Karmiel

Karmiel
Our view of the Galile

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Conspiracies are Flying- Yom Kippur 5778/2017

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

September 29th 2017 -Volume 7 Issue 46 9th of Tishrei 5778!
Yom Kippur
Conspiracies are Flying

I go flying every year. Not in a plane, not para-sailing, or wind surfing. No I mean flying like a bird, soaring into the heavens, up there with the angels, high up in the clouds, I become one with Hashem. What’s really amazing is that I do all of this without ever leaving the ground, at least my body doesn’t, my soul is way up there though. I had a great flying instructor. He was my Mashgiach-our spiritual mentor- in the yeshiva that I studied in Israel when I was a student; Reb Menashe Donut. No snide remarks about his name being the reason I liked him, OK. He was a holy man and he taught me how to fly.
The truth is I really was never that inspired by his lectures. Works of mussar and learning how to develop holy, spiritual character traits was not my thing back then. I enjoyed the give and take and intellectual challenges of Gemara/Talmud learning were much more exciting to me and that was the reason I chose the yeshiva I did. To learn at the foot of one of the great leaders of our generation who himself had sat by the great masters in Europe prior to the war. Yet when it came Elul time, I started to pay a little bit more attention to some of the words of our simple unassuming mashgiach. His lectures took on more of an intensity. The King was in the field, we would soon be declaring Hashem’s kingship on the world, Teshuva/repentance, returning to Hashem all of the traditional themes of this past month and the High Holidays were repeatedly earnestly with his eyes closed as he spoke with reverence from the pulpit. The pinnacle of course came was when he would fly.
The Rosh yeshiva, Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, himself a baal menagen- a master of songs, composing and singing, would lead many of the tefilos on the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. They were beautiful, uplifting, melodious and intense. But the final prayer at the end of Yom Kippur- Neila- the closing of the gates of heaven, that prayer was led by the Mashgiach. And it was then that I learned how to fly.
See the Mashgiach by that point of davening was already in another world. As he took his three steps forward, I can almost swear they were not touching the ground, he was floating. Every shuckle every sway that he took as he recited and sung out each piyut, each prayer, each request he literally lifted his whole body up. You could feel him going up with his prayer. King David in his psalms describes his prayer as Va’Ani Tefilati- And I am my prayer. The Mashgiach was a human embodiment of prayer. When he asked Hashem to write us in the book of life, of redemption, of merits, of healing, of forgiveness, we felt that he was jumping up to God grabbing the book out of his hand and stamping and sealing it himself. By the time he reached the final 7 times of Hashem Hu Elokim- Hashem is our God and the Shema we were all up there with him. We were one with our Creator. It was absolutely awesome. I learned how to fly.

