Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
November 30th 2018 -Volume
9 Issue 9-22nd of Kislev 5779
Parshat
Vayeishev / Chanuka I
Does it ever get old, they wanted to know? The
same thing, day in and day out, again and again, Masada,-Dead Sea-Ein Gedi, Ir
Dovid-Old city-Jerusalem-Tunnel tour, Meron-Tzfat-Tiverya, Golan Heights war
sites-chocolate factory- winery and other itineraries. Don’t you ever get sick
of it? The answer is a decided NO. absolutely not. Do you ever get bored
of your children, your wife’s cooking, of your Torah class? Do you get sick of chulent…ever?
OK, you don’t have to answer those questions. But honestly, it really never
gets boring. I wake up every morning and am in awe that I actually get paid to
bask in the glory of our holy promised land. It’s awesome. The experience of
seeing it anew each day through the eyes of my tourists makes it even more
amazing. It’s like showing off your kallah- your fiancé, or your new
child or grandchild. Imagine getting paid to do that as well. Than you get a
bit of a feel about how awesome my life is.
To make the deal even sweeter, our sages tell us
that one that walks four cubits in Israel is
guaranteed a portion in the World to Come and according to the Shulchan Aruch
and elaborated on by the Mishna Berura (248:28) one fulfills a mitzvah each
time. You are even permitted to disembark from a ship on Shabbos, something
that is prohibited otherwise or at other ports, to fulfill this mitzva.
Even tourists! So you get a mitzvah every step you take. When I was in yeshiva
they would tell us that every word of Torah you learn is a mitzvah. They didn’t
tell me that every step I took as I toured around the land of Israel was also
one. I wonder why they left that out.
But it is an
understandable question, I guess. Most things get boring after a while. If
you’re my kids- its after 5 minutes. Variety is the spice of life, isn’t that
what they say? Same old-same old is lame. We need new and exciting experiences.
Something different. Things you have never done before. How do you stay
inspired doing and seeing the same thing day in and day out?
I remember once asking
that question to one of my clients who was a sixth grade Rebbe. How do you keep
doing it? ‘Eilu metzios shelo v’eilu chayv l’hachriz- these lost
objects are yours and these you have to return’; the first Mishna that all kids
start with, again and again and again, year after year. Doesn’t it get boring,
already? He told me that the secret is that he doesn’t teach Mishna. If he did
than, of course it would get stale after a while. He teaches students. Talmidim.
Each year its new, because each year there are new students. Each student
learns differently, is taught differently, experiences and appreciates it
differently and uniquely. Each year it’s an entirely new limud- a new
lesson that has never been taught before. I guess I can say the same thing for
tour-guiding. Each group is different and each family and tour has its own
nuances and connection to Eretz Yisrael that comes out through our tours
together.
This week’s Torah
portion gives another incredible secret in how to keep something alive for
years. Ironically enough the lesson is expressed through a perceived death. The
Torah tells us this week about Yosef’s kidnapping and sale to down to Egypt by
his brothers. His multi-colored coat was dipped in blood and brought to our
Patriarch Yaakov his father, and he assumed him to be dead. ‘A wild animal
has killed him’. When the brothers come to console him as he sits in
mourning the Torah tells us
Bereshit (37:35) Vayimaen l’hitnachem-
and he refused to be consoled
Rashi on that verse
notes the reason for Yaakov’s inconsolability
Rashi- A person is unable to accept consolation for one living
whom he believes to be dead, for with regard to the dead it is decreed that he
be forgotten from the heart, but it is not so decreed with regard to the living
For 22 years Yaakov remained in mourning for his
son. Each day was just as painfully fresh as the day that he first came to the
conclusion that Yosef had died. It was impossible, according to the midrash, to
be consoled. For only on a dead person can one ‘move on’. But as long as
someone is still alive, there is no decree in heaven that will allow the pain
and the longing to become forgotten. In fact, some of the commentaries explain
with this, Yosef’s perplexing first response to his brothers when he reveals
himself to them after 22 years in Egypt.
Bereshis
(45:3) ‘I am Yosef, is my father still alive?’
