Tazria- A Sign of the Times

 

Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"

March 31^st 2011 -Volume I, Issue 25–25^th of Adar II 5771

Parshat Tazriah

A Sign of our Times

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be given a sign that the decisions we were making were the right ones? Should I go into this business? Is this who I am supposed to marry? Is it the right thing to pick up my family and move to Israel now? Is this what’s best for my kids, my parents, my friends, my community? There are so many crossroads each of us face at different junctures of our lives. Points that we have to stop and figure out where or how to proceed. It would seem so marvelous to be able to just place a quick call to the Almighty who knows what is best for us and ask his advice on what we should do- and get the immediate response. Wouldn’t you just relish a world without restless nights, worrisome thoughts and all the questions of self-doubt that plague those choices we make. I’m pretty sure I would zzzzzzzzzz…..yawn…

Yet Hashem in His ultimate wisdom didn’t create the world as such. Sure the Torah tells us to ask our sages and advisors for guidance in times of need and doubt. Yet, as much as many who consult our leaders feel that sense of relief that comes with knowing that you have someone that has offered you their “sage” advice. It still takes a great degree of faith and work to quell those inner questions and doubts that are bound to arise, particularly when you are faced with challenges. It seems it would be easier if we just got that little not or SMS back from God that tells us what the right thing for us to do would be.

The truth though is that as simple and as easy as it would seem, any reader of the Torah knows  that it really never worked that way. There were periods-long periods- of time in our Jewish history when we had prophets that would tell us exactly what Hashem thought we should be doing. There were times as well when we had the Kohein Gadol who we could go to that have the famous breastplate- the Urim Vtumim that would as well give us Hashem’s Divine advice. Yet, the people still worried. Even more startling, they disregarded and even distorted Hashem’s implicit guidance. We saw miracles in Egypt and were still frightened. We heard Hashem say that he would provide for us and take us into the Land of Israel and yet we still wanted to head back to Egypt. The periods of the judges and the prophets are full of our ancestors making the wrong decisions, although time and time again we were warned of the consequences that would befall us and which we indeed experienced, almost word for word as predicted. And yet we continued on our own path. Even with the direct advice of God it didn’t seem to work for us. The worrisome nights and troublesome decisions still continued even with those messages. It seems that it is not the solution. So how can we know what to do? How can we finally get some sleep?

This week’s portion Tazriah sheds some light into perhaps one of the most glaring differences between our times and those of the biblical in this regard. The Torah portion this week tells us of the incredible interaction Hashem had with us in one of the strangest forms. It is the form of the plague or spiritual/physical malady of Tzora’at, which by its very detailed description seems to  be something that resembles leprosy. If a person sinned in a certain fashion then he would have blemishes and blotches of white and other colors that would burst forward on his skin. The Torah tells us as well that this Tzora’as, depending on the sin would sometimes not plague the person’s body but his clothing and/or house as well. After showing the spots to the Kohen and upon his examination and determination the Metzorah would then be sent out of the camp where he would be isolated and consider the sins that brought him to this state. He would then be returned to the camp after it had healed and he would bring offerings and imaginably become a changed person. A powerful life changing experience; a note and message from God.

There is no Tza’raas today. The Chafetz Chaim suggests it is perhaps because we no longer have the priesthood in the Temple from which to purify us from this malady. Hashem only would bring this upon us in order that we should return to him. Yet today without His temple there is no place to come home to. On a deeper level the great Rebbe of Ger the Sefas Emes suggests that Tzara’as is a reflection of the inner soul that was so interconnected to the body. When someone sinned the inner light of one’s soul would shine out to the body and show one where he needs to put his focus on improving. The isolation, introspection and the knowledge of that inner light that comes from within one’s divine spark could inspire him to return. Yet once again today perhaps our souls have become so disconnected and that spark is so hidden we can no longer feel that inspiration and answer its call.

