00 – Reference to Likutey Moharan 280.
21:00 – ***The struggle for parnassah is a war. That’s why it’s usually better accomplished by at least two people joining forces, as in טוֹבִ֥ים הַשְּׁנַ֖יִם מִן־הָֽאֶחָ֑ד אֲשֶׁ֧ר יֵֽשׁ־לָהֶ֛ם שָׂכָ֥ר ט֖וֹב בַּֽעֲמָלָֽם – “Two are better than one, since they have good reward for their toil” (Koheles 4:9).
23:00 – PARAGRAPH 4. The partnership between Yissachar and Zevulun was the perfection of achieving parnassah because it joined Torah study with making a livelihood.
29:00 – Q&R about the holy sparks in money and food and the importance of kavana when making a blessing on food.
30:00 – Parshas Shemos. Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen joined together to lead Am Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. It was through Aharon’s joining forces with Moshe Rabbeinu that they could succeed in the war against Pharaoh. וְאֶת־הַמַּטֶּ֥ה הַזֶּ֖ה תִּקַּ֣ח בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ – “And you shall take this staff in your hand…” (Shemos 4:17, Shemos). וַיַּשְׁלֵ֨ךְ אַֽהֲרֹ֜ן אֶת־מַטֵּ֗הוּ – “…and Aharon cast his staff…” (Shemos 7:10, Shemos).
33:00 – VaYipallel Pinchas.
36:00 – PARAGRAPH 5. Parshas VeZos HaBerakha. שְׂמַ֥ח זְבוּלֻ֖ן בְּצֵאתֶ֑ךָ וְיִשָּׂשכָ֖ר בְּאֹֽהָלֶֽיךָ – כִּ֣י שֶׁ֤פַע יַמִּים֙ יִינָ֔קוּ וּשְׂפֻנֵ֖י טְמ֥וּנֵי חֽוֹל – “…Rejoice, Zevulun, in your departure, and Yissachar, in your tents… For they will be nourished by the abundance of the seas, and by the treasures hidden in the sand” (Devarim 33, 18-19, VeZos HaBerakha).
37:00 – Reference to Likutey Moharan 13. Going out to business is compared to song, as in שְֽׂאוּ־זִ֖מְרָה וּתְנוּ־תֹ֑ף – “Raise [your voice in] song and give forth [with] a timbrel…” (Tehillim 81:3).
38:00 – NOTE – parnassa dekedusha is achieved with simcha. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE about Rabbi Maimon working in a kosher restaurant as a teenager so he could earn money to travel to Eretz Yisrael.
41:00 – Shefa comes from the Yam – wealth comes through the “powerful stick” used during Kriyas Yam Suf.
42:00 – “Holy sparks in the sand” – refers to extracting the holy sparks hidden in the Sutra Achra.
43:00 – PARAGRAPH 6. Kinyan. A partnership cannot be established through words alone. A kinyan is required because the Sutra Achra is attached to the holy sparks found in everything in the material world. Therefore, physical action with the hands are required in the act of establishing a kinyan or acquiring an object.
49:00 – Parshas Toldos. וְיִתֶּן־לְךָ֙ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים מִטַּ֨ל הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּמִשְׁמַנֵּ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ – “And may HaShem give you of the dew of the heavens and [of] the fatness of the earth…” (Bereishis 27:28, Toldos). The struggle between Yaakov Avinu and Esav. Reference to Likutey Moharan 9. הַקֹּל֙ ק֣וֹל יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וְהַיָּדַ֖יִם יְדֵ֥י עֵשָֽׂו – “…The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav” (Bereishis 27:22, Toldos).
52:00 – Closing blessings.

Indexing and Notes by S.Y. Wurtzel.