Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
April 19th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 29-14th
of Nissan 5779
Pesach
Jungle Time
We had seen lots of cool things the past two hours or so as we jeeped around Krueger Park. We saw a mother lion feeding 5 cubs just a few feet away from us. Totty Lion was snoozing a few trees away. Even lions know that there really is no reason for them to be woken up for this part of child-rearing. In general, they leave all of the parenting to Mommy Lion. Every so often they bring home dinner, maybe leftovers from the tour he was on that day when he went out to dinner. But they know that Dads really have no business getting involved in raising their little cubs. Mommies are much better than that. I’m not making any points here just sharing with you some interesting things you learn on a Safari.
We saw giraffes racing around, elephants fighting and goring each other, a rhino grazing around and munching on grass and hippos wallowing in pools all day. There was even a crocodile lurking near them waiting for the moms to take their eyes off their baby hippos for a second so they could grab a quick hippo snack. Dad was just sun-bathing on the other side of the pond. Again, I’m just sayin… We even ran with a pack of about wild dogs who were hunting. We tracked them by the vultures that were following overhead who seemingly like yeshiva bachurim who hover over the “head table” at the end of a Jewish wedding know, there’s always going to be plenty of leftovers to take home after the herd has eaten. At least at the head table there will.
But nothing was as cool as watching this leopard cub eat that antelope. Or was it an impala? I’m not so sure what the difference is. They both looked tasty. All of a sudden though the cub raised its head. It heard something. It quickly scampered up the tree. Our safari guy told us that it was probably a hyena. They seem to have a particular affinity for baby leopards. He noted how it was a shame that the cub ran and left his meal behind. The hyena would come and eat it. But it was like the Jews leaving Egypt. There was no time. He had to run.
But not our lil’ cub, he realized that he forgot his dinner and scampered back down grabbed that head which was bigger than him and schlepped it right up to the top of that 25 foot tree tree and wrapped it around a branch. That’s a boy! A few minutes later Mommy leopard comes out looking for her baby. It seems that she also sensed that there was danger in the area. She made sure her cubchik is alright and then packed off back to her tree to continue shluffing. Sure enough not two minutes later, who comes out of the “bush”? That’s what we cool safari people call it. None other than mister hungry hyena. He looks up the tree longingly. He curses the God that made it so that he can’t climb trees and he eats whatever scraps and bones that fell off the tree on the floor below. You snooze you lose, as the rule in the Schwartz house is. End of story, by the way, we came back the next morning and they were all still in the same spot. Leopard cub in tree still noshing on they eyeballs (ewwwww), hyena lingering around on the bottom and mommy leopard shepping nachas from the tree next door. The circle of Life. Hakuna Matata. Welcome to the Jungle, Rabbi Schwartz. (PS Check out the video I posted of above scene below-its cool!)
There is absolutely nothing I have ever done that is as amazing as spending the three days we did in the bush. To see these wild animals in their natural environment hunting, wallowing, sleeping, and eating is just awesome. It filled me with a sense of awe of the incredible world Hashem created and the natural order of the jungle. The roars, the grunts, the chirps the squeals were all a song to the Almighty. Of course, I composed a song for the occasion. Now if only Yitzy Berry would have some time for me, you might even hear it. The words were from Dovid Hamelech in psalms
Psalms (148:10) Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and winged fowl, kings of the earth and all kingdoms, princes and all judges of the earth… Will praise the name of the Hashem, for His name alone is powerful; His splendor is on earth and heaven. He raised up a horn for His people, praise to all His pious ones, to the children of Israel, the people close to Him. Halleluyah!
Being however that we are in the Pesach season and the Shabbos that we were there we read the portion we read before Pesach of the first mitzvah we were given as a nation, it gave me a better appreciation of the incredible holiday and gift we were given that we will be celebrating.
