The Giving Tree- Parshat Vayeira 2018 / 5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

October 26^th 2018 -Volume 9 Issue 4 17^th Cheshvan 5779

Parshat Vayeira

The Giving Tree

The Schwartz family moved around a lot. We were galus yidden. We started off our marriage in Brooklyn, NY. Midwood, to be precise. We were excited to find an apartment right across from my grandparents. Hey, free babysitting and my savta was a great cook that made sure we always had her special marble cake and kokosh cake and totod capulsta (stuffed cabbage for you non-Hungarians that have never tasted good cooking that only a Hungarian grandmother can make). We knew it was the right street because the address was 1818 Ave L. Two times chai. The L of course stood for life. Well actually that was my grandmothers address across the street. We were 1819, but that was the sign that I saw every morning when I went outside to Shacharis. And Gematrias are allowed to be off by one, right?

Our next destination was Des Moines, Iowa. It was a little different than Brooklyn. In NY we had a small one-bedroom apartment. When we had one child we put up a bookshelf in our living room and poof now we had two bedrooms. After our second child, we had become professionals and added one more bookshelf and now we had a three-bedroom apartment. But it was tight. In Iowa we bought our first house. It was about 4000 square feet 5 bedrooms with a huge basement, a front lawn with green stuff growing on it. They explained to us city folk that this was called grass and it grew on non-pavemented earth. We didn’t understand why they didn’t clear it and build a high rise complex on it. But people in Iowa seemed to like this thing called grass. When my kids came to our new house, they were like rats out of a cage running back and forth from one end to the other. Freedom!

Now I of course wanted to find significance to our house address once again. But 6207 Dagle street is not an easy address to find Talmudic references to. The gematria of 6207 is v’raz which means ‘and secret’. So I guess I would have to dig for a while until I found it. We had an Israeli guest once at our house and when he asked me my address and I told him, he said “Ahh you leev on degel street. Eez dere a flag hanging on eet?” And then I knew. A degel you see is a flag and we hoped that our house would be a flag and banner for all to come join us.

From there it was to Norfolk Virginia or Nahhfalk as they pronounce it down south. There I knew we had the right house as our address number was 1348. Can you do the math to figure out that gematria- Alef is 1000 if you need help…. Got it? That’s right 348 is samayach. Esmach in Hebrew meaning either ‘I will be’ or ‘make happy’. The street name Llewylen didn’t have much significance but if you read it in Hebrew it would be written loo Eilin- which would mean ‘if not for God’ or ‘Lo elin -he is to God’. I was pushing it, but certainly was happy in Virginia.

Then it was to Seattle. There we had three houses, the first two were rentals. Our first house was a mansion. It had 7 bedrooms, 4 decks overlooking Puget Sound. Maple and oak engraved walls and bookshelves, a private tennis court and basketball court a little meditation center with a fountain and a Jacuzzi, not a bad place at all. The owners, it seems, were stuck in China and they were desperate to rent it out, because if it was vacant it could not be insured. The previous tenants broke their lease and although the asking price was $5000 a month rent, we snagged it for $2000 a month. I didn’t need a gematria-which 4548 SW 54^th street didn’t really have- to tell me it was the right house. We had my parents and all of my siblings there for us for Sukkos right after we moved and I told my mother how glad she must be that I didn’t go to law or medical school, where it would’ve taken another 20 years before I lived in something like this. Thank God I stayed in Kollel… She was not impressed with the argument.

Our second house there 2731 Garlough was a little bit of a let-down after we moved out of our casa-de Schwartz and the West Seattle TLC (Torah Learning Center). But it served us well. Our minyan grew. We had big tent services in our large backyard and our family expanded as well. We finally bought a house in Seattle after 4 years of renting. Our newest house there 5121 Olga was a nice quiet dead end street. Emphasis on the word “was”. Much to our neighbour’s consternation, the not so friendly redneck with a rifle, the TLC wasn’t a quiet bunch. We had late Shabbos meals with 30 -40 guests a week. Holiday functions and classes and programs all the time. We had plenty of sleep over guests. 5121 Olga didn’t have much gematria significance that I could figure out. We had a daughter named Elka, there. I loved her. She was named after my grandmother Elka, but that was as close as I got to Olga. Seattle was not the place we were going to stay. So Olga became “I’ll Go”, and it was off to the Holy Land, the final stop for the Schwartzes.

We fell in love with our house in Karmiel the second we saw it. One of the American “nightmares” of moving to Israel is that you’ve got your big beautiful house in the States and here all you have are these stone forest apartment communities and a small three-bedroom apartment at best. We’d been there done that already. The Schwartzes wanted a house and Hashem sent us a beautiful one for cheaper than what a storage unit in Jerusalem would’ve cost. It was 6 bedrooms and three floors. It has a 2 bedroom attached suite, for guests. It had room for my wife’s store and even a few trees in the backyard. Although no real grass, but the fake Astroturf stuff is close and you don’t need to pay anyone to mow it. Best of all of course was the address. 10 Eshel. Can you have a better address than a street named after the tree that Avraham Avinu planted in this week’s Torah portion. 10 of course can be read ten in Hebrew which means “give eshel” The Giving Tree that was the new home of the Schwartzes.

