The Perfect Partner-Parshat Vayigash 5779/2018

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

December 14^th 2018 -Volume 9 Issue 11-6^th of Tevet 5779

Parshat Vayigash

The Perfect Partner

Perhaps one of the biggest downsides of being a tour guide, and there really aren’t too many of them, is that it really doesn’t afford me the ability to have a chavrusa- a study partner. My schedule is too erratic. I’m never home for more than a few days. I start and end at all different times. It just doesn’t work. So all I’ve got is you guys and gals. And nothing personal, but you really don’t cut as chavrusos go. Don’t get me wrong, I love you. But I miss those days when I could have my regular one on one time with my intellectual sparring partner in our spiritual gym; the Beit Midrash.

It’s not a small price to pay either. I’ve had chavrusas since I’m 13 years old in high school. Back then though all I was really interested in was a guy I could schmooze the best with when the Rebbe wasn’t looking, or who could help me on my exams or with my homework. But as I got older, in my post high school beis medrash years, my chavrusa was the person that I would really develop my learning skills with. We would sit about 3-4 hours each morning together and plow through the pages of the Talmud, debating the nuances of the commentaries, the arguments and approaches of the different sages throughout the generations and offering our own solutions to questions and contradictions that needed to be explained. It was intense. Most of the time we would spend a week or more on a mere few lines of the Talmud.

 In the afternoon we had another few hours of study which was a little lighter. We focused more on “covering ground” and completing the rest of the particular tractate we were studying. There the chavrusa’s job was to keep me moving. Not to get bogged down in the minutia. We would get back to all our question another day. In the evening we had our night seder chavrusa who we would review the Rebbe’s shiur/class with. We had halacha chavrusos, extra-seder ones for optional learning and even a mussar seder chavrusa who we could work on our own personal ethical and spiritual development with. I skipped that seder a lot.

As I got older, married, and joined a Kollel, I switched my order of learning to studying halacha full time. As I studied for my semicha- rabbinic ordination, my study-partners had to be those that I could work with in not only learning and studying the various sugyas- (I guess topics is the best translation I can come up with, but doesn’t really do it justice, let me know if you have a better one)- but one that would help me remember it; that would be able to test me, challenge me and come up with practical ramifications of the 3000 year old law and 200, 300, 400, 500 etc… year old texts that we were studying.

There is nothing like a good chavrusa. They’re not easy to find, though. In my case I needed obviously someone that would challenge me, be able to handle my “exuberant” defense of my positions and insight and not back down, and someone as well that I felt I could learn from. He also needed to be a good schmoozer that in my down time I could banter with. If he was too serious or boring, then I would generally have to duck out occasionally for good conversation. When that happened I usually didn’t extricate myself quick enough and it was downhill from there.

I was lucky in many ways. I had quite a few great chavrusos. Tzvi, Ari, Yitzy, Yitzchak, Duvi, Chiely, Zevy, Leiby to name a few, just in case they’re reading this. The rest of my friends on this list could try to figure out who they were J.I even was privileged to have chavrusos with some of my Rebbeim. Mostly mussar seder though. I think that was the only way they thought they could get me to attend. It worked. The attendance, I mean. The mussar, I think the jury is still out on. Or not.

The critical role of a study partner in one’s life is spoken about in the Talmud. I share the story with my tourists when we visit the grave of Choni Ha’Maagel, the great sage in the times of the 2^nd Temple. Choni, the inspiration for Rip Van Winkle incidentally, the Talmud tells us slept for 70 years. Upon awakening he returns to his study hall and can’t find anyone that was on his level to learn with him. The next generation was just not up to his level. So he prayed the famous statement that Patrick Henry co-opted and paraphrased.

Talmud Taanit (23.) O’ Chavrusa O’misusa- Give me a Chavrusa or give me death

His prayers were answered and his life was taken from him. Similarly, the Talmud tells us about the incredible chavrusa-shaft between those two brothers-in-law; Rebbi Yochanan and Resh Lakish. After one disagreement, they “broke up” and Resh Lakish, is so forlorn that he dies. Not long after Reb Yochanan does as well, when he realizes that there is no one that can replace Reish Lakish. In the words of the Reb Yochanan bemoaning his fate

Talmud Bava Metzia (10.) ‘When I would say something he would ask me 24 questions and I would have 24 answers and that would be the way we would open up the Talmud. All these new students do are bringing me corroborating proofs to what I am saying.’

Reb Yochanan wasn’t looking for sycophants. He needed a chavrusa that would sharpen him. Interesting enough, I just noticed that it is Reb Yochanan, in Tannit, who records the previous story of Choni as well. It seems it is a reflection of his own experience.

