Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
May
29th 2015 -Volume 5, Issue 29 -11th
Iyar 5775
Parshat Naso
Antidisestablishmentarianism
Every fifth grader in my class knew the word. We even knew
how to spell it. It was the longest word in the dictionary. We knew that it
meant -the doctrine or political position that opposes the withdrawal of state
recognition of an established religious entity (originally the church of
England-which I’m all in favor of toppling incidentally) although used to refer
to being anti the people that are trying to topple the local establishment -That
was at least until someone came up with floccinaucinihilipilification (to hear the pronunciation click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q7Ki1Ubg-w&safe=active
then try to say it afterwards. Play this
game with your kids. You will laughJ). Spelling was a subject that I excelled
in. I was a big reader. I liked words. Especially fancy words. They made me
sound smart with little effort. I was very big on that concept. I still am. I
certainly was not the studious type. In the artscroll book that will be
published about me post-mortem (after 120 years). I think it would be kind of
cool to have the word antidisestablishmentarianism in it. Although I was more
the disestablishment type. But maybe it can be worked in somehow. I know my
mother was an antidisestablishmentarian, let me tell you I have the scars to
prove it J. Ouch!
Yeah I was never
much of a system type of Guy. It was funny when we made Aliyah to Israel the
Mishpacha magazine did an an article about three Rabbis who moved here of which
I was selected to be one of them. The author of the article and interview who
was incidentally a reader of this weekly E-mail asked me if I mind if she could
take one of my quotes from this E-Mail that I had written and add ti to the
article. And of course quite inspired that I wrote something worth quoting in
the world famous Mishpacha Magazine I acquiesced. The next week when I opened
up the Mishpacha though and saw the big fat picture of me with the words Quote
in really big letters I kind of swallowed, as the quote she seemed to have
found most inspiring and that really shared my deepest inner thoughts with their
readers was “The reason I became a Rabbi was because I always knew I would talk
in Shul and I figured I’d get less dirty looks doing it from the front of the
shul than the back.” Ouch. Did I really write that? It’s amazing what comes
out of this keyboard at 3:00 AM with my eyes half closed. There were certainly
Rabbis of mine that were turning over in their graves at the monster they had
created. Yet here I am. And here you are. We’re friends by now. We have no
secrets or hidden illusions about one another. I’m a Rabbi here in Israel
trying to get someone to sponsor his weekly E-Mail with lots of jokes stories
and some hidden insights and inspiration. And you obviously have too much time
on your hands to read all million pages of my weekly musings. We’re a team. Don’t
you want to become a partner JJ?
As I was perusing the longest Parsha in the
Torah this week- yes we knew that as kids as well-I was struck by the
strangeness of the structure of it. Or better yet the randomness of its various
components. The portion begins with the jobs and count of the families of Levi
around the Tabernacle concluding last week’s Parsha description and counting of
the Jewish people and their placements and flags in the camp of Israel. The
conclusion of the Parsha is the description of the various identical sacrifices
that were brought on the day of the coronation of the Tabernacle. The grand
opening, so to speak, as we began our 39 remaining year sojourn in the
wilderness, of which the rest of the Book talks about. The Torah than sandwiched
between these two narratives though the Torah seems to go on a tangent, or a few
tangents to be precise that are seemingly out of place. It talks about the
sending out of the impure and the Metzora (those who had a physical leprous
type disease that came as a result of spiritual failings such as gossip and
Lashon Hara) from the camp of Israel. Perhaps its relevance is part of the
description of the camp. But this might be more appropriately placed in the
laws of impurity. What than follows is some very random laws. We have the laws
of someone who robs and swears falsely how he must pay back and the offering he
brings. It even includes the particular laws of one who steals from a convert
who has no heirs or a convert. This whole portion would seem better placed in
the civil laws of Mishpatim than here.
The detour then
continues with the laws of the Sotah woman- a married woman who had
secluded herself with another man after her husband had warned her of his
discomfort with this and who was suspected of adultery. She was meant to drink
from a special water potion that contained in it the name of God that would
discern if she was telling the truth or not. Incidentally this did not work if
her husband had also been unfaithful. What does this have to do with our Parsha?
