Never on a Sunday- Ki Tisa

Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 18^th 2011 -Volume I, Issue 20–14^th of Adar 5771

Parshat  Ki  Tisa

Never on a Sunday

There are no Sundays in Israel. No day to wind down from the Shabbos excitement in the Schwartz home. No day to relax a little with the kids, get your non-necessity pleasure shopping done or just kick back and “chill”. No, in Israel the day after Shabbos is just like Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s the regular rind and grind with school, work and getting ready for the next Shabbos. It is a huge adjustment for an American, perhaps one of the biggest ones. In a way it really changes your week. As Americans we are used to the “weekend”. But here in Israel, the country of the Jewish people, we have something different. And perhaps something that we are forced to re-examine and make better. We have Shabbos.

Now don’t get me wrong. America has Shabbos too. But it is Shabbos and Sunday. It’s a weekend. It’s not the same thing. Whereas Shabbos in the States feels holy, in Israel it feels like the holy of holies. When I walk to Shul Friday night and I see the glowing red sky and sun setting over the Galilee Mountains I think of the generations of Jews that lived here and stood where I stand and felt that same sense of serenity that infuses the plains. It is truly otherworldly. One feels attached to the sounds of the shuls singing and welcoming in the Shabbos Queen. The hills are truly alive with the sound of ….praise to Hashem. You don’t get that in the States- Although West Seattle wasn’t a bad, however distant second place. An Israeli friend of mine once suggested to me that perhaps that is why in Israel we don’t need a Sunday off. The power of a Shabbos here can last you a full 6 days of work. An American Shabbos…. Only 5. A cute idea-only an Israeli could suggest- but also only one that someone who has tasted a Shabbos here can relate to.

This week’s Torah portion sheds a little light into the special nature of this Shabbos. The Torah portion begins with the collection for the service of the Mishkan- the place where Hashem’s presence will dwell and the final vessels that needed to be built. It then once again introduces the Mitzvah of Shabbos that we had already heard about in the Ten Commandments.

And the Children of Israel shall guard the Shabbos to make Shabbos for generations as an eternal covenant. Between Me and The Children of Israel it is an eternal sign that for six days Hashem created the heaven and earth and on the seventh he ceased and was refreshed.

 Our sages derive from the placement of the mitzvah of Shabbos here once again in midst of the commandments of the building of the Mishkan that the “work” that is prohibited on Shabbos is all of the various forms of work that were used in the building of the Tabernacle. Hr created the universe and stepped back from all Divine forms of Creation on Shabbos. Our covenant is that we will commemorate His Creation by refraining from the acts that are required to build His home here on the day that he rested.

But there is a deeper lesson here as well. For Shabbos is not just a commandment to refrain from work. We are obligated La’asos Es HaShabbos- to make Shabbos. We must guard and create something with it in the process of not working. Something eternal. It’s not just a day off and was never meant to be. It’s a day to put all that work of the week behind and focus on the essence of Creation and all that we do. It is the climax and pinnacle of the Mishkan- home for God. It is spending the day together in His Palace.

One of the most amazing things here in Israel, particularly I believe because there is no Sunday, is that the day of Shabbos becomes the center point of ones week. It is a day that one knows they have to make into something. It is remarkable to me how even secular Israelis that were raised without much Jewish observance or background know that there is something holy and special about this day. Stores are closed for the majority of the country. Streets are for the large part empty of cars- It’s like a Sunday morning in the States but for all day Shabbos. The country overwhelmingly chooses this day not to wind down and catch up on all those things they couldn’t get to during the week, rather to make it into a day that brings focus to their whole upcoming 6 day week. To hear the music in the air and feel the presence and sanctity of its Creator.

Maybe it is the fact that we live so close to the House of Hashem and his Temple and that we feel His Creation so much more, that makes Shabbos so special here. Perhaps it is because there is a greater appreciation of the miracle of our continued existence here in our ancient homeland. There certainly is no place else where we can feel so much like an Eternal Nation and in turn one appreciates even more our Eternal covenant. Maybe it’s just the generations of Jews since we first became a nation that have infused the air with the joyous weekly call of Shabbat Shalom. I’m not sure why it is that the day feels so much more powerful here. I just notice that the more that I am making it into Shabbos the less and less I am missing my Sundays.

Have a glorious  Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S VERY INSPIRING JEWISH MOTHER YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK

MY SON RUINED MY LIFE J CLICK AND WATCH TILL THE END

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRbL46mWx9w

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
NAHARIYA- THE NORTHERNMOST COASTAL CITY IN ISRAEL IT WAS FOUNDED BY GERMAN (YEKI) JEWS IN 1935. ALTHOUGH INITIALLY IT WAS FOUNDED AS AN AGRICULTURAL CITY THE GERMAN JEWS WERE NOT NECESSARILY CUT OUR FOR THE FARM LIFE AND INSTEAD DEVELOPED THE TOWN INTO ONE OF THE LARGEST TOURIST CITIES IN THE COUNTRY INTRODUCING EUROPEAN STYLE STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM TO ISRAEL FOR THE FIRST TIME.

THE CITY’S MOST PROMINENT FEATURE (BESIDES ITS BEAUTIFUL BEACHES) IS THE RIVER (NAHAR) GA’ATON THAT FLOWS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY. ITS MOST PROMINENT PERSONAGE ACCORDING TO THE HUNDREDS THAT FLOCK TO HIM DAILY FOR BLESSINGS IS THE NOTED KABBALIST RABBI DAVID ABUCHATZEIRA WHOSE ADVICE AND GUIDANCE AND INSIGHT IS SOUGHT BY JEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.