Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
March 12th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 22 28th
Adar 5781
It has certainly been year we will never forget. Remember how we thought the
world was coming to an end last year at this time at what was going on. The
rush on toilet paper, the full hospital rooms, the terror, the fear, the panic
and of course all of the customary prophecies, gematrias and text based hints
to what we were undergoing. It seems so long ago, but it was only a year. How
much our lives have changed in that year and how much in many ways they
haven't. I don't think any of us are the same as we were before last year Purim
when all of this was first starting and I'm not just talking about waist size.
Yet, at the same time, how different are we really? What did we accomplish in
this year? As we reach a milestone, a birthday if you will it's time to assess.
I know that traditionally this is done Rosh Hashana time, but this has not been
a traditional year. If last year Parshat Ha'Chodesh, the first month of the
Jewish calendar we were born into a new world. Than we're getting ready for our
first birthday this Shabbos. Happy Birthday. Who's bringing the cake?
For me, as all of you know by now, the primary change has been being pretty
much unemployed for about a year. In about as much time as it took the Jews to
leave Mitzrayim, my formerly hectic and busy tour-guiding lifestyle came to a
crashing halt. The difference being of course that back then the Jews left
Egypt and were on the way to the Holy Land, now the Jews were being locked out
and down and were unable to travel to Eretz Yisrael. This better not last 40
years in the wilderness though, as my wife and children have pretty much had
enough of me sitting here on the couch.
But the truth is it really has been one of the most incredible years of my
life. For years I have been bemoaning the fact that I really didn't have any
time to learn like I used to prior to my tour guiding years. I don't know if I
really meant it when I said it though. I loved what I was doing. I loved the
running around life, I loved sharing passion about the incredible country
Hashem has given us and the blessing that we have being able to live here. There
was nothing more geshmak than inspiring tourists and seeing the land
through their excited eyes, needling them about not living here yet and all of
the restaurants, the fun activities, the water, the hikes, the chocolate factories
and wineries were all icing on that perfect Israeli cake or sufganiya.
Did I really wish that I could be back in the Beit Midrash instead cracking
the books and learning again? Probably not. Sure I missed learning, but hey, I
was doing holy work as well. I even wrote E-Mails about how important and
perhaps even more important it was to serve Hashem from our work in this world
rather than the Beit Midrash. I had my
yeshiva years, my Kollel years, my Jewish outreach years and now the next stage
in my life was the touring Eretz Yisrael years. That was my avodas Hashem. It's
what I was supposed to be doing. So I perfunctorily paid lip-service and
lamented the fact that I couldn't put in the Torah hours I once used to, but it
was really just parave chulent. It didn't have any meat in it. I was happy and
I wanted to keep doing what I was doing forever.
There's an old Jewish saying that goes something like "watch what you
ask for, Hashem might just answer your prayers." Well He did. I want to
apologize to everyone out there for this past year for Corona. It wasn't some
guy who ate a bat in China. It was all about Hashem saying,
"Schwartz, you keep telling me you want some time to learn. Well
here you go. I'm going to shut down the world, close the skies and sit you on
your couch for the year. Take a Sabbatical. Go crack that sefer you've been
whining so much about that you wish to get back to. I'm through listening to
you keep talking about it with everyone you've been touring. Truth is I'm
pretty bored with your tours by now as well. I've heard all your jokes and
stories a thousand times and some of the bubbe maisehs you make up are getting
on my nerves. I feel like one of your kids. You know what? Take the year off
and let's see if you're for real. See ya next Pesach."
And there you have it. I'm sorry for all the headache this past year. It was
really all about me.
The truth is, although it took me a bit to get back into it. Mostly because
like everyone else I didn't believe that it would really go on for this long.
But since I accepted it- (about a week ago or so... just joking)- it's really
been great. I didn't know how much I really missed it. How enlightening and
invigorating studying the word of Hashem as seen through the eyes of our sages
for thousands of years really could be. The nuances of gemara, the questions,
the answers, the interpretations and the vast sea of interconnected knowledge
that one who swims in sea of Talmud experiences is awesome and the light is
just so powerful and fulfilling. There have even been days when I wished this
could go on for even longer. Not many... don't get nervous. I never spoke those
thoughts out loud. I'm careful now. But I've had them. And in truth in at least
the aspect of my personal Torah growth this past year has been really the
greatest blessing.
But perhaps even more than my renewed Torah study has been being able to
witness and see the countless miracles Hashem has provided for me and my family
in terms of our livelihood this past year. I got a taste of the Manna. Hashem
found ways, seemingly from nowhere, to throw me some shekalim and take care of many
all of our needs. See how I crossed out the 'many' there. It's a cool
Microsoft Word trick. It's to be used when you wrote something and you want
your reader to know that you made a mistake and corrected it. Hashem provided
all of our needs this year. I always kind of new that, just like I always kind
of new how important Torah study is in my life. But this year, I 'new' it. I
learned it anew. I saw it first hand and experienced it and I realized that all
my crazy efforts, running, schemes, investments and tours were never what was
putting bread on my table or paying my kids tuition. Neither were my wife's
clothing sales. Certainly not your E-Mail sponsorships…. Ahem…. It was Hashem.
