Insights and
Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in
Karmiel"
December 3rd
2021 -Volume 11 Issue 10 29th Kislev 5782
Parshat Mikeitz /
Chanuka II
Chanuka Gelt
It's been a
while since I saw that wonderful green color on a bill. I'm not talking about
that neon monopoly like shiny green on those fifty shekel Israeli bills. That's
not real money, of course. How could it be when things like a few bags of
chips, gorceries and some disposable plates and cups cost hundreds of shekalim.
Ehhh, it's only shekalim, you have to tell yourself. It's not real money. Yeah,
those are not the green bills I'm talking about.
I'm referring
to dollars, of course. I've missed seeing those greenbacks after almost two
years of sitting on my couch. Particularly the bills that used to come after a
full day of delighting my clients with an amazing day of showing them the incredible
country Hashem has blessed us with. It's nice to see them back once again. To
see you back here, in this little window of time during the festival of lights,
that Hashem saw fit to at least allow some of His children back once again
"l'hadlik neiros b'chatzros kodshecha- to light candles in the
courtyards of His holy city". And it's even more incredible that none of
them are taking this trip and privilege for granted anymore. They're happy to
be here and the "Benjamins" are once again back for at least the time
being in my wallet- or actually I think my wife took them out already. She
doesn't trust me with them for too long. Despite the fact that I really can't
blow that much on doughnuts and Shwarma these post-surgery days. A few nibbles
and I'm good.
It's appropriate
I guess that Hashem has seen fit to replenish the Schwartz coffers a bit at
this time of year. It is the season for Chanuka Gelt, and as we know little
chocolate coins wrapped in silver foil never really cut for me as a kid. Don't
get me wrong, I like chocolate probably more than the next guy. But that's not
the real gelt. It is a step up from shekalim. But I was looking for something
that I could buy real food with. A pastrami sandwich, or any wamr blooded
animal on club really. They don't call it Mooooola for nothing.
Now, although
I'm back in the green a bit, there was still a little bit of a startling
discovery that I made as I started making the cheshbon for my tourists. The
dollar ain't what it used to be pre-Corona anymore. Whereas pre- Corona I was
looking at 3.80 dollar to shekel exchange rate. These days we're getting closer
and closer to a 3 to 1 exchange. Not realizing this or at least being cognizant
of the significant drop when I quoted prices to my tourists- I was just too
excited that my phone was ringing with someone other than these annoying
telemarketing tzedaka calls for the first time- I told people what the old rates
were. Its fine, I guess. It's still great to have people coming in and to have
something to pay my bills with once again, yet when I calculated what I had
made at the end of the day I did get a bit of a sticker shock at how much less
it was than before.
On the other
hand, kind of like my tourists that finally were able to come to Israel and
also coming to that same realization about how much more things were costing
them and how much less their dollar purchasing power got them, at the end of
the day are all really just grateful that they're here. I as well, came to that
realization. It's ain't about the money or dollar value. It's about where and
how we are able to spend it. We can buy things in ISRAEL! We can spend our hard
earned chutznik money in the HOLY LAND. I can once again make a parnassa doing
what I most loved and privileged to do. Does it really matter, how much the
dollar is worth, or how much it translates into shekalim. The real question is
how it translates into my life. That, I believe is really the secret of what
Chaunka Gelt is really all about.
This week's
Torah portion always read around Chanuka is full of Chanukah gelt as well. It
might even be the parsha with most narratives about money changing hands. And
as we know the timely Torah readings are always connected to the spirit and
energy of the times. The beginning of
the parsha tells us first of all of the future diminishing value of the
Egyptian dollar as Pharaoh dreams of the years of famine that will swallow up
all of the economic boom that happened during the preceding years of plenty ("Trump")
boom era. In quite a reverse 2021 phenomena Yaakov tells his children to take
down money from Israel and bring back food to Eretz Yisrael. They pay Yosef for
all of the food they take and surprisingly enough when they are finally
released to come home they find the Chanukah Gelt from Yosef back in their
bags. The money trail continues as they come back and return with presents and
money for Yosef. He then once again gives them back Chanukah money and
presents. Binyamin even gets double the money. It seems he must have rolled a
Gimmel. Yosef then mysteriously claims it all back claiming they stole his cup.
