Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
March 26th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 24 13th
Nissan 5781
Pesach
Hero Sandwiches
So, I haven't really been home much in the past for this Pesach cleaning thing
that Jews do. As much as it pains me not to be there and take part in these exciting
preparations for Pesach-what I could I do? There were always tourists that were
in town and they desperately needed and deserved to have me as their tour guide
to inspire them about our holy land and explain to them how nice having only
one seder was. How much better it was to be living here and how incredible it
would be if they and their children could experience the holiness and glory of
Hashem's favorite country all year round. Sure, other guides could do that as
well, but some guides are a little nervous to make those type of bold
statements. They don't want to offend people or make them question the
authenticity of their Jewish experience and lifestyles that they have created
for themselves in the Diaspora. I, on the other hand, live for those moments. I
tell it like it is. It's an important job and gift Hashem has given me by
blessing us with living here and having this great job and I don't want to let Him
down. Also I'm really not the greatest cleaner…
Yet this year, being tour-less, I've been home for Pesach cleaning and let
me tell you something it ain't easy. Do people really do this every year? I mean here I am, trying to do some work on
my computer, writing my E-Mail, my next upcoming Mishpacha article, even
learning a bit and preparing for the Seder and I'm constantly being asked to
switch seats.
"Can you get off the dining room table- now we're doing the chairs"
So I move to the couch. "Can you get off the couch, we need to clean
inside the cushions". So I move to my office.
"Can you get out of the office now we need to clean it". I
mean this is rough. All this moving from room to room, from couch to couch,
from table to table. I even had to walk up and down the stairs a few times to
get my sefarim from the living room where I was not able to learn
because of the noise from the vacuum cleaners. My shoes got wet from some sponja
water that someone spilled while cleaning. It's really tiring all this
moving around not to mention watching all these people cleaning around me. How
do people do this? I want my tourists
back…
Now what I find fascinating about all of this is that after what seems like
a month long spring cleaning on steroids, followed by non-stop cooking,
shopping and toiveling, followed by more shopping and toiveling again and again
and then more cleaning and cooking, we are meant to arrive at our Pesach seder,
relaxed, chilled like kings relaxing on a couch, all inspired to tell our
children the story of Pesach, listen to their divrey Torah and of course
all with a smile, patience and love. I can barely keep my eyes open now,
fuggedabout my poor wife who hasn't slept in who knows how long; writing list
after list in this non-stop preparation. I mean who came up with this holiday
anyways?
Oh yeah… it was Hashem. Hmmm… I guess if that's the case then it's probably
worthwhile to take a second to appreciate how and what these seemingly
contradictory holiday demands of us are all about. On one hand we work and slave furiously, on
the other hand we are relaxed and laying back on the couch. It is the matza and
the maror together. It our freedom spiced up with the flavor of maror. It has a
little charoses flavor which represents the bricks we made, but yet
counterintuitively they are flavored to taste kind of sweet. And in the times
of the Beit Hamikdash, when Hashem's glory was resting in the place it was meant
to, we would eat all of these incredible and distinct contradictory flavors as
part of a sandwich called Korech with a nice big slab of roasted Korban
Pesach lamb chops in the middle. Welcome to the sandwich of Hillel; the pre-feast
hors d'oeuvres we are meant to eat right before our meal in middle of the Seder.
Korech really got the short straw by the Seder in my opinion. See, by that
time in the Seder all of the haggada torah has been said already. We left
Egypt, we relived the persecution, the babies in the Nile, the plagues. The kids
have said their Ma Nishtanas, hid the Afikoman, sung their Dayeinus and half of
Hallel. They've shared all their insights and asked all of their questions. We
have already downed two cups of wine, eaten our karpas, lots of Matza and
Maror. Shulchan Orech is right around the corner… finally! Chatzos is rapidly
approaching (if it hasn't past yet and you did the conditional afikoman
shtick). But wait… we're not there yet. We have to pause and eat the korech
sandwich. We have to take more Matza, more Maror this time we need to put them
together and then mention that this is what Hillel did in the Temple. Shkoyachh….
