Land, Love and Lights- Parshat Mikeitz Chanuka 2019 / 5780

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

December 27^th 2019 -Volume 10 Issue 10 29^th Kislev 5780

Parshat Mikeitz / Chanukah II

Land , Love and  Lights

" I love Israel" he told me. I believed him. He sounded sincere. In fact, he sounded in love.

"We try to come as often as we can and every time I am moved to tears. There's just something special about the country. I don't know what it is, but it makes me emotional just thinking about Eretz Yisrael. The hills, the valleys, sounds, the streets, the history, it's otherworldly. There's no place else in the world like it. I just love Israel."

This was how our conversation on the phone started when Yossi called me for a tour. He was hoping that I could show him something new, maybe something he hadn't seen before, but he assured me that even if I didn't, he doesn't mind seeing things he had visited before. Because each time there is something new to be seen or learned. It's all amazing to him. I almost wanted him to give me a tour by the time the conversation was over.

It was refreshing to hear a 'chutznik' speak so passionately about Eretz Yisrael. It made me hopeful that perhaps despite the lack of education, indoctrination, inspiration or even mention about the incredible centrality of Eretz Yisrael in Torah and Judaism in most "frum" schools it was still somehow making its way into the hearts and souls of my yiddisheh brethren in the diaspora. It seems, much to my delight and surprise that 2000 years of longing implanted something in our DNA that couldn't be just forgotten or even replaced with a single-minded and perhaps determined Rabbinic strategic focus on a Judaism that is pretty much only about Torah study and scrupulous observance of mitzvos and rituals. Eretz Yisrael was something we "hoped for" that we "prayed for" and that we "mourned for". It was the subject of slow sad songs (veee leyirushalayim eeeerrrchaaa ah aha…) and happy messianic songs (Yeruuuushalayim Yeruuuushalayim L'Shana Haba..) But it wasn't something that we were actually taught to love. That feeling and passion was only for Torah. Only Zionists would wax on about Israel too much. We yeshiva guides were only meant to be passionate about another holy blatt of gemara, another Reb Baruch Ber, another insight, tractate of talmud or vort.

Now I understand why this is so. And even if I don't, I'm smart enough to know that I'd be stupid  to think that I have any valid opinion that is more insightful than the great leaders and sages of our people that have set the educational directives for our "system". But it makes sense. After the Holocaust when we lost the great bastions of Torah, our yeshivos our leaders, rabbis and Torah students of the pre-war generation, Torah which is the heart and soul of our nation was in danger of being lost. The refugees were too busy trying to rebuild, to support their families, to get over the trauma and to integrate or assimilate into the new society; the 'guldeneh medina'.  So the educational system became about recreating that. Rebuilding what once was. Thank God I think it is fair to say we have even surpassed it as this week's Siyum Hashas of 100's of thousands of Jews who will celebrate their 7-year completion of the entire 64 volume work of Talmud studying a page a day proves. Torah is flourishing like never before and its truly amazing.

Somehow in that targeted focus though we lost, I believe, the connection and longing our ancestors had for our land. We lost the love and the passion. We became perhaps the generation that knew the most about Eretz Yisrael; it's laws, it's history, it's geography and what was going on over there in our era of instant information and 24-hour news cycles, but the ones that felt the least for it. We had all the chochma but none of the soul or the heart.

Loving a country is so much more than knowing and learning about it. To love in Hebrew is not only to give as they teach us in all of the marriage classes we went to. It is to become one with the object of one's love. Ahava- in gematria is the same as the word echad or one. Man and woman in the garden of Eden were meant to become one; basar echad. It is through that unification that life is born.  It's the essence of the world. Our mitzva to love Hashem that we recite in twice daily is prefaced with Shema Yisrael Hashem Echad-Making Hashem echad through love. That means that when all of me is connected to Hashem, my heart, my actions, my spirit-it's all for Hashem, then I am united and Hashem is one with me. When one sees a married couple where she is always worrying about him; "is totty alright", "take care of this for him", "give him that," and he at the same time is always worried and taking care of her; "give this to Mommy", "help Mommy with that" the oneness is felt. It's beautiful. That is what it means to love. I have expanded the feelings I have for myself and projected them on someone else. I have understood that my life, my joy, my very being is bound together with the object of my love.

It's a mitzva that we have not only for our spouses and our God, but for every Jew. To love them. To become one with them. To see their differences from me, not as things that differentiate them from me, but parts of the oneness of our people that I haven't yet incorporated into myself yet and expanded my sense of self to include in my own essence yet. In the same way the differences between ourselves and our spouses are just part of ourselves that are undiscovered and unrealized until we become one with them. Torah achas l'kulam- one Torah for all of them doesn't mean that we all connect to Hashem through Torah the same way. Sefardim, Ashkenazim, Israelis, Americans, Chasidim, Litvaks each might have different paths and different expressions of their own spirituality but ultimately it is one Torah that is large enough to unite all of those paths. To see in the differing expressions of it just other aspects of Hashem echad.

That unity can really only be achieved in Eretz Yisrael. It's where it is meant to be achieved. We are all able to become united when we all live and are connected to the one country of Hashem where we reveal His oneness to the world from. We are gathered from the four corners of the world back to our home. We are no longer Americans, Ethiopians, Russians, Germans, Yemenites, Indians, Canadians or Australians. We are Bnai Yisrael. The children of Israel. The love and feeling that we each had for Hashem's chosen land for us overtakes the feelings that we may have developed for centuries or millennia for the countries that may have given us refuge while we were away from home.  We have a Torah that has united, we have a country that unites us and we have a God that is Echad that we all feel we possess and it is our greatest expression of our own self, and love. Once we have established that, the world will then unite. For they are also part of that oneness of creation. They will be drawn to our unity, to our love of the world's Father and creator. Bayom Hahu Hashem Echad u'shmo echad.

