Down Syndrome- Parshat Vaeira 2020 /5780

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

January 24^th 2020 -Volume 10 Issue 14 27^th Tevet 5780

Parshat Vaeira

Down Syndrome

I usually write happy E-mails. Inspiring ones. Most of the times, I even have funny ones. Sure we sneak in a dvar torah here once in a while when no one is looking. It kind of just sneaks up on you. Then you realize you are reading a Torah idea and you quickly have to leave the bathroom. But I'm not in the mood this week. Maybe it's the weather. Yeah I know rain is good. It's a blessing. We need it. Trust me nobody knows that better than your tour guide here who spends half his summer rafting down the Yarden and when there's no rain I have bruises for weeks. But when I daven for rain I add in one words. v'tein tal u'matar- and You should give dew and rain Ba'LAYLA- at NIGHT TIME! After my tour is over. When I'm back in my heated bedroom under my covers hearing those rains of blessing pound outside my window. Not when I'm touring. Not when I have a whole day of outdoor activities planned for a family and I want to show them and have them walk along our beautiful country. I miss the summer…

See but it's not only the weather. I just have been hearing too many bad/sad stories lately. Too many people having real tzoris… One person is having terrible marriage problems, another few people really really struggling to find a job, to provide for their families. People that wok hard and have done for years and boom now find themselves with nothing. There are singles- so many singles trying so hard to find their basherts, couples trying to have their first child and just suffering with false hopes crashed again and again. But perhaps the most traumatic are the 10's of families that I personally know who have children- teens that are just losing it. Drugs, alcohol, rehab, suicide… It's insane. It's overwhelming. It's painful. And it just seems to be getting worse and worse and worse.

 On one hand we are living in an unprecedented era of affluence, of education, of Torah and of relative comfort. Our schools, our yeshivas, our Batey Midrash are full of the sound of Torah. There are more sefarim and Jewish scholarly works being published than any other time. People have shiurim and learning sessions, online, on their commutes, on their phones while exercising for gosh sakes. And yet there is this pervading sense of emptiness that so many feel in their lives. That describe their existence as if they feel they are drowning.

As much as I harass my tourists about the rising anti-semitism in America and the rest of the world and how Israel is really the only safe country for them to come to, I, like they, don't really believe it is anything to get too nervous about. We're not really living in Nazi Germany or Pre-Holocaust Europe world anymore. I mean 47 countries and I don't even know how many heads of State, Kings Presidents and representatives just messed up my traffic this week in Jerusalem to show how determined they are to never again let Anti-semitism raise its nasty head in the world. As cynical as I like to be. It really does have meaning. No one is going to be rounding us up and putting us in camps anymore. Sure there will be isolated incidents and perhaps an even alarming upswing in them, but it ain't the Ghetto or the gulag. Those days are gone.

And yet and yet and yet… galus America is wreaking havoc on our holy nation in other ways. It has afforded a complacency with a "Jewish" "Torah" life that is disconnected to living in Eretz Yisrael. We live in the 21^st century Hi tech world where we are all connected to the internet and the 24 hour news cycle and it takes over our lives. It's the American way. As Jews we know that it is only Hashem and Torah and our spiritual goals that should be at the center of everything. And yet every few minutes we are getting updates, we are texting, we are googling. We are connecting to everything else in the world except our souls. This is even more pronounced in our youth that literally get pulled down into the deepest recesses and cesspools of the world with one click than another and then another and only today and not tomorrow and again and again and again. And it's not just youth. It's bad and it's sad and we're losing it. Yeah not in a happy mood.

And then I opened the Chumash this week and it struck me. It's Egypt all over again. But in fact it's quite the opposite. It is the incredible story of our redemption. This week we read about the beginning of our redemption and the process starts with what we are familiar as the ten plagues. They are a strange bunch of plagues. There are many deep ideas and thoughts behind what these plagues are really meant to represent and achieve. If you don't believe me you obviously have not been to enough Pesach Seders where everybody has five notebooks and three commentary Haggadas in their hands and they all want to share those ideas with you while you are looking at your clock, empty plate and even asking yourself would it really have been that bad if you took another potato in saltwater when you dipped Karpas to hold you off until Shulchan Orech which seems hours away.

