Our Worst Enemy- Parshat Behar Bechukosai 5785 2025

Insights and Inspiration from the Holy Land from Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz "Your friend in Karmiel" May 23rd 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 28 25th of Iyar 5785   Parshat Behar- Bechukosai  Our Worst Enemy   So what are your hobbies? Are you into sports? Do you like hiking, biking, collecting postage stamps, reading? My father likes shopping in Target. My wife likes scrap-booking. Most Jews are foodies. Personally I like music; composing and singing, although there are many that would like to see me take up a new hobby, particularly those that suffer through my Shabbos table compositions. I also like writing; in case you didn't notice. But as Rav Kook once brilliantly said, he writes not because he knows how, it's because he can't remain silent anymore. This week's E-Mail is one of those writings for me. Although the truth is most weeks really are.   It seems, from what I understood and heard in the media, that our Israeli soldiers also seem to have developed a new hobby, that I was until this week clueless about. According to Yair Golan, a former major General in Israeli Army, and former Economy Minister our soldiers like to kill Palestinian babies for fun. Nice. I wonder if he meant to say that we take their blood for our matzos on Pesach as well. Isn't it great the way that Jewish blood libels work? Yet, it would seem that if that is what their hobby is, they don't seem to be very good at it. Certainly not good enough for my liking. Maybe they need to find a new one.   Now if it was just this antisemitic Israeli loser-who by the way is a Harvard graduate, surprise-surprise- it would be one thing. But joining the chorus of self-hating Jews and Israelis is no less of a figure then the former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, who fantastically got on the BBC to explain to the world how what Israel is doing in Gaza clearly falls under the category of International War Crimes. It seems whenever we defend ourselves and don't just walk passively into a gas chamber or a Kibbutz oven while singing soulfully Ani Maamin it's a problem and crime. Now if he was accusing Israel of fraud, bribery and corruption, then I think he should be taken seriously. After-all the man is the expert on those subjects having served time in Israeli prisons for those offenses that he committed while he was in office, after selling out Israel in both the Lebanon war and the second Gaza War against Chamas, pretty much leaving them both alone so that we could thank him for October 7th. It's nice when a former Prime Minister whose approval level reached the 3% level, the lowest in our country's history gets up publicly and tells us what we we're doing wrong.   Yet, that seems to be the way of many former loser Prime Ministers of Israel. Hello Ehud Barak, the man who was willing to hand over most of Jerusalem to Yasser Arafat including the Temple Mount and make it the capital of Palestine and who was once quoted as saying that if he were a Palestinian he would be a terrorist. He forgot to mention that as well if he were a Palestinian he wouldn't be living in a 25 million shekel house in Tel Aviv or hanging out with Jeffery Epstien's chevra in NY. Well, while most of Israel sanefully condemned this guy Golan, Barak praised him as a brave man that speaks truth that needs to be heard. With all of this support, who needs the UN to condemn us. Why be worried about George Soros, another great lover of dead Jews, when we have our own haters here. Who said Israel can't do it just as good as anyone else? Is it any wonder that the next day, Canda, France and England all called in their Israeli ambassadors and are talking about sanctioning us. That two Embassy workers in the US are shot by a lunatic. That 40% of the worlds antisemitic crimes are in the United States the largest amount in the world according to the latest study I just saw. Why should anyone not hate Israel and the Jews if we hate ourselves so much?   Now this is not a new phenomenon in our history. We have always been our worst enemies. Yes, wars, horrors, tragedies, our enemies and October 7th brings us all together and unify our nation for a minute or two. Yet at the same time and as these things shlep out what happens is that we turn against each other. We point fingers. We even pathetically justify our enemy's hatred of us. The German "enlightened" Jews did that to the poor old-fashioned "ghetto" Jews of Poland. The besser mentchen of Hungary did as well. The original sabras of Israel would make fun of the European refugees and called them "soap" (you can figure out that one on your own) and scorned them for being "sheep to the slaughter". There were Jews that converted to Christianity in Spain and Torquemada the grand inquisitor himself was Jewish. During the period of the Crusades and various expulsions many Jews even debated great Rabbis and were behind the burning and censorship of the Talmud. Most of Stalin's rabidly anti-religious communists politburo were Jews and the Yevsektsiya was the Jewish section of that party, who went after their co-religionists with an atheistic zeal that only Jews can have for one another.   This sickness though, isn't just the last millennia. It goes back to the Roman period when Jews fought and killed one another in the Bar Kochva revolt and in the period before the destruction of the Temple as well. Earlier in the story of Chanuka its estimated that Hellenized Jews were 20% of the Greek army that the Maccabees fought against. Hellenism is "Harvard"-ism in today's modern lexicon. It happened in the first temple period, it happened back in Egypt. Again and again and again… yes, my friends we really really are our worst enemy. We always have been, and we never seem to learn. It seems to be our eternal depressing curse. And as this week's parsha tells us, and that I never really noticed before, this is not just a metaphor. It really is a curse. The curse of Hashem.   Parshat Behar and Bechukosai are the last parshiyot of the book of Vayikra. The book that started off with Hashem calling to Moshe, lovingly, with the Mishkan being built, with the sacrifices to come close to Hashem, with the purification from all of our impurities, sins and mistakes, ends with the horrific curses and foreboding doom that awaits us if we don't "walk" in the laws and mitzvos of Hashem. If we do not toil in his Torah. If we remove Him from our lives. From our land. From our home. If we live lives as it happens to us, rather than understanding that we are a nation with a purpose, with a role, with a mandate. Then Hashem will reciprocate in kind and the world, our world, will fall apart. The curses will replace the blessings that we were meant to experience and bring.   