Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
July 16th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 40 7th
Av
Parshat Devarim / Tisha B'Av
Nesting
My
wife did not have an easy time with her pregnancies. Most women don't. She
always said the reason Hashem made women the ones to carry the children for 9
Months is because men couldn't handle it. I agree, although I did counter that
it was as well because women could never handle being married to a pregnant
man. She didn't appreciate that. And a word of advice for my soon to be married
son- don't say things your wife won't appreciate particularly when she's
pregnant. That's what friends are for.
Needless
to say it was not fun. She had pretty severe hyperemesis which is a fancy medical
word for lots of nausea to the point where she literally didn't eat or drink
for months and was hooked up to IV for most of the time. That's just besides
all the usual annoying and painful things about carrying a kid around in your
belly for a few months. Fuggedabout childbirth, I don't even want to think
about how much that hurts. One would think that after undergoing something as
traumatic as that you'd pretty much be done after one or two, I certainly
would. But not my wife, or most of the religious women I know. They keep going
and going and going. If my wife had her dream come true she would've had at
least 10 children. I'm good with the 5, Hashem has blessed me with. I'm even
better that they're getting married and slowly one by one starting to move out.
Now
one of the most perplexing phenomena that I noticed when my wife was pregnant
in the last month or so before our children were born was that there were
changes that started to take place around my house. Furniture was being
rearranged, my favorite couch was being thrown out, we suddenly needed a paint
job, although it seemed pretty fine to me. I generally have no problem with
getting rid of old stuff, particularly other people's stuff in my house, but
suddenly my drawers were being emptied and my tools and chazerai that I just
kept around in case I need them one day-not that I would know how to use any of
them, I'm more of a duct tape, butter knife type of guy to be honest- were
being thrown out, or posted for sale. New furniture delivery started showing up
at my door. My house as changing. I didn't know where to sleep anymore. Who
stole my wife and replaced her with an interior decorator or clutter-clearer?
When
I told my fellow commiserating Kollel chavrusa who was a bit older than me
about this strange behavior I was encountering, he welcomed me to the phenomena
that is called "nesting". It seems that women are like birds he told
me. Before the birth of a baby they undergo some natural instinct and urge to
"prepare the nest" for the newest arrival. I was confused. He tried
to make it more meaningful to me. He pointed out that when I sit down to eat a
nice big barbeque, I usually loosen my belt a bit beforehand, I kick off my
shoes, roll up my sleeves, sometimes even tie a little bib on for those sticky
buffalo wings. I prepare myself for the bird or cow I'm about to devour. Well,
women are also like birds in that way. Except that the baby bird (or pargit as
they call them here in Israel- I have no idea why…) is inside of their belly
already. They are going to be bringing the baby bird out and they are obsessed
with making the house comfortable for them. OK I was beginning to understand. But
regardless if I did or I didn't this was the reality that I had to put up with
at least until her childbearing days were over… Or so I thought.
I
came home yesterday and my very nice bedroom dresser and mirror that I had
since we were married was outside of the front of my house. Right next to it
was my dresser. Hmmm… Actually come to think of it, the other day there was
someone in our spare bedroom tinkering away. Is something going on that I don't
know about? Sure enough I went up there and saw my bookshelves half empty and
boxes of books next to them. This is not a good thing. I thought I passed this
point in my life. I knew my wife wasn't pregnant, so where is this coming from?
And then I chapped.
See
my daughter Shani, god willing is due in the coming weeks (B'sha'ah tova, bli
ayin hara..pu pu pu…!). We're expecting to be grandparents once again. Now my wife
has never really been clear on the concept of grandparenthood. Yoliyahoo, my
grandson is probably here more than he's by Shani's house. He sometimes slips
and calls Aliza, Mommy. (He never gets me confused though..). I tried to
explain to Aliza that grandparents is just about feeding them lots of sugar and
sending them back home to their parents, but she's bad about the sending home
part. Shani, my daughter, incidentally has no real problem with this. In fact
when Aliza told me Shani was due she even mentioned to me that she might have
to move in with her after the baby to help her out a bit for a few weeks with
the new-born. I told her she didn't need to worry. Shani would probably just
knock on the door and drop the baby off and pick him/her up a few weeks later…
So
now I understood. My wife was "nesting" for her new grandchild… Sigh…
this really doesn't end.
Now
the truth is there is another reason why all of this "nesting" stuff
might be coming up this time of year. It's the month of Av. Sunday is Tisha
B'Av and it's a time when all of us are really meant to be "nesting"
a bit. Thinking about the home and place we need and want to build to host the
Shechina that is coming back home to the world once again very soon. Our
mourning is part of our preparations and the building of those bricks of the
new home of the third temple which should hopefully coming soon. Perhaps my
wife's nesting is something we are all meant to be doing this week.
