I'm Gonna Live Forever- Parshat Toldot 2020/5781

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 "Your friend in Karmiel"

November 20^th 2020 -Volume 11 Issue 6 4^th Kisleiv 5781

Parshat Toldos

I’m gonna live forever!

 

If you grew up with a TV set in the 70’s, like I did, (that’s 1970’s- not as my children believe the 1870’s), then undoubtedly you remember that TV show, about a bunch of dancers (or actors?) in a performing arts school, called FAME. Even if you don’t remember the show, the soundtrack that used to accompany the intro to the show was certainly memorable.

 

Remember Remember Remember Remember Remember

Fame!

I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly

High!

I feel it coming together, People will see me and cry

Fame!

I'm gonna make it to heaven, Light up the sky like a flame

Fame!

I'm gonna live forever, Baby remember my name

Remember, Remember, Remember…..

 

O.K. You can stop singing to yourself now. Your trip down memory lane is now officially over. Back then I never thought much about the lyrics of the song. Just as I never thought much about the lyrics of Rock-a-Bye- Baby, sung to infants as they are falling asleep, and soothing them with the thoughts of branches falling, cribs breaking, and baby spilling all over the floor. Huh?! But now that I have grown up a little bit and for some reason can’t get that “Remember” song out of my head since I heard it played at the mall last week, I have begun to examine those words. Are they Jewish in philosophy? Fame certainly is not something that we are meant to pursue. But what about Eternal life? Flying high? Having your name remembered? What does the Torah say about these ideas?

 

This week's Torah portion introduces us to two brothers who it seems couldn’t have been more different; Eisav and Yaakov. Eisav born first is fully formed all Hairy and red, Yaakov on the other hand (or foot as he is aptly named), comes out right after Eisav grabbing on to his heel and is smooth and fair. Eisav grows up to be a hunter (which was quite handy before the invention of fast food restaurants). Yaakov is simple and dwells in the tent, as the Medrash says, studying the ways of God. Which one do you favor in a contest for Fame and eternity? If you chose Eisav don’t feel bad, it seems that Yitzchak, our forefather, their father did as well. After all, if someone was supposed to take charge of the world, had leadership skills, was accomplished and ready to fulfill the Jewish mission of L’Taken Olam B’Malchut Shadai- To establish the world with the Almighty’s kingdom, one had to be out there. Had to be “with it”. It certainly couldn’t come from that quiet little Yeshiva guy who sits with his books in the tent all day. The world needed a man who would light up the sky like a flame.

 

Yet Yitzchak was wrong. I correct that. He was right. Eisav could’ve been that person. But he lost it. As the Torah tells us he sold it all for a bowl of soup. (Although it was bean soup…maybe chulentJ). Why would he do this? I mean isn’t this guy, the man who should be seeking fame, seeking to be remembered forever.  Eisav’s words reveal the consciousness and mistake of Eisav and the difference between his pursuit of eternality and ours.

“Hinei Anochi Holech Lamoos V’Lama Zeh Li Bechora-Behold I am going to die and why do I need this Birthright.”

 

The Targum Yonasan, a Midrashic translation of the Torah written in Talmudic times, explains Eisav statement as saying that he knows he will not live eternally. There is no World-to-Come and therefore there is no significance to any birthright that inevitably will end with my death. He wanted to live forever and he couldn’t, therefore life was worthless. Yaakov, on the other hand understood the principal of living a life in this world as a passageway to a greater world; Olam Habah- The World to Come. The function of the birthright of Yaakov, and of us his descendants the Jewish people, is to live our lives and to strive for an existence that will be an eternal one. We were all created with a Neshama, a soul that is a little piece of God, which was placed within each of us so that we may elevate the entire world through our actions and good deeds. So that we create an existence that becomes transcendent. The more Mitzvot we do the more our soul earns and develops into an eternal being. The more that our lives become defined solely by maximizing our physical pleasures and achieving the ultimate bodily accomplishments, the more frustrated one will get with the futility of living a finite life that will ultimately end.

 

Not too many people will know the cast of that TV Show “Fame” in a few centuries from now, if you haven’t already forgotten them. Even the song, no matter how many times you say “remember” will be remembered. In fact, I don’t believe that there are too many artists, actors, entertainers, novelists, singers and musicians, who will be remembered for more than a century or two, certainly not 1000 years, certainly not 2000 years. Yet miraculously through Torah there is an eternity. The words of our prophets, of the sages of the Mishna, the Talmud, the commentaries, thinkers, halachists are all eternalized forever. They are studied and transmitted daily in the halls of the descendants of Yaakov that live forever. Hillel, Rabbi Akiva, Rashi, Rambam- Maimonides every Jew knows them. They live on millennia after their departure from this world. Our sages taught that the righteous in their deaths are still called living; the wicked even in their lives are already called dead. The choice is ours are we heading towards life or death. Eisav saw it as a walk down the green mile… Yaakov was living towards Eternity.

