Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
April 16th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 27 4th
Iyar 5781
Parshat Tazria-Metzora-Yom Ha'Atzmaut
A Touch of Redemption
He's a nice guy. A friend of mine, as well as a congregant. (I know that
there are Rabbi's out there that counseled me before starting my Rabbinic
career that a Rabbi should never be friends with their congregants, as their
job is to be above that. I was never good at that rule and I certainly don't
think it applies when I'm not getting any salary, but rather paying for the
shul). It's Yom Ha'atzmaut and we were schmoozing. I jokingly tell him that
this year chasidim as well are celebrating today with festive meals and
probably not saying tachanun either as it is the Yahrtzeit of Reb
Shayeleh of Kerestirer, which seems over the past few years has taken off to
become a holiday for the chasidically inclined. He didn't appreciate my "einfal",
which is probably why I said it in the first place…
How dare I compare a "secular"
holiday, a holiday that celebrates the establishment of a secular-Jewish state
in Eretz Yisrael?! He quoted Reb Elchonon Wasserman that notes that the concept
of a Daati-Leumi (religious-zionist) is similar to Christianity where you
believe in shituf- god plus some imagined son of his that he killed.
It's trayf. It should be mourned. It's appropriate that this
"holiday" is in the period of mourning of Omer when the students of
Rabbi Akiva died; for the establishment of a State like the anti-religious one
that we have currently is certainly something to mourn about.
I of course debated his questions or
arguments with him a bit, just for fun. I noted how in my humble opinion there
really are no true Zionists that believe in the State anymore. Proof being we
are almost 3 years and this country still can't decide on a Prime Minister. Not
too many religious people of any camp really believe that the State has a court
system that in anyway resembles Jewish law- each for their own reasons. Most
religious Zionists I know lost faith in the State after all of the "peace
processes" where the holy land is handed over to Arabs really in exchange
for nothing, incidentally this was done usually by right wing governments.
Forget about those secular Israelis who really would prefer no religion or god
whatsoever to influence any of our democratic principles. Most of them want to
get out of here and move to America. Neahh the only real Zionists that are left
are the Americans that move here. And that's only for a while until they become
Israeli…
The people that I know that celebrate Yom
Ha'atzmaut really make the day more about Hashem returning us to our land, and
giving us the tremendous merit to witness the fulfillment of the prophecies
that continue to take place here. The in-gathering of the Exiles, the
flourishing of the once desolate land, the light to the nations we have become
and the incredible unprecedented teshuva movement and Torah learning that takes
place here. Personally, I celebrate this year over the fact that we can't elect
a Prime Minister and that more and more the country recognizes that only
Mashiach will bring us the peace and redemption we are awaiting. But frankly it
really doesn't take too big of an excuse for me ever to make BBQ and have some
steaks and beer.
After our conversation, when we parted as
friends of course, I opened up this week's Torah portion or portions to be
precise. This week we read two parshiyos which similarly have at first
glance what seems to contain two opposite extremes or shituf as my
friend would say as well. We have Parshat Tazria- the planting of a 'seed'
in a woman, which discusses the laws of a mother that gives birth to a boy or
girl and her ensuing purity process. Mazel Tov! Kiddush, celebration, BBQ! And
then right next to and adjacent to it this week we have Parshat Metzora.
The laws of nega'im the leprous-like blemishes and growths of a
spiritual nature that render a person tame'i. We are told they come as a
result of his sins. He is sent in ripped garments of mourning, his hair is
unkempt and like a mourner forbidden to be cut and he goes into solitude. To a
large degree this is what Chazal tells us that a metzora is like a dead person.
The process he undergoes is one of mourning himself to a large degree. Quite
the opposite of the joy of Tazria. What type of shidduch or shituf
juxtaposition are these?
Fascinatingly enough, do you know where
else we have these two expressions and ideas together? You're not going to
believe this, but in fact when our sages talk about our ultimate redemption as
well is connected to metzoras and seeds being planted.
In our daily prayers we talk about the
sprouting of the redemption-
es tzemach Dovid meheira tazmiach- the seed of David should sprout forward
In our kaddish we say
V'yatzmach purkaneh vikarev m'shicheh May He cause His salvation to
flower, and may He hasten the coming of His Mashiach.
So redemption is like a seed being planted and sprouting.