This would seem to fit much nicer in the laws of illicit relations or adultery.
Following our detour of random information in
our Parsha we introduce the laws of a Nazir-not sure how to translate in
the English. But he was someone who would make a vow upon himself of purity
that would entail refraining from wine products, no contact with the dead and
growing his hair long. This was behavior that was frowned upon by our sages and
was done when someone felt that he needed to go to extreme measures to attain
spirituality. Offerings would be brought upon the conclusion of the period of
his Nazirite period. Again this seemingly has nothing to do with the Jews in
the wilderness or the coronation of the Tabernacle. Finally the Torah concludes
all these digression with the commandment of the Cohen to bless the Jewish
people. And we have the famous blessing that Hashem should watch us and protect
us and shine his light upon us that we recite daily and which the Kohen thus
blesses us daily here in Israel. To all of these digression we have one
question. So we have within the story of the coronation of the temple laws of
Blemished and impure, laws of Thieves, illicit women, Nazirites and priestly
blessings? As my daughter likes to say Ma
Ha’Kesher-What’s the connection?
This week’s
portion is always read either before or after the holiday of Shavuot. It is
meant to connect us to that special holiday where we remember the revelation we
received on Sinai. When we remember how each and every Jewish soul that will
ever be born heard as one the word of Hashem from upon the mountain. Each and
every Jew. Perhaps more significant than that we each heard and saw the sound
of God speaking to us from amongst the mountain. But as Targum Yonatan Ben
Uziel explains we saw each and every one of us also hear it. Each heard it,
each saw it and each incorporated into our spiritual DNA. We are one nation
that were transformed by God. The problem is that it is hard to hold on to that
revelation. We all heard one thing but we all internalized and express it
differently. We have different camps. We have different tribes. We will have
impure people, those whose challenges will be to pursue healthy relationships,
those whose jealousy may overcome them and they may lie, rob and speak badly
about others, we have others on the other extreme who isolate themselves from
others in their pursuit of that spirituality and holy voice we heard so long
ago. We will have priests who have one job and one type of connection and we
will have political leaders, heads of tribes and the Levites that serve other
functions. All of them need to be counted. They are all part of Klal Yisrael.
All of them receive the priestly blessing with love.
It’s an amazing
Parsha this longest one of ours. It tells us that there is not establishment,
besides the Almighty’s. It concludes with the identical gifts of each of the
heads of the tribes but each one is brought with their own strengths their own
talents. The establishment the dis-establishment, and the antidisestablishment.
We Jews are the Kings of different opinions and different paths. It’s because
each Jews has his own special unique way to express that voice of Hashem that
lies dormant within themselves. A voice that only he can express, a voice that
is different than every other Jews and it is only through the revelation of all
of those voices together will the sound of Hashem be heard, as the Parsha
concludes from the Temple to the rest of the world.
The Jewish
people are never one that could and should be put into a cookie cutter-or any
cutter for that matter. We have an elaborate system with a hierarchy in Judaism
but there is room for everyone within it. We need to return to that moment on
the mountain and reveal that voice of Hashem that we saw in each other. We need
to inspire and encourage all of us, our generations, our neighbors our friends
to share their voice. To spread their holiness. To bring that light into the
world. Hashem is waiting for his voice to be heard once again. It’s up to us to
turn up that volume and let it ring.
Have
a magnificent Shabbos,
,
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
This
week's Insight and Inspiration once again didn’t have a sponsor. You know you
want to share this Torah with others and make a rabbi happy. Send me an Email
now and let next week’s be yours!
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RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
One of the most touching videos I have seen recently it made
me cry..shh.. Am Yisrael Chai ( there is closed captioning option on youtube
for those that don’t speak Hebrew)
Wow! Important video to watch-cooking Pizza in a car check it
out
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
While in the states I picked up a great book with yiidsh quotes and
wisdom and I have always wanted to teach my kids Yiddish so here we go each
week another great proverb in yiddish maybe you guys will learn it too!!