The curse, punishment or perhaps the best word is the consequence of our not following the mitzvos that jumped out at me this week though was this verse right in the beginning   Vayikra 26:17- And I will place My face upon you, and you will be smitten by your enemies and your haters will subjugate you and you will flee and there will be no one pursuing you.   Who are the enemies and who are haters? So Rashi tells us the enemies, which it mentions on the blessing side of the coin as running from just a few of us, are the nations that come to attack us. The haters though, which are only mentioned in the curses that will rule over us, those are   Mikem and bachem- they are the ones from us that will come up against us. "I only give rise to haters from amongst you". For when the nations of the world, the Gentiles, Amalek and Midian when they come to attack us only going for the things out the in the open. They burn down our fields and crops. Our own homegrown enemies, though, they go over the hidden treasures. They knew where the true value is and go for the gold.   There's only so much damage, the verse and the curse seems to imply that a goy can do to us…. The real damage though is only what we can inflict upon ourselves. It's the homegrown Jewish terrorist supporters and Torah haters, that we have to really watch out for. Those are the real tzoris…. We may think that we are fleeing and being chased by our enemies… but that's not the real problem. The problem is us.   This parsha and these curses are always read before the holiday of Shavuos, just as the curses and Mussar of the book of Devarim given by Moshe are read before Rosh Hashana. The Talmud tells us its because Shavuos is also a new year. It's the new year when Hashem judges the fruits of the tree. Now I imagine when we read these scary verses before Rosh Hashana it gets us kind of nervous. Judgement day is coming. Who will live and who will die are here. The books are opened. We've had a whole month of Elul to get ready. Anyone feeling any of that now? Or are you just thinking about all night learning sessions and blintzes? And you Americans I imagine are thinking about the like 4 day Yom tov coming up… (Yeah, Friday and Shabbos is Erev's and then Sunday is another Erev for the two day following Yom Tov on Monday and Tuesday. It's worth it to make Aliyah just to avoid that…). Judgement day for trees doesn't really speak to me though. I'm more of a meat and potato man myself, Pizza and Pasta work as well. Sure I like oranges and apples, but I'm not really that trepidated for this judgement day. If there would be a judgement day for my car making it through the year, that would be of more concern for me. So what's with this whole pre- Shavuot curses?   Now the truth is the word curses is really not the word our sages utilize for these parshiyot. The word they use is the Tochacha- rebuke, or perhaps more accurately the showing and proving of the proper path. Tochiach in Hebrew is "to prove". Hochacha is a proof. Fascinatingly enough this concept of tochacha is a mitzva that we learned a few weeks ago in the parsha of Kedoshim. Hochayach tochayach amisecha- A Jew is obligated to rebuke and set straight his friend. If not the Torah tells us then we bear his sin. That idea interestingly enough is based on another concept, again another one that we are familiar with. Rashi even mentions it in our parsha and fascinatingly enough is that it is not only in this tochacha but specifically in the piece that talks about our enemies from within.   The verse repeats this curse of running when there's no one there a few verses later.   (ibid; 27) And each man will stumble in their brother as if from a sword and there is none pursuing them  and they will not be able to arise from before their enemies.   Rashi there notes, that the verse states that a man will stumble in their brother, rather then "on" or "with" or "from"our brother. Our sages derive from this that each man stumbles in the sin of their brother. For Kol Yisrael areivim zeh la zeh- each Jew is a guarantor and responsible for one another.   His sin is my sin. I'm punished and cursed because I am his guarantor. When I have an enemy from within me attacking me, maligning me, destroying me, then I shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that its coming from the outside. It's from the UN, from Hamas, from Iran, from the EU, or from the ICC. We're running from the wrong things if that's what our assumption is. They're not there. It's the sins of my brother that are considered my sins that are the problem. All the missiles, Iron Domes, negotiations and peace agreements won't heal the cancer from within. Because we are all in one boat with a hole in it,  Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai teaches us,and as long as one guy is drilling in it all the horse power we put into our engine is not gonna get us out the ocean we will drown in.   Rav Kook has a fascinating halachic chakira- not sure how to translate that, but perhaps a halachic exposition, a brisker klehr if you will. He notes that there is a mitzva of giving rebuke and there is a concept as well of us being responsible for one another; of us being one. He asks which is the point and which is process? What's the chicken and what's the egg? Is the goal that we should all be doing the right thing and following the mitzvos, and thus the way that we make that happen is by each one taking responsibility for one another and rebuking and correcting one another and making sure we all are following the will of Hashem. Or perhaps he suggests, and ultimately proves according to many sources, that it's exactly the opposite. The point is that we should be united. The point is that we should all feel sense of responsibility for one another. That we understand that as long as one Jew isn't doing what he's supposed to than I myself am not complete. That I'm missing my arm, my leg. That I'm not really walking in the path of Hashem as long as he is not beside me. That the shechina is not going to come down to the world as long as he is left behind. That he's not doing what he's supposed. As long as my sister or brother or father is still a hostage in Gaza. As long as my son is still serving in Gaza or Lebanon. Our family is not complete. I'm not complete.   The mitzva of tochacha, of me rebuking him and bringing him close is not about getting him to do the right thing, it's about me developing that sense of responsibility that I'm lacking with him. It's not that he is the enemy from within. It's that I am that same enemy as well, as long as I don't bring him close, that I don't succeed in giving my tochacha.   