Can't this wait till after we eat a meal. The brisket is calling to me.
I mean we already ate Matza, we ate Maror. We don't have a Korban Pesach
anymore today anyways. What's the point? This is a question nobody really asks
because everyone is pretty "torah'ed out" by this time. Anybody that
risks stopping the seder at this point for more pesach Seder Torah by my seder
risks having that horseradish root sitting on the Seder plate stuffed in their
mouth by multiple people sitting at the table, the one sitting at the head not
being the last of them. But it's before Pesach still. It's still safe to ask
the question. So let's do so.
This Shabbos is called Shabbos Hagadol when we are meant to remember and
recall the miracle that took place on that first Shabbos which was the 10th
of Nissan. It was a few days before our exodus when Hashem told us to take a
lamb-which was the Egyptian idolatry-and prepare it for slaughtering. The
commentaries of the Shulchan Aruch note that a great miracle took place in that
the Egyptians did not respond to this affront to their belief system. Yet the Bach
notes that there is something strange about this. Seemingly, he asks, the Jews were
always eating meat. We were never vegetarians. The Egyptians knew this all
along. Even back in the days of Yosef, the viceroy of Pharaoh, the torah tells
us that the Jews would eat their meat, just separate from the Egyptians. This
was different though. Here something else was going on.
In the words of the Bach that what took place here was that the Jews told
the Egyptians specifically that we are slaughtering their God down in this
world and in doing so Hashem will respond and slaughter their God- or guardian
angel at least-in the upper worlds. The Pesach offering represents our making
that first move to our redemption. It's our cleaning house. It's getting rid of
the foreign influence and shmutz and understanding that when we do that
Hashem will respond with the greatest of miracles and redeem us.
It's interesting thing this Korban Pesach we are meant to be eating. It's
different than any other sacrifice. The Talmud tells us a story of a year
during the Temple years when just like this year Erev Pesach fell out on
Shabbos. It seems that there was a lot of confusion about what should be done
that particular year. The Halacha is that sacrifices that are a communal offering,
like the daily Tamid and the Sabbath and holiday offerings, are brought on the
Shabbos-despite the fact that obviously lighting a fire and cooking is
generally prohibited. At the same time though, personal sacrifices like sin,
vows, or thanksgiving offerings could only be brought on a weekday. What is the
status of the Korban Pesach, was the question? On the one hand unlike the
communal sacrifices which were purchased with the community contributed funds
this was paid for by each person individually. As well each family selected who
would join them, it wasn't the priests of Hashem. It was each one of us. Yet,
at the same time though it was certainly a holiday sacrifice that the entire
Jewish people were commanded to bring. Hmmm… what to do?
Along comes Hillel and solves the problem. He recalls from his Rabbis that
it in fact was brought on a Shabbos. And thus the Korban Pesach that
year was saved. The story gets better though. For the question then became how
to transport the knife for the slaughtering on Shabbos. Was one permitted to
carry it? Here, Hillel himself seemed to have divinely forgotten the law. He attributed
it to the fact that he had perhaps spoken so assuredly and expressed, what some
might consider, some pride in being the one that remembered the law. Yet, he
saw some Jews coming to Jerusalem and they had placed their slaughtering knives
in the wool or horns of the sheep and goat they were bringing and he exclaimed
"If the children of Israel aren't prophets they are the children of
prophets, for this is the law as I remember"
Do you know what the pinnacle of our Pesach Seder is? After we have recited
it all and left Egypt. We've sung, we've been redeemed and we've eaten our
matza and our bitter herbs. We are left with one last thing to do before we eat
our meal and conclude our Seder. We need to eat that sandwich of Hillel. We
need to remember that there was a temple and in that Temple the entire Jewish
people and their individual sacrifices that we brought are all considered
communal sacrifices. Just as a prophet does not prophesize for himself as he
represents the entire Jewish people, so each Jew and each service we each do;
all of our maror, all of our trials and tribulations which may seem like they
are personal, they are really all part of the sandwich of a communal sacrifice
of a Korban Pesach.
