Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
February 4th 2022 -Volume
11 Issue 18 3rd Adar Alef 5782
Parshat Teruma
Cherubs with Glasses
They would come
to Shul every morning. They didn’t really daven. In fact most of the time they
were outside playing. They were really too young to daven. Nati was 9 and Dudi
was 7. But towards the end of the davening they would like clockwork
come in and stand by the Bima. They looked adorable. They always were dressed
in the matching clothing. The same patterned polo shirts, the same pants and
even cute little Yarmulkas. They even have matching glasses that always seemed
to slide down their noses and they both would push back up their cheeks. It was
the way their mother used to dress them. She liked matching and she would even
dress the younger children, her 5- and three-year-old as well with those same
matching clothing. They really are the cutest kids you could ever meet.
Yet, there wasn’t
a morning over the past year that they didn’t bring tears to my eyes. It began
as the chazan concluded the psalm for the daily prayer; the hayom yom rishon,
and then in harmony the two of them would begin to say together the mourning
prayer for their mother who was certainly shepping nachas from them and
who’s soul was moving higher and higher in the heavenly spheres,
Yisgadal V’Yiskadash
Shemei Rabbah…May Hashem’s great name be
sanctified and great.
There is nothing
more heart wrenching than to listen to these pure souls honor their mother who
had been taken too young and the God that she had instilled in them to always
love. Those adorable little squeaky voices with that Izraeeli accent have been
like a shofar blast to me each morning. Life is precious and should never be
taken for granted. Our children are the ones that will carry on the lessons and
messages we instill in them. They are our kaddish zuggers. They are the future
and the testimony that our nation is eternal. That in the greatest tragedies,
we will always stand up and see the hand of Hashem. We will feel His love even
though we may not understand His ways. We
know that He is running an eternal plan that encompasses much more than our short-sighted
mortal eyes can comprehend. But we know that at the end of it all yehei
shemei rabbah mevorach l’olam u’lolmay almaya- His name will be blessed and
recognized to the whole world forever.
We have entered
the month of Adar and until this morning I was really planning on writing a
much happier E-Mail. But today is the yartzeit of Tzippora a neighbor of ours
who passed away suddenly leaving behind her loving husband Chaim and eight
children; the youngest a baby a few months old who will never know the special
person who gave birth to her. I didn’t know Tzippy well, or to be honest even at
all. I just know those cute little boys with the slipping glasses who have
changed my morning ritual. Whereas in the past I usually would be rushing out
of shul and wrapping up my teffilin mumbling Amen to the kaddish and
thinking about where I’m touring today. I didn’t do that this past year. It
wasn’t only because I didn’t have tours either. It was because there really isn’t
anything else you want to be doing when those children recited kaddish but think
about Hashem. Think about your own children. And think about what type of life
and legacy we really want to have while Hashem blesses us with the life force
to be here on this earth.
Yet there is a
happy element on the day of a yartzeit. We are told that the neshoma has
achieved its completion. The year of Kaddish is up. Tzipporah has firmly taken
her place next to the kisey ha’kavod- the heavenly throne. From there
she will always be looking down on her Mishpacha. She will be advocating for
them before our Father in heaven. And from everything I have heard about her,
she will be advocating and davening as well for all of Hashem’s children that
are waiting for that day of his great Revlelation; the day when everything
becomes crystal clear. The day when we the whole world will say Hashem
Echad.
This week’s
Parsha that tells us of the building of the Mishkan the place where Hashem’s shechina
manifests itself and where that revelation to the world is meant to shine
from. The Torah goes to great lengths to describe in precise detail every aspect
of its construction. In fact the majority of the rest of the book of Shemos,
the book of redemption, is almost at first glance repetitive and reads like a
construction manual for certainly an important building, but yet something that
really doesn’t have much relevance to our day to day to lives. But of course,
we know that can’t be. The Torah is the word of Hashem, and each word and
certainly four or five full parshas worth have to possess eternal messages and
Torah that are meant to give us guidance in our daily lives. They are the
lessons of how we can bring the shechina into this world. The keys that
we need to achieve the entire purpose of creation. The way that we can make
Hashem’s name great and shine His light to all.
The Mishkan
manual begins with perhaps it’s most essential organ; the aron ha’bris-
the ark of the covenant which contained the luchos, the ten
commandments, the blood and life force of the entire world. The Aron we are
told was a wooden box made out of Shittim (acacia wood) that was
sandwiched in a gold box on the outside and inside. The lesson our sages is
that one has to be pure as gold inside and out. The problem though is of course
seemingly that really doesn’t seem to be the case here. The middle of the Ark
is really not gold, it’s Shittim wood. Its gold plated in and out, yes. But the
crunchy middle is wood. Hmmmm. I mean if you really wanted to send the message
that you should be pure gold then make the middle box out of gold as well.