There was twice in our history when we were all united in one place and with one heart and when the shechina came down. The first was on Shavuot when we stood on Sinai. We were one man and one heart and we accepted our mandate to bring Hashem's light to this world as one. The second was less then a year later on Yom Kippur when Moshe came down with those second tablets and told us we were forgiven for our sin of the golden calf. That we learned that despite the fact that only a small portion of us sinned yet we were all held accountable. That forgiveness and teshuva are possible when we all unite together, when we mourn together, when we tell Hashem that we want to see Him together. We want him to dwell amongst us. It is with that story that the book of Shemos concluded and that the book of Vayikra began. And it is with the reminder and consequences of us not living up to that the book concludes.   The AR"I and the kabbalists explain that the judgement of the trees is whether mankind, we the nation of Hashem, will repair the sin of that original tree of knowledge back in the garden when Hashem walked with Adam. The tree was perhaps the first to sin when Hashem created it by not producing a tree that's bark tasted like the tree. It was an eitz oseh pri and not an eitz pri- A tree that bore fruit and not a fruit tree. There was a disconnect. It wasn't one. Mankind's job is to unite the universe. To bring it back to that state of Oneness without any disconnect. To do that we need to be one. We need to be one with each other and we need to be one with the land of Israel from where that spirit and light shines out to the world.   Do you know what Shemitta has to do with Mt. Sinai, as Rashi asks in the beginning of the parsha. Shemitta is all of the details, specifics and nuances that relate to revealing the light of Hashem in His land. Sinai is revealing that same light and oneness that is in each and every Jew. All our klaloseihem, and prataoseha- our nuances, our differences, our opinions, our light. They are all one. They are all Hashem. They are all in the Garden.   Ezra decreed that we read this tochacha before Rosh Hashana/ Yom Kippur and before Shavuos to remind us of that arvus that we possess. To tell us that when we are not functioning as one then nothing will function right. Creation is broken. There's famine, there's no rain, there are no crops, there's plague, there's death, there's destruction, there's Holocausts and there's October 7th and wars in Gaza and enemies around the world that will come and destroy us. If we are not one and take that responsibility for our brother then they will naturally become our enemies from within, that will seek the hidden treasures. They will seek the soul that is lacking. They will look for that spark that we their more knowledgeable and observant brothers have hidden from them. Hidden, because we have written them off. Hidden, because we called them our sonim- our enemies. Because we've made them and allowed them to become our enemies, by not feeling and understanding enough that they are our arms, our legs, and our only way to reveal the shechina in the world. And that we are not complete without them.   Our world is in turmoil today. We're moving faster and faster to our redemption. We've seen the blessings, the return to the land, the flourishing of its crops in its once desolate ground, the miraculous fall of our enemies and ameilus in Torah like never before. We even merited to experience the return to Yerushalayim in this week's 68th anniversary of the Six Day war on Yom Yerushalayim. Sixty Eight is Chas. It is Hashem having mercy upon us. Chas V'Shalom, mercy and peace. Peace from within and peace from without. He is only waiting for us to read and internalize that tochacha. If we are able to, then by this year Shavuot we will once again merit to stand as one man with one heart and walk together in Gan Eden with Hashem.   Have an amazing Shabbos and a blessed Chodesh Sivan Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz  ************************ YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK   " Vos der mentsh ken alts ibertrachten, ken der ergster soineh im nitvintshen." .- What a man thinks up for himself, his worst enemy couldn’t wish for him. RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK answer below at end of Email   19. The annual amount of precipitation below which a geographical area is defined as a desert is ______ mm. Which of the following facts about the Israel Trail is true? A. The trail passes through northern Samaria B. The trail was designed so that its sections connect settlements C. Its southern start or end point is the Eilat beach D. The trail is marked in white-orange-white colors RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buiNbNUqB2g -   In honor of Rosh Chodesh bentching this beautiful song by Pesach Eidenson and Dudi Kalish Yechadshehu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rljpmmmux94 – The latest hilarious Bardak, brilliant yeshivish wedding dance… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0_R6pbgaA  - Mordechai Shapiro's latest Trying my Best… sounds great… Part I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCShKilDjNY  – Getting into Shavuos Mode with Zanvil's latest Bonai Chavivai   https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/kad-yasvun  – Which of course is not as good as my Kad Yasvun composition with vocals and arrangements by the one and only Dovid Lowy! RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK 589 BC -False Hopes- With the siege on Yerushalayim one would think that the hearts of the nation would be broken and would try to repent. In fact, Tzidkiyahu the king even makes the people take an oath that they would free all of their Jewish slaves that they were working. This week's Torah portion tells us how that was forbidden, and how there is a mitzva to free slaves after 7 years. The people even listened for a bit, but then went right back to sinning again and taking those Jewish slaves back. The parsha this week of Behar and Bechukosai tells us of the curses and destruction that will follow and guess what? It did… There were even some that made golden calves once again, the prophet Yirmiyahu tells us. Whether this is a metaphor or not is of discussion, but certainly the concept is that we created false gods that we thought we could rely on. What were they? The Talmud tells us that Israel felt they had great warriors. One guy could even stand on the