The Missing Torah- Parshat Haazinu 5784 2023

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

September 22^nd 2023 -Volume 12 Issue 50 7^th of Tishrey 5784!

Parshat Ha’azinu/ Shuva- Yom Kippur

The Missing “Toirah”

Toirah! You have to say that with “oi” in it for to have meaning and context. That’s what everything is all about. Toirah, Toirah, Toirah… that’s what I was taught in yeshivah. It’s what I think most of us raised in the black-hat world are taught. It’s a bit like ‘l’havdil’ (or not? - you decide) in the Reform or Conservative “day school system the words “Tikkun Ohlahm” is what they say Judaism is all about.  In their worlds though you need to emphasize the ‘ohhh…’ and ‘lahhhmm...’. It’s their version of the chareidi “oy”.

 In the Daati world, it’s all of course Eretz Yisrael. Yishuv- settling the land and serving in the army. That’s all the Torah on one foot if you’d ask them. Chabad it’s about Mashiach or kiruv, Breslav it’s about Simcha or Uman. We each have our little knaytches, that that we define as being the pillar of our Judaism.

 Frankly I think that’s a good thing. It’s what Hashem wants. It’s why he made 12 tribes. It would be nice if we would get that, and respect that concept as well… Maybe Mashiach would come sooner and he wouldn’t have to worry about what hat, kippa or shtreimel he would wear to be accepted. Although I think he’s going to be wearing one of those old fashioned Arab shmatta keffiyeh things on his head, which would be pretty funny.  It’s probably the only thing that we cannot claim is “fun unzerh”- he’s one of ours…

 Yet in the yeshiva world that I grew up in it was all about Toirah. Every holiday is Toirah. Chanuka is the light of Torah. Purim we accepted Torah again. Pesach we redeemed our mouths for Torah. Shavuos is pretty obvious. Lag Ba’Omer is of course the mystical Toiras ha’nistar of Rebbi Shimon and even Sukkos you’ve got that Jew who represents the Esrog who of course has to have good deeds and Torah, but mostly Torah…Fascinatingly enough though the one holiday and one time of year when one would think it should be most appropriate to talk about Torah would be on the upcoming holiday of Yom Kippur. Yet, amazingly and perhaps even disturbingly enough it seems that it’s not even mentioned. Yet, it’s the day that should most be about Torah. After-all it’s the day we received it. How did the yeshiva guys leave that out…?

 Now I know that some of you are thinking, what am I talking about? What does the Torah being given have to do with Yom Kippur? That’s a Shavuos thing. Others of you, might be a little bit more knowledgeable about our history and know what I’m talking about, yet are still somewhat perplexed. Because aren’t I aware that Yom Kippur is all about teshuva- repentance. Atonement. Forgiveness. Final judgement. Life and Death. That’s the important thing about the day. It’s almost as if Torah has a day off on this day, when really besides the Daf Yomi people who has a chance to learn anything.

 I remember once hearing from someone, that the reason that people don’t feel the need to learn on Yom Kippur is because the function of the Torah is to serve as a counter-balance- or tavlin to the yetzer harah, or as the Talmud tells us it’s a refuah- antidote to the Satan. Yet, since on Yom Kippur the Satan has no power, so there’s there is no need to take the medicine. Cute… But I don’t think in yeshiva’s they’re learning Torah merely as a spiritual first-aid. It’s life. It’s everything. So how did they miss out on it on Yom Kippur?

Now to explain what I was talking about earlier about this being the day of the giving of the Torah. As you all know the Torah was given on Shavuot a few months ago back in the month of Sivan. That was the ten commandments and the entire revelation of everything. The Written law, the oral tradition. Altz Ding- as they say in the yeshivish world. Moshe then went up to receive the Ten Commandments for forty days and nights and he comes down with the tablets. We Jews were kind of new at this “Jewish-time” still, and we started freaking out when he was a bit late. The next thing you know we were making Golden Calves, dancing and partying. Moshe comes down, breaks the tablets, Hashem wants to wipe us off the face of the earth. The game is almost over. Yet Moshe is successful in convincing Hashem not to kill or replace us after another 40-day stint upstairs from the 17^th of Tamuz until the Month of Elul. Yet Hashem tells Moshe that after all that took place, He'd pretty much rather hang out up there in heaven, that way in case we mess up again it would give Him a safe distance from us. At least we won’t be messing up His palace with Him in it.

