Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz
"Your friend in
Karmiel"
February 14th
2025 -Volume 14 Issue 16 16th of Shevat 5785
The man is really serious. Gaza will become the new French Riviera. Terrorists will be expelled. The turn-turn-it-into-a-parking-lot joke that lots of people said, and that I never thought should be a joke, well it looks like the Donald has been reading my E-Mails or at the least watching my statuses. See, you’re in good company. Except whereas I said “parking lot”, he heard amusement park. Stay tuned for Gaza Disney, with fun underground tunnel roller coaster rides, fireworks every night and “it was a small world” with Bibi Mouse and Donald Duck leading the parade.
The crazy thing is
that Israel really doesn’t know what to do with themselves with all this love
and support coming our way. See, we’re kind of used to the whole being a victim
thing. Yes, even 75 year of statehood and “Never Again”ing it and brave Israeli
army yada yada had not knocked the galus mentality “whole-world-wants-to-kill-us”
and we-better-not-upset-the-goyim mentality. Unless you live in Lakewood
or Williamsburg of course where of course you feel that you’ve already been
redeemed and own congress and the court system and are the “biggest tax-payers”
around and are entitled to do whatever you want in the medina shel chesed Hashem
has blessed you with living in…Shh… be quiet Hamas protestor down the block…
Ouch…
But here in Israel
that’s not and has never been the case. Despite the fact that we’ve won quite a
few wars- miraculously. Despite the fact that we’ve flourished. We’ve developed
the country. We clearly have everything that we have accomplished in such a
short time here because we’ve worked hard, we haven’t stopped and we’re an
incredible nation that’s out to help and build the world, and Hashem kind of
loves us…usually. We still feel that we’re not worthy. We still feel that we
have to answer to the goyim. We still feel that we’re really not entitled to
anything. Certainly not to the entire land of Israel. Certainly not to the
right to wipe out our enemies. We can’t even hit them with tariffs.
We feel we have to
every day defend our behavior. We’re so pathetic despite all of our songs about
Jewish pride and the so much we have to be proud of. We’re great and the best
at making museums about Holocausts, Memorials for fallen heroes, for dead
children, for murdered soldiers. Really cool and shticky monuments and
memorials too. Some with good movies, others with virtual reality glasses and
others with light and sound shows with real smoke coming up from blown up
bunkers where Jews were killed. But
winning wars and celebrating the destruction of our enemies and building
amusement parks on top of their graves and destroyed cities… that’s never been
our strong point.
Quite the opposite
in fact. We apologize. We’re so sorry we won. Of course, we’ll rebuild your
churches, your mosques, we’ll even declare them protected holy sites. Here’s
half of Mearas Hamachpela. Here’s the Temple Mount. The tomb of Yosef in
Shechem, and take the whole West Bank while you’re at it. We’ll even arrest and
bulldoze any Jewish kids that try to plant a vineyard there.
Sure you can keep
your golden pimple. We won’t even daven there. We’ll stay down here on the
bottom by the burnt remains of our retaining wall and mourn the Temple that we
once had that you guys destroyed. We’ll give you equal rights in the land that
you threw us out of and would do so again tomorrow. You even unabashedly say that
that’s what you still plan on doing to us. October 7th the sequel.
River to the Sea Part II.
We’ll make you Supreme
Court justices. We’ll give you voting rights. We’ll even throw 14-year-old kids
living on hill-tops and that are settling the land who seem to be the only ones
with any brains or sense of true Jewish pride, meaning and appreciation of any
historical significance in this county, into jail for even suggesting that we
actually fulfill the Divine mandate we were given to settle in the land Hashem
has given us and destroy anyone that stands in our way. Yeah… We’re really bad
at winning. At being who Hashem raised us and brought us up to become.
This is not a new
problem. This is perhaps the oldest problem of our nation. In fact it is even
the prelude to us becoming the nation of Hashem. It’s the last thing the Torah
tells us before He chose us and gave us the Torah. The blueprint and map of
what we are here to accomplish. The book and the mandate and pathway to us
becoming the “mamleches kohanim” -the nation that will establish a
homeland that will shine the light of Hashem out to the world where all will
recognize His glory. Our glory. The parsha of this week’s Torah reading and
perhaps the one with the most essential Torah narrative of our role in the
world is called and named after… would you believe it? A goy. Yisro. Do you
know why? Because Hashem knows that we probably couldn’t and don’t have the
guts enough or self-respect or confidence to do it on our own. We need Yisro to
tell us how great we are before we actually believe we are worthy.