Chanuka is the time that we tap into that game plan. It is the only "made in Israel" holiday. Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot and Purim are all galus/exile holidays; established to commemorate events that took place before we entered the land. Chanuka is the last of the holidays historically. It was established when we were in Jerusalem and Israel and we had a temple, but we lost sight of the function of it all. It was in fact the beginning of the era of our exile and downfall which followed a few decades after the miracle and victory of the Maccabees. Pesach we became a nation that became one with Hashem, Shavuos we united around the Torah by the foot of Mt. Sinai, Sukkot we are all joined together with Hashem and with our families and with all Jews symbolized by our 4 species in our Sukkahs. Chanuka is when we bring all of that home and dedicate our Beit HaMikdash in Eretz Yisrael. Light finally reigns and shines out to the entire world. The darkness of Greece and the nations and culture that have assimilated into is finally vanquished. Candle by candle we are mosif bi'kedusha- we add our holiness and expand it. The love fills the world.

But we failed. We became divided and as we were divided the unified light fractured and the darkness seeped back in. We went back to the beginning when all of this started in the parshiyot that we always read this season to remind us of that problem. We read last week how our Patriarch Yaakov, as well finally came back to Israel and wished to finally settle in peace. But it didn't happen. The brothers fought, Yosef was sold down to Egypt. We fell into different stories. Yehuda had his saga of Israeli politics. And Yosef was simultaneously busy with his Egyptian galus politics and dramas. Divided we fell.

This week's parsha which heralds in the end of Chanuka leaves us on a cliffhanger. Will we reconnect again. Can the brothers see past the different clothing and customs that they have? Can they put behind them the jealousy or perhaps even more significantly the sense of religious supremacy that sent us all to Egypt in the first place? That sent us out of our land. For what's the point of being in Israel if we're not going to unite there and shine out the presence of Hashem from there anyways. We may as well stay in galus and observe the galus holidays there until we can all get back together again and realize the ultimate goal and point of them all. Until we remember that the realization of all of the love we need to fulfill in this world needs to be connected to Eretz Yisrael.

It's interesting that the holidays in the Diaspora always have an extra day. The reason for this was because since the establishment of the new month was by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the word of which day the new month was established took too long to get to them in those ancient pre-whatsapp message days. So they always observed another day out of doubt. I heard an interesting question from Rabbi Daniel Glatstien that noted that Chanuka should therefore also be 9 days in the diaspora for that day in doubt. Many other Rabbis are busy with the famous "Beit Yosef " question of why is it even 8 days as the miracle was only that the oil lasted an additional 7 days for they had enough for one day. That's a question for grinches that want one less day of Chanuka. I prefer Rabbi G's question of one extra day of latkas and sufganiyot. But it certainly seems strange.

Now today we can send messages pretty quickly and the truth is we have a set calendar so it would seem that even in chutz l'aretz they shouldn't have two days for all of the holidays. But our sages see in the extra day perhaps a reminder to those living in the Diaspora that the holidays, the Pesach, Shavout, and the Sukkot are not really being observed there the way they are supposed to. They're doubtful. Hashem doesn't just want us to shake a lulav, eat some matza or even just learn Torah in the Diaspora, despite the fact they are commandments that need to be observed. The point of it all is to bring us all together. To make us echad and then return to Eretz Yisrael and take our unified love to the Beit Hamikdash, the home that binds us that we long for to express that unity of Hashem out to the world. The extra day is there to remind them of that. To remind them that they have to turn their eyes to Jerusalem and ask if the temple has been reestablished yet. If they can come home.

Chanuka, though is different. Chanuka, there is no doubt. There is no reminder necessary. We are lighting a menorah. We are shining that light and it's all about Yerushalyim. The temple. We are transported in that lighting to the holies. We are all priests. We are actively pushing away that darkness. We are celebrating the destruction and victory of the galus and culture that has been defining us and separating us from each other. We have found our way back to that little flame that we all share and we are growing it together. And we are filled with love.

I just came home from morning services and I noted in davening the conjunction of the blessings before we recite the shema.

Ohr Chadash al tzion tair vnizkeh kulanu meheir l'oro- a new light shall shine on Zion and all of us should merit speedily to its light.

 And then right after that we say

 Ahava rabba ahavtanu- a great love You have loved for us

Habocher b'amo Yisrael b'ahava- He chooses His nation Israel with love.

Only once we have the light and the love can we say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Only then can we truly recite the mitzva of V'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha- Loving Hashem with all your heart. The original Shema was recited by Yaakov in Galus to the tribes before he died with the blessings that they would return. They would unite all of their different personalities and traits into one glorious flame of redemption. His last promise and request was that he should be brought back here to the only place where we can reveal echad. The country he loved. The one he told his children to love. Yerushalayim, our home.

