Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
July 25th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 37 29th of Tamuz 5785
(sorry friends… Crazy week… but here's a golden oldie on the parsha… and no sponsors to give me inspiration ☹)
The stories of the Torah pretty much come to an end this week. Next week we begin the book of Devarim which is a long speech- a very long speech, by Moshe Rabbeinu. So don’t ever complain about the length of my E-Mails, OK… I’m just following in the oratory of footsteps of the greatest leader of our nation. And I even throw in jokes along the way… So stop kvetching…
But this week as we conclude Bamidbar with the final two Torah portions, the narrative portion of the Torah comes to an end. As with all good stories and books we need to put all the pieces together at the end. It’s the conclusion of everything. And thus there’s a lot of recapping going on. We have the laws of the personal vows, the final battle of the life of Moshe against Midyan along with an inordinate and quite bizarre recounting of all of the specifics of the booty that we took from them and it’s division amongst the tribes and the Kohanim and Levi’im as well as the portion dedicated to Hashem. We continue with the division of the land on the other side of the Jordan River amongst the 2½ tribes of Reuvein, Gad and Menashe. And then we recap all of our travels and the ultimate borders of Eretz Yisrael.
Do you want to know what the conclusion of everything is all about? It’s all about Eretz Yisrael. It’s all about coming home and building a home for Hashem here. It’s what the creation of the world was all about, way back in the first Rashi of the Torah. Rashi- whose yartzeit generally always falls out this week. It’s in this parsha that the mitzva is given to inherit the land. To throw out everyone that will prevent us from inheriting it. To understand that this is not merely a “national homeland” for the Jews and place to settle where no one will mess with us. But rather it’s the only place where our mitzvos have meaning and connect to their essence, which is to shine out the light of Hashem to the world when we are all living here together. We are all doing what we are supposed to. It’s when and how the shechina will finally shine down.
In my shul, we have the “custom” to say the “traditional” prayer for the State of Israel. I have quotation marked the words “custom” and “traditional” as obviously the State is only around for about 75 years or so. Generally, when we talk about tradition and customs they go back hundreds of years at least. Fascinatingly enough the prayer that was introduced by Rav Yitzchak Ha’Levi Herzog in 1948 a few months after the State was declared was first printed in the liberal Ha’Aretz newspaper. Now even though I would say I’m a pretty yeshivishe guy, although there are certainly many that would disagree- but I certainly went to black-hat yeshivos-which seems to be all that’s really necessary to identify as such. I certainly am not the Kippa seruga type- not that there’s anything wrong with that of course…
Yet, I would say that the prayer for the State and the army for that matter is one of the primary signs that in fact you are not a yeshivishe guy. Certainly in America. In Lakewood- they don’t say it. I don’t even think they say it in Tom’s River or Jackson despite the fact that the people that live there like to say “We’re not really Lakewood guys…We live in Jackson…” . Uh huh… Like the guys that say “I’m not really a New Yorker- I live in Kensington… in Monsey… in Bayswater… Yeah….”
Growing up in my shul in Detroit they didn’t say it. We had a yeshivisheh Rabbi, although I remember there was a lot of controversy when he left and the next Rav who they tried to get to say it also refused. Certainly, I’m not a fan of extra stuff in davening. I’m the guy that avoids tachanun and tries to daven in a minyan with a Mohel or a chasidish place where they have a list of all of the great Rabbi’s yahrzeits that they for some reason don’t say tachanun on. Certainly on Shabbos when davening is already super long- particularly when you have a Rabbi like me that sings a lot and who thinks he’s Moshe Rabbeinu that can get away with speaking for a long time, I don’t want to add anything extra. It’s why I don’t say the blessing for the people that don’t talk in shul or speak lashon hara or whatever mitzva of the week that is on the table that some yeshivish places seem to manage to have time for. Yet, upon moving here and establishing my shul, I felt it was important to incorporate these two prayers for the State and the chayalim. I knew it would upset some. I like upsetting people, particularly if I’m right.