Since then I’ve led many prayer services on the High Holidays. It’s one of the perks of having congregations where most of the shul couldn’t read Hebrew. But even here in Israel where it is not difficult to find Baaalei Teffilos and Chazan/Cantors to help out and lead the prayers. Neila- that final prayer on Yom Kippur is mine. It’s when I fly. It is my annual experience of soaring above this world and making it up to the heavens. I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
It is an incredible prayer Neila, the time of the closing of the gates of heaven. When all our prayers are done all our confessions are said already. It’s just us and Hashem. Everything is riding on this moment. Our brothers, the sefardim, start off their neila with a beautiful poem that was written in 11th century by Rabbi Moshe Ibn Ezra it is called El Nora Alila- The God of an awesome plot. According to Wikipedia some Ashkenazim recite it as well, but that’s the Birnabaum Machzor. Artscroll doesn’t have it so it doesn’t count. The piyut is truly a beautiful one written by one of the great rishonim. The refrain is as follows
El Nora Alila,-Awesome God of plot
 Hamtzeh Lanu Mechila- Bring out for us forgiveness
 Bshaat HaNeila – during the time of the closing of the gates
Here’s a link to the song and the lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Nora_Alila
The question and mystery is of course what does this mean that Hashem is the God of plots? {Wiki’s translation of the mighty God is really not an accurate translation of the word alila, which means more like cause, conspiracy or plot.} And why are we utilizing this to enter into our holiest prayer?
There is a fascinating Midrash Tanchuma in Parshat Vayeshev that discusses this verse at length and in general explains this major conspiracy of Hashem. It’s long so I’ll just paraphrase it through for you, but it’s really worthwhile to see yourself inside. The Midrash begins with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha who notes that Hashem carries out circuitously in his dealing with man. For we know that the angel of Death was created on the first day of Creation as it says
and darkness was on the face of the deep”.
Yet when Adam sinned Hashem told him that they day that he eats from the tree he shall die- as if he was the one who caused death to come to the world.
The Midrash compares it to a man who writes out a divorce document to his wife before he gets married. When they get to their house he asks her to bring him a drink. When she hands it to him, he gives her the Get. When she asks why he is giving her a Get, the man responds because she gave him a warm drink instead of a cold one. She responded however, that you must have planned to divorce me beforehand already as you had the Get already pre-written. The drink is just the excuse to carry out your previous plan. Similarly Adam told Hashem, you created the world by looking at the Torah. And in the Torah it says
“If a man shall die in a tent”
Obviously You knew that man would die. That was part of your original plan.
The Midrash gives more and more examples of this concept. Moshe who wasn’t allowed in the land points out to Hashem the same concept. Your‘re are blaming it on the fact that I hit the rock, but you already had this plan from before when you stated (after the sin of the spies) that
No man of this evil generation shall see the good land”.
 Similarly it says by Yosef going down to Egypt that on one hand it says that the brothers sold him down to Egypt. It was Yaakov’s fault for favoring him, the brother’s for being jealous, Yosef’s for inciting them. But The Midrash tells us it was also part of this divine conspiracy. Hashem had already told Avraham that his children would descend to Egypt. So Hashem “made Yaakov love Yosef more, so that the brothers would hate him and sell him down to Egypt and ultimately Yaakov himself would have to descend to fulfill that Divine will. That is what it means when it says Hashem acts with conspiracy to his children; El Nora Alila.
The truth is the entire day of Yom Kippur and the concept of this incredible day of Teshuva is premised on this notion. Rashi teaches us that the reason Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement is because it was the day that Hashem forgave us for the sin of the Golden Calf and the second tablets were given. Now Hashem had already forgiven the Jewish people 40 days after the 17th of Tamuz, on the first of the month of Elul. Yet that forgiveness wasn’t good enough for Moshe. Hashem said that He would not destroy us, but at the same time He would not dwell amongst us anymore. Rather an angel would lead us into Israel instead. Moshe said that’s not good enough. I want it to be back just the way it was. Even better. That was the month of Elul.  40 days later, Yom Kippur was the day when Hashem agreed, with love, that he would once again dwell within our midst.
If you think about it it’s quite chutzpahdik of Moshe. Let’s put it into modern thinking. Someone close and dear to you betrays you in the worst of ways. Or better yet, you betray someone close to you in the worst of ways. You humiliated them in the most personal and public of ways. You basically destroyed them and everything that the two of you had together. You did it maliciously and really without any reason. You messed up big time. You wake up the next morning and you realize what you had done. You regret it. You feel terrible. You can’t sleep at night because you threw away this most special relationship. You want to apologize but you don’t even know how. You think about writing a letter, because you don’t want to mess up your words. You don’t even have the courage to look them in the eye. But you know a letter is not enough. You’re gonna face the heat. You apologize, you express your heartfelt regret, you swear you’ll never betray them like that again, and you beg their forgiveness. Surprisingly it works they say they forgive you. They’re moichel you. Amazing! Miraculous.
But then you do something absolutely crazy. You ask them if they will come out to eat with you for a nice romantic dinner. If they will hang with you like before and go have a few beers and party together. Like nothing ever happened. What!?! That’s insane. It’s one thing to forgive you, imaginably the person will tell you, but wipe it away like it never happened. To be just as loving and trusting as before. No, you say. I want it even more than before. Could that ever happen? That’s essentially what Moshe was asking Hashem for. The truth is that is essentially what we are asking Hashem for. But for us it’s even worse. We keep asking forgiveness and doing it again. We’re perpetual sinners, and betrayers. Where did Moshe and where do we get the chutzpa to make that request?
The answer is Nora Alila- Hashem we tell God, we know that You were behind every sin that we did. You put us in situations where we might inevitably fall- for precisely this reason. For us to return to You. For us to raise You up from the depths that we have fallen to. It’s why Adam sinned, because You structured a world that You wanted there to be teshuva, where we would sin and return and raise it up even greater. It’s why You arranged for us to go down to Egypt. You wanted us to fall to the lowest level and then raise it back up again to the 49th level of holiness where we would see Your presence, hear Your voice, receive Your Torah. And it’s why we fell again so fast and betrayed You. It was Your conspiracy. El Nora Alila.
And it’s why we come before you at these final moments each year on that same day to once again hear those words. Salachti Kidvarecha- You have forgiven us as You said You would. We are now naul- We are locked together the two of us. We are one. We have risen from the pits that we have fallen. We can fly. We can join you. We can bring the whole world with us. Hamtzei Lanu Mechila. Bring us once again forgiveness. Return us to You and we will return to You. It’s not chutzpa if this was the original plan. This is the day You have been awaiting for.
Are your feet lifting up from the ground yet? Do you feel yourself starting to levitate? Flying could be a scary thing. But Hashem is the wind beneath our wings. May he grant all of us a Gmar Chatima Tova- May we all be sealed and signed in the book of life and may all His wishes for us finally bring us to the ultimate fulfillment of the world, when all will see Hashem is one and His name is one.

Gmar Chatima Tova,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
  *****************************

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Di vegen fun teshuveh zeinen nit vainiker farborgen vi di vegen fun zind”. The ways of repentance are as much hidden as the ways of sin.