See, Pesach is not just about us being a nation that were enslaved and miraculously rescued by Hashem who punished our oppressors. Pesach is the holiday that separated us from the rest of the world. That gave us our mission to teach mankind that we were not part of the animal kingdom. That we possessed a higher purpose, that we had higher souls, that we were meant to uplift creation and that Hashem has given us a whole new world-view that was going to bring the world to its ultimate fulfillment. That lesson was taught in the prelude to the story of our Exodus with that first mitzvah; the mitzvah, strangely enough of Rosh Chodesh, the establishment of the Jewish calendar with the mitzvah of zman- time.
See, unlike the world that works with either a 365 days solar calendar or a lunar year calendar which has 354 days, Judaism does both. We count each month based on the lunar calendar and as we did this year, every couple of years we add an extra month in order to coincide it with the solar calendar and make up the missing days. That way we always are sure to celebrate Pesach in the springtime. (Unlike the Muslim entirely lunar calendar where Ramadan can some years be in the winter or summer). Now this may seem like a very technical detail, and it certainly doesn’t seem like the first mitzvah I would choose to give our nation. What about loving your friend, Shabbat, Kosher, Ummm… honoring your parents. Yet, this is the prelude. This is what we have to know before we go out of Egypt. Jewish time is different.
Reb Moshe Shapiro explains that the word in Hebrew for time, zman, is in fact not found in the entire 5 books of the Torah. The Torah refers to time as moed- which literally means an appointment. Zman in Hebrew is a similar idea to that. In Hebrew a hazmana is an invitation. An invitation to an appointment. Mazmin is to order or designate something. Zimun is when you are called to do something. These are all strange words that are seemingly unrelated in any other language to the word 'time'. But that’s because the rest of the world lives on jungle time. Let me explain.
There is a fascinating Mishna of the sage Hillel in Pirkey Avot
Prieky Avot (2:6) He as well saw a skull floating on the surface of the water and he said to it: Because you drowned others they drowned you; and those that drowned you will in the end be drowned.
Now I don’t know if Hillel saw this on a safari or not. But we definitely saw plenty of animal skulls floating around. Guess the hyena didn’t get to them yet. But seemingly what Hillel is teaching us is the law of the jungle. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. The antelope eats grass, the leopard eats the antelope, the hyena eats the leopard, the dogs eat the leopard, the vultures eat whatever is left over… You eat and then get eaten. Time is really inconsequential. It’s just a measure of the sphere that we are passing through to the inevitable dust from which came. That’s what you think about when you see a skull floating on the river. That was the world of Pharoah and Egypt that worshiped that river, the Nile. It’s the source of all life. The powerful, rule over slaves. The survival of the fittest. Natural selection reigns supreme. We are all just animals floating down the river of life. We don’t have any Divine appointments. You eat what you hunt.
Hashem shattered that illusion in our Exodus from Egypt. He broke us out of the jungle. First to go was that river, which was turned to blood. From there it was the frogs, the sand which turned to lice, the cattle, the wild beasts all the way up to the weather, light and darkness and the death of the first-born. The hunted became the hunters, Every Egyptian met his fate. The natural world was turned on its head and for the first time the world realizes that time is not a river it is a divine appointment. Nothing happens in this world because it just flows, rather everything that occurs is because it Hashem commands it to occur at that particular point. Time is an invitation to us to participate and accomplish something in that moment. Each minute we exist is another invitation from Hashem to accept, utilize and fulfill its purpose.
We are not skulls floating on the water, we are Rosh Chodesh- the head of the month. No other language refers to a month as a head. No other language refers to a month as chodesh-which means renewed. Our prelude to Exodus was that we are being taught that we are being chosen in this redemption to bring this message of Jewish time to the world. In Pharaoh’s world time is an endless continuum. There is no beginning, there is no end. In our Exodus we were taught that there is a beginning. Our Exodus was our beginning. Rishon hu lchadshei Hashana- the first of the months of the year.
