No Easy Street- Parshat Ki Tisa 2019/5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 22^nd 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 21-17^th of Adar I 5779

Parshat Ki Tisa

Easy Street

I had been in Norfolk, Virginia for about year. I, along with 3 other Kollel families had started NACK- the Norfolk Area Community Kollel, where we studied amongst ourselves for a portion of the day and the rest of the days and evenings were involved in Jewish community outreach work. I was proud of what we had done this first year. We had put together a board of directors from every synagogue in town- Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. Chabad was the only holdout… But that’s alright, I think they viewed as competing for Jewish souls, when in fact we were all on the same team. The Reform Rabbi even got up on Yom Kippur and told his congregants they should all study with us.

We were running programs in each synagogue. We had lunch and learns in the local universities William and Mary and ODU (Old Dominion University- at first I thought, with their confusing southern accent, they were saying Ol-der minyan University, and I told them I was looking for the younger minyan). Rabbi Adler, our smiley red-cheeked Kollel Rabbi even got into the WASP-y private schools, Norfolk Collegiate and Norfolk Academy, and started Jewish fellowship clubs there. The local Jewish community school had asked us to start running voluntary programs for them as well. And the Sunday school we started in the Orthodox shul had led to the development of for the first time in the community an Orthodox Day School. Pretty impressive for one year. Yes, I was proud. Proud of my Kollel Rabbis, proud of the community, and yeah proud of myself.

See, that’s why you need to have a Rebbi. B”H I have a good one. He knows just what I need to hear and how to say it to me. This is an art that not too many people have been able to master. Much to my parents, teachers, wife and kids frustrated attempts have revealed. I’m not an easy nut to crack. So as I was waxing on to him about how incredible everything had been going over here. How we were turning the city on its head and really making tremendous inroads on all fronts. He rolled his eyes a bit and gave me his very unimpressed

“Nu Nu…”

Huh? I was taken aback. We were literally Kiruv Rock stars. Didn’t he get it? There wasn’t a door we weren’t knocking down. There was no organization that had accomplished as much as we did in such a short period of time. What was I missing? But that’s why he’s my Rebbi. He knows how to push that button that would make me ask. Why wasn’t he impressed?

The answer he gave me has been one of the most important I ever received from him and it is truly one of the most powerful perspectives to have in life.

“We have a rule in life” he began “Anything thing that is important, holy or meaningful will only come through challenge and adversity. There are no easy streets to greatness. If things are going easy and smooth and doors are just popping open right and left that means that there’s nothing significant at the other side of that hallway. If there was than there would be something there to prevent you from getting there.

This is particularly true in matters of ruchniyos- spiritual pursuits. Hashem created a satan whose job is to challenge you and make you struggle to achieve any spiritual goal. If there’s no push-back, it’s a sign that the satan isn’t too nervous of the “accomplishments” you are toting. If he’s not impressed. Why should I be?

Come back to me, when they start throwing you out of places and slamming doors in your face. Then I’ll know that you’re really doing something meaningful.

Pop. Boom. There goes that balloon that was sailing over my head. It was a powerful lesson that not only carried me through the challenges that inevitably popped out further down those hallways of Virginia, but through anytime I’ve ever faced adversity in my life. It’s a lesson I believe that really was revealed to our ancestors and sheds light on one of the most troubling episodes in the Torah in this week’s Torah portion; the sin of the golden calf.

Whenever anyone reads this portion the question shouts out at us? How could they have? What were they thinking? 40 days before, they were standing at Mt. Sinai and they heard Hashem say ‘I am Hashem your Lord who took you out of Egypt’ and 40 days later they’re dancing around a calf made out of gold singing that the cow took them out of Egypt. How after all the miracles that they witnessed upon leaving Egypt, the plagues, the splitting of the sea, the battle of Amalek, the daily manna that they were eating, could they “cheat” like this? In the words of our sages it’s like a bride from under her chupa committing infidelity. What is going on?

Our sages, seemingly troubled by these questions, blame it on the Satan. They tell us how the Jews got nervous when Moshe didn’t return by the time they had calculated the 40 days he was meant to be there were up. It seems they didn’t really get the concept of Jewish time yet. We were new to it. Since then we have more than made up for it, as all who have been at Jewish weddings know… So what did the Satan do? He appeared to them and asked them where Moshe was.

