from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
November 25th 2022 -Volume
12 Issue 6 1st of Kislev 5783
Parshat Toldos
Gun
Shy
I don’t carry a gun. I
know many of my tourists like to have their tour guide or at least their driver
armed, but sorry, that’s not me. I don’t do the gun thing. If that means you
need to find a different guide, so be it. I’ll survive. Someone else will take
me. If not, I’ll be home with my family that I haven’t seen for a while. No big
deal.
Now I understand that many of my American and
foreign tourists feel the need to have a ‘carrying’ guide. It makes sense. They
come from dangerous scary places like Boro Park, Lakewood, Baltimore Chicago
and England where antisemitism is up by 30%, where daily on Yeshiva World News
and other very reputable yeshivish news outlet, I see that people are getting
beaten up daily in the streets. Where the government is making decrees against
Jewish citizens and their education. And where the chances are- if history and
the books of the prophets serve as any sign for what happens to our people when
we get too fat and comfortable in the our host galus country will be-
they’ll probably be throwing them all out of there pretty soon. Expulsion would
be the good option and healthier one rather than the more violent genocidal
alternatives we’ve had to face pretty much every century or so… and we’re
getting there by the way. So, it makes sense that the tourists that come here
would project those natural fears and trauma on Eretz Yisrael as well. They don’t
really know any other reality and it’s scary in your countries.
Yet, Baruch Hashem, I reassure my tourists, they’re
not coming to a dangerous country. Here we have Hashem watching out for us 24/7.
It’s the only land by the way that He says he does that. As well, He’s blessed us
with an incredible army of soldiers that are willing to be moser nefesh
in order to protect and defend you because they see you as their brother and
sister- even though they have never met you before. Any place where you might
think it’s dangerous, you’ll see them all over the roads with their guns locked
and loaded. I don’t think me caring a gun is going to add much to our security.
If you need to count on my marksmanship, we’re in trouble.
As well, I really don’t trust myself much with a
gun. See, if I see some little arab teenager pick up a rock to throw at my car
and I had a gun… I would probably shoot him, his three friends, the herd of
goats he’s supposed to be watching and anyone else in the area just for good
measure. One of my failings in life is that I have a very low tolerance for
people that try to kill me, my loved ones or any of my tourists. If I did that
though, I would probably end up in jail for the rest of my life. It’s what they
do here to people (heroes?) like that. So I prefer just not to go to anywhere
that I think I need a gun. If it’s dangerous I won’t take you there. It’s why I
don’t go to Flatbush, Boro Park or Lakewood much anymore…
Now the truth is it’s more than just not needing
or not trusting myself with a gun. I take my tourists to lots of different
shooting ranges, counter-terrorism training programs and even the latest “Fauda”
experience ( I won’t tell anyone if you know what that is). They nudge me all
the time to shoot with them, but I’ve always been reluctant. I feel awkward
with a gun. It’s not me. Not that there’s anything wrong with it- in fact I
like to have people with guns around me all the time. In my shul in Seattle in
the States I think there was more firepower than in a Gaza tunnel. Anyone that
would’ve tried anything there would’ve been toast. But I guess I’ve always been
more of a man of words rather than fists. I’ve found that words are a lot more
dangerous and more powerful. More painful. A better weapon. As well, I guess that
image and verse of Dovid Ha’Melech not being able to build the Bais Ha’Mikdash
because he was a man of war, sticks in my mind for some reason. I want to build
the Basi Ha’Mikdash. So why put myself in a situation where I might become a
man of war. I’ll kill em with my words instead.
It seems I’m not the only one though that is
uncomfortable with the sword or gun. Interestingly enough, even Dovid Ha’melech
himself when he went up to fight against Goliath shrugged off the heavy armor
saying that it “just wasn’t him”. Instead he picked up his rock and slingshot
instead.
“For it is Hashem that is Man of War- He who
saved me from the lion and the bear will save me from this uncircumcised heathen”
Yeah!
But I’m
not writing this week about Dovid. I just couldn’t resist to give you a plug
for my upcoming Mishpacha article on my tour with him. Today we’re talking
about our Patriarch Yaakov. It’s Parshas Toldos. It’s the week that we got the
blessing of Yitzchak and when he took one blind look or rather feel of our
forefather Yaakov as he came to take the blessings and said the famous words Ha’Kol
Kol Yaakov Vi’Hayadayim yedei Esau- We got the power of speech. Esau has
the power of his hand and might. It all starts here.
Now although I just read and interpreted the
above exclamation of Yitzchak upon feeling the goat hair covered hands that
Yaakov had disguised as Esau’s hairy ones, as one that interperts Yaakov as the
“voice” and Esau is “violence and brute force”, the midrash reads it a bit
differently. The Medrash writes that
“As long as Yaakov’s “voice” is found in the
study halls and shul,s then the hands are not those of Esau’s and if not then the hands are the hands of
Esau.”
