from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
August 12th 2022 -Volume
11 Issue 44 15th of Av 5782
Parshat Va’Eschnanan Nachamu
Double
Comfort
Was it only just a week ago that we were
sitting on the floor and crying over the destruction of our heart and soul, the
Bais hamikdash-our temple, not yet rebuilt? After a full week of summer
vacation- touring, kayaking, hiking throughout our beautiful country, it seems
like moons ago. Have we moved on already? Have we forgotten about the reality
that we were hoping for that still hasn't come?
This Shabbos is known as Shabbat Nachamu, the
first of the 7 weeks of comfort in which we read a selection of the prophets
each Shabbos for the Haftorah that offer words of consolation to the Jewish
people over our loss. It's our Shiva- so to speak; the time when Hashem, who
understands our souls and the tragedy we endured on Tisha B'Av much deeper than
we do, tells us that we need to be comforted. How sad is it when someone comes
to pay a grieving mourner a Shiva call and he finds out that the mourner is out
on the beach? Yet, to be fair to us summer vacation frolickers and for those of
you that might be feeling guilty, we are not meant to be mourning now either.
The mourning is over. It ended the day after the fast. So on one hand there is
Shiva on the other hand we are not mourning. What is the season all about? Are
we meant to move on, or are we meant to still be reflecting and receiving
consolation?
The answer I believe can be found in the
strange repetition of the opening words of this week's Haftora- Nachamu Nachamu Ami- Console,
console my people- Says Hashem. The Maharsha, the classic 17th century Talmudic commentary, notes
that in many places when our sages comfort they repeat the phrase twice-"Kol
Hanechamot B'Lashon Kaful-all consolations are expressed in a language
repetitively" The
classic case he refers to is the famous story of Rabbi Akiva and the sages who
when upon seeing foxes run through the temple ruins had different reactions.
The sages burst out wailing and Rabbi Akiva began to laugh. Perplexed they
turned to him, and he explained that just as they were mourning as they see the
fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah "foxes in the ruins” in that
destruction, he sees in that a sign that the prophecy of its eventual
rebuilding and the return to the temple will be assured as well. The rabbis
then respond, "You have comforted us Akiva, You have comforted us,
Akiva".
Rabbi Akiva laughed. He saw the ruins, the
burnt remains of the Temple that he used to pray at and where the offerings and
the Divine presence were centered around for so long. He saw the destruction
and the later failed return of Bar Kochva, and he laughed. For Rabbi Akiva
understood what consolation and mourning all were about. Rabbi Akiva understood
that in the ruins of the temple lie the beginning of the rebuilding. Our
mourning is our consolation. Our connection of Tish'a B'Av gives us the
strength and direction to move forward.
When one sits Shiva, it because he is beset
with a sudden tragedy, the loss of a close relative. The process of shiva and
the mourning for thirty days and the whole year that follows is one that helps
a person adjust to the new reality of life without that individual. He needs
time to absorb the loss and heal. When it comes to the Temple, the opposite
takes place. We build up our mourning from the three weeks before. We work
towards that day when we fully appreciate the gravity of our lives without the
Temple...without the nearness of Hashem. Once that is over though, like Rabbi
Akiva we can be doubly consoled. We must focus on the laugh, on the knowledge
of redemption still to come. We are consoled doubly. Once by the fact that we
know that our souls were still alive enough to feel that pain-our mourning was
successful, and secondly that we know that if we were capable of still
crying...still feeling that pain...still experiencing the longing to come
home...than Hashem must feel that too. And He will come back and we will be
united once again.
The consolation Isaiah tells us is Nachamu Nachamu Ami- Be comforted
be comforted- my nation. You
are still my nation. I haven't left you. Be comforted for our loss. Be consoled
in the knowledge that I have never left you. There maybe foxes jumping and
dancing and building foreign places of worship on our once Holy Home that we
shared together. But know that we will be together once again.
The next seven weeks until Rosh Hashana when
we start fresh again are that time of comfort... When we appreciate and are
strengthened and fortified by our shared destiny together that we know is soon
on its way. The tours we take together as a family and as a people, the
serenity we try to achieve in the seven weeks before the High Holidays are part
of the holiest work a Jew can do. We don't move on and forget the past. Rather
we take our work and our struggles and our pain and recognize that they
themselves are the secret of our endurance. The key to our redemption.... So if
you're looking for a good tour guide this summer ....
Have a doubly incredibly consoling Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
************************
WE’RE BACK IN MISHPACHA!
After a few months of busy tour guiding hiatus was
finally able to get out the long awaited
MISHPACHA MAGAZINE
Tour guiding column
Check out this week’s edition and column as I explore the
Golan and Gilead region along Syrian borders of Israel. It’s this week’s parsha
as well- how incredibly timely.