 

Yes, we can live forever. We were even programmed from the start with the knowledge of another world. The Gesher Hachain explains it is why we are born after a development process in a womb for 9 months. So intuitively we would know that there is something beyond our original existence. The womb is the passage way to this world. This world is the stepping stone to the next.  It’s our job to do one thing. Remember… Remember… Remember…

 

Have a marvelous Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

" Koved iz vi a shotn: vos mer men loyft im noch, altz vayter antloyft er.."- Honor is like a shadow: the more you run after it, the farther it runs away.   

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

4)The national drainage divide passes through Jerusalem in the area of:

A) UN headquarters (Armon Hanatziv)

B   Mount Herzl

C) Heichal Shlomo (the jewish Heritage Center)

D) Beit Hakerem

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 https://youtu.be/EFMctlDFl0M   – I've never heard of Kobi Grinboim before but this hip song is sure to be an Israeli classic in the way that those poppy type songs always are..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZeWq5WerF8 – Reb Dovid Feinstien ZT"L Erev Shabbos shopping…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9HOa5tYzY – And checking out a Para Aduma?  

 https://youtu.be/EFMctlDFl0M  – Maybe it's because I love the flute or just the songs that this crew Shuki, David and Ruli released in this medley but its just beautiful

 https://youtu.be/7I7-OEq-Gp0   – I'm personally not a Daf Yomi guy, but if you are then you defintily should listen to this review song of the entire tractate…The genius of these songs never fail to amaze me…

 https://youtu.be/PIcyAq1mBqM   – Great 20 Minute Kids video on Toldos from Shazak

 RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

 Parshat Toldos– Whereas the life of Avraham was that of the first "Oleh" to Eretz Yisrael. Yitzchak was the first "Sabra". It was his job to secure the land that his father had walked through. It is for that reason Hashem tells him in this week's parsha that unlike his father who left Eretz Yisrael during times of famine. Yitzchak was meant to stay here. The skies were closed for him. So in the times of famine Yitzchak stays in Gerar with Avimelech, yet the Ohr Hachayim notes that unlike Avraham who dwelled there "gur". Yitzchak settled there. He re-dug the wells his father had dug and established them as his own and his descendants forever.

 What's fascinating though about this parsha is that the land of Gerar which is in the Gaza area is really questionable in regards to its status in halacha as part of Israel, and the commentaries and halachists grapple with this. We know that it certainly needs to be part of Eretz Yisrael for Yitzchak we know never left the land, and if he stayed there it's part of Eretz Yisrael. As well the borders of the land in Sefer Bamidbar certainly include this area. The problem though was if this area was ever conquered by the Jewish army. Certainly the book of Shoftim is full of battles between the Plishtim and the Jews and despite various conquests back and forth it seems the Plishtim always came back again. Even in the times of Dovid and Shlomo it does not seem that there was any decisive victory against them. In some cases they forced them to pay taxes but it wasn't until the period fo King Uziyahu that Jews settled in that area. The first time that we find that they were entirely conquered was in fact only by the last of the Kings of Israel Chizkiyahu. The Radak notes the significance and perhaps even the prophetic nature of this as he writes until the coming of Mashiach they will not be fully conquered. Chizkiyahu was meant to be Mashiach and that's why he was able to conquer them.

 Fascinatingly enough in the second Temple times we do not find any mention of the Plishtim. They seemed to have disappeared. Historians have different suggestions. But one thing is certain "our cousins" in Gaza today are certainly not descendants of them, as the Plishtim were a foreign seafaring nation that settled in the land originally and are not amongst the 7 natural nations that were here.  As it's Chanuka season it is perhaps timely to note that it was in the period of the Chasmonaim Kings (post-Chanuka) that the Gaza area was settled by Jews and we have many shuls that were uncovered in those areas. Whether that is enough to consider it part of the conquest and the borders of Israel in regards to the laws and leniencies of the tithes and Shemitta is as well discussed. It is certainly mentioned as a place that is majority non-Jewish. In fact, the quote the gemara tells us about "he who lives outside of Israel is like he has no God" is from Dovid Hamelech who was living and hiding in Gaza. (those that read the History and Eras column below know that already- see everything connects hereJ).

