A
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
December 15th
2023 -Volume 13 Issue
10
3rd of Tevet 5784
Ofir is my mechanic. The first time I met him I was a bit
wary. He looked sketchy. He looked like a sefardic Joe Pesci Israeli mafia guy.
He talked fast. He had tattoos from his neck down and short crew haircut with a
few piercings. To make matters worse, he wasn’t an official mechanic either, He was what they call in Israel a “chapper”.
One of these guys that are handy and run around picking up business on the run
and working out of their backyard. Yet, he came highly recommended to me by a
few friends and we really needed someone to help us find a car. Having been
burnt too many times by the “official” “legit” places it was time to try
someone new. What counted the most. Though was that Aliza liked him and if Mama’s
happy then everyone is happy. Or at least I can’t get in trouble if it doesn’t
work out.
Yet as we started to work with him I took a liking to him.
He got us a great new car. He negotiated us a great price. He was there
whenever Aliza called him to take care of every little car problem that she was
able to find. And he took care of them. That was at least until October 7th.
After Sukkos this year with the onset of the war, he wasn’t that reachable.
Incommunicado. Not answering messages, or getting back to us. I figured he was
at war. He was of age. I was nervous for him. I added him in my prayers and davened
for him and his family amongst all my other prayers.
And then he called. He was in Gaza it seems, and he would
be right over after the weekend, and happy to help us. He even apologized,
which was pretty bizarre. I mean here he was putting his life on the line for
me, for my family, for our country and he was apologizing to me for not getting
back to me. Crazy…
Yet when he came over and we started to shmooze I realized
that I never really knew what a hero I had the fortune to be friends with. See
Ofir’s job in the army was that he was a “Mista’arev”- an undercover
soldier that dresses up like an Arab. In the ongoing war he had spent three
weeks amongst all of those Gazans heading from the North part of the strip down
to the South. He was checking to see if there were any terrorists that were
heading down hidden amongst the “innocent” civilians. He was on the lookout for
any hostages that they may have been trying to smuggle down. He was gathering
intelligence about where they might be hiding, what the leaders were up to,
where any arsenals, traps or tunnels that our Yishmaelite Nazi cousins may have
prepared to attack our troops with and from. Ofir was an army spy doing the
bravest and perhaps most dangerous job and I was hocking him about the plastic door
handle that was broken in my car.
But he wasn’t just a warrior. He was a Tzadik. Not the type
that we generally picture or go to for blessings, but someone who talked with and
had so much faith, so much humility, such a strong strength of mesirus
nefesh and sacrifice for Eretz Yisrael and Klal Yisrael that I couldn’t
help but to hug him and kiss him and ask him to bless me. I saw him in a whole
new light. Like I ‘ve never seen him before. I saw him for real. And Ofir is
just one of the many that I think everyone here in Eretz Yisrael is seeing
again and again in all our brothers and sisters whom we had thought we had
known and painted into a box but in reality never really saw the greatness that
was their essence that always lay beneath the surface. It’s like each of us had
these fake spy impressions until now that presented themselves to me, and now for
the first time I was seeing the real light, person and soul that was never
revealed to me before.
Which of course brings us to this week’s Parsha and
Chanukah. I know I keep saying it and writing it but it just keeps astounding
me how every week’s parsha is like a newspaper article of the times and
messages we are experiencing. We read about how the brothers join the lines of
people heading down South to Egypt for “humanitarian aid” that is being
provided by Yosef and I’m just thinking of all of those images and videos we’ve
been seeing of all of those Gazans heading down in the same direction. Amongst them
back then just as today, there are Jewish “spies”; tzadikim like Ofir.
The 12 tribes, like Ofir, also have a mission of trying to find their brother
whom they had assumed was being sold into captivity. The brother who was
kidnapped- albeit by them, whose father was mourning and inconsolable over, as
there are so many parents mourning and hoping today as well for the return of
their children. Mamash, “Ba’yamim ha’heim ba’zman ha’zeh”.