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE2VfDEmVYY   Deaf Man in the Shteeble-most moving Kol Nidrei song ever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUvrINuGBKc      – MBD’s new Yaaleh sung Chasidish style

https://youtu.be/LsT7r7F5jjI  Another favorite Neila song of mine Yehi ratzon by SYR


RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email

Q The inspiration for the design of the dome on the Shrine of the Book was:
a. The Dome of the Rock
b. The lid of an urn
c. A dome that was located in the Temple
d. A man’s head covering (“kippa”)

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ILLUMINATING RASHI OF THE WEEK

Yom Kippur Acharey Mos 2017- I know it’s a holiday and who has time to review the holiday readings with Rashi? Yet this with Yom Kippur falling out on Shabbos, so it becomes our Shabbos reading as well. If that’s the case then it is certainly worthwhile to review the Rashis as it can give us extra insight into our YK davening and inspiration as well.
The reading is of course about the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur. The Torah tells us that Aharon and his descendants, the High Priest that will follow him are warned
Vayikra (16:2) And he shall not come to the Holy at all times… Because in a cloud I shall appear upon the Paroches- Ark cover.
This warning is given after the death of Aharon’s two children for doing precisely that and lighting a foreign fire. Rashi on this verse explains the raison d’etre
For I always appear there with my pillar of cloud. And because the revelation of My Shechina is there, he should take care not to come there regularly. This is the simple meaning.
Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz notes that Rashi is pointing out something incredible over here. Imagine we are speaking to Aharon ,the High Priest, we are speaking about the Holy of Holies, we are speaking about Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year and yet there is still a concern and a necessity to warn him about not coming regularly, because if he does he might forget about the sanctity of the place. This is an incredible lesson. Perhaps the greatest reason why we sin, despite our deepest inner desire to the right thing, is because we just get used to doing the same old-same old. Our mitzvos, our daily prayers, our Torah study even though we all know and are aware of the incredible significance of all it, just becomes rote. Something we take for granted. Even the holiest things in the world can become mundane if we are aware of the perils of doing something monotonously. He notes that the law is that when one would come to Temple on the Holidays would have to switch up his entrance and his exit. The people from the North must leave through the southern gate and the ones from the south would leave through the southern gate in order that they should not get used to coming and going in and out of the same place as they do in their own home. The Temple is special. Yom Kippur is special. Each day our service is special. Rashi is pointing out this is reason why Aharon couldn’t come in. And if this is true for Aharon, how much more so for us. As Rashi says… this is pretty simple.

Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz (1902-1979) – To any Mirrer when one talks about Reb Chazkel there is a sense of awe. He led the yeshiva through its stormiest years during the war years, in Shanghai where the yeshiva fled, and he planted the seeds here in Israel of what is today the largest yeshiva in the world. He was born Shmuelevitz was born on the second day of Rosh Hashana  1902 in Kovno, Lithuania, to Rabbi Refoel Alter Shmuelevitz and Ettel (née Horowitz), a daughter of Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horwitz, known as the Alter of Novhardok. The sandek at his bris milah was Rabbi Yitzchok Blazer ("Reb Itzele Peterburger"), a Torah and mussar luminary of the time, who was one of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter's greatest disciples.
In Chaim Leib's youth, his family moved to Stutchin. Until the age of 16, he was educated by his father, who was one of the leading yeshiva lecturers in Lithuania. In 1919 Rabbi Refoel Alter, who was then the rosh yeshiva of Shaarei Torah in Grodno, died suddenly. Within a very short time, his mother died too, orphaning Chaim Leib, his younger brother Shlomo, and two sisters.
Rabbi Refoel Alter's position at the yeshiva was taken up by Rabbi Shimon Shkop. Chaim Leib developed a close bond with Rabbi Shkop. At the age of 18, Chaim Leib's mentor invited him to deliver the third-level shiur in the preparatory academy at the yeshiva. He held this position for a few years before transferring to the yeshiva in Mir. Many of his students of those years later became great Torah leaders, and his own four years in Grodno with Rabbi Shkop had a profound influence on his approach to Talmudic analysis.
At the age of 22, Reb Chayim headed a group of students who transferred from Grodno to Mir. The Mirrer rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, set his sights on Shmuelevitz as his eventual spiritual heir. He set the seal on this future appointment by offering his student the hand of his daughter in marriage.
A scant few years later, at the relatively young age of 31, Shmuelevitz was appointed as a maggid shiur, delivering regular lectures. The hallmark of his lectures was depth combined with a fabulous breadth; it was not uncommon for him to cite 20 or 30 different sources from far-flung corners of the Talmud and its commentaries during a single shiur.
With the outbreak of World War II, Mir Yeshiva was forced into exile Rabbi Shmuelevitz's shiurim continued virtually without interruption throughout the early period of World War II, while when the yeshiva was continually in transit. In late 1940, hundreds of Mir yeshiva students obtained visas to Japan.
The yeshiva stayed in Kobe, Japan, for about six months, and then relocated to Shanghai for the next five years. Although living conditions were extremely difficult, the yeshiva prospered. Rabbi Shmuelevitz and the mashgiach, Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein, assumed responsibility for the day-to-day running of the yeshiva.
Somehow, Rabbi Shmuelevitz became responsible for the financial needs of all Jewish learning institutions in the city, not just his own. These included contingents of the famed yeshivas of Kamenetz, Kletzk, Lubavitch, and Lublin. This was despite the fact that exchanging foreign currency in Shanghai was fraught with danger and Rabbi Shmuelevitz lived with a perpetual fear of being apprehended by the authorities.
A short while after arriving in Shanghai, Rabbi Shmuelevitz received American visas only for himself and his family. He refused them, saying that he would leave only when all the students had received their visas. This ultimately meant staying in Shanghai for five and a half years.
In 1947 the yeshiva moved again — as always, as a single unit — this time, to the United States, where Rabbi Shmuelevitz spent six months before rejoining his father-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem. For the next 32 years, until his death in 1978, Rabbi Shmuelevitz remained in Mir-Jerusalem, disseminating his unique wisdom and insight to thousands of disciples.
He became active in Agudath Israel in Israel, and its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages) on which he served. Rabbi Shmuelevitz was well known for his ability to become totally engrossed in his Torah study for hours at a time. His ethical discourses, many of which have been published in English, are considered classics. They offer novel interpretations and reveal his penetrating insights into human nature.
His greatness in Torah was matched only by his sterling character. Possessing an all-encompassing concern for his fellow Jew, his constant preoccupation with the well-being of others was a manifestation of the love that poured forth from his great heart. 
A few days after Sukkot 1978, Rabbi Shmuelevitz was rushed to the hospital and, for the next two months, his life hung by a thread. Even during the weeks of semi-consciousness his lips moved, and from time to time he could be heard mumbling words of Torah. Jews worldwide prayed for his recovery, but it was not to be. Two months later on the third of Tevet, Rabbi Shmuelevitz died at the age of 76. Nearly 100,000 mourners attended his funeral. He is buried on Har HaMenuchot.
During his lifetime, Rabbi Shmuelevitz committed to paper his every lecture and public address, leaving behind at his death thousands of handwritten pages, including chiddushim on every tractate of the Talmud
.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TYPES OF JEWS IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Kohanim – Unlike most of the other types of Jews that we have listed throughout our journey this past year in this column, the Kohanim are not identifiable by merely looking at them. They can be Ashkenaz, Sefard, Chasidic, young, old, religious or secular. They are identifiable though if you are really interested by use of a microscope though as they all share the same common DNA gene marker known as the Kohen gene. That is a fact that in the words of Dr. Karl Skorecki in the New York Times, (January 7, 1997)-
“The simplest, most straightforward explanation is that these men have the Y chromosome of Aharon. The study suggests that a 3,000-year-old tradition is correct, and has a biological counterpart.”
As well Dr. David Goldstein, Oxford notes in the Science News (October 3, 1998)
 “For more than 90 percent of the Cohens to share the same genetic markers after such a period of time is a testament to the devotion of the wives of the Cohens over the years. Even a low rate of infidelity would have dramatically lowered the percentage.”
In the times of the Temple Kohanim were the most important people of our nation as they were the serving intermediaries between Hashem and his people. They lost their way and became corrupt at the end of the second Temple, but for many of them that badge of Kehuna was kept in their family as a source of pride and tradition as they await for the day when they will be returned to their service with the building of the Beit Hamikdash.
In Israel the Kohanim play a larger more practical role than they do in America where all they do is receive the first Aliya to the Torah, as should be the case. See in Israel the custom is for the Kohen to belss the people by davening every day, unlike outside of Israel where it’s only on holidays. For the past few decades here by the Kotel the highlight for many people is to come and get blessed by the thousands of Kohanim that gather there. It is truly an awesome experience. The most common Kohen names amongst are of course Cohen, Shapiro, Katz and Rappaport, Azoulay is also a common Sefardic name. Now just because your last name is one of those that doesn’t make you a Kohen, one has to have a tradition that dates back to seal that deal. But you never know. God willing, Eliyahu Hanavi ,who will herald in Mashiach, will tell us and clarify who ultimately has that heritage. May it be this year!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S REALLY TERRIBLE CONSPIRACY JOKES OF THE WEEK

A group of 9/11 conspiracy theorists were killed in a bad accident and they all ended up together in heaven. Once let in through the Pearly Gates they decided to try and meet with God himself believing only he could answer their big question: Who was responsible for 9/11?
God decided to meet with them. When assembled he told them they could ask him one question about 9 /11 and he would answer it truthfully having perfect knowledge of everything. So the leader of the group stood up and said, "God, I need and my fellow friends who feel the same way about 9/11 as I do would like to know if in fact 9/11 was an inside job? Can you finally tell us this truth?"
God looked at the group of conspiracy theorists and said, "I know you may not want to hear this but 9/11 was NOT an inside job...it was a terrible tragedy caused by radical and mostly Saudi Islamic fundamentalists who wanted to send a message to the United States and make you afraid of them."
The leader looked dismayed with God's answer and turned to one of his cohorts and said, "Wow, God must have been in on it too."

I, too, have a conspiracy theory. I believe that Einstein was killed by the mafia because he knew too much.

Two Jews meet on the street.
"David, how have you been?"
"N-n-not so good. I was just turned down for a j-j-job."
"Where?"
"At a r-r-radio s-s-station. Anti-S-S-Semites!!!"

Shlomo is on the train reading a newspaper, when his friend Mendel walks in. 
"Shlomo, why on earth are you reading an Arab paper?"
"When I read the Jewish papers, all I find is Jews under attack, synagogues under attack, Israel under attack. But when I read the Arab papers, what do I find? Jews control the media, Jews control the government, Jews rule the world. Mendel, the news is much better!"

