Undebatable- Parshat Mishpatim 2019 /5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 1^st 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 18-26^th of Shevat 5779

Parshat Mishpatim

Undebatable

Rule number one in Kiruv is Don’t debate. It’s perhaps the hardest rule for a yeshiva guy that is trained for years that everything needs to be argued about, needs to learn. See in yeshiva our bread and butter was the Talmud-the rest of yeshiva food really wasn’t too appetizing. The Talmud is all about arguing, finding the truth, challenging vociferously your point. The best and sharpest arguers are the ones that prevail. They are the ones that are successful in revealing the truth behind the ideas of the text and the secrets of the Torah. We bring proofs, we show precedents we demolish alternative arguments and approaches and in that process the light of Torah is revealed. This is an incredible exercise that works well in the Beit Midrash and has done so for thousands of years. It is not however the best approach to do Jewish outreach with unaffiliated or non-practiced Jews. Incidentally, it doesn’t really work well in marriage. Or so my wife tells me, and I’ve learned not to argue with her. Although she will argue that I haven’t…Sigh….

See, just as you wouldn’t take someone who hasn’t ever been to a gym and show him all these pumped guys lifting weights and do crazy pulls, stretches and whatever else goes on in those places I have never frequented. You wouldn’t stick him under one of those scary mechanical contraptions they have there, and tell him to start lifting or pulling. Similarly you don’t want to attack or jump down the throat of a guy who’s just trying to figure out why we do the things that we do and why we believe in what we believe in. I know that the knee jerk yeshiva guy reaction if someone says “What’s with this kosher thing?’ or “Why do you look down on women and make them cover their hair, or don’t allow them to be Rabbis?” or “How come you guys don’t serve in the army?” is to start quoting text and verse, defending, arguing and pointing out how our lives are better, our women are better, and how Torah learning is really the secret to winning all of our wars. But it’s really a pointless endeavor. More often than not you will accomplish a lot more by saying

“Good question!  Why don’t you join me for some chulent and a Shabbos meal and we can discuss it. And hey, what do you say about dem Mets?

It’s called kiruv for a reason. When we are in yeshiva it’s not about kiruv-becoming close- it’s about learning Torah. Outreach, is about getting close to the person. It’s about caring about him or her. It’s about them becoming close to you and you to them. So that by the end of the process they are not trying to find out about you in as much as they are trying to find out about themselves.  The challenges, that were initially thrown at you become inquiries about themselves. What their own Judaism is or isn’t and what it should be. At that point there’s no debates, rather it is their own self and soul discovery.

That being said, there was one time in my younger earlier years in outreach that I was schlepped into, not a debate, but a panel discussion with a Reform clergy man by a learning group that I used to run in their synagogue. The group that I led, had a book-club and the book of the month was called ‘One People- Two Worlds’. It was a book that was a series of Email discussions between an Orthodox and Reform Rabbi about our differences. So the club, which initially wanted me to debate the Reform Rabbi about the book, agreed that we would instead have a “panel discussion”. See, I knew that you can really never win a debate, because nobody likes to see their Rabbi get slammed and I would then alienate them from me and Torah True Judaism, despite the fact that I would have the most compelling arguments. So instead I agreed to merely discuss our different views of the book, provided of course that he went first.

Now their Rabbi was a sweet kindly old man about 40 years older than me. I believe he was actually raised Orthodox, but unfortunately was not too inspired by what he experienced. So he began the “discussion” telling the crowd how he felt that it was a terrible book. He didn’t think anyone should read it. No real points were made. Nobody will change their opinions. And the truth is Orthodoxy today is really just like the Sadducees of old. They are literalists. The Torah and Judaism has always evolved. The Rabbis changed it throughout the generations. The Torah Orthodox Jews practice and that the Rabbis of old practiced was in no way similar to the Torah that Hashem gave. They changed it and were entitled to change it and they continue to do so. And so the truth is that Reform are really the true practitioners of “Torah Judaism” which is according to his definition, the continual process of evolving the Torah. Orthodox Jews, on the other hand are just stuck in their old ways. Ouch!