The story is a powerful one and a strange one. The
commentaries struggle with trying to understand Yosef’s rationale for shlepping
this thing out. Why didn’t he reconnect with his father right away? Why put his
brothers through this entire rigmarole? Sending them back with their money,
accusing them of being spies, holding Shimon captive, hiding the goblet in
Binyomin’s bag. It’s obviously not revenge. Yosef the tzadik doesn’t roll that
way. He continuously reiterates that all that happens is from Hashem. So why
not just kiss, make-up and move on. We know he wants to, so what’s holding him
back?
Last week we discussed the idea that many commentaries take
that this story is about Yosef fulfilling the mission that his father sent him
on to restore the brotherhood between them. The Ramban takes the approach that
Yosef was doing all of this to fulfill the dreams that he had in which all of
the brothers would bow down to him and accept him as their ruler. Some even
suggest that Yosef understood that this had eternal significance, that at the
end of the day the brothers would have to come together under Yosef, the
brother who would prepare the land and the nation materially. His descendant
would be Yehoshua, who interestingly enough was himself one of the spies that Moshe
sent into the land. The spy that got it right. Fascinatingly the Baal Ha’Turim even
sees in Yehudah’s response to Yosef that
Lo hayu meraglim- that
we are not spies.
That Yehudah was telling Yosef that his descendant Caleiv
was also not pulled into the plot of the spies to discredit Eretz Yisrael. Lo
Hayu as he notes in gematria is the same numerical value as Caleiv. The
entire story, the redemption and reunion of these brothers seem to revolve
around spies.
It’s not just this story but even years later as well we
find that our coming into the land is precipitated on the sending of spies by
Moshe and ultimately again 40 years later by Yehoshua. We need good spies to
get the land. We need people that can dress up like the enemy, perhaps put on
the clothing of Esau, Yishmael, and maybe even Hamas and ultimately not forget
the Yaakov, the Yisrael, the Bnai Avinu Echad- that we are all the
children of one father and have that shared spark and destiny to be able to
achieve our birthright. In order for us to win and conquer our land. We need
holy Ofirs.
There’s an interesting Talmud that would seem unrelated to
all of this, yet it is one that Reb Tzadok HaKohein derives a profound lesson
from. The Talmud in Chulin tells us that every animal that can be found on the
land has a counterpart that can be found in the sea. The Mishna in Keilim tells
us that the animals on land are impure, whereas the ones in the sea are pure.
The one exception to that rule though, Rabbi Akiva rules, is the seal. For the
seal lives on both the land and the sea. Yet it is considered a land animal
because in times of storm when it is in danger it flees to the land. The
Tifferes Yisrael explains that where a person runs to when they are in danger
reveals their true essence. What they are really about. Where their home really
is.
{An interesting aside to this Talmud is a ruling that I
heard that was given during one of the previous wars in Israel when some
Yeshiva students and Kollel families that had been living here went back to
America because of “the situation” as they like to call it. Although
some of those Kollel families had been living here for years and been observing
only one-day Yom Tov of the holidays as is the custom of Eretz Yisrael, they
were told that upon returning to America-despite the fact that they felt this
was only a temporary refuge, they would have to go back to keeping two days.
They’re not really toshavei Eretz Yisrael. The place where you run to
when in danger reveals what your essence is. And it seems that they were more Red
white and Blue than Blue and White. Their Aliya hadn’t yet reached their core. }
Reb Tzadok Ha’Kohein though takes this idea and sees in
this a tremendous insight, light and praise of our nation and what our essence
is. We say in Psalms and in our daily morning prayers that Hashem is our refuge
in times of tzara. When a Jew is in peril, when we are facing mortal
danger, when the bullets are flying, when the terrorists are outside our door,
in our scariest and darkest moments then
no matter how far, how disconnected, how much of an atheist or non-believer he
may have assumed himself to be, there are six words that will inevitably scream
out from the depths of his soul.
Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad- Hashem is One.
The spark has been ignited. Yisrael is one nation and we
have one God. We reveal our essence. We show what we really are. Everything
else that we’ve been doing has just been “spy clothing”. It’s been dressing up
like someone we aren’t. In times of trouble though the truth comes out. The
real me is revealed. We’ve found our Yaakov again. We’ve revealed it to the
world.
