Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
July
10th 2015 -Volume 5, Issue 35 23rd
Tamuz 5775
Parshat Pinchas
Grandpa "Joe's" Values
Avi was my
cab driver as I was heading back home after a long few days on the road touring.
There’s nothing like Israeli cab drivers to truly give you the full flavor and
"feeling on the street" of our country and I always relish my time
spent in those cabs to get the "real scoop" about what's going on.
"Medina
Metumtemet" he began- An insane country
(say that word 5 times forcefully and you'll appreciate what a great word it is
to describe insanity-I'll translate the rest for you though). If I had my way
I'd get out of here tomorrow and move to Seattle . I tried explaining to him
that there were only 5 kosher restaurants here and all of them are vegetarian
and he certainly would have to kiss his Shwarmas a sad Shalom, but he just
continued on his tirade.
"My
son was just enlisted in the army to become an officer and I told him that he
should move out before serving in this army".
"I
myself," he shared, "served in 56',
67', Yom Kippur, and in Lebanon I and was honored to fight for our country the
dream of a Jewish homeland. But today none of it has meaning anymore. All the
blood that's been shed feels as if it's meaningless. When I was a solider the
cardinal rule was that if someone was captured we would lose thirty men if we
had to but no one was ever going to be left behind. But today this country has
lost its sense of pride and honor. We trade land for just more terror and our
soldiers are just expendable pawns to further the political ambitions of our
"leaders". Our young boys have to go into terrorist houses and warn
them, putting the protection of Hamas’s women and children above the protection
and safety of our own. We lost 67 of our children last summer because we
refused to blow them up from the air. Our enemies know this and are using it to
kill more and more of us. Lot threw his
daughters out to the street and the mob but at least it was to protect angels.
Who are we sending our sons out to the mob to protect? Is that who and what my
son should give his life up for- the fear of a UN resolution or a world
condemnation that will come no matter what happens whatever we do? For a Medina
Metumtemet?!
I left his
cab feeling sad. The experience unfortunately wasn't a unique one in the cab
drives that I have taken since I have moved here. Israelis seem incredulous
that there are Americans that want to make Aliya? They think of us as
ideological naïve “Fryers”. People that were sold a bill of goods. People that
don’t know what this country is really about. Perhaps as a result of this
impression, they feel that we’re easy marks. Maybe we are. How did this happen?
How could people who have sacrificed so much for an ideal not have the ability
to pass those values down to the next generation; the next generations of
leaders and the next generation of children?
In truth
this is not just a question about the State of Israel and post-Zionism.
It's a question we each have to ask ourselves in all area of our values.
How can we pass them down to our children? Is there anything we can do to set a
foundation to see that those things that are important to us will be carried on
and be an everlasting eternal legacy?
This week’s
Torah portion tells us about a family that was able to do that. We are
introduced to what were perhaps the first pre-Zionists, the Daughters of
Tzelofchad.
And the
daughters of Tzelofchad, son of Chefeir, son of Gilad, son of Machir, son of
Menashe, son of Yosef drew near (to Moshe, the leaders and all of the people of
Israel).
They then
requested that they should be granted a portion of the land of Israel as an
inheritance and legacy of their father who had died without sons, rather then
just marrying and sharing in their husband’s portion.
"Why
should our father's portion be lessened?"
Rashi notes
the strange, lengthy and seemingly insignificant introduction of the family tree
of these women that gets traced back to their great-great-great-great
grandfather (that’s grandfather to the fourth degree). And he explains that the
Torah was sharing with us the incredible source and nature of their request.
“Just as
their grandfather Joseph loved the land of Israel -as he in his dying request
he asked that his bones be carried up from Egypt to be buried in Israel- so to
his granddaughters acted and requested out of that same love for the land.”
How
fascinating! Can any of us claim that we have and act out of the same desire
that our grandfathers have? Do we even know their names? Where they
lived? How did they manage to do this? Rav Moshe Feinstien suggests the answer
is that not only was their knowledge and ancestry so integral to their own
self-identity, but they lived by a mandate to carry on those values and even to
enhance and translate them into something that they could call their own. These
daughters were going to live in the land of Israel regardless. They were going
to live the dream grandpa Yosef had only dreamed of. But that wasn't enough for
them. They understood that for the values to be transmitted further they had to
do something more. They had to have their own portion, their family's portion,
the piece of land and heritage that they could tell their children this is what
we did to show our love and dedication. Not just sit back and rely on the love
and vision of their grandfathers.