When one reads these ideas it is hard not to be struck by how far we have fallen from those days. How amazing it must have been to be able to be so connected to our soul and to Hashem that our very bodies would show the signs of a spiritual decay. How powerful it would have felt to know that Hashem was signaling and reaching out to us to do the right things and get close to him once again. In truth, though we do that same thing today however on an even greater level.  We may not have that small blemish on our bodies to remind us that we should return. We instead have a gaping hole in our hearts, because we have no Temple. The Meztora would be obligated to go Badad- alone and we are referred to as a widow of Jerusalem that is living Badad, bereft and alone from her husband. We have brothers and sisters that are living far away from His home. There are so many of His children that don’t know their Father and even those of us that do are so far from where we once were or should be. Hashem may not afflict us with tzara’as, but as our sages say poverty is in place of Tzara’as today. Our worries, our struggles, our tragedies are all reflections of that deeply buried inner soul longing to return from its 2000 year period of isolation to be connected once again with its source. Our Tzoros-troubles, are the calling card to turn to Hashem and not just to ask for His guidance and help but to help us once again to return to us and help us return to Him.

It would be nice to have no more worries. It would be nicer to get a good night’s sleep without struggles and challenges. But wouldn’t it be even better to wake up to a great new morning? To live in a day when we our body and soul lived in harmony and our every moment was a song to Hashem? Just as the Metzorah was able to come back and return the ultimate message of the Parsha is that we can all do that. One can never fall too far that our Father is not calling to us to come back. He’s calling to us to in our dilemmas and challenges. He’s just waiting for us to ask Him to come home and reunite with Him once again.

Have a blessed and restful Shabbos ,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

MACHTASH RAMON- ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND BREATHTAKING LOCATIONS IN ISRAEL THE MACHTASH WHICH MEANS CRATER IN HEBREW IS WORLDS LARGEST CRATER OF ITS KIND AT ABOUT 40 KM LONG AND 10 KM WIDE (24 MILES BY 6 MILES). THE VIEW OF THE NEGEV THE FANTASTIC UNIQUE COLORFUL ROCKS AND FORMATIONS ARE A GEOLOGIST AND NATURE LOVERS DELIGHT. THERE ARE 8 OF THESE TYPES OF CRATERS THAT ARE FORMED BY A NATURAL DETERIORATION OF THE UNDERLYING WEAKER LAYERS OF ROCK YET ISRAEL A THE HOST OF MOST OF THEM MAKING THE WORD MAKTESH  THE ACCEPTED SCIENTIFIC WORD TO DESCRIBE THIS PHENOMENA.

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Never Forget-Tzav/Zachor

Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
March 17^th 2011 -Volume I, Issue 24–11^th of Adar 5771

Parshat Tzav/Zachor

Never Forget

It’s Purim time. As long as I have been writing this Weekly Insights Email it has been my week to let down my writer’s quasi humorous hair (that’s hair singular) and get into the cheer of things. This week however I just can’t. I’m still crying…

How could it happen? How does someone murder a baby? Lying in bed… next to his father. A young boy reading a book? From where does a 12 year old girl (the same age as my son) get the strength, after coming home on Friday night from a fun evening with her friends singing shabbat songs and finding her parents and siblings massacred bodies, where does she get the strength to stand up and say “I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings”. How can you stop crying…? How can we even think of Purim?

This week we read the supplemental Torah reading before Purim of Parshat Zachor. It is the only biblically mandated Torah reading that each individual has a Mitzvah to hear. We are obligated to remember our brutal first attack by enemies that came on a suicide mission to attack the Jewish people. They had no beef with the Jews. We were not a threat to them. They lived in the North of Israel we were coming from the South. We were powerful. We had just destroyed the world empire Egypt and were on the top of the world. Yet against all logic and without any strategic rationale Amalek attacked us. We destroyed them with our faith in God as we watched the hands of Moshe up on the mountain raised to the Almighty in prayer. We won. We survived for another day. Yet we are commanded never to forget. When Hashem finally relieves us of all our enemies we must destroy Amalek.

We have faced so many Amalekites in our history. The story of Purim is the story of a genocidal plot by Haman a descendant of Amalek. The Greeks, The Babylonians, the Romans, The Crusaders, The Cossacks, Stalin, Hitler. How many hundreds of millions of our ancestors have been massacred, tortured and destroyed by those who again and again come up against us. There are those that thought that with the establishment of the Jewish State and with our own government and army we could finally have peace, rest, perhaps even respect. Yet, it continues. How many tears have been shed? Blood spilled? When will it stop? How can we celebrate Purim?