Now this Eshel tree that our father Avraham planted was certainly not just a simple tree. The Torah doesn’t go out of its way just to tell us about the horticulture of our forefathers and what their preferred garden trees were. This is much larger than Johnny Appleseed. In English the Eshel is a Tamarisk or a type of evergreen tree. Why is this the tree of choice for Avraham?

 This is where having a tour guide as your weekly E-Mail insights writer kicks in. See the Eshel tree is unique as a desert tree that flourishes in the Negev and south near Beer Sheva where Avraham lived. Besides having big shady branches and leaves the eshel does something unique. It exudes salt that can absorb the moisture from the atmosphere. That water allows it to grow very tall and dig deep, strong roots. The salt meanwhile as well falls on the earth with the morning dew and prevents all types of weeds and the like that might damage the tree from growing. Pretty amazing, the wonders of Creation.  Which was imaginably the point of him planting it.

It's also pretty interesting in the big picture of this story in the parsha where salt seems to play a prominent role. Remember how salt, sulphur, hail and brimstone hit Sodom? Remember how the wife of Lot was turned into a pillar of salt. Our sages, quoted by Rashi tell us that the reason salt was chosen to be the medium of choice and not parsley, sage rosemary or thyme was that Lot had told his wife to offer their guests salt and she refused to. This was not because she was concerned for their high blood pressure. Salt reflects that special spice that without it the food is bland. Un kein taam. That was how the wife of Lot served her food. The message being of course ‘I made you food take it and eat it’. It’s the difference of going the extra mile. It’s sheli sheli vshelach shelach – what’s mine is mine and yours is yours. Take what you get and be happy. She was turned into a pillar of salt, which interestingly enough the midrash tells us that cows lick from every day and then it grows back again. The woman who didn’t give salt is an eternal salt shaker for cows.

Avraham as opposed to that plants an eshel- a “salt tree”. He plants a tree that everyone can come under. That will provide for all. It takes it all in. The salt attracts the environment and brings them all in. It also salts the earth and makes sure the bad weeds that come close won’t damage its roots. Pretty amazing and cool!

Our sages see in the eshel tree a lot more than a tree though. The Talmud in Sotah tells us a few different approaches. Reish Lakish suggests that it was an orchard full with all types of fruit trees, Reb Nechemia suggest it was an inn that he would welcome people into and offer a whole selection of food there. Perhaps even some chulent as well. It was there that he made the name of Hashem great in the world. They read the word eshel as sha’al- anything you asked for you got there and more. Rabbeinu Bachaya suggests that he even opened up a Sanhedrin to answer any questions you might have of faith. It was a one-stop shopping Walmart with a minyan for shacharis in the back.  It was all free. And it was all so that people would appreciate what a glorious Creator we have that gave this all to us.

There are others that see in ESheL an acronym for the three primary obligations of hospitality-achila- eating, shtiya-drink and either leena or liviya- sleeping over or escorting the person out. There is even a story I read about a great machnis orech- someone who would welcome in guests all the time to his house. Anyone that needed a meal knew they could find one by his house. His door was always open.  A great fire broke out though one day and his house and all his worldly possessions were lost. He went to the great Rabbi of his town, none other than Reb Chaim Volozhin to ask him why this happened. Reb Chaim asked the man if in addition to his hospitality did he also escort his guests out. Did he walk them to the door? Make them feel wanted; that it was hard to part from them? When the man responded that he did not. He fed them. He fed them well in fact. But after the meal, they left. What did he have to walk them for? Reb Chaim, then told him that the first two letters of eshel which he fulfilled are alef and shin- eating and drinking- achila and shtiya, which spell aish- Fire. You need to add the liviya-the escorting them out- to add the lamed to that word to put out the fire. Scary stuff…

Avraham Avinu planted an eshel not just to fill the need of some hungry yeshiva guys or seminary girls that needed a place to crash for Shabbos (Because the $25,000 you pay for tuition is not enough for them to cover some beans, barley and meat for a chulent for your children…). Avraham planted a tree for the same reason that the first thing Hashem does when He creates a world is to plant a garden and place man in it. Because He wanted to be kind to his Creation. He wanted us to learn from Him that we were put here to share goodness and blessing with the world. If that’s the motivation than obviously you go the extra mile. Obviously you provide salt and all that your guests request. Obviously you walk them to the door, offer them a bed and check in to make sure they are comfortable. And obviously you share with them-particularly those that have never experienced or been exposed to it- how meaningful a life connected to Hashem, Torah, and the Jewish people can be. You don’t have to be a proselytizer; I don’t think Avraham or any good kiruv/ outreach professional is. You’re just sharing the blessing of Hashem with someone who may not appreciate it yet.

