Who Are You? - Parshat Vayishach 2019 / 5780

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

December 13^th  2019 -Volume 10 Issue 8 15^th Kislev 5780

Parshat Vayishlach

Who Are You?

They like to fit people into boxes in this country. Unlike America where you are either a Democrat or a Republican, a conservative or liberal or like everyone wants to be called a moderate, in Israel we can't really define ourselves by our political parties or views. This is because every election there are new groups and new coalitions. Yesterday's religious friendly Putin-like right-winger has become a liberal, left wing, anti-religious, pacifist who still can't seem to accomplish anything more than bringing us to elections for the third time this year. The Chariedi parties are sometimes supporters of the left wing governments sometimes right. Sometimes they're fine with Army service, sometimes they protest. The religious Zionists sometimes will stand up for Torah values and its place in the State and sometimes it's not worth giving up power to stand up for Shabbos or the honor of tradition in conversion or the sanctity of the Kotel. Generals who were aggressive against Arabs become the ones that want to give up Land and return to pre-67 borders. And then you have former journalists that never really served in the army (unless you count Lapid's stint as an army reporter as service) becoming the one who is screaming about the people avoiding army service. Is it any wonder why we can't elect anyone to be our Prime Minister?

How can we be expected to vote for anyone who we know will change their views at the first change in polls, popularity, political convenience or to stay out of jail. They switch moods and personalities more times than a pregnant woman who can be laughing, crying, emotional, happy, very angry, desperately craving, nauseous, constipated and diarrhetic all at the same time. They told me that this was hormones. I wonder what hormones Israel's politicians are on. Fascinatingly enough it seems that the women candidates are the only ones that are consistent. But I digress… as usualJ

Anyways here, we can't define ourselves by our politics. Religious observance level or ethnicity doesn't really work well either. I think most of this country might define themselves as religious in some way. Chariedim, Chasidim, Daati Leumi (Mizrachi as we used to call them growing up) and most Sefardic (or Mizrachi as they call them today…as I told you complicated…) are all believers in the Torah and Mitzvos and are all observant of most of the commandments; each one focusing on particular mitzvos that perhaps the find to be more pressing or important to each of them. They may be Torah study, prayer, yishuv Eretz Yisrael, or a fealty to tradition and customs and visiting a lot of graves of great rabbis. You have of course your crossovers. There's something called CHarDaL which is supposed to be Chariedi/Daati Leumi. It also means mustard by the way. I used to tell people I was ketchup. There's also something called ChaBaKuK, which I was told is an acronym for Chabad, Breslav, Carlebach, Kook. Oy…  We can't even define it by chulent eaters or not, as sefardic Jews eat something called Chamin which has chickpeas in it and any self-respecting chulent eater knows that's fake. Also Israelis in general have this obsession with cumin and zaatar and stick it in the chulent. My Hungarian and Polish ancestors are turning over in their grave over this travesty.

But as crazy as all of this is, they still try to box you into a label. What are you? Who are you? I generally respond that I am hungry. Perpetually so by the way, since this annual post holidays diet has begun. They usually don't find this to be a satisfactory response, but I've been here long enough to know that no answer really satisfies an Israeli. Even when you tell them that they are right, they will argue with you to prove that you are wrong about that as well. That just makes me hungrier. So I guess my answer is an honest one as well.

Now this week's Parsha really deals with the first person that the Torah goes at length to describe who struggles with his identity. None other than our forefather Yaakov… or Yisrael… Ummm.. . what's his name again? See where I'm going here. Yes, our ancestor upon being born was given this very strange name because he was holding on to the heel of his brother Esau. Now I'm not the expert on child friendly names, I have children who have names like Zelda, Elka and Hertzka, but heel just doesn't seem like a great name for a kid. It's not even his own heel he's named after, it's his brother Esau's.

But the truth is, fascinatingly enough, Yaakov's life until this point really becomes about grabbing onto that heel of Esau. Trying to become his big Bro', Esau, whose name incidentally means "made". Yaakov, the man grabbing on the heel, spends his life trying to become the brother that made it. He buys his birthright. He dresses up like Esau to get his blessings, and he even tells Yitzhak, their father. "I am Esau, your firstborn". Yitzchak even tells Yaakov that despite the fact that his voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hand of Esau. Yaakov even got Esau hands. He marries Leah who is meant to be Esau's wife and truth is that he then fathers 6 children that would have technically been Esau's kids had he married Leah. So who is Yaakov?