Rav Shach notes that seemingly the Midrash is
contrary to the simple reading of the text which states that the voice of
Yaakov and the hands of Esau are both simultaneous. Yaakov’s got the voice and
Esau has the sword. In fact, the bracha that Yitzchak does give to Esau later
is precisely that. When Yaakov will remove the yoke of Torah from their neck
then Esau will have the power of the sword. But yet at this point in time
Yitzchak seems to see Yaakov having the voice and sword at the same time. We
can have our prayer and M16 too!
Rav Shach’s approach to this question is fascinating.
He suggests that Esau has his border and arena, and Yaakov has theirs. As long
as Yaakov is in his Beit Midrash the hands of Esau stay in theirs. They won’t
bother us. They won’t enter our sphere. We might even work well together. If on
the other hand, we leave those four walls-that’s when the hands of Esau leaves
its place and enters our world. It’s when they start up with us, when they
express their hatred of us. They see us as taking their blessings. This idea I
would say is the traditional isolationist Yeshiva world view. Stay away from
guns and guns will stay away from us.
The Imrei Emes of Ger has a bit more of a Chasidic
insight which takes this idea to the next level which is that when Yaakov is in
the Bais Medrash or the Shul then Esau’s hands are handed over to Yaakov-
excuse the pun. We have the power of the sword that belonged to Esau. Esau’s
hands are no longer his. They are ours. It’s a step more than just stay out of
their hair and they will stay out of ours. It’s that if we do what we are
supposed to be doing then we will have the strongest army in the world, the
best weapons, we can shoot better than any Esau-ite. They’ll buy their nuclear
weapons from us. But that’s only if we’re using our voice and recognizing the
true source of our strength. If not though, then the game is over. The hands
will be the hands of Esau.
The Yismach Moshe though has perhaps the nicest
insight which really is the source of all of our strength and the secret that
Yitzchak and Yaakov revealed on this holiest of moments. He points out that the
words are repetitious. Instead of saying “the voice is the voice of Yaakov
and the hands are the hands of Esau” it should just say “the voice is
Yakov’s and the hands are Esau’s” . There’s no need to go all biblical on
us-despite the fact that this is the Bible.
He explains that there is a rule in halacha that
two voices can’t be heard at the same time. It’s why you have all of those “shushers”
in shul telling you to be quiet during Torah reading or the Shemona Esrei
repetition. Because you can’t fulfill your obligation or concentrate on two
voices at the same time. On a mystical level he tells us that this is our major
problem and challenge in life. We have a little voice in our head telling us to
follow the Torah and the commandments and to do what’s right. On the other hand,
we have the yetzer hara that is whispering to us the opposite message. Go
after our desires, speak lashon hara, sleep in late, stay in America and
don’t move to Israel. How can we be expected to listen to our yetzer tov
when the yetzer hara doesn’t stop talking and letting us hear him?
The answer is that there is an exception to the
rule. The halacha is that when something is dear and precious to someone than
you can hear even two voices at the same time. It’s why Megilas Esther or
Hallel that we recited this morning everyone can sing and daven out loud
together and one fulfills their obligation by listening even without reciting
the words. Because something that we really love and is fun and exciting to us,
we can hear even when there’s other background noise and music. It’s why I
always hear what my wife and children say to me despite the fact that I’m
listening or playing on my phone. Right? OK maybe not so much…
So, explains the Yismach Moshe, when one has a
special love and dearness for Torah, for the mitzvos for the voice of his
yetzer tov, then the other voice doesn’t distract. It won’t drown out
the sound of your beloved. When one learns with that passion then nothing else
in the world exists. They only hear that sound, that voice, that is still
emanating from Sinai that’s telling us the right thing to do.
The Shvilei Pinchas takes this understanding to
the next level by therefore explaining why Yitzchak wanted to give the
blessings to Esau. He understood that there were two worlds and two voices to
direct one’s person. One is to focus on the spiritual aspects and purpose in
this world by promulgating Torah and achieving spiritual heights. The other was
to be busy with making a living and engaging in the physical world in order to
have the means to support Yaakov in his spiritual pursuits.In Yitzchak’s mind Yaakov
couldn’t do both,. “Two voices can’t be heard or discerned”. The two
polar forces can’t exist and be achieved and focused on together. You can’t
have your guns and your sefer in the same hand, head or heart. Thus Esau
would get the blessings of the material world so that Yaakov wouldn’t be
distracted by it. He would have only the one voice to heed.
