Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
August 1st 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 39 7th of Av 5785
So I'm not sure if this week's E-mail will qualify as a Dvar Torah. Actually, I'm not sure if any week's does. Especially if you only scroll down to the jokes (yes Shimmy, I'm talking to you…). But this week I'm really not sure. Which is not a bad thing, being that this Sunday is Tisha B'Av and there is a slight chance that Mashiach won't be here and that we will have to fast and watch annoying Chafetz Chaim heritage videos about lashon hara and sinas chinam and we will be forbidden to learn "real" Torah. So this E-mail might work out well for you and be permitted to for you to read. Who knows it may even inspire you as well… Although I doubt it. See, I've pretty much given up hope…
It's been 664 days already and I don't see a light at the end of this tunnel. I just don't get it. Why is this still shlepping out? Why are we still fighting in the streets and arguing about stupidities? Why are there protests and more protests and more noise and protests? Why are my brothers and sisters still sitting in tunnels in Gaza? Why are there hundreds of families that haven't buried their dead, because their bodies are still being held captive as well? Eicha? How much longer will this take? When will this end? Why are we still here?
There is so much tired sadness in this country right now. I don't think there are enough therapists in the world to deal with the "ba'ayot nafshiyot" the mental and emotional distress, the pain in the soul, the hopelessness, the anger, the betrayal, the lack of light that we have undergone over this past year, since last year Tisha B'Av when we thought for sure this would be over and Mashiach would be here already. I was just in Tzfat yesterday and passed by a friend of mine's store and saw a sign up announcing his death. He was a young man, my age, a father of 8. He ran a "Kabbala" educational center there. Except it wasn't a death. He ended his own life, as hundreds over the past two years have because of the things they've seen, experienced and are going through and the help that they so desperately need either isn't coming to them or its not helping. I walked a little further up the block and met another friend, his son was killed a few months ago. He looked like the shell of a person that he was two years ago. I hugged him. I felt his sadness. It's too much. Eicha. How can this end?
I open the papers. I check my news regularly, like every ten minutes or so. I can't disconnect. All I see and read are people not getting it. All I see are a nation that seems to be missing the boat. I see a government that is feeding its enemies, rather than killing them. I see a country obsessed with drafting useless Yeshiva guys out of Beit Midrash to ki"ilu go and fight. Threats of arresting them, with threatening to starve them and take away their subsidies. At the same time I see Rabbis and yeshiva students fighting back. They block my traffic. They scream hateful things. They play the victim. And they refuse to connect and to do what they're supposed to do.
I have a very easy solution that would solve all of these problems. I'm not a Rabbi, I'm not a prophet, I wouldn't even go as far as to say I'm Daas Torah in anyway or form. But can someone please explain to me, what would happen if tomorrow 20,000 yeshiva students and Kollel guys showed up for their draft and demanded guns so that they can go into Gaza and slaughter every single man woman and child there. That they fly over the entire strip with gasoline and then drop a cigarette on the whole place out of their window. That they kidnap all of their children and starve them in a cage until they give us our children back. That we do to our enemies and all of their supporters exactly what our ancestors did to them when we first came into the land. One word. Genocide. Three times in this week's parsha the Torah and Moshe tell us in his final speech how we conquered the land coming into Israel. How we did exactly that. There's a reason we're meant to read this speech each year before Tisha B'Av. It's with the hope that we would finally get it's message and not have to watch inspirational videos on the floor about pillows and feathers and whatsapp groups dangers. That we would finally get to the core of the reason why we're here and what we need to do to get up again.
It's a fascinating speech. It's the last message he gives us before we enter the land. It's what this generation who survived the wilderness and the death of all of their fathers needs to know as it approaches what should've been our ultimate entrance to the land. And it is what our generation needs to know as we are here to fix their mistakes, sins, and failings. It stood out to me as I read the parsha as a whole. What is Moshe really telling us. What is the message he is really trying to convey, that we read each year on this parsha that is always read before Tisha B'av?
Moshe starts off naming some of the various sins that we committed in a hint form, by name -dropping locations. The golden calf, our sins of complaining, our sins of idolatry, of the daughters of Midian, of not appreciating the Manna, of our fear by the Yam Suf and the Egyptians. We did a lot of bad things. But that's not what's so important. Those are just hints. The next stuff he tells us about is what's really important. It's here where he starts to be "b'eir ha'Torah ha'zos"- to do some Moshesplainin' about what it's all about.