The story of Yosef and his brothers starts off with Yosef
interestingly enough being the guilty party. He’s bringing lashon harah
about his brothers to his father. He’s not giving them the benefit of the
doubt. He sees them as sinners. He’s not looking deep inside at who they really
are. He doesn’t see the greatness and holiness that is their essence. He’s
fooled by the clothing and mannerisms that are different and suspect to him. He’s
dressed up in his fancy coat, his colorful rebbishe bekketcheh and he’s
speaking bad and down about them.. He believes he’s doing it for the right
reasons, he has dreams of uniting them, of a future together, but he needs to
fix them first. He doesn’t realize that maybe he needs fixing as well. He’s himself
is a spy that’s working under bad intelligence. That he’s got some contzeptziot
of his own that need to be changed; that
need to be broken
The brothers at the same time see Yosef as an interloper,
as someone that is power-hungry, as the jilted first-born that was trying to
turn their father against them and destroy the brotherhood and the nation.
After-all there’s always been a bad brother until now in the Torah. Kayin,
Cham, Yishmael, Esau. It’s tradition already. But they too are not seeing the
real deal. They as well are seeing Yosef’s “spy” clothing and they want to
strip him of it. They’re not reflecting on perhaps what they need to change
about themselves. That perhaps they’re being motivated more by jealousy, by a
sense of inferiority, by a fear of losing their own perceived positions to
their younger brother, than by the righteous spiritual indignation that they
claim to be working with. Everyone is so caught up in the costume they’re
wearing and they don’t realize that it’s just a camouflage covering up their
essence. Their love and brotherhood. That underneath it all, there’s a holy
spark that needs to shine and be revealed. That has to come together.
Yosef’s tikun comes first. He is thrown in a pit. He
is taught through the hardest lessons how false accusations, misconstrued
circumstances and lashon hara can destroy someone. The worst libels in the
world are laid against him. He is framed and he is persecuted. Through that
process he understands that to win over evil, he needs to humble himself before
Hashem. He has to find the light. There is nothing more that he wants than to
be seen for the real person who he is. In the time of the worst trouble Yosef
finds his essence. His internal menorah has been lit.
With that he understands that for his brothers to be healed
they as well need to go through the same process. They need to undergo the
lesson of seeing beyond the disguise and getting to their own essence. The
essence that they shared. They need to see what really matters is what they
have in common, not what divides us. He
does that by calling them spies. They’re not really who they’re pretending to
be. The self-righteous clothing they were wearing was as well just spy
clothing. There was a shared brotherhood and love that weas buried so deep and
they needed to find that. So he calls them out.
He calls them spies and they deny it. He calls them thieves
and they deny it. He tells them they are lying. To themselves most of all. That
they’re not recognizing the brother next to them. That they don’t recognize the
brother in themselves to him. That they are all the children of one father. And
slowly bit by bit it starts to work. They start to find themselves and go back
to the beginning and reexamine things.
We hear them throughout the parsha repeat it again and
again to Yosef.
“We are the children of one father.”
“Our brother is gone”.
“Our father is
bereft”.
“It was a tragedy”.
“It was our fault”.
Bit by bit, layer by layer, as the trouble intensifies more
and more the Hashem Echad is coming out. In the time of trouble, in the
darkness, in the horror and threat like seals they’re fleeing the sea and
coming to the land. They’ve reached the point where they are ready to give
their lives once again for another. They will wage war against the entire
country, against the entire world, to save their brother. They’ve found themselves.
They know who they are, what we are about, what we need to fight for and it’s
at that point that we can shine and do what we need to do. We’ve become Yaakov
and now we can don the garments of Esau and do his job too. We can even bring
him and the entire world to Hashem. Galus could be over, because we have
learned that galus/ exile is all about revelation; to reveal the essence
of who and what we are.
