Soldiers and Sheep- Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5783- 2023

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

September 8^th, 2023 -Volume 12 Issue 48 22^nd of Elul 5783

 

Parshat Nitzavim- Va’Yelech

Soldiers and Sheep

“Men to the right. Women to the left”. When the words came out of Ari’s mouth there was an awkward silence. Here he was standing on the hills of Judea with a gun tucked comfortably in his belt and standing before a group of about 20 German couples and singles. But these weren’t “stam” Germans. These were grandchildren of former Nazis that were standing before him. What were they doing there? Ari himself wasn’t exactly sure. It was as if he was still in a dream. A dream that was in fact the fulfillment of the prophecies that Isaiah, Yirmiya and Tzidkiya had seen so many millennia ago.

 See, Ari was a nice boy from Texas who together with his partner Jeremy had decided that it was time to not only live the dream of moving to Israel, but in fact to become part of creating the dream of settling the land where the dream had not yet actualized. They came out to the hilltops on the outskirts of Judea and Jerusalem, on the mountains that overlook the Dead Sea and Jordan, right on the top of Nachal Arugot in Ein Gedi. But wayyyy on top. There they lived for months in caravans without electricity or running water and with the permission of the government set up shop for their new homes. They were settling the land and they had dreams.

 The government had given them these permits not as a residential living, as the rest of the world gets all nervous when Jews settle in our ancestral homeland. Rather they were there to create a tourist visitors site that would protect the governments nature reserve from the illegal Arab and Bedouin encroachment. They were “rangers” if you will who were permitted to live on site with their families, as their presence would prevent the Arabs from taking over more and more of the hilltops with their sheep and illegal settlements. The world really didn’t have a problem with the Arabs doing that it seems.

 Over the last few years Ari, Jeremy, Yossi and one other friend of theirs have built and created a virtual paradise there. They have lovely homes, there is a natural modern ecological pool that is so so cool and looks like Gan Eden. They have vineyards, olive orchards and herds of sheep and goats they raise and shepherd in the same hills that King David did.

 Their next big project was the shul that they had dreamed of building, and they weren’t sure how they were going to make it happen. That was at least until Klaus and his friends pulled up to their hilltop in their bus and introduced themselves. They told him that they were a small group of descendants of Nazi’s that were carpenters and handymen, and they are haunted and horrified of the atrocities committed by their grandparents and their countrymen. They understood that they could never set things right. Yet, they felt that if in some way they could be part of building and restoring the nation that their ancestors had attempted to destroy, that it would in someway serve as a restoration of justice and an atonement for themselves. It would break them free of this cycle of terror and horror that their zaydies committed against ours. And thus, they were offering their services to have any part and be allowed to participate in settling the furthest new Jewish settlement in Judea.

 “Bitte- please.. allow us to help.” Allow us to restore you.  

 And so they did. The shul was being built rock by rock that was quarried out of these ancient hills at the summit of the hill. The highest point of the settlement as a shul was meant to be built at. The women that had joined the group were charged with clearing the lower hills and planting the vineyards and olive orchards. And so, Ari, found himself giving those instructions after breakfast and their daily Torah study where he shared with them the words of the prophets they were actualizing. The words of the children of Esau/ Edom joining with the descendants of Yishmael and building homes and places of worship in the 2000-year barren and desolate hills of Yehuda that were once full of laughter and life.

 “Men to the right- up the hill to the shul and women to the left down to the fields.”.

 Those directions and division that had meant the death of 6 million of our ancestors, that divided up families, were now being used to rebuild. Pakod Pakadati- Hashem had brought us home and turned the curse into the blessing. The Nazi grandchildren appreciated the irony. A burst of laughter sounded out and Am Yisrael Chai was heard and sung and echoed through these ancient hilltops once again.

 This week’s two Torah portions, the last to be read this year before Rosh Hashna next Shabbos, begin with a list of our entire nation standing before Moshe and entering into the covenant; the bris between us and Hashem.

 Atem nitzavim Hayom kulchem- You are all standing today, all of you-

Leaders, elders, officers, men, women, children, converts from the most educated to the simplest, from the most knowledgeable to the most ignorant. All of us.