Now let’s try to put this into practical, modern day, relatable terms. You have a wedding tonight. You have a place that you have to go to. A Promised Land if you will. You’re meant to be on the road at 6:00. It’s 6:15 PM. You’re still at home standing by the door with the keys looking up the staircase. All the way up that mountain. Waiting and waiting for someone very special to finally decide to come down…See it’s one thing to be nervous and looking at your watch wondering when your wife is going to be ready to leave the house to go to the wedding you’re waiting for. You can work on your anxiety and patience a bit. It’s healthy.  But then when someone calls you and says “nuuu when are you coming already… you’re late...” that ups the anxiety a notch. Notice how I said your wife. My wife is never late nor does she ever keep me waiting. She gets that from her mother, whose house I’m going to for Shabbos. Unless she reads this before Shabbos…Shhhhh

The next stage, the satan upped the ante a bit and made the whole world dark. Uh oh… The sun has set. We missed the chupa already. We’re gonna hit rush hour… What’s gonna be? Is she ever going to come down, you wonder?  Next he showed them Moshe floating in a coffin. The car is dead. There’s no way you’re going to the wedding or the promised land. Uhhhh... or I should say ubberrrr… There’s is an eitza. You got it. Uber. The Golden Calf. Boom it happened.

But why? Why did Hashem give the satan the power to up the ante? To raise the anxiety level. To “reitz them un”. The answer is because it was too easy until now. Sure they suffered for 200 years in Egypt. That got them the plagues, the sea-split and freedom. But the Torah? The spiritual conquest. The most important gift in the world. That would require a challenge. You can’t just show up to the drive-through Mount Sinai and pick it up. We’re going to have to be challenged to make it real. We’re going to be tempted. We’re going to have dark cloudy days. We’re going to even think we have no other choice but to give up our faith. If we could keep it through that challenge then it will be real. Then you can call your Rebbi and tell him about it.

We failed that test. But don’t worry. The cards were stacked against us. The Talmud tells us a fascinating insight.

Bavli Avoda Zara(4:) Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:  "The Jews only made the Golden Calf to open the way for repentance.  ...

As well it says when King David sinned with Batsheva

 Neither Dovid was fitting to commit the act (regarding Bas Sheva), nor was Israel fitting to commit the act (the golden calf). Why did they occur? To tell you that, if an individual sins, it can be said to him, "Do as the individual (Dovid)!" If a community sins, it can be said to them, "Do as the congregation!" 

Rashi on the spot explains

"It is a decree from the King that an opening for returnees should exist.”

Our failed challenge was really just there to teach us that most essential of lessons. Challenges and tests are part of the program. They are the pathway to even greater greatness. We can become baal teshuvas. Our failures, our slips are sometimes divinely decreed to challenge us to see if we will keep on trekking. If we will pick ourselves up again and continue the good fight.

I meet a lot of olim. Everyone has a honeymoon period. And then… Boom. Something happens, a few things happen. The Satan is working. It’s meaningful. People get married. It’s all roses until… Boom. The first fight. The first misunderstanding. The challenge. New job? New milestone. The only thing that is assured is that if it is too easy, if you’re doing too amazing, know that you haven’t gotten anywhere yet. The real opportunity for growth is still coming. If you know that in advance it will be a lot easier. Then you can call your Rebbi. If he’s not available feel free to shoot me an E-Mail. Oh and of course include a weekly sponsorship while you’re at it. It’s challenging over here…

Have a perfect Shabbos!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Tsu zogn un lib hoben kost nisht kayn gelt”– To make promises and to love don’t cost any money.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q The “security fence” (security barrier) was constructed following:

A. The Dayan – Abdalla a-Tel agreement

B. The Yom haKippurim War (War of Atonement)

C. The 2^nd Intifada

D. The Tzuk Eitan (Strong Cliff) Operation

RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/IO_XT8XzVy8   – Beautiful Carlebach Havdala just the way I like it!

https://youtu.be/6SiDfnNk5m8  -Elka is rocking this week to the Gemara Sababa song!

https://youtu.be/bCia_m-EVEA - Another 23yr  Old/ rediscovered song sung by my friend Moishie Mendlowitz composed by Rabbi ‘K’Bentzion Klatzkow-Chanayni!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qJRgbFeP6A-  Great and Funny Evolution of Jewish Music with Benny Friedman and Meir Kay- awesome!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Ki Tisa– Wanna hear a geshamakeh lomdusheh vort? Of course you do. That’s why you scrolled down this far and stopped along the way to the jokes part of the E-Mail. Well this week I’ve got an amazing one for you. Pure classic lomdus from the Rogatchaver Gaon.

