Getting a Head- Parshat Vayechi 2020 /5780

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

January 10^th 2020 -Volume 10 Issue 12 13^th Tevet 5780

Parshat Vayechi

Getting A Head

They called me with a question.

"Rabbi, we are in a Jewish cemetery praying the tombs of the great people that are interred here and we just found out that there is a leading Nazi that is buried here as well, right next to these holy Jews. What should we do?"

I was taken aback. A Nazi, buried in a Jewish graveyard! Who ever heard of such a thing? What a desecration of the souls of these holy people that are forced to lie eternally with this Rasha. My first reaction, being the very pre-Israel loving Jew who really is not a big fan of all of these pilgrimages to Rabbi's graves all over farshtunkeneh Europe, was to tell them that this was perhaps a sign from heaven that we should bring the graves over here to the Holy Land. I'm sure those tzadikim would certainly prefer to have been buried here, as their entire lives they dreamed of having the opportunity that we have today of living here in the land of our ancestors. However you can imagine my shock when my would-be caller informed me that they were in fact in Israel.

What! A Nazi here in Israel? Buried in a Jewish cemetery? How can that be? Where were they? They finally revealed to me that they were in fact in Chevron. The grave that they were visiting? The cave of the Machpela; our Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The Nazi? None other than the head of our least favorite uncle, Esau.

Hmmmm… Now I get it. Or maybe I don't. See there is a famous Midrash that Rashi mentions on this week's parsha. It describes the largest funeral ever to take place in ancient times and probably even modern times as well. Yeah, that Solemeini terrorist Iranian animal they put down last week, didn't have anything over forefather Yaakov. The Torah tells us quite elaborately about the preparations for Yaakov's funeral. He was first embalmed for forty days and then for 70 days the entire Egypt mourned him. Now realize, Egypt at that time was the world Empire, the greatest nation on the world. Kind of like the US since it was made great again…Imagine the entire country shutting down for over 2 months in mourning of a great Jewish leader. Pretty insane right? But that's not all.

See then Yosef, convinces Pharaoh to allow him to fulfill Yaakov's final request to be buried in Israel, in Chevron in the tomb of the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Listen to what happens next.

 Bereshit (50:7) So Joseph went up to bury his father, and all Pharaoh's servants, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt went up with him.

The modern day equivalent would of course be that the entire US Congress, House of Representatives and pretty much any decent elected official, Governors and Mayors (of course except for the ones from NY and NJ who have to pander to their local BDS anti-Semitic constituents) would all pack up and start heading down to Israel. Now realize they didn't have Air Force One back then. They didn't have fancy limos either. It meant climbing on a smelly camel or donkey and heading across the desert for a multiple day if not weeks journey. But it doesn’t end there. Joining that prestigious entourage, the Torah tells us were of course

 Ibid (50:8) and Joseph's entire household and his brothers and his father's household; only their young children and their flocks and cattle did they leave in the land of Goshen.

Knowing the way that Jews populate and having been in Egypt for a few decades that was must have been as well a few thousand people. And of course let's not forget what the Torah tells us were the accompanying Egyptians and paparazzi that joined

Ibid (50:9) And chariots and horsemen also went up with him, and the camp was very numerous.

More likely than not your talking hundreds of thousands by this time. And then they come to the other side of the Jordan river and make camp and all of the accompanying nations join them.

Ibid (50:10-11) And they came to Goren Atad, which is on the other side of the Jordan, and there they conducted a very great and impressive eulogy, and he made for his father a mourning of seven days. The Canaanite, the inhabitants of the land, saw the mourning at Goren Atad, and they said, "This is an intense mourning for the Egyptians." Therefore, they named it Abel Mitzrayim (Egypt mourns), which is on the other side of the Jordan.

Pretty amazing, right. Again continuing with our modern day equivalent, if America is in mourning and hundreds of thousands of it's leaders and citizens are coming all the other countries are going to send their representatives as well. Remember 9/11 when somebody did something somewhere… The world response to this was even bigger than that. And all of them get on their horses, their chariots, their camels and they all converge on the hills of Chevron right outside of the Cave of the Machpela. Millions and millions. The hills were alive with the sound of mourning for our holy Patriarch and then a hush took over the crowd…

Standing at the entrance was a tall red haired and bearded tough looking man. I kind of picture him like Hagrid from Harry Potter (Although my Satmar Menahel from Stamford Yeshiva Reb Duvid Hersh Mayer Zt"l used to suggest that he more likely looked like Rav Shach- as Yitzchak would never be fooled by a ruffian, when I asked if he could then perhaps also look like the Satmar Rebbe-I got a slap that still stings ouch!) It was Uncle Esau! He wasn't alone. He had his

"boys" with him an nobody was getting past him. This was his gravesite. He was the oldest. It was his right to be buried here, not this little conniving brother Yaakov. What to do?