If there is a beginning, there is an end. If there is a first there is a last. In the month of Nissan we were redeemed, our sages tell us, and in the month of Nissan the ultimate final redemption will happen. We begin our Seder with the Kiddush, as we do by every Kiddush that we make, that recalls that original exodus from Egypt; our beginning. We then make an additional blessing Shehechiyanu Vkimanu v’higiayni la’zman hazeh- That since that first exodus over 3000 years ago we appreciate that we have been living a series of hazmanot- of moments after appointed moments after appointed moments that Hashem has brought us to, that has charged and invited us to participate and bring to fruition. We conclude our seder with the end of it all, the final goal and destination, the last stop on our holy safari of life. L’shana Ha’baah bi’yerushalayim. May we merit that to hear that glorious sound of Hashem raising up a horn for His people, praise to all His pious ones, to the children of Israel, the people close to Him. Halleluyah!. May we celebrate that final moed together!
Have a Roarin’ good and Kosher Pesach,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“A behaimeh hot a langen tsung un ken kain
brocheh nit zogen....” An animal has a long tongue, yet he can’t recite a blessing.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q. Palmach is an acronym (short) for:
A. Military forces of overseas
volunteers (plugot mitnadvey hutz la’arets)
B. Special forces (Plugot
meyuhadot)
C. Units of special operation
tasks (plugot messima ve’habala)
D. Strike forces (plugot maִִhatz)
RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF
THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/eliyahu-hanavi–
Your
Pesach Seder will not be complete unless you sing this song repeatedly when you
open the door for Eliyahu- Rabbi Schwartz’es most popular hit!
https://youtu.be/PQhlrn95Z4w
–Two videos of the leopard cub ony my safari check out mom
coming and hyena. Awesome!
https://youtu.be/R8c-iuwpkD0
– No pesach Seder is complete without this song for me at end of
seder beautiful chasal Sidure pesach by Shira Chadasha. .. just excited
listening to it right now for you
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS”
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Pesach– So
Pesach is the holiday when everyone becomes lamdanim. It’s the night of
questions after-all. For those that are privileged to have yeshiva children or
students in their home they all have their little notebooks full of questions
they’ve prepared and they are out to stump, impress and examine the haggadah
and the story of Pesach like never before. And the Haggadah of course has
something there for everyone. It has questions, nuances, derivations and
drashot from verses, stories with ideas that were meant to be taken apart
detail by detail and of course lots of funny laws that differ from all the rest
of the year. So tonight is the night for lamdanim.
The
one problem though is of course the end time. Forget about the fact that the
most popular question by the seder is can we eat yet? See there is a mitzvah by
the seder to eat the afikoman the final piece of matza before the end of the
seder and seemingly according to one of the opinions mentioned in the Talmud,
that of Rebbi Eliezer ben Azaria, the afikoman which is meant to symbolize the Pesach
offering should be eaten before midnight which is the cut-off period for eating
the pesach lamb in the times when that was brought. Uh oh. Now here in Karmiel
figure nightfall is close to 8:00 PM until everyone gets home from shul,
settles in, finishes fighting over the best pillows, sings the Kadesh Urchatz
song and everyone says Ma nishtana, you don’t get to the lomdushe haggada until
close to 10:00 PM that doesn’t’ leave you much time to not only speak about the
haggada but also to eat the matza, marror and the entire meal Mom worked so
hard to prepare. What is one to do?
Now
a simple idea might be to just eat the afikoman before the meal. However the
wise son was just answered at the beginning of the hagada, if you remember,
that we are not allowed to eat after the afikoman. So now it seems we are
stuck. Because if we eat the afikoman, we can’t have anything else to eat. And
if we continue talking and then rush through the meal, then Momma ain’t gonna
be so happy and that’s never a good thing. And we certainly can’t rush through
all the questions our children have and the great ideas we are meant to impart
this one night a year. (At least in
Israel we only have one night- In America maybe you can split it up and make it
work- but you might be really stuck and troubled explaining to your children
why you are living there in first place rather than in Eretz Yisrael, where
Hashem really wants us to be and where all the Jews who left Egypt were hoping
to get to- but I digress J). So what do we do?
Now
there is another opinion in the Talmud, that of Rabbi Akiva that says that one
may eat the afikoman until the morning. There are authorities that in fact rule
like Rabbi Akiva. Most notable being the Rambam. However the Shulchan Aruch
rules like tosafot that the law follows Rebbi Eliezer, as he says one should be
careful to eat it before midnight and that would seem to be the mainstream
accepted opinion. Some even stating that one does not fulfill the obligation if
you eat it after midnight.