My Rebbi once told me-although I don’t think he meant it this way and certainly not in this circumstance- that I should never get up to speak without saying at least one thing that might get me thrown out on my head. Don’t get up and say the ‘touchy-feely’, ‘tikkun olam’ types of drashos. When you speak- you need to be able to push people beyond their comfort zone. If they haven’t gotten upset or uncomfortable where they are, then you aren’t doing your job. That idea has always been one of my guiding lights, I do that on my tours, in my drashos, and in these E-mails. Frankly I get nervous if I go a few weeks without any “unsubscribes”. Am I being too pareve?
So, I say the prayer for the State. When We lived in Virginia, they would annoyingly say the prayer for the United States of America and it’s president. I wasn’t a fan. He’s a goy. Why am I davening for him? My kiddush and chulent is being pushed off another few minutes because of this. I’m hungry. Yet, obviously once I actually read the words of the prayer it made sense. The prayer was that that Hashem should put in their hearts that the goyim should like us. They shouldn’t kill us. They shouldn’t throw us out. It made sense. After 2000 years of that happening to us repeatedly- it makes sense that we should daven for that. Our sages even instituted back in the Roman times. We need to pray for the “peace of the rulership” because if not for that the game would be over. They’d come for us and chaos would reign as it always has in our history of Galus.
Yet the question that troubles me is why doesn’t everyone say the tefilla for the Medina, Eretz Yisrael and boys in green? Have you even looked at the words? The prayer has quite a few ideas that would seem that we observant and even Chareidi Jews would and should want more than anyone else.
Let’s take it slow.
Avinu She’bashahmayim- Our Father in heaven, the rock of Israel and it’s redeemer. Bless the State of Israel- the rerishis tzmichas ge’ulaseynu- the beginning of the flourishing of our redemption.
OK, now it seems that most of the yeshivish people get stuck right over here. There are even some shuls that leave out this sentence. They find it hard to believe that this secular state that was established by “heretics” and Torah violators at best should be called the beginning of the flourishing of our redemption. They’re wrong and they’re stupid. See, I told you I’m not pulling punches.
First of all, guess what. We believe that that Mashiach and the redemption always comes from the most hidden and tamey places. Let’s start with Lot and his daughters the progenitors of Rus and King David. Let’s not talk about Yehuda and Tamar. Forget about the fact, that the whole Moav thing is the epitome of licentiousness where Rus, a granddaughter of Balak in the last two parshiyot and related to Kozbi who was also Balak’s descendant comes from. Dovd Ha’Melech has his own sordid stories, where Klal Yisrael doesn’t even accept him as Jewish possibly or legitimate.
The Mishnas Sachir, Rav Teichtel in his incredible work Eim Ha’Banim Semaycha writes and explains that Mashiach has to come from such sordid starts, otherwise the Satan and the heavenlhy accusers would make a fuss. So Hashem has to bring him to the world below the radar. He even says in his modern Holocaust period, that if he and the great Rabbis of Europe who he was associated with (The Bnai Yissaschar and others) would’ve came back to build Eretz Yisrael with purity and holiness, the Satan would never have let it happen. It’s why, he suggests, Hashem made it happen with these secular Jews, as well to give them merits in the redemption- despite their lack of religious observance and even faith.
But leaving that on the side, I hope and daven, as should you that the holocaust was the beginning of the flourishing of our redemption. I hope that Donald Trump was the beginning of the flourishing of our redemption. I hope and pray that Corona was the beginning of the flourishing of our redemption. Every world event, we should daven for that to be true. So why not the State of Israel as well…? Don’t you hope and pray that it should be? Certainly the fact that the entire world recognized our right to establish a national Jewish homeland in Israel, even the Chafetz Chaim celebrated when he heard that Balfour mandate. So why does that phrase irk you so much?
But forget about that line. The rest of the prayer asks for Hashem to shine His light and truth to it’s leaders and advisors. Don’t we want that. Don’t we want them and every Jew to have that light? Don’t we want shalom ba’aretz- peace in the land? Don’t we want protection for our brothers and the children of our brothers and sisters as they defend our land. Don’t we want success in their operations and attacks to wipe out the murderers that seek to destroy us? I know you all daven for that. So why not say the tefilla?
