Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
September 19th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 46 26th of Elul 5785
Parshat Nitzavim /Rosh Hashana Edition
A Different Type of Rosh Hashana Prayer
(Please check out and respond to our special annual High Holiday Campaign this year- with a change of plan and a new opportunity below…)
It's not the way I wanted to start off my last E-Mail for the year. I had something else instead planned to write about. Hopefully, I'll get there soon. It will come out of this holy keyboard of mine after I write this little piece first. But this is a thought that I can't get out of my head since this horrible tragic afternoon, and like usual when that happens to me, I share it with you here. I have to share it here. I can't keep it bottled up inside. It has to come out somewhere, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate having you here for this. So here it goes.
When you're standing before Hashem this coming Rosh Hashana, I want you to join me in davening in a different way then usual. I want you to look to your right and to your left and see who's standing next to you. Is it your son? Your daughter? Your father, your mother? Is it your best friend who you always sit next to you and joke with? Are you looking at your watch and wondering when it will be over already? When you can get home and start the meal and have some of that brisket your wife prepared? When you can dip that apple in honey and have a sweet year. Are you thinking about the upcoming prayers of the holiday season? What family you'll be with? If you will survive the in-laws, the get-togethers? Are your main prayers focused on Hashem blessing you, and of course all of Klal Yisrael with parnassa this year, with good health, with shidduchim for your children, for all of Hashem's children. For those that aren't blessed with kids. For those that need refuos/ healing from illness. That you shouldn't suffer from too much anti-Semitism. That the hostages should come home, that our soldiers should be safe. That this war should finally end. Are those what your prayers are about this year? Are those what the prayers of those standing next to you are about? Then I want you to stop for a second and think about something else. I want you to think about those that are having a different Rosh Hashana experience than you.
I want you to pause for a moment as you look at the person next to you, and think about those that are standing in shul and their father is not next to them, perhaps for the first time. Those so many orphans. I want you to think about the 6 soldiers that were killed today, whose parents got up from Shiva to come to shul today. Whose son will never be next to them again. Whose father is in shamayim, killed brutally by an enemy that we can't seem to vanquish.
Think about the widows in the ladies section. The mothers who just celebrated with their husbands the birth of a child just a few months ago on the happiest day in their lives since their wedding just a year or two ago. The ones who had their whole lives planned to be together and to build a family with them. The ones who never thought that last kiss and hug they gave them at the door as they walked out into their uniform, would be the last time they felt their embrace. The last time they would see their son, bless them, hear their voice. It would be the last time they would ever wish them a shana tova u'metuka- a happy sweet new year. That last year Rosh Hashana would be the last time they would ever have them in their prayers that they would be inscribed in the Book of Life, because those prayers weren't answered the way they hoped they would. Rather they were "only" written in the book of Eternal Life. Their holy souls were taken back and were now sitting in the embrace and next to their Av Ha'Rachamim, their merciful Father in heaven. That they would never see them again until we would be reunited in the World to Come or techiyat Ha'Meisim.
I imagine, for so many of you, and I include myself in that group, these were not thoughts that we were planning to have this Rosh Hashana. They're not thoughts I think we ever thought that we would have. It's not ones that I even have the heart, the strength, the brain power or emotional wherewithal to even deal with. Yet, for thousands if not tens of thousands here in Israel this year, this is their Rosh Hashana reality. "That person" is not sitting next to them. That person will never be next to them again. That father, that brother, that sister, that son, that boyfriend, that husband, that grandfather, that best friend, or fellow soldier in the unit whom they served and went through so much together will never be there to smile at their joke, to hug them and reassure them, to dip the apple in the honey with them. To dream of a better future and a better world with.
I want you to think about them this Rosh Hashana when you look at the person sitting next to you in Shul or at your Yom Tov meal. Think about them, before you take your three steps back for Shemona Esrei, before you make your shehechiyanu on your new fruit, as you close your eyes to listen to the Shofar blasts. Because there is almost no shul in Eretz Yisrael that doesn't have someone that is having a very different Rosh Hashana and thoughts then they've ever had before.
There isn't a shul that doesn't have a mother, father or a son or daughter or brother and sister in it this year, that isn't davening that their loved one who might be serving right now doesn't come back in a coffin. That their definition of a sweet year is one when that doesn't have any late night knocks on the door. They're not really davening that their child gets into the "right" school, that they find "their bashert", that we make enough money to pay our bills and maybe even afford a vacation, a trip to Israel, maybe even a tour with Rabbi Schwartz- it's been a while since we toured with him and we really had a blast last time. For them, though this Rosh Hashana is truly a day of davening for the Book of Life and Death. Their tefillos are one of asking Hashem, that we don't yet get written in the book of Eternal life only, but that they and their loved ones get a bunch more years to experience this worldly life and realize our dreams for this year as well.