That question is the one that is posed to him in this week's Parsha the night before he meets his brother after a good few decades of separation. He leaves his family and then he heads across the river where the Torah tells us he is all alone. Or is he not all alone? The verse tells us that there was a man that wrestled with him there all night. But if there is a man there, then he's not really alone, is he? The story gets stranger as we find that when morning comes the man is revealed to be "the angel of Esau" and after hitting Yaakov in his leg demands to be set free. Yaakov asks him for a blessing and the angel/man asks him his name. Huh? When he tells him it's Yaakov, the angel renames him Yisrael, for he has fought with Elokim and men and prevailed.  Even stranger yet, the story concludes with Yaakov asking the angel his name, and he responds as most Israelis or New Yorkers would…"Why do you want to know my name?" and he blesses him.

What is this battle? Why is everyone so busy trying to figure out names? And what is this eternal mitzva that we have to remember this battle by not eating the Gid Ha'nesheh or sciatic leg nerve of an animal? And why is it given over here in the book of Bereishis way before we received this mitzva at Sinai?

Interestingly enough this Mitzva incidentally (or not) is the first time we are called Bnai Yisrael in the Torah. Perhaps it would seem that the essence of us being called Bnai Yisrael is connected to this mitzva. Perhaps it tells us to remember who and why we really are.

The Rambam in his famous discourse understands that this battle was not a physical one. Many of the other commentaries disagree and point to Yaakov's physical injury as a result. One thing is certain though, is that this battle has many deep levels to its understanding. One of the simplest and at the same time most profound explanations is that the battle that Yaakov had was in fact when he was alone. If he met a man/angel when he was alone, it means that it was an internal spiritual battle. He was struggling with who he really was. Was he Yaakov or Esau? Was the young yeshiva student that studied in his tents of his youth. Or was he the man who just finished 20 years of shepherding in the fields outwitting his crooked father-in-law. Is he the one who bought his brothers birthright, the one that dressed up and fooled his own father? Was he the heel always trying to overtake Esau or was he Yisrael, the one that dreams of ladders to the heavens. What box did he fit into?

Our sages shed some light on that struggle when they describe the appearance of the angel / man he was battling. The Talmud (Chulin 91) tells us two opinions of what this man looked like. One opinion was that he looked like a Torah Sage and the other opinion is that he looked like an idolater. Fascinating! Who was Esau? Who is Yaakov? A scholar or an idolator impersonator?

Those questions hit him in the leg. The leg is the thing that stands me up. It's what gives me "standing". What is holding me up? What makes me? Can I only stand if I am constantly trying to become Esau, or can I stand alone? When I'm not identified by my parents, my wife, my kids, my sheep and goats or even my Torah and tents or yeshivas I studied in. Can I find those pachim ketanim, those small little vessels and parts of me that are just me? Can I just stand on the other side of the river at sunset and just look at Hashem's world and admire it and have it touch my soul without having to take a selfie and post it on facebook, Instagram and my 100 whatsapp groups to make it real. To make me feel real. Do I have a name and identity that is not dependent on anything or anyone else? This is the struggle Yaakov has all night. It is the struggle of 2000 years of nights of our exile for not only our Jewish identity but for each of our own personal spiritual identity.

The morning comes though. Yaakov says berachtani- bless me. Let me have my own blessing. Not Esau's, not Yitzchak's, not the blessings of Lavan…me…The malach asks Yaakov what  his name is. Yaakov responds that he still feels he is Yaakov. He is approaching his brother once again for the last time before Mashiach comes. And he still feels like the heel of Esau. He is still sending him presents, he is still beseeching him, he is still trying to win him. The angel tells him that the blessing of Yaakov is that he will have his true identity revealed to him. He is Yisrael.

The Sfas Emes tells us that Yisrael is made up of two words li rosh- a head for me. The heel Yaakov becomes the head, the face, the eyes, the ears, the brains, the mouth, the personality of himself. The image of Hashem; the image in fact that our sages tell us that is emblazoned on the throne of Hashem. Yaakov has become like Adam HaRishon. He has found himself and he is the secret of Creations fulfillment. The Torah begins with the word Bereishis- in the beginning. Rashi tells us b'shvil Yisrael hanikra reishis- it's for Yisrael who are called the first. In this world in exile we may seem like Yaakov. We may seem like the heel who's only identity is in connection to Esau. But ultimately, when the morning comes we are the reishis. Yaakov is Yisrael.