Devarim (1:6-) Hashem spoke to us at Chorev telling us that we have sat too long at this Mountain. Penu-Turn and travel to the land of the Emori, the Arava, the Shefela lowlands, the Negev, the shoreline of the Cana'ani, Lebanon until the Euphrates. See I have given before you the land come an inherit the land sworn to your Patriarchs to give to them and their descendants afterwards…
The entire land is ours. It's ours to inherit. Hashem is inviting us in. But we have a problem, the Klei Yakar tells us. We are sitting at Mt. Sinai for too long. Do you know what that problem is? We like learning Torah too much and we don't want to actually do what we are practically supposed to do with the Torah. He writes
"travel from the place you learned Torah to the place you are meant to observe it. For the Study is not what the main thing is, rather it's the action and fulfillment. (Lo ha'midrash elah ha'maaseh)".
The word "penu"- turn and travel, he notes doesn't just mean to change direction. It means that there has to be a fundamental internalization of what our objective and job is. Why we're here. It's not to study Torah in Lakewood or even in Bnai Brak. It's not to keep Shabbos in Poland, Sukkos in Lithuania, Pesach in Boro Park or Cancun, or Rosh Hashana in Uman. It's about coming to inherit the one land that Hashem promised us and to shine the light of His Shechina out to the rest of the world as we build a house of worship and connection for all of the nations. We eradicate evil and bring down the glory of Hashem. "Penu- turn in" to oneself. Internalize why we're here and chosen and then travel.
But as Moshe continues, we didn't do that. We set up bureaucracies. We created court systems, we wanted distance between us and Hashem. We made more and more fights and intricacies of Torah and we forgot the big picture. Tachlis, when we sent in spies to the land, they didn't internalize the message. It's why in pasuk 18 it doesn't say the word penu- rather just that they traveled. They returned from their doomed mission on Tisha B'av and said we couldn't do it. Hashem is not within our midst. We didn't believe in our mission. We didn't believe we could walk in and just kill everyone as Hashem had wanted us and assured us we could do. We didn't believe He wanted us to leave our Beit Midrash and Torah study in order to bring the world to a place where they all connected to Hashem. So we cried and mourned and we stopped traffic and made protests and even called for atzeret ha'tefilla because of our dire situation that we might have to leave the Bais Midrash and conquer our land. It is here that Moshe tells us our biggest problem.
"It is in this matter that you do not believe in Hashem".
That was that generation's problem and thus they all had to die. Because a useless nation that doesn't have what it takes to bring Hashem's light into the world from Eretz Yisrael really serve no purpose in the Big picture of why He chose us.
The next day on the 10th of Av another group of radical people got up and decided that they would try to conquer Eretz Yisrael without the Ark of Hashem. They would go up anyways. They would fight and give their lives for the country. But they also were wrong. Secular people without the Ark of Hashem coming to the land of Israel and to establish a "Jewish" state is not our avoda either. They were all killed. The nation cried on that 10th of Av as well, but Hashem didn't listen. The generation died. 38 years later we have a second chance, Moshe tells them. And they listen. Va'neifen, va'nisa- and we internalized and we traveled. tzafona- North to the hills of Esau, of Edom.
There, the Klei Yakar tells us is as well a message for our generation, and the fact that we're not paying attention to it is the source of all of our problems. The entrance to Israel and to conquer the land will be through heading North around Esau. North in Hebrew is tazfon- which also means to hide, like we have tzafun, the hiding of the Afikoman at the Pesach Seder. He writes that our job to enter into Israel is not to show off to Esau, rather it's to hide our success and mission. Don't build big houses. Don't try to be influential. Don't try to impress them, Don't be busy all day lobbying and trying to get government subsidies for your schools in a country that it is impossible to reveal the Shechina from. Don't live up to their standards. Don’t' become like them. They hate us. They will try to stop us from reaching the goal. Avoid them. Go around them. We are the nation of Hashem and playing by Esau's rules will just distract and prevent us from reaching our mission. A mission we don't need their toivos for. That we can do with the power of our faith and by being an army of Hashem.
It is then that the fun begins. Hashem had promised Amon and Moav that we wouldn't touch them. So we avoid them, but then guess what? Hashem arranges that Sichon conquers them, other nations Zamzumim and Eimim all get involved and poof now we can conquer these lands. It's a free for all. And when we do so, we do it the right way.
