Comparative Judaism- Parshat Shoftim 2019 /5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

September 6^th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 48 6^th of Elul 5779

Parshat Shoftim

Comparitive Judaism

So, after “Where are going next?”, “How much longer till we get there?” and “Are we there yet?”, my next worst-question-that-tourists ask is “So what was your favorite part of the day?”. Now whereas the first few questions I just mentioned are usually asked by the kids on the trip, the latter is usually asked by one of the parents. I can handle kids questions. I tel them they will know when we get “there” and not a moment before. Sometimes I’ll tell them we just got “there”. And now we are going “there” …and then “there”… Eventually they give up, and bless Hashem that their parents do not take parenting classes from Rabbi Schwartz. But when parents ask really dumb questions like the above mentioned “favorite-part-of-the-day” one, I am put into a quandary. Do I blast the parents in front of the children? Do I let the question get answered? Do I suffer in silence…? What is a Rabbi/ Tour Guide to do?

Suffering in silence, has really never been my thing, despite my mother’s best efforts of reciting the great adage of our sages that “siyag l’chochma shtika- or silence is a sign of wisdom”  to me each night after she would say the shema with me and kiss me to sleep, or when she would bless me on my Friday night or really anytime I called from yeshiva, or at the end of any letter she wrote to me… Yeah… it didn’t really help despite her truly heroic efforts. I wasn’t going to let this truly offensive question stand. That wasn’t an option. At the same time I couldn’t really blast the parents. So what I do instead is usually just interrupt the well-meaning parent, who asked this question trying to engage in some meaningful conversation with their child and have them appreciate their “best” part of the day, without any idea what a bad idea this is. So I interrupt them and tell them that before we answer that question let’s first talk about which one of your children are your “favorite” child of the day. And kids, why don’t you guys answer which one of your parents is your “favorite” parent-of-the-day and which of your siblings is your “favorite” sibling- of- the day. I find that to usually be an effective method of shutting down the conversation pretty quick. They smile. They get it. Or they just never hire me again. But either way I don’t have to suffer through what I feel is one of the more painful discussions that I have to sit through…

By now you can tell it’s been a loooong summer that has ended… Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I love my parnasah. And I love my tourists. All of them. But tourists are like your kids some times. You can love them till the end of the world, but they got on your nerves every so often. In the beginning you don’t mind so much. You’re too excited that you have the kid. But by the third or fourth kid already… That’s kind of how I feel by the end of a fantastically packed summer.

But what bothers me so much about this question? Why does it grate on my nerves? The answer is because it forces the child to think back on what was until that question was asked, a pretty amazing day! And then start to measure and find flaws in why one part of the day wasn’t so perfect. So it can’t really be the best part of the day. We had to wait in line too long to get on the rafting… The Tanach site was really great but it was sooo hot… the bathrooms at that fantastic nature trail weren’t really that clean…. The water was too cold… The drive was soooo long… Who needs this? We all had an amazing day today. Why must we weigh which is better and which is worse? Are these Israeli elections that we need to find the least bad candidate to not be our prime minister?

As like most Rabbi Schwartz lessons, there will be a parsha connection. Being that it is Elul and these are the parshiyot that we read as get ready for the High Holidays, the lesson is one that will give us food for thought as we approach these days of awe. In this weeks portion we read about the laws of the judges and the hierarchy of the Jewish governmental system. It’s also a good thing to read as we approach the 2^nd and hopefully final elections for this year in Israel if not for ever. It’s certainly something that I won’t miss when Mashiach comes. The torah tells us

Devarim (16:8) If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall rise and go up to the place the Hashem, your God, chooses.

Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap in his classic work Mei Marom (that I recently got, and am truly enjoying) notes, there are two reasons why someone can love something or choose something. One is because it is inherently desirable to him. He likes it. It tastes good, looks nice, it’s perfect and amazing. The other reason is because as compared to all the other options this seems to be the one that stands out and is the most desirable, or as in Israeli elections go- and perhaps even American elections as well for that matter go- the least undesirable. The same he suggests is in regards to our mitzvos, our faith, our religion.