As well, that Pesach sacrifice is to be sandwiched by the matza- that
unleavened bread that is not left alone for a second. It's worked and worked
and worked, like our houses and cleaning. There's no time that it's not busy. All
of our work and efforts that we each do are as well part of that communal
sacrifice. We sprinkle that charosess on that sandwich and remember those
bricks we built back in Egypt and as we chew down while leaning like kings we
are transported to the bricks of the Beit Hamikdash we are building. We
remember Hillel's lesson and teaching. We remember that Erev Pesach that fell
out on Shabbos when he revealed that even the Torah of the simplest Jew
carrying his knife on a sheep has a Torah to teach that and a prophecy for the
entire Jewish nation.
Pesach is the holiday that remembers the miracles Hashem preformed for us as
we became his nation. But the prelude to that great Exodus that we recite to our
children is the miracle that the Jewish people preformed first. Despite two
centuries of exile, slavery and assimilation, miraculously as a nation we found
the strength and fortitude to step up and heed Hashem's command and slaughter those
sheep. We had suffered, we had lost children, family members, we had been
tortured and abused like no other nation. We had every right to give up and
throw in the towel. And yet we didn't. We stood up bravely, like no other
nation ever would and put that blood on our doorposts and told the Egyptians
that their Gods were doomed. Hashem would finish them up because we as a nation,
each Jew will eat that Pesach sacrifice down here below and understands that every
action we do is not independent. It is an entire eternal community. My personal
little backyard BBQ Korban Pesach is as important and as precious as the daily
sacrifice that was brought in the Temple for the entire nation. The Egyptians
saw this and they didn't have anything to say. We created that shining light of
faith and when confronted with the power of our nation's audacious declaration
they were speechless. And thus the original hero sandwich was born.
Unlike last year this Pesach many of us will be back again with our families
Baruch Hashem. The entire story of the plagues of Egypt lasted about a year and
we have endured a year of the plague ourselves. However unlike back then when
only the Egyptians were plagued, "Makkas
Covid" has struck us as well. There is almost no home that doesn't know or
have someone that wasn't killed by this plague. There was no one who's life
hasn't been struck and made to suffer in some capacity as a result of it. Yet
unlike the Egyptians we recognize that all that Maror is really part of our redemption.
We recognize that the bread of our affliction is really just the sandwich that
wraps our community together. That brought us all closer together. That joined
us in one long hero sandwich that reminds us of the Temple that is being built
by every mitzva we do, every statement of faith we make, every spark of
holiness we reveal. Making that great Hillel Hero sandwich may have been tiring
and exhausting. But we have finally reached that point in our Seder when we can
eat it. We can be kings and truly free.
Here in Israel the most popular sandwich to order is a me'urav yerushalmi-
A Jerusalem Mix. May this year Pesach, this coming Shabbos all of you join me
in Yerushalayim in the Temple for that Hero sandwich that will no longer be
just a memory of Hillel, but the tasty dessert we've waited 2000 years to
partake in.