**************
Answer is B– OK how many of you know what the shrine of the book is? I thought so… Yeah if you haven’t noticed the past few weeks questions have been architectural questions; another one of those exciting topics we have to cover in our tour guiding course. Next question is the shrine of the book Jewish, Christian, Muslim or secular? See if you knew the answer to that you might be able to answer the question. So the shrine is actually the part of the Israel Museum that hosts the Dead Sea scrolls. They say that Ben Gurion or one of the Prime Ministers once took a US president and explained him the difference between us the Jews and other countries. In the US the most important museum hosts is perhaps the Smithsonian with all types of artifacts, In France it is the Louvre with all its art. In Israel the most important museum has old scrolls and books. That is what defines us. So now that you know that what, you can easily figure out that the correct answer is of course the most unlikely one if you did not know what this was which is the shape of the lid of the urns in which they were found.

Friday, September 15, 2017

The Second Coming of Schwartz- Nitzavim- Vayelech/ Rosh Hashana 2017/ 5777-5778

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

September 15h 2017 -Volume 7 Issue 45 24th of Elul 5777
Parshat Nitzavim/Vayelech/ Rosh Hashana
The Second Coming of Schwartz

It was déjà vu. I was standing in the airport once again. But unlike the other two times this past year when it was just me alone or with one of my children, and it was simple. Two suitcases per person on Aeroflot, you the Schwartzes only fly the airlines that still lets us take two suitcases, despite the fact that we may have to layover in Mosco, Ukraine or some other Eastern Bloc country that killed my ancestors. This time it was different it was all of us. All except Yonah, my yeshiva bachur who won’t leave Israel in middle of Elul, despite the fact that it was his aunts wedding. As well the army probably wouldn’t have been too happy with him leaving again and might reconsider his yeshiva deferment if he had left after just coming back from the States from Summer Camp. But this is not my family update that’s the next E-Mail you are eagerly awaiting, I know. Don’t worry its coming….
Anyways we were all there. Us and 12 pieces of large luggage. Duffle bags of course each packed to between 52.4- 53.7 pounds. We figure that’s the limit that they won’t make us too crazy to repack if we are over, and of course we have to be over. That of course was in addition to the 15 carry-ons that we had. Well of course not 15, because you see a purse isn’t really a carry on, even though it’s the size of a small suitcase, either is a talis bag even though every pocket is full of purchases and stuff that didn’t fit into our suitcases. Then of course there was the four cooler bags of food that Tanta Ricky packed that could feed a small army, just in case we got stuck in some country where there was an army that was in desperate need of some bagels, lox spread, danishes, lots and lots of nachos, chips, cookies and that was just the milchigs cooler. Forget about the pastrami, corn beef, chicken nuggets, salami, turkey, club sandwiches with American Sour pickles in the flayshigs bag. That’s also not carry on of course, as we kept that hidden under my children’s clothing and coats. In short it was crazy. And it was right then that I had my déjà vu moment. I had done this before. I was standing right here in JFK over packed with luggage trying to shlep it all through the airport with four bags slung around my neck wheeling another two and watching my 7 year old and 10 year old do the same. I was even wearing the same baseball hat. It was the first time I actually wore this baseball hat. It was my famous and always present on my tours Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliya hat. Yes it was just over 7 years ago. It was the last time we were all together here in “Amereeka”. The last time we were so overloaded with luggage. I was now experiencing the Second Coming of the Schwartz Family. Coming home once again.
It was different this time. There was this exuberance the first time around, this elation. I had to pinch myself to believe it was true. Were we really making Aliya? Were we really going to move and be able to live in the country that my ancestors dreamed of? There was also these twinges of nervousness. Would it work? Would my kids survive it? Adapt? Integrate? Would I find parnassa? Would I be worthy of living in this land that the Torah tells us Hashem watches all the time and that has a tendency to spit out whoever isn’t living the way we’re supposed to? The one thing I wasn’t really scared about, and I think most Olim will tell you the same is about our security and safety. We knew Hashem watches over this country. It was our home. And home always feels safe and right.
This time though, it was a different experience. I was anxious to return already. I wasn’t elated, I wasn’t nervous. Ok maybe a bit nervous that customs would stop us and find all of the clothing and purchases that my wife had made for her store. But I relied on the fact that it was for a good cause. There was lots of people around Israel who were looking forward to these American clothes for the holidays. I kind of looked at myself as one of these great Rabbis about whose stories I grew up with that would smuggle in Tefilin. Mezuzos, Matzas, Shofars and Lulavs and Etrog into the former Soviet Union under the Iron Curtain. OK maybe it’s not exactly the same thing… And maybe this is not the season to perpetuate our own false justifications. But it worked for me at the time. So leave me alone guilty conscience I have another few days before I have to deal with you.
Yes this time it was certainly different. Whereas the first time it was the magical dream come true. Now it was really our home. My house was waiting. My congregation had lots of work I needed to get back to before the High Holidays. My kids schools were waiting and my tours were going to start up again. In short. We were coming back to a life, not an imagined and longed for dream anymore. I had 10 hours to Moscow and a 4 hour layover and then another 4 hours to Israel to ponder this change in feeling and experience. In between Kosher airline food that I ate, despite the fact that we had four cooler bags and that they tasted horrible, and that came out odd hours in middle of dozing off with no appetite whatsoever. Because I had paid for these tickets and they came with flight. And if you paid for something you eat it. There are starving people in Ethiopia. I think. I even made my kids eat it. Or tried to at least. They tasted it a bit and twirled it around. And I just finished it for them. Why? See above. It’s also chinuch, I guess. {By the way if this E-Mail sounds like I have ADD, I don’t I’m just still very jet-lagged. And did I mention I lost my wisdom tooth last week… There I go again….} Soooo I pondered. What am I to make of this second coming? Is it a good thing? Is it sad that I had lost that excited feeling?
