Hero Sandwich- Shabbos Hagadol/ Pesach 2021 5781

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 "Your friend in Karmiel"

March 26^th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 24 13^th Nissan 5781

 

Pesach

 

Hero Sandwiches

So, I haven't really been home much in the past for this Pesach cleaning thing that Jews do. As much as it pains me not to be there and take part in these exciting preparations for Pesach-what I could I do? There were always tourists that were in town and they desperately needed and deserved to have me as their tour guide to inspire them about our holy land and explain to them how nice having only one seder was. How much better it was to be living here and how incredible it would be if they and their children could experience the holiness and glory of Hashem's favorite country all year round. Sure, other guides could do that as well, but some guides are a little nervous to make those type of bold statements. They don't want to offend people or make them question the authenticity of their Jewish experience and lifestyles that they have created for themselves in the Diaspora. I, on the other hand, live for those moments. I tell it like it is. It's an important job and gift Hashem has given me by blessing us with living here and having this great job and I don't want to let Him down. Also I'm really not the greatest cleaner…

Yet this year, being tour-less, I've been home for Pesach cleaning and let me tell you something it ain't easy. Do people really do this every year?  I mean here I am, trying to do some work on my computer, writing my E-Mail, my next upcoming Mishpacha article, even learning a bit and preparing for the Seder and I'm constantly being asked to switch seats.

"Can you get off the dining room table- now we're doing the chairs" So I move to the couch. "Can you get off the couch, we need to clean inside the cushions". So I move to my office.

"Can you get out of the office now we need to clean it". I mean this is rough. All this moving from room to room, from couch to couch, from table to table. I even had to walk up and down the stairs a few times to get my sefarim from the living room where I was not able to learn because of the noise from the vacuum cleaners. My shoes got wet from some sponja water that someone spilled while cleaning. It's really tiring all this moving around not to mention watching all these people cleaning around me. How do people do this?  I want my tourists back…

Now what I find fascinating about all of this is that after what seems like a month long spring cleaning on steroids, followed by non-stop cooking, shopping and toiveling, followed by more shopping and toiveling again and again and then more cleaning and cooking, we are meant to arrive at our Pesach seder, relaxed, chilled like kings relaxing on a couch, all inspired to tell our children the story of Pesach, listen to their divrey Torah and of course all with a smile, patience and love. I can barely keep my eyes open now, fuggedabout my poor wife who hasn't slept in who knows how long; writing list after list in this non-stop preparation. I mean who came up with this holiday anyways?

Oh yeah… it was Hashem. Hmmm… I guess if that's the case then it's probably worthwhile to take a second to appreciate how and what these seemingly contradictory holiday demands of us are all about.  On one hand we work and slave furiously, on the other hand we are relaxed and laying back on the couch. It is the matza and the maror together. It our freedom spiced up with the flavor of maror. It has a little charoses flavor which represents the bricks we made, but yet counterintuitively they are flavored to taste kind of sweet. And in the times of the Beit Hamikdash, when Hashem's glory was resting in the place it was meant to, we would eat all of these incredible and distinct contradictory flavors as part of a sandwich called Korech with a nice big slab of roasted Korban Pesach lamb chops in the middle. Welcome to the sandwich of Hillel; the pre-feast hors d'oeuvres we are meant to eat right before our meal in middle of the Seder.

Korech really got the short straw by the Seder in my opinion. See, by that time in the Seder all of the haggada torah has been said already. We left Egypt, we relived the persecution, the babies in the Nile, the plagues. The kids have said their Ma Nishtanas, hid the Afikoman, sung their Dayeinus and half of Hallel. They've shared all their insights and asked all of their questions. We have already downed two cups of wine, eaten our karpas, lots of Matza and Maror. Shulchan Orech is right around the corner… finally! Chatzos is rapidly approaching (if it hasn't past yet and you did the conditional afikoman shtick). But wait… we're not there yet. We have to pause and eat the korech sandwich. We have to take more Matza, more Maror this time we need to put them together and then mention that this is what Hillel did in the Temple. Shkoyachh…. Can't this wait till after we eat a meal. The brisket is calling to me.

I mean we already ate Matza, we ate Maror. We don't have a Korban Pesach anymore today anyways. What's the point? This is a question nobody really asks because everyone is pretty "torah'ed out" by this time. Anybody that risks stopping the seder at this point for more pesach Seder Torah by my seder risks having that horseradish root sitting on the Seder plate stuffed in their mouth by multiple people sitting at the table, the one sitting at the head not being the last of them. But it's before Pesach still. It's still safe to ask the question. So let's do so.

This Shabbos is called Shabbos Hagadol when we are meant to remember and recall the miracle that took place on that first Shabbos which was the 10^th of Nissan. It was a few days before our exodus when Hashem told us to take a lamb-which was the Egyptian idolatry-and prepare it for slaughtering. The commentaries of the Shulchan Aruch note that a great miracle took place in that the Egyptians did not respond to this affront to their belief system. Yet the Bach notes that there is something strange about this. Seemingly, he asks, the Jews were always eating meat. We were never vegetarians. The Egyptians knew this all along. Even back in the days of Yosef, the viceroy of Pharaoh, the torah tells us that the Jews would eat their meat, just separate from the Egyptians. This was different though. Here something else was going on.