This week’s Torah portion is perhaps the source for the chavrusa process of study with the establishment of the first yeshiva that is recorded in the Torah. After the reunion of Yosef and his brothers, the brothers return to bring their father Yaakov down to Egypt to join them. Yaakov however sends Yehudah up ahead on an important mission.

Bereshis (46:28) And Yehudah was sent before him to Yosef  “l’horos”- to instruct before him in  Goshen.

The Torah doesn’t tell us what he was meant to instruct however Rashi quotes the Midrash focusing on the words ‘l’horos’- which means teaching laws  and before him as a reference to building a Beit Hatalmud- a Yeshiva from where Jewish law will come out from.

So here we have the first yeshiva being set up. The yeshiva will consist of two students. A chavrusa-schaft. Two unlikely candidates. Yehudah and Yosef. Incredible! I don’t think that there would be two more unlikely people that someone would throw together. Think about their history. Yehudah had sold Yosef down to Egypt and all that he had undergone in those 22 years were because of that sale. His imprisonment, his distance from his father, his family, his brother. Yehudah as well, was put through this incredible hoax, by Yosef. He was accused of being a spy, his brother Shimon was thrown into jail, he literally almost lost his World to Come as he had guaranteed to his father that he would return Binyamin’s to him and Yosef had him convinced that it was not happening. And you want to put these two together to build a yeshiva! To be study-partners?

Besides all that history, their styles were total opposites. Yosef was the tzadik. He withstood the temptation of the wife of Potiphar. Yehudah on the other hand was the Baal Teshuva. He failed. He sinned. Yet he admits and comes back. Yosef operates hidden, behind closed doors. Yehudah is out in the open. Yehudah was the king who lost his superiority after the sale of Yosef. Yosef on the other hand rises out of the pit to kingship. They are polar opposites. And yet they become the quintessential chavrusas, precisely for that reason.

See, the beauty of the study of Torah is that it is not about me. For Torah study to be true it has to be that way. One can’t inflict their personal baggage on the text. There can’t be any ego. But yet each one of us has brings so much of it to the table when we approach anything in our lives. L’havdil one can see that when it comes to archaeology in Israel. There are many Zionistic archaeologists that approach whatever they find with the intent of proving that Jews have been here forever. There are some that are religious and will see proof of authenticity of the Torah, its narratives, the stories of the Talmud and information contained there in all they find. Other atheistic archaeologists will try to prove the opposite. For many years, there were respected archaeologists that believed that King David or King Solomon, if they even existed, were mere tribal chieftains, rather than national kings. Ultimately they were quite embarrassed with all the discoveries that pretty much made the Torah version incontrovertible. But the study of Torah can’t be that way. It has to be pure. It has to be objective and can’t be subjective. And the only way to get that pure fire, in the words of the midrash, is by rubbing two hard stones together. Two opposing scholars who through their debate will reveal the pure light of truth of our Torah.

Yaakov sends Yehudah to form this first study-partnership and create a Beit Midrash that will instruct the Jews in how we will merit to leave the Egyptian exile that we were then entering. We will need the Yosefs and Yehudahs to get together. We will need the tzadikim, the righteous ones without sin to sit down and study with the baal teshuvas- the sinners who have returned. Not only to teach them, but to learn from them as well. We need the wealthy, successful ones, who have picked themselves up, to sharpen themselves in Torah study with those who have failed; with those who have lost it all. The quiet and the loud, the public and the private. The brave and the timid. The dreamer and the pragmatist. Each one possesses a truth the other doesn’t have and each one’s truth is incomplete because it is bogged down with the ego and personal agenda that detracts from the Divine mission. It is only when they unite. When they can put all that baggage behind them, when they can sit down and hash it out over the word of Hashem that the true light and redemption can come.

When we left Egypt and came to the Sea we are told that it split before the people for two reasons. The first was that the leader of the tribe of Yehudah, Nachshon, jumped in first up to his nose. The second reason is because the Sea ‘saw’ the coffin of Yosef and ‘said’ that since Yosef was able to overcome his natural inclinations to fulfill the will of Hashem, it must follow suit as well and split. It is no coincidence that the redemption came in the merit of these two. The sea split “before them” because Yaakov had sent Yehuda 210 years prior to that when we first came down to Egypt to open the Beit Midrash “before them”. As well, we are told that the ultimate redemption will have two Mashiachs; Mashiach from the house of Yosef and Mashiach from the house of David (the descendant of Yehuda). That chavrusa, that Beit Midrash, that undiluted Torah is what will bring that Temple once again to be rebuilt.

