1

Every year, it is customary for Jewish children, Tzivos Hashem, to gather together at this time. The name Tzivos Hashem, "the army of G-d," is given because these children are G-d's students; they are found in His school.

Since these children are found in G-d's school, they surely desire to fulfill everything that He asks from them and expects of them. Conversely, it is understood that G-d grants them all the potentials required for them to fulfill His will. In particularly, He grants them greater blessings of success and health than other children so that they can study Torah and fulfill mitzvos. Then, "one mitzvah leads to another," granting the children the potential to fulfill many more mitzvos. This, in turn, increases the reward which the children will receive (and also increases the reward to be given to the children's parents and teachers who educated and trained them to follow this lifestyle).

One must always "advance further in holy things;" increase one's service of Torah and mitzvos. Also, because of the mitzvah, "Love your fellowman as yourself," it is proper to reach out and try to influence other Jewish children who are not yet aware of Torah and mitzvos to follow this path of life. We should explain to these children the verse, "The Torah which Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Ya'akov," i.e., it is our inheritance, something which we receive in its entirety. Since it belongs to us, it should be expressed in our daily lives.

2

Both the day on which this gathering is being held, Tuesday, and the Torah portion of the week, Parshas Shoftim, contain relevant lessons.

Our Sages note that, in the narrative of creation, the expression "And G-d saw that it was good" was repeated twice on Tuesday. This can be connected with the concept of a twofold good, "good to the heavens" and "good to the creatures." This teaches that because of the mitzvah "Love your fellowman as yourself," a child should say an extra chapter of Tehillim and increase his gifts to tzedakah with the prayer that other children will behave in a manner that makes them fit to receive G-d's blessings.

This is associated with the lesson from this week's Torah portion which begins with the command: "Appoint judges and policemen in all your gates." A judge is one who directs a person how he should act and a policeman is one who enforces those decisions and thus, allows for an ordered society.

In addition to the simple meaning of the verse -- that we must appoint judges and police in every city in Eretz Yisrael -- this is also a lesson that each person must act as a judge and a policeman in his own home, structuring that home in an ordered manner. This means that one's books should be neat, clean, and put in their places. On Shabbos, the pushka should be lifted up high -- so that it can be seen from afar and remind one that after Shabbos one should give tzedakah.

The concept of appointing "judges and policemen in our gates" can also be interpreted metaphorically. Just as the gates of a city allow people to enter, similarly, our bodies have gates, our eyes, ears, and other sensory organs which bring stimuli from the outside world into our beings.

These senses should be used for the sake of Torah. We should see the words of Torah and hear them from our teachers. We should taste the Shabbos delicacies and use our sense of smell for the Havdalah spices. In this manner, we will be sure that no undesirable influences enter and thus, a child can remain in G-d's school. When the yetzer hora or any other undesirable influences chose to enter, he is pushed away. We explain to him that this is not his place, it is a place only for the yetzer tov.

In this way, we make G-d the master of our room and house and thus, make the house a sanctuary for Him. This adds to the blessings G-d brings the house, the material blessings, making sure that each member of the house has what to eat and what to wear, and spiritual blessings, that the house has a mezuzah and that it contains Jewish books. This, in turn, offers one protection outside the house, "G-d will guard your going in and going out from now until eternity."

This will also hasten the fulfillment of the prayer, "Speedily cause the scion of David... to flourish." Particularly since this prayer is recited by Jewish children with true, simple feeling, it will surely be accepted by G-d and fulfilled with the coming of the Mashiach, "the scion of David," very soon.

3

We conclude all such gatherings with the distribution of money to be given to Tzedakah. Tzedakah is a mitzvah of general importance, including within it all the other mitzvos, facilitating their performance and "bringing close the redemption."

Since we are approaching the month of Elul, it is proper to wish all of you a kesivah vachasimah tovah for a good and sweet year. The present year, ê"ÄÖÜ, is associated with the concept of release, i.e., i.e., G-d releases all the obligations we have caused because of our undesirable behavior. This was enhanced by the previous year ç"ÄÖÜ a year connected with rejoicing and making others rejoice and will lead to É"ÖÜ, a year of miracles including the ultimate miracle, the coming of Mashiach, may it be now, immediately.