Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
December 14th 2018 -Volume
9 Issue 11-6th of Tevet 5779
Parshat
Vayigash
Perhaps one of the biggest downsides of being a
tour guide, and there really aren’t too many of them, is that it really doesn’t
afford me the ability to have a chavrusa- a study partner. My schedule is too erratic.
I’m never home for more than a few days. I start and end at all different
times. It just doesn’t work. So all I’ve got is you guys and gals. And nothing
personal, but you really don’t cut as chavrusos go. Don’t get me wrong,
I love you. But I miss those days when I could have my regular one on one time
with my intellectual sparring partner in our spiritual gym; the Beit Midrash.
It’s not a small price to pay either. I’ve had
chavrusas since I’m 13 years old in high school. Back then though all I was
really interested in was a guy I could schmooze the best with when the Rebbe
wasn’t looking, or who could help me on my exams or with my homework. But as I
got older, in my post high school beis medrash years, my chavrusa was
the person that I would really develop my learning skills with. We would sit
about 3-4 hours each morning together and plow through the pages of the Talmud,
debating the nuances of the commentaries, the arguments and approaches of the
different sages throughout the generations and offering our own solutions to
questions and contradictions that needed to be explained. It was intense. Most
of the time we would spend a week or more on a mere few lines of the Talmud.
In the
afternoon we had another few hours of study which was a little lighter. We
focused more on “covering ground” and completing the rest of the particular
tractate we were studying. There the chavrusa’s job was to keep me moving. Not
to get bogged down in the minutia. We would get back to all our question
another day. In the evening we had our night seder chavrusa who we would
review the Rebbe’s shiur/class with. We had halacha chavrusos,
extra-seder ones for optional learning and even a mussar seder
chavrusa who we could work on our own personal ethical and spiritual
development with. I skipped that seder a lot.
As I got older, married, and joined a Kollel, I
switched my order of learning to studying halacha full time. As I
studied for my semicha- rabbinic ordination, my study-partners had to be
those that I could work with in not only learning and studying the various sugyas-
(I guess topics is the best translation I can come up with, but doesn’t really
do it justice, let me know if you have a better one)- but one that would help
me remember it; that would be able to test me, challenge me and come up with
practical ramifications of the 3000 year old law and 200, 300, 400, 500 etc…
year old texts that we were studying.
There is nothing like a good chavrusa. They’re
not easy to find, though. In my case I needed obviously someone that would
challenge me, be able to handle my “exuberant” defense of my positions and
insight and not back down, and someone as well that I felt I could learn from.
He also needed to be a good schmoozer that in my down time I could banter with.
If he was too serious or boring, then I would generally have to duck out
occasionally for good conversation. When that happened I usually didn’t
extricate myself quick enough and it was downhill from there.
I was lucky in many ways. I had quite a few
great chavrusos. Tzvi, Ari, Yitzy, Yitzchak, Duvi, Chiely, Zevy, Leiby
to name a few, just in case they’re reading this. The rest of my friends on
this list could try to figure out who they were J.I even was privileged
to have chavrusos with some of my Rebbeim. Mostly mussar seder
though. I think that was the only way they thought they could get me to attend.
It worked. The attendance, I mean. The mussar, I think the jury is still
out on. Or not.
The critical role of a study partner in one’s
life is spoken about in the Talmud. I share the story with my tourists when we
visit the grave of Choni Ha’Maagel, the great sage in the times of the 2nd
Temple. Choni, the inspiration for Rip Van Winkle incidentally, the Talmud
tells us slept for 70 years. Upon awakening he returns to his study hall and
can’t find anyone that was on his level to learn with him. The next generation
was just not up to his level. So he prayed the famous statement that Patrick
Henry co-opted and paraphrased.
Talmud Taanit (23.) O’ Chavrusa
O’misusa- Give me a Chavrusa or give me death
His prayers were
answered and his life was taken from him. Similarly, the Talmud tells us about
the incredible chavrusa-shaft between those two brothers-in-law; Rebbi
Yochanan and Resh Lakish. After one disagreement, they “broke up” and Resh
Lakish, is so forlorn that he dies. Not long after Reb Yochanan does as well, when
he realizes that there is no one that can replace Reish Lakish. In the words of
the Reb Yochanan bemoaning his fate
Talmud Bava Metzia (10.) ‘When I would
say something he would ask me 24 questions and I would have 24 answers and that
would be the way we would open up the Talmud. All these new students do are
bringing me corroborating proofs to what I am saying.’
Reb Yochanan wasn’t
looking for sycophants. He needed a chavrusa that would sharpen him. Interesting
enough, I just noticed that it is Reb Yochanan, in Tannit, who records the
previous story of Choni as well. It seems it is a reflection of his own
experience.