It's the last day of Chanuka. Every day of the holiday, I
noticed this morning we’ve been reading the Torah portion that describes the sacrifices
of each of the leaders of 12 tribes upon the dedication of the Mishkan. Today
on the last day we read the last 4 tribes to make it that we read all 12. The
point of the reading it struck me is for us to hear again and again that each
of us, each tribe, each brother has a place in the Mishkan. That each of our
sacrifices ultimately are the same. They may each come from a different plave,
from a borther that is different than us, but before Hashem the dedication only
comes when all 12 have brought their sacrifice. When all of us have come before
Hashem. V’Zos Chanukas Ha’Mizbayach- that is how the dedication of the
altar can happen. Only then can we read the final portion the Kohen Gadol
lighting the MEnora and all its lamps shine to the center. Only then can Hashem’s
house be established.
It’s been a Chanuka
like no other that I can recall. We are at battle, we are at war, we are
chasing away darkness, we are eradicating evil. There are Menoras being lit
this year in bunkers, in bomb shelters, in dark places where there has been no
light for years. Where there has only been evil. In Gaza. As well there are
Menoras being lit by many of our brothers and sisters that have never lit
before. Not only in Israel, not only in war zones, but around the world. “Shema
Yisrael” is being shouted by Jews who barely know what the words mean. It’s
being shouted by gentiles who see that light and want to be part of it. It’s
like the story of Purim when the Megilla tells us that many of the non-Jews
were “misyahadim”- became attached to the Jewish people
Ki nafal pachad ha’yehudim aleihem- the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
Reb Shlomo Alkabetz homiletically explains that verse by
saying that the real “fear” and “awe” of the Jews is Hashem. When the non- Jews
saw that the fear of Hashem had fallen upon us, when they see where our refuge
and where we run to when we are frightened, when the storm hits us, they see
the revealed light that is shining from underneath. When they heard our Shema
Yisrael, our Am Yisrael Chai, our tefillin, our brotherhood, our Menoras, our
light, Hashem’s light, then they as well joined back then in the Purim story.
They also wanted a piece of that. They saw who we really are and understood
what they as well could also become.
Eretz Yisrael will become ours, the shechina will
come down once again, we will be home and Hashem will be home when the light
that comes from the storms of galus sends us running to the land, to our
deepest inner selves, to our brotherhood. We will not be spies that are trying
to uncover the “nakedness of the land” but rather holy spies that will reveal
the light that can shine through the 2000 years of camouflage and bigdei
galus that we’ve been wearing for so long and that made us forget who we
really are. The day we are awaiting for will be even greater than the one that
we had when we left Mitzrayim. Because then it was Hashem taking us out from
the 49th level of tumah, whereas this year we will
god-willing be celebrating with the light that we are bringing up to Him. The
light He has waited 5784 years for us to reveal. The eternal light of the Bais
Hamikdash rebuilt.
Have a lightfilled Shabbos and may all our prayers be answered,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
************************
YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Ven ain soldat volt gevust vos der anderer
tracht, volt kain krig nisht geven.”.- If one soldier knew what the other thinks,
there would be no war.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
18.The name of
the archeological museum which was established during the British Mandate
is_________.
Which
archeological site suffered massive destruction due to usage of outdated
digging methods?
A. Tel Lachish
B. Yodfat
C. Tel Gezer
D. Gamla
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/maoz-tzur
- It’s not Chanuka without my Rabbi Schwartz Compositions here’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iky-KPl1-Og
– Ari Goldwag’s latest Live to Give
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAmdS9AnUts
–
Maccabeats We’re still here Am Yisrael Chai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSj9pOUJ6tI
- Y-Studs You can Light with me Chanuka
Acapella
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXI0CLgK-Ds
- 613 Era-Luiton?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9PRlr2M4x4
– Dovid Lowy’s amazing new rendition of a Golden Oldie “Don’t hide from
Me”
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S PARSHA PRAYER
INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK
Yackov’s Painful Prayer – This column has been one of the
more challenging ones for me to write. I like challenges. It’s why I decided to
start writing it. Tefilla is called avoda- service, labor, work. It’s something
we do daily and thus it takes the most effort to keep it new and fresh. It’s
kind of like marriage in that way. And in a way it really is a form of
marriage. It’s the relationship between us
and Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And as everyone know the key to a good and healthy
marriage is communication. It’s the crux of it all. And Tefilla/ prayer is our
communication with Hashem.