 Are we Jewish, do we follow the Torah, do we believe in what we believe in and behave the way that we do, because it’s the best option out there? Because it’s the only thing that really makes sense. Because we’re smart enough not to believe Hashem had a son who He hung up on a cross and tortured to death and all sins are atoned for as a result of that. Or that he had a prophet named Muhammed who pretty much killed anyone he didn’t like or didn’t agree with him. Or that it’s pretty stupid to believe that the world was created by accident in some random explosion and there really is no meaning to our existence. Or even that the Torah and it’s commandments that for 2 millennia have been passed down from father to son and carefully transmitted, who’s prophecies have pretty much have all been fulfilled for better and for worse, whose predictions about our existence have all come to fulfillment, is a bubbeh meiseh made up by some nomads in the desert-as many “denominations” of Judaism that were made up the last century or two suggest. Are those the reasons we follow our faith and practice our yiddishkeit?

Or is it because we appreciate how incredible it is to be a yid. How awesome Shabbos is, how perfect a Torah lifestyle that guides every aspect of our life is. How there is nothing more geshmak than working on a piece of Talmud and revealing its incredible insights. How powerful, how comforting, how inspiring it is to know that we are the chosen nation of Hashem, His precious ben yachid, His beloved, that He watches over and treasures more than anything else in the world.

The Torah tells us if the matter eludes us in our judgement. We’re not sure if our yiddishkeit is only because our judgement is compared to other judgments, or our laws are better than their laws, or our blood is holier and better than their blood, or our purity s better than their impure ways. If we reach a point where our religion and our faith is only “comparative” Judaism. It’s just better than anyone else. Then we should go up to the Kohen, to the Judge, to the place that Hashem has chosen. There, in Yerushalayim, in our Temple, we will have clarity. Hashem didn’t choose Yerushalayim because frankly Washington DC, Moscow and London are pretty ugly and impure cities that reek of corruption and sin. He didn’t even choose Yerushalayim because Lakewood, Boro Park, Monsey, Los Angeles or Montreal (that’s for you Sruli) are miserable highly priced, overcrowded cities in tamey countries that just have goyim that want to throw us out and will beat us up, slit our tires and pass decrees against our children’s education, and our rent control.  Despite how many Kosher Pizza shops, Batey Medrash, yeshivas and synagogues we build there. Despite the bigger and bigger houses and neighborhoods and city councils we have and despite how many yiddelach sit in the White House and have the ear of Achashveirosh I mean the president. Hashem chose Yerushalayim long before any of that. Hashem chose Yerushalayim because it is the perfect place. Because he loves Eretz Yisrael. It is the “place that He chose” the city that He loves. Go there with your doubts and you will understand what it means to choose something because of the inherent love for that place.

There you will understand Hashem’s deep love for us. He didn’t choose as His nation because the other ones frankly all stunk. He chose us because he loves us. He loved our forefathers. They loved Him. He loved our nation when he took us out of Egypt despite the fact that we had fallen so low and were so unrecognizable from the great ancestors that we came from. He chose us because ahavas olam ahavta osanu- because all of the love of eternity He has for us. One of my Rebbeim once taught me that if we took all of the love that every father has for his child, and every love that every mother has for her child, and every love that every husband has for his wife and you took all that love from everyone in the world. And then you took all of that love from the beginning of time until today. That is ahavas olam—that is the eternal love that Hashem has for us.

If we feel and appreciate that love than we can be

Devarim (16:20)  tzedek tzedek tirdof- justice justice you shall pursue,

Run after justice and the Torah way, not because everything else is bad. But pursue it because it is good.

 l’maan tichiyeh-In order that you shall live

Life isn’t living if your doing it just because nothing else makes sense or because it’s the best of all options. Rather life is when you feel every day that you are living the greatest blessing possible.

 v’yarashta es ha’aretz asher Hashem elokech nosein lach-Then you will inherit the land that Hashem gives to you.