One theme, though that is the most basic of most of these ideas is that the plagues are midda k'neged midda- a tit for a tat, quid pro quo, they got what they gave. Blood in the Nile is the rivers of blood they drowned our children in. The endless screeching of the frogs were the screams that they shouted at their Jewish slaves the boils were the scars on their back from the whips that they beat them with. You figure out the rest. The point though of these Makkos. Is that we went through the same thing. We were beaten, we were downtrodden. We were starving, we were drowning. It happened to us first. It's happening to us again.

Egypt is the mother of all Exiles. This longest and final of our exiles upon which we are coming up to the endgame, is when it all comes together. It's when it gets most intense. And those plagues are not only meant to be reminders of the retribuition our enemies received, they are of the challenges and suffering that our people have to undergo before that comes to. That suffering is called Choshech. Darkness. There is no light. We have gone deep down. As low as we can. Rock bottom. There are those that are drowning in places that they shouldn't be "surfing". In the Seas of information and technology. There are others who just feel like they are being attacked and jumped at from all sides. Those who the sand underneath their feet just crumbles into flesh eating beings. Those that the animals attack, those who's parnassa their "sheep" their "cattle" their "crops" are getting destroyed are disappearing from beneath their eyes. And finally there are those who just feel consumed by darkness, by gloom, by depression. And those that lose their children… They lose them to drugs, to disease, to heartbreak, to abuse they leave the paths of our ancestors. It is one makka after another. It's Mitzrayim. It's galus. It's a syndrome that keeps going down and down and down.

But do you know what those plagues are? They are redemption. The Ostorvitzer Rebbe tells us that galus is like a seed. They have to be buried deep deep down in the darkness, in the pit of the earth in order to grow and flourish. There is no sun there. There is no light. There is just rain that comes on dark cloudy days that burrows down from heaven through all of it all and makes it flourish. That raises it up. That brings out the flower. The beautiful flower with colorful petals whose fragrance is heavenly.

We read these parshas in this darkest time of the year and it gives us strength and hope. The essence of our faith is our remembrance of how we left Egypt. We're not slaves to anyone but Hashem. He controls and is on top of everything that happens to us. He was there planting us in Egypt and He is planting our redemption today. The miracles that took place when we left Egypt, our sages tell us, will pale in comparison to the geula that awaits us. Egypt our redemption certainly was one of a physical redemption. In the 21^st century, in 5780 from Creation, in our world today it is the emotional, spiritual redemption that is so much more needed. The miracles that we need are so much more complex. The hearts that need to be healed the lives that need to be saved, the tears that need to be dried. This week we bless the month of Shevat is the month where the trees begin to grow up from the depths of the earth. It has been a rainy year. The rains of redemption have burrowed deep. May we see the flourishing that we so desperately await.

Have a warm Shabbos and a fruitful Rosh Chodesh Shevat!,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Naronim on kropeveh vaksen on regen."– Fools and weeds grow without rain.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/y_ZJdcWAwHM    – Ari Goldwags latest Video and song Lamdeini

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-LSMt9XrJg   – Rabbi Dubin Makkos Song

The

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlN8APOicP4- The secret dead Sea Nachal in Hebrew but pretty cool!

https://youtu.be/0JKuWp2-oTo    - 8^th Day Rain!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

11)  The term ‘bad’ in ‘beit ha’bad’, an olive oil press facility, refers to:

A.     The crushing stone

2. The base stone
3. The weights
4. The wooden lever

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Zechirat Yetziat Mitzrayim– Remembering our Exodus from Egypt – There is perhaps no occasion in our 3500 history that is more commemorated than our Exodus from Egypt.  We recite the 3^rd paragraph of Shema twice a day to remember Egypt, whenever we recite Kiddush on Shabbos we remember Egypt, our Tefilin, our holidays it's all Egypt. It is one of the 6 primary "remembrances" that the Torah tell us we must constantly have in our minds. And yes it is a mitzva. But what type of mitzva is it?