All along even the Egyptians are getting into their game as we see next week
when they are also handing all of their money in Chanuka gelt to Yosef,
following Pharaoh's raising Yosef up in this week's parsha and giving him tons
of money, honor and clothing. Yes, it’s a parsha we read each Chanuka to remind
us of how important this Chanuka gelt idea is.
Now there are
skeptics out there that suggest that the custom of giving out Chanuka gelt is
just a knock off and response to our gentile neighbor's Xmas presents. It's
part or the "tree" and eight nights envy that some of our nebach
assimilated Jews came up with like the Chanuka bush. But the people that say that
generally are suffering from chulent deficiency syndrome, and have not really
been raised on latkas and doughnuts. True yidden know that minhag Yisrael is
holy. Jewish customs always have a basis, as our sages tell us if we are not
prophets today, we are children of prophets and our customs despite the fact
that we may not understand them and how petty they may seem really stand at the
center of the universe. Especially the ones that have to do with food and
certainly handing out money. So what is the Chanuka gelt all about?
In earlier
times the custom it seems was to give money to the teachers of Torah on
Chanuka. This was a way to express our victory and the light of Torah that once
again flourishes after the miracle of Chanuka, where it the Menora was lit and
the Temple rededicated and the Torah was once again allowed to be studied and
taught. The Magen Avraham tells us that the custom developed based on the law
in the Talmud that if one only has enough money for Chanuka candles or Kiddush
then the Chanuka candles have precedence. So in order to insure that everyone
has money for both the custom was to distribute the money to charity. The
Likutei Levi Yitzchak, father of the past Lubavitcher Rebbi, suggests that the
custom is based on the law that one is prohibited to utilize the candles of
Chanuka for our own personal use. The example the Talmud gives us for this law is
that one can't count money by the lights. Thus we distribute Chanukah Gelt and
don't count it in front of the lights to show that Torah is more valuable than
the money. These are just some of the many I'm sure reasons mentioned for the
holy custom.
Yet, being a
parsha E-Mail and upon reviewing these numerous stories of the money and Yosef
there's perhaps another theme and idea that I believe comes out of this custom.
There is one I think life changing Aliya that really jumped out from me. It is
the third Aliya where Pharaoh tells Yosef that there really is no one better
than him to lead to the country. The Torah then tells us of the transformation
that Yosef undergoes. 5 minutes ago, Yosef was in prison for years unshaven,
unkempt, impoverished and in one minute after his interpretation of the dreams
everything changes.
Bereishis
(41:39) You shall be [appointed] over my household, and through your command
all my people shall be nourished; only [with] the throne will I be greater than
you.
Wow! Talk about
a raise. But we are just getting started.
(Ibid) So
Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Look, I have appointed you over the entire land
of Egypt." And Pharaoh removed his ring from his hand and placed it on
Joseph's hand, and he attired him [with] raiment of fine linen, and he placed
the golden chain around his neck. And he
had him ride in his chariot of second rank, and they called out before him,
"[This is] the king's patron," appointing him over the entire land of
Egypt.
Gold,
necklaces, horses, royalty. Yosef is moving on up, but it's still not over.
Pharaoh is still not satisfied with his Chanuka presents to Yosef.
And Pharaoh
said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and besides you, no one may lift his hand
or his foot in the entire land of Egypt."And Pharaoh named Joseph
Zaphenath Pa'neach, and he gave him Asenath the daughter of Poti phera, the
governor of On, for a wife, and Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.
You can't be
the second in command to Pharaoh with a nice little Jewish name like Yosseleh.
You've gotta have a fancy Egyptian name, a good looking Egyptian royalty wife,
the daughter of a great minister. Now… you've finally made it. You're one of
us. Welkam to America.