Then Sichon went forth towards us, he and all his people, to war at Jahzah. And the Hashem delivered him to us; and we smote him and his sons and all his people. And we conquered all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, the men, women, and the young children; we left over no survivor.
Next was Og and the Golan Heights.
And Hashem delivered into our hands also Og, the king of Bashan and all his people, and we smote him until no remnant remained of him. And we conquered all his cities at that time; there was not a town that we did not take from them sixty cities, all the territory of Argob the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls, double doors, and bolts, in addition to a great many unwalled cities. And we utterly destroyed them as we did to Sihon, king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every city, the men, the women, and the young children.
And so the Emorim as well and other kings. We killed them all. We didn't provide humanitarian aid. We didn't worry about starving babies in the New York Edom Times. We killed the babies. We ethnically cleansed the area from the putrid spiritual impurities that were there. We burned every church, every mosque. It was all ours. It was all Hashems. We weren't coming stam to have a safe place to live. We were coming to reveal the Shechina and build a Bais Ha'Mikdash. Hashem needs a clean pure foundation for that to rest. He needs a holy people that gets that and will make it happen. That will stop fighting and arguing for NO reason, just because we don't get the bigger and higher purpose for why we are here.
We can't rely on a left-wing government or a right-wing government that doesn't have the faith of Hashem in its belly to do this holy job. We can't even expect a daati religious Zionist government or army that feels that its' first obligation is to obey the orders of the State of Israel who has willfully subjugated itself to the evil, cruel and hypocritical standards that Esau and the world imposes on our nation. Because Esau doesn't care about us. They claim they want us to win, but in truth are omdim aleinu l'chaloseinu, they in every generation seek to destroy us.
The Chareidim, who believe in Hashem, who read the Torah portion, who understand fundamentally that the power of Torah and truth and light can destroy all evil and we don't have to be intimidated by or even think about what the world thinks, could and should do the job. A real Maccabee army. The one that the Beis Ha'Levi described when commented on that play that the "enlightened" maskilim" made mocking what the biblical Jewish army looked like after all the exempted people were sent home. That's what we need. That's what should happen. And if the government and Army won't accept that… then they're back to the Beit Midrash and this whole silly fight is over.
But what can they do? They don't have power. They'll be arrested? Good question. So I guess they need some help. Well, that's you guys over there. That's anyone that calls themselves Chareidi and wants to fix the sin of the Meraglim, that doesn't want to fast on Tisha B'Av anymore. That's had enough Chafetz Chaim heritage videos. That truly wants our hostages home. That wants our soldiers safe. That want to finally come into the land and stop hanging around the "Mountain" or the "Lake" or the "Borough" or the "Burgh" anymore. Rav Lachem- you've had enough. It's time to penu- to turn inwards and just come home. Make Aliya tomorrow. Join the army with tens of thousands of others over here and just take the guns and tanks that they give you and start shmoddering everyone in the most beautiful biblical sense. We believe in Hashem. Mi La' Hashem Elai- make that great call of Ahron Ha'Kohen to the tribe of Levi. Be a Maccabee. Don't care about what the world or Edom says. Certainly, don't pay much attention to secular soldiers and officers and military that don't read the parsha like you do. Make it happen. And don't say one word. One terrible word. The word that best describes our situation… Aval- But.
We read parshat Devarim in these past nine days of aveilus- mourning. The word Aveilus to mourn shares the same letters and root as aval- "but", however. The reason we are in mourning. The sadness that one experiences upon a death or a hopeless situation is that they are consumed with "but". "But" is an excuse. It's the opposite of "Penu". It's looking outside for why not rather than inside as to what should be. "But" is a reason why I'm not doing what I should. "But" is why things aren't different then what they are now. If only I would've …. Then they would still be alive…But I didn't. I would really do this and this and this, "but"…. And so I'm mourning. So I'm dying. So I'm in galus. So, they're still being held in Gaza. So I'm still in aveilus on the floor pretending to be really sad about the fact that there are tzoris in my life, the Temple is not built, the churches aren't destroyed and the light of Hashem is not shining on the world. So I sit and cry- la'chinam- for no reason. Just as the spies did 3000 years ago. Because if I really believed and did what Hashem tells me He wants us to do, then I would already be redeemed. Because I'm still "but"ting. I'm still coming up with all types of reasons of why it can't work.