wall and chuck the missiles right back at them. He was our "Iron Dome" and even better as it threw the missiles right back at them. Yet, when we continued to sin, Hashem threw him off the wall. We also had the cousin of Yirmiyahu named Chanamel who thought he could invoke the names of the angels which he knew personally to come down from heaven and help them. The only problem is Hashem changed their names and then he was useless as well. Perhaps that as well is a good metaphor that spiritual metaphysical solutions are also not there to save us. But perhaps the last great hope was our "friends" amongst the nations. Tzidkiyahu sent messengers to Egypt and asked them to come join and fight with us against our "common enemy" Bavel/Iran. Hey does that sound eerily familiar? Calling other nations, even perhaps arab nations to our side against the common enemy in Iran. Egypt even sent boatloads of soldiers to save us. Yet, once again never count on the nations to be there for us. What does Hashem do? He brought up the dead bodies of the ancient Egyptians that perished when we left Egypt about 800 years prior or so. The Egyptians saw them from their boats, they remembered their hatred from us and they turned around and went home. Israel was alone. There was only Hashem in heaven that could save us. He wanted us to just repent and find Him. Yet, it is there false hopes and avoidance of Teshuva that ultimately led to our downfall. RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TRAITOR JOKES OF THE WEEK   A CIA Agent, KGB spy and Mossad agent were sent to infiltrate a terrorist cell. The terrorists figured out the three were infiltrators and thus captured them.The terrorists decided to torture the three infiltrators. They started with the CIA agent. “Do not worry, for I have been trained in the United State’s most insidious enhanced interrogation techniques and how to resist them.” They heard the agent crying for around 10 minutes before he was tossed back in the cell, bloodied and bruised. “I failed. I told them everything I knew.” Next, the terrorists came for the KGB spy. “Comrades, there is nothing to fear. For our glorious cause, I have survived in the most dangerous areas of the Motherland, and will not fail!” Once again, screams reached the cell. But the KGB agent lasted only 30 minutes. Afterwards, he was tossed back in the cell with several broken bones. “Comrades, I am ashamed to admit that I have betrayed the glorious Motherland and divulged all manners of secrets.” Finally, the terrorists came for the Mossad agent. With his head resigned, knowing that members of the two greatest spy agencies failed, he was unsure as to how he would survive. The torture started. Screams concern again echoed within the cell. But they didn’t soon cease. 10 minutes passed, then a half hour, then hours. Throughout that night, the torture continued. It went on for an entire week, but it didn’t seem that the Mossad agent would break. When the week was up, the terrorists tossed a very broken man back in the cell. The KGB and CIA agents were surprised. “How did you last so long?” Through a mouth of broken teeth and blood, the Mossad agent replied. “I tried to tell them everything, but my hands were tied.”   An FBI chief is informed there is a traitor in his staff. He decides to test 3 agents he suspects. He loads his gun with blanks and then calls them in to his office. He sits down the first agent and asks him: Chief: "Are you a patriot?" Agent: "Yes sir, I am." Chief: "Do you love more, your country or your family?" Agent: "My country sir!" Chief: "Alright, take this gun and head into that room. Inside waiting is your wife and you need to kill her with this gun." The agent gently picks up the gun off the table and walks into the room. One minute of silence later and the agent returns with a defeated look on his face. Agent: "I can't do it sir, I don't have what it takes." Chief: "You are dismissed." The same line of questioning repeats with the next agent. The agent then picks up the gun and walks in the room where his wife is waiting. Three minutes pass without a sound being made. He returns with an angry look and says: Agent: "I won't do it sir, this isn't right." Chief: "You are dismissed." Next agent comes and the same line of questioning is repeated. He grabs the gun and walks into the room where his wife is waiting. Not five seconds pass and you hear BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Then some loud banging, things falling over, grunts and heavy breathing followed by a faint squeal and finally complete silence. The agent returns with his clothes wrinkled and his hair messed up. He puts the now empty gun on the table and says: Agent: "Sir, for some reason the gun fired blanks so I had to strangle her."   Why did the traitor wear two watches? Because he's a two timer.   Why did Lenin mark the names of traitors with? at the end? Because they question Marx   Berel, John and Achmed were sentence to death by a firing squad because of treason to the state. Berel was the first up. the general gave the command to his soldiers to shoot. “Ready..Aim...” Then Berel suddenly shouted “EARTHQUAKE!!” All the soldiers hid for cover and Ben escaped. John was next. “Ready...Aim...” Then John Screamed “TSUNAMI!!” The soldiers hid for cover again and they lost John as well. The last was Achmed. “Ready...Aim...” Then Achmed suddenly shouted “FIRE!”   What do you call a traitor who is deaf in one ear? A mute-in-ear   Where is Benedict Arnold's favorite place to shop for groceries? Traitor Joe's Why did the traitor wear two watches? Because he's a two timer. What did the jungle bird say to his friend after being betrayed? "Toucan play this game..." Oyyy… *************************************** The answer to this week”s question is C-  Ok after a lousy streak here, things are finally starting to pick up, as I got this one right. A desert in Israel is not made out of sand as I point out to my tourists. It's also not a place that's barren. In fact in the Torah we find that it is a good place to graze animals, which a desert certainly isn't. Rather a midbar is more like a wilderness and is defined by the lack of rainfall there, which is really only a few days a year and less than 200 mm of water. The second part of the question was also pretty easy as the Israel trails runs across the country from Tel Dan in north to the shore of Eilat. It's not a straight line but rather goes to historical and beautiful nature sites and is a few months. Soooo I finally got both right picking up my score to now Rabbi Schwartz 12 Ministry of Tourism 7 on this exam so far, which should me back in passing range.

