To Be A Chasid- Parshat Beshalach 2021/ 5781

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 "Your friend in Karmiel"

January 29^th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 16 17^th Shvat 5781

 

Parshat Beshalach

 

To be a Chasid

His child was sick. The Doctors had given up hope. There wasn’t much more he could do but pray. His friends at the eclectic synagogue that he prayed at, consisting of Chasidim with various Chasidic Rabbis and movement affiliations, all encouraged him to approach their Rebbe for a blessing and for prayers. Not particularly affiliated with any Chasidic movement or rebbe he went to a few of them for blessings. The Vizhnitzer, Gerrer, Bobov, Lubavitcher, Satmar, Pittsburger and Bostoner (he never made it out to the Karmieler J), all received him independently heard his woeful story and all blessed him that his child should have a Refuah Shleima a complete healing and promised to pray fervently for his recovery. He left feeling renewed hope and comforted by their deeply empathetic caring and reception.

Returning from his international “blessing tour” he went back to the hospital to find the doctors standing in amazement at what they described could only be a miraculous recovery. The tumor was gone, his organs were recovering, his son would live a long healthy life. Tears flowing down the father’s face he pledged to give a Kiddush the following week in his shul in honor of this incredible news. The mood, as can be imagined in shul that week was jubilant. As the L’Chaims were passed around the room on the special 18 year old single malt just right for the occasion, the Chasidim began the ultimate debate; which Rebbe should get the credit for the miracle that took place. Each Chasid claimed it was their Rebbe that had stormed the gates of heaven and that had ultimately been responsible for the healing of the young boy. Needless to say as in most good Jewish debates of this sort no resolution was found. One of the Chasidim, of the Satmar affiliation, decided after davening to walk down to his Rebbe, the always sharp and to the point, Reb Yoel Teitelbaum ZT”L of Satmar, and ask him who he thought should get the credit.

The Rebbe heard his Chasid’s earnest quandary and responded in the way that only the Satmar Rebbe was known to answer.

“Which Rebbe will get the credit?” he asked his Chasid “Why that’s simple. The Rebbe with the most Chasidim will ultimately get the credit. Because, after all, he has the most adherents and they will be sure to promulgate the story in their Rebbe’s name the most.”

“But who really gets the credit?” he said wryfully, “That is really the Ribono Shel Olam- The True Master of the Universe; Hashem. But unfortunately He has only ‘vainegeh Chasidim’-too few Chasidim so you may never really hear about it.”

What does it mean to be a Chasid of the Almighty? For that matter what does it mean to be a chasid at all? As a child growing up in Detroit there were not too many Chasidim around (besides Chabad which of course are everywhere-but I mean the big furry hats and long coats type). But every year we would have an annual Stoliner Shabbat (or ‘shabbis’ as they would say it), when a hundred or more Chasidim would come for their yearly pilgrimage to their Rebbe’s grave in Detroit for special prayers. The memories of those Shabbosim are etched in my mind. Loud, fervent, inspired davening, Kiddushes and Friday night Tish when the Rebbe would lead his Chasidim in song while sharing his fruit and his drink with them were all just parts of the other-worldly – or better yet old-worldly experience that I had felt I entered in. Watching the Rebbe and listening to him speaks pearls of Torah (in Yiddish- which I didn’t understand) one could sense a feeling of holy awe that permeated the room. You were connected to something higher than life. You wanted to be there forever.

This week is known as Shabbat Shira- a Shabbat of song. The Torah reading of the week contains in it the song our ancestors sang upon their miraculous salvation and the splitting of the sea. The Talmud tells us that even the simplest maidservant achieved a greater level of spiritual prophesy at that moment than even the greatest prophets. They all became Chasidim of Hashem. And Chasidim sing. There is a special custom this Friday before Shabbos Shira to give food to the birds prior to the onset of Shabbat. One of the reasons given for this custom is because the power of song is the domain of the birds. We borrow their special power this week and share with them our food.

What is the song of the birds? They are the most transcendent of creatures. They fly across the skies and see the incredible beauty of Creation. Their songs are so close to the heavens because they see the Almighty wherever they fly. When a Chasid closes his eyes and sings he can also fly. His soul soars and he is connected to Hashem, our Father… our Rebbe.