Well, as usual the Torah portion is there for me to find the meaning and message for my daily life ponderings. There’s a reason why we call it toras chayim- the instructions for life. In this week’s double portion of Netzavim and Vayelech, the last day of the life of Moshe Rabbeinu, we are given the last two mitzvos in the Torah. These are the last commands of Hashem that we receive from our shepherd, our teacher the man who has seen us through it all. And these are the last two things that Hashem feels we have to know before we- whadaya know? Get on the plane and start heading home into the Promised Land.
The two mitzvas that we are commanded is the mitzva of Hakhel- gathering together the entire nation, men women children and even infants coming to Jerusalem for a ceremony in which the King reads from the Torah for us. The final mitzva is the command for each of us to write a Torah. To have a personal copy of those instructions that we received on Sinai for ourselves. These last two mitzvos if you think about it share a common denominator. They are both there in order that we should never forget and always have with us that experience that we shared decades before at Har Sinai. It was there on that mountain in middle of the wilderness that we all stood. Shemot (19:17) vayityazvu b’tachtit hahar-we were nitzavim-standing at the foot of the mountain. There we heard the word of Hashem, the lightning the thunder, the elation. It was the moment the entire world had been waiting for since creation. We were all there together and we heard and felt the King. The Mitzva of Hakhel is the second coming. It’s trying to redo and live that again. But this time in the real world.
And finally we are commanded
Devarim (31:19) So now write this song, and teach the children of Israel; Place it into their mouths, in order that this song will be for Me as a witness for the children of Israel.
Throughout generations, we do not find that every Jew or even masses of Jews have undertaken this mitzva, to write a scroll. It’s an expensive mitzva that not everyone can fulfill. Yet according to some authorities when we receive an Aliya to the Torah, the congregation that owns the communal Torah grants it in entirely to the person who makes the blessing and reads from it and it is as if he owns this Torah that he is reading from and is an a way fulfilling his obligation. Interesting then that through aliya to the Torah, we fulfill this last mitzva. Emphasis as can be expected from me on the word aliya.
The Torah though interestingly describes this final mitzva as a song. Not as a book, not as a scroll, not as instructions or a handbook for life. It is a song that must be put in our mouth. Music changes over the years, throughout generations. Different countries have their own tunes and rhythms. There is Middle Eastern, African, Western, Russian, Polish. I’m not sure if there is Chinese but I imagine there is as well. There’s music from the fifties, the 60’s the 70’s. There’s rap, there’s reggae, there’s klezmer. It’s all different. Each one is a representation and an outpouring of the soul, the times and the eras. The beauty of viewing the Torah as a song is that Hashem is telling us that the words and teachings of the Torah are meant to be the eternal and relevant, new and fresh, emotional and uplifting vehicle for us to realize and express the yearnings and experiences of our soul. The words that we heard on Sinai- our first coming of age, are meant to be transformed on a personal level and individual level as we refresh it each year, each day, each lifecycle event and most significantly as we come into the Land of Israel to live in the world and life that everything that has come before this moment has been a preparation for.
The titles of the two parshiyot Nitzavim and Vayelech are in fact opposite terms. Nitzvaim means standing upright. Vayelech means walking or going forward. Perhaps those are the two last messages we are meant to have in these final mitzvos and commands from Moshe. On one hand we are upright. We are meant to look at where we came from. We stand together as a nation and remember that moment on Sinai. We relive it. We were born. We were commanded. We were on the top of the world. We were chosen and beloved. All of us, the wood choppers, the Kohanim, the Rabbis, the women, the children the water carriers and the tour guides. Yet that moment that standing that we recall is not end of the story. We are meant to walk forward, to sing, to build and transform those words and teachings into a symphony that testifies to Hashem’s presence on earth. There are planting songs, marching songs, prayerful devotional songs and festive celebratory songs. But they’re our songs. They are not new. They are not the songs of the first time, fresh, elation type. They’re different than the first time around. They’re more mature. They’re real. They are what it is really all about.
This week and these parshiyot are the last of the year; the Shabbos before Rosh Hashana. The word shana which in Hebrew means year also has the same root as the word shoneh- different. Even more interesting is that it also means to repeat something, like the word sheni, a second time. Each year has its Rosh. It’s head. It is a time when we start again differently. It is a second coming. It is a year that we may perhaps hope to repeat the same basic terms and structure that we have the year before. We will read the same entire Torah once again. We may have the same job, the same family, the same expectations and same basic life structure. But at the same time we need to find and sing the new song and tune that will define and give new music to our lives. The tune of the year. Perhaps hopefully even the tune of Mashiach our final redemption. May Hashem bless all of this coming year that we each find the melody that uplifts us. May it be one that is sweet, that sings of health, of joy, of love, of holiness and parnassa tova and may it be one that rings out to the rest of the world as we sing together in the glory of our King.