Click here to read article
https://mishpacha.com/lookout-for-peace/
share, comment, let me know what you think, tell them how much you missed me and enjoy a taste of Eretz Yisrael with your favorite weekly tour guide Rabbi
YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“A kluger farshtait fun ain vort tsvai.”-
A wise man hears
one word and understands two.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE VIDEO OF THE
WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/kum
- It’s Bein Hazmanim! Vacation time! Atime for hikes and to explore Hashem’s
country he gave us. In honor of that I
give you my latest and perhaps even most geshmak composition yet! Kum! Sung and
arranged by the amazing Dovid Lowy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP_rB2dUTME
– Benny Friedmans latest Yama Yama Yama who had the same
idea for words as I did… mine is much better though won’t you agree…?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q44p4dbG2GI – Yakov Shwekey’s latest release song “It could be
you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q44p4dbG2GI
– I definitely can relate to this speeding ticket
one from Bardak LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzL-mnMK3y0
– And of course Shabbos Nachamu
is never complete without the ultimate classic of the Rebbi Shlomo Carlebach’s
Nachamu… You really need to learn every word of this song and his Isaiah the
holy prophet speech like I did…😊
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
6) The Chaifa port was
built in the era of the _________ rule
The economic
significance of the port was among other things
A) to replace the Jaffa Port that had been shut
down
B) And exporting point to ship out oil and its
refinery to Europe
C) As a connecting point between the ports of
Beirut and Alexandria
D) the actualization of the vision to build a
train between Beirut and Chaifa
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Good Mourning- Parshat Va’eschanan- Whenever you see the number 7 you should know by now that there
will be a Shabbos connection. This week begins the period of time known as the Shiva D’nechemta-
the 7 weeks following Tisha B’Av up until Rosh Hashana when we read the 7
haftoras of consolation. It is really amazing when you think about it. Just a
week ago we were sitting on the floor mourning the destruction of our Temple
and now we are enjoying our vacation and feeling uplifted and consoled. These 7
weeks the Magid of Kobrin says correspond to the 7 weeks between when we left
Egypt to the receiving of the Torah and Shavuos. Yet it’s the next stage. It
takes it back to where we should’ve moved from there.
See from the giving of the Torah we were a mere few days journey
from Eretz Yisrael. There we were meant to fulfill our mandate of creation.
Then and there we were meant to build the Bais Hamikdash and bring Hashem’s
presence down to the world. That first Rosh Hashana after we left Egypt
would’ve been the day when Creation finally achieved it’s pinnacle once again
revealing Hashem’s malchus-kingship to the world and restoring the Shechina to its
home down here. But we sinned and we lost it. We missed the opportunity. But
now with the mourning of the Temple we start that process again.
Shabbos Nachamu is always the portion of Va’eschnanan which once
again reads the story of Sinai and ten commandments. This time though it is
complete with the mitzva repeatedly of the mitzva to love Hashem and His love
for us. That is the consolation. We are finally moving forward. Each one of
these Shabbosos we get closer and closer to the Bais Hamikdash. Shabbos is that
day of love and the holiday today of the 15th of Av recalls the
return of that love to our nation that in truth we never really lost. It was just
hidden. We weren’t aware of it. We thought we had been abandoned when really we
were just being reminded how important it is. How much power and potential we
have. How much Hashem believes and cares about us.
7 Shabbosos until we reach Shabbos Shuva. The Shabbos of return.
The haftoras that we read are not merely consolatory. They are connected to the
parshas that we read as well. They reveal the power and light in each Shabbos
that we can take and bring out to the world. Every Shabbos has that light. But
these Shabbosos are especially close. These Shabbasos we are on the way to
finally being redeemed.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES
AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Eliyahu’s
cave- 724 BC – I’ve told you in the past that this column has a
spiritual energy much like the Torah reading that connects often to current
events. Well this week I got a surprise when I found something fascinating. It
seems to be brought down by historians and even Rebbi Nachman of Breslav
that there was a custom to go and pray by the cave of Eliyahu Ha’Navi in
Chaifa on the Sunday after Shabbso Nachamu. How cool is that? It’s the
week we are up to and right where we are in our study!
The only problem is that seemingly there really
doesn’t seem to be any really reason to believe that it is in this cave where
Hashem revealed Himself to Eliyahu and charged him with his next
mission. In fact, as we discussed last week the Navi seems quite clear that the
story took place by Mt. Sinai. Now there is a kabbalistic tradition that
Eliyahu spoke to Hashem from a grotto and the cave in Chaifa is a grotto
and there certainly aren’t too many grottos in the Sinai desert. (Which
of course begs the question as to how Moshe went into a grotto there).
But those same kabbalistic sources say that the cave was eventually moved
mystically to Pek’in which also isn’t near Chaifa. It was there
in Peki’in that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai hid in the same cave from
the Romans. So perhaps maybe once Hashem was moving the cave and grotto around
from Sinai it made a pit stop in Chaifa?
Who knows?