 L’avrechah b’bris Hashem Elokecha u’valaso- to pass us through the covenant of Hashem our God and his oath.

What does it mean to pass us through a covenant? Rashi notes this strange phrase and describes it as the ancient way that treaties were made. They would have a demarcation on two sides and then the parties would walk between the divide. One by one…

 The great Chasidic Rebbi Reb Kloynamus Kalman Epstien known better by his incredible sefer that he wrote the Me’or V’Shemesh, points out that we don’t find anywhere, in fact that we passed through a covenant of this sort. As well he notes that the proper grammatical terminology would be the plural “l’avrechem- that we pass through”, rather than the singular l’avrechah. Just as the previous verse utilizes the  plural form of ‘atem’ and ‘kulchem’.

 He answers with an insight that he had heard from his Rebbi, the Toldos Yaakov Yosef, that the ‘Ha’yom- today’ that the verse is referring to is Rosh Hashana. It is on Rosh Hashana that we pass through a line each year on this day, as we know and recite in Nesaneh Tokef we

 Overim lifanecha K’vnei maron- we pass before You like the children of Maron.

Like sheep going through the gate of the shepherd and being counted, the Talmud tells us.

 Yet fascinatingly enough the Talmud tells us that when that count happens, we are all surveyed

Ba’sekira achas- with one glance. In one judgement.

 What does that mean? Are we being judged individually? Are we walking through one-by-one? Or are we all looked at together. Are we all in the same boat?

 Whenever I say these words on Rosh Hashanah-and I don’t think this is only true for me, I believe that the vivid imagery of the judgement on this day of Rosh Hashana conjures up not just sheep going through a gate, but us each standing on line.

 Men to the right women to the left- or at least on Rosh Hashana it’s righteous to the right and sinners to the left. It’s one by one. We’re standing before the King and awaiting to see what our judgment will be this year. Who will live and who will die. Who by fire and who by water. Who will be rich and who will be poor, who will get married, who will be born, who will have peace, tranquility and nachas and who nebach won’t… We’re on the defendants stand and frighteningly we know we’re guilty as sin.

 It’s what our nation felt after we heard all the curses and punishments in last week’s parsha of the tochacha that is always read two weeks before Rosh Hashana. It’s the parsha when we got on line right out of the cattle cars and one by one faced the judge, the “Doctor”, the King, that would be pointing to the right or the left. There are guards standing on both sides of us. There’s no where to run and hide. We just make our way to the front of the line and await our fate. Our judgement…We passed through the Bris- that covenant of fire and fear- the oath and the curses we would be subjected to for not following the commandments when we read the parsha last week and we do that ‘Ha’Yom’.- each Rosh Hashana. Like sheep to the slaughter.

 Yet this week the parsha tells us that we are still standing. Each and everyone of us on that line. And Moshe tells us that there is another way to look at that line that we are on. It’s not a death gauntlet. We haven’t fallen. We haven’t gone to the chambers. We are standing tall and proud. And we are standing together. Rather the line that we are standing on and walking between is a red carpet where the soldiers of King David are walking down to greet the King.

 The Talmud tells us that there is another interpretation of the word Bnai Maron. Rashi on that Talmud explains that it is a term of royalty- Mar or adon- great men. When we are marching together on Rosh Hashana then we are as well passing through a crowd lined up on both sides. Yet it is not a concentration camp line but rather it is as if we are standing and marching on the airport tarmac where the presidential Air Force One plane is landing. The King is going to becoming off that plane and we are marching one-by-one down the aisle to greet Him.

When we march like that than despite the fact that some of us are Rabbis, some are scholars, some are saints and some are sinners. Some are old and some are young, some are wood choppers and others are in Hi-Tech, or are tour guides, falafel makers, taxi drives, or even- dare I say members of the Knesset. Yet, we are all viewed and judged as one. It’s one big green army of Dovid that is marching together- singularly passing through that line.

 Do you know who is standing on the sides that we are passing through? It is the nations of the world. It is the media. It is the United Nations. It is the grandchildren of Nazis. They are watching and waiting for us to reveal the King.

 The Me’or Va’Shemesh homiletically reads the words

Sekira achas- that we are all being surveyed if we are revealing the achas- the Oneness of our mission.