All oils are permitted to light your menora. Some use oil, some use paraffin, in the holocaust some used the butter rations they had and others use colored wax candles. I use olive oil, which is what they used in the Beit Hamikdash, but all are kosher. There is a message in this law too. All oils are kosher. They all have the fuel we need to light the flames of Hashem. They all can bring out light. They just need to be lit with love. They just need to make us think and remember the Beit Hamikdash, the house of love and prayer where we shined that light out to the world from. May we all merit to feel that love as we light our remaining candles this Shabbos Rosh Chodesh and may we merit to see them let in our home once again this year.

Have a lichtigeh Shabbos and Chanuka,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Zey hobn zikh beyde lib; er zikh un zi zikh"– They are both in love: he with himself and she with herself.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/PDWlCM_BmQs   – Hands down winner for the coolest and most absurd unexpected Chanukah Video…but you got watcha through the end.. Hillariously funny..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dp4aUwIvl8 – Check out the waterfalls and rivers of Israel filling up and gushing rains of blessing this Chanuka!

https://youtu.be/FFJeT7G6Imo - One of the most beautiful songs in the world that I have been singing the entire Chanuka for some reason Yehei Raava Kadomoch by Eitan Katz- it literally reaches the heavens

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-hanissim  - And for those of you that didn't hear it last week or that need to hear it again My latest composition in honor of Chanuka, sung and arranged by Dovid Lowy Al Hanissim

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

6)  Anemones in a variety of colors can be found mainly in:

A.    The Gaza Envelope

2. The Judean Mountains
3. The valleys
4. The Negev

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Lo Sasur Mei Hadavar Asher Yomru lecha– Rabbinical commandments (Chanuka candles – We light our Chanuka candles each night and we make a blessing upon them.

Blessed are You Hashem, our God the King of the world who sanctified us with His mitzvos- commandments and He commanded us to light the candles of Chanuka.

 Now I don't know if it ever bothered you when you made this blessing, but is it really true? Did Hashem command us to light Chanuka candles. We received our commandments from Hashem at Mt. Sinai about 1100 years before the story of Chanuka which took place in the second temple in the 2^nd century BC. So what does the blessing mean that this is a commandment from Hashem? This is a blessing and even holiday that was conceived by the Rabbis of that generation.

So this question is in fact one that is posed by the Talmud and it becomes a revealing principle into the stature of the rabbinic commandments. See there is a prohibition in the Torah to add mitzvos to the Torah. The way that the rabbis can add decrees and mitzvos is that the Torah has a clause that the sages are meant to build a fence around the Torah to protect the laws. So although meat and milk is prohibited only if its cooked together, the Rabbis prohibited eating it uncooked. As well, they prohibited poultry with milk or cheese as it can get confused with regular meat. These are fences, that the Torah gives the Rabbis authority to add. They can also put in decrees or gezeirot to prevent infractions, for example, the cheese or milk of a non-Jew or drinking wine handled by a gentile in order to prevent excessive fraternization. Now here's where it gets interesting there is a mitzva in the Torah to listen to the words of the Rabbis and not divert left or right from what they tell you. This would then mean that every Rabbinic decree is also a biblical prohibition, for the Torah commands one to listen to the Rabbis.

This logic the Talmud tells us is the rationale for us reciting in our bracha that Hashem has commanded us to fulfill His commandments, although Chanuka (and Purim for that matter) are Rabbinic inventions. For since we are obligated biblically to listen to the Rabbis, when we light our candles we are fulfilling the mitzva Hashem commanded us to follow the laws of the Rabbis. The Talmud brings two sources for this mitzva, one is the lo sasur a prohibition turn away from what the Rabbis tell you to do. And the second opinion says it’s from the verse of She'al Avicha 'vyagedcha- you should ask your father and he will tell you the sages and they will direct you. The Rambam is of the opinion that therefore one who violates a rabbinic command is then in essence violating a biblical command as well. Nachmanides, the Ramban, disagrees and suggest that this is only by a mitzva that the Rabbis derived by using their power of derush, extrapolating via the means of the 13 principles with which the Torah can be derived.

The Chasam Sofer suggests an even more interesting idea whereas he suggests that the mitzva of Chanuka candles and Megilla reading on Purim are both ways of praising Hashem for the miracles of our salvation. He suggests that this concept is in fact a biblical obligation. The Talmud tells us in Megilla that if we are obligated to sing praise to Hashem when he saved us from slavery to freedom by Pesach, then we are certainly obligated to do so when it comes to life and death by Purim. If that follows then the basis of the obligation is indeed a biblical command and thus even the Ramban would rule that it is a biblical command to listen to the Rabbis in this case, as the mitzva the Rabbis decreed to light candles has its basis from logical extrapolation of the mitzva of Pesach.

I know it feels like we have moved back to last years lomdus of the week column this week for this mitzva, but hey Chanuka is the holiday of light which of course is Torah, and so I imagine that Torah light gave you the extra boost to appreciate this mitzva that we will fulfill each of these nights and give it an even biblical significance.

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

Chanukah - 165 BC- OK Let’s break for a week from our chronological sites and eras to talk about the holiday of Chanukah. So in the year 165 about 100 years or so after Alexander the Great comes to Israel and spares the country and Greek culture enters the Jewish world, the country is once again in turmoil. The generals of Alexander divide up the country and the Northern Syrian Greeks, known as the Selucids, led by Antiochus passes laws against the Jews and the revolt begins. It ultimate culminates with the liberation of the Beit Hamikdash and the lighting of the Menorah which miraculous oil that lasted for eight days. You learned all that in kindergarden. But where can you experience and relive that in Israel.