The Torah tells us that when Moshe Rabbeinu came down from the mountain with the luchos to go see the Jewish people that were dancing around it that Hashem told him he should go check out. The Torah tells us something unique here about the luchos

Shemos (32:15) And Moshe turned and came down the mountain and the two tablets of the covenant were in his hand; written from both sides from they were inscribed from one side and the other.  

The Rogatchaver notes that the Torah seemingly needlessly chooses this point to tell us about how the luchos were inscribed. They were miraculously written through and through so that each side could be read independently. This is a pretty amazing thing, yet the place to tell us this would be earlier in the last chapter where the Torah tells us already about the tablets and doesn’t’ even mention this.

Ibid (31:18) And He gave to Moshe when he completed talking with him on Mt. Sinai the two tablets of the testament; tablets of stone written with the finger of Hashem.

Why does the Torah wait until right here to tell us that they were see-through?

Like every good lamdan, the Rogatchaver asks another question with the knowledge that one question can usually answer a different one. He asks how was Moshe permitted to break the tablets? There is a prohibition in the Torah that is derived out of the mitzvah to break and destroy idolatry- that

Devarim (12:4) one should not do that to Hashem your God

We are forbidden to destroy something that possesses sanctity. So how does Moshe destroy the tablets?

The answer he suggests is that the Talmud tells us that the letters of the Luchos flew off before he broke them. They were merely empty tablets so it was not a problem of destroying something holy. The Rogatchaver continues though, that there is still a problem though. For although they didn’t contain any holy letters, the tablets themselves where the commandments were written one should still be considered holy as they were sanctified by having the letters written upon them. Just like a Torah scroll that the letters got erased still maintains its holiness.

He therefore answers beautifully that it is precisely why the Torah tells us over here, before Moshe broke them, that they were written through and through. The writing never really took hold in the actual tablets. It did not have the status of a holy scroll that had something written upon it, because they were never really written on the tablets rather they were miraculously placed upon them. It was therefore not a violation for Moshe to break them after the letters flew off.

Geshmak? Told you it would be.

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

The Longest Day 1272 BC – We read about WWI in the Torah with the battle of Avraham against the 4 kings that wiped out the 5 kings. Well welcome to WWII or at least the first major war against the Arab “Brotherhood” the pagan kings of Canaan. It of course starts with us getting sucked into a battle that we never asked for. As we mentioned last week the Jews were tricked into a treaty with the Givonim. In exchange for them surrendering and becoming woodcutters and watercarriers- basically servants of the Jews, we would allow them to live. As opposed to the other Kings of Canaan that were commanded to eradicate after the spurned our overture for peace.

Now the arabs were not happy with these “collaborators” and therefore an Arab brotherhood coalition was formed to attack Givon. They consisted of the Kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Lachish, Yarmut and Eglon. The Givonim of course came running to the Jews to defend them and Yehoshuah grabs his army and sets off to wage war. This war wasn’t merely about keeping our word to Givon. This war was an affront on the Jews. This was their statement that they would not allow us to settle the land.

The Tanach is very descriptive about this battle and there are really a lot amazing places to talk about this war. My favorite is up by Latrun where you have an incredible lookout to Emek Ha’Ayalon. As you look down into the valley you can picture from the North East of you the army of Yehoshua coming from Gilgal up to Givon (near Givat Zeev) or Highway 443 up to Beit Horon chasing them down to this valley of Ayalon below us. It is a Friday. We have to get back for Shabbos. We can’t fight at night because they know the terrain and we don’t. So Yehoshua does what any reasonable general does. He stops the sun in its place. Poof. Shemesh b’givon dom vi’yaraeich ba’ayalon- the sun should be still in Givon- don’t set and the moon should hold its place over Ayalon. Don’t rise. This is one of the greatest miracles of all times. Since creation time has never stopped. It’s amazing what Hashem does for us and for our Shabbos and for our conquering the land!