You know what’s
funny? Do you know what the name Yisro means? More. Rashi tells us that the
hidden meaning behind that name or spiritual essence is that he was called thus
because it was in his merit that an extra parsha was added in the Torah. The
parsha of the establishment of righteous judges. Judges without fear. Judges
that will have the guts to stand up to evil. That will be inspired only by the
word of Hashem. That won’t bow to societal pressure. That are concerned more
about being spiritually correct rather than politically.
The name of the
parsha that this goy added is meaningfully called V’ata Techezeh-And you
shall see. Open up your eyes. Take a look. See… Take off the blinders. Understand
why you’re here. Look at the miracles. Look where Hashem has brought you. See
how he destroyed Amalek. How He beepered them. How He split the Sea. How He
gave you the Manna. Do you get it? We need a goy to tell us that. Thus
the parsha of the Torah and of us becoming a nation is called Yisro, after the
goy that saw and came and directed us on the path.
But is that really
true? Is that really what happened. Here, comes the amazing part my friends and
pay close attention. We have a rule, a bizarre, incongruous rule that is really
a spiritual oxymoron. It’s called eilu v’eilu divrei Elokim Chayim- that
whenever we have a debate or a dispute between our sages in the Mishna or
Talmud, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, Rabbi Akiva and Rebbi Gamliel, or even
Rashi and Tosafos. There are truths to both sides of the debate. They both
represent the word of Hashem Both opposing views are correct. It’s like the
joke about the couple that comes to the Rabbi and she gives her complaints and
the Rabbi tells her that she’s correct. The husband then gives his complaints
and the Rabbi again turns to the man this time and says that he’s correct. The
Rabbi’s wife is listening and objects. How can they both be right? The Rabbi
turns to her and says that she is also right! Well, when it comes to the story
of Yisro’s arrival, like all Jewish things there is a debate as well.And they’re
both correct. They’re both truth.
Rashi, the Ibn
Ezra and many of the commentaries that generally go with the simplest
explanation actually read the story of Yisro as being a non-chronological one.
He doesn’t come to Moshe until after the giving of the Torah. They follow the
Talmudic opinions that understand that the reason he came is because he heard
about the giving of the Torah. He wanted to be part of our nation. He was drawn
to us and our mission. We inspired him.
The Ramban, Saadia
Gaon and others however read the story chronologically and suggest that Yisro
came before the Torah was given. He heard about our war against Amalek, our victory,
the splitting of the sea. He was inspired by Hashem and the love and all He
does for our nation and that drew him to our people. Fascinatingly enough,
Rashi, although he goes with the opinion that Yisro came afterwards however
understands that the Torah is relating to us that he came before, to relate to
us that his coming wasn’t necessarily motivated as much by the giving of the
Torah but rather it was because of the miracles. He came because of Hashem. He wasn’t
going to wait until we caught on to how special and treasured we are. He
figured that might be a waste of time perhaps. Rather he came to be our “eyes”.
To show us how special we are and how much Hashem has set us up to accomplish.
Eilu V’eilu
Divrei Elokim Chayim- both of these
stories are true. There’s a lesson. A possible future. A reality that we were
in then and that we are in today as well with two alternate and perhaps even
opposite roads. Do we need the goy to see that we are chosen? That we have a
job to do. A land to conquer. A world to light up with the truth. An Amalek to
wipe out. Do we need Yisro to come and be our eyes. By the way… What’s the name
of the secretary of State that just came to Israel and said we should build a
Bais Ha’Mikdash? Rubi-o. Sounds like Yisr-o. What does the word Rubiya mean?
Anyone remember that word from our Rosh Hashana black eyed peas? It means more. Yisro. One more added
parsha. She’yirbu zechuyaseinu… That our merits should increase. C’mon.. this whole E-Mail was worth the read
just for that… 😊.
This Shabbos and
every Shabbos before we bentch and thank Hashem for the Eretz Ha’Tovah
the great incredible land that He has promised us and our forefathers that we
have been privileged to return to. That we ask Hashem to have mercy on us, on
Tzion, on Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. We sing and recite a Psalm.
Shir Ha’Maalos- A song of Ascents- of Aliya
B’shuv Hashem es shivas tzion- When
Hashem returns the captives of Tzion… our nation exiled for so long… our
hostages.
Ha’yinu
k’cholmim- we’re dreaming. We’re sleeping.
We don’t get it… We don’t see what’s happening right before our eyes. We’re
missing what’s happening. We think it’s just about getting out of Egypt. Out of
the Holocaust. It’s a national homeland where nobody will bother us. Like
America, but in Hebrew with falafel and shwarma too. We don’t realize that we
have a job to do. A house to build for Hashem. A light to shine out to the
world from there.