The answer, I believe lies in the understanding the essence of this holiday; perhaps even more so in the understanding of its prelude, of Zachor. As we know the holiday of Purim is always preceded by the fast of Esther. Unlike all other fasts that relate to the destruction of the Temple and are considered days of mourning, the fast of Esther is unique. In fact, this year when we cannot observe the fast of Esther on the day before Purim, as it is Shabbos, we push the fast earlier to Thursday, contrary to the general rule of pushing off days of fasting and mourning to a later date. The reason, are sages tell us, is because the fast of Esther, which recalls the fasting and prayer the Jews engaged in on behalf of Esther’s mission to King Achashveirosh to plead for our people, is not one that is meant to evoke feelings of mourning and sadness, rather it is one that is meant to celebrate and commemorate the Jewish peoples response to the nations that seek to destroy us. In truth the entire holiday of Purim is exactly of the same nature.

“The Jews established and firmly accepted on themselves and on their descendants, and on anyone who might convert to Judaism, to faithfully observe these two days, as written, and at the right times, each and every year.  These days must be remembered and observed for every generation, every family, in every part of the world, in every city. The Holiday of Purim will never be abolished among the Jews, and their descendants will never cease to observe them …. the days of Purim be kept at their proper times, as established by Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther, and as accepted by all Jews on themselves and their descendants, the fasts and the prayers as well.”. Esther 9:27-31

Purim is established as a day that celebrates the strength of the Jewish people through our collective memory.

“Remember what Amalek has done to you…..And when Hashem will give you rest from the enemies that in the land Hashem has given you for an inheritance,, wipe out the memory of Amalek…do not forget”.

What is the power of this memory? Why is it so celebrated? The answer is that the Jewish people have an inner strength as a result of all that we have been through. It is the strength of knowing that we have been through all this before. It is the strength of knowing that all the tears that we shed and suffer for ultimately have a function. There is a day of celebration, of Purim, that will follow. No matter how hard they will try to wipe us off the face of the Earth we have a Father in heaven that we can turn our eyes up to and who will never allow his children to be destroyed. Purim is a day of laughter because although we were in Exile in Persia and we were just facing our national demise, we miraculously overcame our enemy’s designs. We could laugh at them. We could laugh with the memory that this battle has happened before and that we are still standing. They could laugh with the knowledge that there lays within each of us that incredibly Divine eternal power to transcend and rebuild from tragedy and from the ashes a Temple for the Almighty.

When we remember Amalek, we also can bring to mind all the other remembrances of the Torah. We remember the uniqueness of the day of Shabbos; our covenant with God. We remember the day we left Egypt and were swept off our feet by our Father that chose as his nation. We remember the vows we took at Sinai and we remember both the communal and individual responsibilities we have and the consequences for our misdeeds as we recall the incidents of the golden calf and Miriam’s lashon harah on her brother Moshe. The battle of Amalek is the crescendo of all of these memories because it concludes with a promise and mandate of Lo Tishkach- we can overcome and will never forget. Our memories will destroy our enemy’s memory. We will find the strength to laugh and rejoice in the face of those who seek to destroy us because we know that Hashem has some eternal plan for his eternal nation that will make this all right. A plan that will avenge the murders of our innocents, a plan that see our people once again reunited and exalted by the nations of the world as the Nation of priests with our Temple in Jerusalem once again. A plan that will wipe away the tears of sadness and replace them with tears of joy as our orphaned nation once again celebrate the love and warmth of our Father’s holy caress.

 Have a truly happy Shabbat that you will remember forever!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ MOST INSPIRING JEWISH ISRAELI ANECDOTE OF THE WEEK

Rami Levi, the controlling owner of one of the country’s largest supermarket chains, not only joined thousands of others who visited the surviving members of the Fogel family to comfort them in mourning – he also stocked their shelves and refrigerator with food. You will have to get used to my face,” Levi told the mourners and friends.  I have committed myself that every week I will deliver food and stock your home until the youngest orphan turns 18 years old.

