Holy Bagels- Parshat Eikev 2020/5780

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

August 7^th  2020 -Volume 10 Issue 41 17^th Av 5780

 

Parshat Eikev

Holy Bagels

It's one of the biggest challenges of being a religious Jew. We eat a lot. Sure there are other cultures that are into food as well. The French have their croissants, baguettes and des patisseries as they like to call them (I remember that word in French because it has a lot of esses in it-ess a bissel mein kint…). The Italians have their linguini, tortellini, ravioli, cannolini and fettuccini- but it's all just spaghetti to me. But c'mon how much do they eat already? There is no one that has Shabbos seduos like we do every week. Yom Tov meals that can be two days straight of gorging and for those suffering in chutz la'aretz sometimes even 3 days. That's 6-9 meals. Figure that the average haymish meal has to have at least 3 courses; the salatim first, the fish, the liver and egg salad with a cherry tomato on top and a little radish. Friday night of course the soup, with matza balls and croutons. Then for the main course with all its side dishes Kugels, farfel, and salad just to pretend like we are eating something healthy and to decorate the plate. By our day meal we eat a good chulent with kishka- that no goy could ever handle. On holidays some brisket and roast and then you have desert. A glezzel tea and some "tzu-bis- a little cake to make sure it all goes down. In Israel that's of course accompanied by sunflower seeds and nuts and in season melon. We don't want any food group to feel left out. And this is every single week… What do they have a thanksgiving turkey once a year. Gimme a break…No, Orthodox Judaism is not for the faint of belly.

Now there are these "reformists" that try to cut out some of these courses. They say it is insane. It is not healthy. Nobody enjoys that much food. They are heretics. There have always been people in the history of the Jewish people that have said this about many of our ancient sacred traditions. They permitted driving on Shabbos, they felt our customs were outdated, they were unfeasible, they became hellenists, Karaites, early Christians. They have disappeared in the annals of Jewish history. And the only ones that remained were the stalwart, overweight, suffering with heartburn true Torah Jews that had the fortitude and perseverance of appetite to hold strong to their chulent pots and kasha varnishkes. For we knew that the secret of our longevity as nation is in that special stew.

Ok maybe, I'm getting a bit carried away here… or maybe not. But the challenge is not just the eating. The bigger challenge though is what we have to do before we eat. See Jews just don't eat food. We have to make a bracha first. As the Talmud tells us before we eat the food belongs to Hashem. We have no right to eat His food. It doesn't make a difference how much you paid for it. How many hours you labored in the kitchen to make it. It's His.

How does it become ours? By making a blessing. By saying the words Blessed are you Hashem our God, the King of the world who creates the fruits of the tree (ha'eitz-fruit), fruits of the vine (hagefen-wine) the ground ( ha'adama-vegetables), that brings forth bread from the land (ha'motzi), that creates all types of satisfying foods (mezonos-non-bread grain foods), or that everything exists by His word (she'hakol-everything else), the food then becomes ours. The Talmud derives these rabbinic blessings from the biblical obligation in this week's parsha to bentch after we eat.

Devarim (7:10) For Hashem your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper. When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to Hashem your God for the good land which He has given you.

These are the verses that tell us about the 7 species that Israel is blessed with. Hashem knows how to tempt our people to come to the land. With a good kiddush menu. When we are satiated we are commanded to thank Hashem. The talmud tells us that if we're obligated to thank Hashem after the meal than we certainly have to beforehand. Yet there is a difference between the two blessings, the pre-meal blessing is recognizing where the food comes from. The post-blessing on the other hand as the Torah tells us, is mostly about Eretz Yisrael. U'vayrachta es Hashem elokecha al ha'aretz hatova asher noson lach- on the good land He has given us..

