Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
November 6th 2020 -Volume
11 Issue 4 19th Cheshvan 5781
Parshat Vayeira
The Candidate Test
I'm writing this before there is any conclusion to the 'balagan'
elections in country of my birth, despite the declarations of some
candidates or talking heads. (And you guys were making fun of the Israeli
elections that never seemed to end.) It's the day after, and the only thing
that is clear is that half of the most powerful country in the world is about
to very disappointed and the other half is going to be ecstatic. What that will
lead to, who knows? Will there be a civil war? Will there be riots and
protests? Will there be prolonged Supreme Court deliberations questioning the
results, the legitimacy of the elections and maybe even the fitness for office
of whatever candidate wins which will just be a lead up to all the criminal
charges, impeachment efforts and scandals that will emerge once whoever wins
takes office? The only thing that is certain is that the Jews will be in the
middle of it all. We always are. We're on the wrong side, because generally
we're on both sides and that's never good enough and the angry losing side
never differentiates. That's despite all the rallies and the signs on your
lawn. It's time to make Aliyah brothers and sisters. It's time to come home.
But we've all been infected with election. I think it may turn out
to be more lethal than Corona. There aren't too many people that I know that haven't
been following this thing and that don't have hopes and won't feel either
disappointed or delighted with the votes, that won't be either sitting shiva
or making a Kiddush when this is all done. That is except for my wife who
figures I'm tapped in enough for the both of us and she's too busy with her
clothing business as the breadwinner for the family and mother too. Oh and
Yonah too who barely even knows there's an election going on. It wasn't in the sugya
he's learning in yeshiva these days and that's all that really interests him.
But for the rest of us we've got the disease and thus will have the
post-election emotional after-effect that lasts for who know how long. So what
do we do about it?
Well of course the first place we Jews are meant to look for
solutions is in the Torah. It has the answer and insight for everything that we
need. It's the word of Hashem and each week we are all subscribed to His weekly
E-Mail to us in the form of the parshat hashavuah with the spiritual social
commentary we are meant to have. You can't unsubscribe. So let's take a look at
the theme of both this week and last week's Parsha which turns out is exactly
the message we need, that I need…
The center figure of parsha Lech Lecha last week and Vayeira this
week is of course Avraham Avinu. The central theme of the many diverse stories
are that they all make up what are known by our sages as the asara nisyonos-
the ten tests or trials that he went through. As in all good Jewish things
there's a disagreement how to count that magic number of 10; which stories
count and which don't, although most of them are agreed upon by all. But the
number ten is certainly the right one. Our sages tell us that was in the merit
of the ten tests of Avraham that Pharaoh and the Egyptians suffered the 10
plagues, that we received the 10 commandments and that protected us when we
"tested" or rebelled against Hashem ten times in the wilderness. As
well we are told that the 10 ma'marot, the ten statements that the world
was created with, relate to the 10 tests of Avraham. So "the ten" are
a big deal. The question though asked by all is why they are so important. Why
do they have such eternal impact? And in truth what's really the point of the
test? After-all Hashem knows the future, He knows what's going to happen, He
knows Avraham's good and loyal and will pass them, why test him?
There's an old Jewish rule and game that can be played when you
want to understand the essence of an idea in the Torah. The rule is that the
Hebrew language is a holy one and that the root word and its differing usage
can give you a much deeper clue as what the real definition and the idea it
represents is truly about. What's the game? Let's take the word and its
different permutations and see if we can find the common denominator. And then
maybe we can figure out what it's message is for us.
So the word for test is nisa- to test or nisayon
a test or a trial-not a court trial, but a personal challenge. The word nes
as we all know also means miracle. We say it on Chanukah and it's written on
our dreidel- nes gadol haya po- a great miracle
happened here. Another variation of the same root word can be found in Bamidbar
after the Jews complained about the manna and Hashem sent a plague of serpents
to attack them. There Hashem commanded Moshe to make a serpent of copper
Bamidbar (21:8) v'sim oso al ha'nes- to place
it on a banner or flagpole.