So here I am chavrusa-less. I have my congregants. I have you, my readers, and I have my daily tourists, who I try to challenge. But you aren’t chavrusos. As much as I love you and wouldn’t trade my life for anything else. But I miss it. It’s my sacrifice, I guess, for the meantime. Something to look forward to when I retire. Hopefully that is still a long time away despite my becoming another year older ( I had to get that in somewhereJ). On the other hand, God willing Mashiach will come, The ultimate Chavrusa will finally come to its fulfilment. We are half way there. Mashiach Ben Yosef has done his work. May we see his chavrusa Mashiach Ben Dovid join him very soon.

 Have a marvelous Shabbos!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“In shpigel zet itlecher zein besten freind.”- In the mirror everybody sees his best friend

RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/p3UiUDbkSqY   - Mind-blowing, to think 6000 Jews gather at Kremlin and sing Ani Maamin boys choir. Who wudda thought we would see this day…Truly Mashiach’s times

https://youtu.be/YBSDTrviNxI     I’ll be honest. I didn’t think I would watch more than 2 minutes of this but it is truly kept me transfixed. Let’s see if it happens to you. The Rubashkin Story a Nation United on the anniversary of his release

https://youtu.be/sN_S2RUGBds- Very hartzig new song at concert Hatei sung by Shea Rubenstien

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nEquYC2DzU -    Wasn’t easy finding this… Ani Yosef Achichem sung by Simcha Leiner a beautiful SY Rechnitz composition

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q The southernmost bird sanctuary in Israel is found in:

A. The Hai Bar in Yotvata

B. Yoash Mountain

C. Timna Mountain

D. Eilat

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Vayigash– One has to be careful about being too “lomdish”. Or perhaps careful of getting carried away with your lomdus and then projecting it on the text. My Rebbi, used to call it having a “yiddisheh nose”. Being able to smell out whether a vort, or Torah idea was true or not. I’ll give you an example of course from this week’s Torah portion

The Torah tells us about Yosef and Yaakov’s long awaited reunion. The verse tells us that Yosef falls on his father’s shoulder. Rashi notes however that the verse does not tell us that Yaakov cried at all.

Rashi Bereshis (46:29) Our sages tell us that Yaakov was reciting the Shema

All of the commentaries pretty much are perplexed by this Rashi. Why is Yaakov reciting the Shema? Why isn’t Yosef, if it was time to recite it. Reb Chaim Soloveitchik Z”L answers in his traditional halachic and lomdushe manner, by noting that the entire way down to Egypt Yaakov never recited Shema. The reason being because that Talmud in Sukkah (25.) tells us that the Torah obligates one to say Shema B’lectecha ba’derech- in one’s walking on the path. Only when one is walking for your personal reasons are you obligated. However, if you are walking in the process of doing a mitzvah you are exempt. That being the case, then the entire journey down to Egypt which was a commandment by Hashem, Yaakov was exempt from reciting Shema. It was only when he arrived and met Yosef that he became obligated once again. And thus he recited Shema.

That part of the story is pretty famous. I recently saw an added part in the sefer Shai La’Torah that dramatizes it a bit more. There was an individual that was telling the Brisker Rav his own resolution of Reb Chaim’s kasha. He suggested that Yaakov was overwhelmed with such a powerful love for his own son that he feared that it would detract from his mitzvah to “love Hashem with all your heart”. He was sharing some of his heart with his outpouring of love for his son. He therefore recited the Shema to reinforce his love for Hashem.

When the Rav heard this he shuddered and responded

‘Mi’nemt Yaakov Avinu und m’macht ehm azoi vi zich; und noch dehm zogt min azah zelecheh verter- You takeYaakov, our Patriarch, and make him just like you and then you make up speeches about it.’

He continued and explained that by our forefather Yaakov there was no such thing as a personal love for his son that was separate from his love of Hashem. They were identical. He loved his son because it was an expression of his love for Hashem.

So as I said be careful, about lomdus. As Reb Kenny R used to say. You got to know when to hold em and when to fold em, when to lomdus them and when to not.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

Septuaguint - 246 BC- This Sunday is the 8^th of Tevet. It was at one point a fast day but it got incorporated with the fast 2 days later of the 10^th of Tevet. It recalls a day that our sages tell us was as bad as the Golden Calf. It was the day of the writing of the Septuaquint or Targum Shivi’m in the words of our sages. Ever hear about it? Did you think it’s that bad?  Well you’ll be fasting for it this Tuesday why not learn about it.

See in about the year 300 BC or so a short little Greek Guy named Alexander who humbly called himself the Great came to Israel. With him comes all types of Greek culture. He’s good to the Jews but his generals that take over…not so much. The Egyptian King Ptolmey decides to have the Torah translated into Greek. He takes 72 Rabbis locks them into 72 rooms gives them a pen and boom get to work. Miraculously all 72 came out with identical texts, this was despite the fact that they all made politically correct changes to it. Although it was a miracle, our Rabbis saw it as a bad thing. For now, the Torah would become just another philosophy book on the shelf. Jews would assimilate more and more and Hebrew our sacred tongue as well would not be utilized by the next generation.