Yosef
knew his father was alive. It came up again and again in his previous
conversations with them. He wasn’t asking them. It was a rhetorical question
expressing shock and disbelief. Is it possible that my father lived so long
with this mourning, with this pain that did not go away or subside? He
therefore ordered them to bring him down to Egypt immediately. To finally
remove those 22 years of pain.
Rav Pinchos Horowitz, the author of the Hafla’ah,
in his Panim Yafos brings this concept to a whole new deeper level. He explains
that the reason why one cannot be consoled for someone who is still alive can
be found in the verse written by King Solomon.
Mishlei/Proverbs
(27/19) Kamayim hapanim la panim, kain laiv ha'adam l'adam,- just
like the water reflects the face of a person, so too do the hearts of man to
another
When two souls are connected their hearts are
connected as well. As long as one is alive and connected than the other cannot
possibly forget about the other. They are reflecting and shining still in each
other’s souls. It is only after one is dead and is no longer around to keep
that connection alive can the consoling and forgetting first begin. Yaakov
didn’t stop thinking about Yosef for a moment, because Yosef never stopped
thinking about Yaakov. We are told at the end of the parsha when Yosef
is tempted by the wife of Potifar’s seduction
Bereshit
(39:8) Vayimaen- and he refused
The midrash tells us
that he saw the image of his father before him. Reb Asher Freund suggests that
it is precisely because Yaakov was Vayiamen l’hitnachem- refused to be
consoled, because he was connected to Yosef, that Yosef in turn was connected
to his father and had the strength to refuse- vayimaen- and prevail in
the test of the wife of Potifar. 22 years of distance, but it was like his
father was still at his window. His father was still alive for him as well.
This week we celebrate
the holiday of Chanukah. We remember the miracles Hashem preformed for our
ancestors during the second Beis Hamikdash. In the al hanissim prayer we
recite each davening and each bentching we talk about the plot of
the Greeks. Unlike Purim when Haman tried to wipe us out, the Greeks had a
different angle.
In
the days of Matityahu, the son of Yochanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean
and his sons, when the evil Greek kingdom rose up against Your
people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and
violate the decrees of Your will.
The Greeks wanted us to forget. They wanted to
destroy that spark and connection between us and Hashem. They had no problem
with us worshipping Hashem, davening, sacrifices, as long as it was same
old-same old, studies of ancient irrelevant texts and worship of a god like
theirs, that there is really no connection with. A dead one. One that can be
forgotten.
To a large degree they succeeded. A large
portion of Jews “hellenized”. They were cultural Jews, gastrointestinal ones
certainly that liked chulent, kishka and latkas. They were
practitioners of the ancient Jewish traditions, but disconnected entirely from
their source; from Judaism having any meaningful relevance to their lives.
But
You, in Your abounding mercies, stood by them in the time of their distress.
You waged their battles, defended their rights, and avenged the wrong done to
them. You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the
hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the
hands of the righteous, and the sinners into the hands of those who occupy
themselves with Your Torah. You made a great and holy name for Yourself in Your
world, and effected a great deliverance and redemption for Your people Israel
to this very day.
Hashem showed us He was Alive. That we could
never forget. We could never lose that connection. Only the dead can be
forgotten. Torah, that is living will always be alive. Will always be
connected. Will always have a spark that can never be extinguished. It is until
‘this very day’ 2200 years later.
Then Your children entered the shrine of Your
House, cleansed Your Temple, purified Your Sanctuary, kindled lights in
Your holy courtyards, and instituted these eight days of Chanukah to
give thanks and praise to Your great Name.
Chanukah is really an incredible time to tour
Israel. It never gets old. To walk through the streets of the old city of
Jerusalem and see those menorahs at the entrance of each doorway, is to know
that we merited to return to this land because we never forgot it. Because no
matter where we were exiled we lit candles and told our children about the
miracles of those days and the miracle that it is still here in our times. The
miracle that we have never forgotten and will never forget. That only the dead
are forgotten. But each day, each step we take, each candle we light, each
Torah page we study we are attesting the eternality of Hashem, in us, the
eternality of our land and our connection and of our Torah and mitzvos. That,
my friends will never, can never get old. May we merit to see the final
culmination of that blessing we say when we light the candles
She’asa nissim l’avoseinu bayamim haheim ba’zman
hazeh- That He will perform
the ultimate miracle of those days once again in our times.