The Oneness of our King. The Oneness of the world that connects us all together. When we do that then the entire world will join us. They will build our shuls, our palaces, the Bais Ha’Mikdash will be the “bais tefilla l’kol ha’amim- the place of worship and connection for all nations. His Kingdom will reign on the entire world, as our prayers on Rosh Hashana repeatedly pine for.

 Yet, it is even deeper than that. Do you know what language we speak in this country of ours? Hebrew. The word Hebrew comes of course from the ivrit which of course is a reference to the first title our forefather was given Avraham Ha’ivri- Abraham the Hebrew. Why is he called a Hebrew? The famous Rashi there tells us that he was one side- eyver ,while the rest of the world was on the other… Fascinatingly enough this happened in the dor haflaga- the generation of the “great Divide”, when the world was building a tower to rage war against the One God. They were as well trying to bridge the divide but to destroy the one-ness of Hashem from revealing itself in this world.

 Their punishment? There would be different languages that would be spoken. There would not be one united language that would connect us to Hashem. Each of them would go on to creating gods within their own individual images. Language and words of course being the method that Hashem created the world. Hashem did that in Hebrew- in Lashon Ha’Kodesh. There one Hebrew left though. Avraham Ha’ivri was on the other side and we his descendants were chosen to carry on that legacy and that holy language.

 Yet perhaps there is another reason that he and therefore we are called Hebrews. Perhaps he was thus named because he was the first one to be ohver in the bris- he passed through the covenant of the pieces, when Hashem promised him that his descendants- us, would inherit the land after our exile to Egypt. Avraham is the one that proudly passes through the two sides and unites the world under the one King, and we his descendants as well pass through that same treaty.

 Our history is one of passing through the sides. We passed through the two sides of the sea when we left Egypt and we passed through the Jordan River when it split as well upon entering the land. The parsha repeatedly uses this word- check it out. We are being charged to march forward, while on the right and left us Creation and the nations of the world stand at attention. Va’yavo Melech Ha’kavod- and the King of Glory will then come down.

 We never went like sheep to the slaughter in the Holocaust. The proud nation of Hashem went into the gas chambers between the lines of our enemies singing Ani Maamin with total faith. Story after story, book after book have been written and told of these “soldiers of the army of Dovid” that marched forward declaring Shema Yisrael with their final words…on this world. Yet, eternally those words were now being spoken here in Judea by the descendants of these same monsters who tried to destroy us. Returned to the land of Avraham Ha’ivri’s descendants.

 This is the final parsha that we read before Rosh Hashana when we again line up like sheep to be counted. Ari counts his sheep every day to make sure that none of them have been stolen or missing. They are holy sheep that are settling the land-as fascinatingly enough even the local Arabs and Bedouin thieves respect that each settler is allowed land for their personal grazing, and they will not encroach upon it. They recognize that only because we have returned as Bnai Maron, as shepherds and as soldiers. We have come to settle, come to live, but more importantly we have come to build shuls, to build a palace for Hashem. We have come to declare Hashem Echad and the children of Esau and Yishmael will join us. They are standing on the sidelines waiting for us all to unite. For this Rosh Hashana to be the final one, when we are just reimagining the service in the Temple.

  Sometimes it takes tragedy and curses fulfilled to make us realize that we are all one and all soldiers. We’ve had plenty of those and yet we are still standing. We read last parsha, our sages tell us, in order to fulfill the curses through our reading. Tichleh shana v’kililoseha- the year should end as should its curses and tragedies. We read this week’s parsha to remind us that those curses and tragedies that united us will have the power to transform us from sheep to soldiers. We’re Hebrews. We’re Yisrael. Now we just need our King.

 Have an amazing last Shabbos of the year,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Az men shert di shaf, tsitteren di lemmer” - When the sheep are shorn, the lambs tremble

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

 

5. The name of the emperor in whose name the port of Caesarea was founded, is___________.

According to the scripture, which of the following occurred in Caesarea?

A. The surrendering of Flavius Josephus (Yosef ben Matityahu)

B. Peter's vision

C. The execution of Rabbi Akivah

D. The baptism of Paul (Paulus)

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqSgW9t7Br0  – Check out my friend Ari and his buddies here in Chaan Arugot and the views… and their stories…

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/ponecha-your-face - It’s here... My latest Elul composition… I don’t know how you found any meaning in this month without this song…Dovid Lowy arrangements and Vocals amazing hartzig!! Listen again and again every day of Elul left..