Maybe it’s because the 2nd paragraph asks Hashem for Him to gather in all our brothers in galus back to Eretz Yisrael, and you kind of like it there… I imagine. And you want to enjoy it a bit longer. Don’t say bring us me’heira- very fast back to the land. You’ve got things to do still. I know that’s not true. I’m just teasing you… I hope…
But it gets even more “chareidi” in the last paragraph. We ask Hashem to unite us all together. Not just stam unite; but unite our hearts to love and fear Hashem and to fulfill all the mitzvos in the Torah. All of them! That he should bring Mashiach. That He should bring an end to the galus. And that He should shine His light around the world to the point that every soul says Hashem, the God of Israel is the King and His Kingship is all over. Is there a more beautiful and meaningful prayer? Is there one that better expresses our deepest souls longing. Wouldn’t you rather take the three minutes it takes to say it instead of the “Not talking during Torah reading” prayer? Really?
This week’s last Parsha and story tells us about the battle of Midyan, the prelude to the inheritance of the land. We had lots of battles. Lots of wars. None get as much bogged down with seemingly extraneous facts as this one does. It’s the most described war in the Torah. It’s also a bizarre battle. 1000 men per tribe. That’s a tiny army to wipe out an entire nation. We certainly had more than that. Bila’am himself says that our 600,000 couldn’t wipe out Egypt. We just lost 24,000 in the plague alone against Moav when we sinned. This is half of them. It’s also a war that is not led by Yehoshua, the general of Israel. It’s Pinchas. It’s the Kohen. It’s the trumpets. It’s the Aron. He’s wearing the Tzitz- head-plate (the Kohanic equivalent of a black hat of course). And then it tells us about the mind-blowing specifics of the booty that we came back with. I have no idea how they did it. Look at the numbers.
Sheep- 675,000 – 56 per person if you divide it by 12,000
Cows- 72,000- 6 per person
Donkeys- 61,000 – 5 per person
Women captives- 32,000- everyone had 2½ or so…
Forget about the gold, the booty, all of the dishes, the pots, the pans, and the obscene jewelry we took from them.
That’s a lot to shlep back. What’s pshat in this war?
The answer is that this war is about all of us getting together. 12,000 soldiers had the rest of Klal Yisrael davening for them. We were united in the fight for Avinu She’bashamayim. This wasn’t a war with generals. It was one that was holy led by Pinchas, the Kohen who unites us all. The most yeshivish guy and zealot of his time. We bring the vessels of the Mishkan because we want to remember this about Reishis Tzmichas Geulaseynu. It’s about the beginning of our redemption. Not one man fell. Not physically and not even spiritually. Because our brethren we’re davening for our physical and spiritual well-being. We took everything and shlepped it across the desert from Midyan- Saudi Arabia, and we list every single sheep. Because, they belong to all of us. Because our unity and prayers brought us together. Because we’ve done gi’ulei ak’um- we’ve koshered all the trayf that the goyim have and spit out all of the evil and purified it. It’s why it brings this halacha here, rather than the by all the other wars, where certainly we had to “kosher” all the booty. But they were different types of wars. They were military wars. They weren’t the war that the soldiers describe as the “Milchama asher bi’yadeinu- the war in our hands- Our internal war. Our internal strife. We’ve overcome. We’ve united. That’s the prelude. That’s the way we can enter the land.
This war is followed by the story of the tribes of Gad and Reuvein who assure Moshe that they will selflessly leave their wives and children for the 14 years that it takes to conquer and settle the land. They will miss most of their children’s bar mitzva’s and probably quite a few of their weddings. They will put their lives on the line, because they understood after that Midyan battle that the only way that we can all inherit the land is if we’re all in it together. It’s not about my shtiebel; my Kehilla, my tribe, the Jews that look and dress like me. It’s all of us together. That’s the way the redemption happens.
It’s the period of the three weeks now, when we are more focused on our redemption and the Bait Ha’Mikdash then any other time of the year. None of us want to fast on Tisha B’Av. We all want to celebrate and party in the Beit Ha’Mikdash. We want to listen to music again, especially Rabbi Schwartz’es greatest hits- but you want to hear them sung by the Levi’im choir in the Temple. This parsha is always read in this period. It’s not a time to focus on just not speaking lashon hara and sinas chinam. We all know those are bad things. It’s time to up it a notch this year though.