Have lively Shabbos and a lichtigeh
Chanuka,
********************************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Goldene keylim vern ka mol nit shvarts..”- Golden dishes never
get black
RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/haneiros-halalu
– in honor of Chanukah
my Haneiros Halalu composition. Enjoy and like!
And of course the traditional Chanuka Acapella bands…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgywrSo4o3c- Maccabeats I have a little Dreidel cool! Love the country
version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P30ckBf1wk – A Bohemian
Chanukah by 613 Acapella. Fantastic the winner for sure this year of the genre
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q The gravesite of Baba Sali is
found in:
A. The town of Sali
B. Sderot
C. Netivot
D. Amuka
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS”
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Parshat Vayeishev– Lomdus is
generally a skill that is honed when studying Talmud in yeshiva, the full time
pursuit there. But once you have developed it, the lamdan can’t help
himself from examining Chumash and Midrash with the same discerning eyes. To me
that is the fun part about lomdus. Talmud, that’s your
bread and butter, but midrash that’s the icing on the cake.
This
week there is a fascinating midrash that discusses the story of when Reuven
goes to rescue his brother Yosef from the pit that he was thrown in. The
Midrash tells us on the verse
Bereshit (37:29) And Reuven returned to the
pit; and behold Yosef was not in it and he tore his garments- And where was he
coming from? Rabbi Eliezer says in his sackcloth and fasting. Hashem said
‘There was never anyone who sinned and repented, and you opened with teshuva
first. By My life your descendant will rise and open with teshuva first. And
who is this? It is Hoshea as it says Shuva Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha-
return Israel before Hashem your God.
So
the Brisker Rav notes the strange wording of the midrash in the description of Reuven’s
teshuva and he notes that Reuven’s doing teshuva here is not merely to achieve
atonement for his sin. There were others that preceded Reuven in that/ Rather Reuven
was doing teshuva as a prelude to the mitzvah he was on his way to fulfill, of
saving Yosef. Reuven wanted the act of saving Yosef to be one that he would be
worthy of fulfilling and in order to achieve that higher spiritual state he
repented once again from his previous sins (of messing up his father’s tent).
That is what he means ‘he opened with teshuva first’ he was michadesh,
he revealed a new aspect of repentance as a prerequisite to doing mitzvos that
no one before him ever did. That is the reward of the prophet Hoshea to before
Hashem your God- One should repent before doing a mitzvah of Hashem.
So
there you have a bit of lomdus that reveals a new ‘din-law’ of
teshuva. It takes a hard look at the words and there meaning and answers all
the questions. Awesome!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Devarim, Moshe’s last
speech- 1272 BC- Talk about long sermons. Moshe’s last
speech which consisted of the entire book of Devarim was a month long. In that
speech not he goes through the history of the Jews in the wilderness, our ups
and downs, our wanderings and our wars and miracles. He as well reviews the
mitzovs of the Torah, the blessings and curses that are meant to be recited
when we arrive in the land of Israel, as well as his blessings for us at the
end of the Torah for each tribe. There are important mitzvos as well in the
book of devarim as well as new mitzvos that are elaborations on old ones. We
have the paragraphs of the Shema that we recite in this book. Yup.. it is a
long drasha. The perfect Shiur. A nice mix of Mussar, lomdus, prayers, prophecy
and blessings. Kind of like my weekly E-Mail minus the Youtube clips and jokes
at the end J.
Now I mention this speech of Moshe to my
tourists probably the most when I am standing by my favorite lookout point in Mitzpe
Yericho. From that vantage point you can really see the exact place that
Moshe spoke from. The b’arvos moav, yarden, yericho- on the banks of
Moav- which is of course Jordan, by the Yarden- seemingly right there
where it connects to the Dead Sea, as that is across from Jericho.
Two other places in the area that I speak about this view of where Moshe spoke
from is right at the bottom of the Lido gas station there is an old blown
up restaurant with a great mural on the wall of Israel where one has a nice
view of the same area, as well as by Kasser El Yahud, on the Jordan
river itself, which is currently a baptismal place for Christians who come to tovel
in the same place they believe yoshka did. That’s probably the
closest you can get to the place of that speech.