We all have
traditions values and legacies we hope and wish will be carried on after us.
But the question we have to ask ourselves is what have we done and are we
willing to do to make sure they get passed down. Is our Shabbat the same as our
parents and grandparents or are we making them more meaningful and enhancing
them? Are our values about morality, right and wrong being practiced, enhanced
and reflected as we believe they should be or are we too swayed by the easy
route of going with the flow and society and not fighting the fight (as did the
Daughters of Tzelofchad) to bring those values to reality. Do we pay lip
service to our Torah study and significance of prayer or are our prayers and
learning growing in devotion and meaning as we wish and know they should be?
I turned to
Avi in my cab before I got out and asked him that question. Is the Medina
Metumtemet or is it perhaps the people who have inherited that land not
doing what it takes to make it into a Medina Muvcheret-a Chosen land?
The land has not changed. Sadly we have. We've lost our appreciation and
dedication to making it the place it should be. We received a gift and we put
it away and didn't raise it and transform it into that special holy heritage it
was meant to be. We let it become a place that we could get buried in and
didn't turn it into the place our children will appreciate and have awe for as
the place where we can get closest to God; the homeland that will be the light
for the world and the harbinger of the Redemption and return of the shechina.
This week we
began the three week period of mourning for the destruction of the Temples over
2000 years ago. We mourn today not only for the destruction millennia ago but
for the destruction and for our failure to merit its rebuilding today. As we
start this process once again this year it might pay for us to ask ourselves
the questions of what that destruction means to us and what it should mean to
us. And then perhaps we should ask ourselves the most important question of
all; what are we prepared to do about it? May this be the last year we have to
go through this process and may we soon merit to live that dream of the
Yosef and his granddaughters in Eretz Yisrael.
Have
a awe-inspiring Shabbos,
,
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
**********************************
***************************
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
Beautiful Yerushalayim song by Malchus Choir (all vocal)
Heartwrenching father at son’s funeral singing
Entebee Raid in Cartoon!
***********
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
While in the states I picked up a great book with yiidsh quotes and
wisdom and I have always wanted to teach my kids Yiddish so here we go each
week another great proverb in yiddish maybe you guys will learn it too!!
“Fun
naches lebt men nit; fun tsores shtarbt men nit”- One isn’t
kept alive from joy and one doesn’t’ die from troubles.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FAVORITE QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“People who wonder whether the he
glass is half empty or half full miss the point – the glass is refillable"— Anonymous
" People who argue whether the glass
is half empty or half full are probably not thirsty.” ― Ljupka
Cvetanova
“Men see themselves
in women’s eyes; women trust the mirror.” ― Ljupka Cvetanova
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S
TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
(New exam this week these questions are from the
most recent tour guide exam-let’s see how I do)
answer below at end of Email
The statement “{the
laws of} Purity spread throughout Israel, can be shown at
A.
Tel
Arad
B.
The
Herodian Quarter
C.
Beit
Shean
D.
Tel
Lachish
.RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL MIDRASH OF THE WEEK
The Midrash discusses the daughters of Tzlefchad
coming to Moshe and the reasons why he turned to Hashem for the answer to their
question about inheriting the land of Israel rather than answer it himself. One
Midrash suggests that Hashem hid the answer from Moshe because when Moshe was
giving the laws about the court system he said “any difficult decision shallbe
brought to me.” Rather than saying that the people should ask him and he would
ask Hashem. Hashem said “Oh you think you know it all… Here is a law that even
a woman will know better than you.” Another Midrash suggests that Moshe
deffered the law to Hashem in his humility because since all the other judges
in the lower courts didn’t know the law he decided to also show humility and
defer to Hashem. The last Midrash which to me is the most inspirational is that
because they had said that their father was not one of those that had died in
the sin of Korach who had challenged Moshe, So Moshe felt that might influence
his judgement so he had to recuse himself. Which is fascinating as the group of
Korach was only 250 men. There were another few million people as well that had
not been involved. But that slight knowledge that they weren’t from the worst
people that had been swallowed up by the ground was enough to possible
influence his judgement. Wow!