 Yet, that’s not good enough for us. We want Hashem in our midst. We want the Torah we were promised that Moshe smashed. We want it all, not just as it was but even better. So from the month of Elul until Yom Kippur Moshe goes up again for another 40 days- just like the first time. What’s he doing there? He’s carving and chiseling out another set of Luchos. Yet, this time it’s man-made, unlike the original that was written with the “hand” of Hashem. Now although you might think that comparatively speaking a set of tablets written by Moshe instead of Hashem is like a cheap Chinese or Korean knockoff.   My son Tully’s new sketching hobby compared to a Monet, Da Vinci, Picasso or Huvie piece of art. Although I think he’s better than Picasso at least. But it’s not. Hashem told Moshe to carve them ‘ka’Rishonim’ – they are just as holy and as sacred and meaningful as the original ones carved by Hashem. In fact, they were kept in the Aron together with the pieces of the original. That’s pretty awesome. It seems that its an even greater Torah.

 The day that Moshe comes down with those new tablets is Yom Kippur. Sure, we got forgiveness on that day, but the truth is Hashem already pretty much let us off the hook a month ago by the beginning of Elul, after the 2^nd 40 days that Moshe was up on the mountain. Yom Kippur our sages tell us is that wedding day that we received the Torah which is not Shavuot, but rather Yom Kippur. In fact, Rashi even tells us that the entire reason why Yom Kippur was established as a day of forgiveness because it was the day that Hashem said He forgave us and gave us the 2^nd Luchos. Toirah!! So how come we leave it out? How come we don’t find it at all in our prayers, in our rituals, in our customs of the day? Why aren’t we staying up all night and learning? It can’t just be because we can’t drink coffee or eat cheesecake. Where is the missing Torah?

 The answer is that it’s right there, yet you probably never noticed it before. In fact it’s the first thing we even do on Yom Kippur. It’s the way we start the day, and it is the centerpiece of the entire day. See right before we start Kol Nidrei we take out the Torah scrolls from the Aron Kodesh. There are different customs in different shuls. Some take out three, some take out seven, others take out all of the Torah scrolls. What makes this so fascinating is that it’s not merely for the Kol Nidrei service it seems that we are doing this. It may not even have anything to do with Kol Nidrei. As well, this is probably the only time a year when we take out a Torah scroll and we don’t even open it and read from it- as even on Simchas Torah we read from the Torahs. Yet here, the function of the Torah scroll is merely to fill us with awe. And it is awesome. It’s probably the most awesome moment of the entire year. We kiss the scrolls as the chazan circulates the shul and then we just stand in awe before them as we recite Kol Nidrei.

 Do you know what that moment is? It’s kabbalat Ha’Torah. Yet it’s a different receiving of the Torah than Shavuot. It’s the silent Torah that is not read at all. That’s not studied. It’s the one that they never taught you about in yeshiva. It’s the one that is barely even mentioned throughout the day. Yet, it’s the centerpiece of all that we are meant to be doing. It’s really what this 2^nd heavenly experience on Mt. Sinai internalized in us for all times. It’s the essence of the Itzumo shel yom- the awesomeness of day; the day of the giving of the silent Torah within us.

 There is a fascinating story that I share with my tourists in the Navi in the book of Melachim about Eliyahu Ha’Navi in the aftermath of his faceoff with the prophets of the Baal. Hashem preformed a great miracle there and sent down a fire from heaven which ate up the sacrifice Eliyahu brought leaving the sacrifices of the prophets of the Baal. In doing that He was thus revealing Himself once again quite gloriously to the Jewish people. Our response is one that we repeat every Yom Kippur. We fell to our face and recited ‘Hashem hu Ha’Elokim’ repeatedly- Hashem is the One True God. Yet just like by the first revelation of Sinai, it wasn’t long-lasting. We fell away. We went back to serving the Baal. Understandably, Eliyahu is perturbed. He runs away to Beer Sheva and from there Hashem sends him to Mt. Sinai and there he has the 2^nd revelation. The different one. The silent one.