To be honest with you, I don’t think I appreciated my own Shabbos as much until I was able to share it with others. To feel the way they enjoyed it. They were uplifted. They experienced it. I had always taken it for granted. It was just something I was raised to do. But once we began having guests, my life was enhanced as was my own Judasim. And all it took was a few small invitations. Our tree was planted.

This Shabbat is the Shabbat Project week around the world. Over a million Jews will be planting an eshel-(metaphorically of course- you’re not allowed to plant trees on Shabbos). That’s an impressive number. But there are 12 million Jews in the world. Lots of them have never experienced a Shabbos or a Jewish invitation. Other lots of them as well have never extended a Shabbos invitation to the first lots. Why not? You don’t have to go to Iowa, Virginia or Seattle to meet them. There are plenty of pavement lined sidewalks that could use a nice eshel tree in your neighbourhood. The story of Avraham’s tree in the parsha is the prelude to the most heroic moment in his life the Akeida- the binding of Yitzchak. One of the great chasidic rebbes once said we may not have the strength to offer an akeida up to Hashem. But if we want to tap into that great merit that Avraham achieved in that great act of sacrifice, we need to connect ourselves to him. It’s why Avraham’s tree planting endeavour is the prelude to the entire story We attach ourselves and identify with Avraham through the planting of our own giving tree. To host his children and grandchildren, who he prays for, over for Shabbos, for meals. To connect them to Hashem and to walk with them and show them the love that we have for his descendants, our brothers and sisters. Maybe then Hashem will return us to Gan Eden, to that first garden that He planted with the coming of Mashiach.

Have a deliciously hospitable Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“A gast iz vi a regn, Men antloyft fun regn, bagegnt men hogl..”- A guest is like rain. Run away from rain and you get hail.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q A Prime Minister buried on the Mount of Olives (Har HaZeitim):
a) Menachem Begin
b) Golda Meir
c) Moshe Sharet
d) Yitzhak Shamir

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Vayeira– Perhaps the kings of lomdus are the Briskers. One can even argue that it is their style of lomdishe learning that has become the standard method adopted by all yeshivos. The founder of the dynasty was Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (1820-1892) known by his classic work the Beis Halevi is one of the best places to start to study if you want to appreciate the art form.

On this week’s Torah portion he asks the question on the halacha that is derived from Avraham’s, perhaps politically incorrect, statement to his son Yishmael. When he is about to take his son Yitzchak up to be bound and brought up as an offering to Hashem, Avraham tells Yishmael,

“ Shvu lachem po im hachamor- you stay here with the donkey 

What is the significance of telling him to stay with the donkey? So the Talmud tells us that we derive from here that Yishmael is compared halachically to a donkey. Just as a donkey does not have any lineage. So to Yishmael and a gentile does not have yichus- any Jewish lineage. Therefore, when a Jewish man marries a non-Jewish woman or maid servant the child is not considered to Jewish, as lineage can only pass when a Jewish man marries a Jewish woman.

The Beis Halevi asks though, that why is it at this point in time particularly does Avraham have to teach this lesson. See, Briskers are never happy with just a simple periphery understanding of something. There must be a deeper connection and an essential part of lomdus is taking things apart. If Avraham and the Torah are telling us right here that Yishmael is not considered Jewish we need to understand why. It would probably make more sense to tell us this when Yishmael is born. Or when Yitzchak is born. They are both middle aged men by now. So what’s pshat?

The brilliant answer he suggests is that Avraham wanted to fulfill the mitzvah that Hashem gave him to it’s fullest. Hashem was demanding that he give up his son, his only son, the one that he loved, Yitzchak to him. Avraham demurred each step suggesting that Yishmael was also his son and that he loved him equally to Yitzchak. Yet he understood that the mitzvah and sacrifice he was meant to make would be one of a father giving up his only son. If Avraham still felt that he had another son behind, then the act wouldn’t be as great. ‘At least I got one more at home that I love’ he would tell himself. So what did Avraham do. He made the statement and taught the halacha that Yishmael was not his halachic child. He is not his yichus. He removed him entirely from his heart. He was a real Brisker. That is why the Torah tells us this now. Why it shares with us this seemingly innocuous statement telling Yishmael where he should remain. To reveal to us the greatness of Avraham in this incredible sacrifice of the Akeida.

Isn’t lomdus awesome?

  

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

Pinchas Baal Pe’or and the plague- 1272 BC – We’re almost ready to enter the land of Israel and boom we mess up. It seems we never lose and opportunity to lose an opportunity. The story of the daughters of Moav coming out to seduce the Jewish men is one of the most tragic in the Torah. Now this was not only about illicit relations. The Moavite women got them to worship this idol named baal pe’eor which was served by “relieving yourself” on it.Uch…! The ensuing plague took 24,000 Jews, the worst of the entire 40 years. Thank god it all came to an end with Pinchas pulling out a spear and shishkabobbing the leader of the revolt Zimri and the Midainite princess he was in the process of defiling himself with.