In the words of the Bach that what took place here was that the Jews told the Egyptians specifically that we are slaughtering their God down in this world and in doing so Hashem will respond and slaughter their God- or guardian angel at least-in the upper worlds. The Pesach offering represents our making that first move to our redemption. It's our cleaning house. It's getting rid of the foreign influence and shmutz and understanding that when we do that Hashem will respond with the greatest of miracles and redeem us.

It's interesting thing this Korban Pesach we are meant to be eating. It's different than any other sacrifice. The Talmud tells us a story of a year during the Temple years when just like this year Erev Pesach fell out on Shabbos. It seems that there was a lot of confusion about what should be done that particular year. The Halacha is that sacrifices that are a communal offering, like the daily Tamid and the Sabbath and holiday offerings, are brought on the Shabbos-despite the fact that obviously lighting a fire and cooking is generally prohibited. At the same time though, personal sacrifices like sin, vows, or thanksgiving offerings could only be brought on a weekday. What is the status of the Korban Pesach, was the question? On the one hand unlike the communal sacrifices which were purchased with the community contributed funds this was paid for by each person individually. As well each family selected who would join them, it wasn't the priests of Hashem. It was each one of us. Yet, at the same time though it was certainly a holiday sacrifice that the entire Jewish people were commanded to bring. Hmmm… what to do?

Along comes Hillel and solves the problem. He recalls from his Rabbis that it in fact was brought on a Shabbos. And thus the Korban Pesach that year was saved. The story gets better though. For the question then became how to transport the knife for the slaughtering on Shabbos. Was one permitted to carry it? Here, Hillel himself seemed to have divinely forgotten the law. He attributed it to the fact that he had perhaps spoken so assuredly and expressed, what some might consider, some pride in being the one that remembered the law. Yet, he saw some Jews coming to Jerusalem and they had placed their slaughtering knives in the wool or horns of the sheep and goat they were bringing and he exclaimed

"If the children of Israel aren't prophets they are the children of prophets, for this is the law as I remember"

Do you know what the pinnacle of our Pesach Seder is? After we have recited it all and left Egypt. We've sung, we've been redeemed and we've eaten our matza and our bitter herbs. We are left with one last thing to do before we eat our meal and conclude our Seder. We need to eat that sandwich of Hillel. We need to remember that there was a temple and in that Temple the entire Jewish people and their individual sacrifices that we brought are all considered communal sacrifices. Just as a prophet does not prophesize for himself as he represents the entire Jewish people, so each Jew and each service we each do; all of our maror, all of our trials and tribulations which may seem like they are personal, they are really all part of the sandwich of a communal sacrifice of a Korban Pesach.

As well, that Pesach sacrifice is to be sandwiched by the matza- that unleavened bread that is not left alone for a second. It's worked and worked and worked, like our houses and cleaning. There's no time that it's not busy. All of our work and efforts that we each do are as well part of that communal sacrifice. We sprinkle that charosess on that sandwich and remember those bricks we built back in Egypt and as we chew down while leaning like kings we are transported to the bricks of the Beit Hamikdash we are building. We remember Hillel's lesson and teaching. We remember that Erev Pesach that fell out on Shabbos when he revealed that even the Torah of the simplest Jew carrying his knife on a sheep has a Torah to teach that and a prophecy for the entire Jewish nation.

Pesach is the holiday that remembers the miracles Hashem preformed for us as we became his nation. But the prelude to that great Exodus that we recite to our children is the miracle that the Jewish people preformed first. Despite two centuries of exile, slavery and assimilation, miraculously as a nation we found the strength and fortitude to step up and  heed Hashem's command and slaughter those sheep. We had suffered, we had lost children, family members, we had been tortured and abused like no other nation. We had every right to give up and throw in the towel. And yet we didn't. We stood up bravely, like no other nation ever would and put that blood on our doorposts and told the Egyptians that their Gods were doomed. Hashem would finish them up because we as a nation, each Jew will eat that Pesach sacrifice down here below and understands that every action we do is not independent. It is an entire eternal community. My personal little backyard BBQ Korban Pesach is as important and as precious as the daily sacrifice that was brought in the Temple for the entire nation. The Egyptians saw this and they didn't have anything to say. We created that shining light of faith and when confronted with the power of our nation's audacious declaration they were speechless. And thus the original hero sandwich was born.

Unlike last year this Pesach many of us will be back again with our families Baruch Hashem. The entire story of the plagues of Egypt lasted about a year and we have endured a year of the plague ourselves. However unlike back then when only the Egyptians were plagued,  "Makkas Covid" has struck us as well. There is almost no home that doesn't know or have someone that wasn't killed by this plague. There was no one who's life hasn't been struck and made to suffer in some capacity as a result of it. Yet unlike the Egyptians we recognize that all that Maror is really part of our redemption. We recognize that the bread of our affliction is really just the sandwich that wraps our community together. That brought us all closer together. That joined us in one long hero sandwich that reminds us of the Temple that is being built by every mitzva we do, every statement of faith we make, every spark of holiness we reveal. Making that great Hillel Hero sandwich may have been tiring and exhausting. But we have finally reached that point in our Seder when we can eat it. We can be kings and truly free.

Here in Israel the most popular sandwich to order is a me'urav yerushalmi- A Jerusalem Mix. May this year Pesach, this coming Shabbos all of you join me in Yerushalayim in the Temple for that Hero sandwich that will no longer be just a memory of Hillel, but the tasty dessert we've waited 2000 years to partake in.