The answer though
perhaps is that the wood that the Aron was made with was in fact not just
regular wood. It was the special shittim wood, our sages tell us that Yaakov
Avinu brought with him from Eretz Yisrael when he went down to Egypt and planted
there so that his children would bring them up when they would be redeemed as promised
by Hashem. Those trees though have a longer history. The Targum Yonasan tells us
that they were originally planted by Avraham Avinu when he established his tent
in Beer Sheva and under which he taught the world about Hashem. These are trees
from the “alteh heim”. The message the Torah is telling us is that the
Mishkan and the Torah and light of Hashem at its core has to connect all the
way back to our ancestors. To our fathers. It’s where it’s all started and it
is that tradition that we are passing down. The outside and inside are the gold
plate that are pure and holy, but the center of it all is that holy wood, that eitz
ha’chayim, that kaddish our parents taught us to recite and to shine.
That purity is
symbolized best by the covering of that golden ark. By the two young angelic cherubic
children that would be facing one another. The Talmud in Sukkah tells us that the
word keruvim is rooted in the word in Aramaic for children; ravya. Do
you know what those keruvim are? They are Kaddish zuggers. They are the
mouths from which Hashem tells us I will speak to you from. It’s not great
rabbis who’s faces we put on sculptures on top of the Aron, rather it is the
faces of the little kinderlach; the children who may not have even
learned any Torah and certainly not even developed any deep understandings of
its extraordinary secrets. But children have something that even the great
Rabbis don’t. They know and they recite the Torah, because that’s what their
parents did. Because they are the fruit from the trees that Avraham planted so
long ago. That is the purest Torah that one can teach.
I heard an
amusing story this week- after-all it is Adar and I do have make you smile. Rav
Chaim Kanievsky who doesn’t like to waste a minute from his rigid Torah schedule
is known for the brevity of the blessings that he gives to the thousands that
come to him each week. Usually if you lucky enough to get in to him he will
merely “acronym-bless you the words Bracha V’Hatzlacha or B’oo”ha! I
always said when I become the Gadol Ha’dor I’m just gonna say Boo!. But
one day his great-grandchildren came to visit him before Shabbos. Being a warm Zaidy,
he pulled out a bag of candies and handed one to each of them when they came to
give him a hug. His youngest three-year-old though excited about receiving the delicious
treat quickly unwrapped it and was ready to put it in his mouth, when Rav Chaim
stopped him and told the boy gently to make a bracha before he eats. The young
boy with no time to waste turned to his great- Zaidy and quickly said “Booha!”
and popped it in!
A funny anecdote,
ahh but with so much depth and beauty. That is the face of the keruvim.
That is the innocence of a child. That is the Torah of our parents whom we are
the ones who we received it all from. That is the kedusha and kaddish
that we are revealing to the world. It is not our own ideas, it is not our own
religion and knowledge and accomplishments. The Shechina resides and can
only be revealed when we start from the beginning and see ourselves as links in
that holy chain. And so I looked for the last time this morning at Nati and
Dudi as they pushed those glasses up their cute little cheeks for the last time
this year and recited the final words and wish all of our ancestors before them
recited.
Oseh Shalom Bimromuv- He who made peace
in the exalted abode above,
hu ya’aseh
Shalom aleinu- He will bring peace
amongst all of us. There will be no more tzaros, no more pain, no more
tragedies,
V’al kol Yisrael- and on all of the
Jewish people.
V’nomar Amein- and we all will say Amein.
We have faith. We
have emuna. We have an Aim, a mother whose Torah we are following
in its ways. We will always be her legacy. May the neshoma of Tzippora Tzivya bas Avraham
Leib have an Aliyah.
Have a happy holy Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH
PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Oib di velt vet verren oisgelaizt, iz es nor in zechus fun
kinder..” . If
the world will ever be redeemed, it will be only through the merit of children..