So
here’s where all our lomdushe exercise might have paid off. The Avney Nezer
comes up with the an incredible solution. He suggests that the reason for the
dispute is that Rebbi Eliezer understands that the reason one has to eat the
matza by midnight is because it was at midnight that we Hashem passed over
houses and we became free. Now we are not able to eat matza exactly at
midnight. Certainly not the proper measurement which is almost 2/3 of a large
matza. so therefore we eat the afikoman
before midnight, and we don’t eat anything afterwards so that at midnight we
will have at least the flavor of mazta in our mouth. If that is the case, then
seemingly after midnight one would be permitted to eat once again, because you
fulfilled your obligation already. Meaning the prohibition to eat after
afikoman is only until the time of eating the afikoman is up.
Rabbi
Akiva on the other hand who says that you have until morning to eat the
afikoman understands the mitza of not eating anything after the afikoman so one
should savor the flavor of the afikoman. And therefore whenever you finish the afikoman
you can’t eat anything else for the rest of the night. So to get it straight we
have two debates- According to Rebbi Eliezer you need to eat the afikoman by
midnight and once you eat that afikoman you are prohibited from tasting
anything else until midnight. Howeve after midnight you can. And according to
Rabbi Akiva you can eat the afikoman all night long until the next morning, but
once you eat it the game is over no more eating until the morning.
If
that’s the case then the Avney Nezer comes up with a solution. Say it’s close
to 12:38 (the time for “halachic” midnight this year in Karmiel) and you just
started the chicken soup and there is still a brisket waiting to be eaten. Very
simple. Take a piece of Matza and say as follows, if the law is like Rebbi
Eliezer than this piece of matza should be my afikoman- if that’s the case then
and one than only has to wait till 12:39 and then one can continue eating. If however
the law follows Rabbi Akiva, he should say then this matzah is not my afikoman,
but merely a regular piece of matza. Therefore according to Rabbi Akiva one can
also continue eating his meal, because he has not yet eaten the afikoman yet.
Now while you do this it is very important to twirl your thumb in the air in
the traditional lomdushe fashion. And you’re good to go.
If this
is to complicated for you than just read this by your Pesach Seder. If it doesn’t
help for your afikoman, at least it might put some people to sleep and then you
can finish the seder even faster!
Happy
Pesach J
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Division of the Land The children of Yosef-
Ephraim & Menashe 1265 BC – The Tribe of Yosef was considered the
first-born of Yaakov and as a result they received a double portion. Being as
the tribe of Levi didn’t receive a portion in the land the fact that Ephraim
and Menashe were each given a portion makes the number 12 portions. But besides
that the portion of Menashe spanned both sides of the Jordan River as Moshe
placed him there to keep the tribes of Reuvein and Gad connected to the rest of
the nation. Menashe being the first born of Yosef took that role of
responsibility. As well being that their tribal patriarch “Menashe” himself was
the first Jewish child ever raised away from all the rest of the tribes, as he
was born in exile in Egypt when Yosef was sold there, they had it in their DNA
to remain connected despite their distance from everyone and would be a
positive influence on Reuvein and Gad.
So where are there
portions? So let’s start with Menashe he basically got the entire Golan
Heights, which of course used to be the area of Og the King of Bashan.
That area went from North of the Hermon even into modern day Syria and Damascus
where the modern city of Dara is more likely the biblical city of Adrei.
It goes all the way down to the eastern side of the Kinneret to the area
called Gilead, the city of Beit Shean where they bordered Gad and
including where Hamat Gader is today and even into the heart of Jordan.
This portion was given to Machir the
eldest and greatest fighter of Menashe and his family. The only exception of
course being the daughters of Tzlafchad who despite being from the family of
Machir, got their portion on the Western side of the Jordan- the heartland,
because of their extreme love for Eretz Yisrael.