Have a Chag Kasher V'Samayach,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

" Gebroteneh teibelech flien nit in moil arein." Roasted teibelech  (?? I think it means crackers- I know what teiglech are anyone know what teibelech are? ) don't just fly in your mouth "

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

A quarter that did not exist in Acre during the Crusader period:

a) Franciscan

b) Pisan

c) Hospitallers

d) Venetian

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 

https://youtu.be/PrCK7zLj2U0    – THE SCHWARTZ FAMILY PESACH STORY- With my great Vayosha song- Rabbi Schwartz b'pijama in middle of the night!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQON0ipv6iI   - Six-13 Pirate Pesach cute!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3KBEESu05Y    - Fantastic musical Seder in Jerusalem with Mayor Lion-must see…

 

https://youtu.be/Vtb7rmvx4po - Heart wrenching and beautiful Eli Levin Afikomen song in memory of young engaged couple that died and the organization to make shidduchim for people in their memory

 

https://youtu.be/7GpXZ5R7JDQ- Rabbi Klatzkow's beautiful meaningful new song The four sons sung by his son Luzy

 

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

 

Together – Vayikra- Traditionally this Shabbos, before Pesach is known as Shabbas HaGadol. According to the Tur Shulchan Aruch the reason it is called this is to commemorate the great miracle that took place on the 10^th of Nissan. Four days before Erev Pesach the Jews were commanded to take a sheep and tie it to their bedposts in order to prepare it and make sure it would be blemish free in order for it to be ready for the Pesach offering. The sheep was worshipped by the Egyptians and in fact the lunar month of Nissan is the astrological sign of Airies- the ram, meaning it was in full force. Seemingly this would offend the Egyptians, as much as the burning of a cross would a Christian or a Koran of a Muslim or the burning of an American Flag would for most Americans- at least Republicans and their response should have been brutal and violent. Yet according to the Midrash "their mouths were sealed" and they didn't say anything. The Jews left Egypt on the 15^th of Nissan which was on Thursday and thus this miracle and act took place 5 days prior on Shabbos the 10^th of Nissan. And thus it is called Shabbat HaGadol to commemorate that miracle.

 

Not it would seem that this year more than any year there should be a question that stands out which is that we are already 4 days past the 10^th of Nissan. Why are we commemorating this miracle on Shabbos? We never commemorate things on the day of the week that it fell out. We commemorate it on the day of the calendar month. To paraphrase the Haggada- Why is this miracle commemoration different than all other commemorations of the year?

 

The Bach answers the question with another question, he notes that in fact seemingly there was another huuuge miracle that took place on the 10^th of Nissan that took place 40 years after we left Egypt. That miracle was the splitting of the Jordan River by Yehoshua when we entered the land of Israel. Our Rabbis tell us that all of the fancy shmancy miracles that took place when Moshe split the Red Sea took place here as well. Each tribe had its own channel to walk through, the there   This is a pretty big miracle as well and seemingly it should be commemorated. However, the Bach tells us that it is precisely because this miracle took place on the 10^th of Nissan that we do not celebrate Shabbos HaGadol on that day. We don't want to confuse the importance of our commemoration of the miracle of the taking of the pesach lamb. The question is why not? What's wrong with doing it on the 10^th of Nissan and remembering this huge miracle as well. It seems that we specifically do not want to remember this miracle. Have you ever heard of a miracle that we don't want to commemorate?

 

I heard an incredible answer from my Rebbi that really reveals much of the essence of our Pesach Seder; what we are meant to remember and celebrate and what we have yet to celebrate and commemorate. By our Seder we conclude our Dayeinu song with Hashem giving us the Bais HaBechira-His holy temple in Jerusalem. The blessing we make on our 2^nd cup of wine before we begin the eating part of Seder we have been waiting for also concludes with the prayer that we return to our sacrifice in the Temple. Even when we left Egypt and the splitting of the sea it was all about receiving the Torah on Sinai and ultimately as we sang in Az Yashir to return to Eret Yisrael and build the Temple. It's all about the ultimate goal of establishing a Home for Hashem here on this earth.  That is what we recognize and remember when we leave Egypt; what was the purpose of it all.

 

When Yehoshua split the sea for us to come into Israel there were tremendous miracles. This was it. We have arrived. The Jews are home, the promise of our ancestors had been fulfilled. There's a danger however of being so excited about coming to Israel and those miracles in its establishment that one forgets that the job is not yet over. This was never about having a "Jewish State" in our ancestral heritage where we would not be persecuted. We establish holidays and commemorations when we began the process of our slaughtering the lamb, when we left Egypt. Back then we sang about the Temple we will build. But the miracles of entering the land… that's just still on the road to getting there. That's like the miraculous wars and miracles Hashem perfomed for us along the way 40 years in the wilderness. We don’t commemorate them. They're just part of the journey that we are still waiting to conclude. We therefore make sure not to commemorate the miracle of the 10^th of Nissan. We don't want people to get confused and think we are establishing a Yom Ha'Atzmaut of sorts for the crossing into the Jordan and our arrival into Eretz Yisrael. Holidays like that fool us into thinking our job is done. Pesach is all about remembering that we still have not drunk that 5^th cup yet. We still are in middle of the journey. We are meant to still be inspired to come home and join together here and build that Beis Hamikdash. That is that haftorah we read about Eliyahu Hanavi and the Yom Ha'Gadol. That great day that we are waiting for that we started on that original Shabbat Ha'Gadol. May we hear that Shofar blast this year.