On the other hand the Talmud in Sanhedrin (98b) gives us various names for
Mashiach and one of them strangely is Chivara-
which means the white one or the 'leper/metzora'. As well in other
places Mashiach is described as being a metzora who is constantly placing and
removing bandages. Even more incredible the Midrash Yalkut Shimoni interprets a
verse and law from our parsha about Metzora as a reference to the Beit
Hamikdash
Vayikra (13:45) And the metzora which
has the blemish his clothing shall be ripped.
And the metzora- this is the Beit
Hamikdash
Which has the blemish- this is
idolatry
His clothing shall be ripped-this is
the garments of the High Priest.
And there you have it. Tazria-Metzora-Redemption-Mashiach, welcome to the
mystery and paradox of this week's reading.
There is another connection as well to
the laws of Metzora and Mashiach that is derived from our parsha. Our sages
tell us that Mashiach will only come to a generation that is either entirely
innocent and pure or guilty. Likewise, they tell us that Mashiach will not come
until 'the entire kingdom turns to heresy.' Do you know what the source is? Our
very own metzora
Sanhedrin (97A) Rabbi Yitzchak says
that Mashiach will only come when the entire kingdom is turned over to minos-
heresy. Rava says this is the verse "kulo hafach lavan tahor- when
it is entirely white-it is pure."
There the law by Metzora is that if the
white blemish or the hairs on the blemish turn entirely white and there is no
skin color left, then rather then the person being declared impure or tamey he
is pure-tahor. Isn't that strange? A little white and he is impure and
tamey and all of the mourning laws apply as well as him being sent from the
camp. If on the other hand it is entirely white he is pure- tahor. In
this message Rava and Reb Yitzchak see the redemption, which can only happen
when we reach the point of being entirely guilt, heretical or meritorious. What
is going on?
I guess there's one last point to put all
of these things together. Which is why is the blemish, which seemingly is a
sign of some spiritual impurity, the color white? It would seem that a black
spot would be more appropriate; white being a sign of purity. Unless we are
reading this blemish thing all wrong.
Do you know rhat the translation of the
word for blemish- 'Nega' also meant to be touched. You’ve heard the term
shomer negia, I imagine, that religious Jews don't have physical contact with
members of the opposite gender that they are not married to or related to. It's
the same word 'Nega'. Do you know what a nega is? It is the touch
of Hashem on a person.
The Baal Hatanya explains that a Jew has
an innately pure neshoma. The sins that we have are external. They can't and
don't penetrate our deepest essence. In my Amud Yomi review I was learning this
week I came across the Talmud in Shabbos that tells us that when even a Jew who
is not "Kosher" dies it is like a Torah scroll is being burnt. In the
words of Rashi
'for there is no Jew who is even on
the lowest level who is not full of Torah and Mitzvos'.
In the same Talmud it tells us that
'Even if a person's sins are constant
from the time of Creation until today- Hashem will purify him as it says
ka'sheleg yalbinu- I will make them white as snow'
When Hashem brings a nega upon a
person, what is happening is there is a level of such holiness that is present
and reaching out and touching them that they are meant to internalize, however
because of their sins they are unable to. Their skin, their desires, their
flesh and blood prevents the natural spirituality and holiness from absorbing
it. So it stays outside. It is the holy touch of Hashem that wants to cleanse
and purify us; that wants to bring the redemption and reveal our inner holiness
and spirituality to the rest world and thus bring them closer to Him. It's telling us that despite our sins and
perhaps even our belief that we are not worthy, that we are blemished, we are
in fact quite the opposite. We are being touched by Hashem who is trying to
cleanse and whiten all of us.
Mashiach is that metzora. The words
metzora is a composite of the word motzi- ra. He is removing the evil
from within us so we can reveal the holiness that wants us to become entirely
white. He is ripping off those bandages and putting them on again. Taking out
the ra and bringing the light deeper and deeper within us. Do you know
what that process is like? It is Tazria. It is planting a seed and
sticking it deeper and deeper into the dirty ground, burying it where it can't
be seen and then watching it sprout out. That is the process of conception and
birth as well. Revealing that light that is there, that the black dirty earth
that it is ensconced in is covering up.
Mashiach will only come when the entire
nation turns to heresy. Do you know what that heresy is? It is the belief that
all of the negaim, blemishes, sins, that we have- that every Jew has -prevents
Hashem from reaching out and touching us. From cleansing us. From redeeming us.