Our sages tell us he that mourns over the Bais Ha'Mikdash will merit to see its rebuilding. Shabbas Chazon is the Shabbos when we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can see things that we never see before. But for that to happen we need to mourn the destruction of the Temple. We need to see that it's rebuilding is really right in front of us the entire time. If we truly feel that pain and we see that hammer, that plane ticket, that machine gun, that bomb to clear out that mountain in front of us and make way for the glorious building of fire to finally descend. Then and only then with no "ands" "ifs" or "buts" will we truly merit in its rebuilding.
This week’s Insights and Inspiration has been sponsored by my dear friends and faithful (and appreciative!) readers Andi and Sherri Weil in appreciation of the weekly inspiration and Torah and as a zechus for all of our Chayalim and for the return of our hostages! May we not have to fast this Tisha B'av and rather celebrate in Yerushalayim Ha'Binuya!
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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Mish zich nisht arayn.-Don't butt in
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
28. An animal which became extinct from the country’s landscapes, but was restored to its natural
habitat in Nahal Kziv and the Jerusalem Hills in recent years, is ______
Of the following sites, where can you usually observe flamingos?
A. Eynot Gibton
B. Nahal Kziv
C. The Eilat salt ponds
D. Yarkon National Park (Tel Afek)
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=dgv-M16bAXM&list=RDdgv-M16bAXM&start_radio=1 –Soon May Mashiach Come- Oorah! Hmmmm… I wasn't prepared for this Pirate song…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ti-MtIUOmQ – Reb Yoel Gold Tisha B'aV Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjcWyNo5fUQ – The Mourning After- by Living L'Chaim trailer..
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Exile Part I 586 BC - After the destruction of the Bais Ha'Mikdash on Tisha B'Av Klal Yisrael were divided a very small portion were allowed to remain in Eretz Yisrael in Mitzpa with Gedalya Ben Achikam. We will talk about him and the last Jewish community and the tragedy of his assassination in the coming weeks. In the meantime though let us describe the exile of our broken nation. With Nevuzadran at the head of the army he took the nation broken hurriedly out of Eretz Yisrael. On their way out they passed by Mama Rachel. There, Yirmiyahu describes how they cried out to her in her grave to plead on behalf of her children. There Hashem promised her that they would one day return to their borders and they would return from the land of their enemies.
There is an interesting discussion about this Midrash from a technical standpoint as to why and how they would've even passed Kever Rachel leaving Eretz Yisrael. As the direction they would be heading would be North East and Kever Rachel is in the opposite direction. As a result of this there are some opinions that in fact in other places. In fact in the nevua of Yirmiyahu he says Kol B'rama nishma- which would seem to place her grave in Rama, which would more geographically make sense as it's in the portion of Binyamin North East of Jerusalem. Yet the Ramban notes that when he came to Kever Rachel where we have the tradition, he realized that she was there… I trust him.
As well upon leaving Israel, the Midrash tells us about the wonderful humanitarian aid that was provided for us by our dear cousins Yishmael. There we were truly starving and thirsty. Nevuzadran had hurried us out of Israel because he was scared that we would do teshuva or Hashem would regret His decision. So there we were truly famished and Yishmael brought us out salty bread. How nice. Isn't that generous? They then followed up that beautiful gift and aid with empty water pouches. We thirstily sucked in that empty air and died. Yup… I think it's time we repaid the favor.
Finally our nation arrives naked and broken by the shores of the Euphrates river. There we cried, we mourned, Hashem Himself said Kinnot and was ready to turn the entire world around. Nevuchadnezzar sat on a boat and watched our suffering people and celebrated. And our Galus had officially begun. But Hashem watches over our nation. He preserved our heritage by preparing Bavel for our arrival with the earlier arrival of Yehoyachin. They will come to greet us, they will herald us into our 70 year exile in Bavel. And from there we will return.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JOKES OF THE WEEK
No Jokes this week… Mourn a little bit… Shame on you for even looking!
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The answer to this week”s question is C- Ok so after last week, its nice to finally get one right completely. I actually have seen these deer in recent years around the hills of Jerusalem and in the Galil by Keziv. The deer have returned. We are Eretz ha'tzvi once again. So now you guys come back. Part two was definitely easy. Flamingo love the salt and its certainly one of the nice attractions to see when one goes to Eilat. So we're getting back into passing range for this exam. Which all I need to do. But it's definitely embarrassing to be doing so bad. So the score is now Rabbi Schwartz 17.5 Ministry of Tourism 10.5 on this exam so far,
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