So there I sat in front of a full room of people looking at me like some primitive caveman awaiting some scathing rebuttal and defence of our age-old heritage and tradition that this guy pretty much trashed. They expected me to be a yeshiva guy. Rule number 2. Never give a crowd what they expect.
So I began telling the crowd that as opposed to Rabbi S. I would never tell anybody what to read and not to read. I think it’s important to learn about other people. I think what keeps us apart from one another is really the ignorance of what the other people believe in and why they do the things that they do. I didn’t read the book to be convinced of someone else’s beliefs or faith, but to appreciate them better. Where they were coming from. As that was the case, I thought it was an excellent book that I think everyone would gain out of reading. And with that introduction the crowd warmed up and started smiling at me, nodding at this very open and pluralistic black-hatted rabbi that sat before them J.

I then continued and said

“I’m sure Rabbi S. who is much older, experienced and wiser than I am, has a basis for what he described as being the difference between Orthodox and Reform. I’m sure he can share with you what his basis for that analysis is. I can only share with you what my experience is and what it has led me to conclude. Now the general education of an average Orthodox Jew really begins in nursery where it starts with about a half day of Jewish studies for 6 days a week. From there we move on to elementary and high school where in addition to the 3-4 hours a day of our secular studies we would study texts that were written mostly 2000-3000 years ago that described the practices of our people. In High School the daily schedule of a religious student begins at 7:30 to pray and then he begins his studies at 9:30 until 1:00 every day with advanced classes in commentaries and the laws and ‘lifestyles’ of the Jews in the past 1000-1500 years from texts that were written then. They continue from 2:00 until 3:30 doing the same thing and after secular studies in the evening they once again hit the ancient books for another hour or two at night. About an average of 8 hours a day.

After they graduate High School, Torah study for most of my friends, then becomes a full time occupation. We entered Beit Midrash where we had the same morning hours as in High School but in the afternoon instead of our secular studies we learned Talmud from 2:30 or so until 7:00 PM, picking it up again at night time until 10:30 or 11:00 PM. This is the schedule of most orthodox kids, of which most don’t even plan on becoming Rabbis. There are plenty that do go to university and get college degrees but that is usually at night school, after a full day of studying the Torah texts from over the centuries.

 I would say at least half of my friends continued studying after marriage as well, spending a few years of full time Torah study, while their wives and families helped out and supported them. But most don’t become Rabbis. It’s just what we could call a basic Torah education that they continue their entire life pursuing. The ones that become Rabbis obviously stay on even longer for a few years to cover areas of Jewish law and practical Rabbinics. I think it is fair to say that the average Orthodox Jew by age 30 has about 20 to 25 years of, upon average, 6 to 8 hours a day of constant Torah study. That’s about 75,000 hours.

{Contrast that with becoming a tour guide, how I make my living, which took only 2 years and was about 1400 hours of my life.}

“Now I’m not sure exactly what the level of Torah education for the average Reform Jews or even Reform Rabbi that was raised in that system is.”

(I do know. They’re lucky if they have 500 hours total their entire life of Torah study. The average Orthodox elementary school graduate has spent more hours learning seriously Jewish texts than the 65-year-old practicing Reform Rabbi. They knew that as well, which is why there was no point in me even saying it.)

It with that experience that I can say that I believe the Judaism that I am practicing is 99% identical to the Judaism practiced 100 years ago, 95% identical to the one practiced 500 and 800 years ago, and pretty much the same that was practiced 1500 and 2000 years ago. Sure there are new innovations. There was no electricity, no cars, no I-phones or internet. There wasn’t even Shlomo Carlebach or crockpots to make chulent in. So yes, the way we may practice our Judaism might seem different as a result of the new advances (?) in society. But the actual observance of our faith is primarily the same as when Hashem gave the Torah on Sinai with the addition of the Rabbinic laws that culminated during the second Temple 2000 years ago. I say that, after spending a good 30 years of my life for usually a good 5- 10 hours a day of reading (learning) books from authors and Rabbis that describe precisely the way they were practicing their Judaism and I can tell you that what Orthodox Judaism is practicing is almost indistinguishable from what all of our ancestors practiced.

Needless to say Rabbi S. didn’t respond and was grateful that this was not a debate as well.

This week the Torah begins a new page. It seems the story part of the Torah is over. With parshat Mishpatim we begin the law-book part of the Torah. It is pretty much laws, laws, laws for the rest of Shemos and Vayikra with a break for the Golden Calf and Mishkan building. Yet the Parsha begins Vi’eileh ha’mishpatim- And these are the laws. Although Rashi quotes our sages that the ‘and,’ which is used to connect to the previous portion, is there to show us that these laws were also given at Sinai, there is perhaps a deeper and far longer termed connection between the portions that teach us about our laws and practices and the stories of the first part of the Torah we completed in Bereishis and Shemos.