RABBI SCHWARTZ ' S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL TO CATCH TWO DAYS OF PURIM OF THE WEEK

PEOPLE ASKED ME BEFORE I MADE ALIYAH IF THE REASON I DID SO WAS SO I WOULD ONLY HAVE TO CELEBRATE ONE LESS DAY OF PASSOVER SHAVUOT AND SUKKOT (AS IN THE DIASPORA THEY MUST KEEP AN EXTRA DAY AS PER JEWISH CUSTOM- TO INSURE TIME FOR THE MESSENGERS TO ARRIVE TELLING THEM WETHER A NEW MONTH WAS ESTABLISHED OR NOT) I RESPONDED THAT I ACTUALLY DIDN’T COME TO ISRAEL FOR ONE LESS DAY BUT RATHER BECAUSE IT GIVES ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO CELEBRATE AN EXTRA DAY OF PURIM J

SHUSHAN PURIM FALLS ON ADAR 15 AND IS THE DAY ON WHICH JEWS IN JERUSALEM CELEBRATE PURIM.  PURIM IS GENERALLY CELEBRATED ON THE ADAR 14 BECAUSE THE JEWS IN UNWALLED CITIES FOUGHT THEIR ENEMIES ON ADAR 13 AND RESTED THE FOLLOWING DAY. HOWEVER, IN SHUSHAN, THE WALLED CAPITAL CITY OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE, THE JEWS WERE INVOLVED IN DEFEATING THEIR ENEMIES ON ADAR 13-14 AND RESTED ON THE 15TH (ESTHER 9:20-22). IN COMMEMORATION OF THIS, IT WAS DECIDED THAT WHILE THE VICTORY WOULD BE CELEBRATED UNIVERSALLY ON ADAR 14, FOR JEWS LIVING IN SHUSHAN, THE HOLIDAY WOULD BE HELD ON ADAR 15. LATER, IN DEFERENCE TO JERUSALEM, THE SAGES DETERMINED THAT PURIM WOULD BE CELEBRATED ON ADAR 15 IN ALL CITIES WHICH HAD BEEN ENCLOSED BY A WALL AT THE TIME OF JOSHUA’S CONQUEST OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL. THIS CRITERION ALLOWED THE CITY OF JERUSALEM TO RETAIN ITS IMPORTANCE FOR JEWS, AND ALTHOUGH SHUSHAN WAS NOT WALLED AT THE TIME OF JOSHUA, IT WAS MADE AN EXCEPTION SINCE THE MIRACLE OCCURRED THERE.
TODAY, THERE IS MUCH DEBATE AS TO WHETHER OUTLYING NEIGHBORHOODS OF JERUSALEM ARE OBLIGED TO OBSERVE PURIM ON THE 14TH OR 15TH OF ADAR. FURTHER DOUBTS HAVE ARISEN AS TO WHETHER OTHER CITIES WERE SUFFICIENTLY WALLED IN JOSHUA’S ERA. IT IS THEREFORE CUSTOMARY IN CERTAIN TOWNS INCLUDING HEBRON, SAFED, TIBERIAS, ACRE, ASHDOD, ASHKELON, BEERSHEVA, BEIT SHE'AN, HAIFA, JAFFA, LOD AND RAMLAH TO CELEBRATE PURIM ON THE 14TH AND HOLD AN ADDITIONAL MEGILLAH READING ON THE 15TH.
(IN THE DIASPORA, JEWS IN BAGHDAD, DAMASCUS AND PRAGUE ALSO "CELEBRATE" SHUSHAN PURIM)

Vayikra-Your Calling

Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
March  11^th  2011 -Volume I, Issue 23–5^th  of Adar 5771

Parshat Vayikra

Your Calling

“So what type of Jew are you?” I was asked this week. “Are you Chareidi (fervently religious) ? Ultra Orthodox? Daati-Leumi (religious Zionist)? Modern Orthodox? Traditional? How would you describe yourself? There is even a newer label, I am told, called Char’DaL- a hybrid of Chareidi and Daati Leumi which also happens to mean mustard, are you that?”

 “Frankly I am more of a ketchup person then mustard,” I responded “although if it was Gulden’s brown and spicy I could see being that.

Yet the inquirer was persistent. He really wanted to know. He was considering moving to Israel and he wanted to know what affiliation I was in order to decide if our community was the right one for him and his family. Reluctantly I shared with him the label that I hoped would satisfy him-I described myself as right wing, ultra Orthodox, Chareidi, super Chardal with all the best of Da’ati Leumi…. non practicing…. Meaning, I explained to him, I ideally like to label myself as the most religious possible. That is the goal that I aspire to reach. Unfortunately I’m not there yet. Not even close. But if I had to choose a label I believe that it is the most authentic. I want to aim to be the best but at the same time recognize how much I have to grow.