Now perhaps this makes sense when one is eating a good meal in Israel to thank Hashem for this incredible land that he gave us that produces all these incredible and delicious products. But when you crunch down on a delicious Ave J Pizza Time slice or an Essen pastrami, corned beef and chopped liver on club with those delicious sour pickles that is USA Prime Rib "home" grown from the grazing fields of Iowa and the wheat fields of Kansas, what about that meal is supposed to make me thank Hashem for Eretz Yisrael; the Holy Land with lots of Milk and Honey but not much pastrami. (They actually call salami- pastrami here…oyyy a shanda). I can understand thanking Hashem for the land of Israel when one arrives here, after months of being banned from this country. Or to recite the blessing when you get thrown out of your own country because of anti-semitism, riots, pogroms or other current and ancient events. You're thankful that you have a country to come to. A home to return to. But why should I thank Hashem for the land of Israel every time I eat a piece of toast or a bagel and lox in America, London, Antwerp or even a croissant in France? As they say in hebrew-ma hakesher?

There is a remarkable idea that the Chasam Sofer shares that can truly be life-changing and certainly in these times when so many of you want to come to Eretz Yisrael and the gates are still closed here's a way you can at least get a little- excuse the pun- taste of the holy land. The verses preceding the mitzva of bentching and the promise of the land instruct us to remember our stay in the wilderness and the eating of the Manna

Devarim (3:8)- He subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had ever known, in order to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but that man may live on anything that Hashem decrees.

A person can certainly physically live on bread, but life by Jews is not merely a physical existence. In fact, the word for life is chayim- which is really a plural of the word life-chai. Life is really two lives, a physical and spiritual one. Our bodies may be sustained by food, but to live we need to be able to incorporate a spiritual aspect of godliness in our food to nurture our souls as well with "the word of Hashem". We learned that lesson well for forty years. We ate the manna which was a spiritual food. It fed our bodies and our souls. And we understood what life was all about.

It is for this reason, he writes, the spies came to Eretz Yisrael and returned with the fruits. They wanted to show them that the physical fruits of Eretz Yisrael were just that; physical fruits, ripe with Vitamin C and E but lacking any GOD. They didn't possess the spiritual nature that the manna did. They said lachmeinu heim- they our bread- meaning that the nations that live in Canaan are just the leftover physical aspects of our bread. They are burying people all day. There is no life in there. And they were correct. But they didn't realize that it was only that way because all of that spirituality that was meant to be found in the food was only being kept temporarily in the manna. When the Jews would enter the land, the manna would cease and all of the spiritual qualities and nutrients would then be transferred to the fruits of Eretz Yisrael. This is why the Torah tells us to remember the manna as an introduction to us appreciating the fruits of Eretz Yisrael.For they possess that same holiness. A Jaffa orange is just as holy as that same manna our ancestors ate. But it goes a step further than that as well.

See, we are told that all of the blessing of the world comes through Eretz Yisrael. It is the pipeline by which Hashem sends it down. It is for that reason why all our prayers go up from Eretz Yisrael as well. It is the land that is meant to be the bridge between heaven and earth. The manna in the wilderness, that spiritual food that was transferred to the fruits of Israel have the power to transfer as well to the fruits and produce all over the world. When one makes a blessing after they have eaten, the food that is digesting in their physical body, gets charges up and receives the holiness and spirituality of the fruits of Eretz Yisrael. It becomes a Holy bagel in your belly. When one makes a blessing before they eat they are placing the name of Hashem, His holy word that comes through the fruits of Eretz Yisrael into that Washington grown apple. It's not as good as the real thing. But at least it has the ability to give spiritual life. It will make you want to thank Hashem for the land and to long for Yerushalayim, no matter how far you are because any spirituality that you taste in your food and that feeds your soul, you know have recognized and acknowledged has come from his Divine pipeline in His land. In this land.

So yes, food is important. It is our connection wherever we are to Eretz Yisrael. To tasting the land, to longing for it. It is as close as we can get to tasting the divine blessing with our physical blessings. It reminds our souls of the manna we ate in the wilderness. It's a serious thing. But do we treat it that way? I know I don't….