****************
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S COOL THINGS TO DO IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Host or be hosted by random strangers that are
your family – This
is a country filled with Yeshiva students, seminary girls, and students that are
looking to experience “Israel” and with many Jewish families that remember
fondly their days of being in those same shoes. The Yeshiva/ seminary foods if
they are even provided for on Shabbos are nothing to write home about so there
is lots of opportunity to have the most amazing Shabbos experiences by sharing
them with families and fulfilling that most Jewish mitzvah of Hachnasat
Orchim/welcoming guests-just like our Patriarch Avraham and Sarah. It is really
amazing to be able to have these idealistic young men and women share their
thoughts about Israel and their future and with us and it is so much fun to
share our families with them. Some of them even bring a bottle of wine or cake
others bring some flowers that I can’t eat L. But all of them bring that
special Jewish flavor to our Shabbos tables as we share with them our
experiences here in Israel. How do you hook-up? Many schools have people in
charge of making Shabbat matches and today we have thanks to my good friend
Rabbi Klatzkow Shabbat.com an awesome website that helps people “find their
Challah”. And that is really cool!
******************
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HALF GLASS JOKES OF THE WEEK
The optimist
says the glass is half full.
The
pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The project
manager says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
And the
cynic... wonders who drank the other half.
The school
teacher says it's not about whether the glass is half empty or half full, it's
whether there is something in the glass at all.
The worn out
mother of a persistently demanding five-year-old says sweetheart it's whatever
you want it to be, just please let mummy have five minutes peace and quiet.
The consultant
says let's examine the question, prepare a strategy for an answer, and all for
a daily rate of...
The
inquisitive troublemaker wants to know what's in the glass anyhow... and wants
the rest of it.
The
homebuilder sees the dirty glass, washes and dries it, then puts it away in a
custom oak and etched glass cabinet that he built himself using only hand
tools.
The worrier
frets that the remaining half will evaporate by next morning.
The fanatic
thinks the glass is completely full, even though it isn't.
The
entrepreneur sees the glass as undervalued by half its potential.
The computer
specialist says that next year the glass capacity will double, be half the
price, but cost you 50% more for me to give you the answer.
The boss
expects the half-empty glass to be filled in half the time it took to fill half
the glass, at half the going rate.
The drill
sergeant says make the glass do push-ups until it sweats itself full!!!
The police
officer says: "I'll ask the questions."
The
opportunist says, "Thanks, folks! While you were debating it, I drank
it."
The
marketing professional convinces the buyer that what's left is more valuable
than the first half.
The
politician says that under the last government the glass was half-empty, and
becoming emptier, but thanks to his own party's new leadership, the glass is
definitely now half-full, and becoming fuller; but if the other party were to
return to power, the glass would once again undoubtedly empty rapidly.
The
economist says let market forces decide.
The
call-centre operator asks if you'd mind holding while she finds out for you.
(Your call is important to them...)
The IT
support person asks if you've tried emptying the glass and then refilling it.
The
insomniac will be up all night wrestling with the question.
The
existentialist wonders what is the point of the question.
The nihilist
breaks the glass.
The glass
half-full person is optimistic the barman is still serving.
Google would
try to find out for you in under 0.48 seconds.
The activist
stages a protest either way.
The agnostic
says: I accept both propositions to be neither true nor untrue until solid
proof one way or the other becomes available.
The feminist
says: Seeing the glass as half-empty or half-full has to do with equity or lack
thereof. Surely, we see this as a sore gender issue. For women, the glass has
always been empty to half-empty. For men, on the other hand, the glass has
always been half-full to full.
And Last but
not least Rabbi Schwartz says- It’s not about whether the glass is half full or
half empty, it's about who is paying for the next round.
****************
Answer
is B: The Talmud in Shabbat makes that
statement in reference to the period of time of the 2nd Temple. It
gives an example of how the Kohen and others who would be strict about eating
their food in a state of ritual purity would only eat together with those that
had no suspicion of being impure. There’s a tragic and fascinating story in the
Talmud about how two Kohens were fighting for the right to bring an offering
and and one pulled out a knife and and slaughtered the other one. The father of
the boy who was dying quickly ran and pulled out the knife in order that the
knife would not become impure before the boy died. The Talmud makes the
statement to depict the period of time of destruction where some people were
more concerned about purity that the sanctity of life. Ouch! Anyways I tell
this story as do many tour guides- though not nearly as good as I do J- in the Herodian Quarter underneath the Old city of
Jerusalem. There one can see the many Mikvas and the many stone vessels- which
as opposed to earthenware- do not become impure with contact of the someone or
something impure. There may have been stone vessels found in Arad- I’m not sure
but it was a Jewish settlement and even had a fake temple there. Maybe in Tel
Lachish as well. But Jerusalem in the Herodian Quarter is definitely the place
to talk about this as it is the story of the corruption and misplaced values of
the priests/kohanim that lived there before the Destruction.