It is at that point that Hashem will send the great Metzora Mashiach to show us
that it all has been external only. We are just as holy as the baby we were when
we were born. All that we have done, all the dirt we have been buried in, are
just the point from where we will sprout forth from and reveal the light of
Hashem. The Beis Hamikdash is that metzora as well for it will be the place
where we will come to and show that our nega, our sins, can become
entirely white. They will become pure.
We have reached the point of being a
generation "she'kulo chayav'. We are all guilty. We have reached a
point where we have all become heretics- hafach la'minos. I know this
because I talk to a lot of people, read a lot of blogs and websites, and pay
attention to the media. The ultra-religious tell me that these secular are a
bunch of goyim. The religious Zionists feel that those that don't serve in the
army are desecrating Hashem's name. The leftist believe that the rightists are
a bunch of parasites that just suck off the country and the rightists think
that the leftists will sell the country down the river to the Arabs, and bring
all types of immorality and licentiousness to our land. Forget about what the American Jews think
about the crazy Israelis and how the Israelis view those that live outside of
Israel as not having a god. Not to mention those Sefardim that eat kitniyos and
those Ashkenazim that don't keep traditions and the chasidim that don't keep zmaney
tefilla and the misnagdim that don't have a yiddisher hartz. Whewww…
I can go on, if you like.
They are all right. We are all heretics.
We don't believe that all of us our holy. That all of us can be
redeemed. Should be redeemed…? That all those blemishes are just the Motzi-
ra, the bad that is coming out to the surface. Do you know what Yom
Ha'atzmaut is? It is the day when we dig deep into our etzem-our inner
essence and realize that Hashem will redeem us all even if we don't believe it.
He will start heralding in Mashiach even if on the surface it looks like a
metzora. That's just the exfoliation of the ra that we are perceiving.
It is the process of achieving kulo tahor.
One person who would appreciate this more
than anyone was Reb Shaya'leh of Keristerer. His yartzeit is celebrated by many
by the distribution of enormous amounts of food and festive meals. For those
that came to his Chasidic court it was this aspect, besides the multitude of
miracles attributed to him, that stood out. Reb Shaya would make sure that
every single Jew that visited him would be fed well. He would go from table to
table serving the food himself. There was no one that came to him with
financial problems that didn't walk out with all of their parnassa needs
taken care of.
Reb Shaya explained once that the reason
he was so involved in providing for a yid's physical and material needs was
because those were the only things that hold a Jew back from truly letting
their neshoma's soar. It's the basar that was preventing the
kulo lavan from coming out. Today when all Jews religious, chasisidic, even
litvish are celebrating together this special day on this special year, may
Hashem finally sprout forward that seed of our redemption from the atchalta
d'geula that started already from the times of the destruction through the
millennia of galus, to reb Shaya'leh to the State of Israel to the geulah
shlaima.
Have a ce-liberative Shabbos of redemption,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
**********************************
Hello Rabbi Schwartz Fans!
Its finally here!
After a few month hiatus I'm excited to tell you that I
return to
MISHPACHA MAGAZINE
With what might just be my most
Exciting tour
yet
SHVIL HASANHEDRIN
The Sanhedrin Trail
Together with Doctor Chagi Amitzur
Check it out and share and like at
https://mishpacha.com/sanhedrin-stopovers/
Feel free to E-mail them and tell them how much you have
enjoyed
And how much you've missed me…
And stay tuned for the accompanying video for this tour
in the coming week
***************************************************
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My weekly 10 minute or less video short last week's
Parsha
Here's last week's Video
THE CENTER OF IT ALL
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***************
"Der
gresser is der chessorin, der gresser is der nadan" – The greater the blemish is the greater is the dowry.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
24)
A female poet whose figure appears on a contemporary Israeli money bill:
A)
Zelda
B)
Leah Goldberg
C)
Tirza Atar
D)
Shuli Natan
https://youtu.be/V7XSKAagY8M – Check out what flew over my house this Yom
Ha'Atzamaut before the Israel Air Force Show… Hashem had a show of His own
https://youtu.be/d_k_1MZ8SE4 - Yeshuas-
Reb Shaya'leh of Kerister song
https://youtu.be/jAAHvQTXK3E - Check out the miracles and prophecies of Israel fulfilled!
Treasure Houses
– Parshat Tazria
Metzora – Houses in
Israel are not like those in the States. I remember once taking my daughter
back to the States to one of those huge Kosher supermarkets that they have
there and she asked me why they don't have them in Israel. (although since then
they are slowly starting to sprout up). I told her that in Israel we don't have
room in our houses for all of this food!