I remember in yeshiva there were these guys, that would put on their hats and jackets every time they benched, some did it every time they made any blessing. I thought they were crazy. I remember them because my son does that now. But the truth is they get it. There are others that will take a bencher and read word for word as if they were davening. They're taking their food seriously. Me? I confess, I'm a fast food guy. I barely have time to chew. My blessings are kind of like that as well. Fast food-fast bless. Remember how I started off this E-Mail. I'll remind you. "It's one of the biggest challenges of being a religious Jew. We eat a lot..." The challenge of eating a lot is that we make tons of blessings every day and it's hard to concentrate. It's hard to think about the spiritual nature of the so many many many things we put in our mouths throughout the day and charge it up. The gemara tells us that a true scholar is only one that is an expert on brachos. This doesn't only mean being an expert on what bracha you are supposed to make on which food. Rather it is how we say our blessings. If we are successful or not in making that one act that we do more than any other one throughout the day-certainly in these quarantined Corona ones- a spiritual one.

We are longing for the redemption. We want to see Yerushalayim rebuilt. For those of you outside of the land you are longing to taste those whole fruits.  We here are that are privliged to eat  them regularly still long to accompany them with some delicious sacrifices that we will offer in the Beis Hamikdash. Perhaps if we put more of the power of Eretz Yisrael and Yerushalayim into our kavana in bentching then Hashem will answer our prayers and as we say when we conclude our bentching. Hashem oz l'amo yitein, hashem yivarech es amo ba'shalom. May Hashem bless us with the peace in His home that we are waiting for.

Have a deliciously blessed Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 " Es vais di kats vemes flaish zi hot oifgegessen!"- The cat knows whose meat she ate!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

39) A shtreimel is:

A. Piyyut (musical poetry) for Shabbat

B. Hasidic hat

C. Torah case

D. A belt for a Hasid’s coat

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 https://youtu.be/wty8zQainZY   - Mazel Tov for those finishing Shabbos with Daf Yomi here's a great song that reviews the entire mesechta that is absolutely brilliant.

 https://youtu.be/UX0sQlh5vW4  – The traditional bentching song sung by MBD, Abie Rottenberg, Dov Levine, Piamentas, Shlomo Simcha, Rivie Shwebel and more.

 https://youtu.be/s-XXUtbc2DY - Ari Goldwag's new hit from his latest album Zeh Keli

 https://youtu.be/hpN48hu7-cg -Rabbi Klatzkow awesome Aliyah Song everyone should be singing this…

 RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

 Parshat Eikev – U'Vayrachta- To Bench- It  would seem that this mitzva to bless Hashem after we eat at first glance is one that of showing appreciation to Hashem. We ate a good meal, say 'thank you' like our parents taught us to. It's only nice and proper ettiquitte. Yet the commentaries see the mitzva as one that is more than just a thank you for the food. The Chinuch understands the word bayrachta-to bless Hashem is not about giving Hashem a blessing- He doesn't need our blessings or our gratitude. Rather it is about us internalizing how great and blessed Hashem is. This in turn brings more of His blessing to the world. The Rambam understands this mitzva as one that connects one to Eretz Yisrael and recalling our slavery in Egypt. The Meshech Chochma sees it as one that will prevent us of forgetting Hashem which is natural to happen when one is satiated and full as the verse continues to tell us. The mystics see in this blessing the uplifting of the sparks in the food we ate and perhaps even fixing the reincarnated souls inside of the food. Think about that the next bite you take!

 The biblical commandment of bentching contains three different blessings. We thank Hashem for the food, for the land of Israel and for the rebuilding of Yerushalayim. Included in those blessings there is an obligation to mention leaving Egypt, Torah, and the Bris/ covenant we have with Hashem. As well on special days such as Shabbos and Yom Tov one needs to mention those days as well. We do so in additional paragraphs in the blessing for Yerushalayim. When one is obligated to eat a meal on Shabbos or Yom Tov and you forget to mention these than one has to repeat the bentching if they conclude it. Rosh Chodesh and Chol Hamoed when one is not obligated in a meal one doesn't have to repeat if he forgets it.

There is a fourth blessing of bentching as well that was added as a result of the holiday that we celebrated this past week of Tu B'Av. The Talmud tells us that after the Bar Kochva revolt Hadrian left hanging and crucified thousands of the rebels for 7 years around as a fence around his vineyards. Pretty sick… On Tu B'Av Hadrian was replaced and they were permitted to be buried. The blessing of Hatov V'Hameitiv- that Hashemi is good and does good was added for the two celebrations. The first was that it seems miraculously these hanging bodies had never deteriorated which is mind blowing. The commentaries suggest it was as if they were hanging there telling Hadrian you are putting us up here to deface us and Hashem, but it is He that is controlling the world. The second reason for the blessing is because they were finally allowed Jewish burial. Think about that next time you recite this blessing. Or at least when you bentch after the Shabbos meal if you are reading this there.