There is one more that I can think of (although if you can think of
more, please share them with me) which is perhaps the oddest stand out and can
hopefully be the clue to it all. And that is the word la'noos or va'yanos-which
means to run away, escape or flee. We find that Yosef ran away from the wife of
Potiphar who was trying to seduce him and that is the word that Torah utilized.
In last week's parsha as well we are told the kings of Sodom and Amora fleeing
from battle and the word used is vayanusu.
Ok so now for the game. What does a test, a miracle, a banner and
escape have in common? Maybe the best way to figure it out is to examine our
original question. What actually are the tests and what are they all about? The
Rambam lists the ten tests as follows
Rambam on Avot (5:3) The ten tests with which Abraham, our father,
was tested are all in the Torah.
1) The first is his
emigration (from his fathers' house) by Hashem's statement - "Lech
Lecha-Go forth from your land, etc."
2) The second one is the famine that was found in the Land of
Canaan when he came there and it was [the land of] his destiny - "and
I will make you into a great nation" And this was a great test…
3) The third was the
injustice of the Egyptians towards him in the taking of Sarah to Pharaoh.
4) The fourth is his fighting against the four kings.
5) The fifth is his taking of Hagar as a wife after he was mi'yoash-
despaired of giving birth through Sarah.
6) The sixth is the
circumcision that he was commanded about in the days of his old age.
7) The seventh is the injustice of the king of Gerar towards him
in his also taking Sarah.
8) The eighth is the expulsion of Hagar after his being built
(having a child) from her.
9) The ninth is the distancing of his son, Yishmael, and Hashem
said, "Let not it be bad in your eyes about the youth…." And
the Torah already testified how this thing was difficult in his eyes, in its
stating, "And the thing was very bad in the eyes of Abraham". Yet
he observed the commandment of God, may He be blessed, and expelled him.
10) And the tenth is the binding of Yitzchak
So there we have all ten. The one that jumped out at me upon
reading it and that I found a common theme in all of them was number 5); the
one where, as the Rambam puts it, he gave up on giving birth from Sarah and
then had to marry Hagar. Maybe it's because I hang around Breslavers too much.
But it troubled me to say that Avraham was mi'yaeish- he gave up hope.
How could the pillar of our faith Avraham give up hope? Doesn't he know the
song ein yiush ba'olam klal- one can never give up hope?
I heard an incredible answer to that question that I believe sheds
light into all of the tests that Avraham had. The answer is that the test actually
was precisely for him to give up hope; to be miya'esh. What do I mean?
Let me explain.
Let's put ourselves in
Avraham's shoes for a minute and go through his life. He finds Hashem at a
young age on his own and he fights the whole world and even is willing to give
his life on that belief and knowledge. He brings thousands close to Hashem and
does everything he believes is correct. He has a plan for how to fulfill his
role in creation by bringing Hashem down to earth and revealing Him to the
world. But then Hashem appears and tells him to forget about it. I want you to
do something else. Go to Israel. Do you know what Hashem is asking him? He's
asking him to give up all his plans. Forget about it. Be mi'yaesh on all
that you had worked and built for the past 50 or more years. That's not my
plan. Listen to my voice and come. And Avraham does.
He comes to the land of Israel. He made Aliyah. Here is where those
new plans will happen. Hashem even told him so. He begins setting up shop. He
loves the country. He feels the holiness. He thinks he finally gets the plan
and he's excited to finally be here in the land that his father had dreamed of
coming to. But then guess what? There's a famine. He has to leave. He has to
make yeridah. He has to be mi'yaesh-give up once again all his
preconceptions. All of his goals. All the excitement he must have felt. I personally
know some people that have sadly had a failed Aliyah experience. There is
nothing more depressing. They had these high hopes and they all come crashing
down. Can they do that? Can they pick themselves up again and start all over
again another time, without those dreams? Avraham does.
Maybe there is a new plan in Egypt. Maybe there are sparks there
that need to be raised. Maybe that's why Hashem is sending me there. The mind
is racing, the desire for holiness is bursting. But then his wife gets
kidnapped. His partner in life. You get upset when you think the election is
stolen from you, how about if your wife
was stolen? He's alone and his wife is who knows where with who knows who doing
who knows what. Can I still rid myself of any notions that I understand? Can I
still raise a banner above my nature and say that I am flying it for Hashem?