So obviously the places to relive these battles would be where they took place. Mod’in where the revolt took place is today a big city, but Umm al Umdan right outside of it a shul was found there from the Herodian post Maccabee period and underneath it another Chashmonean period shul was found, so perhaps it was there. There is nearby as well a great place the Chasmonean village that has been created as well as Neot Kedumim that have all types of activities including olive oil making for Chanukah.

The battles of the Maccabees are certainly sites that we are familiar with. At Latrun by the Ayalon valley, Yehudah fights off miraculously Nikanor. I like to play lazer tag with my tourist kids there, that’s really reliving the action. A little north of that by Beit Choron you have the amazing battle fights off the general Seron. Even as far South as Yavneh which is right above Ashdod you have the final battle when we threw off the yoke of the Greeks. On the other hand, in the Gush Etzion area by Tel Zekariah right outside of Elazar is when the Maccabees suffered a defeat and Elazar was crushed by an elephant. The yishuv is thus named after him. Further down as you head to Chevron the village of Karmei Tzur is named after the Chashmonean city Beit Tzur where they sent the Syrians and their general Lysisus back to Syria.

The truth is though everywhere you go in Israel everyone is trying to get in on the action all of the museums have Chanukah activities, the parks have games and period-era costumes, and everyone is getting in on the action. But of course the most important Chanukah experience is to walk through the streets of the old city of Yerushalayim at night and see the neiros b’chatzros kodshecha- the candles, just as they were 2000 years ago lit in the courtyard, streets and window of our holy city. Am Yisrael Chai!

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S ISRAELI TERRIBLE CHANUKA JOKES  OF THE WEEK

The Maccabees were definitely Farsim (Persian Jews) who else could have a little bit of oil and make it last for 8 days.

Why do Yemenites celebrate their birthdays on Chanuka? In order to save money and move the candles from the Menora to their cakes

Sufganiya- Shniya shel osher V'sahana b'cheder cosher- (a second of enjoyment and a year  in the excersize room.

Chanuka is the one holiday when you can have white powder under your nose and a police officer tells you b'tayavon! (with a hearty appetite).

Even Albert Einstien can't explain how a doughnut which weighs 150 grams adds to Kilos to my weight when I eat one.

How can you recognize a Hanukkah hippie? He’s the one with his hair in dreidel-locks.

The biggest miracle of Chanuka was that they found one flask of oil with the signature of the Kohen Gadol and everyone agreed that it was Kosher enough.

One of the fun things  I like to do is to go into a restaurant and ask if they are Kosher for Chanuka and see the waitress go and ask the manager, who calls the owner, who calls the Rabbi…

What did the person with allergies say on Chanuka Al Hanissim Al Hapurkan V'al Haaaachhooooo- os!

What did the dictator of China sing on Chanuka Mao Tzur

What song does Timon and Pumba sing when they light their menora? -Chanuka Matata?

We eat Sufganiyot to celebrate the miracle that they have clogged our lungs for 2000 years and we have still survived.

Why on your dreidel does it have a picture of Bernie Sanders instead of the letter Shin? Because you have to share your wealth with everyone on the table.

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Answer is C–  This question led to a lot of discussion on my tour guide whatsapp group when I posted it ther for assistance. The problem is that the Anemome or whatever it is called in English- I knew it as Kalanit in Hebrew can be found in all of the above places. Certainly in the Negev and Judean Hills there are plenty of Kalaniyot that I personally have seen. I wasn't sure about the Gaza strip but I googled that and there are there as well. I wrote valleys because that was the only one that really could cover all of the regions. But at the same time I wasn't sure because they also grow on hills. This was a strange question and as I suspected it was a mistake of theirs in translation. The Hebrew version of the question was a variety of different colors or types of Kalaniyot can be found in which region. So the answer to that question is still puzzling as the south and Judean hills are mostly red. But there is another mistranslation for "The Valleys" with a capital 'V' would be translated as the lower Galile valleys by by the Jezreel valley and Gilboa where in fact there are a lot of colors. That was my guess, but I imagine that all the answers would have been correct as they translated the question wrong.  So we continue with the score being Schwartz 4 and 2 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.

A Spin on Driedel- Parshat Vayeishev 2019 /5780

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

December 20^th 2019 -Volume 10 Issue 9 22^nd Kislev 5780

Parshat Vayeshev / Chanukah

A Spin on Dreidel

It's an ancient tradition that we try to do observe. We light our menora's, we have Chanukah parties, we sing holiday songs, and even compose a few and of course we eat latkas and beingn in Israel jelly doughnuts. And there is of course driedel. Now perhaps when we were kids this custom was fun as we sat around spun our sevivon / top and counted out pennies from the pot. The tradition has that it began when the Greeks forbid us from learning Torah. The Jews would secretly study and when the Greeks would come in they would hide their books and pretend to be playing dreidel. Although that may be the source it seems that the custom to play is only a few hundred years old or so. But that's good enough for me.

Now pennies or even shekels and spinning tops were just not going to cut it for my chevra in yeshiva. It was too childish and no fun or challenge. So it seems the yeshiva world- although some of our Rebbes would probably protest at us hijacking that distinguished title, came up with other alternatives to fulfill the concept. The dreidel became a deck of cards. The game was given some name that had some chassidic spiritual mystical element to it; Kvittlach. I think it's yeshivish blackjack. Poker with some herring thrown in for good measure. It involved some money changing hands. But everyone knew that Chanukah gelt is a mitzva, right? I guess the only connection that it had with the original custom was that when the Rebbeim would walk in they would hide the cards and money and pull out a sefer and pretend to be studying. So it's almost like the real thing.