 The Torah tells us your biblical obligation to bentch is when one is satiated, however the jewish people accepted upon themselves to bentch when one eats the amount of a kezayis which is about a half a slice of bread. Bentching is recited on bread made of the 5 grains, wheat, barley, oats, spelt and rye. Cakes, cookies and for Sefardim besides matzah is not considered bread and one makes a shortened al hamichya blessing. When one eats bread at a meal the bentching covers all the food that is part of the meal and no other after-blessing is required.

 There are those that have a custom to recite a psalm of shir hamaalot before bentching or al naharot bavel. As well it is proper to wash ones hands before bentching and many great Rabbis praise those that bentch with a bencher and with the respect due to this only biblical blessing. As well it is a blessing that should be done with simcha and rejoicing. We are praising Hashem. He has satiated the way that we say our bentching and praise will reflect how much appreciation we have for these gifts. And that will bring us down the continued blessing that we all seek.

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

 Introducing Dovid Hamelech- 878 BC- After the Amalek debacle Shmuel went back home to mourn the lost potential of Shaul's kingdom. But Hashem had different plans. It was time to anoint the replacement. To get the royal ball rolling. So Hashem commands Shmuel to go to the city of Beis Lechem which is in the same place as the modern city of Bethlehem, and under the guise of bringing a public sacrifice he would go the house of Yishai and Hashem would reveal to him which of his sons to anoint. This "operation" obviously was meant to be a clandestine one, as Shaul would not be a happy camper knowing that his replacement was being anointed.

 Now Yishai, who's tomb is in Chevron next to his grandmother Rus by Tel Chevron or Tel Rummeida as it is called, was a tremendously righteous person and Torah scholar. He was one of the few that entered into Gan Eden alive, the Talmud tells us without any sin. Our sages see in his name Yishai and acronym for Yachad Shivtei Yisrael- united the tribes of Israel that from him would sprout the king that would unite all the tribes together. Yishai had 7 sons and Dovid…

 See Dovid was is "questionable son". The midrash tells us a fantastic story, how Yishai was concerned that perhaps his Jewish status was in question. He was a descendant of Rus who was a Moabite convert. And there were those that suggested that the Torah prohibition of accepting converts from Moav applied to women as well as men. So he separated from his wife for three years. After 3 years he decided to marry a non-jewish maid servant who would convert, for a regular Jew this would be a problem, but being that he felt his status was questionable it would be fine. The maid servant though, being a righteous woman, thought twice of it and she told the first wife and changed place with her. The good old Rachel/ Leah switcheroo. Dovid was born of that union and there were those that accused him of being illegitimate as he arrived in the world from his mother that was separated from her husband, Yishai at the time. Just like his great grandfather Peretz who was born of a scandalous relationship between Yehudah and Tamar, Dovid's beginnings are shaded in seemingly illicit relationships. Our sefarim suggest that this is the way that the spark of Mashiach stays out of the grasp of the Satan who tries to prevent his revelation and birth. It comes from a place that no one would think to look.

 Shmuel is taught this lesson as Yishai brings one son after the other before him, the tall ones, the handsome ones, the scholarly ones and all of them Hashem rejects. Finally when he goes through all 7 he asks if there are any other ones, and shamefully almost as an afterthought Yishai tells him about this little red-headed son who hangs out with the sheep all day and plays the harp really well. Hashem goes "that's my man" and Dovid is anointed. It's a private family ceremony. No one is looking to shake things up, yet as a result of his anointment he receives the divine 'kingly' inspiration and it is removed from Shaul. This begins the process of Shaul's depression and the ball begins to roll for Dovid to step into place as he is invited to Shaul's palace to "liven" him up with his harp playing and becomes Shaul's "armour bearer. The die has been cast and from hereon in Dovid starts to move into his role.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FOOD JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Moishe and Miriam were sitting down to eat at the dinner table. Miriam commented, "You know, Moishe, when we were first married, you took the small piece of brisket and gave me the larger. Now you take the large one and leave me the smaller. You don't love me anymore?"