Can I run away and escape from all of my preconceived notions about how things
are supposed to work? Avraham does.
Let's jump to number 5). Avraham is back in Israel. Hashem has told
him he will have a child. He waits 10 years for that to happen. It hasn't. His
wife Sarah comes over to him and tells him, "listen honey, Hashem said and
promised that you will have a child that will come from you. He never said it
would come from me as your wife. Can you be m'yaesh- that I will be the
mother of your heir? Can you follow the will of Hashem and marry my maidservant
Hagar and have that child from her?" The nisayon of Avraham
repeatedly was to be mi'ya'esh again and again from every way that he
thought things were supposed to work. It was being faced with disappointment
after disappointment. Let down after let down. Everything he had thought was
turned on its head and he was challenged with it. Could he tune out and escape
from all of his preconceptions of what he thought was the right and important
and even holy thing to was and subjugate himself entirely to the will of
Hashem. Could he continuously make that always changing paradigm shift. If he
could go beyond that natural human ego-centric mindset it would be miraculous.
It would be a neis.
What is a miracle? A miracle is when Hashem breaks the natural way
our illusory world works as if it runs on its own, revealing that it is really His
will that is behind and manipulating it at all times. Do you know what a banner
on a flag pole is? It is something that waves high above the rest of the world
and declares that this territory is under the domain of the one who placed the
banner there. Without the banner it looks hefker-ownerless. Without an
army carrying its flag we have no clue who they are marching for. Without the
red MAGA hats on your head or the signs on your lawns we don't really know who
you are serving. The neis tells me to look at the sign above and you'll comprehend
that what stands below it is all about. And that's precisely what a nisayon
is. It's the test to define for Avraham if what he is doing is because he has
developed his own personal goals, his own set of morals and objectives as holy
and as righteous as they are. Or is it about serving Hashem because that's what
Hashem tells you to do. The test is how we respond when Hashem shifts the
paradigm we always assumed it needed to be.
Why do we get disappointed? Why do we feel excited? Why do we want
to make a Kiddush or why are we angry if we feel something has been stolen from
us? It's because we have our own ideas of how the world is supposed to run.
What will be good for the economy. What will be better for Israel. What will
further Hashem's values on this world. How the epidemic will end. We have the nisyonos
of Avraham daily and certainly in the crazy year of 2020 more than ever. Time
after time Avraham thought he knew what was supposed to be, how it needed to
be. It was never for his own sake. It was always for Hashem's. Or was it? The
way to know is if Hashem shows you that He wants something different. If it was
about Hashem then you are mi'yaesh from your previous plan and go with
the new one. It was never about you doing it anyways. There's no need to feel
upset. In fact, quite the opposite. You have a new mission now. But we need to
be nos- run away from the ego that it has to be "my way" in
order to pass the nisayon and miraculously break out of our nature and
raise up the banner of Hashem in the new circumstance.
Dovid Ha'melech says Hashem is my manos- Hashem is where I
escape to you. He is my place of refuge. He is the place where I can leave
behind all of my preconceived expectations and be protected. Not Biden, Not
Trump, Not Bibi, Not America, Not even Israel. Not with Dr. Fauci. Not with
masks. Not with vaccines. There really is ein od milvado- There really
is no one else we should be rallying for. And frankly- and I speak for and to
myself here as well, there's no one else that should excite us, that we should
make Kiddush for or that we should feel depressed about. Hashem's will is being
done, whichever way this thing will play out- if it ever will play out. Our nisayon
as Avraham's was is to be omeid in the nisayon- to stand in the
test. To stand up without any personal crutches or inclination and understand
that it's all an illusion. Hashem is what stands me up.
It's a test, but we have the ability to stand from it because our
forefather Avraham instilled it in our DNA. His ten tests that broke free from
this world, led to Hashem breaking nature and bringing the ten plagues on
Pharaoh who asked "who is Hashem that I should listen to his voice".
The ten tests are what led to Hashem letting us hear His voice and giving us
the Ten Commandments that reveal the true nature of the world and correspond to
the ten statements Hashem created with that still call out each day from the
fabric of Creation. Those ten tests stood us time and time again when we tested
Hashem in the midbar. When we thought He was running the world wrong.