 Unfortunately though, most people find or choose a label that is based on their observance level and that becomes their stalling point. “I’m 90 percent observant so I must be ____” , “I am 75% so I’m______”, “I just like to do some commandments so I must be_____”, “I am more spiritual but I don’t observe so I must be______”. Particularly here in Israel where the religious affiliation is not just your calling card, but what party you will vote for, what schools and social network you will have, what restaraunts you will eat in and where you will make your child’s simchah. The Jewish country is full of little boxes that people try to put you in. I, for one, have gotten a little too big around the waist to fit into a box. And the truth is I think the country is a little too small to handle all these little boxes all as well.

There is a story about a Chasidic Rebbe that had a student that once came to him despondently sharing with the Rebbe his personal grief. He told the Rebbe that he felt like he should just give up on trying to increase his devotion. “It’s useless” he said “I see how holy the Rebbe is and I know I will never reach that level so why should I even bother”. The Rebbe turned to his student, stroked his tear filled cheeks and said, “My dear Chasid you are looking at the difference of space between you and I and perhaps it looks great. But look at the distance between Hashem and I and between Hashem and you. God is so far from both of our comprehensions and human capabilities. When you fathom that difference and see it in that light, than the difference between you and I is really not so much in comparison to the greatness and holiness which we are trying to connect to.”

This week we begin the third book of the Torah. In Latin it is known as Leviticus, or Torat Kohanim-the laws of the priests in the language of the Medrash. Yet in common Jewish tradition we refer to the book that describes all of the sacrificial laws of the Tabernacle as” Va’Yikra”, after the first word of the book “And He Called to Moshe and Hashem to spoke to him from the tent of the meeting saying”. It is a strange name to call this book and it is certainly a strange verse structure. At first it does not saying who is doing the calling and then when it says Hashem spoke to “him” it does not say to whom. If my English teachers were marking this essay they would correct it and write “And Hashem called to Moshe and spoke to him…”.  What is the Torah trying to teach us?

The 19^th century Rebbe of Slonim sees in this statement an allusion to the calling that we are told goes out daily from Sinai to each soul that was there to return to Hashem. “And He called” refers to that personal voice that reaches out to each Jew. That was the voice that went out to Moshe. And then, after Moshe heard that voice and drew close to the tent, did Hashem first speak to him. In addition, the word Vayikra comes from the Hebrew word Mikreh- an occurrence. Here the word Vayikra is even written with a small Alef to allude to that definition. The voice that goes out can be perceived in our daily happenings. Hashem is calling to us. He wants us to come close and approach. We can hear that voice in all that goes on in our lives. It is upon us to then take the first steps home.

We call this book Va’Yikra because it is the book of us taking the steps to get close to Hashem. The sacrifices and offerings that we bring for the various occurrences in our lives are us responding to them as calls to come home. To bring a Korban/ offering-(from the word closeness)is to say that all of those things that in my life might label me- my sins, my experiences, my thoughts, my mistakes, my joys and my loves are all just homing signals that are meant to lead me back to you. Back to the core of my soul blessed by You so long ago at Sinai. Back to the place…where I know by the fact that You are still calling to me…that I belong.

We are getting closer to the holiday of Purim. One of everyone’s favorite customs of Purim is to dress up in costumes.A reason given for this tradition is because it is meant to be a day when we put all our labels behind us. We hide the externalities that so often define us and prevent us from hearing that inner call. For the voice can only be heard by someone who is still searching to connect, not one who is already satisfied with his self definition. The story of Purim itself shares with us that message. Hashem’s name is not written in the book of Esther. It is a hidden voice that is calling from under the guise of all the occurrences that take place within the story. We were saved in the merit that we answered that call. We changed our Persian garb for that of sackcloth and prayer. We asked to return to get close. To have the chance to be near our Father once more. And our call was answered.

It’s hard to avoid labels. We shouldn’t have to be put into a box. It’s even harder not to label others. The soul of the Jewish people is much bigger then a name tag or affiliation can ever describe. Purim allows us to step beyond all that to reach out to the common bond we all share with one another. To hear that call that wants all of us to come home. To be ourselves as we celebrate with our Creator. May the joy of this month of Adar once again see us filled with the Simcha Sason and prestige of feeling the specialness of being Yehudim united by the love and closeness we wish to feel with our Father in Heaven.

 Have an ultra super Shabbat experience,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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LIKE US LOVE US FRIEND US AND FORWARD IT TO YOUR FRIENDS!!!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Young-Israel-of-Karmiel/149518425108865

RABBI SCHWARTZ “ RECCOMENDED FANTASTIC ORGANIZATION THAT HELPS THOUSANDS OF JEWS AROUND ISRAEL WITH THEIR BASIC FOOD NEEDS AND SUPPORT”.