I personally was never a gambler. Probably because any gelt that I did have I used to buy sufganiyot and shwarmas. I tried learning the kvittlach game once but it was beyond me. I still have no clue what an elevaroon is. Maybe an elevated macaroon?  Instead I went to visit my good friend in more of a "fun" yeshiva. Those were "my 'other' boys". My yeshiva was where I would learn. Theirs was where I would go when I needed to get away for a bit.

 It was late at night, after seder of course when I arrived there. My buddy Yanky was sitting down with some of my friends discussing the Chanukah night activity for the evening. These were not kvittlach people. At the same time the typical card games were too lame. One of them finally came up with a great idea. Monopoly! Now I was a big board game person. Risk, Stratego, chess, games that required using our yeshivish noggin and beating someone else with our incredible strategies. Conquering the world, killing kings capturing flags. We were good at that. Monopoly is a luck and throw of the dice game. What's the kuntz?

The boys smiled at me and pulled out the game. They replaced the monopoly bills right away with shekels. Now I know that shekels are painted to look like monopoly money. I tell my tourists so that it's that they shouldn't confuse it with real money. Otherwise your typical American could get sticker shock 100's of shekel for this and for that. But once you realize it's not real money, it's only shekels then it's not so bad.

But this was different. Monopoly with real money, albeit shekels is a totally different game. Do I buy this? Do I build? All of a sudden these question have real financial consequences? Hmmm. It sounded interesting. Not having any money, I sat down to watch (Ok maybe I chucked in a few shekels…Shhh…). The game became more and more intense as the night wore on. The trading got heavy, the arguments and under the table deals were heating up. And all of a sudden…Boom, the door opened.

 In front of us stood Rabbi G., the Rosh yeshiva. Now this was not my yeshiva. I wasn't too worried. But, it was still scary watching his face as he took in the scene before his eyes. He looked at Yanky with a stern glare and asked him what was going on. Without batting an eye Yanky turned to his Rosh Yeshiva and told his Rebbe,

"Can you believe this? He wants me to trade him Pacifc and Atlantic for Mediterranean and Park Place., what does Rebbe have to say about that?"

I will never forget Rabbi G.'s expression and response. He looked at Yanky. He understood his boys. He knew when to fight 'em, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.

"What!" Rabbi G. said, "Mediterranean?! Even Kollel guys don't live on Mediterranean…!"

Oy…. Those were the days. I think Yanky got his schmooze on the evils of gambling the next day, but in my opinion the wisdom, self-control and wit of that Rebbe, taught me an even more important lesson. One has to see the big picture of connecting with you students over losing it all over a game of monopoly. It's a lesson I will never forget.

It's Chanuka this week, My Chanuka box is out with all my Chanukah paraphernalia. Menora, silver polish, candles wicks, oils, and Happy Hanukah signs and of course dreidels. What is the deeper concept behind this dreidel? Now we know that there are four letters Nun Gimmel, Shin and Hey or Pey, which stand for Neis Gadol Haya Sham - A great miracle happened there or alternatively Po-here. The difference of course is depending on if you are playing in Israel or the Diaspora. Although I understand that Satmar and some other shall we call them "not-pro-Zionist" of our brethren don't use the "peh-here" ones even here in Israel either. It seems they claim it’s a Zionist invention. Although a gambling game of spin-the Jewish-top would seem like a lame place to start declaring religious indignation about foreign secular influences. But hey... I would never crash anyone's fun or party as Rabbi G taught me.

But the truth is that there is something sacred about the dreidel spinning game. There were great Rabbis like the students of the Baal Shem Tov, the Chasam Sofer, and (lbl'ch) Reb Chaim Kanievsky even recalls that his father the Steipler played dreidel with them as children. It's fascinating that when they went through the concentration camps storehouses where they Nazi's kept the items they confiscated from the Jews many dreidels were found. It seems that the Jews who were limited by what they could bring with them to these camps, somehow many of them felt the dreidel was something to bring. One can imagine the clandestine games in their barracks late at night. They may not have been able to light a menora, but at least they had something to remind them of the miracles of old and to give them faith that it could happen again.

There are many different insights about the dreidel game. The Bnai Yissachar sees it as the difference between Chanuka and Purim where as in Purim we spin the gragger from bottom, Chanuka the dreidel is pun from the top (excuse the pun). On Chanuka the miracle came openly from Hashem it was clear he was running the show. The Jews did not merit redemption or the miracle as most of them had assimilated. Hashem had to spin that dreidel from above. On Purim we fasted, we prayed and we repented. We turned the grogger and made the noise and Hashem in kind responded.

Rebbi Nachman of Breslav has an incredible insight into the dreidel game though. He notes that the dreidel is like life. We spin and we spin and we fall. Sometimes when we fall we are gadol- we are great we win. Other times we are Nun- nisht nothing, sometimes we pay, sometimes we lose half. But we pick ourselves up and spin again. Sometimes it's our turn and the next spin it could be my neighbors and other game players turn. Life is constantly spinning and we are constantly waiting to see where it will fall. Some spins are longer some are shorter. The one thing that unites all of the players though, is when you can't see the letters. When it is turning around and around and it all looks like one. That is the message we are meant to view life in. We are all on a dreidel and we are all part of the miracle. Today's shin could be tommorow's gimmel.