Now by our Pesach Seder we mention the story of the Rabbis all night fulfilling a different mitzva of telling the story of the Exodus on Pesach night. That mitzva is specific for the Seder (seders- for you guys that are still experiencing a double Exile still in chutz la'aretz and need to be reminded, as it seems some seems to have forgotten that despite the fact that there are plenty of your neighbors and members of congress that are trying to remind you…). That mitzva is specific in a few ways it has to be done in question answer form, it needs to start with the bad stuff and then get to the good stuff, and one needs to mention Pesach, Matza and Maror. The daily mitzva is just that Hashem took us out of Egypt. The postscript to that story in the Haggada tells us about a dispute between Ben Zoma and the Sages where Ben Zoma says that the mitzva is by day and night whereas the sages tell us it is in this world there is a mitzva and when Mashiach comes as well. The Rambam interesting enough does not list this mitzva as a biblical one in his counting of mitzvos. The Ohr Samayach in fact suggests that therefore his opinion is that it is in fact just a Rabbinic commandment the fulfills the desire, ideal and principle of the Torah without being a mitzva within itself

On the other hand in the laws of Shema the Rambam clearly rules like Ben Zoma that this it is a biblical commandment to recite the paragraph of Shema that remembers Egypt at night and day. There are a number of different fascinating approaches to resolve this quandary and they reveal some of the essence of the concept of how mitzvos make it into our count. Reb Chaim Soloveitchik suggests one approach that although it is a biblical mitzva the Rambam only lists mitzvos that are eternal. Since according to Ben Zoma it would seem that he disagrees with the sages, it is only until Mashiach comes that it will be fulfilled. Thus the Rambam does not list it.

Other approaches suggest that the daily mitzva is subsumed in the Seder mitzva of the recitation of the Haggada. The Pri Megadim suggests that it is not listed because since it is only a mitzva that doesn't require any specific action merely remembering it's not a separate mitzva. Finally Reb Chayim suggests another approach. He sees in the mitzva of accepting the yoke of heaven which the Rambam lists as being a mitzva that this is premised on our being taken out of Egypt. It is in fact the first of the Ten Commandments. I am Hashem your God who took you out of Egypt. When we left Egypt we became His nation. Our mitzva to believe is premised on our revelation that we received when He took us out of Egypt, thus it is included in that Mitzva. This becomes a transformative approach to appreciating the Shema, the statement we make that we believe in Hashem each day. Everytime we recite those words we remember that it all started by our leafing Mitzrayim. Thus is it is the most fundamental of all mitzvos. What an incredible blessing our Shema truly is.

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

Shimshon- Treacherous Foxes?– 959 BC- So after the betrayal that Shimshon had from his wife who revealed his riddle to the Philistines he still for some reason headed back there to pick her back up. It seems he had a bit of a cooling off period because the Navi tells us it was in the wheat harvest season. This is around Shavout time and it is amazing to take tourists around to the incredible wheat fields near Shimshon's old stomping grounds by the Ela valley near Highway 38 and point them out. The wheat of course gets harvested after the barley which is Pesach time. The significance of this we will soon find out. But actually this week's parsha as well noes that the hail came down when the barley was still in field but not yet the wheat as they were late in sprouting. Once the wheat is cut there's really nothing else that will grow until the following year as there are no more rains. So what gets destroyed is really your food for the whole winter.

So Shimshon returns and finds out his father-in-law had given his wife to someone else. He was not a happy camper. Or maybe he was… This is the moment that I have a legitimate right to avenge my dishonour and finally get those nasty Philistine terrorists. So what does he do? He catches 300 shualim- which has been mistranslated as foxes and tied their tails together and stuck a torch in between them and set them loose on the fields of the Philistines. They then ran back and forth and burnt them all down. Now I said mistranslated as foxes, because in 1755, Voltaire attacked the authenticity of Scripture, referring to the account of Samson capturing 300 foxes, tying them to fire-brands and setting them to the crops of the Philistines. Voltaire mocked the story, noting that it is impossible to find 300 foxes at any one time. Foxes are solitary creatures; if one finds a fox, there will not be another anywhere nearby. Thus the term lone fox.

See but Voltaire never went to the Slifkin Museum of Natural Biblical History in Beit Shemesh where they explain that in fact a shual is a jackal which always travels in packs. Usually very large ones. They didn't have jackals in Europe where Volataire lived and thus they mistranslated the Torah and called them foxes which are in fact in Hebrew called a tanin. Take that oh "enlightened one".

