Jewish Politics- Parshat Shoftim 2018 / 5778

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

August 17^th 2018 -Volume 8 Issue 43 6^th Elul 5778

Parshat Shoftim

Jewish Politics

It was a few years ago. It was election season in Israel and I got a phone call from someone who introduced himself as a pollster taking a poll for a local newspaper, or radio station, or something. I don’t remember. It didn’t really matter. He wanted my opinion and I’m generally good at giving it. Since nobody in my family really is that interested in what I have to say, I take it where I can get it.

 So he began his interview by asking me who I thought would be the best candidate for Prime Minister of Israel. Was it Bibi, Livni , Buzi, Uzi or Shmoozi or some other silly nickname that our respected elected officials like to go by. I told him that I didn’t think any of them were really worth anything. He then asked me who I did think would make a good candidate. I told him Putin. (This was of course before Donald Trump was a candidate. Although I’m not sure if he’s good for the US or not- I mean my 401Ks are doing pretty good, he doesn’t really bring out the greatest or most refined image for the most prestigious position in the world. But hey I’m living in Israel where our members of Knesset all have cartoon names and kind of act like them as well. So he would fit right in and actually be very good for Israel. Pretty much for the same reason Putin would,) as I explained to my pollster, who had by this time realized he had gotten more than he bargained for. I explained that I felt that we needed someone to lead this country who doesn’t really care what the rest of the world had to say. They will condemn us anyways. Back then I felt that Putin really does what he feels is necessary for his nation and let the chips fall where they may.

So then who would I vote for, my pollster then asked me, being that my top choice seemed to have another job already. I told him that I would most likely vote for one of the religious parties in that case.  He asked me, quite shocked, If I thought that they were better than the other candidates or parties. I told him that honestly I didn’t. They were probably the same if not worse in some cases, but that I would vote for them anyways. When he asked me why, I think I really upset him- which is generally my objective, as I told him that my Rabbi told me it was a mitzva. “A Mitzva?!!” he incredulously responded, “Do I really believe that it is a mitzva?!!” Being a Rabbi, I felt it would help to explain myself with a story. We Rabbis do that a lot.

I told him that they once asked the great sage in the 1950’s in Israel, known as the Chazon Ish if it was a mitzva to vote. He responded in the affirmative, it was a mitzva. When his students asked him what type of mitzva it was. Was it like eating matza on Pesach. He told them it wasn’t. It was more like eating marror-the bitter herbs, J. Ouch! Just chew and swallow and think of the bitterness of our exile.

Now although I told him that in jest, I continued, the truth is I  do believe that the religious parties are the only one that will solve the problems of this country.  See right now the religious parties are doing what everyone else is doing. Grabbing as much for their constituents from the pot and maybe dropping a few sheks in their own pocket along the way. But when they are in charge, they are the Prime minister, then they will be responsible for the country; the economy, the security and the defense. And pretty much they only really care about one thing. That their children should sit and learn Torah as much and as long as possible. So if you came over to a Chareidi Prime Minister and told him that Gaza is throwing missiles on us and either the Yeshiva students will have to close their gemaras and go fight orrrrrr,… he could push that little button over there and the problem will be solved with one kaboom. I don’t think he would put down his cigarette for a second. It is bitul Torah. They are trying to kill us. The Talmud (and pretty much common sense anywhere in the world- except for maybe in Europe right now) tells us that ‘he who comes to kill you- get him first’. Poof! Problem solved. Peace in the Middle East. See they don’t really care about what Ben Gurion called the ‘Oom Shmoom’ (Israeli lingo for UN) or anyone else really has to say or what resolutions they may pass. They realize that God is running the world. And Hashem wants their kids studying Torah.

I don’t think I convinced the guy on the phone to vote religious. But he definitely appreciated my alternate view. It was one of those classic only-in-Israel type of conversation that I relish when we have a country of Jews.

Now to be honest, I really am not that anti-government or even anti-religious politics as I may have stated in my conversation. I was just having fun on the phone. In truth it is a big struggle here to try to figure out how to lead this country. It is perhaps the greatest challenge that they are still trying to figure out. Can you be a “Jewish state” and a Democratic one at the same time? Coming from America where separation of church and State is ironically considered to be the “holy grail” of the founding and guiding principles of the political, legislative and justice systems. It’s like God Himself- if they were legally allowed to believe in Him, said an 11^th commandment that ‘Thou shall not take Me into account in any of your secularly driven laws’.