This week’s Torah
portion is perhaps the source for the chavrusa process of study with the
establishment of the first yeshiva that is recorded in the Torah. After the
reunion of Yosef and his brothers, the brothers return to bring their father
Yaakov down to Egypt to join them. Yaakov however sends Yehudah up ahead on an
important mission.
Bereshis (46:28) And Yehudah was sent
before him to Yosef “l’horos”- to
instruct before him in Goshen.
The Torah doesn’t tell
us what he was meant to instruct however Rashi quotes the Midrash focusing on
the words ‘l’horos’- which means teaching laws and before him as a reference to building a Beit
Hatalmud- a Yeshiva from where Jewish law will come out from.
So here we have the
first yeshiva being set up. The yeshiva will consist of two students. A chavrusa-schaft.
Two unlikely candidates. Yehudah and Yosef. Incredible! I don’t think that
there would be two more unlikely people that someone would throw together.
Think about their history. Yehudah had sold Yosef down to Egypt and all that he
had undergone in those 22 years were because of that sale. His imprisonment,
his distance from his father, his family, his brother. Yehudah as well, was put
through this incredible hoax, by Yosef. He was accused of being a spy, his
brother Shimon was thrown into jail, he literally almost lost his World to Come
as he had guaranteed to his father that he would return Binyamin’s to him and
Yosef had him convinced that it was not happening. And you want to put these
two together to build a yeshiva! To be study-partners?
Besides all that
history, their styles were total opposites. Yosef was the tzadik. He
withstood the temptation of the wife of Potiphar. Yehudah on the other hand was
the Baal Teshuva. He failed. He sinned. Yet he admits and comes back.
Yosef operates hidden, behind closed doors. Yehudah is out in the open. Yehudah
was the king who lost his superiority after the sale of Yosef. Yosef on the
other hand rises out of the pit to kingship. They are polar opposites. And yet
they become the quintessential chavrusas, precisely for that reason.
See, the beauty of the
study of Torah is that it is not about me. For Torah study to be true it has to
be that way. One can’t inflict their personal baggage on the text. There can’t
be any ego. But yet each one of us has brings so much of it to the table when
we approach anything in our lives. L’havdil one can see that when it comes
to archaeology in Israel. There are many Zionistic archaeologists that approach
whatever they find with the intent of proving that Jews have been here forever.
There are some that are religious and will see proof of authenticity of the
Torah, its narratives, the stories of the Talmud and information contained
there in all they find. Other atheistic archaeologists will try to prove the
opposite. For many years, there were respected archaeologists that believed
that King David or King Solomon, if they even existed, were mere tribal
chieftains, rather than national kings. Ultimately they were quite embarrassed
with all the discoveries that pretty much made the Torah version
incontrovertible. But the study of Torah can’t be that way. It has to be pure.
It has to be objective and can’t be subjective. And the only way to get that
pure fire, in the words of the midrash, is by rubbing two hard stones together.
Two opposing scholars who through their debate will reveal the pure light of
truth of our Torah.
Yaakov sends Yehudah to
form this first study-partnership and create a Beit Midrash that will instruct
the Jews in how we will merit to leave the Egyptian exile that we were then
entering. We will need the Yosefs and Yehudahs to get together. We will need
the tzadikim, the righteous ones without sin to sit down and study with
the baal teshuvas- the sinners who have returned. Not only to teach them,
but to learn from them as well. We need the wealthy, successful ones, who have
picked themselves up, to sharpen themselves in Torah study with those who have
failed; with those who have lost it all. The quiet and the loud, the public and
the private. The brave and the timid. The dreamer and the pragmatist. Each one
possesses a truth the other doesn’t have and each one’s truth is incomplete
because it is bogged down with the ego and personal agenda that detracts from
the Divine mission. It is only when they unite. When they can put all that
baggage behind them, when they can sit down and hash it out over the word of
Hashem that the true light and redemption can come.
When we left Egypt and
came to the Sea we are told that it split before the people for two reasons.
The first was that the leader of the tribe of Yehudah, Nachshon, jumped in first
up to his nose. The second reason is because the Sea ‘saw’ the coffin of Yosef
and ‘said’ that since Yosef was able to overcome his natural inclinations to
fulfill the will of Hashem, it must follow suit as well and split. It is no
coincidence that the redemption came in the merit of these two. The sea split “before
them” because Yaakov had sent Yehuda 210 years prior to that when we first
came down to Egypt to open the Beit Midrash “before them”. As well, we
are told that the ultimate redemption will have two Mashiachs; Mashiach
from the house of Yosef and Mashiach from the house of David (the
descendant of Yehuda). That chavrusa, that Beit Midrash, that undiluted Torah
is what will bring that Temple once again to be rebuilt.