On the other side (or
our side of the Jordan) Menashe and Ephraim have most of the center and
Northern part of the country, with Ephraim having the Shomron area with
the cities of Shiloh Atarot and Beit Horon as well they had a
piece that jutted North into Menashe all the way up to Shechem. That was
the land that Yosef was promised by his father and when Yaakov blessed Ephraim
before Menashe that was the portion he was given, the burial place of Yosef. As
well it seems that Ephraim jutted out to the sea as well, with perhaps a small
access point. Menashe was North of Ephraim in the Shomron and included Mt.
Gerizim or todays Har Bracha and included the Jezreel valley, the Gilboa
Mountain range and Ein Dor the cities of Megido, Beit Shean and even
the port city of Caesarea (Caesarea of course not being around then at
all as it was built in 2nd Temple) and Dor south of Chaifa,
if not including where Haifa is today. Basically as you drive up Kvish
6 today to the North from Jerusalem, everything on the right side of the
road is the tribe of Ephraim and Menashe.
Interestingly enough
these two tribes put together that were
blessed to be fruitful and multiply were the largest tribe by far. Yet even
with their large space they complained to Yehoshua that they needed more room
and he told them they could feel free to conquer more Canaanite land and clear
the forests there. These are where the settlers are today living. It would be
nice if the government would give them today that same latitude.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S WILD ANIMAL JOKES OF THE WEEK
What animal has more lives than a
cat? Frogs, they croak every night!
What did the grape say when the
elephant stepped on it? It gave a little wine.
What do you call an exploding
monkey? A baboom.
Why couldn’t the leopard play hide
and seek? Because he was always spotted.
Can a kangaroo jump higher than the
Empire State Building? Of course. The Empire State Building can’t jump.
Why did the lion always lose at
poker? He was playing with a bunch of cheetahs.
What’s the difference between a
hippo and a Zippo? One is really heavy, and the other is a little lighter.
Yankel went on safari with his wife
and mother-in-law. One evening, while still deep in the jungle, the wife awoke
to find her mother gone. Rushing to her husband, she insisted on them both
trying to find her mother. Yankel picked up his rifle, put on his hat, and
started to look for her. In a clearing not far from the camp, they came upon a chilling
sight: the mother-in-law was backed up against a thick, impenetrable bush, and
a large male lion stood facing her. The wife cried, "What are we going
to do?" "Nothing," said Yankel. "The lion got
himself into this mess, let him get himself out of it."
Berel was a Jewish dog who went on a
safari with his owner Shemerel. One day Berel
the dog starts chasing butterflies and before long he discovers that he is
lost. So, wandering about he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction
with the obvious intention of having lunch.
The dog thinks, "Uh Oh, I'm
in trouble now”. Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by, and
immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching
cat.
Just as the leopard is about to leap,
the dog exclaims loudly, "Man, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder
if there are any more around here?"
Hearing this the leopard halts his
attack in mid stride, as a look of terror comes over him, and slinks away into
the trees. "Whew", says the leopard. "That was close.
That dog nearly had me."
Meanwhile, a Achmed the monkey who
had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this
knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he
goes. But the dog saw him heading after the leopard with great speed, and
figured that something must be up.
The monkey soon catches up with the
leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The
cat is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here monkey, hop on
my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine."
When Berel saw the leopard coming
toward him with the monkey on its back, he thought to himself, "What am
I going to do now?" But instead of running, the dog sat down with his
back to his attackers pretending he hasn't seen them yet. And just when they
got close enough to hear, the dog says, "Where's that monkey, Achmed,.
I can never trust him. I sent him off half an hour ago to bring me another
leopard, and he's still not back!!"
************
Answer is D– After a few bad weeks it looks like
we’re back in the easy stretch. This question is an easy one. I’ve actually
seen it on quite a few exams already, which is why it pays to study old exams
because there are at least 10-15 questions per exam that they recycle. The
Palmach was the strike force of the Hagana the pre-state Army of Israel. Generally,
acronyms are all the rage in army-speak in this country, and I don’t even know
if the other forces exist. But there is only one Palmach. So the
score is Schwartz 19 and
5 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.