So there’s the story, I would say the last exciting one in the Torah. Where can I connect my tourists to it. Well whenever we drive by the Dead Sea area I point out the mountains of Moav which of course today is Jordan. I’ve had tourists that wanted me to take them there to Petra and the like. But I avoid Moav. Call it post-Torah learning Moabite trauma. As well when we are down at the bottom of the Dead Sea we visit the Sodom mountains and we talk about how the early roots of this country and nation Moav started here with the illicit incestuous relationships between Lot and his daughter. It seems it runs in their blood.

On the other hand, the heroism of Pinchas, the zealot I have a few places that I can talk about. Obviously in that hotbed of religious zealotry in Meah Shearim. But our sages tell us that Pinchas is in fact the same soul as Eliyahu. It seems that zealous streak doesn’t go away. So I can talk about Pinchas anywhere I would talk about Eliyahu. Mt. Carmel by Muchraka monastery, by his “cave” by Haifa, or by the Jordan River   by Kasser El Yahud where he went up to heaven in a fiery furnace. One more unlikely place that I mention this story as well is that it is mentioned in sefarim that the souls of the 24,000 that died in the plague were reincarnated in the souls of the students of Rabbi Akiva.  They almost entered Israel then and Rabbi Akiva thought that it was time to redeem them and therefore he felt it was time to finally fix the sin of the daughters of Moav. He made his student Bar Kochva Mashiach and they revolted against the Romans. But the time wasn’t ripe and the students had spiritual problems between each other that still needed to be fixed. So technichally I can mention this story, by the many Bar Kochva sites in Israel, near Beit Shemesh, in the Judean Desert by Darga and the hidden caves there or by Herodian to name a few. As well I can talk about it by the grave of Rabbi Akiva in Tiverya. So If you know enough and are a good tour guide you can always make a good connection.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE TREE JOKES  OF THE WEEK

A man crashed his new expensive car into a tree He now knew how the Mercedes bends

What do you call a Russian tree? Dimitree

How do trees calculate square roots. They use log-arithms.

What do you call a dead pine tree? A Nevergreen!

What is a trees favorite thing to drink. Root Beer

Why did the tree need to take a nap? For rest.

Where do saplings go to learn? Elementree school.

 How did the tree get lost? It took the wrong root.

Yankel is a small puny guy but he needs money for his family so he applies for a job as a lumberjack. "Sorry, says the head lumberjack, eyeing Yankel up and down, "You're just too small."
"Give me a chance to show you what I can do," Yankel pleads. "You won't regret it."
"Okay," says the boss. "See that giant oak over there? Let's see if you can chop it down."

Half an hour later, the mighty oak is felled, amazing the boss. "Where'd you learn to cut trees like that?" he asks.
"The Sahara Forest."
"You mean the Sahara Desert ?"
"Sure, if that's what they call it now."  

Benny from Haifa passed away and was sent  down ‘below’. He was amazed, however, to discover lush vegetation, running streams, waterfalls and beautiful lakes everywhere. Everyone seemed happy. 
“You look surprised,” said the local angel. 
“Yes, I am,” replied Benny, “I expected this place to be very dry and exceedingly hot. Like a desert. But all I can see are trees full of all kinds of fruit, beautiful flowers, lots of vegetables, lush grass and water everywhere. This is not hell” 
“Well,” said the angel, “it used to be like you thought, but then the Israelis started to arrive and they irrigated the daylights out of the place!” 

The Cohen family was on very good terms with their Roman Catholic neighbors, the O'Briens. In fact,little Moishie Cohen and Christopher O'Brian from next door would play together from time to time. Or at least they used to.
Well , one late December's day, Duncan O'Brien, the non-Jewish father, came storming in to the Cohen's house holding poor Moishie by the ear. 'Your son is not going near my Chris again; he just has no respect for us and our religion!'
'What's the matter; what did he do?' inquired Mr. Cohen.
'I'll tell you'. said Duncan in a rage. 'He saw our Christmas tree and started making fun.'
'Really, what did he say?' continued Mr. Cohen.
Duncan said, 'He saw our tree and started asking all sorts of ridiculous questions - which kinds of pine trees can be used for a Christmas tree? What's the minimum required height? How close to the window does it need to be? Do too many decorations render it unfit? What if it's under a neighbor's balcony?!'

