Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
November 27th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 9 22nd Kislev 5782
Parshat Vayeishev
A Spin on Dreidel
It's an ancient tradition that we try to observe. We light our menoras, we have Chanukah parties, we sing holiday songs, and even compose a few and of course we eat latkas and being in Israel jelly doughnuts. And there is of course dreidel. Now perhaps when we were kids this custom was fun as we sat around spun our sevivon / top and counted out pennies from the pot. The tradition has that it began when the Greeks forbade us from learning Torah, the Jews would secretly study and when the Greeks would come in they would hide their books and pretend to be playing dreidel. Although that may be the source, it seems that the custom to play is only a few hundred years old or so. But that's good enough for me.
Now pennies or even shekels and spinning tops were just not going to cut it for my chevra in yeshiva. It was too childish and no fun or challenge. So it seems the yeshiva world- although some of our Rebbeim would probably protest at us hijacking that distinguished title, came up with other alternatives to fulfill the concept. The dreidel became a deck of cards and the game was given some name that had some chassidic spiritual mystical element to it; Kvittlach. In reality I believe that it's just yeshivisheh blackjack. Poker, with some herring thrown in for good measure. It involved some money changing hands. But everyone knows that Chanukah gelt is a mitzva, right? I guess the only connection that it had with the original custom was that when the Rebbeim would walk in they would hide the cards and money and pull out a sefer and pretend to be studying. So it's almost like the real thing.
I personally was never a gambler. Probably because any gelt that I did have I used to buy sufganiyot and shwarmas. I tried learning the kvittlach game once but it was beyond me. I still have no clue what an elevaroon is. Maybe an elevated macaroon? Instead I went to visit my good friend in more of a "fun" yeshiva. Those were "my 'other' boys". My yeshiva was where I would learn. Theirs was where I would go when I needed to get away for a bit.
It was late at night, after seder of course, when I arrived there. My buddy Yanky was sitting down with some of my friends discussing the Chanukah night activity for the evening. These were not kvittlach people. The typical card games were too lame. One of them finally came up with a great idea. Monopoly! Now I was a big board game person. Risk, Stratego, chess, games that required using our yeshivish noggin and beating someone else with our incredible strategies. Conquering the world, killing kings capturing flags. We were good at that. Monopoly is a luck and throw of the dice game. What's the kuntz?
The boys smiled at me and pulled out the game. They replaced the monopoly bills right away with shekels. Now I know that shekels are painted to look like monopoly money. I tell my tourists so that it's that they shouldn't confuse it with real money. Otherwise your typical American could get sticker shock hearing repeatedly that it's 100's of shekel for this and for that. But once you realize it's not real money, it's only shekels then it's not so bad.
But this was different. Monopoly with real money, albeit shekels is a totally different game. Do I buy this? Do I build? All of a sudden these question have real financial consequences! Hmmm. It sounded interesting. Not having any money, I sat down to watch (Ok maybe I chucked in a few shekels…Shhh…). The game became more and more intense as the night wore on. The trading got heavy, the arguments and under the table deals were heating up. And all of a sudden…Boom, the door opened.
In front of us stood Rabbi G., the Rosh yeshiva. Now this was not my yeshiva. I wasn't too worried. But, it was still scary watching his face as he took in the scene before his eyes. He looked at Yanky with a stern glare and asked him what was going on. Without batting an eye Yanky turned to his Rosh Yeshiva and told his Rebbe,
"Can you believe this? He wants me to trade him Pacifc and Atlantic for Mediterranean and Park Place., what does Rebbe have to say about that?"
I will never forget Rabbi G.'s expression and response. He looked at Yanky. He understood his boys. He knew when to fight 'em, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
"What!" Rabbi G. said, "Mediterranean?! Even Kollel guys don't live on Mediterranean…!" and with that he walked out and left as if he didn't see a thing.
