All About the Pita- Parshat Va'etchanan / Nachamu 2019 / 5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

August 16^th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 45 15^th of Av 5779

Parshat Va’eschanan

All About the Pita

 

It was an offensive question. I can put up with most things. Anti- Israel rhetoric, chariedi or alternatively chiloni-secular Israeli bashing. New Yorkers making fun of out of towners or FFB’s ragging on BT’s. I can even put up with kvetching about Israel. As well I can understand if one has some medical condition. But this person was not celiac or anything. He merely didn’t want to wash or bentch. “Is there any place where we can get a gluten-free lunch?” Really?! Gluten-free shwarma? That’s about as sacrilegious as a parve chulent. If you have a problem with something Israel I can deal with that…but you don’t want to wash and bentch. You’re gonna pass up the only place in the world where you can actually get a decent falafel, where the falafel balls don’t get made until you order them- that’s the secret by the way- just because you don’t want to spend an extra few minutes thanking Hashem for your meal. Gimme a break. He didn’t even look like he needed a diet. At least not compared to his tour guide…

He needed some ‘splaining too… And I obliged.

“Do you realize that every single one of your ancestors prayed, ate, bentched and dreamed that when they said the words in their grace after the meal- their “bentching” that

 Nodeh lecha Hashem Elokeinu- We wish to thank you Hashem our God

 al shinchalta la’avoseinu – that you inherited to our ancestors

eretz chemda tova- A desirous good land

 u’rchava – that is spacious

Baruch Atah Hashem al Ha’aretz v’al hamzon- Blessed are You for the land and Your sustenance

They dreamed of being here, experiencing Israel, of tasting its bread and saying the actual blessing on that fruit of the land, the great gift of Israel here in Israel. I wonder what they are thinking up in heaven right now as you look for Gl***n –free bread, to avoid saying that blessing. Think of all the bentchings you have made in America all these years when you recited these words and I’m sure you as well dreamed of saying them in Israel. Or at least wish you had kavana when you said them. And now you are here! How can you miss out on that opportunity? You should want to wash three meals a day just to be able to say those words and thank Hashem.

He looked at me and smiled, as if he understood why I look the way that I do… But he thanked me. Then he washed. Then he ate- an awesome falafel, by the way and then he bentched. Probably the best bentching he had all his life. And if that isn’t worth it my friend, then you really shouldn’t take me as your tour-guide.

I saw an incredible insight this week on a conversation that that Moshe had with Hashem and a mistake that many of the commentaries go out of their way to correct. One that I believe is essential to appreciating an aspect of Eretz Yisrael that far too many of us sometimes forget about.

The Parsha begins with Moshe imploring Hashem to allow him to come into the land of Israel. The Talmud brings Rav Simlai who reveals to us what Moshe’s request to come to Israel was all about? Moshe didn’t want good Israeli shwarma or falafel balls. Moshe didn’t want to take pictures on an army base. Moshe didn’t even want to come to Israel to experience a Rabbi Schwartz tour of the country- as shocking as that may seem to many. Rav Simlai tells us

(Sota 14.) Rabbi Samlai taught: For what reason did Moses our teacher greatly desire to enter Eretz Yisrael? Did he need to eat of its produce, or did he need to satisfy himself from its goodness? Rather, this is what Moses said: Many mitzvot were commanded to the Jewish people, and they can only be fulfilled only in Eretz Yisrael, so I will enter the land in order that they can all be fulfilled by me

So, Moshe wanted to come here because Israel is spiritual. He wanted to fulfill the mitzvos whe wanted to get close to Hashem. Certainly not for the mundane fruit or good things that they have here in Israel. Lesson it would seem from this gemara is that one should be here and want Israel for the spiritual reasons. And that is unfortunately I believe one that is given over way too often.

But that’s not the way our Rabbis and commentaries looked at it. In fact it’s not the way you look at either when you make the al hamichiya blessing every time you eat a non-bread grain product- think cookies cake, or fruits of Israel, or drink wine. We say

V’ha’aleinu l’socha v’nochal m’pirya v’lisboa mituva- Hashem should return us to Israel so that we may eat from its frutis and be satisfied with its goodness.

The point that we ask Hashem to return us to Israel is for the delicious fruits, pastries and wine that we have here. Not for the Torah, not for the commandments, not for the mikvas, and not for the Temple. It’s all about the Pita.  Now to be fair the Tur says that his father the Rosh didn’t say this sentence particularly for this reason. But we do and the Bach explains why.

The Shechina of Hashem is in the land of Israel. The fruits that grow in Israel get their nourishment from the Divine presence itself. And one who eats from their fruits receives that spiritual sustenance as well.