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

Answer is A–  Wheww.. I’m excited another easy question. Most of Israel’s 12 prime ministers are buried in Har Hertzl in Jerusalem in the area of gedolei ha’Umah-the great individuals of the nation- the presidents, PMs and Knesset speaker are buried. There are a few exceptions. Ben Gurion is buried in the Negev in Sdei Boker, Sharon on his ranch and Moshe Sharret- who I bet most of you have never even heard of, but was the second Prime Minister of Israel, in between Ben Gurions two terms is buried in Trumpledor cemetery in Tel Aviv. Menachem Begin though, my favorite Prime Minister, refused to be buried with all of those liberal socialist on Mt. Hertzl and ordered to be buried on Mt. of Olives right next to the two people he said were the “real" gedolei ha’umah; two fighter from the Lehi and Etzel, Barzani and Feinstien, who blew themselves up in their British cell rather than allow the British to hang them. And now I am 4 for 4!

Rachmonus Oif Unz- Parshat Lech Lecha 2018 /5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

October 19^th 2018 -Volume 9 Issue 3 10^th Cheshvan 5779

Parshat Lech Lecha

Rachmonus Oif Unz

It was right after the 6 Day War in 1967. The country was on a high. The 19-year-old State of Israel had just gone from prayers, tears and the terror of what all assumed would be the end of the young state to quadrupling its size and destroying the three major countries who had the full military support of Russia behind them. Pre-war estimates were that there would be at least 10,000 people that would be killed in the best case scenario. Parks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were turned into cemeteries and coffins lined the streets in Meah Shearim in preparation for the mass funerals that would follow. But the unexpected happened. We won. The Kotel, Jerusalem was in independent Jewish hands for the first time in 2000 years. The West Bank, Chevron the Golan Heights all of the lands of our ancestors had been miraculously returned to us. Our fledgling army of about 50,000 soldiers plus our reserves wiped out the trained 4 armies of over a half a million.

Turns out our estimates for casualties were about as precise as American election pollsters as well. Less than 800 soldiers died in battle as opposed to the 10,000 minimal that were direly predicted. I guess the military commanders forgot to take God into account. There’s a reason they don’t teach Israeli wars in military academies. That Sukkos the residents of Jerusalem made their Sukkahs out of the coffins that were prepared for them. They knew they were in the shade and protection of Hashem and what better way to express that. Yes, it was perhaps one of the highest and most miraculous moments of our modern times.

Yet, one can always count on a good Rabbi to put a damper on things and to give the so-needed necessary reality check. The story goes- that’s what we tour guides always say when we are not sure about a particular story, so we can’t be blamed for it afterwards, if another tour guide made it up- about Rabbi Aryeh Levine, the tzadik of Jerusalem who met the prime minister, Levi Eshkol, after the war. {Truth is the story is brought down in that classic pre- Artscroll first Gadol book A Tzadik in our Time}. The PM asked Reb Aryeh what he thought about this incredible victory and the incredible miracles that took place in this battle. Although not a religious person, for at least 5 minutes after the war there was no one that could deny the incredible revealed hand of God in achieving this victory.

The Tzadik of Jerusalem whose heart and soul was only and always concerned for the Jewish people and the holy soldiers of its army told the Prime Minister

“The aibeshter zohl hubben racmonus oif unz- God should have mercy upon us.”

A bit taken aback the Prime Minister asked Rabbi Aryeh why he was so concerned. After-all we had just wiped out all our enemies. In fact, there was such fear and awe of the Israeli army and the Jewish people that when two chasidim were walking down the street, the Arabs would cross the street to avoid them out of fear. If an Israeli soldier got a bus the Arabs would get up and give him their seat. So why was the Rabbi so dour.

Reb Aryeh responded with an incredible teaching from this week’s Torah portion. In the Parsha this week the Torah tells us about the first World War. It was four Kings against five and the four decimated the five and as usual we Jews got schlepped into the whole thing when the nephew of our Patriarch Avraham, Lot, got taken captive. Avraham goes out to battle with the first Jewish army ever 318 of them (or according to our sages just him and his servant Eliezer whose name in Gematria/numerology equals 318) takes down all of these armies. Right after this huge battle, Hashem appears to Avraham in a vision in the night and tells him

Bereshit (15:1) Al tira Avraham anochi magen lach- Fear not Avraham I will protect you

Now why should Avraham be frightened? So much so, in fact, that Hashem had to appear to him and reassure him that he will continue to protect and defend him. The answer, Reb Aryeh said, was that Avraham knew that the enemy would never a Jew stay with such a victory. They would be back. It is against the nature of the world to allow the Jew to remain on top. At least until the time is right…

Reb Aryeh’s words unfortunately came to fruition. After the 6 Day War the Jewish State and its soldiers were the rock stars of the world. The cover of Life and Time magazine. Movies were made and we were the most macho people around. It was cool to be Jewish and Israeli. But before you could even sing Hava Nagila it was over. The UN condemned Israel as aggressors and “Occupiers”. Our neighbors got together and passed resolutions to never recognize us and promised to come back again and push us into the sea. The PLO started its terror attacks not just in Israel but on Jews around the world. And a few years later we were once again at war in the devastating Yom Kippur war attack.