One last place that I might mention
Moshe’s long speech would be in the Knesset where I mention perhaps the
second longest speech, which was the filibuster speech by MK Micky Eitan in
1992 to delay the vote on the budget he didn’t like. He only lasted 10 hours
and 7 minutes though, and besides weird Israel trivia tour guide geeks like me
no one knows who he is.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S CHANUKAH JOKES OF THE WEEK
Moshe's
mother, Chana, once gave him two sweaters for Chanukah. The next time Moshe
visited his mother, he made sure he was wearing one of them. As he entered her
house, instead of the expected smile, Chana said, "What's the matter,
Moshe? You didn't like the other one…?"
A
woman goes to the Post Office to buy stamps for her Chanukah cards.
She says to the clerk,
"May I have 50 Chanukah stamps?"
The clerk says, "What
denominations? "
"Oh my G‑d," the woman says. "Has it
come to this? Give me 35 Orthodox, 12 Conservative, and 3 Reform."
It was two days
before Chanukah and Mr. Feldman, quite downcast, was trudging home. "Where
will I get money to buy presents for the holiday?" he asked himself
sadly, thinking of his wife and children. On the way, he passed a church, in
front of which was a sign: Five Hundred Dollars Cash To Anyone Who Joins
This Church Today!
Here was the
solution to Feldman's problem! He went in, joined, and was given the five
hundred dollars as the sign promised. That evening, at supper, he told his
family how he had come by his sudden wealth. "And here's the money,"
he announced grandly, waving the money before them.
"Darling,"
said his wife, "you remember that coat you promised me three years ago?
Well it's on sale at Macy's."
"How
much is it?"
"Only a
two hundred and fifty dollars, and it's worth at least three hundred and fifty."
Feldman peeled
off five fifties and gave them to her. The son spoke up. "Pop, for a
long time I've been saving up to buy one of those English bikes with ten gear
shifts. I already have most of the money, but I need a little more."
"How
much more?"
"One
hundred and fifty dollars."
Feldman handed
over the money.
"Daddy,"
said his teen age daughter, "next week our school is having the most
important dance of the whole year. If I don't have a new dress, I'll simply
die."
"Don't
die Sweetheart. How much is the dress?"
"Only a
hundred dollars, Daddy dear."
Feldman handed
over the remaining twenty five dollars, leaned back and grinned. "It never
fails," he announced. "The minute we Goyim have a little money, you
Jews take it away from us!"
"Oy
veh," she says to herself, "and just when I’m running
late."
Then she notices
a gas station at the end of the block, so she walks to the station to get help.
"Hi,"
Rose says to the attendant, "I’ve run out of gas and I’m hoping you
can lend me your gas can. I’ll fill it and return it as quickly as
possible."
The attendant
replies, "I’m sorry, lady, but I’ve lent out my one and only can five
minutes ago. I’m expecting it back in about half an hour, so if you want, you
can wait here for it."
"Oh—I
can't wait; I'm behind schedule," Rose said. "Let me think of
something."
She goes back to
her car to find something that she could use to fill with gas. Then,
what mazel, she notices the bedpan she always keeps handy in case of
patient need. So she takes the bedpan back to the gas station, fills it and
carries it back to her car.
Two men are
passing by and notice that she's filling her gas tank from the bedpan. One
turns to the other and says, "If that car starts, I'm turning
Jewish."
************
Answer is C– To be honest I have only been there once that
I recall. It was in preparing for my exam, right before the Gaza War broke out
and I was touring around with my cousin. We were in the area and the siren went
off that impending missiles were coming. We were in the tomb at the time and
all of a sudden about 50 people ran in. I guess they figured the grave of the
great Baba Sali- Abu Chatzeira the Kabbalist will protect them. It did. No one
was hurt. I haven’t had the opportunity to bring people to the village of
Netivot where he is buried which is not far from Sderot, near Gaza. I have gone
to Amuka, the grave site of Yonatan Ben Uziel, near Tzfat though many times.
And the score continues Schwartz is 7 for 7 on this exam so
far.
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