Eretz Yisrael is a gift. It is a constant gift of the most amazing place on the planet and the only place where we could truly come close to Hashem, to our Father to experience the love that He has for us and to fulfill His mitzvos as we are supposed to.

The parsha continues that the danger of living comparative Judaism can even happen in Eretz Yisrael.

Devarim(17:14) When you come to the land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you possess it and live there and you say, "I will set a king over myself, like all the nations around me,"

We come to Israel and we have our country. We have our land. We have returned, but we just don’t get it. We still are looking at the nations and say we want a King just like them. We’ve missed the point. Don’t worry Hashem tells us. I still love you. I will still show you the way back to Me.

(Ibid) You shall set a king over you, one whom the Lord, your God, chooses; from among your brothers,… And it will be, when he sits upon his royal throne, that he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah… And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, to keep all the words of this Torah and these statutes, to perform them.

The King will be one whom Hashem chooses. He will be one of us. He will learn Torah and always have it with him so that he can serve as an inspiration for the nation what he is here to serve. He will teach us that there really is only one King that we need. That we want. That loves us. Avinu Malkeinu- Our Father, our King. He will prepare us for Elul. He will prepare us for Rosh Hashana when we will anoint the Master of the world upon the entire nation and His Creation. We have entered the month of Elul, Summer vacation and all our fun and favorite trips are done. But there is one more trip that is left. It is the trip to the holy place. Hashem’s favorite place. To Yerushalayim, with His favorite nation. There we will proclaim Him to the entire world. We will choose Him out of love for Him. As He has chosen us.

Anu Amecha V’Ata Elokeinu- We are Your nation and You are our God

Anu Banecha V’Ata Avinu- We are Your children and You are our Father

Anu Kihalecha V’Ata Chelkeinu-We are Your congregation and You are our portion

Anu Tzonecha V’Ata Ro’einu - We are Your sheep and You are our shepherd

Anu Ra’ayescha V’Ata Dodeinu- We are Your friend and You are our beloved

Have an awesome Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Besser gut un a bissel aider shlechts un a fuleh shissel.” Better good and a little rather than bad and a full bowl of it.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/jCwT7a5bXD0 – Anu Amecha beautiful traditional rendition Erez Lev Ari

https://youtu.be/OzOjc7jounI – Anu Amecha cool bagpipe version check it out!

https://youtu.be/SW_hAe95Aa4    -Sruli Willigers Anu Amecha nice video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXJrKbm5eTI– Belz Version Anu Amecha…

https://youtu.be/K05npNxa8lg - Don’t know why it took me so long to find this version from my childhood… Anu Amecha…

There’s still one more version I can find… can you send it to me…?

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q   Samson’s stories are found in the book of:
A) Joshua
B) Judges
C) Samuel 1
D) Samuel 2

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Shoftim– There’s nothing like a good comparison between two seemingly disconnected ideas that can get a Lamdan’s juices flowing. Our sages use the parable or the comparison tool many times to convey and idea or the gravity of something. Most people will just read it and move on. But not the lamdan. If our Rabbis are telling us that one thing is like another there must be something deeper they are trying to teach us. What is that idea, what is its lesson? That’s where the lamdan steps in. That’s where he lets himself shine.

This week we read the portion of Shoftim. Our sages teach us an interesting lesson. The Talmud in Sanhedrin teaches us

Sanhedrin (7.) Reish Lakish says anyone who appoints a judge who isn’t proper it is as if he planted an asheira tree (a tree that was worshiped as idolatry) in Israel.

So the non-lamdan learns this Talmud and says to himself, OK, so appointing a bad judge is like idolatry, which is also a bad thing. Let’s move on to next piece of Talmud. But not the lamdan. He understands that we knew before we opened up the Talmud that appointing a bad judge is not a good thing. We didn’t need the comparison to teach me that. If the Rabbis went out of their way to compare it to an Asheira planting there must be something deeper they are trying to convey. Hmmm… what could that be?