This phenomenon of the Septuagint and assimilating Jews during this period of the second Temple where I mention this can be seen all over Israel. In Jerusalem in the Herodian street under the old city one can see Greek writing all over the place and its influences. In the synagogues in the Ir Dovid and the north of Israel as well which id from a bit later period Greek is the commonly written language. In Tzippori one can see the illiterate Hebrew with words misspelled on the shul floors. In the cemetery in Beit Shearim we find graves that are inscribed in Greek with Greek epitaphs and names of daughters of Rabbis that are buried there that are entirely Greek; Atio and Atheon for example. Perhaps the place you see it most vividly is in the Israel Musuem where you see much of the assimilated Jewish Hellenists Mosaics and art that has been uncovered and at the museum of the Good Samaritan in the Dead Sea region as well.

It gives me, and my tourists, pause to see this striking Greek assimilation and it makes you think about what they might say about the plethora of English Torah books, if that’s a good thing as well. On the one hand it has certainly opened up Torah to many who would not have access. On the other hand maybe we should fast, and pray for the fact that we have lost Lashon Hakodesh as our mother tongue.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH PARTNER JOKES  OF THE WEEK

One evening, Moshe and his partner Abe were having dinner together to celebrate a recent business deal. They were having a great time when suddenly Moshe began to find it hard to breathe.
He said, "Abe, help me, I tink I hev svallowed a bone."
"Are you choking, Moshe?" said Abe.
"No, - I’m being serious." 

In the early 1900s, an old Jew was traveling alone in his compartment on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The train stops and an officer in the czar's army gets on. He and the Jew travel for a while in silence. Suddenly the officer grabs the Jew by the lapels and demands: "Tell me: how is it you Jews so much brighter than everyone else?"
The Jew is silent a moment, then responds: "It's because of the herring that we eat."
The officer quiets down and the trip resumes. Soon the Jew takes out a piece of herring and starts to eat it. The officer asks him: "How many more pieces of that herring do you have?"
"A dozen."
"How much do you want for them?"
"Twenty rubles" [a big sum of money].
The officer takes out the money and gives it to the Jew. The old man gives him the herring, and the officer takes a bite. Suddenly he stops. "This is ridiculous," he says. "In Moscow I could have bought all this herring for a few kopecks."
"You see," says the Jew, "it's working already."

O'Sullivan, Cabot, Kelly and Mendlebaum was one of the most successful law firms in New York . Of all the partners, Mendlebaum brought in the most business.
Lunching with him one day, a curious friend asked, "Why is your name listed last? O'Sullivan spends most of his time in the south of France . Cabot is at his club's bar every afternoon, and Kelly is at the race track all the time. Since you bring in all the business, your name should be first."
To which Mendlebaum replied, "All my clients read from right to left."

This happened in the English class at a chassidic yeshiva. The teacher presented the students with a list of vocabulary words and gave them a homework assignment to write each word in a sentence. On the list was the word 'devout'.

One student returned the next day with the following sentence: "My father has long devouts."

Upon reading it, the principal asked the student if he was trying to make a joke out of the assignment.

 "No," the boy replied with a sincere look, "I looked up 'devout' in the dictionary, and it said, 'pious.'

At Mr Silver's Bar Mitzva, he asks his Rabbi to speak for five minutes. The Rabbi says he can’t talk because he left his teeth at home, so he sends his Shamash to run to his house and bring him his teeth. When he gets the teeth he gets up and starts speaking. 5 min. then ten, 20, 30, 40 and he keeps speaking. After an hour he finally gets down. Mr. Silver is not too happy and asks the Rabbi, "I told you to speak for only five minutes, what happened?" The Rabbi says "oy, my Shamash brought me my wife's teeth!

************

Answer is D–  That was another easy one. I think I had it on an earlier practice test as well. But yes, Eilat is the southern most part of Israel and the half billion or so bears that migrate from Europe and Asia down to Africa and back again in the fall and spring make their way to that Arava valley to fuel up before hitting the Sahara dessert. Yoash is in Eilat mountains Timna has Solomons Pillars and the Hai Bar in Yotvata one can see birds, but its north of Eilat and not a sanctuary

score is Schwartz 8 and 1 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.

Jewish Warriors- Parshat Chukat- 2017 / 5777

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

June 30^th 2017 -Volume 7 Issue 34 6^th Tamuz 5777

Parshat Chukat

Jewish Warriors

 I don’t like to tell my tourists where I am taking them before we go there. Certainly not the kids along the trip. I find that if I tell them, then it just leads to more questions and more questions and ultimately I can never describe it as amazing as it will be. For example if I tell them we are going to Rosh Hanikra. The next question is “What’s there?” So then I tell them grottos.