This Shabbos is also always connected to the holiday of Tu B’Shvat the New Year of the trees. Look outside and the trees still look dead and barren. The grass is not green and the fruits are not yet growing. Tu B’Shvat tells us to look deeper. Our sages and Botanists both agree that underground the sap is starting to flow. The Creation and flourishing is just around the corner. The song is slowly starting and we should already begin to sing. A true Chasid doesn’t need to see the fulfillment of the blessing to begin his song. As soon as he knows his Rebbe has heard his plea, he begins to rejoice. He can already hear the song. So as you sit down with your family this Shabbat, teach them the song of this Shabbos. Show them who your Rebbe is. Hashem could use a few more Chasidim.

Have a harmonious Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 ***************

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

"Fun fartrikenteh baimer kumen kain paires nit arois..." No fruits sprout from dried out trees

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

14) A site recognized as a World Heritage Site:

A) Mount Tabor

B) Capernaum (Kefar Nahum)

C) Caesarea

D) Beit Shearim

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/shiras-hayam-the-song-of-the-sea-vayosha   – Shabbos Shira is incomplete without singing Rabbi Schwartz'es Vayosha song of the Sea compostion. It's most likely the tune Jews used when they left Egypt!

https://youtu.be/ULbsZ7g9OWY  - Der Rebbe Iz Duh… Yehudah Green's aweseome new song and video… this will be ung by every tish and oneg so learn it quick…

 

https://youtu.be/YXONm-fXWe8  - 8^th Day has a new hit song- Rollin

 https://youtu.be/c_iKXeV0Kic  - Rabbi K and his son Luzzy have a great Kabbalat Shabbos song and beautiful video- Yamin U'Smol

 https://youtu.be/uh5Vfv7sYLg – Cool New Finds in David's Tower in Jerusalem (Hebrew)

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

 The Prerequisites to Israel - Parshat Beshalach– Our holy books tell us that when Parshiyot share similar names we should try to find the connections between them. Your homework is to think of other parshas- besides Beshalach and Shelach that have similar names. But the similarity between the themes of our parsha and Shelach when Moshe sends out spies to the Land of Israel is of course obvious. They are both parshas with a mission to get to the land of Israel. Although separated by two books of the Torah though these stories really only take place about a year apart. The first Beshalach, of our parsha is Pharaoh sending the Jews out of Egypt. Parshat Shelach is Moshe sending the spies to Israel to get them ready for the land. And just as that was a preparation for us to go into Israel, our parsha has all the prerequisites that we as a Nation had to learn before coming into the land.

 What are those lessons? Well the first is that we have miracles that Hashem preform for us. Seemingly impassable seas will open up before us, but we first need to jump in. Eretz Yisrael will require a leap of faith. It will require the knowledge that there are no "Egypts" to go back to. When Pharaoh sent us out we knew that lesson well. Sadly, when Moshe did a year later, the spies felt that life in the Midbar was safer, more secure, perhaps even with an easier opportunity to learn Torah from Moshe. And thus we couldn't enter the land.

 The second lesson we learned when we left was that we may find bitter waters when we arrive there, but don't worry with a little prayer and casting of our sticks they will become the sweetest we have ever tasted. We will see 70 trees blossom in no time. The land will flourish in no time. Unfortunately as well in Parshat Shelach Moshe's spies see the incredible fruits of the land of Israel and they view it as an anomaly, as something negative, strange huge fruits that require two people to carry them. They're dangerous, not blessed.

 Our Parsha then gives us the next requisite lesson. The daily food that we eat. We have the Manna. It is miraculous. It comes from heaven. And it's a daily miracle that we have what to put on our table. It's called bread of faith. It doesn't work on Shabbos. That's what life in Israel will be like. The righteous will get it right near their house, the not so righteous might have to shlep all over the country for it. But it will be there. It might take some getting adjusted to. New olim certainly learn that nerve racking lesson right away. But after a while they experience those miraculous ways that Hashem provides bread on our tables. The spies of Moshe had gotten so used to the manna that they didn't want to give it up. They didn't realize that Hashem would be providing that same miraculous daily bread in other forms on the plates of Israelis as well.