Let’s really connect that to Eretz Yisrael. Sinas Chinam- is stupid hatred. It’s not davening for someone else that you know you need to daven for…just because… That’s chinam- boys and girls. Stop it. Daven for us. Daven for Eretz Yisrael. Daven for our Chayalim.
Back in 1967 when things looked the bleakest in our short 19-year history of the State there wasn’t a person that wasn’t davening for Eretz Yisrael. The Yom Kippur was no different. It shouldn’t take wars to make us daven for Eretz Yisrael. To daven that the leaders find truth and light. To daven that our brothers and sisters scattered physically and spiritually around the globe should be gathered home. That you should be gathered home. That we should once again see the reishis tzmichas ge’ulasaynu- of lo nifkad mimenu ish- that not one Jew is left behind physically or spiritually. If we can do that, then finally finally that holiday of Tisha B’Av will become what it always supposed to be. The day when Mashiach is born and redemption finally comes to Israel.
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C'mon friends… we can really use her help and I guarantee that the zechus of parterning with us will only fill you with joy and blessing. So who's in for next week?
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YOUNG ISRAEL OF KARMIEL
SHABBOS DAVENING SCHEDULE
SHABBOS MATOS MAASEI
CANDLELIGHTING 7:15 PM
MINCHA KABBALAS SHABBOS-7:30 PM
SHACHARIS- 9:00 AM
Last time for Kriyat Shema- 9:1 AM
Shiur in Eim Ha’Banim Smeicha- 6:30 PM
MINCHA- 7:00 PM
MARIV-8:37 PM -10 minutes after tzeitz
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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Emess iz in sidder..”- The truth is only in the Siddur- prayer book
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
27. The name of an ethnic Christian group originating in Lebanon which partly worships in
Aramaic is________
What is the primary reason the residents of the Iqrit and Biram villages did not return to their
homes?
A. Prevention of a Legal Precedent for Refugee Return
B. A Supreme Court decision ruling against their return
C. The areas of these villages were seized by other settlements
D. The displaced people from the villages fled beyond the borders of Israel
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-eileh-acapella - It’s the three Weeks. Acapella time again… and start off your three weeks with my mournful Al Eileh Composition that hopefully we won’t have to sing this Tisha B’Av
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmCpldXKrI –Tefilla for the State in the Churva shul beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqqg63yc9mE – Levi Cohen doing a Carlebach rendition of Yerushalayim…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjsgwp3cV0Q – Tzion Ba’Mar Tivkeh- Yossi Bayles hauntingly moving
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
(Last week's again... recap... chazara is the ikar :))
Destruction Part II Looting Burning- 586 BC - Here in the three weeks of mourning in this column this year we are up to the final stages of the destruction and loss of our Temple and our exile. Last week we discussed the massacre over the boiling blood of Zecharia. This week the carnage begins with the 8th and 9th of Av the Babylonians entered the Temple Mount and ate and drank and pillaged. All of the golden and silver vessels were packed up and stolen. The great huge copper pillars of Shlomo, the magnificent copper basin and pools were smashed and destroyed. They went through the city and burnt every house of anyone important as well as the walls of Jerusalem were burnt. The city was turned to rubble. It looked like Gaza.
The children of the Kohanim handed through the keys to the Temple up to heaven and a hand came down and grabbed them as they plunged into the fire and died. A cry went out from heaven. Hashem's palace was destroyed. On the tenth of Av the fire continued to burn. The Jews were all corralled together. Most of them were taken back to Bavel as slaves. Yirmiyahu accompanied them. The musical instruments that they once played with were put to rest. The song of our temple had been vanquished. The 410-year tummultus era of the temple had come to an end. Already for hundreds of years, we hadn't all worshipped there. The ten tribes of the North had been exiled 150 years before. The prophecies all the prophets had been yelling at us about had finally come to fruition. The curses of the Book of Vayikra had been fulfilled. Jewish life in Israel would still have one more chance. There was still a remainder that held and lived in the city. Would we be able to save the day or not? Next week, we conclude this saga, and hopefully with that the exile as well.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE PRAYER JOKES OF THE WEEK
Yankel listened to the Rebbe at shul one Shabboss morning and when the Rebbe asked those with special requests to come to him at Seuda Shlisheet/(3rd meal) , Yankel came.