Have a perfect last Shabbosof the year and a Shana Tova Umetuka,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Tsu itlechen neiem lid ken men tsupassen an alten nigen.”. To every new song one can find an old tune.

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/nJa2KAzTOhk - The story of PickAls by Arthur Cohen of blessed Memory

https://youtu.be/srbqz96Dzao  beautiful Avinu Malkeinu by Reb Pinchas Wolf OB”M of my hometown Detroit sung by Shlomo Simcha

https://youtu.be/yC_OlvUU7_A     – How To Make a Shofar

https://youtu.be/v6bhPzT4mjs Cool Technion Robot Rosh Hashana

https://mostlymusic.com/collections/featured-music/products/mona-7-uteshuva-utelfia-utzedaka-ft-yaakov-shwekey - Yackov Shwekey brand new single B’Rosh Hashana from Mona 7 disc at mostlymusic.com

https://youtu.be/LC-MEfJW1LU  - my favorite Rosh Hashana song Ochila LaKel…
  
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email

Q A site where a locomotive is stationed as an exhibit for visitors:
a. Oron
b. Nitsana
c. Dimona
d. Beersheba

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ILLUMINATING RASHI OF THE WEEK

Vayeilech- In all of my different congregations I have always been a big fan of kids in shul. Maybe it was to get back at all of those shuls that were not kid friendly and shushed me a lot. I don’t know I’ll let my therapist figure it out. So I always gave out candy, after all who doesn’t like the candy man? As well I encouraged families to bring their children, Yeah, I don’t like them running through shul and disturbing but at the same time, I was never a fan of decorum either. So what’s the right thing to do?  It’s the High Holiday season to bring the kids or not? That is the question.
Well good old Rashi is there to help us out. YHou just have to read him carefully, something I’m sure readers of this part of the E-mail are doing anyways. So the Parsha this week’s teaches us the mitza of Hakhel, gathering all of the Jewish people to hear the king read from the Torah on the Sukkot after the Sabbatical year. The commandment is
Devarim (31:12) Gather the nation; the men, the women and the infants.
Rashi explains what everyones there for
The men- to study. The women to listen. And the infants, for what purpose are they coming? In order to give reward to those that bring them.
This is a very nice oft-quoted Rashi. The importance of training children and infants is essential. Yet Rashi is clearly not coming to teach us mere lessons. Rav Dushinsky notes that the truth is that if the parents and all of the people were commanded to come then who was going to watch the children anyways? There were no Moabite baby sitters hanging around that you could just give a few shekel to watch the kids. So why is Rashi asking why are the children coming? He answers that is precisely what Rashi is coming to explain why did Hashem command the children to come, either way they had to come. His answer? In order to give reward to the ones that brought them. Meaning, yes the children had to come anwyays, but Hashem who loves to increase mitzvos made this into a mitzva in order to give the parents extra reward that they were not merely bringing them out of convenience but rather as a mitzva.
The Sefat Emet adds to this notion that we see from here that despite the fact that children may disturb their parents prayers and the decorum, it is still worthwhile and the will of Hashem that they be brought to Shul. It is important for parent to appreciate that they should give up a little of their own spirituality for their childrens benefit of hearing and learning and experiencing the word of Hashem. I think it is needless to say therefore that the shul-going should be a pleasant experience for these children as well. So maybe offer one a candy next time, rather than shushing him.

 Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky- the Dushinsky Rebbe (1867-1948) –  also known as the Maharitz, was the first Rebbe of Dushinsky and Chief Rabbi (Gavad) of the Edah HaChareidis of Jerusalem. Born in Paks, Hungary, he was a disciple of the author of Shevet Sofer, one of the grandchildren of the Chassam Sofer.
After his marriage to Sheindel the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Winkler, author of Levushei Mordechai, Dushinsky became the Chief Rabbi in Galanta, Slovakia. In an epidemic during World War I, his wife died, leaving no children. He subsequently remarried Esther Neuhaus, daughter of Rabbi Yoel Tzvi Neuhaus. He relocated to the town of Chust to assume the position of Chief Rabbi. In 1921, his only child, Yisroel Moshe, was born.
In 1930, the Dushinsky family moved to the British Mandate of Palestine, settling in Jerusalem. Shortly after in 1932 came the death of the Chief Rabbi and founder of the Edah HaChareidis, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. The Maharitz was appointed as his successor. He founded a community of Hungarian Jews in Jerusalem, affiliated with the Perushim section of the Edah HaChareidis. This community gradually developed into a Hasidic dynasty, which is today headed by his grandson, who was named after him.
Rav Dushinsky was known for his strong opposition to Zionism, and spoke to the newly formed United Nations against the creation of the Zionist State.
In fall 1948 the Rav was hospitalized in the Shaarei Zedek Hospital on Jaffa Road under the care of Dr. Moshe Wallach, director-general of the hospital. He died on the eve of Sukkot1948 and was buried in the small cemetery adjacent to the hospital, which was used as a temporary burial ground during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War when the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was inaccessibleHe was succeeded by Rabbi Zelig Reuven Bengis as Chief Rabbi of the Edah HaChareidis, and by his son, Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky, as leader of the Dushinsky Hasidim, which would under the latter's leadership turn into one of the newest Hasidic dynasties.
*Interesting factoid-The Jerusalem Municipality sought to honor Rav Dushinsky after his death with the naming of a street, but his son refused for fear that any Shabbat desecration that occurred on the street (e.g. the driving of cars on the Shabbat) would cause pain to his father's soul. After many requests, his son agreed to the naming of a passageway of stairs in the Pagi (Sanhedria) neighborhood after his father, since cars could not access this path
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RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TYPES OF JEWS IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Breslavers – I’ve never heard the term before but according to Wikipedia there are some who refer to this chasidic group as the “toyteh Chasidim” – the dead chasidim as they follow a Rebbe who is no longer with the living; none other than of course Rabbi Nachman. Yet, I don’t think there are chasisdim that are more alive and more present than the Breslavers as they number 10’s of thousands worldwide and have certainly seen the greatest resurgence in the last two decades. Now like many chasidim there are breakoffs and different opinions on how it should be run, this is particularly true where there is no one accepted Rebbe. One of Reb Nachman’s last statements was that his fire will burn until Mashiach comes and therefore from his student Rebbe Nasan and on, no one has taken the mantle of being the Rebbe of the Chasidut. So there are different groups of Breslavers. There are the more mainstream ones based in Jerusalem “the shul” in Meah Shearim and in Tzfat. These are certainly the largest groups although not necessarily the most visible. They study in “regular” Yeshivos and uphold the customs of Breslav and as well also study the teachings of Rebbe Nachman.
The most visible though and perhaps the most fun and largest growing sect are the Na Nachs. They are the Breslavers that one can see dancing in the streets during traffic, standing on street corners handing out books and in generally just having fun, bringing ‘joy to the world’. The name Na Nach comes from a letter that they believe was sent from the other world to Reb Yisrael Oddesa their leader who passed away in 1994, reassuring him about t*he fast that be broke on the 17th of Tamuz because he was sick and it contains the words Na Nach Nachman Mei Uman. In Reb Nachman’s writing he mentions a sung that will be sung to herald in Mashiach with stanzas of 1,2,3, and 4 letter words and thus it became the song. These Na Nachs consist of many Israeli Baalei Teshuva who have returned to an observant lifestyle and were drawn to the hopeful statements of Reb Nachman, that there is no such thing as giving up hope, that each person should focus on their nekuda tova, that one point of spirituality and goodness that could never be tainted and that the primary mitzva is to be happy and to rejoice. The holiday for Breslavers is of course Rosh Hashana where tens of thousands of Chasidim descend upon the small Ukrainian town of Uman, where Rebbe Nachman is buried, for the holiday. Rebbe Nachman declared Rosh Hashana as his day and promised he will beseech on behalf of those that visit his grave. I love Breslavers. To a large degree they are the happy people of Klal Yisrael. So next time you are stuck in traffic look around for some dancing chasidim, get out and join them. Your day will be much better.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S REALLY TERRIBLE LUGGAGE JOKES OF THE WEEK

Had my luggage torn to pieces, so I asked my lawyer if I could sue the airline. He said, “you don’t have much of a case”.

A vulture turns up at the airport with two dead animals. The staff member at check in says, “Sorry, only one carrion per passenger”.

A photon turns up at check in for a flight with no baggage. The check in agent says “traveling light?” He says “Yes, I am”.

Someone told me they thought I was in denial about baggage, but that’s definitely not the case.

There was an incident at the airport when a large collection of suitcases fell over in the luggage area. Experts suspect it was pile it error.

At an airport, one of my friends suggested we disguise ourselves as luggage. I said, “let’s not get carried away”.

Took legal action once against someone who tried to copy my innovative self-packing luggage. It was an open and shut case.

Friend of mine works as a baggage handler at the airport, but used to be a lawyer. He kept losing his cases.

Unpacking my bag after a flight, and I have a suitcase full of gloves. Apparently I bought a hand luggage only fare.
I know an elephant who refused to travel by air because he didn’t want to leave his trunk in the hold.
Worried that the airline might lose my bag with all the sausages I’ve bought during my trip to Germany. That would be the wurst case scenario.
A friend was seeing someone who worked for a left luggage company but it didn’t work out. It seems he had too much baggage

Sal, a pilot for a major airline, carries his running clothes in a backpack, freeing his hands for his luggage. On one trip, he told me, he noticed passers-by grinning at him in the terminal. Sal smiled back. Maybe some of them were on my last flight, he thought.
His ego was brimming until he got to the cockpit and stowed his bags. That's when he saw the "Parachute" sign his co-workers had stuck to his backpack.

A passenger piled his luggage on the scale at an airline counter in New York and said to the ticket agent: I'm flying to Los Angeles.  I want the large bag sent to Denver and the two small ones to Cincinnati."  "I'm sorry sir, but we can't do that," said the ticket agent. "That's good to hear because that's where they ended up the last time I flew this route."
  
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Answer is D– Although I have never visited the train station and museum in Beer Sheva of the last steam engine in Israel that was built by Turks during WWI in preparation for the war and attack by the British in order to move troops, I knew the answer. Who knows I may even visit it one day.