It's all Hashem. It's only been Hashem. This past year was the biggest proof I
ever needed.
This week we conclude the Book of Shemos with the final parshiyot of the
construction of the Mishkan. This narrative really started back in Teruma, Tetzave
and Ki Tisa before the story of the Golden Calf which is sandwiched in between
the Mitzva of Shabbos. But interestingly
enough, in both places the day of rest is not just called Shabbos, it's given
an extra title. Shabbas Shabbason- the Sabbath of Sabbaths- if that English
translation helps you at all.
In
Ki Tisa prior to the sin the verse says
Shemos (31:15) Sheshet yamim ye'aseh
melacha -Six days your work shall be done, but on the seventh day is a
'Shabbos Shabbason" of complete rest, holy to Hashem; whoever performs
work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.'
And in our Parsha right before it begins
again with the building of the Mishkan again it says
Shemos (35:1) Sheshes yamim ta'eiseh
melacha -Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have
sanctity, Shabbas Shabbaason" for Hashem;
whoever performs work on it shall be put to death
Generally when we associate the double
Shabbos terminology it refers to Yom Kipput. It's the holiest of the holy. Why
over here is it called a double Shabbos? Everywhere else in the Torah when it
refers to Shabbos it is only a single Shabbos. Yet these two specific instances
before and after the sin it seems Hashem is teaching us that Shabbos has the
potential and should be doubly holy as well.
The Lubavitcher Rebbi notes-I know two
weeks in a row that I quote him, I haven't converted yet, don't worry- that
there is another difference between these two descriptions of Shabbos and the
myriad other places where Shabbos is mentioned as well. In the other places, as
in the ten commandments the Torah tells us Sheshes yamim ta'avod- six days a
week you should work. Here though the Torah tells us that 6 days a week your
work shall be done. Do you hear and appreciate the incredible nuance? There are
two ways we can approach or weekday work. The first and basic one is that six
days we need to get out to the workplace, do our tour guiding, hit our
computer, write our books, knock around with our hammer in order to provide parnassa
for ourselves. If that is our approach, then Hashem tells us that on Shabbos we
should take off it. It is a day of rest. It is a day to step back and realize
that Hashem is the one really running the show. We don't need to make ourselves
meshugga.
The other approach though is an even more
powerful and more real and honest way of looking at those 6 days. They are not
days that we are doing our work at all in fact. Hashem is really doing it all.
Who give us a job? Who give us health to do that job? Who gives us material to
work with? Who pays our bills? It's all Hashem. We don't view our jobs that we
do as us actually making or doing anything at all. It's being done for us. If
that is the way that we view our work during the week than our Shabbos is more
than just a day off. It is the holy of holies. It is the day that we bask in
that knowledge and love that Hashem really does everything for us.
The Baal Hatanya explains the Gemara that
tells us a strange quote. It says
"Mi she'torayach b'erev Shabbos-
yochal b'shabbos- He who is busy preparing erev Shabbos shall than eat on
Shabbos.
He asks the obvious question. If someone
is busy preparing for Sunday he'll have a nice BBQ to eat on Sunday night as
well. Same for Monday and Tuesday. What's Shabbos any different? If you prepare
you eat. What are our Rabbis telling us? He explains exactly with the idea
above. Our sages aren't telling us that one needs to prepare food for Shabbos.
Rather they are telling us that we need to be busy preparing- to be torayach-
with Erev Shabbos into turning every day into an Erev Shabbos. That every day
that we work we approach it with the knowledge that tomorrow is Shabbos when we
don't have to work and the Manna will still be there in our cupboards. Hashem
is really running the show. My work during the week is in reality as well being
done for me. If someone is busy with this idea of erev Shabbos during the six
days a week. Than when he eats even during the week it will be like Shabbos. It
will be with the knowledge that Hashem is really our Provider. And our
Shabbosos? They will be Shabbas Shabbason- the holiest double Shabbos built on
that week day Shabbos.
This year has been that one big Shabbos
for me. I've even been learning tractate Shabbos the past few months with my
Amud Yomi program. Before this year, much like the sin of the Golden Calf that
is encompassed in this Shabbos revelation, I felt that I needed to do
everything. Uh oh, what's going to be?
Moshe's not coming down. He was the source for our Manna. He was meant
to be our tour guide. Who will provide for us? How will we make it? So Hashem
as then gave us the secret of Shabbos to see and experience His tremendous
Hand. This year of Shabbos is coming to an end hopefully soon. Stores are
opening back up, the skies hopefully will soon follow and you'll be back here
soon with me and I with you. But until then enjoy this Shabbos rest. Maximize
it. Have some chulent. We are being born anew in this Chodesh Ha'viv- this
spring month that we read about this week in the last of the extra four parshas;
Parshas Hachodesh. The skies are clearing up; the winter is over. A new world
is being born. May it bring with it once again the final redemption and a yom
she'kulo Shabbos- a day that is all Shabbos.