Have a Chag Kasher V'Samayach,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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" Gebroteneh teibelech flien nit in moil arein." Roasted
teibelech (?? I think it means crackers- I know what teiglech are anyone
know what teibelech are? ) don't just fly in your mouth "
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
A
quarter that did not exist in Acre during the Crusader period:
a)
Franciscan
b)
Pisan
c)
Hospitallers
d)
Venetian
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://youtu.be/PrCK7zLj2U0
– THE SCHWARTZ FAMILY PESACH STORY- With my
great Vayosha song- Rabbi Schwartz b'pijama in middle of the night!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQON0ipv6iI - Six-13
Pirate Pesach cute!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3KBEESu05Y
- Fantastic musical Seder in Jerusalem with
Mayor Lion-must see…
https://youtu.be/Vtb7rmvx4po - Heart wrenching
and beautiful Eli Levin Afikomen song in memory of young engaged couple that
died and the organization to make shidduchim for people in their memory
https://youtu.be/7GpXZ5R7JDQ- Rabbi
Klatzkow's beautiful meaningful new song The four sons sung by his son Luzy
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE
WEEK
Together – Vayikra- Traditionally this Shabbos, before
Pesach is known as Shabbas HaGadol. According to the Tur Shulchan Aruch the
reason it is called this is to commemorate the great miracle that took place on
the 10th of Nissan. Four days before Erev Pesach the Jews were
commanded to take a sheep and tie it to their bedposts in order to prepare it
and make sure it would be blemish free in order for it to be ready for the
Pesach offering. The sheep was worshipped by the Egyptians and in fact the
lunar month of Nissan is the astrological sign of Airies- the ram, meaning it
was in full force. Seemingly this would offend the Egyptians, as much as the
burning of a cross would a Christian or a Koran of a Muslim or the burning of
an American Flag would for most Americans- at least Republicans and their
response should have been brutal and violent. Yet according to the Midrash
"their mouths were sealed" and they didn't say anything. The Jews
left Egypt on the 15th of Nissan which was on Thursday and thus this
miracle and act took place 5 days prior on Shabbos the 10th of
Nissan. And thus it is called Shabbat HaGadol to commemorate that miracle.
Not it would
seem that this year more than any year there should be a question that stands
out which is that we are already 4 days past the 10th of Nissan. Why
are we commemorating this miracle on Shabbos? We never commemorate things on
the day of the week that it fell out. We commemorate it on the day of the
calendar month. To paraphrase the Haggada- Why is this miracle commemoration
different than all other commemorations of the year?
The Bach answers
the question with another question, he notes that in fact seemingly there was
another huuuge miracle that took place on the 10th of Nissan that
took place 40 years after we left Egypt. That miracle was the splitting of the
Jordan River by Yehoshua when we entered the land of Israel. Our Rabbis tell us
that all of the fancy shmancy miracles that took place when Moshe split the Red
Sea took place here as well. Each tribe had its own channel to walk through,
the there This is a pretty big miracle as well and
seemingly it should be commemorated. However, the Bach tells us that it is
precisely because this miracle took place on the 10th of Nissan that
we do not celebrate Shabbos HaGadol on that day. We don't want to confuse the
importance of our commemoration of the miracle of the taking of the pesach
lamb. The question is why not? What's wrong with doing it on the 10th
of Nissan and remembering this huge miracle as well. It seems that we
specifically do not want to remember this miracle. Have you ever heard of a
miracle that we don't want to commemorate?
I heard an
incredible answer from my Rebbi that really reveals much of the essence of our
Pesach Seder; what we are meant to remember and celebrate and what we have yet
to celebrate and commemorate. By our Seder we conclude our Dayeinu song with
Hashem giving us the Bais HaBechira-His holy temple in Jerusalem. The blessing
we make on our 2nd cup of wine before we begin the eating part of
Seder we have been waiting for also concludes with the prayer that we return to
our sacrifice in the Temple. Even when we left Egypt and the splitting of the
sea it was all about receiving the Torah on Sinai and ultimately as we sang in
Az Yashir to return to Eret Yisrael and build the Temple. It's all about the
ultimate goal of establishing a Home for Hashem here on this earth. That is what we recognize and remember when
we leave Egypt; what was the purpose of it all.