This week's parsha that we read before Rosh Hashana is the parsha of Nitzavim.
Atem Nitzavim Hayom- We are standing today.
Chazal tell us that "today" is in fact today. It is Rosh Hashana. It is today that we are standing after last week's parsha Torah reading of all the curses before Rosh Hashana. It is when we are standing on those mountains of Gerizim and Eival, where half of our nation is on the mountain of curse and half on Har Bracha. It's not Mt. Sinai when we all stood together and had the same experience. When we all saw and heard Hashem and the commandments and answered with one heart and as one person. Na'aseh Vi"nishma.-we will do and we will hear. That was the experience we had when we were in galus. That was before we got to the land of Israel.
Coming to the Land of Israel, we stand and are coming from different mountains. We have to look at one another on that other mountain and answer amen. His curse is my curse. His blessing is tied to my blessing. My prayers and redemption are dependent on his. On the woodchopper, the water carrier, the tzadik, the chareidi, the convert, the soldier, the widow and the orphan, the politician and the Kollel Rabbi. The yid in the shtibel in Meah Shearim and Bnai Brak, and the one on Kaplan street, the kibbutz, Ramat Hasharon and Sderot and Ofakim. Their blessing is my blessing. Their curse is my curse. Their mountain is my mountain.
The blessing and curse are not only for those that are here, Moshe tells us on that last day of his life. He tells us "Hayom"- Today that it's an eternal covenant. It's for those that not only stand here today, but those that aren't here. Those that not only haven't been born yet, but those that have passed; those that have been taken. Those who sit up in shamayim looking down at their loved ones that may be feeling that they are on the Mountain of curse, while they are next to Hashem davening for them. They are looking down on us on the other mountain answering Amen and taking responsibility for our brothers and sisters. Not just having them in thoughts in our prayers. But fundamentally understanding that our prayers for them are our own prayers. That they are us and we are them. That "one man with one heart" is really who we are. That Reb Aryeh Levine's famous story when he came to the doctor with his wife for her visit and told him that "our foot hurts" isn't just a sentiment that we should have with our wives, but one that we have with every single yid. With the ones that look and dress like us and daven with us, and the ones that almost seem unrecognizable to us. That are perhaps so far and distant from us spiritually, religiously, politically, but are still so close because of that special united neshoma that we share. Because of the immense love and covenant has and made with all of us.
That although the distance seems to be a sea apart, or the distance between heaven and earth between us and what our values are.
Lo rechoka hi- they are not far from us.
Ki karov ha'davar eleicha me'od- it's very close, they're very close.
Bi'ficah u'bilvavcha la'asoso- in our mouths, in our prayers, in our shuls and in our hearts to do it. For us to say "na'aseh v'nishma" not just to the revelation of Hashem, but to and for our fellow brothers and sisters as well.
I believe- Ani Ma'min, that the redemption is imminent. That this year we will experience Mashiach. I can't really imagine it otherwise. I don't think I can handle another year like this. I don't even know I can handle another day. I certainly don't understand how Hashem, whose love and caring and pain for us is so much greater than anything than I can ever imagine, can bear to see this go on any longer. I believe He is, as well no longer in shamayim, on Mt. Sina,i in galus, in the wilderness, looking down upon us from heaven, but is in fact already in Eretz Yisrael standing on those mountains of bracha and klala with us answering amen. Watching us unite and commit to one another. His shechina residing, the eradication of evil and His light shining out to the world is dependent on that Amen being heartfelt. On us truly being focused on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur this year on one thing, one prayer, as one nation. The prayer is that we merit to reveal that covenant we made when we first came into the land. The covenant of Ha'Yom- of today. The bris that allows to recognize that all of history since that time has brought us to this moment, to this year, when the Shechina will finally be revealed. When the Bais Ha'Mikdash will finally be rebuilt. That this year, 5786 years from Creation, will be the year that all of the curses finally end and the era of only blessing begins.