 

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

(In honor of Shabbos HaGadol we will pause our chronology and remember the miracle of the 10^th of Nissan of Yehoshua and Jews crossing into Israel)

 

Crossing the Yarden 1272 BC Although he did not have as good of a PR agent as Moshe did, the crossing of the Jordan River by the Jewish people led by Yehoshua was just as miraculous. In some ways perhaps even more so. The Torah tells us that unlike by the Red Sea when the Jews were nervous and frightened, by the Jordan river they seemed to have kicked the fear of raging waters and went right in. Now when I cross the Jordan river- generally in the North of Israel I have to be point out to my tourists a few things. Number one, this is not where the Jews crossed. They crossed on the southern Jordan, across from Yericho above the Dead Sea. We can’t cross that today because the other side is Jordan. The second thing I point out, is that the Jordan was certainly much larger than today. For today it really is not much more than a creek. But it still is a cool chavaya to “cross the Jordan” which I do by the Golan near Gesher Arik or Gesher Bnot Yaakov.

 As well the crossing of the Jordan in the times of Yehoshua entailed taking 12 rocks and building an altar/ memorial from them of the crossing. These rocks the Midrash tells us were ultimately taken up to Gilgal where it was built and then perhaps taken down again and re-erected and plastered over by Mt. Eival when they had the blessings and curses, but we’ll get to that later. Today throughout the area of the Jordan Valley there are a few sites where they found circular manmade rock formations that can be associated with Gilgal, a word that means round, although the Torah tells us a different reason it’s called that. The closest one to the Yericho crossing is near Moshav Argaman.

 Finally the Torah tells us that unlike the Red Sea crossing here the Kohanim and the Ark stayed on the other side and came last and then they flew over in the midrash version, carrying those that were carrying it. One can imagine the excitement of the nation finally realizing they have entered the land, but oh no, the Ark is on the other side, the Kohanim are still there, the water closed up and then poof it flies over their head to the other side. Hollywood couldn’t do it better. And this is the story I like to tell my tourists when we stand by Kasr El Yahud right by the Jordan river as we overlook the place of the crossing. I also tell them to look in the water to see if they can see the 12 replacement stones that Yehoshua put in the Jordan river instead. No one has found them yet. But the Torah tells us that they are still there. So keep looking!

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE SANDWICH JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 What do my life and my sandwich have in common? They both fall apart right in front of my eyes

 Why should you ask an anti-masker to make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

Because they are a super spreader!

 Every time my mom burns my grilled cheese sandwich I get a stomach ache...I guess I’m black toast intolerant.

 What do Israeli politicians, conspiracy theorists, mainstream media and sandwiches have in common? They're all full of baloney.

 I’ve just been out to the local Israeli cafe to buy 25 sandwiches for all my colleagues in the office. I kept them all in separate bags though - didn’t want to put all my Greggs in the same basket

Berel bumped into Shmerel in the deli and asked what he was doing there. Shmerel said  “I love sandwiches!”

Berel said: “Me too. By the way, I heard you just bought a horse! What did you name it?”

Shmerel answered “Mayo.”

“Mayo? Why Mayo?”

 “Because he neighs.”

 Why did the tomato turn red? It saw the sandwich dressing!

Why don't sandwiches like warm weather? Things get Toasty!

 Where do you get an Indian Sandwich? At the New Delhi.

What do you eat at the beach? A Sand-wich. 

What did the fisherman catch when he used peanut butter as bait? A jellyfish. 

A sandwich walks into a bar. The barman says "Sorry we don't serve food in here" 

Do you want a salad with that Sandwich? Veggies!! That's what my food eats!

I didn’t feel like cooking tonight, so I made a sandwich for dinner

It wasn’t so much as a sandwich as much as it was just bread.
I guess more just grain.
Fermented grain.
Distilled, fermented grain.
I had whisky for dinner tonight.

What did the sandwich say to the doorman? Lettuce in 

Here is why you should never trust a sandwich. They are full of baloney 

Yankel boards a bus with a sandwich in his hand. The bus driver says: "Hey, this ain't a restaurant,!"
He replies: "I know. That's why I brought my own food."

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Answer is A – This one was fairly easy as well. I certainly visit Akko a lot and it's one of my favorite places to tour. And although I prefer the Jewish Akko stories rather than the Crusader ones. I know enough about the Hospatilers that lived there and I remember the Venician and Pisan quarters that divided the city. The Franciscans which were not even founded until the end of the Crusader period just didn't fit in. And I was of course correct so back in the game  And the score is now 15 for Rabbi Schwartz and 5 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.

 

The Meat Too Movement- Parshat Vayikra 2021 /5781

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 "Your friend in Karmiel"

March 19^th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 23 6^th Nissan 5781

 Parshat Vayikra

 The Meat Too Movement

I'm thinking, cow; a nice tenderloin, juicy, medium rare slice of prime rib. It's been a while since I've had a good slice. The Purim Seuda doesn't count OK… Once upon a time when tourists used to come to Israel, I would eat out all the time with "my people". Part of the Eretz Yisrael chavaya is feeding your favorite Rabbi/ tour guide. It's not exactly like feeding the animals at the zoo, despite the very similar satisfied smile and grunts of approval. You can't actually pet me while I'm eating. But I will definitely entertain you during the meal nonetheless. If you're lucky I might even sing you a song I composed. A nice steak and glass of wine brings that out in me.