When He wasn't running it according to the way we thought it should be run,
because we couldn't escape all the rallying we had done and all the eggs we
threw into our own baskets, or the baskets of the Meraglim-spies, of Korach and
all of the other candidates that we thought we needed to bring us to the place
we were meant to. But the tests of Avraham stood us up. They reminded us who we
are. We saw the neis-the banner he raised. We saw the nissim
Hashem preformed for us. And we knew that He is our only manos-the one
that we need to escape to. To run to. Because He is the one that is running it
all and it is His campaign that is ultimately the only one that will win. He's
just waiting to count our ballot for Him. And it's never too late to vote.
Elect to have an truly sublime Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" A
nayer meylekh mit naye gzeyres,-a nay yor mit naye aveyres."- A new king
with new decrees-a new year with new misdeeds."
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
2)The
ruler known as “Abu Nabut” is related to:
A)
Acre
B)
Hebron
C)
Jaffa
D)
Abu Gosh
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCia_m-EVEA – Stumbled upon this song and can't
believe I never heard it before. My favorite singer and friend Moishie
Mendlowitz singing a Ben Tzion Klatzkow song Chanaini Hashem..
https://archive.org/details/ka-ka-corona
– Country Yossi Corona song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMHfHe7yL08 – Beautiful song and story Akeida by Yaakov Wasilowicz-
try not to cry.. I dare you…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4LPkiJrJSI
– Jewish
singers than and now part II Benny Freedman, Avraham Fried, Miami and more..
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE
WEEK
Parshat Vayeira– We have this week the incredible story that changed
the topography of Eretz Yisrael forever in the parsha. I am talking of course
about the creation of the Dead Sea and the destruction of the cities of Sodom
and Amora and the other cities by the fire and brimstone shower that Hashem
wrought upon them. It's hard to imagine what the Torah tells us about how lush
this now fairly barren wasteland once was. In the Torah's words it was like
Egypt by the Nile and it was for that reason that Lot chose to move here with
his herds of sheep. Today as one travels through the Sodom mountains one can
literally see and taste the hills made up of salt and the caves that are there,
that all come from this historic story.
There are a few
very significant things from this story that should give us an appreciation
about Eretz Yisrael and our connection to it from this story. The first is that
Rashi notes that before Hashem destroys these cities he discusses with Avraham.
Does Hashem need the advice of Avraham to do what He feels is necessary? Rashi
give us the answer that we need to always remember.
Bereishis
(18:18) It's not nice for me to do this without his knowledge. I gave him
this land and these five cities are his…
What a
statement. The land is ours, Hashem doesn't feel he can transform the face of
Eretz Yisrael without first talking it over with the father of our nation that
was promised the land! And so He does. After all before you turn somebodies
lush green vegetable garden backyard into a salt mine you schmooze it over
first. But it's much deeper than that. For Rashi continues, as does the verse, and
tells us it is because Avraham will teach his children to be righteous and just
after him. What does the fact that Avraham will educate have to do with the
destruction of Sodom.
The answer can
be found perhaps by answering another question that one of my tourists one time
asked me. Why is that Hashem decided to make the lowest place on the planet
earth in Eretz Yisrael; the Dead Sea area. There must be some significance to
this right? The answer is because the entire function of the world and
particularly Eretz Yisrael is to "build Hashem a dwelling place in the lower
spheres- the tachtonim". Hashem had enough of all of that angel music
upstairs. He's not a big fan of harp music and halos- He wanted some Carlebach
and a kumzitz down here with the boys. So if the objective is to raise Hashem
up from the lowest place than of course the lowest place has to be here.
If that's the
case then perhaps the message of the destruction of Sodom and the creation of
the Dead Sea is that there will always be a memorial and a reminder for the
children of Avraham as to what happens if we go down and fall too low. Fire and
brimstone. Wasteland and destruction. This is what man can bring to the world
though our actions. We have the power and the free will to use this lowest area
to build up a palace for Hashem, or we can bring down through our action the
destruction of the land. Hashem gave the land to Avraham. It is his and his
descendants forever. But the land is dynamic. It is for us to learn how to
raise Hashem up as our Father Avraham taught us and not to bring down the
destruction of Hashem upon it as the Dead Sea will always remind us.