It's been over 50 years and almost 10 wars since that prediction of Rabbi Levine and over 3 millennia since Hashem’s reassurance to Avraham. We’re still at war and yet we are still around. Hashem is still watching over us and defending us. We have still not yet arrived at the time when swords will be turned into plowshares and the world will finally join us in bringing in the era of world peace where the glory of Hashem will reign. It’s been this way since the beginning and perhaps one of the most important things to remember is that we have not yet arrived and shouldn’t have any illusions about where we stand. False illusions of having “made it” stand in the way of us achieving and bringing in the era that we have long been waiting for. In fact that is the way the entire story of Avraham and this war really begins.

To understand history, we have to go back to its roots. Where did the conflict begin? How did it spiral into a World War and how were we schlepped into it? The Torah, fortunately tell us. It is up to us however to read it carefully and appreciate the eternal lessons it is teaching us. The Torah tells us that after Avraham and Lot come back to Israel from their short, eventful, sojourn in Egypt during the famine that was in Israel, they settled the land and there was a fight between the shepherds of Lot and Avraham. What was the fight about? It doesn’t say. Or does it?

Bereshis (13:7) And there was quarrelling between the shepherds of flocks of Avraham and the shepherds of Lot’s flock and the Canaani and Perizi were then dwelling in the land.

So what was the fight about? Well Rashi quotes the Midrash that seemingly the fact the Torah adds in here rather randomly that the Canaani and the Perizi were living in the land obviously was the source of their dispute.

Rashi (ibid) Since Lot’s herdsmen were wicked, and they pastured their animals in fields belonging to others, Abram’s herdsmen rebuked them for committing robbery, but they responded, “The land was given to Abram, who has no heir; so Lot will inherit him, and therefore this is not robbery.” But Scripture states: “And the Canaanites and the Perizzites were then dwelling in the land,” and Abram had not yet been awarded its possession.

And there you have it. Lot’s shepherds were a bunch of crooks and hoodlums and Avraham’s shepherds were rebuking them. At least that’s the way I learned it when I was a kid. This year though I saw a different, perhaps more relevant idea. Who knows, maybe even a controversial political one. See Lot wasn’t a crook or criminal. He was Avraham’s right hand man. He was the only one that has been with him and Sarah this whole journey. From Ur Kasdim, Charan, to Israel down to Egypt and back again. Lot doesn’t leave Avraham’s side. He risks his life to save the angels of Sodom. And his shepherds are petty criminals?! Let’s try to see things from their perspective. Maybe they weren’t that far off.

What was their rationale? So Rashi tells us that the land was given to Avraham. Hashem told Avraham to go down to Canaan and upon his arrival Hashem tells him “Guess what? Your descendants will inherit this land”. Truth is the Torah tells in the verse right before this promise, that this land was in fact originally in the portion of Shem and the Canaani had just come there and conquered it recently. The Torah even uses the same word V’Hacanani az ba’aretz there as it does by the fight of Lot’ shepherds.

 That was what the fight was about. Lot’s shepherds made a claim perhaps like this. Hashem gave us the land. Who are these Canaani Palestinians anyways? They weren’t here before. This was originally our land. They have no right to be here. We are liberating it from them.  Hashem has miraculously brought us here. He has made us flourish. Look how many sheep we have. Check out all our crops, our technology, our startups, our yeshivas and our falafel stores. We are home. It is time for them to go. Avraham has no heirs. The time for Lot has arrived. Mashiach is within us. And you know what? They were certainly right about that last point.

See we are told Mashiach in fact comes from Lot, from his grandson Moav. From Ruth. From David. The Beit Hamikdash, Jerusalem is all within Lot just bursting to shine forth. But you know what? It wasn’t yet time. The work of uplifting the world, of serving Hashem on a personal level and a familial level was here. But we were not yet granted the land. We had no right to raise one hand against the “occupiers”, unless of course it is self-defense. As when Avraham goes to rescue Lot and will fight the world for him. At the same time, he won’t let his sheep take a blade of grass that is not his. For Mashiach is not here yet, and until that time when Avrahams’ descendants will enter the land and be commanded to conquer it we are meant to respect and live with those that are occupying it. We have a mitzvah to live here, but not to conquer it. That will only come later.