Oy…. Those were the days. I think Yanky got his schmooze on the evils of gambling the next day, but in my opinion the wisdom, self-control and wit of that Rebbe, taught me an even more important lesson. One has to see the big picture of connecting with your students over losing it all over a game of monopoly. It's a lesson I will never forget.
It's Chanuka this week, My Chanuka box is out with all my Chanukah paraphernalia. Menora, silver polish, candles wicks, oils, and Happy Hanukah signs and of course dreidels. What is the deeper concept behind this dreidel? Now we know that there are four letters Nun Gimmel, Shin and Hey or Pey, which stand for Neis Gadol Haya Sham - A great miracle happened there or alternatively Po-here. The difference of course is depending on if you are playing in Israel or the Diaspora. Although I understand that Satmar and some other-shall we call them "not-pro-Zionist" of our brethren-don't use the "peh-here" ones even in Israel either. They claim it’s a Zionist invention. Although a gambling game of spin-the Jewish-top would seem like a lame place to start declaring religious indignation about foreign secular influences. But hey... I would never crash anyone's fun or party as Rabbi G taught me.
But the truth is that there is something sacred about the dreidel spinning game. There were great Rabbis like the students of the Baal Shem Tov, the Chasam Sofer, and I've been told that even (lbl'ch) Reb Chaim Kanievsky has mentioned that his father the Steipler played dreidel with them as children. It's fascinating that when they went through the concentration camps storehouses where they Nazi's kept the items they confiscated from the Jews many dreidels were found. It seems that the Jews who were limited by what they could bring with them to these camps, somehow felt the dreidel was something to bring. One can imagine the clandestine games in their barracks late at night. They may not have been able to light a menora, but at least they had something to remind them of the miracles of old and to give them faith that it could happen again.
There are many different insights about the dreidel game. The Bnai Yissachar sees it as the difference between Chanuka and Purim. Whereas on Purim we spin the gragger from bottom, Chanuka the dreidel is pun from the top (excuse the spun…oyyy). On Chanuka the miracle came openly from Hashem. It was clear that He was running the show. The Jews did not merit redemption or the miracle as most of them had assimilated. Hashem had to spin that dreidel from above. On Purim we fasted, we prayed and we repented. We were the ones turning that Divine grogger. We made the noise and Hashem in kind responded.
Rebbi Nachman of Breslav has an incredible insight into the dreidel game though. He notes that the dreidel is like life. We spin and we spin and we fall. Sometimes when we fall we are gadol- we are great we win. Other times we are Nun- nisht nothing. Sometimes we pay, sometimes we lose half, but yet we pick ourselves up and spin again. Sometimes it's our turn and the next spin it could be my neighbors and other game players turn. Life is constantly spinning and we are constantly waiting to see where it will fall. Some spins are longer and some are shorter. The one thing that unites all of the players though, is when the top is turning you can't see the letters. When it is spinning around and around they all look like one. That is the message we are meant to internalize about our lives. We are all on a dreidel and we are all part of the miracle. Today's shin could be tommorow's gimmel.
The parsha that we read this week before Chanuka Vayeishev (and you thought I'd forgotten about this part of the E-Mail…shame) is also like a dreidel and completes this message. The Rokayach notes that almost every single verse in the parsha begins with the letter vav, which translates as "and". And this… and that… and this… and he came… and he settled …and he went… It’s a parsha on the move. It's a parsha that is constantly spinning. The vav is like that little handle on the top of the dreidel that Hashem is spinning. Yosef is the favorite child. He got a colored coat. He got the first gimmel. But then he is thrown down in a pit. He falls. Shin. Yaakov is settled and happy. Gimmel. He falls in mourning for his kidnapped son. Shin Reuvein is the oldest, and he loses his position, Yehuda is the leader and he falls. Tamar is on the bottom and then she rises up. They all ultimately rise again. It's one continuation. They're all spinning. It's ironic that the parsha is called Vayeishev- and he settled because no one seems settled after the first verse. But the Torah is not ironic. It is settled like our dreidel. It falls, but then rises and spins again.