Oz yimaleh
schok pinu u’lshoneinu rina- then our mouths
will fill with laughter and our tongues with song. We laugh. We’re happy. We
sing. The job is not done yet. It’s a nice dream. We think it’s over. We got
them back. We’ve returned. We have our State. Thank You Hashem… We think the
dream has come true. But we’re missing the boat. That’s not what this about. We
need Yisro to tell us something. We need Rubio. We need the goyim to be our
eyes. Because 2000 years of exile, of persecution, of fear and subjugation
under them has blurred our eyesight.
Oz yomru ba’goyim
higdil Hashem la’asos im eileh- The goyim
will then get up and say. Hashem has done something great and big for this
nation. They heard about the war against Amalek. They heard about the Manna.
They heard about our hostages coming home. They understand more than us, that
this about something much greater. Part of making America Great Again is first
making us great again. They look towards us and ask us if we’re still dreaming
or are we going to wake up. Will we just continue paying lip and tongue service
to what is happening? Is it just something that fills our mouth and tongues
with great new catchy songs? Or will we be truly happy. Will we take it to the
next level and bring the simchas olam to the world as we’re supposed to.
As we were chosen to. Do we have the strength to say
Higdil Hashem L’aasos
Imanu- Hashem has made us great. He gave
us the most important role in the world. We have a job to do. A message to
scream out to the world. A land to liberate and rid of evil. A world to uplift.
A home to return to and dwell in. Do we have the strength to tell the world what
justice looks like? What the vengeance of Hashem and the Jewish people entails.
What the borders of our country need to be. Can we truly bring the world to
understand that we understand that our job is not merely to be free and to be live
under our fig tree, grape vine around the corner from the Makolet and kosher
pizza store, but it’s to truly bring the world to simchas olam-
Hayinu smaychim- to be truly happy…
The Geula is
coming my friends. This past week on Tu’Bishvat I was riding on these cool EZ Rider
bikes with my tourists through the ruins of the city of Caesarea, a city that our
sages tell us that will be in ruins as Jerusalem will be rebuilt. Along our
ride, we passed by the Roman theater where the great Rabbi Akiva, who laughed
while the foxes came out of the ruins because he saw in the destruction already
the seeds of redemption. Ha’zorim B’dimah- the fields of Jerusalem that
were sown with seeds of tears, he saw already 2000 years ago, that b’rina
yiktzoru- that they will be harvested in song.
Rabbi Akiva was
killed by them there in that theater with the words Hashem Echad on his
lips. He had started the first Messianic movement, too early, when he rebelled
against them with his army of Bar Kochva. He wasn’t dreaming. He did what
needed to be done. He wasn’t just davening and or even learning for Mashiach
and the redemption. He went out to fight and bring it. 2000 years late Yaakov
Shweky sings Vehi She’amda in that same theater and Shema Yisrael with
our return. Rome is gone. The tears that were planted have begun to bear fruit and
our lips began to be full of song.
We continued on
our ride on Tu Bi’Shvat and passed families with children planting trees. It
was Tu B’Shvat. In Israel we don’t just eat dry buktzer/carob and dried figs
and sing about shkeydiyah porachat-. We’re not dreaming. We’re planting.
They weren’t all wearing Yarmulkas. Yet even the most secular here know that
this is a holiday of redemption. Of planting. Of settling the land. Tears came
to my eyes just watching these beautiful yiddishe kinderlach with their shovels
and saplings. Ha’zorim B’Dima. Throughout Israel at the many sites where
our children fell, the burnt car park, the Nova Festival site, Sderot trees
were planted this year. We plant with tears. We plant with tears right after
the Goyim tell us that we are great. We need to be nosey alumosuv-
we need to carry our burdens, but as well we need to be alim- we need to
be strong. We need to gather our strength.
With Tu B’Shvat
the sap has risen. Purim is around the corner. Amalek is just waiting to be
wiped out. Maybe even by 12:00 this Shabbos afternoon, if we listen to the
Goyim. Pesach is around the corner. The month of redemption and return is here
and coming fast. Do you know what the Presidential plane that Rubio arrived on
is called? Eagle One. Kanfey Nesharim has landed and Goyim are telling
us we are meant to be “great again” and meant to be even greater. Are we ready
to stop dreaming?
Have a explosively fantastic Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
************************
YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Fun
fartrikenteh baimer kumen kain paires nit arois.”.- No fruit falls from withered
trees.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
8. Israel has implemented its "good fence"
policy with which bordering country? ______
Which settlement among the "11 points"
established in 1946 was within the territory of today's
Gaza Strip?