So Reb Chaim Solovietchik explains, that most idolatry it’s pretty obvious that it’s a bad thing. It’s a statue or an idol that people are bowing down to. But an asheira is different. It’s just a really nice beautiful tree. What could be wrong with planting it? The answer is that it only looks nice and proper on the outside. But bottom line it’s a fake. It’s idolatry. A tree is meant to reveal the grandeur of Hashem in Creation and this tree is there to get people to stray and worship the asheira. Similarly, the bad judge, notes Reb Chaim. He’s got the robes. He looks like a scholar. He’s charged with revealing the light of Hashem’s Torah to this world. If he’s not a proper candidate, then he’s just like an asheira. He’s a big beautiful tree that will turn people away from Hashem.

Amazing isn’t it! The beauty and depth one can uncover from just a moment’s pause and letting those lomdisheh juices flow.

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

Devora & Barak 1124 BC – Yup, a woman judge. Certainly pretty revolutionary for the ancient world and certainly it’s not something one would expect from what some wrongfully assume to be the male-centric perspective of Torah Judaism. But here we have the Prophetess and Judge Devora as the fourth major Judge in the book of Judges. It’s interesting to note that the commentaries take different approaches to what seems to be this anomaly, particularly since according to Torah Law a woman is not valid as Judge, as she cannot give testimony either. Many of the commentaries note that it is for that reason the Book of judges goes out of its way to tell us that she was the “Judge at that time”. It was particular to those times when there were perhaps no men that were as righteous as her to do the job that she was appointed the Judge. Others suggest that even then she didn’t rule law rather she arbitrated and gave spiritual guidance as that was the primary role of the Judges.

Devora, we are told is the wife of Lapidot. Her husband as well it seems is somewhat of anomaly. There are those of our sages that suggest her husband was ignorant and she would send him with wicks she made to the Tabernacle, hoping it would have some influence upon him. Others suggest he was a great and righteous man who shone like a torch (the translation of the word Lapidot). There are even those that suggest that perhaps it was Barak, who she summoned to fight in the war against Sisera. Although that would seem to be challenging as Devora lived in the hills of Ephraim in the lower Galile, while Barak was up in Kadesh, in the portion of Naftali. In fact, when you travel through the lower Galile near Mt. Tabor, where the battle of Sisera took place. There is an arab village called Daburiya and there is a Jewish yishuv named Sdemot Devora for her, as that is the area where she lived. One can even stop off at the Man and his Jewels Museum there that was founded by Ora Tannenbaum who had a dream about the Prophetess Devorah coming to her.

In regards to Barak  though it gets a bit more complicated. For there are a few Kadesh’es. There is the Kadesh Naftali and Tel Kadish which is up in the Galile Panhandle or Etzba Hagalil near Tzomet Koach. There is even a site there that there is a tradition that Devora is buried there (although there are those that seem to think it is not a Jewish tradition). Certainly the Roman sarcophagus that are there are not from her era. More likely Barak’s home of Kadesh is near Poriah and by Yavn’e’el, where there are ruins of Hirbat El Kadish which seem to be from this period of time. There is even another Kadesh near Megiddo as well, but that’s certainly a different one as that is not in the portion of Naftali from where he was from. Finally, there is a little village north of my hometown called Lapidot. They took the name of Devorah’s husband for some reason for this Upper Galile village. Maybe they also felt like Barak- that bolt of lightning that would shine up the Galile.

Stay tuned next week for the story of their incredible fight against Sisera!

  

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S RABBI/PRIEST JOKES OF THE WEEK

There was a Rabbi who went to the Catholic Priest at the church and asked "How do you get the money to make your church so beautiful?". Father said "We hear confessions; observe while I demonstrate".

So the priest gets in the center compartment, the Rabbi on one side and in walks the first penitent. "It's been one week since my last confession and I have had impure thoughts and acted upon them three times".

 Father says "For your penance say a Hail Mary and put five dollars in the collection box and your sins will be forgiven".