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/lulay-heamanti-kavey  - Maybe you experienced  Elul with song until now- as well the extra psalm we add l’dovid… enjoy my Lulay He’amanti..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efe9cvtZUts  –The Lubavitcher Rebbi on Shabbos before Rosh Hashana

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh8J2YQUb_E   – But to be honest.. Eitan Katz really as the song of the week with his Ki Karov…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sYZTrakX7Y    – Singing Shuvi Nafshi by the grave of Reb Shlomo where I was this past week…

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

 

The King’s Watch- As we said last week, Athalia the wicked daughter of Achav ruled for 7 years after wiping out her own grandchildren that would’ve taken her place. Yet, Yehoash the child of Achazya is hidden by his aunt and guarded over by the High Priest Yehoyada in the Temple. At age 7 it was time for him to take the kingdom. In order to make this happen Yehoyada needed allies and for that he called up the Kohanim of the watch to protect the new king.

 

Going back to the times of Moshe we are told that there were shifts of Kohanim that would serve in the Mishkan and then the Beit Ha’Mikdash. Moshe established 8, Shmuel another 8 and ultimately Dovid established the final 8 making the total of 24. Each Mishmar would serve for a half a month from Shabbos to Shabbos and they would be charged with doing the service in the Temple. Each of the Mishmarot would be divided up by families called Ma’amados so that everyone would get a chance to serve. It was these groups that Yehoyada marshalled to his cause. He took some of the Mishmar Kohanim from the previous week as well as the ones not serving in the Mikdash. They divided the groups up to guard the Temple, the palace gates and to keep a lookout. And with the king protected the reign could be declared.

 

The Mishmarot were a very significant part of our life and Judaism that we lost. In the times of the return of Ezra and Nechemia only 4 families returned from Galus. Can you imagine that? Staying in Exile when you have the opportunity not only to return to Israel, but to even serve in the Mikdash. Even after the destruction of the Temple, when most of the Mishmarot moved up North to the Galil we find that the synagogues from the periods of the Temple contained Mosaic floors with the names of the Mishmarot. Shuls with those inscriptions were found in Ashkelon, Caesarea, and in Kissufim and even in a shul found in Yemen!

 

As well, although we’re probably only familiar with the mishmarot and their names from a piyyut or two on Tisha B’Av, yet we have found throughout the generations many piyyutim that seemed to be dedicated to the Mishmarot that were regularly recited. In the period of the Rishonim they were recited each Shabbos. And in the famous Cairo Geniza there were piyyutim that dated back to the Byzantine period that were recited.

 

Now although we like to think of Kohanim of the Mishmar as being holy priest dedicated with the spiritual. Here we find that they become Priests with guns. They’re given weapons and put on the guard of the new king. Yet, this shouldn’t be a wonder though. The Kohanim and tribe first of Levi first got their job by taking up the swords after the sin of the Golden Calf and killing their fellow brothers who had sinned. The service of Hashem demands full dedication and putting your life on the line is what gets them their job. As well the Chashmonaim are Kohanim and perhaps that’s why as well l’havdil the Crusaders stole and distorted the concept from.

 

Yet here, they do what they need to and next week we will welcome the new king.

 

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE JEWISH SOLDIER JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 

A general asks a Dudi his new recruit in the army . “Young soldier, what will you do if you see 20 soldiers coming to attack you? T

Dudi answered “that I would take an Uzi and shoot them”.

The general asks him what if a tank is coming to kill you?

I would take a rocket launcher and defend myself replied the young soldier.

The general asks him what if you see tanks, terrorists and planes together?

The soldier says, general, am I the only one in the army?

 

Berel, Yankel and Moishe are about to be executed by firing squad. The sergeant in charge asks each one whether he wants a blindfold.

“Yes,” says Berle, in a resigned tone.

“OK,” says Yankel, in a quiet voice.

“And what about you?” he enquires of Moishe.

“No,” he says, “I don’t want your lousy blindfold,” followed by a few choice curses.