“Kratsen
un borgen iz nor gut oif a veil.”- Scratching and Borrowing are only good for a while.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FAVORITE QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Man is certainly stark mad: he cannot
make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen.
~ Michel de Montaigne
~ Michel de Montaigne
“You know your god is man-made when he
hates all the same people you do..” Anonymous
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S
TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
(New exam this week these questions are from the
most recent tour guide exam-let’s see how I do)
answer below at end of Email
The “Four Species” are?
A.
Willow,
Olive, Fig, Palm
B.
Etrog
(Citron), Myrtle, Willow, Palm
C.
Pomegranate,
Wheat, Barley, Myrtle
D.
Myrtle,
Palm, Willow, Pomegranate
.RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL MIDRASH OF THE WEEK
There are two opinions in the Midrash about the
meaning of the blessing of the Kohen that Hashem should bless you and watch
over you. One opinion is that one Hashem should bless you with much posterity
and he should protect you from thieves. The second opinion is he should bless
you with much posterity and should protect you from it. I found this Midrash to
be particularly inspiring. Sometimes we need to be protected from other people
that try to harm us but the second opinion suggests that even more so we need protection
from our possessions and wealth itself. It can change us. It can make us think
that we are better than others. It can make us stingy or aloof. It can even
prevent us from sponsoring weekly E-Mails. May Hashem protect all of us from
that JJ
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL THINGS TO DO IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Meet people from all over the world – This is a tourist country. We
have been spread over the Diaspora for thousands of years. Yet since the establishment
of the State of Israel. We have come home. Not everyone merits to live here
yet. But most Jews today at least visit the land of Israel. And it is truly an
amazing thing to meet and see Jews from all over the world who return to our
3000 year old homeland in order to partake in that sense of coming home. It’s
not only Jews historically Israel has been the country were all religions and
cultures would come for pilgrimages. Today there are tourists from Korea,
China, India, Nigeria, Russia, Australia and South America. All come to see God’s
chosen land and His chosen people who have returned. This is perhaps the
greatest miracle of modern times. Everyone wants to see it. So it doesn’t’ make
a difference where you go in this country you will see the buses and the tourists.
Wish them a Shalom and tell them that very soon. They will have something even
greater to see. Our Temple once again restored in the Holyland on the Temple
Mt. Won’t that be something amazing!
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RABBI SCHWARTZ'S LANGUAGE JOKES
OF THE WEEK
Q: What's
the longest word in the English language?
A: Smiles. (Because there's a mile between the first and the last letter.)
A: Smiles. (Because there's a mile between the first and the last letter.)
Q:
What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
A: Short
A: Short
Q:
What is the word that everybody always says wrong?
A: "Wrong".
A: "Wrong".
Q:
Name one eight letter word that has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at
the end.
A: "Inkstand", "in" is at the beginning, "kst" is in the middle, and "and" is at the end.
A: "Inkstand", "in" is at the beginning, "kst" is in the middle, and "and" is at the end.
AND
FINALLY…
Q:
What do you call a person who speaks 3 languages?
A: Tri-Lingual.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
A: (Bi-Lingual.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks one language?
A: An American!
A: Tri-Lingual.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
A: (Bi-Lingual.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks one language?
A: An American!
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Answer
is B: This should also be an easy one for
anyone that was raised with the holiday of Sukkot when we take these four
species and shake them fulfilling a biblical commandment on the first day of
Sukkot and as a remembrance of the times of the Temple on all of the other days
of Sukkot where they would be taken each day. A harder question might be what
are the 7 species that Israel is blessed with that the Torah mentions. And that’s
what they were trying to trip you up with in this question. Can you name them? Ok
here’s the answer Pomegranate, wheat, barley, fig and olive you figured that
out because they were listed above as choices and now what’s the last two? …
Grapes and dates. And there you have it. Incidentally the last two are not
listed explicitly but rather are referred to as Vines and Honey.