The Eliyahu Rabba notes even further that if one looks at the words of the Talmud It says did Moshe “need to eat from its fruit or need to satisfy himself with its goodness”. The question was that Moshe was on such a high spiritual level he didn’t require the food to connect him to Hashem, but in the words of Reb Yaakov Emden

“One certainly should recite these words (in al hamichiya) Even though its says that Moshe didn’t require it for the fruits of Israel give on strength and wisdom as it says the air of Israel makes one wise. And we definitely need them…”

Reb Yisrael of Ruzhin adds a different aspect and answer that differentiates between Moshe and the rest of us. The fruits of Eretz Yisrael possess the power to give one the fear and awe of Hashem. One who merits to eat from them will find it to be a segula to aquire this trait. Yet the Talmud tells us on the verse “What does Hashem ask of us merely to fear him” That although for the rest of us this is a pretty big deal but for Moshe it was a small thing. Moshe possessed and embodied the concept of the awe of heaven. Thus he did not need those “awe-some” spiritually- nutritiously packed fruits that the rest of us do.

Moshe was not permitted to enter the land, because Moshe’s job was to bring down the Torah to this world. His job was to bring us up to the land of Israel. He was the bridge between heaven and earth. The work of Yehoshua and Calev and the Jewish nation that came into the land was to plant and bring that holiness from the ground out. To eat and enjoy the fruits and through them to connect in song and praise to our Creator. The One who gives us it all. Sure there is spiritual things in Israel and holy sites in Israel that one can tap into. That each of us need to connect with. But the physical delicious things in this country are perhaps even more amazing. It’s easy to find Hashem in the Beit Midrash or by the Kotel, but our job is to find Him and reveal Him in a Falafel, in a shwarma in a good refreshing slice of watermelon. The best in the world.

This Shabbos is Shabbat Nachamu, we are consoled by Hashem for loss of Yerushalayim. We will return. We will rebuild. We will replant. The Haftora concludes with the ultimate way that we will come back

“Lift up your eyes on high and see, who created these”- Look out at the hills that have been desolate for millennia. See the fruits, the crops, the trees and the lush valleys and see our Creator. Our Father who is preparing our home/ His home once again for His and our return. Take a bite. Have a glass of wine with it. Clean it off with a fruit salad. It’s the best you’ll ever have and your tour guide will be grateful. I promise.

Have a delicious Shabbos and a comforting Nachamu,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

  

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Besser ain freint mit gekechts aider hundert mit a krechts.”- Better one friend with a cooked dish of food than a hundred with a sigh.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmYGUvR3J4– Yossi Green Brand new Tu B’Av together

https://youtu.be/ZP6ZN_rlKc4    – Moishe Mendlowitz singing Nachamu by SY Rechnitz beautiful

https://youtu.be/7VGpiOPmnMM -Nachamu Ami new song by Shlomo Katz

https://youtu.be/VyYg-em4OLM   – Pinny Shachter Tu B’Av dating song make it a million

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q   Soft-shell turtles can sometimes be seen in:
a) Dishon Stream
b) Yarmuk River
c) Nahal Alexander
d) Saar Stream

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Devarim– So Lamdanim are always trying to one up each other in lomdus. I make a statement, he responds why that is lomdushly incorrect. I bring a proof to my opinion. He shows me how that proof is different than the argument that I am trying make. I show him how the sources understand it to be like I am explaining and then the crowning glory is that when I show him that if he would like with precision and be midayek in the words of the source he would say they are in fact saying exactly what I am saying. That’s called a lomdushe conversation. It’s fun. You should try it some time…

I had one last week I’ll share it with you because I only had the last piece this week. So this one is for you Rabbi “J”. The conversation began like I have with many of my tourists about the idea that the Ramban notes that the mitzvos that one fulfills in chutz la’aretz- the diaspora, are fake. OK not mamash fake, I just say that for drama, effect and to be provocative. But he explains that the essence of the commandments are really for us to come to Israel and preform them here. By us preforming the mitzvos here we are developing a nation and place from where we can shine out the light of Hashem to the world. It makes sense. It’s pretty obvious when you read the Torah and see the many mitzvos that seemingly have nothing to do with Israel but Hashem, still connects them to living in the land and fulfilling the mitzvos.

Now of course, one is obligated to fulfill the commandments biblically even when one is not in Israel. One gets reward for observing them and punished for not just as if he or she was in Israel, although it is arguably more significant when one observes or sins in Israel. But the mitzvos outside of Israel are more there to keep one in practice until one has the opportunity to fulfill them in Israel. It’s like a soldier that has to do the military exercises in training in boot camp rather than one that actually is carrying out the battle plan in the field.

