Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
April 25th 2014 -Volume 4, Issue 27-25th
of Nisan 5774
(9th day of the Omer-one
week and two days!)
Parshat Kedoshim
The Holy Prophet
We
do not have creepy, fat, old men with beards and red suits coming down our
chimney to stick things in our socks. That's the other team. We don't even have
a chimney. We also do not believe in bogey men, whatever they are, or bunnies that
hide eggs on our front lawns-not that we have any of those either. (front
lawns-I mean, eggs we have plenty of, we bought way too many for Pesach). We believe
in Hashem, who watches us and protects us and we are pretty much not into these
mythological figures that are there to somehow frighten or trick children into
behaving. I'm good with this. Which is why I had difficulty understanding why
in middle of our Pesach Seder our little Elka, (my little Elka J), was hiding underneath the table. At first I thought
it was where she hid the afikoman, but the look of terror on her face was
telling a different story. No amount of kosher for Pesach chocolate which always
seems to work to resolve any major issues in life and put a smile on her face (mine
as well) seemed to work. Finally my wife, who seems to understand my children a
lot better than I ever will claim to, got the story. It seems that my daughter
was suffering from Eliyahu Hanavi phobia- the fear that some ancient prophet
with a long white beard and donkey was going to visit our Seder and drink some
wine. Not that we have any shortage of wine by the Schwartz Seder and not like
Elka even likes wine. She was scared, I was getting tired, we still needed to
sing songs and "who knows one?" it and make lots of animal
noises by Chad Gadya. The Schwartz Seder was in jeopardy
What
was I to say? Obviously, we could not tell her Eliyahu was not coming. That would
be heretical on Pessach night, the night when we pass down our age-old
traditions. We had already resolved, using my Rabbinic acumen and training that
it was not necessary to sneak around the back door and dress up like Eliyahu
and scream "BOO!" when they kids opened the door, as this seems to be
a more recent Jewish custom (perfected by my father) without any basis in
anything besides frightening and tricking children-see other teams customs
above. We even agreed that we did not have to shake the table and spill out any
of the wine from Eliyahu's cup while the kids weren't looking to get them to
believe that he really came; also a later custom and frankly a waste of good
wine. So what was left? To convince her that Eliyahu was a nice prophet that
loved little children, didn't really seem to be the way to go either, although the
story of him bringing a child back to life might attest to that, I didn't think
the resurrected dead child thing would give her any less nightmares.
Meantime,
our little 4 year old Tully was getting all antsy already. He was excited
to meet Eliyahu. He even told Elka that he would protect her as he would open
the door and she could go upstairs. Interestingly enough that seemed to work.
Daddy, Mommy and her older brother, 15 year old Yonah weren't protection enough
for her, but Tully our little Israeli, all brave and ready was all she needed.
She knew that only a fearless Israeli raised kid could deal with this
situation. Tully after all kills the cockroaches in the house and will chase
the cats away as his mother and sister cower behind one another. He's kind of
like King David with the slingshot in that way, forget about a donkeys jawbone.
So Elka went upstairs. Tully opened the door. Yonah jumped out and said "BOO"
dressed with his jacket over his face and a hat covering his eyes. And Tully
laughed and laughed. We even got to shake the table and show him the wine
Eliyahu had drunk. When Elka came back down, Tully told her. "Elka, it
wasn't scary. Eliyahu even looks like Yonah...". And so another
Schwartz Seder comes to happy ending. Next Year in Jerusalem, hooray!
As
we continued the holiday, I had a chance to ponder Eliyahu HaNavi a bit more
and his special place amongst our Pesach holiday. One of our traditions is that
Eliyahu who was taken to heaven alive in a fiery chariot was told that he must always
return to the Jewish people, whom he maligned, accusing them of not observing Hashem's
covenant. He will be present at all Jewish circumcisions and Pesach Seders,
which interestingly enough historically no matter how far we have fallen from religious
observance, seem to be two rituals that we have never abandoned. Although one
might think they would be the first to go. In addition the last prophecy in the
Books of Prophets tell us that Eliyahu will be the harbinger of the ultimate
redemption heralding in Mashiach and the Messianic era. Pesach being the time
of redemption it's no wonder he's there.
Throughout our history there has always been a
tradition as well of Eliyahu revealing himself to individuals, generally holy
ones, and assisting them in some mystical way. The Talmud is replete with
stories of him and one of the traditions of the Schwartz family Seder is the
story of my great Uncle Henry (Hershel) and my grandmother Bubby Zeldy O"BM
being visited by him, assisting them in escaping the inferno that was to be Europe
during the Holocaust. Who is Eliyahu and what is he really all about?