Soldiers and Sheep- Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5783- 2023

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

September 8^th, 2023 -Volume 12 Issue 48 22^nd of Elul 5783

 

Parshat Nitzavim- Va’Yelech

Soldiers and Sheep

“Men to the right. Women to the left”. When the words came out of Ari’s mouth there was an awkward silence. Here he was standing on the hills of Judea with a gun tucked comfortably in his belt and standing before a group of about 20 German couples and singles. But these weren’t “stam” Germans. These were grandchildren of former Nazis that were standing before him. What were they doing there? Ari himself wasn’t exactly sure. It was as if he was still in a dream. A dream that was in fact the fulfillment of the prophecies that Isaiah, Yirmiya and Tzidkiya had seen so many millennia ago.

 See, Ari was a nice boy from Texas who together with his partner Jeremy had decided that it was time to not only live the dream of moving to Israel, but in fact to become part of creating the dream of settling the land where the dream had not yet actualized. They came out to the hilltops on the outskirts of Judea and Jerusalem, on the mountains that overlook the Dead Sea and Jordan, right on the top of Nachal Arugot in Ein Gedi. But wayyyy on top. There they lived for months in caravans without electricity or running water and with the permission of the government set up shop for their new homes. They were settling the land and they had dreams.

 The government had given them these permits not as a residential living, as the rest of the world gets all nervous when Jews settle in our ancestral homeland. Rather they were there to create a tourist visitors site that would protect the governments nature reserve from the illegal Arab and Bedouin encroachment. They were “rangers” if you will who were permitted to live on site with their families, as their presence would prevent the Arabs from taking over more and more of the hilltops with their sheep and illegal settlements. The world really didn’t have a problem with the Arabs doing that it seems.

 Over the last few years Ari, Jeremy, Yossi and one other friend of theirs have built and created a virtual paradise there. They have lovely homes, there is a natural modern ecological pool that is so so cool and looks like Gan Eden. They have vineyards, olive orchards and herds of sheep and goats they raise and shepherd in the same hills that King David did.

 Their next big project was the shul that they had dreamed of building, and they weren’t sure how they were going to make it happen. That was at least until Klaus and his friends pulled up to their hilltop in their bus and introduced themselves. They told him that they were a small group of descendants of Nazi’s that were carpenters and handymen, and they are haunted and horrified of the atrocities committed by their grandparents and their countrymen. They understood that they could never set things right. Yet, they felt that if in some way they could be part of building and restoring the nation that their ancestors had attempted to destroy, that it would in someway serve as a restoration of justice and an atonement for themselves. It would break them free of this cycle of terror and horror that their zaydies committed against ours. And thus, they were offering their services to have any part and be allowed to participate in settling the furthest new Jewish settlement in Judea.

 “Bitte- please.. allow us to help.” Allow us to restore you.  

 And so they did. The shul was being built rock by rock that was quarried out of these ancient hills at the summit of the hill. The highest point of the settlement as a shul was meant to be built at. The women that had joined the group were charged with clearing the lower hills and planting the vineyards and olive orchards. And so, Ari, found himself giving those instructions after breakfast and their daily Torah study where he shared with them the words of the prophets they were actualizing. The words of the children of Esau/ Edom joining with the descendants of Yishmael and building homes and places of worship in the 2000-year barren and desolate hills of Yehuda that were once full of laughter and life.

 “Men to the right- up the hill to the shul and women to the left down to the fields.”.

 Those directions and division that had meant the death of 6 million of our ancestors, that divided up families, were now being used to rebuild. Pakod Pakadati- Hashem had brought us home and turned the curse into the blessing. The Nazi grandchildren appreciated the irony. A burst of laughter sounded out and Am Yisrael Chai was heard and sung and echoed through these ancient hilltops once again.

 This week’s two Torah portions, the last to be read this year before Rosh Hashna next Shabbos, begin with a list of our entire nation standing before Moshe and entering into the covenant; the bris between us and Hashem.

 Atem nitzavim Hayom kulchem- You are all standing today, all of you-

Leaders, elders, officers, men, women, children, converts from the most educated to the simplest, from the most knowledgeable to the most ignorant. All of us.

 L’avrechah b’bris Hashem Elokecha u’valaso- to pass us through the covenant of Hashem our God and his oath.