So coming from that upbringing it is hard to wrap your brain around the attempt in this country to bring Him into it somewhat. To tenderly try to define our country as “Jewish” and in more than a “Kosher style” kind of way. Rather to legislate, as is the case, public Shabbat observance. To dictate that all marriages and divorces must be done according to the 3300 year old Jewish tradition under the auspices of the Rabbinate. To insure that kosher is really observed in any government or publically payed for event. It is commendable. It is even holy, in my humble opinion. It’s not perfect. It’s far from perfect, in fact. But in many ways it’s a heck of a lot better than all that idol worship, murder and licentiousness and who knows what else was going on, during both the first and second temple periods that our Torah, Tanach and history tells us took place. But yes we still have a long way to go.

The first step though to appreciating where we have to go, as they taught me in school, is to have an image in your mind as to where you want to get to. What it should look like. Because if you don’t know where you’re going then no road will ever to take you there. There is perhaps no better time of year or better parsha than this weeks to give us that picture. That image of what the world and government we are looking for should look like. For as we approach the High Holidays we are meant to self-examine. It is a time for introspection and Parshat Shoftim gives us that snapshot of the world we are charged with creating.

The portion begins with the first basic law of a setting up a society. We need judges and we need police men that are just, that don’t take bribes and that follow the laws of Hashem. The verse than tells us something fascinating.

Devarim (16:8) “If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses.

OK, now this happens. There is a question, a law that I need to do. So who do I go to find out these laws? Obviously to the court house. To the local judge. That is his job seemingly. But the Torah seems to make a point that I should go to the place Hashem chose; the Temple, the Beit Hamikdash. And who do I speak with over there?

Ibid (16:9) And you shall come to the Levi, Kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment.”

Whoah… I’m not bringing a sacrifice or tithes right now. I just want to know what the legal ramifications of my extension on my house has to do with my neighbors who are kvetching. Why do I have to talk to the Kohen or the Levi. That seems a bit strange. But it continues.

Ibid (16:11-12) And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place the Lord will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you. According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left.

Did you notice the bolded underline word? I’m not just asking the judge, or the legal secretary or the housing administrator. I have to ask the Kohen and the Levi and listen to what they all tell me. I have to do this the Torah tells us in the place Hashem chose. There is no just-a-legal question in Judaism. It is a spiritual question. What is right for my soul? Will this perhaps legal loophole that I may be able to find be the “right” thing to do? Perhaps even more telling is the final verse where the Torah tells us whose opinion really counts

And the man who acts intentionally, not obeying the kohen who stands there to serve the Lord, your God, or to the judge that man shall die, and you shall abolish evil from Israel.

It is the Kohen that is named first. It is the spiritual aspect that is most important. There is no separation. My spiritual dictate, from the man who is only there to serve Hashem my God, is even more important than the legal one of the judge whose job it is to preserve society.

Even more fascinating is when the Torah talks about the role of the king who of course is meant to be God fearing and chosen by Hashem. The Torah then tells us

Ibid (17:18) And it will be, when he sits upon his royal throne, that he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah on a scroll from [that Torah which is] before the Levi and kohanim.

The Torah goes out of its way to tell us that the King himself, the executive office itself, has to have a Torah that is written. Two actually. One that he would always take with him wherever he went and one that would be kept with the Kohen and Levi and that he would regularly have to check his own against. The monarch of Israel as well needs a Kohen. His law, his executive powers to start wars, to pardon, to rule the people draws its strength from the spiritual guidance of the Kohen. In fact the entire next few verses repeat all of the mitzvos of the Kohen and Levi that the Torah already told us numerous times. They don’t have a portion in Israel. The Jewish people must provide them with their tithes. Take care of them. Give them parts of every cow you shect, every steak you make, every bread you bake. They are part of you. They are your guidance. They are the essence of our society.