So we Jews started to do what we always do. Let's talk about this. Let's go prove that this is our place. You sold it to our father. Don't you remember that bowl of chulent after Great-Zaidy Avraham's funeral right here, that he gave you in exchange for the birthright? Let's see the documents. Let's take this to the international courts. Let's ask the security council what they think about this. Maybe the EU has a thing or two to say about this illegal occupation that we are trying to take over this poor peace-loving uncle of ours's homestead. And the familiar Jewish ad-nauseum pacifist saga began. While a few million people waited to see the outcome in the valley of Chevron.

But there was one guy there who had one benefit over everyone else. See, Chushim the son of Dan was deaf. He never got sucked into this ridiculous conversation. He was perhaps the only one that was able to remove himself from the dialogue and see the real picture of what was going on. Zaidy needed to be buried. Everyone is waiting. Esau is wrong. He is desecrating my grandfather's funeral. You can talk talk talk fun heint biz morgen as my parents would tell me, but tzi vet goornisht ufti'yinonn- it's not gonna change anything. There's only one thing to do. Chushim yanks out his sword, walks over to Uncle Esau and boom, he chops off his head which goes rolling down into the cave into the grave of our ancestors. Right where he wanted to be in the first place. Happy to oblige, I'm sure he said. And thus the funeral continued.

So that's the story, but the question still remains. Why did Esau Ha'Rasha, that terrorist, that Nazi, that murdering hunter merit to have his head buried with the pillars of our nation. We are told that it is a tremendous desecration for a righteous person to be buried next to a wicked person. How can our avos and imahos be buried next to him?

This question interestingly enough is raised by Rabbis and commentaries from across the spectrum. They all pretty much take the same path, each with their own twist. But they all seem to say that the head of Esau is holy, it's his body that was the problem. Reb Aharon Kotler suggests that it was all of the Torah that he learned from Yitzchak that remained with him. That Torah though never made it past his neck to influence his lifestyle. It remained just heavenly knowledge not a Torah way of life. Thus it was disconnected. The Lubavitcher Rebbe suggests that Esau's function in this world was to use the material world and lift it up to Divine service. That is what the head is supposed to control. Rationally the basic Jewish ideology is a very simple one. In a nutshell even a 6-year-old can understand. The world has a Creator. He Created it with a function. The function was give man free choice to achieve greatness. Greatness is achieved by connecting to that Creator. We connect to Him by uplifting this incredible world He has given us and bringing and revealing His presence in all of Creation. How do we do that here's the Torah read and it will tell you. Simple right? Esau knew all of this. The problem was his body didn't. It brought him down instead of his brain and head lifting it up. His head was fine. And it is that head that knew life so clearly that lays with our forefathers.

Reb Chayim Volozhin in the name of his Rebbe the GR"A takes this to an even deeper eternal level. Esau's fate is connected to ours. Yitzchak who loved Esau understood that the redemption of the world will only come when these two brothers come together. Yaakov, knows this as well. He tells Esau upon their meeting that we will meet up later. The Zohar tells us that this is a reference to the Messianic times.

Ovadia (1:21) For liberators shall march up on Mt. Zion to wreak judgment on Mount Esau; and the kingship will then be Hashem's.

The Talmud in Megila 6.) tells us that the study halls and shuls of Edom will return to Hashem. Their theaters and Circuses will be used to be by the leaders of Yehuda to learn Torah in public. Ummm… did anyone say 90,000 people in the stadiums of the descendants of Edom having a Siyum Hashas being a fulfillment of that? We're living it boys and girls!

Rav Kook notes that whereas Esau is meant to be the body of the world that gets uplifted. the hunter who brings everything together under control. He was lacking the unity with the heart, which is Yaakov. Which is the Jewish people. The heart is meant to bring that red blood from the head, from that holy brain and knowledge, from the red hair on that top of the head of Esau to the rest of the body. The bodies actions should be inspired by the heart that is motored by the head's knowledge and understanding. Esau's head being buried next to our ancestors is there to remind us of our job. To reconnect it and uplift Esau and the world's material existence to its divine purpose.