What does it mean to pass us through a covenant? Rashi notes this strange phrase and describes it as the ancient way that treaties were made. They would have a demarcation on two sides and then the parties would walk between the divide. One by one…

 The great Chasidic Rebbi Reb Kloynamus Kalman Epstien known better by his incredible sefer that he wrote the Me’or V’Shemesh, points out that we don’t find anywhere, in fact that we passed through a covenant of this sort. As well he notes that the proper grammatical terminology would be the plural “l’avrechem- that we pass through”, rather than the singular l’avrechah. Just as the previous verse utilizes the  plural form of ‘atem’ and ‘kulchem’.

 He answers with an insight that he had heard from his Rebbi, the Toldos Yaakov Yosef, that the ‘Ha’yom- today’ that the verse is referring to is Rosh Hashana. It is on Rosh Hashana that we pass through a line each year on this day, as we know and recite in Nesaneh Tokef we

 Overim lifanecha K’vnei maron- we pass before You like the children of Maron.

Like sheep going through the gate of the shepherd and being counted, the Talmud tells us.

 Yet fascinatingly enough the Talmud tells us that when that count happens, we are all surveyed

Ba’sekira achas- with one glance. In one judgement.

 What does that mean? Are we being judged individually? Are we walking through one-by-one? Or are we all looked at together. Are we all in the same boat?

 Whenever I say these words on Rosh Hashanah-and I don’t think this is only true for me, I believe that the vivid imagery of the judgement on this day of Rosh Hashana conjures up not just sheep going through a gate, but us each standing on line.

 Men to the right women to the left- or at least on Rosh Hashana it’s righteous to the right and sinners to the left. It’s one by one. We’re standing before the King and awaiting to see what our judgment will be this year. Who will live and who will die. Who by fire and who by water. Who will be rich and who will be poor, who will get married, who will be born, who will have peace, tranquility and nachas and who nebach won’t… We’re on the defendants stand and frighteningly we know we’re guilty as sin.

 It’s what our nation felt after we heard all the curses and punishments in last week’s parsha of the tochacha that is always read two weeks before Rosh Hashana. It’s the parsha when we got on line right out of the cattle cars and one by one faced the judge, the “Doctor”, the King, that would be pointing to the right or the left. There are guards standing on both sides of us. There’s no where to run and hide. We just make our way to the front of the line and await our fate. Our judgement…We passed through the Bris- that covenant of fire and fear- the oath and the curses we would be subjected to for not following the commandments when we read the parsha last week and we do that ‘Ha’Yom’.- each Rosh Hashana. Like sheep to the slaughter.

 Yet this week the parsha tells us that we are still standing. Each and everyone of us on that line. And Moshe tells us that there is another way to look at that line that we are on. It’s not a death gauntlet. We haven’t fallen. We haven’t gone to the chambers. We are standing tall and proud. And we are standing together. Rather the line that we are standing on and walking between is a red carpet where the soldiers of King David are walking down to greet the King.

 The Talmud tells us that there is another interpretation of the word Bnai Maron. Rashi on that Talmud explains that it is a term of royalty- Mar or adon- great men. When we are marching together on Rosh Hashana then we are as well passing through a crowd lined up on both sides. Yet it is not a concentration camp line but rather it is as if we are standing and marching on the airport tarmac where the presidential Air Force One plane is landing. The King is going to becoming off that plane and we are marching one-by-one down the aisle to greet Him.

When we march like that than despite the fact that some of us are Rabbis, some are scholars, some are saints and some are sinners. Some are old and some are young, some are wood choppers and others are in Hi-Tech, or are tour guides, falafel makers, taxi drives, or even- dare I say members of the Knesset. Yet, we are all viewed and judged as one. It’s one big green army of Dovid that is marching together- singularly passing through that line.

 Do you know who is standing on the sides that we are passing through? It is the nations of the world. It is the media. It is the United Nations. It is the grandchildren of Nazis. They are watching and waiting for us to reveal the King.

 The Me’or Va’Shemesh homiletically reads the words

Sekira achas- that we are all being surveyed if we are revealing the achas- the Oneness of our mission.

The Oneness of our King. The Oneness of the world that connects us all together. When we do that then the entire world will join us. They will build our shuls, our palaces, the Bais Ha’Mikdash will be the “bais tefilla l’kol ha’amim- the place of worship and connection for all nations. His Kingdom will reign on the entire world, as our prayers on Rosh Hashana repeatedly pine for.

 Yet, it is even deeper than that. Do you know what language we speak in this country of ours? Hebrew. The word Hebrew comes of course from the ivrit which of course is a reference to the first title our forefather was given Avraham Ha’ivri- Abraham the Hebrew. Why is he called a Hebrew? The famous Rashi there tells us that he was one side- eyver ,while the rest of the world was on the other… Fascinatingly enough this happened in the dor haflaga- the generation of the “great Divide”, when the world was building a tower to rage war against the One God. They were as well trying to bridge the divide but to destroy the one-ness of Hashem from revealing itself in this world.

 Their punishment? There would be different languages that would be spoken. There would not be one united language that would connect us to Hashem. Each of them would go on to creating gods within their own individual images. Language and words of course being the method that Hashem created the world. Hashem did that in Hebrew- in Lashon Ha’Kodesh. There one Hebrew left though. Avraham Ha’ivri was on the other side and we his descendants were chosen to carry on that legacy and that holy language.