These days though it's been lots of leftovers. Probably more than I've ever eaten since I moved here. Don't get me wrong I love my wife's cooking; it was one of the main reasons I married her. That and her Yiras Shamayim of course and her tremendous wisdom and foresight to saying yes when I proposed to her, unlike all of those other girls that lost out. Happy 27^th anniversary dear, by the way- a week late... Oops.

 In fact, I even love her leftovers as much as I love her fresh cooked meals. Chulent gets better with every cooking, my decades long scientific research has proven. But I miss the whole prime rib- cow-on-a-plate experience. There's nothing like the smell of a good BBQ. The roasting flesh of a warm blooded animal has an aroma that just gets all those gastrointestinal juices flowing. To think this cow spent his or her whole life grazing on grass, 'prime'-ing himself for this special moment when he could serve as a vehicle for a Jew like me to thank Hashem for the delicious animals He gave us. This week's E-mail is not for ideological vegetarians by the way. Probably not for other kinds of vegetarians either. Probably most weeks E-Mails aren't as well. You should probably just unsubscribe now. Or just skip to the jokes.

Now if you think I'm being over-passionate about meat then you should probably unsubscribe from the next book of the Torah that we are beginning this Shabbos of Vayikra, because it seems that Hashem is pretty much into prime rib as well. See, there are no vegetable or soy sacrifices. Sure there's some flour and pastry like sacrifices, but that’s just for the poor folk that can't afford a shwarma, Real men bring that special rayach nichoach- that sweet smelling BBQ beef that Hashem loves so much. Once in a while you can bring some of our fine feathered friends as well up for an offering to Hashem. Variety is important. But as you readers know, chicken chulent is never going to win any prizes in the Schwartz family. In fact next Shabbos when everyone will be eating just a meat and potato pesachdik chulent without any of the distractive beans and barley is the one my family looks forward the most to the entire year.

Truth be told though, it really is quite interesting this whole animal sacrifice thing. I mean, what is it really about? Hashem certainly doesn't require any BBQ's. He's not out for our steaks. The prophets repeatedly tell us not to get confused about this. We are not sacrificing or feeding hungry gods. That's paganism. So why does the slaughtering of animals and the burning them on the mizbayach play such an essential role in the Torah with at least 20% of the Torah teaching and telling us about it. Right from the beginning with Cain and Abel, through Noach and all of our forefathers really until the end we are told about how essential these korbanos are in getting close to God. In all of our prayers we ask Hashem to return us to those days when we will once again be able to bring these offerings. What's wrong with prayer, meditation, even learning Torah and doing kind deeds and other mitzvos? Why do animals have to die for us to get close to Hashem and really perfect our service of Him?

I heard an incredible story this week from my dear friend and Mishpacha editor Sruli Besser of his grandfather the noted askan Reb Chatzkel Besser. {Yes I still write and video for the magazine despite the short few month hiatus through all these lockdowns, stay tuned right after Pesach for my next two upcoming articles and videos- the most exciting yet!}. It was after the Holocaust and he was approached by a survivor who required his assistance. It seems that this man who had suffered in the concentration camps had been receiving reparations for years from the German government. The only problem was that he had "fudged" a few of the details in order to be eligible. Maybe it was his age or country of origin. Whatever… He needed the money to live after the war and felt that after all he had suffered he was entitled to receiving compensation. He didn't feel guilty at all.

 Regardless it seems that those punctilious Germans finally caught up with him. They had told him that he needed to come down to the consulate and that not only were they stopping payment on his monthly reparations checks, but he they were demanding that he make back payment for the 15 years that he had been receiving the money. He didn't have the greatest English and he had come to ask Reb Chatzkel what he should do. How would he be able to get out of this. Reb Chatzkel reassured him that he had nothing to fear and that he would accompany him to the meeting.

As they sat down with the consul who glared at them and threw accusation after accusation at this poor survivor Rabbi Besser began to speak.

"You accuse this man of being a liar and of falsifying information, but I first would like to ask you a question. When he was a young boy, he was brought to the camp and saw two lines form as people were being divided. He was asked by the Commandant glaring over the prisoners as they dismounted from the train whether he was older than 16 or not. He somehow intuited that if he was younger than 16 he would not be allowed to live and would be sent to his death, so he stood up straight and lied and was sent to the line for those that were able to work."

"A few weeks later an officer came into the Barracks and said that they were looking for electricians. If anyone had experience or had worked as an electrician they should step forward. Now, Yankel- let's call him that, barely knew what a positive or negative wire looked like. He was all of fourteen and was a cheder boy. But he understood that to be an electrician meant that he would live. So Yankel stepped forward and told them assuredly that he was a great electrician and had apprenticed as well to be one. It was a lie, but they believed him and he survived.