Yet, finding tefilla in every parsha is no easy task. Especially in
parshas that are full of great narratives. But I guess it’s true for
conversation in life as well. So it’s work and Baruch Hashem it’s been
fulfilling. I hope it is for you as it is for me.
Well in this week’s parsha there is a prayer as well. It’s one I
never noticed before, and I guess that’s why I like this challenge or most
challenges because it forces me to discover new insights and ideas that
hopefully can make my tefilla more meaningful.
So what’s the prayer. It’s really just a few words. It’s right
before Yaakov sends his children back down to Yosef. He turns to them and tells
them
V’Kel Sha-dai Yitein lachem Rachamim- and Hashem should give you
mercy
Lifnei Ha’ish- before the man
And he should send with you your other brother and Binyamin and as
I have been bereaved I will be bereaved.
Rashi notes that Yaakov’s terminology here is that he is telling
the brothers that I gave you all my advice, I gave you presents, I gave you the
strategy. But now all that remains is prayer. I will daven for you as well.
Ultimately that’s what it comes down to.
When he davens for his children he utilizes the name of Hashem of
Kel Sha-dai which Rashi explains is a reference to Hashem as the one who told
the world Dai-Enough! The world was expanding more and more and Hashem stopped
and fixed the world in a set position. That same God, Yaakov invokes, should as
well say enough to all of my troubles. He recalls since the day he was born he
was in constant turmoil. From esau, to Lavan, to Dina to the death of Rachel.
It’s been endless. Hashem should say enough already.
What is the connection to troubles and Hashem as the One who said
the world should stop expanding? Wouldn’t the name to be invoked more
appropriately be Hashem as the merciful one, as our Father, as the God of
peace. What does the Creation of the world have to do with anything? Why is
this the prayer that Yaakov chose.
There is a fascinating Midrash that it says when Rabbi Akiva was
taken out to be killed the angels saw this and asked is this the reward for all
he the Torah he has learned and Hashem told them to be quiet. This was His
original intent when He created the world and if they continued to protest
Hashem would have to return it to it’s original state and start all over. It’s
a strange Midrash for it leaves us with the question of the angels. Be quiet
and accept Hashem seems to say. But I believe there is an even deeper concept
here.
In Hebrew the word for world is Olam- which also means hiddenness.
Being that Hashem is infinite to created a limited physical universe it’s
essence is going to be Hashem hiding Himself, minimizing Himself. It’s the only
way that physicality can exist. When Hashem told the world to stop expanding in
essence what He was saying is that there is enough hiddenness. It’s too much.
They won’t be able to find Me and reveal Me anymore. That’s the whole point of
Creation. That in the times of trouble when we don’t see Hashem- we dig deep
and reveal His light. We find His presence. Rabbi Akiva was able to do that and
he died as so many martyrs did with those words on his lips. Hashem tells the
angels that this was the point. This is how I can most connect in the deepest
way with man. It’s the way that My relationship will be eternal. Don’t make me
go back and start again.
This is the prayer that Yaakov tells his children. That in times of
trouble they will be able to find Hashem. They will see his Hand. If there’s a
trouble if there’s a difficulty, if there’s pain, if there’s October 7th,
know that it comes from Hashem who told the world to stop hiding Him at the
perfect point. Hashem can still be found, otherwise He would’ve told the world
to continue expanding. He wants to be found. And thus if that is the case He
will tell our troubles to be enough as well. He will return your brother. He
will return us. We will all come home and be redeemed.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR
PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
The Decline of the Kingdom of Israel and the
aftermath of Chanuka-
Chanukah is coming to an end and once again there seems to be a connection with
our study and the aftermath of the Chanukah story as we move from Yehudah’s
kingdom in Jerusalem and the death of Uziya/ Azarya back to the story of
the 10 tribes in the North. We are at the 4th and last descendant of
Yehu to be king and it has been a downward spiral. Things had looked so
bright under Yehu’s kingdom. He killed out Achav’s remaining
family. He instituted a religious reform and destroyed the worship of the Baal.