 Yet perhaps there is another reason that he and therefore we are called Hebrews. Perhaps he was thus named because he was the first one to be ohver in the bris- he passed through the covenant of the pieces, when Hashem promised him that his descendants- us, would inherit the land after our exile to Egypt. Avraham is the one that proudly passes through the two sides and unites the world under the one King, and we his descendants as well pass through that same treaty.

 Our history is one of passing through the sides. We passed through the two sides of the sea when we left Egypt and we passed through the Jordan River when it split as well upon entering the land. The parsha repeatedly uses this word- check it out. We are being charged to march forward, while on the right and left us Creation and the nations of the world stand at attention. Va’yavo Melech Ha’kavod- and the King of Glory will then come down.

 We never went like sheep to the slaughter in the Holocaust. The proud nation of Hashem went into the gas chambers between the lines of our enemies singing Ani Maamin with total faith. Story after story, book after book have been written and told of these “soldiers of the army of Dovid” that marched forward declaring Shema Yisrael with their final words…on this world. Yet, eternally those words were now being spoken here in Judea by the descendants of these same monsters who tried to destroy us. Returned to the land of Avraham Ha’ivri’s descendants.

 This is the final parsha that we read before Rosh Hashana when we again line up like sheep to be counted. Ari counts his sheep every day to make sure that none of them have been stolen or missing. They are holy sheep that are settling the land-as fascinatingly enough even the local Arabs and Bedouin thieves respect that each settler is allowed land for their personal grazing, and they will not encroach upon it. They recognize that only because we have returned as Bnai Maron, as shepherds and as soldiers. We have come to settle, come to live, but more importantly we have come to build shuls, to build a palace for Hashem. We have come to declare Hashem Echad and the children of Esau and Yishmael will join us. They are standing on the sidelines waiting for us all to unite. For this Rosh Hashana to be the final one, when we are just reimagining the service in the Temple.

  Sometimes it takes tragedy and curses fulfilled to make us realize that we are all one and all soldiers. We’ve had plenty of those and yet we are still standing. We read last parsha, our sages tell us, in order to fulfill the curses through our reading. Tichleh shana v’kililoseha- the year should end as should its curses and tragedies. We read this week’s parsha to remind us that those curses and tragedies that united us will have the power to transform us from sheep to soldiers. We’re Hebrews. We’re Yisrael. Now we just need our King.

 Have an amazing last Shabbos of the year,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Az men shert di shaf, tsitteren di lemmer” - When the sheep are shorn, the lambs tremble

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

 

5. The name of the emperor in whose name the port of Caesarea was founded, is___________.

According to the scripture, which of the following occurred in Caesarea?

A. The surrendering of Flavius Josephus (Yosef ben Matityahu)

B. Peter's vision

C. The execution of Rabbi Akivah

D. The baptism of Paul (Paulus)

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqSgW9t7Br0  – Check out my friend Ari and his buddies here in Chaan Arugot and the views… and their stories…

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/ponecha-your-face - It’s here... My latest Elul composition… I don’t know how you found any meaning in this month without this song…Dovid Lowy arrangements and Vocals amazing hartzig!! Listen again and again every day of Elul left..

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/lulay-heamanti-kavey  - Maybe you experienced  Elul with song until now- as well the extra psalm we add l’dovid… enjoy my Lulay He’amanti..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efe9cvtZUts  –The Lubavitcher Rebbi on Shabbos before Rosh Hashana

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh8J2YQUb_E   – But to be honest.. Eitan Katz really as the song of the week with his Ki Karov…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sYZTrakX7Y    – Singing Shuvi Nafshi by the grave of Reb Shlomo where I was this past week…

 

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

 

The King’s Watch- As we said last week, Athalia the wicked daughter of Achav ruled for 7 years after wiping out her own grandchildren that would’ve taken her place. Yet, Yehoash the child of Achazya is hidden by his aunt and guarded over by the High Priest Yehoyada in the Temple. At age 7 it was time for him to take the kingdom. In order to make this happen Yehoyada needed allies and for that he called up the Kohanim of the watch to protect the new king.

 

Going back to the times of Moshe we are told that there were shifts of Kohanim that would serve in the Mishkan and then the Beit Ha’Mikdash. Moshe established 8, Shmuel another 8 and ultimately Dovid established the final 8 making the total of 24. Each Mishmar would serve for a half a month from Shabbos to Shabbos and they would be charged with doing the service in the Temple. Each of the Mishmarot would be divided up by families called Ma’amados so that everyone would get a chance to serve. It was these groups that Yehoyada marshalled to his cause. He took some of the Mishmar Kohanim from the previous week as well as the ones not serving in the Mikdash. They divided the groups up to guard the Temple, the palace gates and to keep a lookout. And with the king protected the reign could be declared.

 

The Mishmarot were a very significant part of our life and Judaism that we lost. In the times of the return of Ezra and Nechemia only 4 families returned from Galus. Can you imagine that? Staying in Exile when you have the opportunity not only to return to Israel, but to even serve in the Mikdash. Even after the destruction of the Temple, when most of the Mishmarot moved up North to the Galil we find that the synagogues from the periods of the Temple contained Mosaic floors with the names of the Mishmarot. Shuls with those inscriptions were found in Ashkelon, Caesarea, and in Kissufim and even in a shul found in Yemen!