 Yankel immediately leans over to him and whispers: “Listen, Moshe, take a blindfold. Don’t make trouble.”

 

The commanding officer at the Russian military academy gave a lecture on Potential Problems and

Military Strategy. At the end of the lecture, he asked if there were any questions. An officer stood up and asked, "Will there be a third world war? And will Russia take part in it?"

The general answered both questions in the affirmative.

Another officer asked, "Who will be the enemy?"

The general replied, "All indications point to China ."

Everyone in the audience was shocked. A third officer remarked, "General, we a nation of only 150 million, compared to the 1.5 billion Chinese. Can we win at all, or even survive?"

The general answered, "Just think about this for a moment: In modern warfare, it is not the quantity of soldiers that matters but the quality of an army’s capabilities. For example, in the Middle East we have had a few wars recently where 5 million Jews fought against 150 million Arabs, and

Israel was always victorious."

After a small pause, yet another officer from the back of the auditorium asked, "Do we have enough Jews???"

 

 

During the Six-Day War, the enemies of Israel identified a hill of great strategic importance, and when they realized it was guarded by a lone Israeli soldier, they sent in a platoon to attack immediately. Thirty minutes later, the whole platoon had been captured by the lone Israeli.

As they were being led away, their lieutenant remarked,

“I gotta admit, you Israelis are tough.”

“You think I’m tough? You should meet my husband!”

 

Deep in the desert. Mehmet, an Arab fighter (or militant, if you will) chases an Israeli soldier, let's call him Moshe, with an AK47 gun. Mehmet closes on Moshe and starts firing at him but misses. The chase continues through the desert, there's quite a lot of firing from Mehmet and quite a lot of bullet dodging from Moshe. At one point Mehmet's gun refuses to fire - Mehmet's out of ammunition.

Moshe hears the clicking of the empty gun, turns triumphantly to Mehmet and says: "Out of bullets, huh? Wanna buy some?"

 

Rabbi Landau was, as usual, standing near the shul exit shaking hands as his congregation left. But as Max was leaving, Rabbi Landau grabbed his hand, pulled him aside and said, "Max, I think you need to join the Army of God!"

"But I'm already in God’s Army, Rabbi," said Max.

"So how come I don't see in shul except on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?" said Rabbi Landau.

Max whispered, "I'm in the secret service."

 

Berel was a new oleh who just enlisted in the army and after a few weeks was feeling kind of homesick and asked the Commanding Officer for a 3 day pass.

The CO says, "Are you crazy? You just joined the Israeli army, and you already want a 3 day pass? You must do something spectacular for that recognition!"

So the soldier comes back a day later in an Arab tank! The CO was so impressed, he asked,

"How did you do it?"

"Well, I jumped in a tank, and went toward the border with the Arabs. I approached the border, and saw an Arab tank. I put my white flag up, the Arab tank put his white flag up. I said to the Arab soldier, 'Do you want to get a 3 day pass?' So we exchanged tanks!"

 

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The answer to this week”s question is C – Got this one right, but not necessarily because I knew the correct answer. As far as the fill-in-the-blank portion, I just went with Agustus. When in doubt Agustus is a good guess. There were a few of them. The correct answer was Augustus Octavius, but believe just answering Augustus is good enough. As far as part two of the question. So of course I knew that Rabbi Akiva was killed there. I guide there all the time. Many of the Harugie Malchus were murdered there in the amphitheater to the blood-thirsty crowds that watched lustily. Yet, the question said scripture and Rabbi Akia is certainly not in scripture, so that’s what gave me pause as I thought it might have been a trick question.

 

Yet, surprisingly since I knew that Josephus’s surrender took place in Yodefat, Peter’s supposed vision was by the Banias, and Paul was most likely I guessed toiveled in the Jordan River (although I was wrong about that one- it was in Damascus), so by process of elimination I went with Rabbi Akiva and assumed that they made a mistake in translation of the question to English writing scripture rather than just writings. And I was correct. So I got this right and feel kind of weird that I knew all the xtian answers- well at leasat I got the Paul one wrong… So BH I deleted some of the info from my brain… on the other hand maybe I never really got it in the first place. So the score is now Rabbi Schwartz having a 3.5 point and the MOT having 1.5 point as we start this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.