He was anointed by Elisha himself to lead the people but because he
didn’t complete the job and he allowed the altars of Yeravam to remain
he went downhill. Hashem had told him that he would have four generations to
get their act together but one after another they failed.
The 3 kings that ruled from the line of Yehu
were Yehoyachaz, Yoash and Yeravam the 2nd.
This week we have the final king Zecharia who takes over and he is no
better than his predecessors. He sins and is assassinated by Shulam Ben Yavesh
publicly. Shulam reigns for a month until he is taken out by Menachem
Ben Gadi, the next king to rule. Menachem as well is an evil king
and yet he manages to reign for 10 years. Under his rule he decided to invade
the neighboring Aramean city of Tiphtza. He assumed they would
recognize and support his kingship being that he was their neighbor. They
finally had someone from their own hood that was ruling Israel. Yet when they
didn’t he brutally or even savagely to be more accurate massacred their city.
The Navi describes his brutality as one where he literally slices open pregnant
woman. We’re talking October 7th sickness. This was as low as we
could get and the retribution of Hashem is quick and coming with the rise of
Assyria to the international world plate. And we’re their first major victims.
Ashur sets heavy taxes upon Israel and Menachem
begins the process of Israeli pacifism paying hundreds of thousands of shekels
to our enemy to keep us safe. Ultimately this is the beginning of our
subjugation which will ultimately lead to the exile of the ten tribes by this
wicked empire. We actually have some corroborating evidence of these taxes in
transcripts found in Assyria as well as in Shomron. With Menachem’s
death after his 10 year rule his son. Pekachiya takes over and things
get even messier.
It's a sad story. It’s a tragic story. It’s one
that we see repeats itself in the aftermath of Chanuka as well. We have this
tremendous light of Chanuka with the Maccabees and Chasmonaim,
yet it doesn’t last. The children and grandchildren of Yehuda Maccabee
are Greek once again. They’re Hellenists. They defile the Temple and ultimately
it leads to the entrance of Rome and the destruction of our Temple not
two centuries later. We have a problem taking the light of Chanuka and making
it a long term one. And when we don’t it just gets worse than it was even
before we started. Hopefully we’ve learned this lesson by now and IYh the
special light we are seeing in the world now should last forever with the
building of the Temple and the return of the children to our borders.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FUNNY
CHANUKA GAZA MEMES/ JOKES OF THE WEEK
The hostages are not able
to celebrate Chanuka so many people are lighting an extra Menora for them. I on
the other hand have taken on to eat a doughnut for each them. 37 down 100 to
go.
Not sure whether to
have that extra doughnut or not? They
call it Sugani-yah for a reason. Yah! Eat it…
Which coffee should you
drink on Chanukah? In English it's called 'Miracle of the 25th', but it's
better known by its Hebrew translation: nes cof hei (sometimes spelled Nescafe)
Imagine how upset
Hitler would be if he knew that Jews were being compared to him…
The IDF is pumping
water into Hamas Terror Tunnels. You wanted from the River to the Sea now you
got it…
Did you see all those
pictures of the surrendering Hamas Terrorists? They call it Gaza Strip for a
reason…
Even Albert Einstein
can’t explain how a doughnut that weighs 150 grams makes me 2 Kilos fatter.
Did you see all those
videos and pictures of Santa putting on Tefillin. It’s become a new chasidus
called Santa Kalusenberg
Line of the week- Queers
for Palestine are the Gay Neturei Karta.
The answer to this week”s question is C – This is the third week in a row that I’m only getting my answers half right. This is not good. I knew that the museum they were talking about is the Rockfeller museum. That was easy, they have lots fo stuff from British mandate there and its’ located in Jerusalem. The second part though I wasn’t sure. I was leaning towards Gezer to be honest, but last minute switched my answer to Lachish. And what do you know? I should’ve gone with my initial instinct. The correct answer was Gezer. Ahh well I’m still ahed of the game here. And the latest score is Rabbi Schwartz at 12.5 point and the MOT having 4.5 point on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.
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