 

As well, although we’re probably only familiar with the mishmarot and their names from a piyyut or two on Tisha B’Av, yet we have found throughout the generations many piyyutim that seemed to be dedicated to the Mishmarot that were regularly recited. In the period of the Rishonim they were recited each Shabbos. And in the famous Cairo Geniza there were piyyutim that dated back to the Byzantine period that were recited.

 

Now although we like to think of Kohanim of the Mishmar as being holy priest dedicated with the spiritual. Here we find that they become Priests with guns. They’re given weapons and put on the guard of the new king. Yet, this shouldn’t be a wonder though. The Kohanim and tribe first of Levi first got their job by taking up the swords after the sin of the Golden Calf and killing their fellow brothers who had sinned. The service of Hashem demands full dedication and putting your life on the line is what gets them their job. As well the Chashmonaim are Kohanim and perhaps that’s why as well l’havdil the Crusaders stole and distorted the concept from.

 

Yet here, they do what they need to and next week we will welcome the new king.

 

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE JEWISH SOLDIER JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 

A general asks a Dudi his new recruit in the army . “Young soldier, what will you do if you see 20 soldiers coming to attack you? T

Dudi answered “that I would take an Uzi and shoot them”.

The general asks him what if a tank is coming to kill you?

I would take a rocket launcher and defend myself replied the young soldier.

The general asks him what if you see tanks, terrorists and planes together?

The soldier says, general, am I the only one in the army?

 

Berel, Yankel and Moishe are about to be executed by firing squad. The sergeant in charge asks each one whether he wants a blindfold.

“Yes,” says Berle, in a resigned tone.

“OK,” says Yankel, in a quiet voice.

“And what about you?” he enquires of Moishe.

“No,” he says, “I don’t want your lousy blindfold,” followed by a few choice curses.

 Yankel immediately leans over to him and whispers: “Listen, Moshe, take a blindfold. Don’t make trouble.”

 

The commanding officer at the Russian military academy 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 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???"

 

 

During the Six-Day War, the enemies of Israel identified a hill of great strategic importance, and when they realized it was guarded by a lone Israeli soldier, they sent in a platoon to attack immediately. Thirty minutes later, the whole platoon had been captured by the lone Israeli.

As they were being led away, their lieutenant remarked,

“I gotta admit, you Israelis are tough.”

“You think I’m tough? You should meet my husband!”

 

Deep in the desert. Mehmet, an Arab fighter (or militant, if you will) chases an Israeli soldier, let's call him Moshe, with an AK47 gun. Mehmet closes on Moshe and starts firing at him but misses. The chase continues through the desert, there's quite a lot of firing from Mehmet and quite a lot of bullet dodging from Moshe. At one point Mehmet's gun refuses to fire - Mehmet's out of ammunition.

Moshe hears the clicking of the empty gun, turns triumphantly to Mehmet and says: "Out of bullets, huh? Wanna buy some?"

 

Rabbi Landau was, as usual, standing near the shul exit shaking hands as his congregation left. But as Max was leaving, Rabbi Landau grabbed his hand, pulled him aside and said, "Max, I think you need to join the Army of God!"

"But I'm already in God’s Army, Rabbi," said Max.

"So how come I don't see in shul except on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?" said Rabbi Landau.

Max whispered, "I'm in the secret service."

 

Berel was a new oleh who just enlisted in the army and after a few weeks was feeling kind of homesick and asked the Commanding Officer for a 3 day pass.

The CO says, "Are you crazy? You just joined the Israeli army, and you already want a 3 day pass? You must do something spectacular for that recognition!"

So the soldier comes back a day later in an Arab tank! The CO was so impressed, he asked,

"How did you do it?"

"Well, I jumped in a tank, and went toward the border with the Arabs. I approached the border, and saw an Arab tank. I put my white flag up, the Arab tank put his white flag up. I said to the Arab soldier, 'Do you want to get a 3 day pass?' So we exchanged tanks!"

 

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The answer to this week”s question is C – Got this one right, but not necessarily because I knew the correct answer. As far as the fill-in-the-blank portion, I just went with Agustus. When in doubt Agustus is a good guess. There were a few of them. The correct answer was Augustus Octavius, but believe just answering Augustus is good enough. As far as part two of the question. So of course I knew that Rabbi Akiva was killed there. I guide there all the time. Many of the Harugie Malchus were murdered there in the amphitheater to the blood-thirsty crowds that watched lustily. Yet, the question said scripture and Rabbi Akia is certainly not in scripture, so that’s what gave me pause as I thought it might have been a trick question.

 

Yet, surprisingly since I knew that Josephus’s surrender took place in Yodefat, Peter’s supposed vision was by the Banias, and Paul was most likely I guessed toiveled in the Jordan River (although I was wrong about that one- it was in Damascus), so by process of elimination I went with Rabbi Akiva and assumed that they made a mistake in translation of the question to English writing scripture rather than just writings. And I was correct. So I got this right and feel kind of weird that I knew all the xtian answers- well at leasat I got the Paul one wrong… So BH I deleted some of the info from my brain… on the other hand maybe I never really got it in the first place. So the score is now Rabbi Schwartz having a 3.5 point and the MOT having 1.5 point as we start this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.