The parsha that we read this week before Chanuka Vayeishev (and you thought I'd forgotten about this part of the E-Mail…shame) is also like a dreidel and completes this message. The Rokayach notes that almost every single verse in the parsha begins with the letter vav, which translates as "and".  And this… and that… and this… and he came… and he settled …and he went… It’s a parsha on the move. It's a parsha that is constantly spinning.  The vav is like that little handle on the top of the dreidel that Hashem is spinning. Yosef is the favorite child. He got a colored coat. He got the first gimmel. But then he is thrown down in a pit. He falls. Shin. Yaakov is settled and happy. Gimmel. He falls in mourning for his kidnapped son. Shin Reuvein is the oldest, and he loses his postion, Yehuda is the leader and he falls. Tamar is on the bottom and then she rises up. They all ultimately rise again. It's one continuation. They're all spinning. It's ironic that the parsha is called Vayeishev- and he settled because no one seems settled after the first verse. But the Torah is not ironic. It is settled like our dreidel. It falls, but then rises and spins again.

Do you know how many verses don’t start with vav in the parsha? Eight. Yup. Eight days of Chanuka. Interestingly enough there is another book that also has every verse, besides eight, that start with the letter vav that connects it all together. That is spinning the entire story. It is the book of Ruth. There, as well, people are rising and falling. Elimelech, and his two sons are the leaders and they flee Israel and ultimately intermarry and die. Naomi who was once the big Rebbetzin comes back as a pauper. Rus is a former princess and she now is begging for wheat and charity. It's an amazing story. But the end of that story is the birth of the grandfather of King David; the beginning of the messianic line.

That messianic line had its start in our parsha. The beginning of the driedel game centuries before with Yehuda and Tamar the ancestors of Boaz. The great miracle is happening here. Do you know what the gematria of Nun Gimmel Shin and Hey is? 358. Do you know what else is that same gematria? Mashiach.

The top is spinning. This Sunday night we will light our menoras. We will sing Maoz Tzur. It's a song about all of our exiles. We start with Egypt, we go through Bavel, Chanuka and Purim. We conclude with the final exile that we still in and ask Hashem to bring Mashiach. Then we pull out our dreidel and watch it spin in the glow of those candles. May the dreidel of Klal Yisrael finally land on that winning letter. We want the gantzeh pot. It's time for the Nes Gadol.

 Have a lichtigeh Shabbos and Chanuka,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Ainem’s mazel iz an anderen’s shlemazel."– One’s good luck is another’s misfortune.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-hanissim  - My latest hit in honor of Chanuka, sung and arranged by Dovid Lowy Al Hanissim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psgiydX4f3k  – Dovid Lowy's (yes, the one and the same above who has begun arranging my songs )Newest awesome song for Chanuka Shiru! Enjoy….Check it out!

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/chasof-zeroah- And my composition for last year's Chanuka hit and still my favorite Chanuka song Chaasof Zeroa arranged and sung by Yitz Berry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRGlpowJQeM   - This week with the accompanying video- Makes it so much better worth the watch again… 613 AKA Pella Star Wars Chanuka- Couldn't stop laughing…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emIvBfzTsQk- Maccabeats newest Chanuka video Pan Fry

https://youtu.be/99N7696KO8Y   - Shmueli Ungar the Dreidel Song

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

5) According to the Book of Joshua, Jerusalem was within the tribal territory of:

A.    Reuben

2. Benjamin (Binyamin)
3. Dan
4. None of the tribes

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Yevama Yavo Aleha– Yibum and Chalitza the Levirate marriage- In this week's Torah portion we are introduced to the concept of yibum, although in pre-Sinatic times, meaning before it was given as a mitzva. We are told the story of Yehudah, his children and Tamar. In a nutshell Tamar marries son number one and then he dies, she then marries son number 2 and he dies. When it comes to son number three Yehudah doesn't want her to marry him. So now she remains it seems from the text in limbo. The reason is because as long as a woman whose husband dies without children is not released from that relationship-via chalitza as we shall explain- she is obligated to "continue" that marriage with her husband's brother in order to perform the ultimate act of kindness which is providing and heir that will carry on the brother's name. In biblical times before the giving of the Torah this mitzva could be fulfilled by any close relative. Seeing she was not going to be able to fulfill the mitzva, she disguised herself and seduced Yehuda, her father-in-law and became pregnant with child. When word got out and she was sentenced to death for having "cheated" on her husband's brother, who was officially supposed to marry her, she refused to shame Yehudah, throwing the ball in his court, to allow him the prerogative to fess up. Which he did. The child by the way ultimately became the great granddaddy of King David. So all's well that ends well, I guess.

Now this mitzva, surprisingly enough to many of you is still in force today. There are a few differences though, First of all the only ones that are obligated to fulfill this mitzva and the women only becomes forbidden to marry anyone if her husband has brothers. If he does not have brothers, she's free to go. No other relatives and certainly not her father-in-law are obliged to fulfill this mitzva. As well the woman can be released from this obligation, or marriage really, as I'll explain by undergoing a process called chalitza. Once she does this process then she is again free to marry anyone else.