Yehoshua then chases them to Azeka.another fantastic site to talk about this story right by Park Canada There Hashem hailed stones upon them wiping them out. Finally, Yehoshua finds out the Kings had fled to Makeda- a place identified as Tel Beit Makdum- right next to the yishuv of Amatzia near Lachish. They were hiding in a cave. He yanked them out strung up and killed them and then buried them that night because even our enemies are the image of Hashem that should not be disgraced and left hanging. From there we wiped out Lachish and quite a bunch of the cities in that area- the Shefelat Yehudah or Judean lowlands, as we were commanded to.

I love this story because it really has a lot of places that we have uncovered that all have remains from that period. And many of them have remains that show that there was Jewish life there not only during the first Temple but from the second Temple as well. This miraculous battle really led to over 800 years of settlement in this area. And it is amazing to see how much it has returned to Jewish life once again as one looks out at the exploding population and city of Beit Shemesh passing it back and forth on Highway 38 to the above mentioned sites where these armies were chased and originally conquered.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Berel a simple peasant in Russia falls into a lake, and, not knowing how to swim, he frantically screams, “Help, save me!” But his calls are totally ignored by all present, including a number of soldiers standing nearby. In des­peration,  Berel yells out, “Down with the czar!” At that moment, the soldiers immediately jump in, yank him out of the water, and haul him off to prison.

Chaim was complaining about business to his buddy Sam.

“It’s been just terrible. Monday I only sold one suit and Tuesday I didn’t sell any and Wednesday was even worse than Tuesday!”

“Hold on” Sam said “If you didn’t sell anything at all on Tuesday how could Wednesday be worse?”

“The guy that bought the suit on Monday returned it”

A motorcycle police pulled over Sadie while she was driving on the Highway at a very slow pace. When he looked into the car he saw the lady in the front was as pale as a ghost and the three old ladies in the back had their eyes wide open and were in shock.

Sadie sweetly told the officer that she wasn’t speeding and doesn’t know why she was pulled over. The officer explained that it was just as dangerous to drive too slow on a highway as it was to drive fast.

“But I was going the speed limit” Sadie said “22 miles per hour just as it said on the sign we passed.”

The officer smiled and told her that the sign was not a speed limit sign but that was the number route she was driving on Route 22.

He was going to let her off with a warning but then he asked if the other women in the car were alright as they looked as white as ghosts and haven’t stopped muttering since he stopped her

“Ah don’t worry, they’ll be OK in a few minutes we just got off Highway 119, that’s all.”

The Rebbi was teaching his young kindergarten children and he told them the story about how Hashem saved Lot and his family from the destruction of the city. As they were fleeing the angels told them not to turn back and look and the wife of Lot did and she turned into a pillar of salt. He then asked the children if they had ever heard such a terrible story before.

Little Moishie raised his hands and said that he had an even worse story.

“My totty was teaching my Mommy how to drive and as they were driving. He kept warning her not to look back. And she did and turned into a telephone pole!”

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

Answer is C–  This is another easy one. Anyone here know what the Dayan Abdallah agreement was? That was 1949 after war of independence. It predates the green line. Yom Kippur also obvious wrong answer. The green line was established in 1967 when we liberated the West bank. The fence wasn’t built until the 2^nd intifada in 2002. It has since prevented thousands of terror attacks as the terrorists have to go through checkpoints when crossing the green line now. Tzuk Eitan the 2^nd Gaza war after the kidnapping and murder of the three boys is way after the security fence was built. So of course the correct answer is C and the score is Schwartz 16 and 2 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.