What he didn’t know was how precious the Torah
was to Yaakov. That Yaakov could engage in everything that the hands of Esau
could because the kol kol Yaakov- Yaakov could hear both voices and lift
up the hands that are the hands of Esau; that he could even turn Esau’s pursuit
and job into a spiritual one as well. He could work the field and the goats and
the sheep and through it all be reciting mishnayos baal peh, be learning
daf yomi, be singing songs and standing in awe of his Creator. Esau’s hands
become subjugated to Yaakov’s voice that is tapped into the voice of heaven.
The voice of Hashem that is revealed through the great love he had for Hashem.
We are living in a world sadly that has a hard
time finding that joy, happiness and passion in life. The noise of the world is
deafening. Even in our yeshiva Torah world, the Me’or V’Shemesh writes, it is
very few that are learning and experiencing their yiddishkeit with that love
and passion. That are tapping into that voice of Sinai in their spiritual
pursuits that would drown out all the other sounds. We may have the kol of Yaakov like
never before in history of Torah study, prayer and great Jewish music. But do
we have the kol- kol Yaakov? Is it with that love specialness that can
tune everything else out? If we did, then the hands of Esau wouldn’t have any
power over us. They would be our hands. His sword would be turned into a
plowshare to plant grow and sprout the spiritual seeds of redemption. And we
wouldn’t need to be soldiers. We would be the farmers and the shepherds that
bring the world to its ultimate fulfillment.
So, no I don’t carry a gun. I carry something
more precious and powerful. I carry a smile, a passion, a love and a knapsack full
of inspiration and connection to Eretz Yisrael and to the Beloved “Basheffer”
who gave us this land and His Torah. We all are walking around with that most
powerful artillery. The truth is it’s our real secret weapon that we got that
night when Yaakov received those blessings. We’re locked and loaded. We just
need to listen closely to that loving voice shouting out at us from Sinai and
giving us our orders. Ready. Aim. Fire. Shoot that love and inspiration into
the world. It’s a target you can’t miss.
Have an explosively marvelous Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
************************
YIDDISH PROVERB
OF THE WEEK
“ Ver es kon kain pulver nit shmeken, der zol
in der malchumeh nit gaien.-He who cannot stand the smell of gunpowder should not engage in
war."
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE
WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1wzuNozYPg
-
Rosh Chodesh Kislev song of Chabad…need to hear today…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYC290eDvrc
– Avremi Roth singing this new Yossi Green composition Zohar
Shabbos- beautiful..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGZH3AvU0cM
– British Soldiers in Buckingham palace
marching to Mashiach Mashiach… we are living in Messianic times boys and girls…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9FcuflNDs
- Shlomo
Carlebach HaKol Kol Yakov a Texas Mikva story…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
19) The
monument for the Isha Halochemes- Fighter Woman is located in _________
It memorializes
A) The early pioneer settler
women who despite the difficult conditions remained and lived in the land
B) Women that smuggled in
illegal Jewish immigrants to Israel with any means possible
C) Women soldiers that fell
during the war of independence
D) Women and their contributions to providing for
the security of the State of Israel
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S
ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Achazia And
Eliyahu- 706 BC – As we said last week Achazia was unlike
his father Achav who had done teshuva and followed in his mother Jezeebel’s
evil ways. Even the sign from Hashem of having him fall through a lattice floor
didn’t wake him up. Rather than acknowledge that this was sign from Hashem he
decided to send messengers to the Philistines in Ekron- as crazy
as that sounds to ask their god or prophets of Baal Zevuv- the fly god-
you know that book Lord of the Flies? Well this is where it comes from. As well
the name of the devil or Satan in non-Jewish culture Beelzebub is also
from that name. Rav Hirsch and others explain that perhaps since flies hang out
by dead people or rotting things it was that which they worshipped. Yet for a
King of Israel to seek out the insight of this putrid god of our enemies is
mind-boggling. It’s almost as silly as the modern State of Israel having
priests and other idolatrous folk pray for us. Really?
Hashem obviously is not happy
with this so he sends a message to Eliyahu to intercept the messengers and tell
them to pass the news on to Achazia that he pretty much has signed his own
death warrant with this act of heresy. He will die in his own bed from his
injuries. The messengers return back to Achazia and relay the message
and he figures out from their description of Eliyahu, as a hairy man
with a big leather belt, who it was coming from. I bet you never really thought
of Eliyahu that way either. Did you? Kind of like a cowboy.
Achazia
is not having any of this and sends an officer with 50 soldiers to arrest Eliyahu,
but they were messing with the wrong prophet. He turns to Hashem and a fire
comes down and burns them all up. Another 50 come and they meet the same fate.