 Finally, the last lesson of our Parsha is that there will be enemies, Amalekites, that will try to destroy us and not allow us to fulfill our mission in this world. The fact that they are coming to attack us should remind us that we are not just going to Israel to have a safe place to settle and thrive. We are there on a mission to restore the throne of Hashem to its full glory. It is for this reason that the nations will try to stop us. But if we remember that we have this higher mission to achieve. If we remember that we are in the army of Hashem. If we look up to the uplifted hands of Moshe on the top of that mountain and realize that Hashem is leading our army than we will be victorious. We have nothing to fear. As Yehoshua and Calev told the Jews when they returned.

 Bamidbar (14:9) "We need not fear them they are our bread, their protection has left them. Hashem is with us"

 If we learn those lessons then we will be able to finally enter the land and we will then sing the song of Hashem, the Shira Chadasha of the redeemed that we daven for each day.

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

The conquest of Jerusalem - 872 BC-  It took 7 and a half years of him ruling in just Chevron but finally at the young age of 37 Dovid Hamelech finally was accepted and inaugurated as the King of all of Yisrael. All of the tribes sent their representatives to Chevron and Dovid was hailed as the king.

 His first matter of business it seems was not writing executive orders reversing everything the previous administrations achievements. Rather it was about uniting the Jewish people around one capital; liberating Hashem's city and palace on this world. It was finally about Yerushalayim. See when Dovid was fleeing from Shaul the verse tells us that he fled to Nayot, which we said there is a neighborhood in Jerusalem that is named for it. It received its name from this week's song at the sea where the Beish Hamikdash Nevei Kodshecha His holy abode. For he stayed up all night learning with Shmuel about the exact location of where the Temple was meant to be built.

Now Yerushalayim sits in the portion between two tribes; Yehudah and Binyamin. It has been these two tribes that represent all of the Jewish people as they are the children of Rachel and Leah. It's the perfect place to unify the Jewish people.

 There was one problem though. It was enemy territory. The city was well fortified and it was in the hands of the Yevusi or Jebusites. They had felt very comfortable as they believed that they were safe because of the treaty that their ancestor Avimelech had made with Avraham.  Yet that deal was over. The time for us to return had finally come.

 The perfect and most favorite place to tell this story for tour guides is of course in the Ir Dovid- the city of David which still stands with the walls from that period. One can perhaps looking out at those walls picture the blind and lame men that the Yevusim placed on the wall taunting Dovid that even they could protect the city that was so well fortified. The blind and lame were meant to symbolize Yitzchak Avinu who was blind and Yaakov who was lame, that not even the merit of our ancestors will protect us.

 Dovid though makes a promise in a very strange but archeologically significant statement. That someone needs

  Shmuel (5:8) "To strike the Yevusi by hitting the Tzinor- the pipe". Huhhh?  The next verse tells us how Yoav successfully did that and the city became Dovid's but how?

 Well the Medrash gives us a few different scenarios. The first is that Yoav hoisted a huge cypress tree and used it to scale over the walls. Another Midrash suggests that he cut off the water supply of the city and yet another suggest that he knocked down the pole where the lame and blind soldiers held onto for support.  Tour guides though will not tell you any of those stories. We've got a better one for you and it starts with a British explorer and archeologist named Charles Warren in the early 1900's in Palestine. But let's save that for next week… Nothing like a good cliff hanger.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S GREAT CHASIDIC JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 A mitnaged once walked into a the Chasidic minyan of the Rebbi of Ruzhin. He was astounded that after davening was over the chasidim gathered around the Rebbi with a bottle of Shnapps and started making L'chayims with one another. The outraged misnaged turned to the Rebbi and said

"What is it with you chasidim? By us litvaks when we finish davening in shul we all sit down and learn mishnayos. And here, you all drink l'chayims!" the Rebbi looked at him and smiled and explained.

"See by you the prayers are all dead without life, so you recite Mishnayot which is customary by a mourners home. By us the prayers are full of life so we drink l'chayim!"