The Heimishe BeltWay- Parshat Tetzaveh 5779/ 2019

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 15^th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 20-10^th of Adar I 5779

Parshat Tetzave

The Heimishe BeltWay

I like to consider myself a heimisheh guy. I like herring, I prefer shteeble davening, I am pretty fluent in yeshivish speak, and I was reading Mishpacha magazine… even before their newest featured monthly columnist began writing his column “Hit the Trail” J. I even try to go to the mikva regularly…although admittedly I have been lax, but I think that’s also part of being heimish. Being heimish means you have a strong connection or g’feel, as we heimisheh guys like to say, for our ancestors; the alteh heim. Minhagim, our customs, are very important, if not even more important- right or wrong, than the nuances of halacha. We eat chulent, but we may not be sure exactly how to take it off and on the hot plate halachically on Shabbos. Our wives learned that in school for us. We just know how to eat it well and critique someone else’s chulent when its’ not as good as the ones that we ate in the “heim”.   

Now heimish people are very similar to yeshivish people. And in fact there are quite a few that consider themselves members of both camps, although that is not necessarily, or even regularly the case. There are plenty of yeshivish people that can’t don’t make upsherins for their kids and are very makpid about zmaney tefilah. They are certainly not heimish. If they live “out-of-town” they are certainly not heimish. If they don’t know where “out-of-town” is, they are baal teshuvas.  
At the other end there are many heimisheh people that have smartphones, that think it’s cool to have keys shlepping down their pants and that go on vacations that yeshivish people wouldn’t be caught dead in. They wouldn’t even consider living in Lakewood-although their kids might. Those are your hardcore non-yeshivish but heimish ones.  So how do you know if the person is heimish, yeshivish or both?

The answer is the gartel. See both heimish and yeshivish people wear hats and jackets- the heymish ones wear them even in the places they shouldn’t be vacationing. The difference though can be found in the gartel. That’s your giveaway. Heimish guys always have one. Hard core yeshivish guys though are generally litvaks (or formerly heimish guys that sold out and were traded to the other team after being far’kalted” by the yeshivishe yeshivas they went to) and they rarely wear that that black stringy silk-like belt or sash we throw on for davening. If he has a gartel he is definitely heimish. No gartel very likely not heimish.

Now as I told you consider myself heimish. That being said, I was raised in Detroit. I wore a tan suit and a grey hat with a feather for my bar mitzvah. (SY you can stop laughing now) That’s barely baal teshuva, fuggedabout heimish or yeshivish. It’s probably a whole new category called Detroit, but we’ll leave that for another column. I went to black-hat yeshivas though, and became yeshivish. Yet, there was something in me that always new I came from heimish roots. My grandparents were survivors; they were close to Rebbes on my father’s side. I always liked chulent and of course didn’t have my hair cut until I was three. Now my birth father, Yonah Klein, passed away when I was a very young child. My mother remarried to the most incredible man who is also my father and who raised me, which deserves a Nobel prize of its own, out in Detroit. But as I got older I would visit my grandfather, Zaydie Klein, and see his gartel. I would wonder if I should wear one as well. He would never tell me to, as he felt it was not his place to throw his minhagim onto us. But I played with the idea. It lingered.

A little after my bar mitzvah, there was a period that I put it on. I thought it was cool. Heimish was cool. But it kept falling down, I kept losing it. It was a pain in the belt. So I dumped it. When I got married, it was another moment in my life, when I played with the idea and put it on again. That also didn’t last too long. Despite my desire to be heimish, it was just an added thing to remember to shlep around with me and take off after davening, which I would generally forget to do, thereby littering the streets of Flatbush with my fallen gartels on my walk home. When my daughter was born, I decided to put on an extra pair of teffilin (rabbeinu tam), something my grandfather did as well. It was a more expensive investment then the $5 gartel, but I certainly wasn’t dropping them on my home.

My next big milestone though was when I moved to Israel. I didn’t put one on right away. I was too busy settling in and Aliyah itself was enough of an adjustment. But the thought did enter my mind. Living in Eretz Yisrael is starting a new life. Maybe I should make it a heimish one and put that string belt back on. When I went back to America for the first time a few months after being here, it really hit me how different my life was when I was in Israel. And on the long drive out to Deans, New Jersey to visit my father’s grave, in that real heimish cemetery out there where he is buried, I was conflicted if I perhaps should give it another shot. I was the link in that chain of gartels. (Although I actually think my father didn’t wear one as well, despite the fact that his father did). On the other hand, I had tried and failed about as many times as I had tried losing weight. It wasn’t happening. I got my answer though when I arrived at the grave. For there sitting on my father’s tombstone was none other than a nice black gartel. I don’t know if you ever received a message from the other world. But it is pretty freaky and cool at the same time.