Now the Rabbi I was having this conversation with his family with got a little nervous as I was saying this. So he of course being a lamdan argued and mentioned the midrash brought down in the Talmud of Sota in this week’s Torah portion that tells us that Moshe wanted to come into the land of Israel to fulfill the mitzvos that one could only fulfill in the land of Israel. So one can infer from that it was only the mitzvos that Moshe couldn’t fulfill outside of Israel that troubled. If the logic was as I was suggesting Moshe should have wanted to come to Israel to fulfill all of the commandments. Not just the ones that could only be fulfilled in Israel. It must be that the Mitzvos in chutz la’aretz that he fulfilled were not lacking anything.

It was a cute lomdushe question which didn’t argue with the logic that I was suggesting that the purpose of the mitzvos is to be fulfilled in Israel. He was just trying to prove me incorrect by showing me from Moshe that the mitzvos fulfilled in chutz la’aretz can be fulfilled perfectly. As Moshe wasn’t troubled by not fulfilling them and they were not used in his argument to Hashem to allow him in the land.

I tried to knock down his question by saying that just because Moshe didn’t use them as part of his request to Hashem doesn’t mean that it didn’t trouble him. Rather he used the bigger argument. There were mitzvos that he couldn’t fulfill at all, like the teruma and maser tithes, or the sabbatical laws. Sure, the other ones he could’ve performed better in Israel, but why mention them. There were some he couldn’t fulfill at all and those were the ones that he mentioned. That was my answer at the time. He wasn’t so happy with it, I wasn’t either. It was a dichui- a push-off… but as we say in yeshiva… “you could say better..”

This week B”H I was able to look at the quoted above Talmud and in fact the Talmud says exactly what I said. He misread it, as did I and I believe that most do when they read or learn it. It in fact says precisely that all the mitzvos can’t be fulfilled unless one is here. Read it yourself…

(Sota 14.) Rabbi Samlai taught: For what reason did Moses our teacher greatly desire to enter Eretz Yisrael? Did he need to eat of its produce, or did he need to satisfy himself from its goodness? Rather, this is what Moses said:

Now pay attention to the words in Hebrew and english

Harbeh mitzvos nitztavu Yisrael- Many mitzvot were commanded to the Jewish people, -  

V’ein mitkaymin elah b’Eretz Yisrael –and they can only be fulfilled only in Eretz Yisrael, 

Ekaneis ani l’Eretz kidei she’yitkaymu kulan al yadi- so I will enter the land in order that they can all be fulfilled by me

It does not say that the only some of them can be kept in Israel, rather that all need to be fulfilled there. It doesn’t say we have a lot of mitzvos and there are those that can only be here in Israel- rather it says that we were given many mitzvos and they- all of those mitzvos that were given to the Jewish people can only be fulfilled in Israel. Again not to say that they can’t be observed outside of Israel. But the kiyum- the ultimate essence and true fulfillment can only be in Israel. That is exactly what Moshe was asking for. The Talmud he brought to upshlug me- is of course the greatest proof to my point. Boom!

And thus ends another lomdushe conversation… Never mess with the tour guide/Rabbi J

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

The Unconquered Terrotories 1245 BC – Israel was never meant to have a two state solution to it. This was meant be the one place on this planet that Hashem’s presence was meant to shine out to the rest of the world from. He doesn’t like pagan neighbors. His people, us, who were charged with building and preparing this land for Him, were cautioned repeatedly that the nations that were here were meant to be thrown out and/or killed. Game over. This was going to be a holy land, not a “Jewish”  “democracy” and “national homeland” in the Middle East. There should be no Cananites, no Jebusites, no Emorites, not pagan temples or altars, no churches and no mosques. It’s only holy if the Jewish people understand that there is only one God, one faith and everything else is pretty much baloney and it is our job to teach the world that. End of story.

But we failed. We were enticed by the money they could pay us in taxes and what they might provide for our economy. We got tired of warring, fighting and killing. We had enough land to plant, to grow, to live what do I need the whole thing for? Forget about what the media or the UN might say. They might… uh oh… pass a resolution against us. Oy vay! And so the Navi tells us Hashem got annoyed with us. We had forgotten what we were meant to do and what Israel was meant to be. So Hashem sent them against us. The entire book of Shoftim is that story.

The Jewish people as well didn’t understand that by allowing the gentile nations to remain in Israel it would ultimate influence us un-spiritually. We followed their leads, worshipped their idols, watched their shows, listened to their music and embraced their cultures. How ecumenical of us! We thought what could be the harm, if we let them stick around. We are strong enough in our own faith to persevere. We saw miracles. We would never buy into this baloney. What could be the harm of letting them hang out here? We were wrong. And that is the second story of Shoftim. The children of Israel leaving the ways of Hashem and straying after the nations they allowed to remain here.