 Hashem asks him what he is doing there, and Eliyahu proceeds to report to Hashem about his disappointment with Klal Yisrael. They don’t keep the mitzvos, the covenant, they’re trying to kill him. Hashem explodes at Eliyahu. Storms, fire, earthquakes and in all these the voice of Hashem isn’t revealed. Rather there then follows what is described as a kol demama daka- a silent still voice. Is it a voice or is it silent, Rashi asks? It seems to be contradictory. Rather he explains so poignantly that sometimes there is a voice that comes from silence.

The first tablets, the first Torah, was noisy. It was an explosion. It was a revelation to the entire world that Hashem exists, that we are His nation, that there are laws and instructions and a plan to how we can fulfill our mandate in this world. Yom Kippur though was the sound of Hashem that reveals a different Torah. It’s the Torah that is in each of us. It’s the song that is in our heart. It is the eternality of our souls that no sin could ever defile. That will never be tainted. It’s the piece of Hashem and the letter of the Torah it represents that are us.

 Yisrael V’oraysa V’Kudsha Brich Hu Chad Hu- Israel, the Torah and Hashem are all one.  

 The atonement and forgiveness of Yom Kippur derives itself from that silent revelation that shines forth in every Jew on Yom Kippur. The light turns on as soon as those scrolls come out of the Ark. We’re rebooted. Its such a powerful moment.We’re back there at Sinai. We’re at the foot of the Mountain and just as then our souls soar. As we experience that moment we hear the words of the chazan call out before Kol Nidrei-

 Bi’yeshiva shel maala u be’yeshiva shel mata- in the upper heavenly yeshiva and lower yeshiva

 See who said there’s no Toirah on Yom Kippur we start off with talk about yeshivas…

But what type of yeshiva in there here on Yom Kippur?

 Anu matirim l’hitpalel im avarayanim- we permit you to pray with all of the sinners.

 It’s for the at- risk… Nope. It’s for us. It’s for the spark that we’ve just found in the Torah in each of us that reveals that all of our differences, all of our words, all of the things that we may have violated… all of the vows and promises and unfulfilled dreams and plans, they’re all void. They don’t exist. We’ve been rebooted, just as we were when Moshe brought down those second tablets. We’re quiet. There’s pure silence and that silence unites us because then we hear the voice of our soul; of all of our collective souls. That’s when we begin to shine the brightest. That’s when Hashem can come down and forgive us. But first we have to find ourselves. We need to find our silent inner Torah.

 This Shabbos Parshat Ha’azinu is the song of Klal Yisrael. The Sifri describes it as

 ‘The song of the present, the past, the future, of this world and of the world to come’.

It’s a song where we all have a place, a letter, a spark. It’s Shabbos Shuva when we return that spark to Hashem and when He returns it to us. The whole year there’s so much noise, so much talking, so much action, so many mitzvos, so many sins, so much pain, so much sorrow, so many regrets, so many prayers, so many hopes, so much distance from us and inner selves. From that Torah. It’s missing from us. On Yom Kippur it returns to us.

Do you know what the centerpiece of Yom Kippur is? Most people miss it. I always did. It’s after the High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies. It’s after the goats lottery, It’s after the Azazel. It’s when the Kohen Gadol comes out and is still wearing his pure white garments. There is no gold on his garments. There are no sins left. It is then that the Kohen takes out a Sefer Torah and reads to the people. He reads not in the Holy of Holies, but in the heichal. In front of all of us. It’s Moshe Rabbeinu. It’s the second Torah. It’s the forgiveness. And we are silent and we are connected. It is Toirah. It’s us. It’s all of us. We’ve all been purified. We have all returned.

As we approach these holy days, I’d like to ask each of you forgiveness if in any way I challenged you inappropriately, if I’ve offended you, if I’ve written or said something that hurt you. I hope you realize that it certainly was never my intent. That you are all special to me. That your readership, your friendship, your support, your feedback is humbling and meaningful to me. May Hashem bless all of us with a Gmar Chatima Tova. May all of our deepest desires and prayers be answered for good. And May Hashem bless all of us to be united here in Eretz Yisrael and for a sweet, healthy blessed year of redemption.

 Gmar Chasima Tova- a sweet blessed New Year to all of you,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Ven frait zikh an oreman? Ven er farlirt un gefint..” - When does a poor man rejoice? When he has lost something and found it again..