The Jewish people, Hashem told us back on Sinai are a mamlechet Kohanim- a nation of kohanim, of priests. We are all holy. Our job is to set up a society that reflects that divine role. The only way that we can do that is if we have the Kohen, that spiritual guide with us in whatever we do. The Rambam tells us that it is not only the tribe of Levi that Hashem is their portion, as they have no portion in the land of Israel, but every Jew has the potential to find that inner Kohen, that inner Levi. To declare that all he does is for the sake of heaven and bringing Hashem’s glory to shine out to the rest of the world.

Imagine a world that is run like that. That is the end game. Where our kings, our judges, our police, our politicians, our congressman and the entire-dare I say Knesset, are all looking for one thing and one thing only. Will this enhance the Divine presence in the world or not? Imagine if we had a place we could go to, a courthouse that was mandated to be built right next to the place that Hashem Himself could be seen, how much different we would act. We would appreciate the significance of our actions. Of how and what each of us does in any area could impact our own spiritual growth or our neighbors. That is the world we are waiting for that is the order that we daven for. That is what we need to not just pray for, but to begin to make happen, as we travel the road of preparing ourselves for that mindset of what the world that shines that light out to should look like.

It is almost Rosh Hashna. In just another few weeks we will be spending all day in shul asking Hashem for His kingship to be established. That’s pretty much all we really daven for. Are we ready for that? Really ready? Or are we still in our separation-of-church-and-state or Jewish/democracy mode and justice systems that we have been nursed upon, with the Star spangled banner apple pie or Hatikva and Falafel? As I said it’s the season of introspection and reflection. It’s why we read these portions. So if the pollster calls you up and asks you, or me who should be the next prime minister…maybe you and I will have a much better answer.

Have a royal Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 ********************************************************

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Ainer iz a ligen, tsvai iz ligens, drei iz politik.” -One lie is a lie, two are lies, but three is politics!.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q. Remains of churches from the Byzantine period are found in the north mainly in:

A. The Golan Heights

B. Eastern Galilee

C. The Meron area

D. Western Galilee

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/ZxxKN96e_Yo- Hillarious Jewish Music Challenge. Can you guess the songs they had these non-Jews sing?

https://youtu.be/vTPxA9k3v_A – Great song by my good friend Rabbi “K” (BZ Klatzkow) founder of Shabbat. Com the words from Avot “it’s not for you to finish the work, yet you are not free to not do it. For today is to do the job and tomorrow is to receive reward. The world is like anteroom the next world is the main hall. Prepare yourself in the anteroom in order to enter the main hall.”

https://youtu.be/1V349ginD60- If you can get passed allthe shameless corporate sponsorship placements its actually a cute and catchy song for shabbos  sung by cute chasidhish choir shir vshevach. Yom zeh li yisroooooel J

https://youtu.be/gzxXRvjObbQ- The classic Ma Navu al Hahorim from the haftora from London Boys a million years ago

https://youtu.be/aazadGAfE78 - And another pretty cool Ma navu I found Israeli version with footage of liberating the Kotel that adds a whole new dimension to the words of the song

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HAFTORA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Shoftim – So many songs in this weeks haftora. Much of our weekly Kabbalat Shabbos canbe found here. hisoriri hisoriri- awaken and awaken, livshi bigdei tifarteich –wear the clothing of your splendor. Hisna’ari mei’afar kumi- awaken, rise up from the earth- all of these verses are words we say when we welcome in the Shabbat queen.

The prophecies of Yeshaya of consolation are perhaps the most used for songs because they speak of the hope that Yerushalayim will be restored and Hashem will comfort and console the city and rebuild its ruins.

Hashem promises that neither a uncircumcised or an impure one will come there. I always interpreted that to refer to the Christians (the uncircumcised) and the Muslims (the impure). The one who will herald in redemption is hearkening. The mevaser tov- Eliyahu Hanavi is around the corner. Hashem will show His outstretched arm as Jerusalem is united. Again in modern times (and in the youtube video I posted above) those words can easily be seen happening as Jerusalem is united, the old city and the new) in 1967 as Hashem’s miracles were seen by the entire world and not even one bullet was fired in the old city as it was returned to us.