 

One day a chasid came to the Tzemach Tzedek. He had an upcoming courtcase with the local Poritz and he was very nervous of how he would answer all of the accusations against him. The Rebbi asked for the chasid to tell him what the Poritz was claiming and then told him what he should respond. But the chasid was still nervous and continued to ask the Rebbi, but what if the the Poritz then answers me this and this and that? The Rebbi again told him what to respond if the Portiz came up with counter claims. But still the Chasid was nervous and asked the Rebbi one last time but what if even after all of that he still claims this and that and this. The Rebbi looked at the Chasid and told him not to worry

"The Portiz doesn't daven Shemona Esrei three times a day and doesn't have that time to think about all of the rebuttals that you did…"

 

A Misnaged once asked Reb Naftali Ropshitzer why is it that Chasdim are always drinking schnapps and making l'chaims. Reb Naftali answered "Why it's to make the blessing of Shehakol Nihiye b'dvaro- that everything happens with the word of Hashem, as often as they can…"

The Misnaged then challenged the Rebbi "well then why don't they just drink water"

"Ahhh" said the Rebbi "A Chasid that recognizes that everything comes from Hashem shouldn't deserve a little mashkeh/ drink!"

 

One Chasid once came to his Rebbi and was complaining to him how difficult it was for him to make a living. He had trouble even  buy food for his familyeach night. The Rebbi told him that he felt the solution was that he the chasid should work on being b'simcha-filled with joy and that would bring him the segula that he needs. The chasid turned to the Rebbi and asked

"but how am I supposed to be b'simcha if I can't even put bread on my table!?"

Answered the wise Rebbi "Ayyyy what don't we do for a bissel parnassah…"

 

The Satmar Rebbi told his Chasidim that the known segula of reciting Parshat Ha'Manna that is meant to bring parnassa only works until 8:59 AM after that the best segula is to go to work.

 

Reb Naftali Ropshitz once noted that only once was he bested in a conversation and it was by a ten year old girl. He said that he came to a small little village that had only 10 men. When he came to the Shul to speak he noted that there was a cemetery right next to the Shul. So he turned to the congregation and asked them what was the point of the cemetery.

"Seemingly, it serves no purpose, for as there are only 10 men here if someone dies there won't be a minyan anymore. So it should be forbidden for anyone to die. And if it is permitted to die than whats the point of having a synagogue.

A little girl in the front row piped up "The cemetery is there for people that come from outside of the city that lecture us and then die here…"

 

A chasid who had done some very embarrassing sins was wrought with regret and fear of Divine retribution. So he came to Reb Naftali and explained that he had a very close friend that had done these terrible sins and his friend was embarrassed to come to the Rebbi and ask him what he needed to do that would serve as an atonement for his transgressions. The Rebbi turned to him and said " tell you're friend that his is very silly. All he had to do was come to me and tell me that he is asking for a friend and I would be happy to tell him and I wouldn't be any wiser to it…"

 

A Chasid once came to the Rebbi to complain about his son-in-law.

"Rebbi, I don't know what to do with him… All he wants to do is daven, say tehillim and sit and learn Torah all day long…"

The Rebbi turned to the Chasid and told him "What's so bad… I also sit and learn and daven and say tehillim"

The Chasid answered "Yes, Rebbi, that's true but you do that because that's your parnassa, my son-in-law wants to do it for real…"

 

How many Lubavitchers does it take to change a lightbulb? The lightbulb never died

 Or alternatively…

How many Chabad Chasidim does it take to change a lightbulb? 3 one to change the bulb, one to hang the picture of the Rebbi and one to broadcast to the entire world that its been done

 

How many Satmar Chasidim does it take to change a lightbulb? 3 one to take down the picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbi, the second to break the old lightbulb and the third to break all the other lightbulbs.

 

 Q. how many Breslovers does it take to change a lightbulb? A. Three. Two to hold the ladder very still as the third guy dances it in, around and around.

 

A Hasidic man, with a long beard, payis, a kaftan (long black coat), and shtreiml (the traditional fur hat), walks into a bar with a multi-colored parrot on his shoulder.

The bartender says: "Where'd you get that?"

The parrot replies: "Brooklyn. There's thousands of them."

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Answer is D –This one is not such an easy one. Although I knew it easily because I visit Beit Shearim so often and it's necropolis (burial caves) from the times of the Mishna and Talmud periods is one of the coolest in the world. Yet, I think most people would probably guess either Caesarea which is certainly more famous (especially since Rabbi Schwartze's great Mishpacha column and video J) or Capernaum- the Christian site with the house of Peter mentioned in the New Testament. But those sites are just on the tentative waiting list. If you guessed Tabor though you're off base. The church there isn't too old less than 100 years or so and despite it's significance there's not much to see there besides a great view. So I got this one right to and the score now stands at 12 for Rabbi Schwartz and 2 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.