So here I am
chavrusa-less. I have my congregants. I have you, my readers, and I have my
daily tourists, who I try to challenge. But you aren’t chavrusos. As
much as I love you and wouldn’t trade my life for anything else. But I miss it.
It’s my sacrifice, I guess, for the meantime. Something to look forward to when
I retire. Hopefully that is still a long time away despite my becoming another
year older ( I had to get that in somewhereJ). On the other hand,
God willing Mashiach will come, The ultimate Chavrusa will finally come to its
fulfilment. We are half way there. Mashiach Ben Yosef has done his work. May we
see his chavrusa Mashiach Ben Dovid join him very soon.
Have a marvelous Shabbos!
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
********************************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“In shpigel zet itlecher zein besten freind.”- In the mirror
everybody sees his best friend
RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://youtu.be/p3UiUDbkSqY
- Mind-blowing, to think 6000
Jews gather at Kremlin and sing Ani Maamin boys choir. Who wudda thought we
would see this day…Truly Mashiach’s times
https://youtu.be/YBSDTrviNxI
I’ll be honest. I didn’t think I would
watch more than 2 minutes of this but it is truly kept me transfixed. Let’s see
if it happens to you. The Rubashkin Story a Nation United on the anniversary of
his release
https://youtu.be/sN_S2RUGBds- Very hartzig new song at concert Hatei sung by Shea
Rubenstien
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nEquYC2DzU
- Wasn’t easy finding this… Ani Yosef
Achichem sung by Simcha Leiner a beautiful SY Rechnitz composition
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q The southernmost bird sanctuary in
Israel is found in:
A. The Hai Bar in Yotvata
B. Yoash Mountain
C. Timna Mountain
D. Eilat
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS”
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Parshat Vayigash– One
has to be careful about being too “lomdish”. Or perhaps careful of
getting carried away with your lomdus and then projecting it on the text. My
Rebbi, used to call it having a “yiddisheh nose”. Being able to smell
out whether a vort, or Torah idea was true or not. I’ll give you an
example of course from this week’s Torah portion
The
Torah tells us about Yosef and Yaakov’s long awaited reunion. The verse tells
us that Yosef falls on his father’s shoulder. Rashi notes however that the
verse does not tell us that Yaakov cried at all.
Rashi Bereshis
(46:29) Our sages tell us that Yaakov was reciting the Shema
All
of the commentaries pretty much are perplexed by this Rashi. Why is Yaakov
reciting the Shema? Why isn’t Yosef, if it was time to recite it. Reb Chaim
Soloveitchik Z”L answers in his traditional halachic and lomdushe manner, by
noting that the entire way down to Egypt Yaakov never recited Shema. The reason
being because that Talmud in Sukkah (25.) tells us that the Torah obligates one
to say Shema B’lectecha ba’derech- in one’s walking on the path. Only
when one is walking for your personal reasons are you obligated. However, if
you are walking in the process of doing a mitzvah you are exempt. That being
the case, then the entire journey down to Egypt which was a commandment by
Hashem, Yaakov was exempt from reciting Shema. It was only when he arrived and
met Yosef that he became obligated once again. And thus he recited Shema.
That
part of the story is pretty famous. I recently saw an added part in the sefer
Shai La’Torah that dramatizes it a bit more. There was an individual that was
telling the Brisker Rav his own resolution of Reb Chaim’s kasha. He suggested
that Yaakov was overwhelmed with such a powerful love for his own son that he feared
that it would detract from his mitzvah to “love Hashem with all your heart”. He
was sharing some of his heart with his outpouring of love for his son. He
therefore recited the Shema to reinforce his love for Hashem.
When
the Rav heard this he shuddered and responded
‘Mi’nemt Yaakov
Avinu und m’macht ehm azoi vi zich; und noch dehm zogt min azah zelecheh verter-
You takeYaakov, our Patriarch, and make him just like you and then you make up
speeches about it.’
He
continued and explained that by our forefather Yaakov there was no such thing
as a personal love for his son that was separate from his love of Hashem. They
were identical. He loved his son because it was an expression of his love for
Hashem.
So
as I said be careful, about lomdus. As Reb Kenny R used to say. You got to know
when to hold em and when to fold em, when to lomdus them and when to not.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Septuaguint - 246 BC-
This Sunday is the 8th of Tevet. It was at one point a fast day but
it got incorporated with the fast 2 days later of the 10th of Tevet.
It recalls a day that our sages tell us was as bad as the Golden Calf. It was
the day of the writing of the Septuaquint or Targum Shivi’m in the words of our
sages. Ever hear about it? Did you think it’s that bad? Well you’ll be fasting for it this Tuesday
why not learn about it.