Our Torah, our law, our practices are not just commandments that we are meant to fulfill. They are all parts of the story of our people as well. The ox that gores and how we react to that, the first fruits that grow and what we do with them, the slave and how we treat him, our enemy who needs us, the food on our plate, the Shabbos and holidays we observe, are all a continuation of our experience at Sinai, our experience in Egypt, of our forefathers and their covenants and of Adam in the garden. We are so careful about everything that we do, because we appreciate how long that chain and story has gone on and been waiting for us to take our role in it. Just as that revelation at Sinai had eternal world consequence, these laws and how we abide and live by them have that same monumental significance.

I don’t think I ever appreciated how much Torah learning we are so fortunate to have been given until I stood up there on the podium with that book club and the words came out of my mouth. Did you? (That’s one of other benefits of kiruv work, by the way, I can’t count how many times I felt that I was merely the fulfillment of that biblical story of Hashem opening up the mouth of Bilaam’s donkey and the words He wanted me to say just came out.) I don’t think Jewish children and young adults for millennia have ever had the opportunity to dedicate so much time and so many years to solely learning Torah that our era of affluence and the modernization of the workforce allows us to do. Kids don’t have to peddle papers on street corners, young adults aren’t schlepping water barrels or working in fields from morning to night.

So we learn and we learn and we learn and we take it for granted. But we are a dor de’ah- a generation of unparalleled knowledge. But with that learning and knowledge comes perhaps a forgetfulness that it is not just about the law or even the learning. We are living a story as well. We are playing a part in a continuation of Har Sinai.  The Netziv in his work Ha’Amek Davar notes when Moshe warns us never to forget the revelation of Horeb /Mt.Sinai in Devarim, that Moshe was nervous that perhaps from the pipulo shel torah- the arguing and studying of the Torah we will come to forget the story that is behind it. We forget that it is not just mishpatim-laws but it is the story of our people that started on Sinai and continues with every action and mitzvah we do. Perhaps we all need a bit of kiruv in our learning. To move past the law-book and reconnect with our story. Our ancestors, and our children’s. Stories are always a good thing and ours is the longest and best. That my friends, is undebatable.

Have a joyous Shabbos Mevorchim Adar!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Durchlernen gants shas iz a groisseh zach: durch lernen ain mideh iz a gressereh zach.”– To learn the whole Talmud is a great accomplishment; to learn one good virtue is even greater.

RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/BiWI-XtajuQ  – UK’s Chief Rabbi with over 5000 kids singing Shtar’s Lecha Dodi in honor of Shabbos. Fantastic!

https://youtu.be/sqXx1DMcSCs    -Great new song by Eitan Katz ‘Chazak’ straight from Shamayim!

https://youtu.be/2kwUZxycsN4    - Ata Echad- by Ari Goldwag, he claims its an oldie of his but don’t remember hearing it before. I really like it and Tully does to!

 https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/techelet-mordechai  - And for what will certainly be numerous posts this double month of Adar. My Techelet Mordechai composition to start getting in the Purim mode! Enjoy!!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q The accepted etiquette in a church is:

A. Not to enter with sandals

B. To remove head covers (hats)

C. Not to cross your legs

D. Answers b. and c. are correct

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Mishpatim– There are no synonyms in Hebrew. It’s what makes it a lomdushe language. Baalabatim- those are people that are the opposites of lamdanim, don’t appreciate or focus on the nuances between the different similar words. I’ll give you an example. How do you say with him in Hebrew? Anyone? So there are those of you, I imagine most of you, said imo. Others though might have said ito. The truth is you are both correct, but that’s because in English it doesn’t’ really reflect the nuance. lashon ha’kodesh though, our holy tongue certainly does. The lamdan knows what the difference is the baal habos, probably not so much.

As this is a lomdushe column, I will show you not only the difference in translation, but the nafka mina- the practical difference that comes out of it.

In this week’s portion the Torah tells us that if you see the donkey of your enemy weighed down under his load.

Shemos (23:5) Azov ta’azov imo- you should surely help with him.

Now Targum Onkelos, which is the Aramaic, usually precise, translation of the Torah, written by the Mishna period sage and convert, Onkelos translates the verse that

“one should remove what is in one’s heart and unload with him.”