Have a doubly blessed Shabbos and a redemptive Chodesh
Nissan
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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" Di shversteh arbet iz arumtsugain laidik."- The
hardest work is to go idle.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
19)
The month in which the “Ramadan Nights” tourist event takes place:
A)
December
B)
January
C)
April
D)
Not on a fixed date
https://youtu.be/GQ-Km7RfBEs - Did you know that Ben Shapiro plays
violin- Check him out with Eitan Katz strumming a gorgeous L'Maancha
The
House of Hashem
- 870 BC-
the Aron of Hashem has mae it home to
Yerushalayim, the next step, Dovid realizes, is to build the house Hashem has
been waiting over 2500 years for. Dovid's famous words are
Ok, I admit it. I’m an unemployed leather
worker. I’ve got nothing to hide.
Going to University is just the same as
being unemployed. But your parents are proud of you.
My wife keeps complaining that I'm
unemployed. I don't know why all the stress, I already made my resume. Companies
are welcome to come and take it. I'm home 24/7
Why couldn't the unemployed teacher see? She
had no pupils. OY!!!!
Yankel
and Berel are waiting in the unemployment line to receive their checks. They
had both worked side by side in the factory for 17 years before it closed down.
Yankel goes up to the window but he doesn’t speak a very good English.
The Clerk asks, “What was your occupation?”
Yankel respondes: “Diesel fitter”
The Clerk looks it up his computer and says “ok that’s $795 a week,
here you go.”
Berel than walks up. And again the clerk asks “what’s your occupation?”
He answers: “Seamstress.”
The Clerk agains taps on his keyboard and then says “ok that’s $407 a week, here you go.”
Berel exclaims “ Woah, wait a minute, he got almost $800! For the same job.”
The Clerk responded “ Sir, he was a diesel fitter, a higher skilled
occupation.”
Berel sighed “He wasn’t no diesel fitter, he worked next to me in the skirt
factory. I’d stitch in the elastic, he’d hold them up to fold them , check them
and said “Dees-ul-fit her!” Before he folded them.”
The German doctor says: "That's nothing,in Germany we take part of a
brain, put it in another man, and in 4 weeks he is looking for work."
The Russian doctor says: "Gentlemen, we take half a heart from a man, put
it in another's chest, and in 2 weeks he is looking for work."
The American doctor laughs: "You all are behind us. Not long ago, we
took a man with no brains, no heart, and no liver and made him President. Now,
the whole country is looking for work!"
"I need
someone with an accounting degree," the man said. "But mainly, I'm looking for
someone to do my worrying for me."
"Excuse me?" the young accountant said.
"I worry
about a lot of things," the man said. "But I don't want to have to worry
about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back."
"I
see," the young accountant said. "And how much does the job
pay?"
"I will
start you at eighty-five thousand dollars a year. We will give you a 50,000
raise each year.”"
"Eighty-five
thousand dollars!" the young accountant exclaimed. "How can such a small business
afford to pay me a sum like that?"
"That," the owner said, "is your first
worry
An engineer who
was unemployed for a long time decided to open a medical clinic. He puts a sign
outside the clinic:
‟A cure for your ailment guaranteed at $500; we will pay you $1,000 if we
fail.”
A Doctor thinks this is a good opportunity to earn $1,000 and goes to his
clinic.
Doctor: ‟I have lost my sense of taste.”
Engineer: ‟Nurse, please bring the medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in the
patient’s mouth.”
Doctor: ‟This is Gasoline!”
Engineer: ‟Congratulations! You have got your taste back. That will be $500.”
The Doctor gets annoyed and goes back after a couple of days later to recover
his money.
Doctor: ‟I have lost my memory, I cannot remember anything.”
Engineer: ‟Nurse, please bring the medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in the
patient’s mouth.”
Doctor: ‟But that is Gasoline!”
Engineer: ‟Congratulations! You have got your memory back. That will be $500.”
The Doctor leaves angrily and comes back after several days, more determined
than ever to make his money back.
Doctor: ‟My eyesight has become weak.”
Engineer: ‟Well, I don’t have any medicine for this. Take this $1,000,” passing
the doctor a $500 note.
Doctor: ‟But this is $500...”
Engineer: ‟Congratulations! You’ve got your vision back! That will be $500.”
Answer is D –Easy. The Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar and as there are only 354 days in a Lunar year 11 days short of the 365 of a solar year the Ramadan month long fast and then feast is always moving 11 days a year. Some years it can be in the summer and others in the winter. So this was easy and of course I got it right, so hopefully I'm back in the game and the score is now 14 for Rabbi Schwartz and 4 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.
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