The next penitent walks in and says "It's been one week since my last confession and had impure thoughts and acted upon them ". Father says "For your penance say a Hail Mary and put five dollars in the collection box and your sins will be forgiven".

The Rabbi says, "Ooh, can I try?" So the priest and the Rabbi switch booths. In walks the next penitent. "Can I help you" says the Rabbi.

 The penitent says "It's been one week since my last confession and I've had impure thoughts and acted upon them two times". The Rabbi says "Go out and do it a third time; we have a special - Three for five dollars!".

The priest was preparing a dying man for his voyage into the great beyond. Whispering firmly, the priest said, "Denounce the devil! Let him know how little you think of his evil!"

The dying man said nothing. The priest repeated his order. Still the dying man said nothing. The priest asked, "Why do you refuse to denounce the devil and his evil?"

The dying man said, "Until I know where I'm heading, I don't think I ought to aggravate anybody.

A rabbi and a priest get into a car accident and it's a bad one. Both cars are totally demolished, but amazingly, neither are hurt. They crawl out of their cars and the rabbi sees the priest's collar and says, "So you're a priest. I'm a rabbi. Just look at our cars. There's nothing left but we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God. God must have meant that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace the rest of our days.

" And the priest said, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God."
And the rabbi said, "and look at this. Here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of Mogen David wine didn't break, surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.”

 And so he handed the bottle to the priest. The priest said he agreed, took a few big swigs, and handed the bottle back to the rabbi. The rabbi took the bottle, didn't drink at all, put the cap on, and handed it back to the priest. The priest asked, "aren't you going to have any?"

And the rabbi replied, "No . . . I think I'll just wait for the police."

A Priest and a Rabbi were eating together when the priest started to tease the Rabbi.”Wow, this ham is really good” he said licking his lips.”I know it’s against your religion, but when are you going to break down and finally have some.”

After a moments thought the Rabbi responded with a smile “at your wedding!”

A barber is sitting in his shop when a priest enters. “Can I have a haircut?” the priest asks. “Of course,” says the barber.

The barber than gives the priest a haircut. When the barber has finished, the priest asks “How much do I owe you?”

 “Nothing,” replies the barber. “For you are a holy man.”

The priest leaves. The next morning, when the barber opens his shop, he finds a bag with one hundred gold coins in it. A short while later, an Imam enters the shop. “Can I have a haircut?” he asks. “Of course,” says the barber, who gives the Imam a haircut. When the barber has finished, the Imam asks “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing,” replies the barber. “For you are a holy man.” The Imam leaves. T

he next morning, when the barber opens his shop, he finds a bag with a hundred gold coins in it. A bit later, a rabbi walks in the door. “Can I have a haircut?” the rabbi asks. “Of course,” says the barber, who gives the rabbi a haircut. When the haircut is finished, the rabbi asks, “How much do I owe you?” “Nothing,” replies the barber, “for you are a holy man.”

The rabbi leaves. The next morning, when the barber opens his shop, he finds a hundred rabbis.

A Priest, A Rabbi, and a Imam are in a boat out in the middle of a lake. The Rabbi t says, “I’m thirst, I’m going to go get something to drink.” So he steps out of the boat, walks across the water to shore, grabs a soda, and walks back to the boat and climbs in. The Imam says, “I’m getting thirsty too.” And he hops out of the boat and walks across the water to shore, gets a soda and walks back to the boat. The Priest says, “My turn,” he gets out of the boat and sinks like a rock. The Rabbi turns to the Imam, “Think we should have told him where the rocks were?”

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Answer is B–  After two weeks of wrong answers it’s nice to get thrown in easy one. Well at least for me it’s an easy one as it should be for most Torah studied Jews. Shimshon is the Shofet with the most facetime in the book of Judges. But the truth is for those tour guides that are not yeshiva students or Tanach students this is probably a tough question. Thank God they didn’t ask what book of the New testament things are in… although they probably do. I wouldn’t have a clue. But if you got this one wrong people it’s time to crack out the Tanach and start learning it.. So the score is Schwartz 34 and 8 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.