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

7. The name of the known Mufti who ruled the Arabs during the British Mandate is ___________.

As what type of neighborhoods were Rehavia, Talpiot and Beit Hakerem planned, when

established?

a. Affluent neighborhoods

b. Committee neighborhoods

c. Extension neighborhoods

d. Garden Neighborhoods

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMaGGFpsDY4    – VAyomer Salachti

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcZ7oUziAJI  – Yom Kippur in Auschwitz powerful story until the end

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECy3CMxShIQ  - Yishar Ribo-Seder Avoda classic

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPqnfOo1G4Y  - Yishai Ribo and MBD can you get a more interesting mashup? Check out this new collaboration Zechor

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZPMAL8bzi0  –Yom Kippur War miracle

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUcBEYuy3Zg  – Shabbos Shuva--- soldiers returning home after the Yom Kippur war new released footage

 

 

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

 

The Yom Kippur Murder - 670 BC (3083 from Creation)- Last week (last year a week ago…), we learned about the high of the kingdom of the child king Yoash. This new year begins the low and ultimate fall of his once righteous kingdom. After rededicating the Bait Ha’mikdash and uniting the people together and returning them to their service, his Rebbi died. The great prophet Yehoyada who had guided him for so long and hid him in the Holy of Holies passed away. With his death and with Yoash no longer having a Rebbi in his life things went downhill. The first thing that happened was that the Jews and leaders that came to console Yoash started to deify him. They told him how great he was and how he didn’t need a Rebbi. After-all look at what he had done, he was raised in the Temple. He was holy enough. Yet, we know there’s no such thing…

 

After that they started to return to their idolatrous ways and Yoash as a result of all of the flattery turned a blind eye to it. Yet, Hashem doesn’t do that. He doesn’t let us fall and He promised that He would always return us to Him. The tool He generally uses is ant-semitism. He lets the goyim remind us that we’re different than them and we have a higher purpose. Thus Hashem sends the King of Aram, Hazael who until that point only was attacking the Northern Kingdom, now set his eyes on Yerushalayim. So Hazael comes with a large army from Aram- which is in northern Syria, and lays siege and attacks Yerushalayim. At that point of time, we should’ve woken up, but we don’t. Yoash figures that he can still walk away from this with some good old-fashioned bribery. So he plunders the Temple and the treasury and hands over all of its wealth to Hazael, who happily takes it all and leaves.

 

This should’ve been a wake-up call, yet it doesn’t work. So the next thing in the line-up of Hashem is to send a prophet to pretty much tell us what’s really going on and to get us on the right page. The prophet chosen is none other than the son of Yehoyada himself, Zecharya. If his name sounds familiar to you that in should. We remember this most tragic story each year on Tisha B’Av. It’s the story of the his attempt to rebuke us and his murder in the temple on the holiest day of the year Yom Kippur. See, I told you last week, Hashem makes this column work out timely.

 

So the prophet Zecharaya comes into the Temple on this holiest day and tries to get the people to see the light. To try to move them on Yom Kippur to that place of teshuva. But we are too stubborn. We don’t want to hear. We wanted him to be quiet already. They viewed him as a troublemaker, as a rebel and someone that was a danger to the kingdom and thus right there in the Temple they killed him. Talk about a Teshuva drasha that went wrong.

 

The blood of Zecharaya and this desecration was the final straw. The midrash tells us that his blood remained on the floor boiling and bubbling for over a hundred years and we never repented. When ultimately Nevuzadran will come to destroy the temple and attack Jerusalem he will slaughter thousands of Jews, old, young, babies, grooms and brides to still the bubbling of that blood until it finally ceases. This is the beginning of the end for Yoash. It’s the final piece as we had down the path to the destruction of the Temple.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE MISSING JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 

A city in the north of the United Kingdom has gone missing! The police are looking for Leeds.

 

Do you know the Football player whose missing 75% of his spine? He's the Quarterback.

 

I filed a police report about my missing bag yesterday and a few hours later, the cops called to say that they found it. It was a brief case.

 

A man’s wife is missing…

Man: Officer, my wife is missing. She went out yesterday and she hasn’t come home.

Officer: Okay, what’s her height?

Man: Not sure…. Maybe around 5’6?

Officer: Okay, weight?