We come to Mea'arat Ha'Machpela and we pour out our hearts there. We pray to awaken the merits of our ancestors; the Avot and Imahot that are buried there. And when we do that we reach and remember the head of our uncle Esau. We remember that our prayers and our supplications are not just a Jewish story. They are a global one. Uncle Esau's body is waiting to reconnect with that head and we, the heart of the world, are meant to uplift him. His head was always holy. We just never powered and circulated that knowledge with our hearts to his soul to his guf. But we are doing it now. We are uplifting those stadiums. And as we do that the body of Esau, like a fish being pulled out of water is jumping and struggling and fighting with unprecedented waves of anti-semitism in the last of decades of its sovereignty in what we are told will be the last stop. America. That body off Esau that through us out of Europe that for millennia has struggled against us is in its final stages. Our heart will always be able to conquer and lift it up. The entire United Nations of the ancient world were at that funeral of Yaakov/ Yisrael in Chevron. They thought that Yaakov was dead. He was buried. But we live on. Our job is not yet over. Hashem's kingship still needs to reign from the hills of Esau. May we finally see that special day.

Have a blessed Shabbos!,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 This week's Insights and Inspiration has been dedicated by Nancy and Nesanel Yachnes in honor of the birth of their new grandson, Ephraim Simcha, last week. May the Yachnes and Berman grandparents get much nachas from their newest einekel. And may the young couple merit to raise Ephraim Simcha l'Torah l'chupa and L'maasim Tovim. He has a great name J! May he bring much simcha and may all of klal Yisrael be blessed through him like Ephraim and Menashe!

Mazel Tov!

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SHABBOS SCHEDULE

SHABBOS PARSHAT VAYECHI

CANDLELIGHTING- 4:23 PM 

MINCHA & KABBALAT SHABBAT- 4:35 PM

SHACHARIS- 8:30 AM

MINCHA 4:05 PM

MARIV- 5:41 PM (10 minutes after tzeis)

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Azoy lang der mentsh lebt iz im di gantse velt tsu kleyn; nokhn toyt iz im der keyver genug "– As long as a man lives, the entire world is too small for him; after death, the grave is big enough.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yesimcha  – This Week's Parsha's blessing of Yaakov with what some suggest is my nicest composition Yesimcha. Truly beautiful in all modesty!

https://youtu.be/yOCVj-fHY9A   – Yoel Gold's newest inspiring video Face your Bears Effie Eitam's incredible story.

https://youtu.be/az-PQPMqclQ - Matt Dubb's latest song and video Olam Chesed great!

https://youtu.be/2Kkz3wbPomg - Yankeleh HaKoines- Beautiful story and song (Yiddish and Hebrew subtitles) Mutty Shteinmetz

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

9)  The Og stream (nahal Og) is located in:

A.    Carmel

2. The Judean Desert
3. Galilee
4. Aravah

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Ki Kavor Tivirenu– The mitzva of Jewish Burial – This week's parsha discusses the funeral and burial of our patriarch our Yaakov. I believe it is well known that there is a concept of meis mitzvah, that a Jew must do all that he can in order to bury another Jew properly, a Kohen is even allowed to become tamei which of course a Kohen is generally not allowed to do by coming in contact with a dead body to bury someone. But what is the source for this mitzva and is it in fact a biblical one in all cases and if it is what is the source and proper way to fulfill this mitzva?

So it is interesting that the mitzva that we find specifically in the Torah for burial is by the law of capital punishment in Devarim (21:23) where the Torah tells us that we may not leave the executed person hanging over night   as this would be an insult to Hashem- the image of Hashem that he possessed. The Talmud seems to learn that anyone who does not bury a dead person right away is in violation of the prohibition of this mitzva. There are quite a few of the commentaries however that suggest that this biblical mitzva is only for someone that was executed by the Jewish court. All other dead people would only be a rabbinic obligation to bury them. Other poskim like the Ramban, Chinuch and Raavad rule that by all dead people there is an biblical commandment to bury them and a negative commandment one violates by not burying them. The Rambam seems to send mixed messages in his various works and some suggest that he only believes it is a positive mitzva to bury the dead, however the prohibition only applies by capital crime executed criminals.

Interestingly as well the Rambam notes that taking care of one's burial is also a fulfillment of the basic obligation of V'ahavta l'rayach kamocha- loving one's neighbor like himself. The Talmud suggests that one who takes care of someones burial is fulfilling the mitzva of imitating the ways of Hashem, who Himself took care of the burial of Moshe.