"Nonsense, honey," replied Moishe, "you just cook better now."

 What do cannibals eat to freshen their breath? Men toes.

Why do the French eat snails? – They don’t like fast food.

Today I learned humans eat more bananas than monkeys. – I can’t remember the last time I ate a monkey.

I'm like a jumbo kosher pickle. Guess you could say I'm a pretty big dill

 Yankel, looking for a free meal entered a wedding hall and joined the "Harrison" wedding. He went over to the buffet piled his plate high with petit fours from one table, kebobs, stir fry and veal chops from another table. While thoroughly enjoying himself a man approaches him and says, "Hi, are you on the bride or grooms side."

Yankel looks up from his plate of deliciousness and responds, "What!? They're only married five minutes and they're already fighting?"

 Rabbi Hirsh lay on his hospital bed as his congregants and family sat close by, waiting to hear the dying words of their dear leader and father. The rabbi's attendant, Yitzy, takes the cup of milk from the hospital meal, goes outside to his car, adds half a cup of shnaps and sneaks back inside. "Here Rabbi", Yitzy says, "drink this; it'll be good for you". The congregation waits to hear prized words from their spiritual guide. 

Rabbi Hirsh takes a sip of the milk and his eyes open a little wider and he sits a little straighter. 
"Eh hem", he clears his throat and motions to them to come closer. 
"Listen to what I have to tell you: don't sell the cow."

 It was mealtime during a flight on El Al. "Would you like dinner?" the flight attendant asked Moishe, seated in front. 

"What are my choices?" Moishe asked. 
"Yes or no," she replied.

 Rachel and her husband Max are in their local kosher restaurant. Even though Rachel always seems to find something to moan about in this deli restaurant, they still regularly go there because the food is good and it's frequented by many of their fellow seniors.

As usual, within minutes of taking their seats, Rachel starts to bother their waiter. "Waiter," she says, "please turn up the air conditioning. You know I can't stand a hot atmosphere."

But then, five minutes later, she asks the waiter to turn down the air conditioning because she is too cold. Soon after, she wants it turned up again because she's getting too hot. But then their food arrives on the table and Rachel is at last silent as she eats her meal.

Maurice, who is sitting near Rachel and Max's table, can't help but notice that at no time does the waiter show any anger - in fact he is surprisingly patient. So as the waiter walks past his table on his way back to the kitchen, Maurice calls him over and says quietly to him, "I can't understand why you don't just throw this customer out of the restaurant."

"Oh, we don't really mind," says the waiter, "because not only do we have a customer focus program in operation where the customer is always right, but also, this restaurant doesn't have any air conditioning."

 Noah's son walks into a kosher deli and orders a sandwich.

"Sorry," said the owner. "We don't serve Ham."… OYYYYYY….

 A Doctor was addressing a large audience in Miami. "The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is awful. Soft drinks corrode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. High fat diets can be disastrous, and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water.

"But there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all, and we all have, or will, eat it. Would anyone care to guess what food causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?"

After several seconds of quiet, a small 75-year-old Jewish man in the front row, raised his hand and said, "Vedding Cake?

 “Don’t forget you are what you eat,” My nutritionist told me as I was leaving his office. “Then I should eat a skinny person.” Was my response….

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Answer is C–  Is there anyone reading this E-Mail that doesn't get this one right? C'mon, you gotta know this. It's nice to get an easy one like this on the exam. But just think about the secular Jews or the non-jews that don't know this one for them it’s a pretty crazy question that seemingly should be unrelated to getting a tour guiding license.  Why do they have to know this? Why would I have to know what muslim gatchkas are called. But this one certainly helps me. Did you know the other ones they were trying to confuse with. The Gartel, the mantel … but not sure about the Shabbos piyut though. But the Shtreimel is obviously the fur hat worn by chasidim. Now here's my question do you know what a shtreimel cookie is? The score is Schwartz 28 and 11 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam. I'm still passing but really not doing great on this exam.