The idea behind this mitzva according to the Chinuch is because a woman and a man become like one in marriage, and that union is meant to produce and heir that will continue their work in this world. When a man dies without an heir then her husband's closest relative, his brother, fills that role for him, creating that legacy and caring for his wife and giving the two of them the eternality they came to this world to achieve. The Abarbanel takes a more pragmatic approach and suggests that this mitzva is more about assuring the wife that she will remain cared for by the family that she has become part of. By bearing her husband's child through his brother, she is assuring herself and her descendants a place in the family that she joined when she married her husband. Other's see on this many mystical aspects that take place in this union and the descension of souls and eternal rest that is achieved in this union. But I'm not a mystic so I can't fill you in all those details.

This mitzva is seen as one of the greatest acts of kindness and mercy one can perform. For the man (yavam) and the woman (yevama) are giving the most precious gift, their ability to bear children with someone they never chose for themselves in order to perpetuate the deceased's name. The truth is that this process is so obvious in the Torah as a natural act of kindness, that they couple does not even require a marriage. The brother just steps into his other brother's marriage, although rabbinically there was a process called maamar where they would agree to the union. It as a result of this that even today a woman in such a situation cannot marry someone else as long as they are in the yevama state. Yet despite the significance of the this mitzva today yibum is an act that is generally not practiced.

The reason why this is not practiced is that there are opinions in the Talmud that if one does not do this for the sake of the mitzva rather he does it for his own selfish and personal reasons, then it is preferable not to do this. Now although the general rule in the Talmud seems to be of the opinion that it is still preferable to do yibum because of the spiritual aspects of the mitzva and the ramifications of it and in fact that this was the ruling of the Rambam and most of the Sefardic authorities, the ashkenazic custom was not do preform the mitzva today as a result of this. The Torah does give an alternative and that is Chalitza which literally means the removal. In this process the woman and the brother arrive in the Court. A special sandal is worn by the man and it is removed and the woman spits in it in order to humiliate the man declaring that "This is what happens to the man who does not build his brother's house." After that process she is then permitted to marry any other man.

This mitzva became a very relevant mitzva in recent times after the Holocaust where tragically many people married and their husbands were killed before they had children. They were taken away perhaps to camps and survived the war but were unable to re-marry as long as they knew that their husband had a brother despite the fact that they had no clue as to his whereabouts. Halachically speaking they required chalitza from him to permit them to remarry. This was a major project of many of the great Rabbis after the war (along with of course finding information of peoples disappeared husbands, as well who's wives couldn't remarry until there was proof of death) in tracking down the siblings of the husband and preforming this ritual. Today the policy of the Rabbanut of the State of Israel is that they do not preform Yibum, for Ashkenazim or Sefardim. Rav Ovadia Yosef however disagreed with this ruling and would permit Sefardim to perform this mitzva.

This mitzva is certainly one of the more mystical ones of the Torah, yet it is through this mitzva that King David and the Messianic line is brought forth to the world. May we finally see that redemption and an end to all tragedies.

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

Civil War Yiftach's final action 982 BC –It is fascinating to follow Tanach and its stories through until the end. In the Torah there are two tribes that are viewed as the ideal brothers, the first that never fight in the Torah Ephraim and Menashe, the two sons of Yosef. We bless our children each Friday night that they should grow up like these two special tribes…. Ummmm… it's a good thing that no one learns Tanach, because these two tribes went at it like no one's business in the book of Shoftim. Let's see.

After Yiftach's victory over the Ammonites, the tribe of Ephraim which had previously complained to Gideon about being left out of the battle, now came to Yiftach with complaints as well. Except unlike Gideon where they at least got to participate in the end of the battle and everything was discussed respectfully, by Yiftach they didn't fight at all and they came with guns blazing. They told Yiftach how dare he go to fight without them and they threatened to come burn down his house. Big mistake. See, Yiftach was no Gideon, he was a hooligan, I mean the guy just shechted his own daughter possibly. He certainly wasn't going to take this from Ephraim. Particularly since for years Ephraim sat back and watched Gilead, Yiftach's area of the tribe of Menashe where he ruled, get run over by the Ammonites and they didn't raise a hand to help. So they went to war.

Yiftach and his band of merry men of Gilead killed 42,000 of the tribe of Ephraim. That is an incredible and incomprehensible number! To put it in perspective there were only 32,500 (men between 20-60) that entered the land of Israel less than 2 centuries before. Not only that but the fleeing troops of Ephraim across the Jordan River where stopped by Yiftach's men and when they tried to pretend that they weren't from Ephraim, their accent gave them away (they couldn't pronounce certain words), they were slaughtered by the banks of the Jordan River crossing. The lesson is, of course, to learn the accent not just the language. Lesson number 2 be careful who you elect to be your leader. Lesson 3 Don't complain and pick a fight with hooligans.

But perhaps the only real lesson that Chazal give us, is that Jews should not look down upon other Jews. The tribe of Ephraim, thought they were better than those that lived on the other side of the Jordan. They weren't really living in Israel in their minds. They weren't as holy. Maybe they were Sefardim and not Ashkenazi enough. Maybe they were not as Torah knowledgeable.  They weren't yeshiva educated. They were country hicks. Maybe they were good enough to serve in the army. To fight off Ammon. But they weren't good enough to be counted with the rest of the nation. It's a fight and argument that led to the first of many civil wars we will find in Tanach. Sadly, it's lessons haven't entirely been learned today as well.