See in about the year 300 BC or so a short
little Greek Guy named Alexander who humbly called himself the Great came to
Israel. With him comes all types of Greek culture. He’s good to the Jews but
his generals that take over…not so much. The Egyptian King Ptolmey decides to
have the Torah translated into Greek. He takes 72 Rabbis locks them into 72
rooms gives them a pen and boom get to work. Miraculously all 72 came out with
identical texts, this was despite the fact that they all made politically
correct changes to it. Although it was a miracle, our Rabbis saw it as a bad
thing. For now, the Torah would become just another philosophy book on the
shelf. Jews would assimilate more and more and Hebrew our sacred tongue as well
would not be utilized by the next generation.
This phenomenon of the Septuagint and
assimilating Jews during this period of the second Temple where I mention this
can be seen all over Israel. In Jerusalem in the Herodian street under the old
city one can see Greek writing all over the place and its influences. In the
synagogues in the Ir Dovid and the north of Israel as well which id from
a bit later period Greek is the commonly written language. In Tzippori
one can see the illiterate Hebrew with words misspelled on the shul floors. In
the cemetery in Beit Shearim we find graves that are inscribed in Greek
with Greek epitaphs and names of daughters of Rabbis that are buried there that
are entirely Greek; Atio and Atheon for example. Perhaps the place you see it
most vividly is in the Israel Musuem where you see much of the
assimilated Jewish Hellenists Mosaics and art that has been uncovered and at
the museum of the Good Samaritan in the Dead Sea region as well.
It gives me, and my tourists, pause to see
this striking Greek assimilation and it makes you think about what they might
say about the plethora of English Torah books, if that’s a good thing as well.
On the one hand it has certainly opened up Torah to many who would not have
access. On the other hand maybe we should fast, and pray for the fact that we
have lost Lashon Hakodesh as our mother tongue.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH PARTNER JOKES OF THE
WEEK
One evening, Moshe and his partner Abe were having dinner together to celebrate
a recent business deal. They were having a great time when suddenly Moshe began
to find it hard to breathe.He said, "Abe, help me, I tink I hev svallowed a bone."
"Are you choking, Moshe?" said Abe.
"No, - I’m being serious."
In the early 1900s, an old Jew was traveling alone in his compartment on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The train stops and an officer in the czar's army gets on. He and the Jew travel for a while in silence. Suddenly the officer grabs the Jew by the lapels and demands: "Tell me: how is it you Jews so much brighter than everyone else?"
The Jew is silent a moment, then responds: "It's because of the herring that we eat."
The officer quiets down and the trip resumes. Soon the Jew takes out a piece of herring and starts to eat it. The officer asks him: "How many more pieces of that herring do you have?"
"A dozen."
"How much do you want for them?"
"Twenty rubles" [a big sum of money].
The officer takes out the money and gives it to the Jew. The old man gives him the herring, and the officer takes a bite. Suddenly he stops. "This is ridiculous," he says. "In Moscow I could have bought all this herring for a few kopecks."
"You see," says the Jew, "it's working already."
O'Sullivan, Cabot, Kelly and Mendlebaum was one of the most successful law firms in New York . Of all the partners, Mendlebaum brought in the most business.
Lunching with him one day, a curious friend asked, "Why is your name listed last? O'Sullivan spends most of his time in the south of France . Cabot is at his club's bar every afternoon, and Kelly is at the race track all the time. Since you bring in all the business, your name should be first."
To which Mendlebaum replied, "All my clients read from right to left."
This happened in
the English class at a chassidic yeshiva. The teacher presented the students
with a list of vocabulary words and gave them a homework assignment to write
each word in a sentence. On the list was the word 'devout'.
One student
returned the next day with the following sentence: "My father has long
devouts."
Upon reading it,
the principal asked the student if he was trying to make a joke out of the
assignment.
"No," the boy replied with a
sincere look, "I looked up 'devout' in the dictionary, and it said,
'pious.'
At Mr Silver's Bar Mitzva, he asks
his Rabbi to speak for five minutes. The Rabbi says he can’t talk because he
left his teeth at home, so he sends his Shamash to run to his house and bring
him his teeth. When he gets the teeth he gets up and starts speaking. 5 min.
then ten, 20, 30, 40 and he keeps speaking. After an hour he finally gets down.
Mr. Silver is not too happy and asks the Rabbi, "I told you to speak
for only five minutes, what happened?" The Rabbi says "oy, my
Shamash brought me my wife's teeth!
************
Answer is D– That was another easy one. I think I had it on
an earlier practice test as well. But yes, Eilat is the southern most part of
Israel and the half billion or so bears that migrate from Europe and Asia down
to Africa and back again in the fall and spring make their way to that Arava
valley to fuel up before hitting the Sahara dessert. Yoash is in Eilat
mountains Timna has Solomons Pillars and the Hai Bar in Yotvata one can see
birds, but its north of Eilat and not a sanctuary
score is Schwartz 8 and 1 for MOT (Ministry
of Tourism) on this exam so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment