from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
August 5th 2022 -Volume
11 Issue 43 8th of Av 5782
Parshat Devarim- Chazon
It’s been a hard year for Chani. She was only 11
but she felt 50. Since her diagnosis three years ago her life has been an
endless series of chemotherapy, tests, prognosis, and hospital stays. She has
been prodded so many times by needles she felt like a porcupine. Ups and downs,
good news followed by bad news. Hopes dashed only to be once again finding that
sliver of salvation and miracle that came through for her. And prayers. Lots
and lots of tefillos.
Her friends davened for her, her teachers, her
school, all the parents of her friends that she used to play in their houses and
once sit at their tables like a normal child. She would listen at night to the
somber talk coming from the next room of her parents concerned hushed
discussions. She learned to read her situation and what was coming up for her
by the degree of the forced smiles, hopeful eyes and reassuring expressions
that fought to hold back the worried tension that lay beneath. She had become an
expert at too young of an age of putting on a fake smile and pretending that
she was just as hopeful as they were. But inside her stomach turned and tossed with
the knowledge that all that awaited her was another series of tests, nausea and
who knows when and if this would ever end.
She never
questioned Hashem why she was chosen to undergo this suffering. Why she was
different than everyone else. She believed with that perfect yiddisheh
temimus and purity that everything Hashem did was for the good. He had
chosen her to be the person that would inspire so many others. She tried not to
kvetch or complain. She was grateful that she had parents, siblings and friends
that cared so much and did so much for her. She felt bad that she was a burden upon
them and how withdrawn pale and tired her parents were in taking care of her.
But she knew that they only did it out of their love for her. And she certainly
felt that love and appreciation for Hashem for giving her such caring parents-
something that not everyone has. But at the end of the day as she lay down on
her pillow and after she said Shema and the prayer that Hashem returns her soul
to her in the morning to a brighter tomorrow, she would close her eyes and think
about what the day would look like. How it could be better. What life without
cancer would be like.
This week though Chani’s life changed. For two
weeks she was a normal child. She was just Chani the happy 11-year-old. Truth
is she was more than that. She was Chani the superstar. Chani, the actress.
Chani who had Simcha Leiner, Avraham Fried and Mordechai Shapiro entertain her
personally. She danced, she jumped, she swam, she played she frolicked. She had
the most mind-blowing activities that she could ever imagine. She made new
friends. Other kids just like her that had been going through the same
challenges, same struggles and the same fears and trauma that her life had
been. Her personal counselor Suri was the sweetest and funniest girl she had
ever met. She was like the older sister she had always dreamed of. That
everyone always dreams of. And she was all hers. And she told her last night that
she would always be hers as well. They were besties forever.
Where was Chani? She was in Camp Simcha. Camp
Simcha in an amazing magical place founded by Rabbi Simcha Scholar upon the
advice and consultation with one of the greatest and most sensitive Jewish
leaders and Halachic decisor of the last generation Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
ZT”L. The idea for a camp made specifically for children who have undergone
cancer or blood illness that prevents them from attending other camps and even
having normal childhood lives was to give them a window of time each summer
where they could be kids again. But it’s more than just kids. Camp Simcha blows
it out of the sky. They go crazy with these kids. Free open canteen specialized
and personalized gourmet meals of whatever they want. Activities and trips
designed just for them that are way over the top. They have love, they have
laughs, they sing, they dance. They each have their own counselor and waiter. And
best of all the girls have my sister Rivky Zukerman who knows how to party as
much as her older brother and show people the time of their life. She’s a lot prettier
than me and much more polite and loving though…And she has been blessed and
privileged- in her words- to be the head counselor for the past 20 years or so
of this amazing Camp.
I watched a video that she sent me this morning
of the camp and tears came to my eyes. It’s so beautiful. It’s so life
changing. The way that the children describe the experience and what it does
for them, the relief and joy that their parents who never dreamed their kids
would ever be “normal” and have the fun childhood that they may have had can’t
be described. And the longing and the enthusiasm and the counting down the days
that each one of these families have each year as camp approaches made me think
of one thing. One thing only. Tisha B’Av. Yup.. Tisha B’av and me. This is a
taste of really what it’s all about. This is a taste of what we should be
feeling and longing for too.
We have been suffering for 2000 years from a
cancer called Galus. Our glorious childhood years have been stolen from
us. The chesed ne’urayich- the yeled sha’ashusim- that sweet,
fun, pure child that we were when we left Egypt that Hashem was bringing to our
home when we were born as a nation and had so many dreams and aspirations for
our lives together was ripped away from us. We were poked, prodded, moved from
hospital to hospital, from country to country. We suffer, we are looked at and maligned
and scorned by all those “normal” kids in the playground. Yet through it all we
have never lost faith. We have never given up hope. We have never stopped
davening. We never stopped longing for Simcha L’artzecha- for the camp
Simcha that will be when this is finally over in our homeland together.
Do you know what that camp will look like? It
will be amazing. We will each have our personal counselor. Our kohen that will
connect us to Hashem. There will be Levi’im preforming every morning as we
arise in the Beis Ha’mikdash. A concert each day just for us. As we drive closer
and closer to the glorious hills of Yerushalayim we will see not that ugly golden
pimple that has been desecrating our holiest site for over 1400 years but a house
of Hashem 4 times the size of it with the sweet smell of ketores and barbequed
korbanos wafting out from that huge column of smoke that rises to the
heavens giving our Father that rayach nichoach that he has been longing
for so long. We will dance. We will sing. We will be not only normal once
again, but all those other kids in the playground that though that they had it
good will be jealous of us. Can you imagine them being jealous of us- the kids
with 2000-year-old galus, that have been homeless and abandoned for so
long?!
Can you see it? Can you imagine it? This Shabbos
is called Shabbos Chazon because we have the ability to see things that we
usually can’t. Moshe begins Parshat Devarim this last book of the Torah and he
urges us to see everything that we have been through and to hope and long for
that better tomorrow. Before Camp every year, Simcha sends out a preview teaser
video. Moshe does the same to Klal Yisrael in this book
“eienecha ha’ara’os es kola she Hashem
elokeichem nosein lachem b’eiever ha’yarden- your eyes that see all that
Hashem your God has given you in the banks of the Jordan… and all He has done
to the two kings (Sichon and Og). So Hashem will to all the kingdoms where you
are going.
It’s our teaser. Rabbi Akiva laughed when all the
sages were crying by the destruction of the Temple. He saw in all of the precise
fulfillment of the prophecies of doom, death and exile that the liberation and
redemption will be even greater and will be fulfilled with the exact same kind
of miraculous precision. When we read our Kinnos and recall all of the
tribulations we have suffered we should be getting psyched as well that our
redemption that is just around the corner and will be just as amazing. The midda
tova is greater than the middas ha’din- Hashem’s benevolence is far
greater than his harsh punishment. Each Kinnah- each lamentation that we
read, each needle prick we recall and horrific torturous abuse we have suffered,
should make us dream and pray and hope and await that Camp Simcha finale summer
that is coming up.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this
season of the three weeks is always camp and summer vacation season (except for
tour guides- I guess. I don’t get mine until the 2nd week of Elul
which actually might even be booking up as well in this crazy tourism to Israel
booming year!!). Everyone is longing for that vacation. Everyone knows how excited
we are to “get away”. To go to camp. We want to leave our lives behind and
escape to a wonderland. We want to see something new. We want to experience
things we have never experienced before. That we’ve only dreamed about. We want
to finally achieve menucha- rest, serenity, completion. We want to be
whole.
This Tisha B’av we will experience that as it is
on Shabbos. We will eat chulent. I really missed meat this week. If I see one
more slice of Pizza-after this week straight of dairy only eating- it won’t be
pretty. Usually we have Shabbos in between to feed that carnivorous nature of a
dead warm blooded animal in my pita or bun. But this year Hashem wants us to
really long for it. And this Shabbos of Tisha B’Av we will have it. When we eat
and dine and celebrate and sing this Shabbos Chazon, lets open up our eyes a
little wider. Let’s not just picture camp or Bein Ha’Zmanin vacations
and tiyulim. Let’s picture Camp Simcha. Actually not Camp Simcha but the
Beis Simchaseynu. Our house and palace that Hashem will bring down to the
world. It’s not a two or three or even month long getaway we should be thinking
about, but an eternal one. One that lasts forever for all of us in Yerushalayim
rebuilt.
Have a happy Shabbos and a celebratory Tisha B’Av,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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WE’RE BACK IN MISHPACHA!
After a few month 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
“Er est vi noch a krenk.”- He eats as if he just recovered from a
sickness.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-eileh-acapella
- Not a time of year for real music, yet a mournful Acapella AL
Eileh that I composed and is arranged and sung by Dovid Lowy is sure to make
you yearn for the Bais Ha”Mikdash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ra-xMykPw
– Mama Rachel Acapella crying and
mourning for our churban always brings me back to her…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfVsbt5fWRw -My
favorite Im Eshkocheich ( a Twersky niggun) sung acapella by Ari Goldwag- sorry
SY yours is nice but this is still my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wK9yvp8Vjc-
Kippalive acapella underneath Yerushalayim see the fire…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
5) The battle between Dovid and Goliath took
place in _________ region
The lesson it
is meant to convey is
A) to protect the Ark of the Covenant which was
in Beit Shemesh area
B) It’s proximity to the house of Dovid which is
a day’s walk from Beit Lechem
C) It is the near the border between the area of
the Philistines and Yehuda
D) It is in an area where there are many
Pistachio trees that are good for camouflage
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Good Mourning- Parshat Devarim- A story. It’s always good to do
that and I don’t do it often enough in this column. It was the nine days of mourning and the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, Rebbi Baruch of
Medzibuzh told his chasidim that they shouldn’t bother coming to him for
the traditional Friday night Tish. He had nothing to give over to them. No
light. No insights. He was depressed. The three-week period since the fast of the
17th of Tamuz had been rough on this holy sage. Each day he couldn’t
stop crying and mourning for the Temple that was destroyed and that has not yet
been rebuilt. It was dark in the Rebbe’s house. And there was no reason for his
chasidim to visit him.
But then Shabbos came. A call went out to the kehilla.
The Rebbe said all should come. It’s light again. The Rebbi gave a tish that
Shabbos that was Tisha B’Av like he never did before. The heavens opened up.
They brilliance was blinding, and some said they could feel the angels above listening
in to his holy words. He explained to his Chasidim that the Ohev Yisrael explains
that Shabbos Chazon is the holiest of the year. It is the day that Hashem is
closest to us in our destruction and that he shines away all of the darkness. It
is a day when mourning is not only forbidden but that it has no place because
we are home with Hashem. The judgements are all gone. It’s a day of happiness.
That’s every Shabbos. But Shabbos Chazon when all of the
mourning gets removed the joy that replaces it is even greater. It’s as big as
the vacuum of the mourning of the previous week and it contains in it the light
of Mashaich that we know will be born on Tisha B’Av. There is no greater
light than that.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES
AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Eliyahu
and Mt. Sinai 724 BC –Did you ever read a great amazing story and then read
the epilogue and feel that it ruined everything? The epilogue should be good.
It should be the final pieces fitting into the puzzles. It should be happily
ever after. Well, that’s not what happens here. After the incredible miracle
and declaration of faith that the Jewish people experienced on Mt. Sinai that
culminated in the killing of the prophets of the Baal, The Jews go right
back to doing what they were doing. Izevel- Jezebel- the wife of Achav
puts out a bounty on Eliyahu and he flees the Northern kingdom of
Israel to the southern Kingdom of Yehudah. At that time though the king
of Yehuda Yehoshafat lived in relative peace with Israel. Athalia the
queen and his wife was the sister of Achav. So he needs to flee further.
He goes all the way down to Beer Sheva. He finds a Rotem tree and tells
Hashem to take his life. It’s too much. Everything he’d been doing for the past
three years with the famine, the miracles it all was for nothing. Nothing had
changed.
Now the Rotem
tree which is translated as a Retam- are those thin shrubs with pine
needles one finds all over the desert and that has these beautiful white
flowers that grow out of it. An interesting aside about them is that although
they are known to be poisonous, there is a tradition amongst Yemenite Jews that
the flowers and buds are very good at taking care of rashes and particularly
are used for babies that are yellow and have high Billy Reuben counts for their
Bris Mila. The Rotem bush is good for that. What makes that so
interesting is that as we know Eliyahu HaNavi is known as we will see as
the Malach Ha’Bris. The angel in charge of circumcision and maybe that’s why he
chose this tree.
Well, anyways,
Hashem is not happy with Eliyahu and he sends him on a journey. A
journey all the way back to Har Sinai where it all started. The angel
that gives him this message brings him so food, tells him to eat up and lo and
behold he begins his 40 day journey back to Har Sinai. Just like Moshe
Rabbeinu that doesn’t’ eat or drink for forty days when he goes up to heaven.
Eliyahu doesn’t as well. But unlike Moshe, Hashem has a different reaction to
Eliyahu as will be come clear.
Where is Mt.
Sinai? There is an accepted Christian and Muslim tradition that Jabal
Musa the highest mountain in the Sinai desert which today is in
Egypt. would be the Mount Sinai. There is even a church Santa
Katerina that is there on top. Now our sages tell us that Mt. Sinai was
selected because it was the most humble and not the largest of mountains so my
guess is that it’s not where it is. Fascinatinly
enough it doesn’t have much sanctity after we left there either. The holiness
is in our people. In our Torah. There is a lesson to that. Some suggest it’s
that when Hashem brings down the glory that doesn’t bring the eternal holiness.
It’s only when we did something to earn it. What happened to Eliyahu there? Stay
tuned next week..
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JOKES OF THE WEEK
It’s the Nine Days… It’s the Tisha B’Av… C’mon did you
really think that this would be a joking week…
********************************
Answer is C- Weither Was just there this week and the week before! Right near Beit Shemesh in the Shefela lowlands in the Elah valley between Azeka and Socho. Is that specific enough for you? Actually standing there between those two mountains one really feels the battlefield and faceoff between Dovid and Golyas and I usually make kids pick up a rock and target practice throwing rocks at a 12 foot tree the size of Goliath. From the top of Tel Azeka one can look out and see the Philistine coastal area from where they came up from and eventually fled back to. Yeah… C is the right answer. Another one right and so the score now is Schwartz 5.5 and .5 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.
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