The first thought that ran through my head, was why wasn’t I thinking about how I was going to pay my bills next month on the way over. Maybe dad would’ve left me a check on that tombstone. Just joking. But seriously, it was a very powerful moment. I took that heavenly gartel-that a litvak might suggest that someone might have just happened to find and leave there, but that a heimish person would never even consider, and I wrapped it around myself. I said my tehillim, which were more powerful than ever and I felt a connection, not just to the father I never knew, but to my zeidy and my babby buried right next to him and to all the generation of gartel wearing ancestors before them.

I write about this story this week, because as I was flipping through the parsha and all of the clothing of the kohanim mentioned in it, one of them stood out. Can you guess which one? Yes, it was the avnet or gartel that the Kohen wore. It’s an interesting piece of clothing that is in fact unique amongst the bigdey kehuna. According to the Rambam the gartel was the only garment that was made out of “real” shatnez- the prohibited mixture of wool and linen that is generally forbidden for Jews to wear sewn together {although the choshen/ breastplate and eiphod/apron also were made out of wool and linen, being that they were hard rather than cloth the Rambam doesn’t count them}. It is for that reason the Rambam only permits you to wear that gartel during the service. Otherwise it’s a sin of wearing shatnez. In addition, as opposed to the other garments, each one which corresponds and is meant to atone for various sins; idolatry, licentiousness, acting with arrogance, the avnet is there merely to fulfil the mitzvah of hikon lifney hashem elokecha- preparing oneself before approaching Hashem. It’s the final touch of the Kohen. It is there for the hirhur halev- removing the thoughts of one’s heart that distance and distract us from being entirely focused on Hashem during the kohen’s service and during our own.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe connects those two ideas. The reason why klayim or shatnez is forbidden, we are taught, is because it is the mingling of two worlds. It’s like Kayin, who brought his flax as an offering and Hevel, his brother who brought sheep. The two don’t mix. It didn’t work out for either of these first two children of Mankind when they did. But when one stands before Hashem. When one unites his entire soul and world before Hashem then all things can come together. All things have to come together. The Avnet, that priestly gartel, is the last item the Kohen puts on of his clothing. It is a strange gartel. It is in fact our sages tell us 32 amos long about 45 feet. That’s one heck of a gartel. It serves no purpose in terms of clothing, as the pants the Kohen wears has its own pully string belt (you know the ones that always get sucked into your sweat pants- or am I the only one that happens to). The avnet is there for the Kohen to wrap it around and around and around himself, each time binding his thoughts and his mind to be entirely focused on his service to Hashem. He puts himself in a mind-set and a world where there are no two opposing forces. Everything is connected to Hashem.

So I wear my gartel these days. I actually lost the one that my father “gave” me. If you see it around Flatbush let me know. But my compromise that I made to myself is that I’m only really religious about wearing it on Shabbos. Shabbos is the most heimish of all days of course, it’s why we eat chulent.and herring on it. I find that it gives an extra boost to my davening. To my preparation for davening. When we daven to Hashem, there are so many distractions that pop up in our minds. It’s that one time (or three times) a day that I’m not checking my phone, giving a tour, “familying”, or learning and so every lingering thought, every daydream, every worry and arrangement I have to make seems to want a piece of that action. I’m sure the Kohen in the beis hamikdash had the same challenge. So Hashem gave him a gartel. He wrapped it around and around until everything went away. Until he was prepared for the unique divine encounter which is prayer.