The Chasidic masters tell us that this Shabbos, which heralds in the upcoming month of Tishrei is the only month in which we do not bless the new month. Hashem Himself is the Shaliach Tzibbur- He is our messenger to bless the month. Yet the Baal Ha'Tanya tells us that the blessing of the month that Hashem blesses us with is dependent on the Torah reading, that we read this Shabbos. Atem Nitzavim Hayom- We are all standing together today. We all answer amen together to that bracha Hashem is giving us. May that bracha of the new month of the new year that He will grant us and lead us in for a month of long life, of blessing, of goodness, of fear of Hashem and sin, of love of Torah, of parnassa, of health, of chilutz atzamot- in it's most literal as well as most spiritual sense, of prosperity. We should be blessed with a month that has no more shame, no more degradation, humiliation. A month of love, of peace and of nechama, of consolation for all those mourning. For all us mourning. That we truly understand that we are chaverim kol Yisrael- we are friends and we are mechubar- we are connected and we are one. And that we merit the Geula Kerova- vi'nomar Amen…
Have an amazing last Shabbos of the year and a sweet new year,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Emess kehn mir nohr finnen in der sidder."-, The truth can only be found in the prayer book.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
2. A site in Israel that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its contribution to
the prehistoric development of man, is located on the slopes of Mount _____
What is the origin of the name Beersheba?
A. The seven wells from the time of Abraham found in the city
B. The convergence of the Be'er Sheva River and the Hebron River at the
entrance to the city
C. The Oath of Abraham and the King of Gerar
D. The location of a well around which an alliance was made between the
seven tribes that ruled the area
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/haneshama-lach –I'm very excited!! In honor of Rosh Chodesh Elul and Selichos I share with you my latest composition (the first one in over a year!!) the beautiful Ha'Neshoma Lach arranged and sung by Dovid Lowy- this song is the perfect song to get into the Elul mode
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/hashem-melech-r-ephraim-fina – Composed a few years ago. This is my song of Redemption. It's seeing the yeshuah with our own eyes and singing and dancing that Hashem's Kingship reigns forever. May we sing it together this year!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOURVu-So_A&list=RDtOURVu-So_A&start_radio=1 – What an amazing collaboration between Eitan Katz and Ohad on this beautiful new song Keser from Kedusha- the song of the angels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh6XC3b9snY&list=RDhh6XC3b9snY&start_radio=1 – This song is not only just beautiful and cool in of itself, but even in who sings it. It's YC Shwekey and Itzik Kempeh- the brothers of the bigger singers… Gorgeous…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW2InQDfs24&list=RDFW2InQDfs24&start_radio=1 – A thought provoking Ochila La'Kel video through the generations… Wow AI…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Daniel's Exile interpretation, the Idolatrous dream - 583 BC – Our last column of the year is the vision of our long Exile that was given in a dream to Nevuchadnezzar. It is the length and breadth of our history until today. It captures all that we've been threw and perhaps even the secret of when we will be returned. Daniel, faced with death davened to Hashem to reveal this to him and he in turns share the interpretation with Nevuchadnezzar first telling him that it is only him who is the leader of the free world down here, that is able to possess this truth.
To recap the dream, it was basically of the dream of an idol that had a golden head, a chest and arms made out of silver, a belly and thighs of copper and ankles of iron. The soles of the feet though strangely enough had one of iron and one of earthenware. The idol stood on a large pillar until a stone popped off and knocked down the entire statue from the bottom and it all disintegrated into thin air.
The interpretation Daniel gives is that Nevuchadnezzar and Babylon are the head of the idol. They are the first to destroy the Temple and to exile us. They set the gold standard of our persecution. After them there will be a kingdom not as cool. They are the silver standard and they are the chest and two arms, because they will be divided by two kingdoms. They are, as we know Persia and Medea. Hello Iran and Purim. The third Kingdom is long and hard. It's tough. It's the copper belly and thighs. It's the center. It's the exile that we experience when we are in Eretz Yisrael of Greece. It is copper like a snake, because it seeks to turn us away from Hashem. The fourth one is the final one. It is the legs of Iron that connect to those thighs because they are an outgrowth of Greece. It is the kingdom of Edom/ of Rome, the galus that we are in until today. The bottom of those feet though are copper and Iron. They begin to collapse. One new civilization of oppressors replaces another. There will be ten of them. According to our modern day sages America is the last stop. It is where it all ends. But ultimately, they will all crumble. They fall apart. The kingdom of Hashem will reign. We will be redeemed.
Nevuchadnezzar bows to Daniel upon hearing these words of truth. He sees Hashem in him and wishes to honor him. But Daniel just as Yosef his ancestor refuses. Only Hashem gets honor. He is only a faithful servant. And thus the exile begins, the long journey that we are on.
What is the message for us today? Perhaps it's time as Daniel we fearlessly told that message to the world. Christianity will fall. It's false. There is only one King. There is only one nation that possesses the truth. Evil can and will be eradicated, when we we stand up and fearlessly declare that Kingship. May Hashem give us the strength this year to finally realize that.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S REALLY TERRIBLE CURSED JOKES OF THE WEEK
There was once a prince who had been cursed by a witch. the curse was that he could only say one word each year. Well one day, by the stream, he meets a beautiful princess. he decides that he loves her, and doesn't speak for 3 years so that he can save up the words to tell her " I love you".
then, after the 3 years are up, he realizes that he wants to marry her so he stays silent for another 4 years, so he can ask " will you marry me?"
The day finally comes. he's so excited, and he's kneeling by the fountain with a smile on his face.
He looks up at the princess and says, "I love you. will you marry me?
There was silence for a second, before she responds "sorry what was that?"
An 80-year-old man is out by a pond one day when a frog jumps onto a lily pad nearby. “Excuse me sir,” says the frog, “I know I may appear to be just a frog, but I’m actually a beautiful princess. A witch has placed a curse on me to keep me in this form. The only thing that can break this curse is a kiss. Sir, if you kiss me and break this curse, I’ll turn back into a beautiful princess and cater to your every will and desire every day and night. So what do you say?”
The 80 year old man thinks for moment then picks up the frog and puts it in his pocket and continues on his walk.
“Didn’t you hear me?”, says the frog, “I said if you kiss me I’ll turn back into a beautiful princess and give you every thing you want all day and night.”
“Eh”, says the man, “I’m 80 years old. At this point I think I’d rather have a talking frog.”
Berel goes to see a great Kabbalist and says, "Can you lift a curse that a Rabbi and two witnesses put on me years ago?"
“Maybe," says the Mekubal, "Can you remember the exact words of the curse?"
Berel replies, "Mekudeshes Mekudeshes Mekudeshes- (I pronounce you man and wife)."
Being an Amputee is a blessing and a curse...On one hand, I have fingers. On the other hand, I don’t.
Apathy is a curse. But I really can't care enough to do anything about it
What do you call a pain reliever that makes you curse? I be profane.
A wife got so mad at her husband she packed his bags and told him to get out. As he walked to the door she yelled, "I hope you die a long, slow, painful death."
He turned around and said, "So, you want me to stay?"
I think my fuse box has a curse on it. Must have been the Mains Witch
Me: I don't curse
Friend: You promise?
Me: I swear.
Two priests were playing golf .Father Bob hit his ball into the woods on his first swing, "Darn it! That totally missed!" he cursed.
"You shouldn't curse Father Bob!" said Father Michael "Or god might punish you!"
Father Bob apologized and they went on playing.
On his next swing, Father Bob hit his ball into the sand pit. "Bloody Heck! That totally missed!" he cursed again.
Again, Father Michael warned, "Do not utter such words Father Bob, lest god punishes you for it!"
Father Bob apologized again and they continued playing.
On his third swing, Father Bob hit his ball into the pond. "Freakin G-d That totally missed!" cursed Father Bob once again.
Before Father Michael could say anything, a ominous dark cloud suddenly gathered out of the blue sky and a vicious lightning came down and stroke Father Michael, killing him instantly.
Father Bob was completely stunned, before he could understand what was happening in front of him, he heard a thunderous deep voice coming from the sky - "Gosh Darn it!! That totally missed!"
Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft...
Today, it's called golf.
Guy was your typical arrogant Israeli suave looking passenger and he sat down next to a pretty woman next to him for their long flight to America. He turned to her and said "Hey did the arilines charge you extra to sit next to such a handsome man?"
She took one look at him and said "yeah… but I didn't want to pay…"
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The answer to this week”s question is C- Ok! I'm liking this exam already! Two weeks in a row and got them both right. Mt. Carmel is most famous of course for Eliyahu Ha'Navi and the prophets of the Baal story and sacrifice. (Only other place and timem when it was permitted for us to bring sacrifice outside of the Temple!), yet from an archeological perspective they discovered remains of Cave men and prehistoric man, whatever that means, there. Thus it became a UNESCO recognized site. Beer Sheva question was a bit tricky as Avraham did make the 7 wells there and the word Sheva does mean seven, however the pasuk tells us it was after the deal he made with the KING OF GAZA! Avimelech that it thus called Beer Sheva and the word Sheva is from the word oath. It seems making treaties with Gaza- which the commentaries and midrash blames Avraham for doing and was a bad thing that we still suffer from until today, was the more memorable part of the name. So two weeks and the score is Rabbi Schwartz 2 and Ministry of Tourism 0 on this exam so far..
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