When it was his turn, Yankel sat down and the Rebbe asked, "What do you want me to help you with?"
Yankel said, "Pray for my hearing, Rebbe."
The Rebbe put one hand over Yankel's ear and his other hand on top of his head and prayed a while.
Then he removed his hands and asked, "Yankel, how is your hearing now?"
Yankel answered, "I don't know, Rebbe. It's next Wednesday at the courthouse!"
When young David was asked by his father to say the evening prayer, he
realized he didn't have his head covered..so he asked his little brother Henry
to rest a hand on his head until prayers were over. Henry grew impatient after a few minutes and removed his hand. The father said, "This is important...put your hand back on his head!" to which Henry exclaimed, "What, am I my brother's kipah?"
Sol has a job that takes him everywhere and he frequently has problems finding a schul in some of the towns, so he figures G~d is everywhere, and decides to go into a church to worship. He takes out his tallis, puts on his yarmulke, dresses himself and proceeds to pray. The priest comes in and wants to start the services, and, having heard the whispers from some of his congregants, he stands up and says,
"Will all non-Catholics please leave."
Sol goes right on davening. Next request, again, "Will all non-Catholics
please leave."
Nobody moves or responds. Finally, the priest gets up and
says loudly, "WILL ALL JEWS PLEASE LEAVE!” At this, Sol gets up, folds his
tallis, takes off his yarmulke and puts them away.
He then goes up to the altar, picks up the statue of the baby Yoshka and says
the immortal words: "Come, Tattela, they don't want us here anymore...”
An elegantly dressed man starts up the steps of a large temple on Yom Kippur. At the front door, a security guard stops him:
"Are you a member of this synagogue, sir?" the guard asks.
"No."
"Did you purchase a ticket to attend Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services here?"
"No, I did not," the man says.
"I'm sorry," the guard says, "but you are forbidden to enter the synagogue then."
The man is desperate. "I have a very important message to give to Mr. Brian Goldstein. It's a matter of the greatest importance, an emergency. His wife just had a baby. You must let me in to speak with him."
"Okay, okay," the guard finally says. "I'll let you in. But if I catch you davening..."
Rabbi Herzl was visiting Mrs Gold, an elderly member of his congregation. Rabbi Herzl said, “You know, my dear Mrs Gold, that you are getting on in years and although I pray to the almighty that he will grant you many more years in good health, you really should now be thinking more of the hereafter.”
Mrs Gold replied, “Thank you, Rabbi, but I am always thinking about the hereafter.”
Rabbi Herzl was rather surprised with this response. “Really?” he said.
“Oh yes, Rabbi, every time I go upstairs, I say to myself, ‘what am I here after?’ and every time I go into my kitchen, I say to myself, ‘what am I here after?’ I do it all the time now.”
A rabbi said to a precocious six-year-old boy, "So, you tell me that your mother says your prayers for you each night. That’s very commendable. What does she actually say?"
The little boy replied, "Thank God he's finally in bed!"
The CEO of KFC requests an audience with the Pope. After some discussion, the CEO tells the Pope that he has a proposition. The company will make a $1 billion donation to the Catholic Church on one condition- that the Lord’s Prayer wording be officially changed from “give us this day our daily bread” to “give us this day our daily chicken.”
The pontiff says that he will have to consult with the cardinals. After much debate, it is agreed that they will accept this proposal.
The Pope turns to his secretary and says “get our legal team on the phone.”
“You mean so that they can set up a contract with KFC?”
“Yes,” says the Pope, “and also to find a way we can get out of our contract with the bread people.”
A priest was approached one night by Satan himself.
"Do not be frightened," said Satan. "I have an offer to make. I will make you tremendously powerful, famous and rich in return for just one small favour: half of your ability to hear."
The priest was stunned. "Let me think about it for a few days."
The next morning, the priest requested to meet the bishop. "Your Excellency, I need your advice for a temptation I have been given!"