So what were the portions that remained unconquered? The Navi tells us that Binyamin’s portion Jerusalem was left in the hand of the Yevusites and many of the valleys of their portion remained with the Canaanites. In the North Menashe did not conquer Beit She’an in the East Dor on the coastline and Megido in the center. Zevulun left Kitron- which is near the site of modern day Hoshaya and Ephraim left Gezer in the hands of the Cananites. The portion of Asher extended into Lebanon but they did not conquer Sidon, or Achziv right near Nahariya or Akko. 

Fascinatingly enough the tribe of Naftali, where I live in the Upper Galile and around the Kinneret, left the majority of the area in the hands of the natives. I say that is fascinating, because that remains true today where 80% of the Galile is in Arab hands. Finally as we will discuss later the portion of Dan to a large degree was almost always in strife with the Philistines and other nations that they repeatedly battled.

Can you imagine what it would have been like if we had done what Hashem told us to do back then and rid the country of our enemies. How many lives would have been saved? How many wars would not have to be fought? How much less assimilation there would be and how much holier of a country we could have established? Can you imagine if we did that today?

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH FOOD JOKES OF THE WEEK

Young Moishe asked his father, "Totty, was Adam Jewish?"  
His father, an expert at Talmudic reasoning, put down his sefer and thought for a moment.  
He replied, "If we can determine that Chava was Jewish, my son, we would at once see that Adam was Jewish".  Therefore, we should instead ask ourselves, "Was Chava Jewish?"  
"To answer that, we have only to ask the question, "Would anyone but a Yiddeshe Momma say, 'Here, have a piece of fruit'?"  

A very distinguished orthodox rabbi dies and goes to heaven. When he arrives, he’s greeted by an angel.
The angel says, “You’ll be pleased to hear that in honour of your arrival, a special banquet has been prepared. You will be served only the finest meats, fish and pastries.”
“Who prepared the banquet?” the rabbi asks.
“Why, none other than Moshe Rabeinu,” answers the angel.
”And who is the mashgiach?” the rabbi asks.
“Why God himself,” replies the angel.
“Thank you very much,” says the Rabbi, “but I’ll just have the fruit plate, if you don’t mind.”
Little Yossi and his family were having dinner at his bubbe's house.  
When everyone was seated, the food was served. As soon as little Yossi got his plate, he started eating from it right away.
"Yossi, please wait until we say our prayer," said his father.
"I don't have to," Yossi replied.
"Of course you have to," said his mother. "Don't we always say a prayer before eating at our house?" 
"Yes, but that's our house," Yossi explained. "This is bubbe's house and she knows how to cook." 

A Doctor was addressing a large audience in Miami. "The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is awful. Soft drinks corrode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. High fat diets can be disastrous, and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water.
"But there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all, and we all have, or will, eat it. Would anyone care to guess what food causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?"
After several seconds of quiet, a small 75-year-old Jewish man in the front row, raised his hand and said, "Vedding Cake?

An Italian, a Frenchman and a Jew arrive in Heaven and each is judged. The angel escorts the Frenchman to his heavenly reward. They enter a beautifully arranged banquetting hall with all the foods that a French connoiseur could dream of. All the delicacies of a lifetime.
The Frenchman turns to the angel and says "this can't be mine. I was immoral most of my life and was hardly G‑d fearing."
The angel replies "There is a hitch. Everyday at 5:00pm they will bring in a large pot of soup boiling hot. You will be immersed in it. If you can take the pain you can partake of the banquet."
"Sorry" said the Frenchman "I just could not tolerate the pain."
The Italian too is taken to his reward a similar banquet with pasta ohn a shiur, and all the best Italian foods. Again a similar dialogue takes place, the Italian admitting to a life of financial fraud and debauchery. He too is advised that at 5:00pm each day he will be immersed in a boiling hot pot of minestrone and again states that the pain would be too much to bear. 

Finally, the Jew gets taken to his eternal rewards. A Reich special with all the galeretta, chopped liver etc imaginable. He too cannot believe his luck.
"I never went to Shul, hardly kept shabboss and Kashrus was honored in the breach. How can this be mine?"
Again the same response; "5:00pm each day, boiling hot chicken soup. If you can take the pain the banquet is yours."
"Fine said the Yidel, I'll take it". "Excuse me" says the angel but the Frenchman and Italian both declined, what makes you different?"
"I know Jewish functions" he replies "5:00pm is not 5:00pm and the soup is never that hot."

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Answer is C–  It’s Alexander, people. I really didn’t expect any of you to get this one right besides lucky guessing. Although fascinatingly enough as I looked online it seems that these huge turtles that are in Nachal Alexander, north of Netanya, and were pretty much the only natural place to see them have actually started migrating to Nachal Kishon- not Dishon as they tried to trick you above. That’s where they originally were before it got so polluted. But since having made a huge cleanup effort the Turtles are back! Mazel Tov! Well I got that one right to and so the score is Schwartz 34 and 6 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.