“What’s that?”

“Natural water caves”

“Sounds boring…”

“Well there’s a cable car”

“How long is it? Anything else there?”  

“Ummm the Lebanese border”

“Cool! Is it dangerous?” No.

“Oh so it’s also boring….” See what I mean. Now anyone that’s been to Rosh Hanikra knows that it is truly one of the most amazing and beautiful sites in Israel. But if the introduction to it is this interrogation it is  bound to be a downer. I therefore prefer to say to the initial question of where we are going, that we will find out when we get there… End of story. But…but… but… doesn’t change my mind. I’m not saying. We’ll find out when we get there.  If they really put pressure on I just tell them that there’s ice cream there that’s usually enough to hold them off.

Once in a while though in order to build up the enthusiasm I’ll give them a hint, or maybe even distort the truth just to surprise them afterwards. Like the time that I had this family and I told them that I was taking them to the most important and powerful Navy base in Israel. This was where the real navy seals do their exercises. This was a pretty secretive unit and most Israelis were not even aware that they were the force that won most of the wars of Israel. I told them that we were going to be getting there right in the middle of their daily exercises and that we would be able to participate. When they saw that we were arriving in Bnai Brak they began to be a bit skeptical. After-all this was one of the largest and most intense Ultra-Orthodox cities and everyone knows that Chareidim don’t fight. When we pulled up to Ponivizh yeshiva they were even more aghast. This is the Navy base I was talking about?! I told them to just hold their questions and they would appreciate it when we came in.

 Sure enough we walked into perhaps one of the noisiest study halls in Israel. Young men and old Rabbis were literally standing up one across from another and yelling and screaming at one another. They were fighting for truth. They were waving books. They were jumping up and down and waving their hands as they spoke about oxen goring one another, the laws of a levirate marriage and the fine details of which blessing to make over chulent (you knew that I had to sneak that in somewhere J). I explained to my tourists that we were in fact in the Yam Shel Talmud- The sea of the Talmud. These were our soldiers. These arguments and debates over the minutiae of our laws, our traditions our teachings are the secret of what keeps the Jewish people going over the millennia. We are charged with preserving, transmitting and applying the truths and Torah that were revealed to us millennia ago on Mt. Sinai. One could go back for thousands of years to all different societies, countries and exiles that we have sojourned and the one and only constant thing that we would find is this elite group of Rabbis, fighting arguing, defending and refining the eternal teachings that are the soul of our nation. It is in the merit of these boys and young men who truly dedicate their lives to this cause, generally at the expense and with much sacrifice of what many might consider achieving “success”, comforts, and a higher quality of life and livelihood. It is due to their heroic dedication that Hashem has watched over us and provided us with miracles daily here in our fledgling state. Hashem doesn’t need a democratic state for Jews in the Middle East. It’s not why we’re here. He’s looking is for a country that shines out the light of the Torah to the rest of the world. And these guys are our light-keepers.

But why do they scream so much? Why can’t they just talk quietly and nicely to one another? I remember when I first got married and, as is customary, the first year I would be home in the evenings. As opposed to after the first year when I returned to my Kollel for night time studies. Yeah being a Kollel Rabbi is not a 9-5. We went from 8:30 in the morning until 10:00 PM with breaks for lunch and supper. Now being home in the evening wasn’t just chilling out with the wife and watching TV with popcorn. I would still study with my study-partner, but he (a single guy) would come over to my house and he would learn with me there. Now I was one of those really strong Torah fighters. I was the Rambo of the Talmud and I didn’t suffer anyone and took no prisoners. I was fighting for Truth and the Torah way. My wife on the other hand was aghast. As she peeked out the kitchen door, she was aghast as she saw her normally quiet and even mannered husband- OK maybe I’m getting carried away here, yelling, and screaming at my partner.

 “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! ANYONE CAN SEE THAT’S NOT THE PSHAT! WHAT DID YOU FALL ON YOUR HEAD OR SOMETHING… C’MON THINK A LITTLE BIT FOR ONCE!”

After he left my wife came over to me with trepidation and asked my why I was so angry at him. I didn’t know what she was talking about. But you were yelling and screaming? I was…? That’s not really yelling and screaming, I told her. Then she got really nervous. No, I reassured her. Nobody takes this personally, and none if it is meant personally. We are both fighting for truth. We respect one another. It’s just the way we hammer things out in yeshiva. She told me that she would probably cry, if she was in yeshiva. And I laughed. Maybe that’s why women aren’t Kollel Rabbis. She corrected me and told me that the reason was because men couldn’t handle being Kollel wives… I started to cry…J

But really what is this fight all about? This week’s Torah portion Zot Chukat Hatorah-which literally means this is the laws of the Torah proceeds to tell us the laws of the Red Heifer that was used to  off  purify the nation from the impurity from coming in contact with death. At the conclusion of this discussion the verse tells us.