Man: I dunno… not slim not big.

Officer: Okay… colour of her eyes?

Man: Sort of blue, I think? I never really noticed.

Officer: What’s the colour of her hair?

Man: Well, that changes all the time depending on the hair dresser she goes to.

Officer: what clothes was she wearing the last time you saw her?

Man: Could’ve been a red dress? Maybe a blue one? I don’t know exactly.

Officer: when she left to go somewhere, did she go by car?

Man: Yeah, she did.

Officer: What was the make of that car?

Man: it’s a high performance 560 horse power Audi in a very specific grey silver metallic paint. It has 8 speed paddle shift automatic transition and a 6.35 litre v12 engine generating at least 560 horse power. It has a z51 super performance package, larger than normal alloy wheels, gt bucket seats, satellite navigation. And unfortunately… a little thin scratch on the front left door handle.

Officer: Don’t worry, sir. We’ll find your car.

 

Recently, a distraught wife went to the local police station, along with her next-door neighbor, to report that her husband was missing. The policeman asked for a description of the missing man. The wife said, "He is 35 years old, 6-foot 4-inches, has dark eyes, dark wavy hair, an athletic build, weighs 185 pounds, is soft-spoken, and is good to the children. "

The next-door neighbor protested, "Your husband is 5-foot 8-inches, chubby, bald, has a big mouth, and is mean to your children. "

The wife replied, "Yes, but who wants HIM back? "

 

I used to date a girl who was missing a shin. Her name was Eileen. She had a brother who was missing both shins. His name was Neil.

 

I broke up with a girl who was missing a few toes. Because I am lack-toes-intolerant.

 

Why aren't cosmetic students afraid of missing their exams? They love make up tests!

 

I've got a friend who has got a butler whose left arm is missing. Serves him right

 

I tried to sue an airport because of my missing luggage. I lost my case.

 

Bob the American and Dudu an Israeli who moved to the states are partners in a ranch in Texas and one day they head into their ranch and find their bull is missing. They plan to buy another one, but only have $500. Bob tells the Dudu, "I will go to the market and see if I can find one for under that amount. If I can, I will send you a telegram."

So he goes to the market and finds one for $499. Having only one dollar left, she goes to the telegraph office and finds out that it costs one dollar per word. he is stumped on how to tell the Dudu to bring the truck and trailer.

Finally, he tells the telegraph operator to send the word "comfortable."

Skeptical, the operator asks, "How will he know to come with the trailer from just that word?"

Bob replies, "He’s an Israeli so he reads slow: 'Come for ta bull.'

 

A man calls the police and reports that his wife has gone missing. A male and a female police officer turn up at his house and begin to interview him. The female officer asks the man if he has any theories on where she might be. The man responds with “This is going to sound weird but I think she disappeared into the magic coffee table”

The officers look confused and ask him to elaborate. “It’s really strange but whenever I leave things on this coffee table they disappear and reappear somewhere else. When I leave take away containers on it they disappear and reappear in the trash. When I leave dirty plates and mugs on it, they disappear and reappear in the cupboards washed, dried and stacked neatly and even when I leave my dirty clothes on it they disappear! and reappear cleaned and neatly folded on my bed”

The female police officer looks at the man and says “Oh my god, you’re an idiot. No wonder your wife has left you.”

And the male officer says “I don’t think she’s left him. I think he’s right. I’ve got the same coffee table at my house”

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The answer to this week”s question is D – The Mufti of Jerusalem was the anti-semite Amin Al Husseini. It was he who incited the riots and pogrom of 1929 that led to the Chevron massacre and he was appointed by the British to that office. As well he was good buddies with the Nazis ymach shemam and made alliances with them in the plot to take over Israel and kill all of us. But Baruch Hashem they never made it here as Hashem watches our country and was preparing it as the final refuge for our nation. The neigborhood of Rechavia outside of the old city of Jerusalem was developed as a garden community where each home would have its own private garden, there were quite a few of them and it was necessary to sell it that way as most people were nervous to move out of the old city walls still. Today it remains a pretty upper class neighborhood with lots of Americans, the parks and gardens and many of the original houses still remain amazingly enough. So I got this one right as well making the score now Rabbi Schwartz having a 5.5 point and the MOT having 1.5 point as we start this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.