So yes, our houses here are simpler than the States, they're humbler and they don't usually come with backyards, basements and certainly not swimming pools. But did you know that they're holier than those in the Diaspora as well? It's not just because of the location of them being built in the holiest country on the world either. Non-Jewish homes in Israel don't have that sanctity. It's Jewish homes, that Hashem tells us before we come into the land, that will have a degree of holiness that won't be found anywhere else. That holiness expresses itself, in this week's Parsha, in the form of tzora'as that comes upon the house revealing its hidden treasure.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE
WEEK
Dovid and Batsheva- 866 BC – One of the most important archaeological excavations in Israel in the past thirty years or so has been the ones that have taken place at the Ir David in Yerushalyaim. The discovery of the palace of Dovid Ha'Melech under the Ticket booth entrance to the site debunked many of those that felt that there was no palace here and no sign of a kingdom of Dovid that ruled here. Yet the huge complex with royal designs and multiple rooms certainly prove otherwise. I like to stand on top of this building at look down at the Jewish city below and imagine that I'm King David looking over his city and his people. Unfortunately though for Dovid, that view brought him anguish. For it is here that he got into trouble with his bashert Batsheva who ultimately became the mother of King Shlomo.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S REALLY TERRIBLE YOM HA'ATZMAUT JOKES OF
THE WEEK
When you come
to the airport each passenger is met by ten relatives
Where we have
missiles from Iraq, shells from Lebanon, Suicide bombers and katyushas from
Gaza and a three bed room apartment still costs more than it does in Paris.
Where the guy
with the open button shirt with a stain on it is the government minister and
the guy standing next to him in the suit and tie is his driver.
Where the Kvish
Chotzeh (the crosscountry highway) stops halfway down.
Where you can
easily get a computer program to build a rocket ship to outer space but it
takes a week to get your internet fixed.
Where the
repair man calls to tell you he will be arriving between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM…
and then doesn't come…
Where Muslims
sell religious items to Christians in exchange for bills that have the picture
of the Rambam on them,
Where bad
English is the second language of Israel and bad Hebrew, of course is the
first.
Where the
average boy leaves the house at age 18 and comes back to live at home at age 24
Where no woman
gets along with her mother but she still talks to her three times a day!
Where the time
frame between the saddest national day and the happiest is 60 seconds.
Where if you
hate its politicians, it's backward service, it's weather, its bureaucracy and
its security situation it’s the real sign that you love it here!!!
A.
The Indepen-dance
Q. What did the one Israeli flag say to the other?
A.
Nothing, it just waved
Yossi
was traveling to New York on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv and it was time for
the main meal to be served. “Would you like dinner?” the flight attendant
asked him.”What are my choices?” he asked.
”Yes
or no,” she replied
El Al Security
Woman: “Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?”
Shloimey: “Listen,
if it was without my knowledge, how should I know
A voice was
heard on Israeli Radio. “This is Station OYVEH Tel Aviv, 1830 on
your dial…. but for you, 1825.”
A voice from
the back of the bar shouted, “I will give 75!”
*********************************
Answer is B- I had absolutely no clue on this one. I didn't know any of these singers/ poetesses. Not my thing at all. I probably would've skipped this one. But turns out I randomly guessed correctly! Cool, maybe I actually looked at the picture on the 100 shekel bill and saw Leah Goldberg and it stuck in my head. I actually wiki'd all of the names and they're actually quite interesting. Turns out this Tirtza Atar is the daughter of Natan Alterman the famous Israeli poet who's on the 200 shekel bill. Shuli Natan became famous singing Yerushalayim Shel Zahav of Naomi Shemer right after the 6 Day war and making it famous. But most fascinating is this Zelda, who was a first cousin of the Lubavitcher Rebbi (einikel of Tzemach Tzedek) who was married to the son of Reb Chizkiya Mishkovsky (son in law of reb itzileh Blazer). She was a frum lady who became this famous poetess and singer from here little apartment in Yerushalayim. Fascinating video about her. But the right answer is Leah Goldberg, who frankly didn't seem that interesting besides that she was very liberal and even pleaded not to execute Eichman. Well she's on our 100 shek bill and I got it right. That's your Zionism for this week. So the score is now 17 for Rabbi Schwartz and 7 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.
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