Bamidbar (19:2) Zot HaTorah adam ki yamut ba’ohel…- this is the Torah- a man who dies in the tent…

Our sages though read this verse homiletically.

(Brachot 43:) Reish Lakish taught, from where we know that the Torah will only withstand in someone who ‘kills” himself over it? As it says ‘These are the laws of the Torah- a man who dies in the tent.”

See our Rabbis understood and were conveying to us that Torah is different than any other area of study and knowledge. One doesn’t have to kill themselves over math, science, geography or literature. Yet Torah requires the passion and commitment as if one understands that his very life is on the line when one opens up our sacred texts. It’s not something to be studied or read lounging back sipping a martini by the pool on a nice sunny day. It’s in the trenches, it’s revealing the truth it’s connecting with the Divine and bringing His word down to earth.

Perhaps even more revealing is the message that our rabbis find in the end of the Torah portion. When the Jewish people are miraculously saved by Hashem wiping out our enemies without us even knowing about it. The story as told by Rashi is that the Emorites were hiding up in these two huge opposing cliffs with the intent of ambushing the Jewish people as they came through the valley below. Hashem made a miracle and the cliffs were pointed at one end and opened in the other moved to one another, like a hand in a glove, and crushed the Emorites in between. We only found out as we crossed over the pass later and saw their blood rushing through the stream below. We then realized the great danger that Hashem had averted for us. The Jewish people break out in song and the text tells us a very cryptic verse

Bamidbar (21:14-16) Thus it will be said in the book of the wars of Hashem-Et vahav b’sufah ve’et ha’nechalim b’Arnon- that which was given at the Yam Suf-sea of reeds and the streams of Arnon.

Rashi explains that this refers to the miracle that took place at both places the splitting of the sea and the miracle of the mountains here crushing our enemies. But our sages note the strange wording of the word vahav, and the strange book of the Wars of Hashem that this is a reference to the battle of Hashem over Torah-

(Kidushin 30:) Rabbi Chiya Bar Abba taught that even a father and his son, a rabbi and his student that are delving into Torah become like enemies to one another. However they don’t leave from their place until they become beloved upon each other as it says Vahav BSufa- Vahav is from the word ahava- love and sufa meaning in the end. Love comes at the end when you are engaged in the battle of Hashem.

Rabbi Shimon Schwab notes that the reason the Rabbis and the Torah bring this teaching to light over here, seemingly this song has nothing to do with the study of Torah, is because Torah study is in fact exactly like these miracles. The regular flow of the water of the red sea was changed because of the merit of the Jewish people and it split. The Egyptians died however when it returned back to its natural flowing state. Similarly here. The mountains cliffs here as well, were originally connected one to the other, they were separated and the Emorites were killed when they moved back together to their natural state. He suggests that is precisely what happens when a father and son, a Rabbi and student or even a Kollel guy and his study partner engage in that oldest of Jewish pursuits. We fight, we argue as if our life depends upon it, we are willing to die for it, but ultimately we come together again with love with an even greater appreciation of the bonds of love and Torah that unite us.

It is strange, it may even seem disconcerting. It doesn’t seem logical. After-all why fight to make peace. Perhaps it is why these lessons are taught in the Torah portion of Chukat. The inexplicable laws of Red Heifer. The portion that even King Solomon didn’t understand. Rashi tells us that this is a law that the process to get purified from death is by the Kohen himself who sprinkles the ashes himself becomes tamei- impure in the process. We have to become tamei- to become tahor-pure. We have to fight to become beloved once again. When we see death, we are meant to contemplate that there is really eternal existence. These are the laws of the Torah of life that can only be acquired when you are willing to die in the tent over its study. That’s what they taught us in military school of Yeshiva. It’s not much different then what they teach you in any military academy. You’ve got to be willing to give your life to fight for what’s important. You battle and plug away until you reveal the strategy that will insure that your way of life will succeed. That your light will continue to shine bright. For young soliders, or baby SEALs it may not make much sense. But that’s why it’s a chok- an inexplicable law. Follow orders, don’t ask questions. Ultimately the war will be won and peach and love will reign forever. What will be when we get there? Remember I don’t answer that question. But it will be a lot better than ice cream.

Have a stupendous Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Ver es kon kain pulver nit shmeken, der zol in der malchumeh nit gaien.”- He who cannot stand the smell of gunpowder should not engage in war.