There
is a story that I was recently reminded of, as I read a great new book by my friend
(and former chavrusa/study partner) Rabbi Yechiel Spero. It is the story of a
simple Chasid whose greatest wish was to see the great prophet Eliyahu himself.
As every good chasid, does he went to the Baal Shem Tov and asked him how he
may merit such a revelation. The Baal Shem Tov instructed the Chasid that if he
was truly serious about his request, he should travel to a small village two
days travel away and bring with him a large basket filled with food for the
weekend. Dutifully the Chasid followed his orders and as he came to the small
village in time for Friday night services he hoped for an invitation for a
place of lodging. Much to his dismay though, no invitation was forthcoming so
he knocked on the closest door with a mezuzah where he was greeted by a young
widow with small children. He offered them his basket of food and spent Shabbat
there with them, all the while on lookout for that heavenly prophet. When
Shabbos was over and much to his disappointment he didn't meet any one that
even resembled anything close to Eliyahu, he returned back to the Baal Shem
with his failure.
The
Baal Shem Tov however told him that he must try once again if he wanted to see
the great prophet. So off again he went with his basket of food, arriving at
the town and stopping off once again at the widow's house where he spent
Shabbos with her children, waiting and waiting…But to no avail. Returning once
again dejected, the Baal Shem Tov told him that the third time is "Gleeda
(ice cream)". {He didn't really say that, it's just an Israeli maxim, whose
meaning I have yet to understand, but kind of a more positive outlook than the"
three strikes and you're out" American adage}. So off he went the
third time. This time he figured maybe he should wait around in shul a little
longer. Maybe Eliyahu would then pop in. But after waiting another hour he
decided it was time to head on over to his usual place of lodging. As he
reached the door though, he overheard the young child talking to his mother.
"Mommy, we don' have anything in the house to eat. I'm so
hungry… What will we do?"
His
mother answered him in words that pierced our Chasid's heart.
"Don't worry, my dear child. The past two weeks we also had
no food and Hashem sent Eliyahu HaNavi to us to bring us a full basket of food.
I'm sure he will come again this week…"
This
week's Torah portion begins with the commandment to Moshe to
"Speak to the entire congregation of Israel and tell them
they should be holy, for I Hashem their God is holy."
Rashi
notes that this Torah portion and it's commandment contain most of the
principles of the Torah and it was therefore read in front of the entire nation
gathered together. The Torah's tips for holiness though might be somewhat counterintuitive
to the modern day "spiritually seeking" ascetic viewpoint. There are
no commandments to make random fasts, or meditations or to dip oneself in
ritual baths frequently, practicing abstinence and being a vegetarian. Sorry to
disappoint. The laws and directions here to becoming holy are pretty basic. "Don't
steal, don't lie, don't curse, don't seek revenge, revere your parents, give
charity, pay your workers on time, respect your elders, Don't gossip, don't
hate your brother in your heart and of course love your friend as
yourself." How are you ranking on the holiness scale?
How
does all this make me holy? The answer suggests that great 19th
century sage, the Chatam Sofer, is that holiness doesn’t' come from separating
oneself from society and hiding in some cave somewhere and meditating on
oneness of God and the universe. Holiness means recognizing that there is
holiness already in each and every one of us. We are charged to treat our
neighbors our friends, our employees, the world with the dignity of being in
the presence of the Holy one Blessed be He, Hashem. We are meant to see
ourselves as already being holy beings. Moshe was commanded to make this
statement unique by gathering all of the people together so that even the
lowest rungs of society, the sinners, the idolaters, the gossipers would all
know that they also possessed that holiness. They would know it and the most
righteous would know it about them as well. We all have the power to be Eliyahu
HaNavi. We can all bring Mashiach today.
Pesach
has ended, but it is not over. On Pesach we began the process of counting up to
the ultimate function of our Exodus; to receive the Divine Revelation on Sinai
and in the process achieving that highest level of human holiness possible. We
became one with our Creator. We received His spirit within us and we were
commanded to reveal that inner spark to all of mankind. Eliyahu came to our
Seder to tell us that we are up to that task. Only holy people can experience
that revelation. We don't need to hide under the table. We just need to
appreciate our holiness enough to open up the door.
Have
an absolutely Divine Shabbos and enjoy your Chametz Challah J!
