The one hundred and first "room" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Monday, 1 Adar II, Rosh Chodesh, 5703.
Study sections: Chumash, Pekudei, Sheini, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 1st of the month, we start from the beginning - from chapter 1 up to and including chapter 9.
Tanya, we are in the middle of chapter 34. The daily study section begins with the word "umeshecharav", and ends on page 86 with the words "Hashem lo".
The daily teaching is short, and it comes to explain a phrase in Yaaleh V'yavo - in the Shmoneh Esrei prayer and in Birkas Hamazon. Since we are on Rosh Chodesh, there is a reference here to the addition that we add on Rosh Chodesh. We look into Yaaleh V'yavo, and in it is the request from the Holy One, blessed be He: "Zochreinu Hashem Elokeinu bo letovah, ufokdeinu bo liverachah, vehoshieinu bo lechaim tovim".
In this request, the word "bo" (beis vov) appears three times. The first time, "zochreinu Hashem Elokeinu bo letovah", we say the beis with a dagesh (bo); whereas the second and third times - "ufokdeinu vo liverachah", "vehoshieinu vo lechaim tovim" - it is soft (vo). What is the reason for the difference between the first time and the second and third?
First of all, let us read the wording of the teaching in the daily instruction: "In Yaaleh V'yavo we say 'zochreinu Hashem Elokeinu bo' - with a dageshed beis, 'ufokdeinu vo' - with a soft beis". Thus far the teaching. And what is behind it?
There is a rule in Hebrew grammar regarding the six letters beis, gimmel, daled, chaf, pei, taf - which are called "Beged Kefet". Their pronunciation, when they come at the beginning of a word, changes: sometimes with a dagesh, sometimes soft, and sometimes even with a double dagesh. There is a basic rule for this, and there are many exceptions to it, and this is a lengthy subject that requires familiarity from all sides.
In any case, one of the rules states: if the preceding word ends in an open syllable, then the Beged Kefet letter at the beginning of the next word will be soft - as if it is a continuation of the previous word. In contrast, if the preceding word ends in a closed syllable, then the Beged Kefet letter at the beginning of the next word will have a dagesh.
According to this, we will understand what is happening in our case. Let us start specifically with the last two times. "Ufokdeinu vo" - the word "ufokdeinu" ends in an open syllable, and therefore the next letter, "vo", is soft. And similarly in the continuation, "vehoshieinu vo" - "vehoshieinu" ends in an open syllable, and therefore "vo" is with a soft beis.
The question is asked: what happens the first time? Seemingly the same rule applies - we say "zochreinu Hashem Elokeinu", which is the same open syllable ending, and if so, it should have been a soft "vo" here too. Why is it "bo" with a dagesh there?
And here is the explanation. In the Siddur Torah Ohr of the Alter Rebbe with notes and references authored by Rabbi Raskin of London, it is cited in a footnote in the name of the Siddur of Rabbi Shabtai Sofer: In truth, when we say the first time "zochreinu bo", it should have been like the subsequent phrasing - "zochreinu vo letovah". For the words "Hashem Elokeinu" are a parenthetical phrase - we are turning to Hashem our God - and it is as if it says "Hashem Elokeinu, zochreinu vo letovah, ufokdeinu vo liverachah". However, the phrasing is "zochreinu", and then we pause, insert a parenthetical phrase in the middle "Hashem Elokeinu", and return to the previous.
It emerges that the words "bo letovah" are not attached to "Hashem Elokeinu", which is a parenthetical phrase, but to "zochreinu"; however, after "zochreinu" there is an interruption of two other words. And since the word to which "bo" is connected was paused by a parenthetical phrase, "bo" does not come as a continuation of an open syllable, but rather it is like a new word, and therefore it has a dagesh - there is no juxtaposition to the previous word here. Therefore we say "bo" with a dagesh the first time, and subsequently it returns to being a soft "vo". This is the idea that differentiates the three times.
And to conclude: For many days we stood in the sequence of the Rambam's Mishneh Torah, and today we begin the hint for the next book - Sefer Zeraim. Sefer Zeraim in the Rambam includes the laws of Kilayim, Matnos Aniyim, Trumos, Maasros, Maaser Sheni, Neta Revai, Bikkurim, and Shmitah Veyovel, the hints to which we will see in the coming days.
Today there is a hint to the title of the book. As is known, every book in the Rambam opens with a verse from the Torah with which the Rambam opens the title of the book. With what does Sefer Zeraim open? With the words "Tehi yadecha leazreini ki fikudecha bacharti". The Rambam opens Sefer Zeraim with the word "fikudecha", and in the daily teaching there is a reference to "ufokdeinu" which comes after the "bo". Apparently there is a certain hint here to the first verse with which the Rambam opens Sefer Zeraim. A somewhat distant hint, but in the sequence of hints - this is the hint for this day.