The third fifty come- as it seems Achazia was not ready to give up on
bringing down Eliyahu. The last officer though, new that he was on a
death mission though and unlike the previous ones implores Eliyahu to
spare him and his men, which he does. Eliyahu comes personally to Achazia
and tells him that he will die and guess what? He did. End of Achazia. But
the truth is that this was really the end of Eliyahu as well. His
purpose of fulfilling his prophecy and leading the nation with the death of
this descendant of Achav as he had foretold was now fulfilled. Next week
we begin the story of the end of Eliyahu and the passing of his mantle
on to his student Elisha.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S GUN
JOKES OF THE WEEK
I shot a man with a paintball gun just to watch him dye.
What do you call an avocado that got shot? Glockamole
What do you call a gun that doesn't kill anyone? -a VEGUN
Two IT techs are at the local gun range.
After about 10 minutes of practice, one of the techs isn't able to
hit the target. The other looks at him and says "What is your
problem?"
The embarrassed IT tech puts his head down and says, "Troubleshooting."
Yankel is standing on long line when in the bank when a gruff
anti-semite comes in and cuts him the line telling him Jews have to wait. All
of a sudden a man with a gun goes into a bank and demands for money. Once he is
given the money, he turns to the first person in line and asks, "Did
you see me rob this bank?" The man replied, "Yes sir, I
did."
The robber shot him in the head, killing him instantly.
He then turned to Yankel and asked the man, "Did you see me
rob this bank?"
Yankel replied, "No sir, I didn't, but he sure did!"
I don’t understand people who commit violent crimes with guns. At
least become a cop first so you get paid
Most gun duels in the old west could have been prevented. If only
the city planners had made towns big enough for everyone. (Do kids these days
even get this one…)
What do you call a person who sells prosthetics and guns? An arms
dealer
A thief walks up to a man in a suit and pulls out a gun. The Thief
says: "Give me your money." The man in the suit turns around
surprised. He raises his hands and says: "But, wait! You can't do that,
I am a Congressman!" The thief replies: "Oh, sorry. Give me MY
money."
You can tell a lot about a woman’s mood just by her hands. For
example, if she's holding a gun, she’s probably angry.
In a small town, a man just opened a small store selling trumpets
and guns. One day his neighbor pays him a visit and says, "So how is
your strange business going?"
"What do you mean strange?"
"Because you sell only trumpets and guns!"
"So?"
"Well, let me put it this way, what do you sell the most,
trumpets or guns?"
"It evens itself out. Each time a customer buys a trumpet, one
of his neighbors buys a gun."
Give a man a gun and he will rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he will rob everyone. (At least in Israel
that’s true…)
Pierre from France, Ludwig man from Germany, and Dudu from Tel Aviv
are on an exposition to the Amazon Forest. After a while they get lost. As they
are walking suddenly the bushes jump up into the air and men with spears are
there. One man says "Hey, you’re in our sacred land. So what we are
going to do is skin you and then use your flesh to make canoes. But we aren't
that crazy so we will let you choose how you die."
Pierre said, "bring me the poison." Luidwig said,
"bring me the gun" And Berel said, "bring me a
fork" The guy was confused with the fork but still brought it the
items and gave it to them. Pierre said, "Viva la France!" And
drank the poison and died. Ludwig said, "God save the Fatherland!"
And shot himself and died. Dudu started stabbing himself with the fork and said
"Let’s see you make a canoe out of this! "
A couple wakes up in the middle of the night to find a thief in
their bedroom
The thief points a gun at the couple.
"Now that you've seen me, I have to kill you both. Tell me
your names and you won't suffer. I remember all my victims by their
names."
The woman says "Stephanie."
"Wow. I can't kill you after all.. Stephanie was my Mother's
name."
He points the gun at the man and asks his name.
"Phil. But all my friends call me Stephanie."
What do you call a molecule of sodium carrying a gun? A salt with a
deadly weapon
Argued with a shop assistant and she hit me with her labeling gun. Now
there's a price on my head.
What do you call a machine gun loaded with tranquilizers? A Snuzi
Biden will NEVER get my guns. I keep them upstairs…
Answer is D -I had no clue about this one. Never been there.
It wasn’t until I googled the answer that I understood why I hadn’t been there.
As the Tour guiding course really covers most important spots like this one… Or
not. I guessed Har Hertzel, Israel’s memorial military cemetery, even though I
knew it was probably wrong- which it was. The correct answer though was in
Nitzanim which is near the Gaza strip. I missed that day of touring in my
course- and there you go. I did get Part B of the question right, by guessing
that it was in general for women that provided for security of Israel and I go
that part right. In fact Nitzanim where the memorial is built is the site where
three woman fell in the battle in Nitzanim. Which was a fierce battle where
many were killed and others captured. The memorial built in 1998 commemorates
all women that contributed to the security of the State. So I got this one at
least half right. week Schwartz 15.5 and 3.5
for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.
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