He told over his strange encounter. The bishop was shocked. "A deal with Satan?! Do not do it, it will destroy your soul!"
But he could see the priest was not convinced. So the bishop arranged a meeting with the archbishop.
"Your Excellency, this priest has an urgent matter he needs advice about!"
He told over the story. The archbishop bowed his head in silent prayer, and after a few moments responded. "Firstly, your hearing is a gift from God. It would be forbidden to sacrifice any part of it. Secondly, a deal with Satan?!? Never do it!"
But the priest wasn't convinced. He was imagining all the wealth, fame and power he'd receive. So the archbishop requested an audience with the Pope.
The three of them came into the Papal office in great awe. They sat, and the archbishop spoke. "Your Holiness, this priest has a terrible temptation and needs advice!"
"Sorry, could you speak a little louder?" Asked the Pope.
A ship was sinking and the captain of the ship gathers all passengers on deck and asks the crowd: "Does anyone here know how to say prayers".
A priest steps forward: "I can" he says with some pride in his voice.
"Actually, I used to say the best prayers in the monastery, and they would be answered by God too" he continues boastfully.
"Great" answers the captain, "We're one life jacket short, so you say prayers, me and the crew are gonna rescue the rest of passengers by the life jackets".
A guy was giving the opening prayer at a convention and he said, "Life is a mystery everyone must stand alone I hear you call my name and it feels like home."
So the MC said, "That's not really a prayer."
And the guy said, "Well no, but it's like a prayer."
(I’m not explaining that one… you either get it or you don’t…)
Tommy was just a little Christian kid who used to pray for a bicycle. Then as he grew older he learned in Sunday school, that's not how prayer works. So he stole a bike...and prayed for forgiveness.
Yankel is out shopping one day when she meets Rabbi Levy.
"Hello rabbi," he says. "How are you? I hope you are keeping well."
"Well if I'm not mistaken," says Rabbi Levy, "it's Mr. Gross, isn't it?"
"Yes rabbi, it is," replies Yankel
"I haven't seen you in shul now for quite some time," says Rabbi Levy.
"I know," says Yankel, looking quite embarrassed, "I stopped going to shul some time ago because every time I went, it was always the same old thing."
"Always the same thing?" asks Rabbi Levy, looking puzzled, "I don't understand you."
"You know, rabbi," explains Yankel, "KOL NIDRAY..."
Benjamin woke up one Saturday morning in a bad mood. When he came down to breakfast, he told his visiting sister Sarah angrily, "I'm not going to shul today!"
"Yes you are," Sarah replied calmly.
"No I'm not. I don't want to go there ever again! The people down there don't like me, they ignore me...they don't appreciate me at all...and I won't go back."
"You will go to shul today, and you will continue to go too," said Sarah with confidence, "and I'll give you two reasons. Number one, you're 45 years old and number two – you're the rabbi!"
Gladys Dunn started reading some books about Judaism and decided that she wanted to start going to shul. There was one near her house so she went early one Shabbat morning. The shul itself was beautiful and the people seemed friendly but the Rabbi’s sermon seemed to go on and on. Worse, it wasn't very interesting. Glancing around, she saw many in the congregation nodding off.
Finally it was over. After the service, she turned to a still sleepy-looking woman next to her, extended her hand and said, "I'm Gladys Dunn."
She replied, "You and me both!"
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The answer to this week”s question is A- This one is a definite skip. I have no clue. Once I cheated and looked at the answer, so then I recalled that part A was Maronites Christians. However Part B I really had no clue. I guessed it was because they fled, and in truth that is true as well. They left, it's no longer theirs. Yet, the Supreme Court ruled that they could come back, but the Army blew the place up before they could. It seems this is a big tumult years ago, with lots of lefties and Europeans using this story as the "occupier" charge. Frankly, I believe we need to move back to Lebanon liket his week's parsha tells us all the way up to Har Ha'Hor which is near Tzur and the Litani river. But nobody is unfortunately listening to me or Hashem… So this one was entirely wrong. So the score is now Rabbi Schwartz 16.5 Ministry of Tourism 10.5 on this exam so far,