We all could use a gartel. Chasidim joke that it separates between the lower physical parts of the body and the heart and up which is the spiritual. Litvaks who have a cold, physical, heart wear neckties instead to separate between their physical hearts and their spiritual brains. Arabs wear their gartels around their kafiyas (the shmatta around their heads) because even their brains are impure. We all need a gartel. We are all kohanim when we come to Hashem. May we merit to visit Him in his real heim…

Have a heimishe heiligeh Shabbos!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Di tefileh gait aroif un di brocheh gait arop.”– The prayer ascends and the blessing

descends.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q  The term “the eyes of the State of Israel” refers to:

A. Mount Tabor

B. The Mitzpeh haYamim Mountain

C. The Hermon Mount

D. Mount Meron

RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/1cYBEKJZS08  – Things Yeshivish Kids say

https://youtu.be/MCHyPnoGPPw -Does this song sound familiar to you?

https://youtu.be/6Nar3LJ1Mjw   - Incredible story once again by Rabbi Yoel Gold very inspiring

https://youtu.be/M-0IS6MCNCo  -  a Lost oldie by Rabbi “K” fantastic and catchy.. Chazak Yimale

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Tetzave– One of the most lomdushe things one can do is to uncover the reasoning behind why two great sages argue over a given point in Torah. The most classical place to hone those lomdisheh skills of yours are in the debates between the Rambam and the Raavad. There are no shortage of arguments that the Raavad had with Rambam who felt he wrote the be all and end all of Torah law- he even writes that himself. And the Raavad’s attacks on him are many times pretty aggressive. The commentaries on the Rambam jump to his defense, but at the end of the day there is plenty of room for the lamdan to enter and offer his insight into what the crux of their argument is about.

This week is a great example and you already have half the story. See the Rambam as I mentioned above, is of the opinion that the avnet is the only one with shatnez, and it is therefore the only one that is prohibited to be worn not in the time of service. The Raavad on the other hand writes that the choshen and the eiphod also have shatnez. Since they are permitted outside of doing the service, so may one wear the avnet outside of service as long as he is in the mikdash.

The Rebbe in that incredible sicha I mentioned above explains that those ideas are connected. The Raavad understands that the mitzvah of wearing the avnet made specifically out of wool and linen permitted entirely for the clothing of the Kohen. It is why the choshen and ephod are also made out of them. Thus it doesn’t make a difference if it is during or not during the service, the prohibition of shatnez was never applied to the clothing of the Kohen.

The Rambam on the other hand understands that the prohibition applies even on the clothing of the Kohen. It is just that he is not liable for it while he is doing the service, as there is a mitzvah to wear the garment. Once the service is over, the regular prohibition returns.

Now here’s where it can become even more fun. Take lomdus to a deeper level. Now why is that one views shatnez one way and one the other? So again the rebbe gives us insight. He suggests based on Rabbeinu Bachaya that there are two ideas in the prohibition. One is that one force is holy and one is not and you should not combine the two. The other is that they are two opposite holy forces and although they can be brought together they can never be mingled. He explains with two metaphors of two servants of the king they each have different roles, and the butler should never be mixed with the toilet bowl cleaner. Yet when they stand in front of the king both are equal servants. The king is there and they are all honorable. There are no negative jobs in the palace. Their differences are not recognizable. This is the approach of the Raavad. Wool and linen both are spiritual forces in the palace of the king. Whether they are being used or not and it is precisely for that reason that the command was to make them out of shatnez. To show that in the palace they are all holy.

The Rambam however understands that each one has a separate role, both the plumber and butler are holy. The glory of the king is that when they stand in front of him they are equal. But when they are not doing their job, the butler shouldn’t try to do the plumbers job and vice verse. Thus the avnet, which symbolizes, not a particular job and does not atone for a particular sin. It is there as a preparation for the service is the only one where the two are mingled together. After the service is done each goes back to its own holy place and the two don’t get mingled.

So there you have it a lomdushe vort, not only to explain the debate between the Rambam and Raavad but to give us a deeper appreciation of the fundamentals of the mitzvah.

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

Fake Treaties and Givon 1272 BC – As we get closer to the “deal of the century” let’s talk this week about the “mother” of all such fake-deals the first treaty since we entered the land 3000 years ago. It sadly has become the harbinger for many of our treaties. False hopes and pretences are what brought them around and generally they are more failed then not.

The story of the Givonim happens when they see that the Jews with Yehoshua are wiping out the cities that we were commanded to miraculously. They realize they made a mistake not taking the offers previously made for peace before the Jews entered the land. But it was too late. Once we came into the land we were commanded to wipe out all the 7 nations and the Givonim were Chivis (that’s with the chhhh like chupa not cheese). They were pretty much doomed.