Perhaps one of the most ironic things about us a nation is that when we were actually commanded to conquer the land and wipe out all of the nations that were there in order to settle it. We failed. We stopped short. Hashem warned us that if we allowed them to remain they would be thorns in our side and they were. When we’re not supposed to conquer it we try to and when we were supposed to we didn’t. Oy…god bless the Jewish people… the aibeshter zohl hubben rachmonus oif unz…

There is certainly no commandment to conquer the land and throw out the nations that live here today. Despite the miraculous Jewish sovereignty that Hashem has granted us once again after 2000 years in Eretz Yisrael, the “Canaani and Perizi” still live in our land. We daven every day.for Mashiach to come and for that shofar to blast. We get a mitzvah for living here and settling the land. It’s the only place in the world that every time you take a walk around the block you fulfil the will of Hashem of showing that we are living here and not anywhere else because we are believers in the Torah, believers in the covenant He made with our grandfather that it would be ours. We have to defend ourselves to the upmost even if it is only one Jew that is in danger and even if the entire world is against us and will condemn us. But we still have no right to take even one blade of grass that hasn’t been rightfully acquired. It’s Achmeds, It’s Abduls. It’s not yet Avraham’s.  The aibeshter has rachmonus oif unz. Hashem is watching over us and bringing us closer and closer to that day he promised our grandfather. This land will be ours in its entirety. Are we ready to shine that light out, that we are meant to when we get it? That’s what we’re supposed to be preparing for. It’s why he has rachmonis on us. Maybe it’s time we started having a bit of rachmonis for Him as well.

Have a spectacular Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Fun rachmones un fun pachdones ken men zikh nit oishailen.”- For compassion and for cowardice there is no remedy.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q One of the following roads was not an international road:
A) King’s Highway (Derekh HaMelekh)
B) Route of the Patriarchs (Derekh HaAvot)
C) The Coastal Route (Derekh HaYam)
D) The Mail Route (Darb-el-Barid/Derekh HaDoar)

RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/k67yR0hsiwo  - Adorable version in honor of Rachel Imeinu’s Yartzeit- Mama Rachel

https://youtu.be/E_hzOuAK5gY- Great New Shwekey video Yishtabach Shemo!

https://youtu.be/K0C2BeatCqs- One of the strangest shnorr videos I have ever seen….

https://youtu.be/-6hnYAEUV2M– Loving this holy song Nafshi Chamda Yishai Ribo and Motty Shteimetz

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Lech Lecha – So this week we are introduced the father of the Jewish people our first Patriarch, Avraham Avinu. Now I’m sure this might seem like a funny question but put on your lomdishe hats for it and enter the Yeshiva world. Deep breath… thumb ready to twirl in the air. OK here we go. Was Avraham or for that matter all of our Patriarchs Jewish. Now all though I assume many of you would have in the past assumed that they were, the truth is there really was no such thing as being Jewish until after we received the Torah as a nation on Mt. Sinai a few hundred years after Avraham. So what status did our forefathers have prior to the giving of the Torah were they considered pre-Jew Jews, or maybe they were just Noachides.

Now no lomdusheh question is real without what the Talmud would call is a nafka mina- or difference between the two sides of the dilemma. So the difference would seemingly come in the observance of the commandments which are sages certainly find hints to in the text in all of our forefathers. Now obviously they were not commanded to fulfill the commandments, however our sages tell us that they were able to look at Creation and divine the will of Hashem and figure out the mitzvos and they observed them. The problem however becomes when it comes to Shabbos.

See a non- Jew or a Noachide are prohibited from observing the Shabbat. In fact the Talmud seems to suggest that they would be liable for a divine death penalty for observing it. So here we go. If the Patriarchs were Jewish then they could observe the Shabbat. If not how could they observe it? Seemingly they would be prohibited from observing it as Noachides.

Lest you think this is a theoretical question the Binyan Tziyon discusses a case of a baby that is found in a city that is half Jewish and half non-Jewish. So his Jewish status is in question and we give the stringencies of both… at least until he underwent a conversion. In a more practical and modern question what is done in a case today when someone has a conversion that is questionable or in doubt. Can he observe the Shabbat or not?

So the Cheshek Shlomo gives a brilliant answer, he suggests that what the Patriarchs did is wear tzitzit on Shabbos. See one is prohibited from wearing extraneous things attached to ones clothing on Shabbos when you go outside as it would violate the prohibition of carrying in a public domain- without the benefit of an Eruv of course. {This is a practical issue by the way when it comes to cleaners tags and possibly spare buttons attached to your clothing…consult your own Rabbi about that}. Now if they were Jewish they need to wear the tzitzit strings on their four cornered garments and therefore it would not be considered carrying, as they are part of their clothing. On the other hand, if they were not Jewish then the wearing of those strings would be extraneous and they would have violated Shabbat as every good gentile should.

And there you have it a lomdishe question, a lomdishe answer and perhaps an even practical nafka mina- another new term to use in your lomdus lexicon.

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

Bilam, donkeys and curses- 1272 BC – The famous story of Bilam and his famous donkey that were hired by Balak king of Moav to curse the Jews is one of the most memorable from the Torah. Who can forget the donkey that opens up his mouth to speak and attempts to warn Bilam of the impending doom he is facing if he continues on his path to kill the Jews. The donkey crashes into the walls and the hedges to try and prevent and Bilam engages him in conversation even until he sees an angel with a sword warning him away. Bilam continues to try to curse the people but all that comes out his mouth are blessings. It’s a great story, unique in that it is the only one in the Torah were there was no Jewish corroboration. Moses wasn’t there, the Jewish people weren’t there. It was just Bilam and his mule and Hashem. This story is really all Hashem’s revelation to us so its definitely one that I want to share with my tourists.