Being first in the garden of Eden, Adam's first job was to give names. To fit everything into the divine box prepared for it. Yisrael/Yaakov's as well first response is to ask the angel his name. The malach tells him that his name- the angel of Esau is no longer important. Yaakov in the morning will not need to identify with Esau's demons. He is Yisrael. The first mitzva recorded in the Torah for Bnai Yisrael is to remember this battle. To remember who we are. To perhaps one day go for a walk alone and ask ourselves if we can stand alone. If we can find our personal relationship with Hashem. Not the one of my parents, of my schools, of my society. But my head, my rosh. Can I find the Yisrael inside of me?  My little vessels.

 Chanuka is approaching. It's the holiday when we are each meant to light those little sparks. When we can vanquish the darkness of the night with those little lights. That darkness comes sometimes from the brutal attacks of Esau on our innocent supermarket shoppers and the swastikas on our shuls. Other times it comes from our internal struggles in being alone with ourselves. Finding Hashem within me while the only thing that I feel that stands me up is the world and gifts of Esau; my job, my colleagues, my friends, my neighborhood and my culture. It is our eternal struggle that began that night so long ago. May we finally merit the morning and the blessing that we know will follow.

Have yourself a truly personal Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Der Aibishter naahrt mir nisht up, the velt naart mir nisht up, mir naart nisht mehr vi zich aleyn, und vus is de kuntz az a nahr naahrt a naar – You can't fool God, you can't fool the world, the only one you can fool is yourself, and what's the big deal about fooling a fool.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/cTeUhzLr900 - Chanukah is coming and the traditional Chanuka video season begins Ari Goldwag leads the pack his latest For the Light!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1kIQe0_QcE     – Nissim Black's latest Eight Flames

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_2cpdPT8U- 613 AKA Pella Star Wars Chanuka? Ummmm… OK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbD0dDgFYkg- Adi Ran and Mordechai Rot Close your eyes stumbled onto this and kind of like it…

https://youtu.be/cA2r4dBBAXw     - Shulem Lemmer Face the Unknown

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

4) A natural resource found in large quantities in Israel:

A)    Oil

B)    Gas

C)    Diamond

D)    Iron

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Timna Haysa Pilegesh L'Elifaz– Accepting Converts- At the end of the parsha the Torah tells us about the concubine of Elifaz, Timna. Seemingly this would be a t first glance an irrelevant piece of trivia. Yet Chazal derive from this statement one of the most important factors in our religion. The midrash tells us that Timan was a princess who wished to convert and she was denied by all of our patriarchs to join our people. So instead she went and became a concubine to Eisav's son, stating "it's better to be a maid to this family then a princess of a nation." However as a result of that union Amalek was born who became and remains Israel's arch-enemy. This was a punishment for not having accepted her as a convert.

The Sma"G notes that there is a positive commandment to accept converts and it is part of the mitzva of loving geirim (converts). Other commentaries suggest that it falls under the mitzva of loving Hashem. For if one loves Hashem then they would feel motivated to bring converts under the wings of His faith. At the same time there is no mitzva for a gentile to convert. In fact Judaism is the only one of the major world religions that believe that one doesn't have to be Jewish to earn a portion in the world to come, and that there are plenty of Gentiles up there and plenty of Jews down there. In fact when one comes to convert the court is meant to try to dissuade the potential convert. We tell them how rough it is to be Jewish, how we are persecuted and the severity of which becoming Jewish can mean for him. Shabbos, Kosher and all the intricacies of his daily life will have severe eternal ramifications in his observances. If after hearing all of this he still feels that it is something that would be a privilege to become part of our nation. He or she is then accepted.

 In ancient times it does not seem that this was a particularly long process.  Certainly not the two year process that generally accompanies conversions today. Perhaps one of the reasons is because one of the laws is that the conversion has to be sincere. It can't be for ulterior motives. Not for marriage, wealth, prestige or position. In the times of Dovid and Shlomo when Jews were viewed as royalty or perhaps out of awe of the Jewish people converts were not accepted by the royal courts although, other smaller courts did convert. Perhaps as well today the courts when Jews and are religion is generally treated and looked upon as being respected and successful the courts want to be sure of the sincerity.