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/iUz3xuT_0gA    – Incredible, fun and inspiring welcome to Camp Simcha 2017 Kol Hakavod to my sister Rivky the heart and soul of this incredible girls camp for children with medical challenges.

https://youtu.be/tXMys2NLXjQ    - I Love this song! Composed by Shlomi Shabbat it is called Bereishit Olam- really amazing.

https://youtu.be/seAUU2K3BYk   – Koreans coming to Ponivizh Yeshiva to see yeshiva learning and understand the secret of our eternality.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q. A festival not emanating from the Torah is:
A. Tu Be’shvat
B. Shavuot
C. Shemini Atzeret
D. Passover

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ILLUMINATING RASHI OF THE WEEK

There are so many amazing things in Rashi. His commentary despite its limitations as being only a simple pshat commentary on the text. One just has to think about the ramifications of what he says and one can find some of the deepest and most amazing insights that relate aspects of Judaism. In this weeks’ Torah portion when Moshe sends a message to the nation of Edom in his attempt to persuade them to get over their enmity to us. He “catches them up” on our history since their ancestor Esau last departed from our forefather Yaakov centuries before. He tells them up about our slavery in Egypt and he describes our situation there.

Bamidbar (20:15) And they did evil to us and to our forefathers.

Rashi highlights for us an interesting side point that Moshe seems to feel it is important to mention here.

“From here we that our forefathers are pained in the grave when tribulations come upon Israel”

Meaning Rashi is noting that Moshe says to Edom that not only did the Egyptians do bad things to us, but even our forefathers who were in the grave were pained by what was happening to us. This in of itself is an incredible idea about the connection the dead and particular the Patriarchs have with us even after they are no longer in this world. Reb Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, the great Chasidic Rebbe and author of the Bnai Yissaschar writes in his work Igra DiKalla, who obviously incorporated this message in his life, asks why it was important for Moshe to share this information with Edom. After-all why should they care if our Patriarchs are pained in the grave? He answers that Edom was confident that they would win any battle against Israel as their forefather Esau had the great merit in that he excelled in the Mitzva of kibud av- honoring their father Yitzchak, even more than Yaakov who was not around for many years when Esau took care of him. So Moshe therefore told them, that if they would harm the Jewish people than Yitzchak our “mutual” patriarch would be pained when any tzoris happen to Bnai Yisrael. What an important message, I feel for us to be aware of whenever we deal with our enemies. The best and appropriate response and approach that we should have is by unabashedly mentioning our biblical roots, the merits of our forefathers. It is our job to enlighten the rest of the world to our claim and to Hashem’s promise to us. And it is important to know that our ancestors are rooting for us in their graves as we live out their dream.

HaRav Tzvi Elimelech Shapira of Dinov (1783 - 1841)- When Tzvi Elimelech was a child, his uncle, the chassidic giant Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, foretold that his nephew would grow up to be an outstanding Torah personality. His prediction came true. R' Tzvi Elimelech was a scholar of eminent stature who applied himself to his studies with phenomenal diligence. When he studied Chassidut under the Chozeh of Lublin, the Maggid of Koznitz, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov, his erudition embraced both Halachah and Kabbalah. The Chozeh of Lublin told him that he was a reincarnation of the great early Torah sages of the tribe of Yissaschar.

A prolific writer, he became best known for his work Bnei Yissas'char, discourses on the Torah and Festivals as viewed from a kabbalistic prospective; Derech Pikudecha, exposition on the 613 mitzvot of the Torah; Igra DeKallah, a commentary on the Torah; and Hagahot Mahartza on the Zohar. He served in the rabbinate of several communities, including Strizhov, Dinov and Munkatch. Known for his ardent love of the Jewish people, he promoted the study of Kabbalah in Yeshivot and led the fight against the leaders of the maskilim, the "enlighted" secularists who threatened to undermine traditional Judaism. His repute as a miracle-worker gained him thousands of chassidim, and his mastery of Torah has earned him the admiration of all contemporary Torah scholars

 Rav Tzvi Elimelech is the patriarch of the Chasidic dynasties of Dinov, Munkacs, and Bluzhev.  He was niftar at the age of 58 on 18 Teves 5601/1841 the same year as the Yismach Moshe and just a year after the Chasam Sofer.  Yehi Zichro Boruch! 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TYPES OF JEWS IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