Do you know how many verses don’t start with vav in the parsha? Eight. Yup. Eight days of Chanuka. Interestingly enough there is another book that also has every verse besides eight that start with the connecting letter vav that unites it all together; that is spinning the entire story. It is the book of Ruth. There as well, people are rising and falling. Elimelech, and his two sons are the leaders and they flee Israel and ultimately intermarry and die. Naomi who was once the big Rebbetzin comes back as a pauper. Rus is a former princess and she now is begging for wheat and charity. It's an amazing story. But the end of that story is the birth of the grandfather of King David; the beginning of the messianic line.
That messianic line of King David had its start in our parsha. The beginning of the driedel game started already centuries before with Yehuda and Tamar the ancestors of Boaz. The great miracle is happening here. Do you know what the gematria of Nun Gimmel Shin and Hey is? 358. Do you know what else has that same gematria? Mashiach.
The top is spinning. This Sunday night we will light our menoras. We will sing Maoz Tzur. It's a song about all of our exiles. We start with Egypt, we go through Bavel, Chanuka and Purim. We conclude with the final exile that we are still in and ask Hashem to bring Mashiach. Then we pull out our dreidel and watch it spin in the glow of those candles. May the dreidel of Klal Yisrael finally land on that winning letter. We want the gantzeh pot. It's time for the Nes Gadol.
Have a winning Shabbos and a Happy Chanuka
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" “Ainem’s mazel iz an anderen’s shlemazel."– One’s good luck is another’s misfortune.."
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
4) According to the resolution for the partition of the Land of Israel, Nahariya was to be in the territory of the _____ State.
The partition proposal was put to a vote at the UN following the recommendation of:
a) The Jewish Agency (ha’sochnut ha’yehudit)
b) The Arab Higher Committee
c) UNSCOP
d) Recommendation of the great powers - the Soviet Union and the USA
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-hanissim – Chanukah is coming time to enjoy your favorite Rabbi Schwartzes Chanuka compositions here's my Al Hanissim
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/haneiros-halalu- And of course my haneiros halalu… we'save the chasof for next week.
https://youtu.be/NinkEVhCmc4 - Nissim Blacks latest song and video "Change" the man is mamash the holiest rap star I know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiskf_lZXv8 – Tis the season once again traditional Chanukah acapella musical knockoffs songs this is West Side Story by Six13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd_vS0IINIE - "Illuminating" by Maccabeats
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
The Super Power of the day- Parshat Vayeishev- This week's Torah portion introduces us to Yosef and all the ordeals and challenges that he went through, the pinnacle of which our sages tell us is that "test" that he had in avoiding the temptation and seduction of the wife of his master Potifar. The Medrash tells us that Yosef has told Hashem, that his father Yaakov underwent challenges and tests as did Avraham and he seemed to be having an easy life. As a result Hashem responded that he would give him an even greater challenge than they ever went through and thus the story begins. Lesson one. Be careful what you ask for in life.
What made the challenges of our ancestors so difficult the sefarim tell us is that Hashem to a large degree upped the ante of their Yetzer Harah to the point it where it really was almost unhumanly possible to resist. For example by Avraham when Hashem told him to take his child whom he loved for a sacrifice, Hashem increased Avraham's love for Yitzchak so much it was almost impossible to go through with the command. Similarly when Yosef was being seduced again and again and again by this woman, Hashem removed all his natural inhibitions and increased his desire to such a degree that it was too difficult to pass up.
How then did Yosef survive? So the Divrei Shmuel suggests that the Torah reveals this to us by telling us when this happened. It says Vayehi ka'hayom ha'zeh- and it was like this day, when the final temptation took place. The Midrash there says, what day was it? You guessed it/ None other than Shabbos Kodesh. Why is this so significant? Because on Shabbos, he tells us, a Jew is given extra super spiritual powers to lift themselves up from the bottom and rise to places that one could never reach during the regular weekdays. Shabbos, is when the entire world is elevated. We can make even the mundane holy and special. How? Because Shabbos possesses that super-power and energy into a Jew that connects him so close to our Creator that no forces of evil have and weight.