There was another time one day when he was walking around in the camp and he saw that there was a treasure on the floor. It wasn't gold, or diamonds, they weren't worth much in the camps. It was a ration of bread that someone had dropped that was seemed to have fallen in the bushes. Those were the treasures of the camps where people died of starvation daily. He quickly crouched down to pick it up when suddenly a guard caught him and asked him if the bread was his. Once again Yankel knew that the wrong-but true answer to the guard's question would end his life. He knew what he needed to do in order that one day he would be able to get out in one piece from this gehenom. So he lied. He said it was his own ration that he had dropped. Miraculously the guard believed him and let him go."

"Now I ask you Herr Consul," Rabbi Besser told the German government representative. "You're upset at this man because he lied to you; because he was dishonest? Who do you think taught him that to lie is to survive? Where do you think he developed those skills that you are now holding against him? Before what your people did to him, this person was a holy, pious young boy that would never lie. You made him this way. Now you cannot hold it against him!!"

Rabbi Besser would say this story over by the Pesach Seder as he would interpret the words we recite describing what the Egyptians did to us homiletically. The verse says

Vaya're'u osanu- which literally means and they were bad to us, from the word 'ra'-evil. Yet the word can also be read as va'yarey'u- they became our friends- like the mitzva v'ahavta l'rayacha kamocha- love your friend like yourself. They exposed us to a way of life that turned us into them. That taught and trained us in all of the abominations and idolatry that they engaged in. They made us into who we were never meant to be. To leave that world we had to bring a sacrifice. We had to take that evil and the lies and false gods that we had served and even identified with and slaughter them. The statement we were making before our Creator and the world that judges us is that it wasn’t me. It was that foreign influence. It was the blood out there- outside of my doorpost that made me do it. But my soul is holier. My soul is not an animal one. Mine can reveal Hashem's presence in this world and can elevate it all. That statement and that BBQ redeemed us. It showed us who we really were and what was never really us.

The essence of all the animal sacrifices is really the same concept. When we sin we come to Hashem with an animal. We shecht that animal and roast that meat and recognize that all of the distance we have had from Hashem is really because there is the warm blooded animal part of us or as the Kabbalists refer to as the nefesh ha'behami, that has dominated us. It has taken the steering wheel from the hands of the holy neshoma inside of us. It made us think that's who we are. That's all we are. Highly developed mammals. It's the "Meat Too" movement.

The service of Hashem tells us that we need to slaughter that concept. Every step of getting closer to Hashem, every lifecycle event, every unintentional sin, every holiday, every bonding with the Almighty comes back down to shechting a bit of the animal. Sometimes we eat the cow, sometimes we give it all to Hashem, sometimes we share that flayshig meal with the Kohen too. By the sin offerings we don't partake we are making the statement that we were too dominated by our animal side. By other sacrifices we are allowed to eat from the offering because we are shaleim- we are whole and have elevated that animal side and properly allowed it to be guided by the neshoma. But the one constant that remains is that we are recognizing that the animal is being slaughtered.

Perhaps even more revealing is that unlike most of the laws of the Temple that are only done by the priest. The slaughtering of the animal is kosher when it is done by the layman as well. Everyone has that little bit of animal that tries to disconnect us from Hashem and be guided by our purely physical drives and desires and we each have the power to slaughter it. The sweet smell of the BBQ is perhaps the smell of those false ideas going up in flames. It is the Jew recognizing that we have a higher purpose. It was them; that force that kept us down. But now we want to rise back up. That is the rayach nichoach that Hashem loves smelling. That is the sweet smell of the Bait Hamikdash grill.

This morning the Schwartz family had a simcha. My Einikel, Yoel Eliyahu, had his upsherin his first haircut at three years old. Now his birthday was a few weeks ago, but my daughter, it seems, wasn't ready to part with his cute little curls yet. I guess for new mothers this is like the final cutting of the umbilical cord. I told her husband that it's a good thing she wasn't in charge of his bris! We took him to the cheder where the Rebbi placed honey on the letters of the aleph bet for him and he licked off each one. He asked him where his eyes were and then told him that his eyes were there to learn Torah with. Where his ears were-and told him that they were there to read the holy words of our texts. His mouth was given to him to study and teach its words day and night- I added and to eat chulent with. He then noted that the first words of Torah we learn with a child is the first pasuk of the book of Vayikra; this week's Torah portion. We start them off with the portion of the sacrifices.

 The first lesson we teach our children as they start to talk, is that they have reached the age when they are no longer part of the animal kingdom. That power of speech that we have been given differentiates us from them. It reveals that spark of Hashem inside of us. Until age three baby children are not very different from a baby sheep. They grunt for food, they eat frolic and play and they are driven by their instincts. When we cut their hair and teach them the sweetness of Torah and they begin to make the blessings we teach them that we are not like them. The animal kingdom was given to us to elevate and bring us closer to Hashem. We have been redeemed from Egypt. Hashem showed us we are different than the nations. We are there to lift them up as well.  Cute little Nadiv the Kohen of the 1^st grade class where we took him, was called up by the Rebbi to give our Yoel his priestly blessing.

Yevarecha Hashem V'yishmeracha- may Hashem bless you and watch over you

Ya'eir Hashem panav eilecha vichunencha- May Hashem shine His countenance upon you and show you grace.

Yisa Hashem panav eileicha, v'yaseim lecha shalom- May Hashem shine His face upon you and place upon you peace.

A tear rolled down my eye. My cute little meatball of an einikel was now a boy. Not a hamburger. Not even a steak or a piece of flanken in a chulent. He is our little tzadik. He will elevate the entire world with those brachos he makes. May Hashem bless him and all of the Jewish children with only peace and may this Pesach we merit to realize that prayer and blessing that we say by the seder cup of wine that we drink, that we merit to eat from the zevachim and the Pesach sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem rebuilt.