So what did they do they pretended like they were from far away and got the leaders of the tribes to sign a treaty with them that we would not destroy them if they agreed to be our servants. Not only that but that we would defend them if they were attacked as well. If we had known that they were next on our hit list, we never would have signed it. We were probably not even allowed to sign it as we were commanded to destroy them. But they fooled us. When we realized the ruse and called them on it, it was too late. They had already showed the rest of the world that we had signed a treaty and it would be a chilul Hashem, a desecration of Hashem’s name to break it. Despite the fact that we were tricked. See the world really doesn’t care whether the other teams play fair. The only thing that matters is that we do. Some things never change.

The Jews were of course annoyed with all of this, because they were really banking on settling in the land promised by Hashem. But Yehoshua went along with the deal and the Givonites became the first Jewish Shabbos goyim and foreign labor workers (or Tailandim as they call them here) for us schlepping water and chopping trees for the temple. Ultimately that treaty came back to bite us as it brought us into a huge war. But that’s next week’s column.

Where is Givon? Actually it’s pretty easy to identify. Right next to Givat Ze’ev outside of Yerushalayim there’s a Palestinian village under Area B on the other side of separation fence. If you drive on 443 it’s not far from there. In the 1950’s there were wine vessels that actually dated back to the time of Yehoshua that said Givon on it. As well the arab name Al- Jib is reminiscent of the city name. It’s near the other cities mentioned near there as well. Kiryat Yearim and Yerushalayim. Right next to Al- jib in fact jewish yishuv called Givon Hachadasha. It’s a secular yishuv.  Frum people might not want to name it after the crooked Chivites that fooled us and lived there. So this is definitely a story I share when I drive along that area. As well it’s a story I mention whenever we are anywhere near the Area’s A and B’s and talk about the current “peace accords”. As Winston Churchill said he who fails to learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat it.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S CLOTHING JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Bernie called all his staff together at the garment manufacturing plant that he had and announced that his son-in-law was joining the business.

“My friends, he is to have no special privileges and you are to treat him just like anyone else who is due to take over your business in 2 years!”

 Ira was at his shmatta plant and his supplier called him.

“Hello Silverman? When are you going to pay me for those linings?”

Silverman snapped back angrily “how should I know? I’m a dress manufacturer not a fortune teller?!”

A week later he got a letter from the textile company that said

“we cannot ship your order until full payment has been made on your last order”

Silverman sent a letter a reply. it said

“please cancel my order I can’t wait that long.”

Yankel walked into the fancy clothing store on 5^th avenue and picked out a tie. The clerk wrapped it up and handed back to him.

Yankel then said “I’m sorry I changed my mind, I”ll have this pair of socks instead. “

“Ok” said the clerk and began to wrap them up. He handed them to Yankel who then proceeded to walk out of the store.

“Hey! Wait”the clerk shouted “you didn’t pay for that!”

Yankel turned to him slightly hurt “What are you talking about? I just exchanged the tie for the socks?”

“Yes” said the clerk “but you never paid for the tie!”

“Of course not” said Yankel “Did I keep it?”

Cohen made it big in the shmatta business. He took a nothing business and in a few years made it into a world class top of the line clothing company. As the years passed and he was nearing his end he called his lawyer to help him prepare his will. He said

“Sol, I want a stipulation that everyone of my employees who has worked for me for 25 years of more is to get a special bequest of $25,000 dollars each.”

The attorney looked at him strangely “Sam, you only went into business 15 years ago…”

“I know” gasped Cohen “but think how nice it will look in the papers!

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

Answer is C–  And this one I leigitimally got wrong. Not only did I get it wrong, but I’ve been guiding it wrong also. So apologies to all those out there. Unfortunately, you cannot get a refund for the misinformation that I passed on. But for some reason in my course I specifically remember our guide telling us that Mt. Meron was the “einei hamedina”. Because from the army base on top we can look into both Syria and Lebanon. It seems I guess that he was just using that term nonchalantly co-opting it from its original usage, rather than authoritatively. The eyes of the medina were a famous reference to Mt. Hermon- I discovered upon googling it, by Danny Mass in the Yom Kippur War. Ah well there goes my streak. The score is Schwartz 15 and 2 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.