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
14)
The purple dye industry in the ancient world is mainly associated with
which people? _________
It is accepted by most researchers
that this color was extracted from:
A)
Lapis lazuli stones
B)
Red aphids
C)
Beets
D)
Snails
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE
WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRgLf9YJLDE
– Eitan Katz’s latest timely release
just in time the title song of his new album Teruma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7nhMGQ6w40 –
What an awesome song and concert by Kobi Grinboim Loving this song and energy
Ki Sa’avor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhrwQxUkWDw –
Powerful song Neshomot Avudot by Avi Podolinsky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjZwV03LdIs - How can you just not love Naftali Kempeh and this great somng
Shuvi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt8zGrDTZRI - Reb Chayim’s Booha!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS CONNECTION
OF THE WEEK
A Place for Hashem -Parshat Teruma- Until this week’s Parsha the Torah has pretty much been
telling us the story of the world and specifically of our nation. We started
with Creation and moved on to Adam and Chava, Noach and the flood and we are
introduced to our Patriarchs and Matriarchs and ultimately the tribes of Israel
who reached their pinnacle on Har Sinai. We became betrothed to Hashem there.
We lovingly accepted His Torah and the mandate to be His nation of priests on
this world. We have now reached the next step. It’s time to move in together. To
build a home for Him here on this world.
The
objective of Creation was always that Hashem should have a special place down
here to reside his shechina. To unite heaven and earth and to reveal to the entire
world that they have a Creator in heaven that really resides with in each of us
as well. The Mishkan was meant to be the realization of that desire. Each
detail is from all elements of creation, from rocks and precious stones to
plant life and the trees it was constructed from to the animal skins that covered
it. It’s a microcosm of the entire world. But we don’t have that anymore. We
lost the Mishkan. We lost the temple. And even today those of us that are privileged
to live in Israel, know that we are still not blessed with having Hashem once
again in our midst.
Yet our
sefarim tell us that there is still a Mishkan that we do have. A sanctuary where
Hashems descends amongst us and that we can feel the intimacy of His presence.
That Mishkan is the Shabbos. It is the day when we leave this world and we join
together with our Creator declaring that the entire world is really His. On
this special day just as in the Mishkan we sanctify Him with elevating all aspects
of Creation. We dress in our finest clothing. We eat all types of delicious foods.
We sing as they did in the Temple and we make Kiddush and have the holy loaves
of bread as the priests in the Mikdash would have.
The custom all
of the Jewish people have is to welcome this special Shabbos Queen with the
song composed by Reb Shlomo Alakabetz of Lecha Dodi. The majority of the song does
not deal with Shabbos though fascinatingly enough. It is about the Temple. It is
about Jerusalem. It is about the holy city and seeing it once again rebuilt.
For Shabbos is when we taste that. When we build that. It’s an incredible idea to
bring into your every Shabbos. This is our Mikdash. This is a taste of what it
would feel like back then. Isn’t that incredible. But like every good taste, it
makes us hungry for more. We want the full home. We want to actualize that
deepest desire of Hashem once again. May we merit to see that day soon.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN
ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Yerav’am, Achiya
and the death of Shlomo- 797 BC- At the end of the life
of Shlomo after it had already been prophesised that the kingdom he established
would eventually be divided, that prophecy begins with the meeting and the introduction
to us of two important figures; Achiyah
Ha’Shiloni and Yeravam Ben Nevat. Achiyah according to our
sages was one of the oldest prophets. He was with the Jews back in Egypt and
experienced the splitting of the sea and all of the miracles of coming into the
land. He lived until the times of Eliyahu Ha’Navi and was in fact his
Rebbi. Chasidim have a tradition that he shared the soul of Rebbi Shimon Bar
Yochai and it was he who came and taught the Baal Shem Tov all of the secrets
of Kabbalah and Chasidut. He was of course from the city of Shiloh and thus his
name and Jewish tradition has it that he is buried in the Arab village
of Al- Bira near Rammalah and which has been identified as the biblical
city of Be’erot.
Yerava’m Ben Nevat was
from the tribe of Ephraim and was the leading Jewish Rabbi of his time.
He met Achiyah on his way to collect taxes that Shlomo had sent
him on. They met in a field and there Achiyah ripped his cloak into 12
pieces and informed Yerav’am that the kingdom would be divided into 10 tribes
and 2 tribes due to Shlomo’s bad decisions of taking wives that weren’t
worthy and who introduced idolatry to Jerusalem. Yerava’am however seems
only heard part of the message that he would inherit the kingdom. He missed the
part about it only being after the death of Shlomo. He therefore felt emboldened
to rebel against Shlomo. Their fight really had begun even before that
when Yerava’am rightfully rebuked Shlomo for his wives and for the
actions that Shlomo had done of closing up the Melo- which is the
area between the city of Dovid and the Temple Mount that Dovid
had instituted for the holiday pilgrims to congregate. Shlomo didn’t
accept his rebuke and the fight was on. Yerava’am fled for his life from
Shlomo down to Egypt and he will return in the life of Shlomo’s
son. But the end of Shlomo’s life is full of the underpinnings of the
tzaros that are soon to come and tear the nation apart.