Have a real festeh flayshigeh Shabbos!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

" A shtik fleish mit tsvei oygn.."- The piece of meat with two eyes" (Jewish insult)

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

20) The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was extensively damaged by the:

A) Mamluks

B) Ayyubids

C) Ummayads

D) Fatimids

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 

https://youtu.be/DZyJhRgpwCQ   – ThankYouHashem- great Yiddish song remake and story by Lipa- Yiddish with ENGLISH subtitles-wish more Yiddish songs did this

https://youtu.be/prTs2rH8Ihg - Mordechai Shapiro's latest release Vehi She'amda like you've never heard it before

 

https://youtu.be/7yu9lnkJ-hw  - Ilan by Yitz Waldner with Yaakov Shwekey duet composed for Shlomie Werdigers' 70'th birthday..

 

https://youtu.be/JjRSBBu2El0   - Wake up Yidden by 8^th Day fresh and fun!

 

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

 Together – Vayikra- Sometimes the placement of a Midrash and it's questions, answers that it brings up at first glance seem unrelated to the subject matter of the verse that it is written about. Yet, those midrashim are perhaps the most fun to really take a second look at and try to figure out the connection. For they were placed there specifically to make that connection and when you find it there is a message that can be drawn from it that is just amazing.

 In this week's parsha of the sacrifices by the laws of the Korban Olah V'yoreid that is brought for the sin of coming into the Temple while in a state of impurity, the midrash asks what is the law about entering the Temple Mount in our times with one's staff and his money belt. The midrash tells us that we derive from the laws of Shabbos that just as Shabbos is an eternal mitzva also the holiness of the Temple is eternal and one is therefore forbidden to come there in a non-respectful manner with one's staff or money belt. The question though is what does this have to do with the mitzva of impurity. The laws of the awe of the Mikdash should be where Hashem by the mitzva of mikdashai tir'au, where we are commanded to have the awe of the Temple.

The Maharil Diskin answers that the Midrash is noting the order of all of the mitzvos of the sacrifices here that were given (unlike Rashi's opinion) before the Mishkan was actually inaugurated, which will only happen in the end of next week's parsha. The reason for this is because Hashem wanted the Jewish people to appreciate and know the laws of the sacrifices before it was open for business what it was all about. Moshe explained that the function of the Mishkan was for the good of the nation. That whenever we sinned we would have a place to come and atone. Where we could come close to Hashem. This idea works until we reach the sacrifice for the sin of coming to the Mikdash impure. For by this mitzva it seems that the Mishkan is putting an extra burden on us. It is creating a plaee and way we can sin that we didn't have before and it forces us to have extra care about our purity status when we come there.

 It is for that reason, the Midrash tells us, that Moshe told the people the law that the holiness of the Temple is eternal. Even if the temple is destroyed it's place will always be holy. Hashem's presence will always reside there. We cannot enter even with our staff and moneybelt eve without the building. Because Hashem will always be there for us. That's why the laws of purity are so important. They are there to show us Hashem is still there. We need to treat the place as if the Mikdash was still built. There is no more positive thing for us than that knowledge.

 What a message this has been for Jews who longed for millennia to return here. They kiss the earth when they land, they pray by holy Kotel which is just the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, because we know that the Shechina has really never left that place. There's no place else in the world that you can ever have that experience.

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

Dovid's Conquests - 870 BC- with the building of the Temple taken off of Dovid's list of to do things for Hashem he recognized that the time had not come yet where Israel can finally be relaxed from our enemies that surrounded us. As well Dovid understood that to build the Temple would require a lot of money in the national coffers. Thus he decided to embark upon a series of conquests eradicating Israel's neighbors who he felt would pose a threat to us, to avenge the Jewish people upon the enemies that had attacked us and to raise some capital in the form of war booty for new nation. These wars our sages tell us were done without consultation of the Urim V'Tumim and are considered permissible wars that a King has the authority to declare, yet they do not rise to the level of the mitzva wars that the conquest of Israel or the defensive wars of Israel had until that point fought.

 This is an important delineation as to the status of the wars of Israel and some of the controversy that surround its halachic status. To a large degree all of the wars that the State of Israel has fought from after its founding have been wars that were defensive wars. They are a mitzva and obligation to fight them and we even take a groom from his Chuppa (halachically) to fight in them. The war of independence though there are those that are of the opinion was a war that was not such a war as the Jews were fighting to establish a State. To do that, some suggest require the court, a king, the Urim v'Tumim and all the protocol that we do not have access to. Others argue that the war of independence as well was a fight for our survival and defensive war for the Jews living here.

 There are strong halachic opinions on both sides and certainly much politics that plays a role in it as well. But certainly Dovid who engaged in these permissible wars our sages seem to find fault with for initiating them without the proper protocol first and thus none of the wealth that was gained was used in the actual building of the Temple.

 So where did Dovid fight and how far were our borders expanded under his leadership? His first target was our old enemies the Philistines where he attacked their city of Gat which is called Meteg Ha'Amma. Gat has been identified by most archeologists as being Tel Tzafit not far from Beit Shemesh in the Shefela right outside of Kfar Menachem.  The word Meteg Ha'Amma translates as the bridle of the mule and the midrash tells us that Dovid broke the previous treaties that our forefathers had made with Avimelech the king centuries before. Dovid did not feel bound by them as the Philistines had already abrogated the oath even back then by Yitzchak by stuffing up the wells he had dug.