Does this
effect Yosef? Can it not? Does success and fame and finally making it into a
society that we are exiled to change who we are. Yosef himself is not sure of
that answer. He disguises himself to his brothers when they come and in fact
they don't know who he is anymore. Next week when he reveals himself it is in
fact his first exclamation to his brothers. I am Yosef. Is my father still
alive? Do you no longer see the yid in me? This is perhaps even more traumatic
for Yosef and it in fact explains a bit on a very deep way the entire episode
and tests he puts his brothers through with the money and Chanuka gelt. After
all it's gotta be troubling you, what is all this mishegas with the money?
Yet if you
remember the last conversation that Yosef had overheard from his brothers
before being sold, was Yehuda convincing them not to kill him.
"ma
betza ki na'harog es achinu 'vkisinu es damo, ba nimkerenu la'yishmaelim-
what monetary gain will have if we kill him and cover up his brother, let's
sell him to the Yishmaelites instead."
It is one thing
to know that your brothers want to kill you. They think you are a threat. They
ruled under halacha that Yosef and his dreams of grandeur was meant to be put
to death. He was a heretic, a snitcher, a usurper of power. He was Yishmael to
their Yitzchak, an Esau to their Yaakov. He was the bad seed that needed to be
rooted out. He could accept that. But then upon hearing them say that he would
be sold for money. How could they make a buck off of him. That this was all
about their personal gain. That must have been as bad as it gets. Was that all
he was? A means to them enriching themselves. Can we and they sell our souls
for a few dollars?
Yosef therefore
puts them through the test. It's not all about the money. It's not what money
is for. We can't let it change us. We can't sell it our values for a raise, for
a nicer horse or car, for fancier clothing. To a large degree this is the first
challenge of our exile to Egypt. Yosef is put through that test of having made
it in galus, he puts the brothers through it as well, and he shows and teaches
them, that for all the money in the world- the Jewish spark inside of them will
never allow them to abandon their brother Binyamin. They will never sell their
souls for a few bucks.
Chanuka is that
season when we appreciate that idea and impart it to our children more than any
other time of year. The Greeks and Hellenists and their culture, their wealth
and their success called to us like no other force we had experienced. Jew assimilated
like never before to the extent that they even stopped circumcising, keeping
Shabbos and perhaps even worst of all they sold out one another. It was the
allure of that gelt that took us down. We forgot that it's not about the money.
It's about where we spend it, how we spend it, what we do with it. It's
something we never count in front of the candles because Torah is too
important. The Torah is never detracted because we want to count our money.
It's used to pay our teachers, our rebbeim, our tutors, our yeshivas, before we
buy our new iphones, cars, and house additions. It's there to give to charity,
to support the so many that don't have what to light with, not just monetarily
but spiritually as well. That is the secret of our Chanuka gelt. That's what
makes it so holy. The dollar is always going to go down, but we are always
meant to rise up.
The Magid of Dubna tells us that ultimately all of the money and gifts that Yaakov gave to Esau will in the times of Mashiach return to the Jewish people. He explains that when the brothers told Yosef's minister that they found the money in their purses he told them that they money had already been returned to them. He wasn't lying, the Magid explains, he was just referring to the Messianic times when all of the money that we lost in Egypt, that the Greeks, took that the Romans and all of the generations stole from us will again return to the children of Israel. This will be the final fulfillment of Hashem's promise to Avraham that we will "go out with great bounty" Chanuka is when we feel that light of Mashiach. The holy money that we give out that we redeem, is starting to come back. May we finally see the day, when the only real currency of value is the holy shekel of the Bais Hamikdash once again, when we will once again uplift the world in our Temple rebuilt.
Have a lucrative and Happy Chanuka
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
**************************************************
Guess who's back in Mishpacha magazine?