A. Urim
B. Kfar Darom
C. Nirim
D. Kfar Aza
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/vatem
-
The words, the promise, our mandate… from this week’s parsha. My glorious
composition V’Atem Tihiyu Li… You should sing this the whole Shabbos…
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/torah-hakedosha
- Shabbos Yisro
Kabbalas HaTorah is here and this composition of mine from the famous poem (
from selichos Tzom Gedalia) has incredible words that most- until my song- only
knew the first part of it… Listen and take in the prayer to the Torah..
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/good-shabbos
– We read about this mitzva of Shabbos… what
is it all about ..listen to this beautiful composition of mine that you will
sing forever…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ylBComcef4 Simcha Leiner’s latest… Kein Yehi
Ratzon! Nice…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfNTo3GhK_M
– A beautiful Ilan Ilan for Tu B’Shvat..
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR
PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Nevuchadnezzar -the King
who gave honor to God?- 605 BC – It is mamash
insane how important it is for us to learn Tanach and to understand and
internalize the lessons and stories of our past that repeat themselves. Binu
shnos dor v’dor- understand the lessons of each generation. This column
somehow always seems to be caught up with what’s going on. Check it out this
week…
We begin the story of
the rasha, the evil king of Babylonia who in the fourth year of
the King Yehoyakim exiles him and begins the process of our exile and
destruction. Who is Nevuchadnezzar? So our sages tell us his fascinating
origin story. It seems that he was the secretary of the previous King of Babylonia,
Merodach Baladan whom we previously learned about. Baladan, was the
king who had sent messengers to Chizkiya after he was miraculously
healed from his illness that followed the miraculous defeat of Sancheriev’s
Assyrian army right outside of the gates of Jerusalem. Chizkiya
could’ve been Mashiach had he sung and praised Hashem after this victory. His
failure to recognize the amazing opportunity that this victory brought and his
continued alliances and reliance on other goyim to be on our team and give us
their love led to his sickness.
When Baladan heard about
his miraculous recovery and the defeat of his own mutual enemy that he shared
with us of Assyria he sent messengers to Chizkiya. He sent his Rubio
with great wishes. He wanted to make Babylonia great again as well.
He sent him a letter that stated
“Peace be unto King Chizkiya,
peace unto the city of Yerushalayim, peace unto the great God.”
When Nevuchadnezar who
wasn’t present heard about the letter, he got upset. How dare they place Chizkiya
and give him honor before Hashem?! They should’ve first written “peace to
Hashem” before Chizkiya. He began to run after the messengers to
stop them. And very quickly the angel Gavriel came down and stopped him.
Yet, it was in the merit of those four steps that he rose to glory to become
the king of Babylonia and ultimately became the one to destroy the
Temple. It was only because the angel stopped him though that our exile was
only temporary. If he would’ve actually taken more than those four steps, we’d
still be speaking Babylonian today…
What is the message
here? The message is that when the Goyim and their Kings stick up for Hashem
and our honor and we don’t then we’re in trouble. In fact, the downfall of Chizkiya
a and the Jews was because when Baladan’s whole entourage comes to
Israel he shows them all of the glory of the Temple and our treasure houses.
Maybe he even got them golden beepers. The Navi and story of Chizkiya
and Nevuchadnezzar is that our job is not to talk about our greatness and
glory. It has to be about Hashem. We can’t be impressed or influenced by the
nations. We need to impress and influence them, but not to farkoyf them on
us… Rather its’ to get them realize and appreciate how much Hashem’s glory needs
to be revealed to the world.
Yes, my friends. It’s ba’yamim
ha’heim- in those days. Ba’zman ha’zeh- in our times.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE TREE JOKES OF THE WEEK
What type of trees
like to give High Fives? A Palm Tree
The lumberjack
grinned, “And you will dialogue!"
The answer to
this week”s question is b – Finally! I got
one entirely right. It helps a bit that these are war zones. The part A though
I knew even before the war, The Good Fence which was our open door policy to
Lebanon before the first Lebanon War in 2000. Thousands of Israelis would got
to Lebanon to shop and even have farms there and Leabanese would come into Israel
as well enjoying our better medical services and shopping. Yes, it was once
good with Lebanon before it became today. Now we’re back hopefully returned to
our biblical borders that we won’t give back…
Part B was also easy. Kfar Darom was in Gush Katif until Ariel Sharon threw us out in exchange for the wonderful peace we’ve been experiencing since then. So I got them both right this week and the new score is Rabbi Schwartz 5.5 Ministry of Tourism 2.5 on this exam so far.
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