The question is where and how? Well certainly when we are down in Eilat we can stand on top of  Mt. Tzefachot and we can look into Saudi Arabia as well as Jordan, I point out to my tourists that we are looking at the route that Bilam took from Midyan which is in Saudi Arabia and Jordan which is of course Moab. As well from that point you can look out to the south and note that general direction were the hills of Edom and Amalek as well that Bilam curses. In the North by the Golan Heights you can point out Assyria in the general direction of Lebanon and Syria whom he curses as well. As well there are a few places I like to take people donkey riding, one is in the Judean Desert near St. Georges monastery there are usually some Bedouin guys that offer donkey rides to the lookout there. As well and perhaps more fun is in Kfar Kedem in Hoshaya. There they actually give you donkey licenses at the end of your tour and ride there which always fun since you are dressed up in Biblical garb as well for the trip.   

Finally I like to focus on the particular blessing that Bilam gave the Jewish people that we actually recite each day when we come into our synagogues. Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov miskinosecha yisrael- how wonderous are your tents Jacob, the dwelling places of Israel. The Talmud tells us how he noticed how the entrance to the tents are not facing each other so that Jews don’t see into their neighbors tents and he marvelled at the sensitivity we had to modesty and respect of each others privacy. I mention this when we drive through the Jerusalem through the Ramot Polin neighborhood which has these egg box shaped houses, or beehives that were built so that the windows don’t face each other. Each as well has its own porch under the sky so as to make it Sukkah buildable. These strangely built buildings were actually noted as one of the worlds strangest buildings by travel and leisure magazine check it out. https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-strangest-buildings#4

They don’t exactly say the blessing of Bilam but it is still pretty cool.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S PRAYER JOKES  OF THE WEEK

One day, Chaim, Berel and Shmerel were hiking in a wilderness area when they came upon a large, raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so. 

Chaim prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength to cross this river." 

 Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours, although he almost drowned a couple of times.

 Seeing this, Berle prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools to cross this river."  Poof! God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river in about an hour, after almost capsizing the boat a couple of times. 

Shmerel had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools, and the intelligence, to cross this river." 

 Poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream a couple of hundred yards, then walked across the bridge.

(hope that makes up for last weeks joke- I try to be an equal opportunity offender)

Berel needed some supplies from the office cupboard that was seldom used and was secured with a lock. He didn't know the combination, so he walked into Rabbi Greenbergs office and asked him to try. The Rabbi walked over to the cupboard a placed his fingers on the lock's dial and raised his eyes heavenward for a moment. Then he confidently spun the dial and opened the lock. Seeing how impressed Berel was with this demonstration of what seemed like prayer, Rabbi Greenberg smiled and confided, "The numbers are written on the ceiling." 

Two young boys were spending the night at their Bubby and Zaidies house. At bedtime, the two boys said shema and then started to daven when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs, "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE. I PRAY FOR A NEW IPHONE. I PRAY FOR A NEW TABLET

His older brother leaned over and nudged the younger brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf."

To which the little brother replied, "No, but Bubby is!"

Prayer for Seniors

God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do,
And the eyesight to tell the difference.

A family was having guests to dinner. At the table, the mother turned to her six-year-old daughter and says, "Dear, would you like to say the blessing?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," replies the little girl.

"Just say what you hear Mommy say, sweetie."

Her daughter takes a deep breath, bows her head, and solemnly says, "Dear Lord, why the helck did I invite all these people to dinner?"

With all the instant messaging and texting lingo going around - with abbreviations like "LOL" and "OMG" and "BTW" - I asked a young lady named Kaila if she would be going to shul this Shabbat, and she replied to me "JFK."

"JFK? What does that mean?", I asked.

Kaila answered politely, "Just for Kiddush."

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Answer is B–  This was another easy one. You can just tell from the name Derech Havot- the pathway of our forefathers that is a Jewish national road and not an international one. It is actually also called the derech hahar- the mountain road as it travels along the central mountain plain of Israel from the Chevron hills through Jerusalem up through Shechem and the West Bank which this question assumes rightfully so is part of Israel, although before 1967 this would have also been international as it went through the West Bank which was Jordan. The other roads Derech Hamelech is all through the Levant Egypt up the coastline and across the Jezreel valley to Jordan and Syria. The Sea route as well went from Egypt up through Lebanon to Turkey and the mail route of the Mamaluks also from Egypt through Lebanon and Damascus. so keeping score still I’m 3 for 3. Let’s keep the streak going.