Just in time for Chanuka check
out my latest column below
If you thought it was hard to get
into Israel now read about all of the historic entries and challenges to get
into the Holy Land from the times of the Patriarchs until today…
https://mishpacha.com/first-port-of-call/
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you miss me and enjoy…
And most of all be inspired to come visit…
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RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Gelt iz keilechdik—amol iz es do, amol
iz es dort.- Money is round, sometimes it rolls here and sometimes there"
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer
below at end of Email
5) One of the leading tourist bird centers in
Israel has been recently renewed in: ________
The
main reason for the migration of many birds through our country is:
A)
Warm air currents (thermals)
B)
The limited number of hunters
C)
A change in the direction of the magnetic North Pole due to climatic changes
D)
The large number of nature reserves and national parks in Israel
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/chasof-zeroah - Need a great Chanuka dance song. Love this
Rabbi Schwartz compostion Chasof Zeroah with the great Yitz Berry arrangements
and singing.
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://youtu.be/nCWt-vDqAhs – Yoni Z's latest Chanuka song-
every yid's a fire remix great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zgmFA0HDVg – Skinny Nissim Black and Kosha Dillz Chanukah
song 2.0 Adam Sandler doesn’t' have anything on our boyz!
https://youtu.be/VLKGccsmBb0
- – Chanuka medley with Yitzchak
Meir, Harel Tal and more friends, just in the spirit of the day.
https://youtu.be/kdsAWnDnijE - What a heart wrenching song by Eli Levin-
Bayamim Ha'heim ba'zman ha'zeh of a young man who lost his father in Covid
lighting his father's menorah. In Yiddish with subtitles
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
WAKE Up- Parshat Mikeitz/ Chanuka- Tis the season when it gets darkest the earliest. Thus we
have the longest Shabbosim of the year, smack in the heart of our Chanuka
season, when we are meant to turn on the lights to our lives and our souls.
Back in my yeshiva days these were the Shabbosim when we could do a bagel on
Friday nights. For those not familiar with the concept, a bagel is when you go
to sleep at night and sleep around the clock a solid 12 hours until you woke
up. The really talented of us could do a bagel and half on Shabbos. These days
I'm lucky if I can get a4-5 hours in on the average night. I think I used up
all of my sleeping zechusim when I was in yeshiva.
Well this week, the week of Chanuka we
read Parsha Mikeitz which starts off with the dream of Pharaoh. It's a parsha
of sleeping and dreaming and yet at the same time it’s a parsha of waking up
and seeing the light. The Me;or Anayim of Rebbi Nachum of Chernobyl writes that
the parsha begins
vayehi mikeitz shnasayim yamim u pharaoh
choleim- and it was the
end of two years and Pharaoh dreamed.
This is a strange way to start the
parsha as it doesn't tell us what the two years were, although we can
understand it was the two years of Yosef's additional imprisonment after interpreting
the dreams for the butler and the baker. He therefore reads the verse and the
funny terminology shnasyaim- not as two years but rather from the word sheina-
sleeping. And it was after the sleeping of the days and Pharaoh dreamed.
He explains that this is a reference to
every Jew in every generation. And it was at the end of our sleep. We live our
lives and unfortunately we fall asleep about why we are here for. We have what
he calls farshluffeneh tog- sleepy days. Days without Torah, without
Mitzvos, without a connection to Hashem. We just fall into route and keep on
doing the same old same. When we do that Pharaoh choleim- Pharaoh, who
is the symbol of the yetzer Hara our evil inclination dreams. He takes all
those good years of plenty that were
full of mitzvos and enthusiasm when we were young, when we were in yeshiva,
when we were inspired and he swallows them up with the lean cows and beaten
down sheaves of grain. We snooze we lose.
Yosef's interpretation though gives us
the insight. We need to stock up in the years of plenty. We can't fight the
yetzer hara but we need to take those days that have abundance of light and
inspiration and utilize them to prepare for the lean days. Those are the Shabbosos
of the year. Those are the days when we are not burdened by parnassa,
we are not stifled by our technology, our responsibilities. We can learn, we
can daven, we can join together as one and come close to Hashem. Those are the
days when we need to pack it in. Those are the days that we need to stock up
for the sleepier days. Particularly Shabbos Chanuka when we have the most light
and opportunity, we can't waste those Shabbosim with sleeping. In Israel you
could never get a good bagel. Even our doughnuts don't have holes in them.