Shlomo dies after a relatively
incredible 40 years of bringing the Jewish people to epoch of our history. He
is buried, the navi tells us in the city of David. Today we have uncovered
the Tombs of the Kings in the Shlomo. There are no clear markers
but it is assumed that he would be buried there yet fascinatingly enough it is
not a pilgrimage for the Jewish people. Is it because there is an entrance fee?
Is it because the tradition we have is archeological rather than any
kabbalistic one. There is a tradition from Reb Binyamin Mi’Tudela that
he visited Mt. Zion where the Christians (and Diaspora Yeshiva)
claim the tomb of Dovid is and that they were told that Shlomo is there
as well. Yet, it would seem clearly from the Tanach that he would be in the city
of David which at his time was not even uncovered and unknown.
Next week we begin the kings of Israel. Stay tuned.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE ANGEL JOKES OF THE WEEK
"I don't understand this business with
taxes," said the first man. "Surely
the Czar has enough money of his own. He even has his own royal mint, where he
can make as many rubles as he likes. So why does he bother with my ruble?"
"Don't be silly," said the second.
"Let me tell you a parable. It is said that every time a Jew performs a
mitzvah, God creates an angel. So why not ask God why he needs one more angel
in addition to the millions of angels he has already created? Can't God make as
many angels as he likes? Of course he can! But why doesn't he? Because God
prefers your angel.
"Well the same thing is true with taxes. Of
course the Czar can make as many rubles as he likes. But you don't understand
-- he prefers your ruble."
A community was asked about the qualities of
their former rabbi. "He can be compared to Moses, King David, and even
an angel," came the response.
The new community eagerly accepted the rabbi as
their spiritual leader but quickly realized he was incapable of anything. They
wrote a letter to the other community, complaining as to why they deceived
them.
To which they received a reply, "We were
not deceiving you. Just like Moses — this rabbi can't speak. He knows not a
word of English — like King David. And just as an angel — a mentsh he is
not."
What did the angel say when it went to heaven?
well halo there!
The angel tells him "Because you have
lived a good and virtuous life, I can offer you a gift: you can be the most
handsome man in the world, or you can have infinite wisdom, or you can have
limitless wealth."
Reflecting for a minute Yankel says, "I'll
take the wisdom"
"Wisdom is yours," says the
angel, disappearing in another puff.
The smoke is barely clear before the Yankel then
comes to his first brilliant realization, "I should have taken the
money."
Why do angels smell so good? Because their scent
from God.
What did the angel say to the other angel at the
party? Are you heaven a good time?
A quarter dies and goes to heaven At his arrival at the gates of heaven, Hashem himself welcomes him while angels play the trumpets. The quarter doesn't believe his eyes as he is being given the most beautiful cloud of all with riches and food and honey for eternity.The next day the one-hundred-dollar bill dies. He also rises to heaven but there doesn't appear to be anyone. He pushed the gate open by himself but behind it is nobody but one angel playing on his phone. The one-hundred-dollar bill asks for his cloud but is given a little filthy grey rainy cloud. As he tries to make himself comfortable in which is doesn't succeed, he sees the quarter on his right partying with all the angels at his enormous white cloud.
Upset he goes to Hashem himself to complain.
"Why does the quarter get the best cloud while I get this stormy trash? I'm more valuable, right?", asks the one hundred dollar bill. Hashem responds: yeah, but you we didn't see that much in Shul….
Answer is D – So I really didn’t have much of a clue on this one. So I guessed and surprisingly I got half right, but interestingly enough I got the one that I was less sure about right and the other one wrong. I figured that the answer to the fill in wasn’t ancient Israelis, it was just too easy of a give away, So I randomly guessed phonecians which surpringly was right. I knew they decorataed lots of stuff and were pretty inventive and figured they did dye as well. Actually the Phonecian Royal dye- perhaps Argaman mentioned in this week’s parsha comes from them which they manufactured in Lebanon in the city of Tye- or Tzur. On the other hand on the multiple choice part, I didn’t go with snail because I figured that it was a trick because I knew the blue dye- Techelet comes from snails, and I didn’t think the purple did as well. I therefore guessed aphid which is in fact insects that they use until today for Red Dye in food or Carmine. But I was wrong. It was snails. Can’t get em all… So the score is now Schwartz 11 and 3 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.
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