 Moving to the other side of the country Dovid then headed into Moav- Jordan. The King of Moav had killed Dovid's family when he fled from Shaul and hid in the forest of Charet. It was payback time! Dovid killed 2/3rds of them and the remaining 1/3 would be servants to Dovid and were made to pay tribute. The area of Moav that he conquered would be from the modern day city of Medva and the entire eastern side of the Dead Sea south. When I drive- or used to drive with my tourists down the Dead Sea, I point out to them that under Dovid that was Jewish occupied territory on the other side of the Jordan. They should be happy we are only on the western side now.

 Next Dovid headed up north to Aram Tzoba or modern day Syria. There he fought against the Aramean's led by Hadezer capturing 1700 horseman and 20,000 footmen whom he ransomed. The battle then when Aram Damesek joined the battle and ended with Dovid killing over 22,000 over the soldiers and bringing Damascus under our control as well. He took all of the golden shields that they had and brought them to Jerusalem. Here Dovid as well was breaching the previous peace treaty that was made by Yaakov with his father-in-law Lavan not to start up with Aram where he lived. Dovid smashed that altar and declared the peace was over. It seems the neighboring king To'I who had suffered under Damascus rule was appreciative and he came with gold and silver for Dovid again building the national coffers to extraordinary wealth.

 Finally, Dovid headed down south into the Negev where he fought against Edom and Amalek that dwelled there. This was one last treaty that Dovid set straight by breaking. Hashem had told Moshe that the Jews should not start up with Esau// Edom when we were coming into the land for "he is our brother". Dovid responded that deal was off the table as well. Edom had rejected our brotherhood by not letting us cross through his land to enter the country and the Amalekites that lived there would always pose a threat to us. So Dovid killed 17,000 of them in those battles and the land of Israel by the time that he was done was even bigger than it is today. Running from way up in Syria in the north much of Jordan in the East. Down in the Negev in the south and even including much of the Philistine coastline.

 This was Israel at it's best. It was the high point of Dovid's kingship. The euphoria was much like after the 6 Day War when our borders quadruped in size. But sadly from here on in things start going downhill. Maintaining such a kingdom and dealing with the maturation of the country can be more challenging than its establishment. And as we will see, Dovid will have more challenges than anyone else in this struggle for Israel.

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERIBLE BARBECUE JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 You know that mouth-watering sensation you get when you're grilling a steak on the BBQ? I wonder if vegans get that when they mow the lawn.

 What’s a librarians favorite thing to bring to a BBQ? A shush kebab

 What happened to the cannibal that showed up late for BBQ? He got the cold shoulder.

 I was at a barbecue party when a cow from a nearby farm charged me and chased me into a corner. It was at that moment I realized my life was at steak

 Why couldn't the monkey use the barbecue? He wasn't a grill'a

 Why didn't the cannibal BBQ his victim's feet at the picnic? He wanted to enjoy his meal without the mesquite toes

 What do you call a BBQ pun? A meataphor

My friends invited me to barbecue night yesterday. I said no but now I'm regretting it. That was a missed steak.

 Why did he skeleton go to the barbecue? To get another rib.

 What do you call a group of men waiting for a haircut? A barbecue.

 How do you know you're at a Chinese Barbeque? The hot dogs are real.

Sometime in the 1970s, on an absolutely freezing day, a shipment of meat arrives in a town in the Soviet Union. The townspeople, bundled to their eyeballs, line up outside the town store to wait to be given their rations. After about an hour, a man comes out of the store and announces, "Comrades, I'm sorry to tell you, but there isn't enough meat for everyone, so the Jews have to leave." The Jews in the line leave grumbling. 

About an hour later, the man comes out of the store and announces, "Comrades, I'm sorry to tell you this, but there isn't enough meat for everyone, so anyone who is not a member of the Communist party will have to leave." More grumbling as the non-Party members depart. 

Another hour goes by and the man comes out of the store again and announces, "Comrades, I'm sorry to tell you this, but there isn't enough meat for everyone in the line, so anyone who wasn't a member of the Party before 1956 has to leave." More grumbling as all the younger Party members leave. A few old people remain in the line. 
Another hour goes by. It's now getting dark and it's cold. The same man comes out of the store and announces, "Comrades, I'm sorry to tell you this, but there isn't any meat. Go home." 
One old lady in the line turns to her neighbor and says, "See? It's like I told you. The Jews always get the best treatment ..."

 A pig, a cow, and a chicken walk into a barbecue. The End

 And finally What do you call a Jewish clegyman that barbecues? A Ribeye. OYYYY!

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Answer is D –Easy. I didn't stand a chance with this one. The first thing I deleted out of my brain after I passed my exam was all the Muslim mishegas. Right after that was the churches and the Christian chazerai. This question would've been a definite skip had I taken the exam (you have to skip 5 out of the 50). I guessed Ummayad because I know they were busy by the Temple Mount and their palaces there by the southern wall I always tour. But the right answer is Fatimid. So I'll count this as wrong. And the score is now 14 for Rabbi Schwartz and 5 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.