We're around the clock here holiness. May the light of Chanuka and Shabbos fill
up all of our holes and gaps with the light of Torah and geulah
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES
AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Shlomo's dream- 833 BC- With the removal of Shlomo
Ha'Melech's enemies he finally officially is ready to get his kingdom
started. The Navi tells us that Shlomo though delays the building of the Temple
for a few years. During that time he continues to sacrifice offerings to Hashem
on the various temporary bamos. Altars that were still permitted during the
period prior to the Temple being built. It wasn't what his father Dovid did
though. Dovid had established an altar in Yerushalayim already
and wanted to show the supremacy of Yerushalayim had only offered sacrifices
there. Shlomo though went all over and sacrificed around the nation.
I think about this a lot when one goes to
places around the country where old bamos have been excavated. We find them in Arad,
Beer Sheva, Chatzor and Tel Dan and many other places. They served
as temporary worship places. On the one hand many of them were holy and used to
sacrifice to Hashem and even and achieve spiritual elevation. On the other hand
they stand as a stark rejection of not coming to the Bais Hamikdash to
Jerusalem to our Holy city to daven. L'havdil if I was a cynical person I would
say that I get the same feeling when I go to the big fancy holy shuls in Chutz
L'aretz today! Ouch!!
Well on one of his days of sacrifices
Shlomo comes to Giveon where the Mishkan is located and there he brings
a sacrifice and has his famous dream. There Hashem tells him how much he loves
him and he offers him to give him his heart's desire. What will he choose? Wealth,
wisdom, or honor and power and glory. Shlomo in his dream goes for wisdom over
all the other options. It's not that he wanted to be smart. This was not a
scarecrow from the wizard of Oz thing. Rather he wanted to get close and know
Hashem and His Torah to best be equipped how to lead and guide Hashem's nation
that he had been entrusted to rule over. Hashem is so delighted with his choice
that He promises him he will have all of the other blessings as well. And thus
on Shabbos Chanuka the Shabbos when we are blessed with the light of the Torah
and the dedication of the Altar, we get to hear the story of Shlomo's
altar and dream of wisdom of Torah and hope that our dreams of the same be
fulfilled.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE CHAUNKAH JOKES OF
THE WEEK
I felt bad for eating
my Jewish friend's coin shaped chocolate candy he had purchased to given his
children at Hanukkah...Pangs of gelt haunt me to this day!
It was Hanukkah and the
tiny village was in fear of not having any latkes because
they had run out of flour.
Rudi, the rabbi, was
called upon to help solve the problem. He said, "Don't worry, you can
substitute matzo meal for the flour and the latkes will be just as delicious!"
Sheila looked to her
husband and said, "Morty...you think it'll work?"
Morty said, "Of
course! Everybody knows…Rudolph, the Rav, knows grain dear!"
How can you recognize a Hanukkah hippie? He’s the one
with his hair in dreidel-locks.
How much Hanukkah gelt did the skunk get? One cent.
What do you call a speck that falls into the latke pan? An
unidentified frying object
What’s the difference between Hanukkah and a dragon? One
lasts for eight nights, the other sometimes ate knights.
What’s the best thing to put into the sufganiyot? Your
teeth.
What did the older Hanukkah candle say to the younger
one? “You’re too young to smoke.”
How many potatoes does it take to make potato pancakes? A
latke.
*********************************
Answer is A – So actually was just at the Agamon Hula
valley/ Lake new visitor center just last week and I was really impressed. In
the past I always took my tourists to the nature reserve just a few miles up
the road. I kind oof liked the moving seats multimedia film they have there
about the bird migration. Especially the wind blowing rat under your seat. But
the new place is really cool. They have a big theater with two films. They have
a multi media display. Computer games and the coolest is a virtual reality
thing where you lie down and it moves with those virtual reality goggles and you
feel like you're flying with the birds. The correct answer for the reason for
the bird migration is the warm air currents that cross over here that make it
easier for them to fly. You knew they weren't coming for the customer service
over right? So another one right leaving the score at Schwartz 4.5 and
.5 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam. .
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