 This is truly a lengthy and long discussion that just touches the tip of the ink on this question, but it is fascinating to think about when think that it was in this specific area that Hashem told Yitzchak the land is yours. Don't leave it. Don't abandon it. Don't run away from it. There are certainly various levels of kedusha/holiness to Eretz Yisrael. There is the Temple Mount, there is Jerusalem, there are the areas we conquered and areas across the Yarden and in the Golan that have leniencies and Gaza and the Gerar area of Yitzchak have its own status. Yet it is all holy. It is all ours. Our forefather Yitzchak settled it for us because Hashem wanted us to know that. Maybe because He was scared that one day we might…. We just need Mashiach to give it all  back to us once again. May it be soon…

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

David and Amalek- 877 BC-  After Shaul gets the bad news that he and the Jews will lose to the Philistines, there will not be any miraculous salvations, their fate is sealed, the navi returns us to the scene of the Philistine camp. They have moved closer to Gilboa and are camped at Ein Yizrae'el- a fantastic spring that is still accessible today and they I visit with tourists. If you remember, Dovid was serving as Achish's bodyguard at the time having fooled him into believing that he was on his side. That was part of the reason that Achish even dared to attack the Jews, figuring that the Jews couldn’t win without Dovid. Yet it seems Achish's men didn't have that confidence in Dovid and they demanded that he be sent home. This was of course Hashem saving Dovid once again from having to join the Philistines on their attack against the Jews. Dovid feigned disappointment and headed back with his band of merry men to their home in Tziklag. (You can check back to our Mail about two weeks ago as to where that may be).

 But their joyful return was cut short when they saw that there city had been burnt and destroyed and looted buy the Amalekim. Worse than that the women and children they had left behind were all taken captive. Dovid's two wives Avigayil and Achinoam among those that had been captured. It seems that the Amalekim took advantage of Dovid and his men's absence to avenge themselves for the looting that Dovid and his men had done against them. But this was typical Amalekite attack- they didn't have the courage to against the Jewish army so they attack the weak and helpless. Dovid was devastated. His men were as well upset at Dovid for being so broken. They demanded that they respond and rescue their wives and children terrified for the fate that awaited them. Dovid asked the Kohen Aviatar to ask the Urim V'Tumim divine breastplate what Hashem wanted them to do and he got the go ahead he was looking for!

 So Dovid took his 600 men with him and headed South to Nachal Basor. Nachal Basor is the longest river in the Negev of Israel. It runs about 80 KM! It starts up near Ovdat and heads down and flowing to Nachal Beer Sheva, Gerar and eventually out to the Mediterranean by Gaza. By the Nachal Dovid leaves 200 men and continues on with the rest of the group. Along the way they "bump" into an Egyptian slave to the Amalekites that was sick and abandoned by his masters. He tells them where the Amalekites are after Dovid promises not to harm him. And Dovid and his men catch the Amalekites feasting and partying. It was the last party they had…

 Dovid wages battle in the evening for 24-36 hours in a surprise attack and returns all of the captives as well as all of the sheep and booty that was stolen. Don't mess with the army of Hashem! When they come back to the remaining men that were waiting, Dovid ceremoniously divides the wealth and booty equally between all 600 men against the grumbling of the men who did the actual fighting. Dovid told his men, that this was not a battle that was won by anyone but Hashem and thus all were entitled equally and in fact he even made that into the law for the future that all who served in his army whether they were fighters or not will always divide equally the booty. In an even more magananimous move Dovid then sends off his share to all of the elders of Judah that the Amalekites had taken things from and that had provided Dovid with protection in his years of fleeing. Next week we'll go through some of those places and see if we can identify them.

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAME JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 I didn't become a surgeon for the money; I didn't do it for the fame either. I just didn't become a surgeon

 Yankel was lost in the "Joke Hall of Fame". He's looking around when he comes upon a hallway full of people. At the other end of the hallway he sees a boxer just knocking people out one at a time. So, he quickly pushes past all of the people and asks the boxer, "Excuse me sir, is this the punchline?

 A swastika has been spray painted over Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame...Police say it's impossible to tell if the act was committed by Trump's opponents or supporters.

.Today I learned the fame of Albert Einstein pales in comparison to his brother whose work in cellular regeneration has been the subject of many books and several movies. His name was Frank...

 Why was the broken phonograph in the Hall of Fame? Because it broke all the records.

 Berel was davening for money and fame. When the local priest passed by and sneers at him saying, 'I always pray for honesty, modesty and other noble qualities in life'.

Berel answered 'very well Father, one always asks for the things they don't have!

 *********************************

Answer is A –  OK My first one wrong for this exam. There goes my streak. The truth is I think I even had this question on a previous exam and I'm not sure if I got it right then either. I knew the answer wasn't Har Hertzl or Beit Hakerem. Actually I shouldn't say  "I knew" – just cause I didn't, but it just didn’t sound right to me. I was pretty sure that it was by the Tayelet- and it is. It's below it by the valley of Hinom. It's just not up there on the top. It does however flow from the Knisa to the city down Yaffo and King George. I wasn't sure if it went all the way to Heichal Shlomo, but it does… Oh well. So the score now stands at 3 for Rabbi Schwartz and 1 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.