The mitzva of burial is the obligation of every Jew, however the family has the first and immediate obligation to take care of the burial and provide them with a"Jewish burial". The question of course is what does that mean? The first halacha of course is that they should be buried amongst Jews as we see that Yaakov did not want to be buried in Egypt. As well it is certainly better for a righteous person be buried with someone who is righteous and not near a rasha- someone who willfully violates the Torah in their lifetime. The mitzva as well is to bury in the earth. Cremation would be a very big no-no and is considered a desecration of the dead. Certainly a nation that survived after the holocaust where the Nazi's sought to lay that final indignity upon our nation should appreciate its significance. In ancient times this would be done in caves in Eretz Yisrael. The Ramban rules that burying in even a coffin without a perforated bottom is really not a fulfillment of the mitzva, this would of course rule out above ground mausoleum burial. In Israel they do not use the coffin at all merely to transport the body. But then the deceased is placed directly into the ground.

The best place to be buried is in Eretz Yisrael as we have a tradition that those that are buried here will not have to suffer in the time of the resurrection of the dead. As well we are told that the earth of Israel is atonement for the soul. In fact even in the Diaspora the custom when preparing a body for burial is that a packet of Israel earth is sprinkled on the body. The kindness one does with the dead is known as chesed shel emes- true kindness. One is not looking for any expectation of payback. Not everyone is cut out to work for a chevra kadisha /Jewish burial society that fulfills this mitzva unfortunately sometimes daily. However those that do are truly getting a taste of the world to come as the profundity of appreciating the mortality of man is one that gives one a better sense of what we should be living for.

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

Manoach, his wife, the malach and the mizbayach – 959 BC- Back to our chronological History,eras and places in Israel column, We pick up this with the foretelling of the birth of the judge with the most facetime in sefer Shoftim; Shimshon. His mother who it seems was a bit of a prophetess name is not given but his father was a simple man named Manoach. On the one hand he was simple-minded perhaps however our sages suggest he was from the most righteous of his generation because he always followed his wife's directions. How's about that for our Rabbi's being feminists!

They lived in Tzora which is the border of two tribes Yehudah and Dan. The modern day settlement of Tzorah right off of Highway 38 on the road to Beit Shemesh, is built right next to the former Arab village that was abandoned in the Independence war that was called So'raah. Pretty amazing that it kept the name for 3000 years.

So it seems that the couple was barren for many years. One day Mrs. Manoach goes for a walk and an angel comes down and tells her that she will be blessed with a son. The son however comes with conditions and terms of use. He is to be a Nazir. But not your typical Nazir. He's a special Nazir. First of all he's a lifer. His whole life he's not allowed to cut his hair or drink wine or even grapes. Even more than that his own mother was already forbidden to do that as well until he was born. He was holy even in the womb. This story it seems is very important to remember as we discuss what seems on the surface (which is never the real story) to be the less-than holy lifestyle choices of Shimshon. Remember this is only person we ever find that has such high demands of spirituality since before he's born.

Rebbetzin Manoach tells her husband about her encounter. He feels a bit left out and they go looking together for the angel. They of course don't know if he's an angel or just a strange guy wandering the hills. They invite him for a meal. He tells them that he's really not that hungry they should bring a sacrifice to Hashem. Now this is a problem as one is not permitted to bring a sacrifice outside of the Mishkan/tabernacle in Shilo. But it seems that this was an extraordinary exception. They make the sacrifice. The angel then brings down fire from heaven and flies up in the flames. Poof! Manoach and his wife see this, they realize this was a Divine revelation and they bow down and thank Hashem. 9 months later Shimshon is born.

Now a cool aside about this story is that one can in fact visit this altar. Or maybe what some suggest might be the altar of Manoach. Not far from the Shimshon intersection by Har Tuv there is a road that goes to the industrial area and right after the last factory underneath some electric wires there is an altar that is made out of one big stone that dates back to the period of Shimshon. There were some broken steps and interestingly enough the Navi tells us it was flint and it was a rock which this one is. It has a little basin for liquids to pour as well. It was discovered in the 1940's by Yosef Breslavi who was a pretty famous archeologist and tour guide here in Israel. Personally I have never been there but would be cool to check it out one day. We pick up next week with the story of Shimshon.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE FUNERAL JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Moe Levine, owner of a movie theater chain in New York City, has passed away at age 65, the newspaper obit read.

"The funeral will be held on Thursday at 2:10, 4:20, 6:30, 8:40 and 10:50." 

When Louis was younger, he just hated going to family weddings. All of his uncles and aunts used to come up to him, poke him in the ribs, giggle, and say to him, "You're next, Louis." 
But they stopped doing that after Louis started doing the same thing to them at funerals.  