Now,
in order to prepare for this "nesting" process we begin the fifth and
final book of the Torah. Fascinatingly enough Reb Moshe Tzvi Savran would
advise people that were having a hard time having children to study the Book of
Bamidbar. The Belzer Rebbi finds a remez for this in that when Torah tells us
that Yitzchak dug wells there were five wells that were mentioned by name. Each
one of those five names corresponds to a different book of the Torah. Esek-
is that Hashem was busy creating the world, Sitna- hatred is Shemos
where the Egyptians persecuted us, Be'er mayim chayim- the living well
is Vayikra which is full of the laws of sacrifice and closeness to Hashem. Bamidar
is Be'er Sheva because it is divided into two books making the 7 books
of the Torah (deeper concept-don't worry about it). And finally the last well
was called Rechovot- because Hashem has made us large and fruitful in
the land. And there you have it Devarim is about having children.
The
Zohar even notes that the 5th letter in the Alef Beis is Hei
which is the letter of pregnancy. It is the letter that was added into Avram
and Sarai's names who couldn't give birth transforming them to Avraham and
Sarah the Patriarch and Matriarch of our nation. All of the wives of Yaakov had
a hei in their name; Leah, Zilpa, and Bilha'ah even had two hei's.
The only one that didn't have a hei was Rachel and therefore, Reb Chaim,
the brother of the Ma'aharl suggests, Rachel took Bilhaah and gave her to
Yaakov. She figured that maybe that extra Hei of pregnancy that Bilh'a
had, would roll over to her. The Radvaz even notes that the letter Hei
even looks like a pregnant woman. It is the only letter of the entire Alef Beis
that has a letter in its belly. I bet you'll never look at hei again the
same way…
Do
you know why we read this 5th book this particular Shabbos? The
Gemara tells us that we have a very special birth coming up this Sunday, on
Tisha B'Av. Perhaps the most important birth in the history of the world. No
less than Mashiach Ben Dovid we are told is born on Tisha B'Av. Devarim is the
parsha of that nesting before his birth. It is the parsha where Moshe awakens
us to do teshuva, by remembering the sins that kept us out of the land. It was
the Eicha that we read of our troubles, our fighting, our arguing.
Do
you know what Eicha is? Why doesn't it just say Eich- which means how? What's
Eich- ah with a hei at the end. It is how did we lose that excitement
and anticipation of our redemption. Why have we stopped nesting? How come we
have stopped waiting for the birth of that new day to finally begin? How have
we forgotten how pregnant we are, and how close we are to our due date.
This
has been a very long pregnancy. But the contractions are certainly getting
stronger and stronger. The world is screaming for redemption. Cries of tragedy
after tragedy, craziness after craziness, panic, emotions soaring
unexplainably. We're in the labor room. We just need to push a little harder,
mourn a little deeper, daven a little stronger and then very soon we will
celebrate the Shalom Zachor we have all been waiting for and our empty nest
will finally be filled once again.
Have
an uplifting Shabbos
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" Az men ken nit iberharn dos shlechteh, ken men dos guteh nit
derleben.." If you can’t endure the bad,
you’ll not live to witness the good.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
37)
The Arab village A-Shibli is located in the area of:
A)
Mount Tabor
B)
Givat Hamoreh
C)
Tel Arad
D)
Hula Valley
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-eileh-acapella
– My
Al Eileh Compostion sung by the incredible Dovid Lowy- Acapella… what do you
think?
https://youtu.be/5lkodrL5_pk
– Trailer for Rabbi Yoel Gold's "The
Wait" Tisha B'Av film
https://youtu.be/cMEilW4ADB8
- Trailer for the BJX Tisha B'Av program
with Beri Weber, Baruch Levine and incredible speakers… looks good.
https://youtu.be/rRI4srWglHs - Trailer
for OORAH's children video with Rabbi Yitzy Erps also
https://youtu.be/39c-5KXBk9A - Tisha B'Av and Rachel's tears with Rabbi David Fohrman
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE
WEEK
The Real Torah
– Parshat Devarim-
We begin the last and final book of the Torah this week; Sefer Devarim. It
is always the book and parsha we read before our national day of mourning for
the Temples and all of the tribulations of our Exile throughout the
generations. The Book begins with the words
Eileh
Ha'Devarim- these are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Israel on the
banks of the Jorna in the land of Moav Moshe explained this entire Torah.
There is a rule
our sages teach us and Rashi in Parshat
Mishpatim quotes that whenever a narrative begins with the introduction of
"Eileh- these" it invalidates the previous things mentioned. In this
case, the Mei Merom notes, it would seem that this book which is known as
Mishneh Torah- the repition of the entire laws and narratives of the Torah that
Moshe explained here would be invalidating everything said in the previous
commandments. What could that possibly mean? How can the previous Torah be
invalidated and why would Moshe feel the need to repeat it all here?
He suggests a
very powerful and mind-blowing idea that the Ramban notes in Parshat Eikev that
the primary objective of the Mitzvos are to be fulfilled in Eretz Yisrael. He
quotes the Midrash Sifri which writes
"Even
though when I will exile you from Eretz Yisrael, you should still be meticulous
in following the commandments in order that when you return to Israel it should
not be like brand new to you."