Now that seems a far stretch from an exact translation of the text. So the Shoel U’Maishiv notes that Onkelos is in fact being precise. For the verse utilizes the word imo rather than ito. See imo implies with him. Imo, on the other hand is ‘together with him’. Ito is really the Hebrew connecting word es. Imo is with, a stronger more similar connection. Thus, when a lamdan like Onkelos reads the verse he understands that the Torah is not merely telling you to lift with him, but that you should be on the same page as him, it should be fully together. Remove the complaints in your heart against him.

There is another place as well, where this makes a difference. The Torah tells us that when you borrow an animal you are responsible in cases of the accidental death or injury unless

Ibid (22:14) Ba’aluv imo- the owner is with him.

Which in that case he would be exempt.

Rashi notes that it means of course that he is with him in his work. Meaning that he’s not merely standing there with him. Again how do we know this? The Sifsey Chacahmim points out it is because of the choice of words imo vs ito. Imo always means together in a similar way.

There are other places in the parsha that it uses this word. Can you find them? Are you a lamdan or a balabus?

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

The Battle of Ai 1272 BC  Ai Ai Ai- I don’t know where that phrase of mourning comes from, but whenever I read about the story of Yehoshua and the battle that took place there, I can’t seem to get the phrase out of my mind. It was a truly an ai ai ai type of battle in both the positive and negative sense of the phrase.

After the fantastic battle in Yericho, the city of Ai was the next stop. It was a smaller city then Yericho and Yehoshua sent out spies out to check it out. They came back and said that it would be easy and there was not need to send out more than a few thousand men to conquer it. No need to send everyone to fight and it would be better to send a message that even a small Jewish army had the protection of Hashem to conquer it. The problem was that they didn’t realize that the Divine protection had left them because the sin of Achan taking the booty of Yericho. 36 men were killed in that battle and the Jews fled.

After taking care of the problem of Achan (see last week’s column) Hashem tells Yehoshua that he has nothing to fear He will give it in their hands and they should wipe em all out like Yericho but this battle they were allowed to keep the booty. Yehoshua then came up with a fantastic battle plan. He took 30,000 men and split them up. A small group of 5 thousand would lead the city of Ai out of the city and pretend to retreat towards the midbar- wilderness. The city chased after them and the rest of the army came from behind burned down the city and killed everyone. Meantime when the King of Ai and his soldiers saw what was happening they would turn back and be hit by the army from both sides in an ambush. All along Yehoshua held out his spear, just as Moshe had raised his arms in the battle of Amalek.

All went well, the city was destroyed the King of Ai was hung and the city of Ai was razed to the ground as an eternal tel.

So where is this place and battle? I’ll be honest I’ve never toured there. Not the safest place to go off road trekking. Yet with a bit of research it’s not too hard to find. The Torah tells us where Beit El is and this east of it. We have uncovered the ancient city of Beit El which is south of the modern city of Beit El, in the Shomron. If you go to the East of it and a bit south on the other side of Highway 60, a bit north of the Psagot winery I take people to there are a bunch of Tels- piles of rocks of a destroyed city, one of them was even called A- Tel which Archaeologists have associated with Ai which tanach tells us was left as an eternal tel.  Highway 60 is part of Area B where we share security with the Palestinian authority. Off -roading it is not recommended. The enemies that try to kill us still live there. Where’s Yehoshua’s spear when you need it?

Incredibly enough as I finished writing this I just saw posted on my tour-guide whatsapp group that my good colleague Gili Haupt went on histalmiyot today on Kvish Alon Highway 458 in the shomron. and they pointed out a different place where they Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun felt was the place of Ai called Ain Samiya and they actually saw it from the road. So hey, there’s an extra bonus for you that I just learned today.

  

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S DEBATE JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Several centuries ago, the Pope decreed that all the Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave Italy. There was a huge outcry from the Jewish community, so the Pope offered a deal. He would have a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy. If the Pope won, they would have to leave or convert. The Jewish people met and picked an aged, but wise, Rabbi Moshe to represent them in the debate. However, as Moshe spoke no Italian and the Pope spoke no Yiddish, they all agreed that it would be a "silent" debate.

On the chosen day, the Pope and Rabbi Moshe sat opposite each other. The Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Rabbi Moshe looked back and raised one finger. Next ... the Pope waved his finger around his head. Rabbi Moshe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope then brought out a communion wafer and a chalice of wine. Rabbi Moshe pulled out an apple.
With that, the Pope stood up and declared that he was beaten ... that Rabbi Moshe was too clever and that the Jews could stay in Italy.