Yitachs dies and the Navi tells us he is buried in "the cities of Israel". Our sages tell us that he had a debilitating disease and his limbs fell off. Each city it fell off they buried it there. The message I believe is that there is a little Yiftach everywhere. His limbs are amongst us. Just as we are told that each Jew has a bit of Moshe, each city has a bit of Yiftach. We can lead, we can do tremendous things for the Jewish people, but at the same time we a can destroy our families, our people and our legacy. That is the legacy of this shofet.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE DREIDEL GAMBLING JOKES  OF THE WEEK

What did the father dreidel say to his daughter when he came home from work and found her still in the shower? What! Your still not dry and ready?

What did the dreidel tell the doctor? I've been having these dizzy spells

Q: What do you call Hanukkah gelt that you gamble with? A: Chocolate chips. 

Q: Did you hear about the two dreidels that fell in love? A: They met at a spin class. 

Q: How did the dreidel feel about calling in sick? A: He felt a little gelty.

A rabbi, a minister, and a priest were playing poker when the police raided the game.

Turning to the priest, the lead police officer said, "Father Murphy, were you gambling?"

Turning his eyes to heaven, the priest whispered, "L*rd, forgive me for what I am about to do." To the police officer, he then said, "No, officer; I was not gambling."

The officer then asked the minister, "Pastor Johnson, were you gambling?"

Again, after an appeal to heaven, the minister replied, "No, officer; I was not gambling."

Turning to the rabbi, the officer again asked, "Rabbi Goldstein, were you gambling?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the rabbi replied, "With whom?

"My son is something else," Mrs. Finkelstein told her friend. "He traveled to Las Vegas last week in a $25,000 car and returned a few days later in a $100,000 vehicle."

"Wow! He won that much money?" her friend replied. "He must really know how to gamble."

"Well, not really," said the mother. "He went in our car, but had to return by bus."

When Rivkah was called up for jury service, she asked the judge whether she could be excused.
"I don’t believe in capital punishment," she said, "and I wouldn’t want my views to prevent the trial from running its proper course".
The judge liked her thoughtfulness but had to tell her that she was perfectly suitable to serve on the jury.
"Madam," he explained, "This is not a murder trial, it's just a simple civil lawsuit. Mrs F is bringing this case against her husband because he gambled away the entire $25,000 he had promised her for her birthday so that she could carry out a make-over on her kitchen."
"OK," said Rivkah, "I'll join your jury - I could be wrong about capital punishment after all."

Moishe meets Arnold at their social club and asks how Abe’s funeral went the other day.
"It went OK, Moishe," replied Arnold, "but at the end of the Rabbi’s eulogy, I had to try and stop myself from laughing aloud."
"Why was that?" asks Moishe.
"Well," says Arnold, "throughout his marriage to Miriam, she was always telling me what a mean man he was. He never had a steady job and the money he brought home to her wasn't enough for food and clothing, let alone holidays. Yet he drank heavily and often stayed out all night gambling. Altogether, a good husband he was not. But at the funeral, the Rabbi spoke of how wonderful the deceased was - so considerate, so beloved, so thoughtful to others. Then, when the Rabbi had finished, I heard Miriam say to one of her children, "Do me a favour, David, go see whether it’s your father in the coffin."

Rabbi Bloom gets on the train and as soon as the doors close, a priest gets up, goes over to the rabbi and says, "Good morning rabbi. I have a question to ask you. Why is it that everybody thinks Jews are smarter than Gentiles?"
Rabbi Bloom, who is not up for an argument, says, "I’m sorry, but I am just a simple rabbi and I’m not really able to participate in such a discussion."
But the priest insists. "Look, no harm meant rabbi, but I have a theory and I need to test it out in the form of a bet. I’ll pay you $100 if you can ask me a question that I can't answer. But if I can ask you a question that you can't answer, you must pay me $100."
Rabbi Bloom replies, "But I’m a poor rabbi - I only have $10 on me."
The priest hesitates then says, "OK, rabbi, it’s my $100 against your $10."
Rabbi Bloom realises he can't get out of this so he agrees, but on condition that he asks the first question. The priest agrees.
"OK," says Rabbi Bloom, "what animal has scaly skin, the body of a cat, the face of a squirrel, the ears of a mouse, webbed toes and swims under water?"
Surprised, the priest admits that he doesn't know and asks the rabbi for a few more minutes to think about it. The rabbi agrees.
2 minutes later, the priest takes $100 from his wallet and gives it to the rabbi. The priest then asks the rabbi, "So what animal was it?"
Rabbi Bloom replies, "How should I know?" and gives the priest $10.

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Answer is D–  So this question is also a bit tricky, but for anyone that tours Yerushalayim it is pretty essential. So on the one hand we have Dovid is really the first one it tells us that conquers Yerushalayim. On the other hand in the book of Shoftim it mentions the tribe of Yehudah fighting and conquering Yerushalyim. So it's a bit of a contradiction. So of course the commentaries deal with the question of which Yerushalayim is it? Maybe there are different parts. In the Book of Yehoshuah though when giving the borders of the tribe of Yehudah and Binyamin it mentions that they are both bordered by Yerushalayim. The Talmud tells us it was divided in between the two tribes, the line went in fact right through the Temple Mount. (Incidentally that's why some suggest it was chosen, so that no tribe could claim more importance. Yehudah representing the children of Leah and Binyamin of Rachel- which the same reason Washington DC which is not in any state was chosen) So the correct answer is that it really isn't solely in any tribe at least in the book of Yehoshuah. Reuven and Dan were just giveaway answers if you guessed those you should not be a tour guide.  So we continue with the score being Schwartz 3  and 2 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.