The Ramban
explains that the commandments are the judgements of Elokey Ha'Artetz- the God
of the land of Israel, even though we the obligation is upon on each individual
wherever they are. The Mei Merom elaborates on this idea that the individual
obligation each person has to fulfill the mitzvos emanates from the Land of
Israel where they draw the source and spiritual root of the commandments. We
keep the mitzvos in chutz la'aretz to bring the holy air and spirit of
Eretz Yisrael into our lives. When one fulfills a commandment no matter what it
is, putting on tefillin, making a mezuza, giving charity, observing Shabbos one
pulls the energy of that mitzva from the air of Eretz Yisrael and we are
connected to the land despite how far we may be from there. That spirit gives
us life. It keeps us spiritually connected to our source even if aren't privileged
to live and observe the mitzvos where they are naturally meant to be kept and
have the most power.
He explains
that this is what means when it says we need to preform commandments so it
shouldn't be new to us when we come back. The Sifri is not saying that we may
forget the commandments, but rather that we will be kept new and connected in
even when we are in Exile and we will not need to be renewed when we come back
to Eretz Yisrael. For we will have always maintained the connection vis a vis
the Mitzvos that always breathed the air of Eretz Yisrael into our lives.
It is for this
reason that Moshe reviewed the Torah right at the border of Eretz Yisrael. He
was telling the nation that the Torah that you observed until now in the
wilderness. We are now entering into the
source of the Mitzvos. If we fulfill the Mitzvos properly there, we will not
need to be exiled. We will not need to come on to the power of this
"repetition of the Torah" that Moshe is teaching here which will be
the conduit to bring the Torah and commandments even to the Diaspora. This
"Chutz La'aretz" Torah of Sefer Devarim invalidates the
original commandments that were given on Sinai that were all taught to be kept
and infused with the holiness of the land. This is the reading our sages felt
we need to hear every year as we mourn the destruction of our Bais Ha'mikdash
and the sins that caused our exile from the land.
We need to long
to come back to the place where we were meant to keep the Torah the way it was
given on Sinai. We need to have that direct line to Hashem. If we mourn with
this intent Hashem will certainly bring us all back home again.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE
WEEK
War Preparation-
840 BC –
Having just
confounded Achitofels's plot to launch a surprise ambush attack against
Dovid, Chushai Ha'Archi, Dovid's trusted plant in Avhshalom's
camp decides to send word to Dovid of this plot in case Avhshalom had a change
of heart. He sends out the son of Tzadok Achimatz and Yonasan ben Eviatar to
warn Dovid. They were staying the pasuk tells us in Ein Rogel.
Ein Rogel is today an identifiable place and is
mentioned a few times in Tanach. It's in fact right below the city of David
in Silwan and there is even a mosque built next to what used to be this
former spring and then well called Bir-al Ayub. It is located right by
the middle of the two valleys of Gei-Bein Hinnom and Nachal Kidron.
The Spring will have significance again in Tanach when Adoniyah the
brother of Shlomo gets his coronation over there.
When the
messenger came to tell them to go warn Dovid, they were spotted though and they
quickly run to the city of Bachurim, if you remember that was the city
of Shim'i Ben Geira who cursed Dovid, near Anatot or Mt.
Scopus on the way to the Midbar Yehuda. Hashem though was looking
out for them, and despite the fact that they were in enemy territory, he
provided them a well or resouvir to hide in. As well He arranged that the woman
of the house would come out at that moment and cover up the well by laying out
her wheat to dry. The guards of Avshalom who came searching for them, didn't
want to disturb it and they gave up the search. Whewww…. Close call.
Achimatz and
Yonasan make their way to Dovid and warn him that Avshalom may start coming to
him if he chooses to follow Achitofel's advice who is trying to encourage him
to attack immediately. Dovid heeds the advice and quickly crosses the Yarden.
Achitofel realizing that his plot was up and that his advice would not be
taken, went on home and hung himself. His last words of advice to his children
were to never start up with the house of Dovid and not to involve themselves in
dispute. Thus another one of Dovid's enemies meets their fateful ignominious
end.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JOKES OF THE WEEK
SHAME ON YOU…
TOMMORROW IS TISHA B"AV…. NO JOKES THIS WEEK…
*********************************
Answer is A- I has mazel for this one, which
actually happens on the real exam as well. To be honest I had no clue where the
Arab village of Shibli was. Although somehow I remembered that it was a Bedouin
village. Where it might be I have no idea. So I propbably would have guessed
Arad because most of them are in the South. But just yesterday I did a tour for
Mishpacha Magazine on stories on Tanach in the Jezre'el Valley and sure enough
I drove through Shibli as it is the village to go up to Mt. Tavor from. Isn''t
that cool, how the one place I needed for this week's question I was there
yesterday for. So the score now is 29 for Rabbi Schwartz and 8 for the Ministry
of Tourism on this exam.
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