What happened in that cave? There Eliyahu
complains to Hashem about how irresponsible the Jewish people are. He condemns
us before Hashem. He’s upset that he preformed all of the miracles of Mt.
Carmel and gave us back rain and we still continued in our evil idolatrous
and even murderous ways. We don’t keep the Bris. We don’t keep the covenant. We
have abandoned the Torah and Mitzvos. Hashem though takes the opposite approach
and stands up for us incredibly. He comes to Eliyahu with huge windstorm,
with an earthquake and with fire. He then brings a soft quiet voice and tells Eliyahu
that he really doesn’t get it. The Jewish people are always connected. We will
never lose our spark. Sure, we may be distant here and there. We may lose sight
of our greatness and what we are meant to be doing. But ultimately, we will
always return. And Eliyahu will be the one who’s fate will be to see that. To
herald in the heavenly era of return.
It's fascinating I point out to my tourists that the
two rituals where we have a tradition to see Eliyahu is at a
circumcision and by the Pesach Seder. It is those two rituals that it seems
that Jews no matter how distant they are always are connected to. That we have
never abandoned. Perosnally those would not have been the two that I would’ve
chosen. But our holy nation is always attached. And Eliyahu will always
be the one to witness that. And thus he will be the one to testify to the
redemption as well and herald in Mashiach.
Shabbos Nachamu, the week after our mourning for the
Temple, Jews would go to the cave of Eliyahu to connect to that power.
To ask and daven that Eliyahu’s mission that he received that day in the
cave will finally come true. That Mashiach will be here riding up on that white
donkey of his blowing the Shofar. May this be the year that happens.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S DOUBLES JOKES OF
THE WEEK
A man walks
in a bar and says: 'I'd like 7 double whiskeys, please.'
The
bartender nods and starts pouring 7 glasses of whisky.
As soon as
the first glass is ready the man starts chugging, one glass after another.
The
bartender, dumbfounded, asks the man: 'Why are you drinking so fast?'
The man
answers: 'well, you would do the same as me, if you had what I have,' while
chugging the last glass of whisky.
'So, what
is it that you have?' asks the
bartender.
“not a
single penny!”
A man walks
into a bar and asks for a double-entendre. So the bartender gave it to her.
The
bartender asks the guy sitting at the bar, "What'll you have?"
The guy
answers, "A scotch, please."
The
bartender hands him the drink, and says "That'll be five dollars,"
to which the guy replies, "What are you talking about? I don't owe you
anything for this."
A lawyer,
sitting nearby and overhearing the conversation, then says to the bartender,
"You know, he's got you there. In the original offer, which constitutes
a binding contract upon acceptance, there was no stipulation of
remuneration."
The
bartender was not impressed, but says to the guy, "Okay, you beat me
for a drink. But don't ever let me catch you in here again."
The next
day, same guy walks into the bar. Bartender says, "What the heck are
you doing in here? I can't believe you've got the audacity to come back!"
The guy
says, "What are you talking about? I've never been in this place in my
life!" The bartender replies, "I'm very sorry, but this is
uncanny. You must have a double."
To which the
guy replies, "Thank you. Make it a scotch."
At the job
interview, I asked what is the salary like. They said I'll start at minimum
wage and make double of that in two years. Ok, I'll be back in two years.
Rivkah, a
young mother, was teaching her 6-year-old daughter Sarah how to unbuckle her
seat belt.
Sarah asked,
"Do I click the red square, mummy?"
Rivkah said,
"Yes, darling."
Sarah then
asked, "Single click or double click?"
A university
English professor tells his students
“In
English, a double negative forms a positive. But in some languages, such as
Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, in no language can a
double positive form a negative.”
But then a
voice from the back of the room piped up,
“Yeah,
right.”
I served a
pot of chili to a table of anti vaxxers and jokingly told them it could double
as a covid test.
They thought
it was a bit tasteless.
Berel was in
a cave, looking for treasure. He found an old lamp, rubbed it, and a genie came
out.
The genie
said "I will grant you three wishes, but your ex-wife will get
double."
The man
agreed, and said "I wish I had a mansion."
The genie
granted it, and his ex-wife got two mansions.
The man said
"I would like a million dollars."
The genie again granted it and his ex-wife got two
million dollars.
Then the man
said, "Scare me half to death."
********************************
Answer
is B- I got another half wrong on this one. I
obviously knew that the Chaifa port was established under the British. I also
knew that under the Turks Yaffo port was still in use and it really continued
until it was replaced by the port of Chaifa. It just was used more as the Ellis
Island of Israel rather than for shipping and exporting. I though though the
reason was because of the train to Beirut, but in fact the correct answer was
the primary reason was for exporting oil from Iraq through the British
mandatory Palestine to Europe. It didn’t really happen that much though. As the
War of independence and the establishment of the State through a wrench into
the whole thing. So I got half on this one and the so the score now is Schwartz
6 and 1 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on
this exam.
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