Yes, it’s a haftora of song. Hopefully it is the song of redemption that we are experiencing right now that we can sing until its ultimate fulfillment.

Yeshaya Hanavi Era of Prophecy (780-700 BC)- Yeshayahu was the author of his own book. It has 66 chapters and it his prophecies that make up the majority of the haftoras 15 in total. He was considered the greatest prophet since Moshe and he died (or more accurately was killed by King Menashe) at age 120 just as Moshe did.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

Tabernacle- 1312 BC-  From the Golden Calf we move on over to the building of the Mishkan / Tabernacle. This building of which its construction takes up half of the book of Shemos, amazingly was really only meant to be around and in use for a few weeks. Remember, they were meant to enter Israel and were not far away. It ended up being used for 40 years in the wilderness and another 200 or so until Shlomo built the Beis Hamikdash. But originally it was only meant to be a short term building just until they got there. Lesson to be learned- even when your building a short term project, make it last, do it well, you never know…particularly if it’s a mitzva of Hashem.

The Mishkan as well is not just a place for Hashem to reside, and for us to bring offerings, but as this week’s Torah portion tells us it was where the law and the judges would sit as well. We don’t have separation of church and state. All law is Divine and that is the sanctity of the Mishkan.

Now where can we talk about the Mishkan? Well in Yerushalayim one can visit the Temple institute and really get an appreciation of the vessels of the Temple; The altars, the menora, the ark and the Kohen and his clothing.  As well one can to Shiloh in the Shomron, where the Mishkan actually sat and see the area where it was as well as a film of what it was like having the Mishkan stories that took place there. As well the shul in the modern village of Shiloh is actually built with the theme of the Mishkan in mind and is certainly worth popping into see. Not far from there in Ariel, from what I’m told there as well a model at the hotel there. For a life size model –although not halachically accurate but definitely cool (despite a bit of Christian influence, as I think evangelicals are behind it) in Timna not far from Eilat they have a pretty incredible one, where you can really get a general feel for what it must have felt like. It wasn’t a big Temple. Really a large tent. Just watch out for any Messianic garbage they throw at you over there.

The word Mishkan is the same root as the word mashkon- or collateral Hashem held the Mishkan as a collateral for us until the Temple will be rebuilt. May we see that day soon.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S REALLY TERRIBLE KING JOKES  OF THE WEEK

A king has three glasses in front of him, and two of them are full. What’s the king’s name?
Phillip the third!

Did you know the roundest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference?  Yep, he acquired his size from too much pi!

What does the king do when he burps? He issues a royal pardon!

When does a prince get very wet? When he becomes the reigning monarch!

Which king felt a fraction of his former self? Henry 1/8th!

A Christian a Jew and an Arab were caught stealing fruit from the fields of the King. They were brought before the King for judgement.

The Christian was brought first and the King asked him what he stole. He said that he stole apricots. The King got angry and sentenced him that he would be forced to be chained unclothed and he would be forced to sit unclothed in a bin of apricots and he would be pelted by everyone with them.

The Jew was brought next and the King asked him what he stole and he responded cherries. A well the King got very angry and sentenced him to be forced as well to sit without anything on in cherries and be pelted by everyone. When the Jew got his sentence though he started to laugh

The King asked him if he though this sentence was funny. Berel wiped his eyes from laughter and told thing that he was just laughing at the thought of the poor arab that stole sabras…

************

Answer is B– This one is pretty easy.we had two days of Christianity in the Galile. And despite my best efforts to delete all of this mishegas from my mind, it seems that it still there, every placed “yoshka” went to the bathroom here in Galilee is embedded in my mind. He pretty much hung around the Jewish communities that were all in the Eastern and lower Galilee. Kfar Nachum, Mt. Tavor, Beatitudes, Migdal he was all over there and they built churches all over as a result of that. We haven’t removed the idolatry that most of the world believes in still because we haven’t corrected them and shone the light of Hashem, who certainly didn’t make a baby and torture him to death to atone for the sins of mankind. Although one would think its silly enough that we wouldn’t have to convince people how ridiculous it is. We haven’t done so because Christianity is good for business and sadly too many here worship the Almighty dollar more than the Almighty. Ah well… Mashiach will come soon and solve that.