Now the general halachic process of conversion is very simple. It is the same way that the original Jewish people became a nation. The men circumcised, we all went to the Mikva and then we accepted all of the mitzvos. If someone says that want to accept all the commandments besides one. It doesn't work. Just like it would not have worked for all of us. We said naaseh v'nishma- we accepted it all. This simple idea is why many of the conversions today are not accepted or legitimate. Becoming Jewish is not just joining a club it is becoming part of the nation that accepted Shabbat and holidays, kosher, the marital laws and all the details both Rabbinic and biblical. If the converting Rabbi or court do not observe the Torah and all of its commandments, then there is no reason to assume that the potential convert would have accepted those mitzvos either.

It's not to say that they are bad people or insincere about wanting to become Jewish. They may in fact even be more "observant" than many Jews that don't keep anything. But unfortunately observance alone doesn't make one Jewish if they are not born Jewish. They need to have undergone a proper conversion that entailed an acceptance of all of the mitzvos. Just like one can't become a citizen unless they agree to uphold all the laws of the country they are seeking to be part of. They may agree to be more observant than lots of already citizens, but it won't work until they agree to keep it all.

Now if someone does undergo a proper conversion, the game is over. They are Jewish. Even if they later renounce it, it doesn't help. They and their children are just as Jewish as Moshe Rabbeinu. And there is an added mitzva repeatedly mentioned in the Torah to love the convert and treat them with special sensitivity. This is so essential and is in fact the key to our redemption. See, Dovid Ha'melech was descended from Ruth a Moabite convert. That is line of Mashiach. In fact most of our greatest Rabbis came from converts. Rabbi Akiva, Rebbi Meir and even the teachers of Hillel and Shammai, Shmaya V'Avtalyon. The gaon of Vilna tells us that when Hashem offered the Torah to all the nations and they turned down the deal, there were individuals from each nation that wanted to join, and those are the souls of all of the converts that join us. Mashiach will come when all of those sparks from the nations rejoin our people. Hopefully we are almost there.

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

Yiftach's Daughter 982 BC –Perhaps one of the strangest stories in Tanach is the story of the daughter of Yiftach. Before going to battle Yiftach made a vow that the first thing he sees when he will come home he will offer for a sacrifice. Our sages tell us this was not a good thing. We shouldn't make vows and certainly ones that we don't know the outcome. Sure enough the first thing to walk through his door was his daughter. Uh Oh…

Yiftach, as we mentioned was an unlearned simple man. He therefore felt that he had to fulfill his vow and bring her as a sacrifice. Hashem kept his side of the bargain and gave him victory against his enemies, he had to do his part. His daughter pleads with him to ask for a annulment of his vow. To go to the Court, which was led by Pinchas the Kohen Gadol. And here's where you have the original Israeli stalemate. Yiftach refused to go to Pinchas and Pinchas refused to go to Yiftach. Just like the Israeli election, no compromises, everyone was out for their own honor, although they each couched it as what's good for the country. Yiftach claimed that going would threaten his leadership, and Pinchas felt that it was detract from the honor of Torah. Having no out the daughter of Yiftach requests dome time to mourn with her friends over her impending death and of course that she would never get married. After two months she returns and the Torah tells us that Yiftach carried out his vow. Oy.

Now there are sages like the RaDa"K and RaLBag that suggest that she wasn't in fact killed rather she was sent to a monastery like convent. They explain with that why she was mourning the fact that she wasn't going to get married. This is of course over 1000 years before Christianity came up with the concept of nuns and monks, but it perhaps was used a text to justify this bizarre aberration of Hashem's will. Yet this is certainly a story I like to point out when we pass by monasteries in Israel of which by the way there are close to 100. 70 of them for nuns and 30 for monks. There are quite a few old ones in Midbar Yehuda. As well as by Beit Shemesh there is Beit J'imal for nuns and Latrun besides of course the ones in Jerusalem, Haifa and even Mt. Carmel.

Most of the commentaries though understand the story that he actually killed his daughter. This was common pagan practice back then and I share that part of the story when we go to Gei Ben hinnom and speak about the Molech sacrifice that took place there right near Mt. of Olives by the Tayelet. Regardless of the real story… It is a tragedy that ultimate both Pinchas and Yiftach were charged with the blame and both suffered punishments as a result. Yiftach became a leper and his body parts fell off all over and Pinchas lost his power of prophecy and the chain of the High Priesthood that came from his descendants was stopped for 42 years. Ego should never have a place in Jewish leadership… when it does not only do our children die but we suffer as well…

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S IDENTITY JOKES  OF THE WEEK

What do you call a baker who has no identity? John Dough

Growing up I was told I can be anyone I want to be -I've just been charged with identity theft.