Howard was 90 years old, very ill and in the hospital, and his Rabbi went to pay him a visit.
As the Rabbi walked up to the bed, Howard 's condition began to deteriorate and he motioned frantically for something to write on. When the Rabbi gave him a pencil and a piece of paper, Howard used his last ounce of energy to write a short note. Then he died. 
The Rabbi placed the note in his jacket pocket and said prayers. 
Later, at Howard’s funeral, as the Rabbi was finishing the eulogy, he suddenly remembered the note. 
"I’ve just remembered," said the Rabbi to those present, "that Howard handed me a note just before he died. I haven't looked at it yet, but knowing Howard, I'm sure there's a word of comfort in it for all of us." 
The Rabbi opened the note and read, "Help, you're standing on my oxygen tube!" 

Benny was fed up with being bossed around by his wife Leah so he went to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told him that he was too much of a mild-mannered man and needed to build up his self-esteem. So he lent Benny a book on assertiveness. Benny started to read the book on the train and by the time he got home, he had finished the book.
Benny strode manfully into the house, walked over to Leah, pointed his finger at her and said, "From now onwards you must get it into your head that I and not you make all the decisions in this house. Tonight, I want you to prepare me my favourite meal and I expect a special mouth-watering dessert afterward. Then, after dinner, you're going to run me a hot bath so I can relax. And when I step out of the bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"
"Abrahamson, the funeral director, that’s who." replied Leah.

Sam died. His will provided $50,000 for an elaborate funeral.

As the last attendees left, Sam's wife Rose turned to her oldest friend Sadie and said, "Well, I'm sure Sam would be pleased."

"I'm sure you're right," replied Sadie, who leaned in close and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Tell me, how much did it really cost?"

"All of it," said Rose. "Fifty-thousand."

"No!" Sadie exclaimed. "I mean, it was very nice, but really... $50,000?"

Rose nodded. "The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the shul for the Rabbi's services. The shiva food and drinks were another $500. The rest went for the memorial stone."

Sadie computed quickly. "$42,500 for a memorial stone? Oy vey, how big is
it?"
"Seven and a half carats

Issy and Howard were brothers who had lived and worked in Golders Green all their lives. Unfortunately, nothing good could be said about them - they ran a crooked business, they womanized, they lied and they cheated the poor. But they were also very, very wealthy.
When Issy died, Howard went to Rabbi Bloom and said, "I will donate to the shul one hundred thousand pounds if you will say at the funeral that my brother Issy was a mensch."
The Rabbi thought long and hard but eventually agreed.
At the funeral, the Rabbi told everyone present of Issy’s wrong doings. He then closed with the sentence "But, compared to his brother, he was a mensch!"

A very wealthy man, old and desperately ill, summons to his bedside his three closest advisors: his doctor, his social worker and his rabbi.

"I know," he says, "they say you can't take it with you. But who knows? Suppose they're mistaken. I'd like to have something with me, just in case. So I am giving each of you an envelope containing one hundred thousand dollars and I would be grateful if at my funeral you would put the envelopes in my coffin, so that if it turns out that it's useful, I'll have something." They each agree to carry out his wish.

Sure enough, after just a few weeks, the old man passes away. At his funeral, each of the three advisors is seen slipping something into the coffin.

After the burial, as the three are walking away together, the doctor turns to the other two and says, "Friends, I have a confession to make. As you know, at the hospital we are desperate because of the cutbacks in funding. Our CAT SCAN machine broke down and we haven't be able to get a new one. So, I took $20,000 of our friend's money for a new CAT SCAN and put the rest in the coffin as he asked."

At this the Social worker says, "I, too, have a confession to make. As you know, our organization is simply overwhelmed by the problem of the homeless. The needs keep increasing and we have nowhere to turn. So I took $50,000 from the envelope for our homeless fund and put the rest in the coffin as our friend requested." Fixing the other two in his gaze,

The Rabbi says, "I am astonished and deeply disappointed that you would treat so casually our solemn undertaking to our friend. I want you to know that I placed in his coffin my personal check for the full one hundred thousand dollars."

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Answer is A–  This one was easy. I pass it all the time on the way down to the Dead Sea. It's the northernmost stream of the Judean Desert. Great rocks and cliffs to climb and some great waterfalls and pools to swim in as well. It's a pretty popular hike so this one should be easy for any tour guide. SO obviously I got this one right and the score is Schwartz 6 and 3 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.