Now the Philistines were not too happy with this so they did one any rational terrorist nation would do. They took Shimshon's wife and father-in-law and burnt them to death.  But it seems they just didn't get who they were messing with. Perhaps they thought that Shimshon would be happy that they killed them. Maybe they thought they were avenging them for him. But Shimshon was even more upset. They weren't theirs to kill and besides this was another excuse to kill more Philistines. The Navi tells us that he chased and killed them "leg on thigh". The commentaries explain that this means he killed them as they fled from him. They fell down leg onto their thigh as people who are running away get killed from behind do. It seems the current policy of an enemy fleeing or being neutralized and no longer a threat was not something that Shimshon felt bound by.

I believe the message Shimshon was sending to these guys is that you fight animals like animals. It is the only language they understood. He chose Jackals to wreak havoc on them to show them that if they behave like treacherous animals that will be their fate. Although it may seem like it was cruel to the animals but as we noted Shimshon was a judge, the Torah tells us, like Hashem. Just as Hashem in the ten plagues utilizes animals to wreak havoc and as His tools of destruction. Be they frogs, wild animals, the killing of the cattle, Shimshon does the same. This is certainly an important topic to discuss with tourists as a Rabbi/guide I try to show the lessons the Navi is trying to teach us. We are meant to be kind to animals it is a principle of the Torah and a prohibition to be cruel. Yet those are only animal/animals the human animals that come to kill us and terrorize us need to be shown that they are even below the level of animals which at least care for their young. And those animals like rabid dogs need to be put down. So that the fear of the nation of Hashem is upon them.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S ESPECIALLY TERRIBLE DEPRESSION JOKES  OF THE WEEK

(PS I 've found these really work to get a depressed guy to smile)

A man walks into the library. “Hello ma’am I’d like to borrow a book about committing suicide” The librarian replies, “No,you won’t give it back”

Depressed people conversation

If you were a food what would you be?

Friend 1-Pizza cause I’m so cheesy

Friend 2-Chocolate chip cookie cause I have lots of friends

Depressed guy-donut cause I’m so empty inside

How do you get a depressed person out of a tree? You cut the rope…

Person: where do I commit suicide Dog: roof roof…Person: good idea

Q - Why did the apricot ask a prune to dinner? A - Because he couldn't find a date.

I lost my job at the bank on my first day. A customer asked me to check her balance, so I pushed her over

The past, the present, and the future walk into a bar. It was tense

I heard that Oxygen and Magnesium were going out and I was like OMG

It's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they always take things literally.

Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed space.

Q - Why do cows have hooves instead of feet? A - They lactose

Q- Why was the little strawberry crying? A - His mom was in a jam.

Hannah comes home from her afternoon out with her boyfriend Arnold looking very unhappy.
"What’s the matter, Hannah?" asks her mother.
"Arnold has asked me to marry him," she replies.
"Mazeltov! But why are you looking so sad?" her mother asks.
"Because he also told me that he was an atheist. Oh mum, he doesn't even believe in Hell."
Her mother then says, "That’s all right Hannah, it really isn’t a problem. I suggest you marry him and between the two of us, we'll show him how wrong he is."

One early winter morning, Rabbi Bloom was walking beside the canal when he saw a dog in the water, trying hard to stay afloat. It looked so sad and exhausted that Rabbi Bloom jumped in, and after a struggle, managed to bring it out alive.

A passer-by who saw this remarked, "That was very brave of you! You must love animals; are you a vet?"
Rabbi Bloom replied, "And vhat did you expect? Of course I'm a–vet! I'm a–freezing cold as vell!"

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Answer is D–  This one is embarrassing. I got it wrong and being a Rabbi and a Talmudist, I should've got it right. I really wasn't sure of all of the names of the different components of olive presses. I was sure it wasn't the weights or the crushing stone and had I thought a bit more I probably would've ruled out the base stone as well. But I just didn't connect the lever with the word "bad" for some reason. Well that was the right answer and I got it wrong. Not doing great on this exam here…. I better start picking up my game.  So the score is Schwartz 6 and 5 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.