WATCH A GREAT VIDEO OF A MAN WHO MADE HIS LIFE EXPERIENCES HIS CALLING AND MISSION I N LIFE. AND THEN CLICK ON THE PAY PAL LINK AND MAKE YOUR PURIM DONATION TO A VERY WORTHY CAUSE!!!

http://www.yadezra.net/videos_e.php?clip=21

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

 KVISH 6 (HIGHWAY 6)-THE GREATEST AND FASTEST HIGHWAY IN ISRAEL THAT I TRAVEL ON QUITE REGULARLY TO GO FROM THE NORTH OF ISRAEL TO THE CENTER AND SOUTH. AFTER 10’S OF YEARS OF DISCUSSION OF THE NECESSITY OF SUCH A HIGHWAY THAT AVOIDS ALL THE TRAFFIC AND ROUNDABOUT OF THE COASTAL ROUTE AND TO CONNECT THE PERIPHERY WITH THE CENTER. THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL FINALLY CHOSE TO PRIVATIZE THE BUILDING OF THE HIGHWAY IN EXCHANGE FOR THE TOLLS THAT WOULD BE COLLECTED FOR ITS USAGE FOR A THIRTY YEAR PERIOD.

IN 2002 THE HIGHWAY OPENED RATHER THEN THE TOLLS AND BOOTHS AMERICAN MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH THE HIGHWAY OPERATES ON A CAMERA SYSTEM WHERE PICTURES ARE TAKEN OF YOUR LICENSE AND YOU ARE CHARGED FOR THE PORTIONS THAT YOU TRAVEL ON WITH A BILL SENT TO YOUR HOME. THERE IS ALSO A PASSKAL (EZPASS) SYSTEM AS WELL THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO STOP AND AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERS YOUR PLATE. THE HIGHWAY HAS GREAT REST STOPS ALONG THE WAY. PARTS OF IT TRAVEL RIGHT ALONG THE WEST BANK MAKING IT THE EASTERN MOST HIGHWAY IN ISRAEL. PLANS ARE ALSO CURRENTLY BEING WORKED ON TO EXTEND IT ALL THE WAY TO KARMIEL. WHICH MAKES IT MY FAVORITE HIGHWAY J)

Pikudei- The End of a book

Insights and Inspiration
from the 
Holy Land
from 
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

March 3^rd  2011 -Volume I, Issue 22–27^th  of Adar 5771

Parshat  Pikudei/Shekalim

The End of a Book

Are you the type to read the end of a book before you start? To fast forward to the end of the movie or to click on spoiler sites? I'm not and I never really understood that drive. Isn't the whole reason of engaging in those entertaining and relaxing pursuits to relish the anticipation of a fantastic ending? The twists, the justice meted out, or the romantic happily ever, can only be enjoyed if you've gone through the period of nail-biting anxiousness, or tear-jerking emotion that the process of being thoroughly engrossed in these engaging mediums can afford. I mean what fun would Star Wars have been if you know the "Luke…I am your Father" bit in the beginning?

This week we read the end of what had started off to be one of the more exciting Books of the Torah. The family of Jacob's descent to Egypt, the birth and rescue of Moshe, 10 Plagues, sea splitting, The Sinai revelation and the tragedy of the sin of the Golden Calf. You almost can't put the book down; it even might make you excited about coming back to Sunday school. Yet, the ending of the Book, unless you're architecturally inclined is not necessarily what I would describe as being the most gripping of Torah narratives. The past few Parshiyot have been replete with the seemingly repetitive description of the fundraising for and building of the Mishkan and the priestly garments and all the intricate details involved in the construction of what would be the resting place of the Divine presence, the Home of Hashem. What is the message of these details for us? What is the power of what might seem to be a somewhat un-dramatic ending?

It was 17 years ago this week that the Book of the Schwartz family began to be written. March 9^th 1994 (27^th of Adar) was the day that I wedded my bashert and soulmate. It was a day that was filled with much fanfare. Singing, dancing, love, glory, family and miracles, it was perhaps the greatest day of my life. The day was followed with the traditional seven days of feasting and celebration, those special moments of intimacy and closeness with the one you never want to be separated from, the one who you look forward to spending the rest of your life with. And then of course married life begins.