Chabad – The old joke they say that there are two things you can find anywhere in the world. Coca Cola and Chabad. With close to 5000 thousand shluchim-emissaries all over the world and about 3500 institutions in over 92 countries it certainly is not anything to sniff at. In Israel alone Chabad is certainly all over the place. They have over 600 active full time emissaries and 325 chabad houses in our tiny Jewish country alone. But more than that there are not too many streets one can walk around in this country without bumping into a Chabad guy asking you if you put on tefillin yet, or have a set of Shabbat candles, or any other mitzva that they might engage you in. The smile on their face if you haven’t and are willing to join them in filling a short mitzva will absolutely make their day. Particularly holiday seasons one feels the presence of Chabad in Israel. On Sukkot they have Sukkah mobiles they run around in with Lulavs and Etrogs for you to shake. Almost every city has public Menora lighting ceremony led by Chabad and each holiday has its own particularly commandments that they see it as their mission to help their fellow brothers and sisters fulfill. The major solely Chabad communities in Israel is by Lod called Kfar Chabad. It has about 1500 families with over 5000 residents. There are other large communities in Kiryat Malachi, Tzfat and Neve Yackov in Jerusalem. Many of them have central buildings that are replicas of the Chabd headquarters in Crown Heights on 770 Eastern Parkway. As much as I love and appreciate Chabad and their tremendous work around the world, certainly one of the more controversial and frightening aspects of the movement is the Messianic bend that it has picked up since the passing of the Rebbe, 23 years ago this past week, where many of chasidim who had felt that he might be Mashiach continue with that belief that borders on Christianity of him coming back. There are not too many places that once can go in Israel where you won’t see the pictures of the Rebbe heralding him as Mashiach. It certainly has brought Mashiach awareness to the world and it usually doesn’t prevent or even detract many of the non-religious world with connecting with them. Yet at the same time the majority of the Orthodox world has kept their distance from Chabad because of this controversial position. May Hashem bring  Mashiach soon, to bring us all together,

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ADVISOR JOKES OF THE WEEK

General Marshall is in charge of the American Army, and he is visiting his colleague General Goldstein, who is in charge of the Israeli Army. Marshall arrives at the military camp and is greeted by Goldstein. They both walk around the place, and Marshall asks: "So how are your men?"
"Very well trained, General."
"I hope so. You see, my men over at the United States Army are so well trained, you see, they're the bravest men in the world."
"Well, I'm not so sure about that General," replies Goldstein. "My men are very brave, too."
"I'd like to see that," says Marshall.
So Goldstein calls private Barak and says: "Private Barak! I want you to stop that tank simply by standing in front of it!"
"Are you crazy?" says Private Barak. "It would kill me! Are you some kind of fool?"
Goldstein turns to a Marshall and says, "You see? You have to be pretty brave to talk like that to a general."

A group of British MPs are visiting Israel for the first time and are taken by their host to see all the sights of this wonderful land. On the very last day, they visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. But when they go over to the headstone, on it they read the following inscription: -
MOSHE GOLDMAN
HE WAS A GOOD MAN AND A GREAT FALAFEL MAKER.
One of the MPs can’t really believe what is written on the headstone, so goes over to his host and says, "I don’t understand why this is the grave of an unknown soldier. Surely, if the person is known by name, how can he be an unknown soldier?"
"I understand your confusion," the host replies. "However, take my word for it that as a soldier, he really was unknown. But as a falafel maker, he was the greatest."

The commanding officer at the Russian military academy (the equivalent of a 4-star general in the U.S.) gave a lecture on Potential Problems and Military Strategy. At the end of the lecture, he asked if there were any questions.
An officer stood up and asked, "Will there be a third world war? And will Russia take part in it?"
The general answered both questions in the affirmative.
Another officer asked, "Who will be the enemy?"
The general replied, "All indications point to China."
Everyone in the audience was shocked. A third officer remarked, "General, we are a nation of only 150 million, compared to the 1.5 billion Chinese. Can we win at all, or even survive?"
The general answered, "Just think about this for a moment: In modern warfare, it is not the quantity of soldiers that matters but the quality of an army's capabilities. For example, in the Middle East we have had a few wars recently where 5 million Jews fought against 150 million Arabs, and Israel was always victorious."
After a small pause, yet another officer - from the back of the auditorium asked, "Do we have enough Jews?" 

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Answer is A– If anyone guessed Passover. Your really need to start taking some classics in basic Judaism and should certainly be disqualified from being a tour guide. Now in Israel it’s interesting that many Israelis might be more familiar with Tu B’Shvat, the correct answer than Shemini Atzeret, the 8^th day of Sukkot which is really a holiday within itself, or Shavuot, the day that the Torah was given, both which are biblical of course. Tu BiShvat which is mentioned in the Mishna as being the day when the counting of new year for trees in regards to the tithing years and seasons of which a tree of one year cannot be tithed for another year. Although I imagine many of them don’t know that significance of the day. Rather they are familiar with it because in the 1500’s that ARI”Zl that great Kabbalist of Tzfat made it into a holiday for the celebration of the fruits of Israel and other mystical ideas. Today in Israel it is celebrated as an environmental as well as one that celebrates the land and crops of Israel. So there are probably some Israelis that believe that this is biblical. They probably should also not be tour guides. One really should know the basic Jewish holidays and their status if you want to inspire people about the land. In my opinion that is.