Later, the Cardinals met with the Pope, asking what had happened. The Pope said, "First, I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there is still only one God common to both our beliefs. Then, I waved my finger around my head to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and wafer to show that God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of the original sin. He had me beaten at my every move and I could not continue."

Meanwhile ... the Jewish community was gathered around Rabbi Moshe.

"How did you win the debate?" they asked.

 "I haven't a clue," said Moshe. "First he said to me that we had three days to get out of Italy , so I gave him the finger! Then he tells me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews
and I said to him we're staying right here."

"And then what?" asked a woman.

"Who knows? " said Moshe, "He took out his lunch so I took out mine."

 A young scholar from New York was invited to become Rabbi in a small old community in Chicago. On his very first Sabbath, a hot debate erupted as to whether one should or should not stand during the reading of the Ten Commandments. The next day, the rabbi visited 98 year-old Mr. Katz in the nursing home. "Mr. Katz, I'm asking you, as the oldest member of the community," said the rabbi, "what is our synagogue's custom during the reading of the Ten Commandments?"
"Why do you ask?" asked Mr. Katz.
"Yesterday we read the Ten Commandments. Some people stood, some people sat. The ones standing started screaming at the ones sitting, telling them to stand up. The ones sitting started screaming at the ones standing, telling them to sit down..."
"That," said the old man, "is our custom." 

Yankel, looking for a free meal entered a wedding hall and joined the "Friedman" wedding. He went over to the buffet piled his plate high with petit fours from one table, kebobs, stir fry and veal chops from another table. While thoroughly enjoying himself a man approaches him and says, "Hi my name his Chaim are you on the bride or grooms side."

Yankel looks up from his plate of deliciousness and responds, "What!? They're only married five minutes and they're already fighting?"

The Israelis and Arabs finally realized that if they continued fighting, they would someday end up destroying the world. So they sat down and decided to settle the whole dispute with a dogfight. The negotiators agreed that each country would take five years to develop the best
fighting dog they could. The dog that won the fight would earn its country the right to rule the disputed areas. The losing side would have to lay down its arms. The Arabs found the biggest, meanest Dobermans and Rottweilers in the world. They bred them together and then crossed their offspring with the meanest Siberian wolves. They selected only the biggest, strongest puppy from each litter, killed all the other puppies and fed them the best food . They used steroids and trainers in their quest for the perfect killing machine. After the five years were up, they had a dog that needed iron prison bars on its cage. Only the trainers could handle this beast.

When the day of the big fight arrived, the Israelis showed up with a strange animal. It was a nine-foot-long Dachshund. Everyone felt sorry for the Israelis. No one else thought this weird animal stood a chance against the growling beast in the Arab camp. The bookies predicted the Arabs would win in less than a minute. The cages were opened. The Dachshund waddled toward the center of the ring. The Arab dog leapt from his cage and charged the giant wiener-dog. As he got to within an inch of the Israeli dog, the Dachshund opened its jaws and swallowed the Arab beast in one bite. There was nothing left but a small bit of fur from the killer dog's tail.

The Arabs approached the Israelis, shaking their heads in disbelief. "We do not understand. Our top scientists and breeders worked for five years with the meanest, biggest Dobermans and Rottweilers. They developed a killing machine."

"Really?" the Israelis replied. "We had our top plastic surgeons working for five years to make an alligator look like a Dachshund.

True Story- Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik was sitting on a panel with Cardinal John O Conner. O Conner turned to the Rabbi and said “look I’m wearing a Kippa and your wearing a Kippa. Whats the difference between the two of us?”

Rav Soloveitchik without batting an eyelash said “ I’ll explain dear cardinal. You wear a red kippah but you are in “the black” I wear a black Kippa but am unfortunately in “the red”

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

Answer is D–  I was only about 90% sure about this one. I wasn’t sure if they were tricking or not about the crossing the legs thing or not. As American churches are generally not “makpid” about it. But I figured that Israelis are generally frummer when it comes to these things- at least when it comes to other people’s religion. And of course the answer was D. The head covering removal is pretty well-known. In fact, Reform synagogues- which were founded adopting the customs of the churches with the organs and mixed seating also mandated that you remove your yarmulke when you came in for services. REAL STORY- when I moved to Virginia the female cantor of the Reform synagogue, who was really a pure neshoma, told me that when she got thee job as cantor she almost got fired the first week as she refused to pray without a kippa. They eventually gave her an exemption. Pretty wild! But anyways still keeping a pretty good streak here as the score is Schwartz 14 and 1 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.