Maybe it was the first months or weeks when you have that first fight (my fault obviously), that silly argument that changes that almost too perfect imaginary world. You of course make-up, but it happens again (O.K. my fault againJ).You apologize. You atone, you forgive, you adjust, and you find your paths. You learn how to, at first, respect your differences and even begin to appreciate them. You have children, you build a family, a home and even a community or two (or three or four) along the way. There are those bumps, there are challenges, struggles, grief, and rejoicing. There are no more huge parties celebrating your relationship as there were 17 years ago. The band isn't playing, your friends aren't dancing on the tables anymore (most of them would probably break it if they tried). It would be kind of silly if they were. For there is no need for it anymore. You know you have the  a by now really perfect world. You know you have the most perfect partner for you that Hashem could ever provide. That sense that you have built a house of Hashem is so present as you walk through that doorway and see her sometimes strained and stressed but always loving face, that the fanfare would only detract from the incredible reality that has been built. That eternal special relationship is the song within itself. It is that un-dramatic but incredibly miraculous ending that leads to many more new beginnings of a unit joined and a family forever.

The last words of our Parsha and of that glorious Book of Shemos are

"For the Cloud of Hashem would be on the Tabernacle by day, and fire would be on it at night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys"

It has been an experience journeying through this Book. There was those moments of explosions of love and declarations of commitment; the song at the Sea, the fervor filled "we will do and we will hear" at Sinai. There was also the terror of Amalek, the whining and fighting by the bitter waters of Meriva, and the almost incomprehensible and seemingly unforgivable treachery of the Golden Calf. But nothing is un-forgivable before our loving Father in Heaven. Nothing can stand in the way of a repentant nation whose sole desire is to build a house for their Creator. And nothing can ever separate a lover from their beloved. The drama and trials, the celebrations and fanfare, that may be how the Book needs to start. It gives you that foundation for which to build upon. But ultimately the true happy ending is when all that passes. When the two can sit in bask together in that Divine presence. When the knowledge of that cloud of God is before their eyes in all their journeys. There is no happier conclusion. And it is on that note that we can then begin our next Book of Vayikra- The Book that begins with the calling of Hashem. The call that will some day soon restore us to the Service and temple where our own homes and family will eventually be joined by His home, once again in Jerusalem in peace.

 Have a special Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

This weeks insights is dedicated in grateful appreciation to my Bashert and partner who has helped make my dreams a reality in honor of  our 17 years and as we begin our chai year together here in the Holyland.. May Hashem bless you- us- with shalom, nachas, Simcha and may we continue to share in the best of times and life together. Thank you!!

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RABBI SCHWARTZ “SILLY THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A HALF SHEKEL VIDEO” IN HONOR OF PARSHAT SHEKALIM AND MY ANNIVERSARY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni-Haijah9c

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

(OLD) GESHER-LOCATED IN THE NORTH OF ISRAEL IN THE BEIT SHEAN  VALLEY UNDER THE KINNERET A TRIP TO GESHER WILL DELIGHT YOU WITH A FASCINATING JOURNEY INTO ONE OF THE EARLY PRE-STATE YISHUVIM OF ISRAEL. THE OLD YISHUV HAS DEVELOPED A TRULY ENTERTAINING AND MOVING TOURIST ATTRACTION COMPLETE WITH A 3D AUDIO VISUAL (ALMOST DISNEY LIKE) PRESENTATION OF THE 1932 POWER WATER PLANT THAT WAS DEVELOPED AGAINST ALL ODDS AND WILDEST EXPECTAIONS AT THE MEETING PLACE OF THE YARMUK AND JPRDAN RIVER THAT POWERED THE WHOLE COUNTRY AND JORDAN TOO IN A JOINT AGREEMENT WITH EMIR ABDALLAH OF TRANSJORDAN.

ONE CAN ALSO SEE THE OLD BRITISH MANDATE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY ALONG THE OLD ROMAN PERIOD ROADS. BUT PERHAPS MOST MOVING IS THE STORY AND VIDEO OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE YISHUV IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS OF THE EVACUATION OF THE CHILDREN  YOU CAN HEAR AS YOU WALK THROUGH THE OLD BUNKERS THEY HID IN AND THROUGH THE MUSUEM THAT WAS DEVELOPED THERE.