Somebody stole my identity....... it's fine though. They took one look and gave it right back. :(

I have the only identity where if it was stolen...The person who brought it would ask for a refund

My wife appears to have had her identity stolen. Some woman at the mall just parked really badly and had a go at me like it was my fault.

What did the woman with dissociative identity disorder tell her psychologist? "Let me be Frank with you."

A Japanese man in a monastery atop a sacred mountain asks the wise man: - "Master Ayumu, why do all Westerners think that Japanese people look alike?" - "I am not Master Ayumu."

A drunk guy is walking down the street. He sees this nun, runs up and knocks her over.

He says, “You don’t feel so tough now, do you, Batman!?”

Izzy rings the bell of a very wealthy person's house in New York and when the owner comes to the door, Izzy greets him.

"Sholom Aleichem, Mr. Goldstein,” says Izzy. “I'm collecting for the local Jewish school, and I'm wondering if a nice wealthy Jewish person like yourself wouldn't want to make a little contribution."

"The name is Gold, not Goldstein,” says the man, “And I am not Jewish."

"Are you sure?" asks Izzy.

"I'm positive".

"But it says here that you're Jewish and my records are never wrong."

"I can assure you that I am certainly not Jewish", replies Mr. Gold impatiently.

"Look sir, you wouldn’t be lying to me would you? My records are never wrong – you must be Jewish!" demands Izzy.

"For the last time, I am not Jewish, my father is not Jewish, and my grandfather, alav hashalom, wasn't Jewish either!"

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, purportedly told of a time when he climbed into a taxi cab in Paris..Before he could utter a word, the driver turned to him and asked,.
"Where can I take you, Mr. Doyle?"
Doyle was flabbergasted..He asked the driver if he had ever seen him before..
"No, sir," the driver responded, "I have never seen you before."

"Then how did you know who I was?" asked Doyle.
The driver explained, "This morning's paper had a story about you being on vacation in Marseilles This is the taxi stand where people who return from Marseilles always come to..
.Your skin color tells me you have been on vacation..The ink-spot on your right index finger suggests to me that you are a writer..Your clothing is very English, and not French.
.Adding up all those pieces of information, I deduced that you are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle..!
"This is truly amazing!" the writer exclaimed."You are a real-life counter-part to my fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes!".

"There is one other thing," the driver said..
"What is that?"
"Your Name is on the front of your Suitcase..!!

Yankel was sitting with his gentile neighbor Bob by the port watching the ship getting ready to castoff. All of sudden they see a man riding a bike at top speed trying to make the boat before it left the harbor. Bob turned to Yankel and said there's no way that man is going to make the boat.. Yankel responded of course he will.

Bob seeing an easy mark here asked Yankel if he cared to wager $100 that the man on the bike would never make the boat. Yankel whipped out a $200 and assured him that not only was he sure that he would make it but he would up his bet to $200.

Bob and Yankel shook on it. And lo and behold the bicyclist rode his bike onto the boat and then yelled "Castoff"!

In shock Bob asked Yankel how could he possibly know that? He waved toward the boat at his friend Captain Berel and wished him a safe journey…

A wild-eyed man, dressed in a Napoleonic costume and hiding his right hand inside his coat, entered the psychiatrist's office and nervously exclaimed, "Doctor, I need your help right away."

"I can see that," retorted the doctor. "Lie down on that couch, and tell me your problem."

"I don't have any problem," the man snapped. "In fact, as Emperor of France, I have everything I could possibly want: money, women, power--everything! But I'm afraid my wife, Josephine, is in deep mental trouble."

"I see," said the psychiatrist, humoring his distraught patient. "And what seems to be her main problem?"

"For some strange reason," answered the unhappy man, "she thinks she's Mrs. Schwartz."

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Answer is B–  This one was a bit tricky. I mean everyone knows that there are no diamonds here except in the diamond district. As well Iron not really found here as well, although in Timna by Eilat there were copper mines. The question was oil or Gas. I think a lot of people ask me if they discovered or mine oil out of the Mediterranean. Perhaps they are fooled by the refineries by Chaifa. But the truth is there is no oil, rather it is natural gas, which is cleaner and cheaper than oil and much more efficient. So the correct answer is gas, of course.  So we continue with the score being Schwartz 2 and 2 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.