When Yehoshua
split the sea for us to come into Israel there were tremendous miracles. This
was it. We have arrived. The Jews are home, the promise of our ancestors had
been fulfilled. There's a danger however of being so excited about coming to
Israel and those miracles in its establishment that one forgets that the job is
not yet over. This was never about having a "Jewish State" in our
ancestral heritage where we would not be persecuted. We establish holidays and
commemorations when we began the process of our slaughtering the lamb, when we
left Egypt. Back then we sang about the Temple we will build. But the miracles
of entering the land… that's just still on the road to getting there. That's
like the miraculous wars and miracles Hashem perfomed for us along the way 40
years in the wilderness. We don’t commemorate them. They're just part of the
journey that we are still waiting to conclude. We therefore make sure not to
commemorate the miracle of the 10th of Nissan. We don't want people
to get confused and think we are establishing a Yom Ha'Atzmaut of sorts for the
crossing into the Jordan and our arrival into Eretz Yisrael. Holidays like that
fool us into thinking our job is done. Pesach is all about remembering that we
still have not drunk that 5th cup yet. We still are in middle of the
journey. We are meant to still be inspired to come home and join together here
and build that Beis Hamikdash. That is that haftorah we read about Eliyahu
Hanavi and the Yom Ha'Gadol. That great day that we are waiting for that we
started on that original Shabbat Ha'Gadol. May we hear that Shofar blast this
year.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE
WEEK
(In honor of Shabbos HaGadol we will pause our chronology and
remember the miracle of the 10th of Nissan of Yehoshua and Jews
crossing into Israel)
Crossing the Yarden 1272
BC Although
he did not have as good of a PR agent as Moshe did, the crossing of the Jordan
River by the Jewish people led by Yehoshua was just as miraculous. In some ways
perhaps even more so. The Torah tells us that unlike by the Red Sea when the
Jews were nervous and frightened, by the Jordan river they seemed to have
kicked the fear of raging waters and went right in. Now when I cross the Jordan
river- generally in the North of Israel I have to be point out to my tourists a
few things. Number one, this is not where the Jews crossed. They crossed on the
southern Jordan, across from Yericho above the Dead Sea. We can’t
cross that today because the other side is Jordan. The second thing I point
out, is that the Jordan was certainly much larger than today. For today it
really is not much more than a creek. But it still is a cool chavaya to “cross
the Jordan” which I do by the Golan near Gesher Arik or Gesher
Bnot Yaakov.
Because
they are a super spreader!
Berel bumped into Shmerel in the deli and asked what he was doing there. Shmerel said “I love sandwiches!”
Berel
said: “Me too. By the way, I heard you just bought a horse! What did you
name it?”
Shmerel
answered “Mayo.”
“Mayo? Why Mayo?”
“Because he neighs.”
Why
don't sandwiches like warm weather? Things get Toasty!
What do you eat at the beach? A Sand-wich.
What did the fisherman catch when he used peanut butter as bait? A jellyfish.
A sandwich walks into a bar. The barman says "Sorry we don't serve food in here"
Do you want a salad with that Sandwich? Veggies!! That's what my food eats!
I
didn’t feel like cooking tonight, so I made a sandwich for dinner
It
wasn’t so much as a sandwich as much as it was just bread.
I guess more just grain.
Fermented grain.
Distilled, fermented grain.
I had whisky for dinner tonight.
What did the sandwich say to the doorman? Lettuce in
Here is why you should never trust a sandwich. They are full of baloney
Yankel
boards a bus with a sandwich in his hand. The bus driver says: "Hey,
this ain't a restaurant,!"
He replies: "I know. That's why I brought my own food."
*********************************
Answer is A – This one was fairly easy as well. I
certainly visit Akko a lot and it's one of my favorite places to tour. And
although I prefer the Jewish Akko stories rather than the Crusader ones. I know
enough about the Hospatilers that lived there and I remember the Venician and Pisan
quarters that divided the city. The Franciscans which were not even founded
until the end of the Crusader period just didn't fit in. And I was of course
correct so back in the game And
the score is now 15 for Rabbi Schwartz and 5 for the Ministry of Tourism on
this exam.