It was from Shabbos that Yosef was able to tap into and overcome his yetzer harah and run out of the house. In the same way that Hashem tells Avraham who thought he could not have children that he needs to go outside and count the stars. They are both things that happen outside. Outside of the physical world, outside of the normal constraints of nature and human capability. Leave the physical world and enter the Shabbos world. There the rules and game changes. There every Jew can rise up from the ashes. And thus each Shabbos when we sing Lecha Dodi we repeat this theme. His'naari his'o'reri- shake off the world, awaken and shine that light. It is the super power of Shabbos.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Unfinished Business end of Yoav- 837 BC- Shlomo Ha'Melech tried to be a nice guy when he inherited the reigns from Dovid by sparing his brother Adoniyahu, but sometimes a kings gotta do what a kings gotta do. And with Adoniyahu's attempted coup by asking Batsheva to give him Dovid's maid servant Avishag who kept him warm at night as his wife, he knew that there were still forces that unless they were taken care of would always be a thorn in his side. And thus he orders his loyal servant Benayahu ben Yehoyada to kill Adoniyahu, and he does. One down. Two more left to go in Shlomo's eyes.
The second person on his hit list was Aviathar the Kohen who had backed Adnoniyahu. Here unlike Adoniyahu, Shlomo had mercy. Aviathar was faithful and loyal to Dovid. As well, he was the only surviving Kohen from the city of Nov that Shaul had destroyed while he was seeking to Dovid who hid there. So Shlomo felt that to a large degree a bit of guilt over the death of their family as it was because they were seeking his father Dovid that the entire city was killed. Thus Shlomo ordered that Aviathar would be banished to his home city of Anatot. Today the city of Anatot is located off of Highway 60 near the valley that runs down to Nachal Perat. Those that do that incredible water hike can see where the arab village of Anata still stands. Incidentally that is also the city where the prophet Yirmiyahu was from.
Finally the last person to be dealt with was Dovid's former general and nephew, Yoav. Yoav had taken matters into his hands too many times. Killing his cousin Ammasa and Shaul's general Avner and now once again he had supported and encouraged Adoniyahu in his rebellion. Shlomo orders Benayahu to kill him, however Yoav seeing the writing on the wall runs to the Altar and grabs on to its corners and refuses to leave claiming that the Altar will protect him and not thinking that Shlomo would carry forth his decree in such a holy place. He was wrong.
Where was this altar and why didn't it protect him. Different midrashim suggest that it was not in the Temple, which had not been built yet obviously and it was located in either Shilo or Givon. Only the altar in the Temple had the power to afford sanctuary. The ones in the temporary location didn’t have that power. Regardless Shlomo gives the order and Yoav is killed there and his body is buried in the Midbar/ wilderness. The once proud general will not have a tomb that anyone would or could visit. Next week Shlomo' malchus really starts.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE DREIDEL GAMBLING JOKES OF THE WEEK
What did the father dreidel say to his daughter when he came home from work and found her still in the shower? What! You're still not dry and ready?
What did the dreidel tell the doctor? I've been having these dizzy spells
Q: What do you call Hanukkah gelt that you gamble with? A: Chocolate chips.
Q: Did you hear about the two dreidels that fell in love? A: They met at a spin class.
Q: How did the dreidel feel about calling in sick? A: He felt a little gelty.
"My son is something else," Mrs. Finkelstein told her friend. "He traveled to Las Vegas last week in a $25,000 car and returned a few days later in a $100,000 vehicle."
"Wow! He won that much money?" her friend replied. "He must really know how to gamble."
"Well, not really," said the mother. "He went in our car, but had to return by bus."