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
Th
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RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HOLINESS QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"In a sense, we have all wandered
away from our true selves. Birth is the beginning of our soul’s journey, sent
off from its divine source to live in an unnatural state, a land of
materialism. Throughout our lives, therefore, we crave to be reunited with our
real selves. We search for our soul, for the G-dly spark within ourselves. We
long to reconnect with our source”."- Previous
Lubavitcher Rebbe
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
(answer below at end of Email)
The
"Pools of the Arches" in Ramla was built by -
a) Haron
Al Rashid
b)
Ibn Tulun
c)
Baybars
d)
Salaadin
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL GEMATRIA OF THE WEEK
"You
shall love your fellow as yourself, I am HaShem' (V'yikra 19.18)
The end of the verse 'I am HaShem' is difficult to understand. Why is it necessary for the verse to add this as a summation of the mitzvah? Rav Mendel of Kassov suggests that the Gematria of the word 'ahava/love' Alef=1 Heh=5 Beit=2 Heh= 5 is the same as the Hebrew word for 'one' [Echad] - 13. This is to tell us that each person is supposed to love his fellow completely as if they were really one person. If he loves his fellow in this manner, and his fellow loves him in the same way, than together they have made the name of HaShem. This is because two times 'ahava' [2 x 13] has the same value of the four-letter name of HaShem [26]. This is the meaning of 'You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am HaShem.' When a Jew loves another completely and they
are as one, then they complete the name of HaShem.
The end of the verse 'I am HaShem' is difficult to understand. Why is it necessary for the verse to add this as a summation of the mitzvah? Rav Mendel of Kassov suggests that the Gematria of the word 'ahava/love' Alef=1 Heh=5 Beit=2 Heh= 5 is the same as the Hebrew word for 'one' [Echad] - 13. This is to tell us that each person is supposed to love his fellow completely as if they were really one person. If he loves his fellow in this manner, and his fellow loves him in the same way, than together they have made the name of HaShem. This is because two times 'ahava' [2 x 13] has the same value of the four-letter name of HaShem [26]. This is the meaning of 'You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am HaShem.' When a Jew loves another completely and they
are as one, then they complete the name of HaShem.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Amat
HaTaninim, Beit Chanina-I had the
opportunity to visit this neat little place over Pesach right in between
Zichron Yakov and Hadera near the coastline. Its' really a great little place
for families with little kids (although Pesach it was quite swamped). They have
two crocodiles over there that are pretty neat to watch, a little pond and
paddle boats, little train ride through the swamp/nachal that was once full of
crocodiles. There are little water slides and fun sprinkler/watergun shooting
things there as well for the little kids and they aoffer all types of
activities by pre appointment making pitas and crafts. There is also a great little
campground there. The spring is here so go camping and see our cool country!
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S COOL YOUTUBE CLIPs OF THE WEEK
Reb
Shlomo's classic "you never know..you never know"
Awesome and rare
clip of the Kotel on Pesach from 1913
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S JOKES OF
THE WEEK
Zaidy and his little
granddaughter (let's call her Elka) were
sitting talking when she asked, "Did Hashem make you, Zaidy?"
"Yes, Hashem
made me," the grandfather answered.
A few minutes later, the little girl asked
him, "Did God make me too?
"He most certainly did,sweetheart"
the grandpa answered.
For a few minutes, the
little girl seemed to be studying her grandpa, as well as her own reflection in
a small mirror. Her grandfather wondered what was running through her mind. At
last she spoke up. "You know, Grandpa," she said, "Hashem's been
doing a lot better job lately."
***********
It was a small town and
the Catholic Priest, the Protestant Minister and the Jewish Rabbi were very
good friends. Of course, there was a lot of kidding and joking between them all
year long.
To their surprise one
year, the Priest and the Minister received a Christmas card from the Rabbi. It
read:
"Roses are
reddish, Violets are bluish When the Messiah really comes You'll wish you were
Jewish."
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RABBI SCHWARTZ' S EXAM ANSWER OF THE WEEK
Answer
is A: If you have not yet visited the pools of the arches it’s a really
neat place to see it is one of the oldest remains from the Abassid Arabic period
in the 8th century more than
1200 years ago! It served as a water reservoir that was filled by an
underground spring and was connected with aqauducts. Today it’s a cool place to
take the family indoor boating through the glorious arches and ceilings that
encase this pool. I know that probably most of the names don't have meaning to
most of our readers and truth is I can't even tell you what the first two are
known for. However the correct answer is A Good old "Harry"..