When Rivkah was called up for jury service, she asked the judge whether she could be excused.
"I don’t believe in capital punishment," she said, "and I wouldn’t want my views to prevent the trial from running its proper course".
The judge liked her thoughtfulness but had to tell her that she was perfectly suitable to serve on the jury.
"Madam," he explained, "This is not a murder trial, it's just a simple civil lawsuit. Mrs F is bringing this case against her husband because he gambled away the entire $25,000 he had promised her for her birthday so that she could carry out a make-over on her kitchen."
"OK," said Rivkah, "I'll join your jury - I could be wrong about capital punishment after all."
A rabbi, a minister, and a priest were playing poker when the police raided the game.
Turning to the priest, the lead police officer said, "Father Murphy, were you gambling?"
Turning his eyes to heaven, the priest whispered, "L*rd, forgive me for what I am about to do." To the police officer, he then said, "No, officer; I was not gambling."
The officer then asked the minister, "Pastor Johnson, were you gambling?"
Again, after an appeal to heaven, the minister replied, "No, officer; I was not gambling."
Turning to the rabbi, the officer again asked, "Rabbi Goldstein, were you gambling?"
Shrugging his shoulders, the rabbi replied, "With whom?
Moishe meets Arnold at their social club and asks how Abe’s funeral went the other day.
"It went OK, Moishe," replied Arnold, "but at the end of the Rabbi’s eulogy, I had to try and stop myself from laughing aloud."
"Why was that?" asks Moishe.
"Well," says Arnold, "throughout his marriage to Miriam, she was always telling me what a mean man he was. He never had a steady job and the money he brought home to her wasn't enough for food and clothing, let alone holidays. Yet he drank heavily and often stayed out all night gambling. Altogether, a good husband he was not. But at the funeral, the Rabbi spoke of how wonderful the deceased was - so considerate, so beloved, so thoughtful to others. Then, when the Rabbi had finished, I heard Miriam say to one of her children, "Do me a favour, David, go see whether it’s your father in the coffin."
Rabbi Bloom gets on the train and as soon as the doors close, a priest gets up, goes over to the rabbi and says, "Good morning rabbi. I have a question to ask you. Why is it that everybody thinks Jews are smarter than Gentiles?"
Rabbi Bloom, who is not up for an argument, says, "I’m sorry, but I am just a simple rabbi and I’m not really able to participate in such a discussion."
But the priest insists. "Look, no harm meant rabbi, but I have a theory and I need to test it out in the form of a bet. I’ll pay you $100 if you can ask me a question that I can't answer. But if I can ask you a question that you can't answer, you must pay me $100."
Rabbi Bloom replies, "But I’m a poor rabbi - I only have $10 on me."
The priest hesitates then says, "OK, rabbi, it’s my $100 against your $10."
Rabbi Bloom realises he can't get out of this so he agrees, but on condition that he asks the first question. The priest agrees.
"OK," says Rabbi Bloom, "what animal has scaly skin, the body of a cat, the face of a squirrel, the ears of a mouse, webbed toes and swims under water?"
Surprised, the priest admits that he doesn't know and asks the rabbi for a few more minutes to think about it. The rabbi agrees.
2 minutes later, the priest takes $100 from his wallet and gives it to the rabbi. The priest then asks the rabbi, "So what animal was it?"
Rabbi Bloom replies, "How should I know?" and gives the priest $10.
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Answer is C – So my first wrong answer on this exam. Well, no entirely wrong. I did know that UNSCOP the United Nation something Commission of (on?) Palestine were the ones that prepared the Partition Plan. But I actually thought that Nahariya was included in Israel's portions as it was a Jewish city. However had I thought about it for a few seconds I would've remembered that the top of the upper Western Galile was in Arab hands and so the original plan it was meant to be part of the Arab State. So another I guess it's 50/50 on this one leaving the score at Schwartz 3.5 and .5 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam. .