That in my
opinion is one of the most glorious things about Eretz Yisrael. It is a land
that a mere drive though the midbar and a look out of our window at the Sea, will
bring us reminders that our actions have consequences. It is the signposts
Hashem placed there for us.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN
ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
David in Tziklag- 877
BC-
So after Dovid's last encounter with Shaul he
realized that he just has to get out of town already. Enough is enough. hwo
many more times will he go through this. So he heads back to the Philistine
territory to th the city of Gat,
which as we mentioned is Tel Safi today near Kfar Menachem. It
seems counterintuitive afterall it was just a few months prior that he fled
from there and was saved by posing as madman. Achish was protected by two bodyguards who were
the brothers of Goliath. This was not a good place. Why would Dovid flee there?
The answer
suggested by our sages is twofold. First of all, he figured that Shaul wouldn't
come hunting for him over in Philistine territory. Second of all he knew that Achish's
primary enemy was Shaul and the jewish people. With Dovid being an enemy of
them, he reckoned that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and he would be able
to keep Dovid out of the Jewish kingdom that way. Besides all this Dovid was
coming together with all his merry men at this point, as opposed to last time
when he came alone. He figured that Achish would not be interested in picking a
fight. The plan in fact worked.
After humbling
himself to Achish, Dovid requested that he be given the city called Tziklag
which was outside of the regular Plishti area to the south where he might set
up his own shop, thus not taking anything from the resources of the Philistines
with whom he was living. Achish agreed and Dovid headed further down South. Now
where is this Tziklag place? It seems that this has been a source of
much debate by archeologists. The original suggestion was that it was near Gaza
in a place called hirbat Zachilika- it sounds a little bit like tziklag
the location is nearby so why not? In the 1950's though it seems that was
debunked and the new proposal was a place called tel a'
Chavilafa by Kibbutz Lahav a little bit north of Beer Sheva.
In fact, the kibbutz was originally called Tziklag. Yet that idea was
also thrown out and the name lahav was given instead.
The next
proposal was Tel Shera near Mishmar Ha'negev. In fact if one
looks on google maps it shows up as Tziklag. As recently as this past
June there archeologists that suggest that the name Shera which means law in
Arabic got its name after the laws that Dovid established there for the
division of booty for soldiers that we will learn about. Yet the most recent
suggestion and discovery comes last year when a team of archeologists excavated
by Hirbat A Ra'I between Kiryat Gat and Lachish much
further north than the other sites. In the recent excavations there a Plishti
city was found as well as a Jewish city from the times of Dovid was found there
as well. You can check out the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LDMik4h4Zg
. The problem with this is that it seems from our texts that it was located in
the Negev and not the Shefela of Yehuda. But regardless let's get
back to our story,
So Dovid heads
down there with their men and they really do become like Robin Hood but even
worse. They loot, murder and kill the evil Amalekites, Gershurites and Gizrites
that lived in the South all the way down to Egypt. They would raid their cities
and leave no one alive to tell the story and they would walk away with all of
their cattle, sheep and money. When Achish who saw their wealth and booty would
ask where it would come from, Dovid would say that it came from the Jewish
cities and farms that he was raiding in Judah and Kennites. This enforced
Achish's feeling that Dovid was no threat and would be his ally. His trust in
Dovid is so strong as we shall see that he even will appoint Dovid as his
personal bodyguard as he goes out to wage war against the Jews.
To be honest
this is a great story to share with tourists as I drive through the long drive
through the Negev and pass some of these places. I never really did before, as
I didn't learn this story. But now that I have I certainly will. Now I just
need some tourists to come… but I write this column more for me than for you.
Hope someone out there is reading it!
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S ELECTION 2020 JOKES OF THE
WEEK
Election night
used to be like the seder night it would go until midnight. In 2016 it was like
Shavuos going all night long. Now it looks like it's becoming Ramadan and we
will be waiting for a month…
Can one of my
friends please pick me up a wide screen TV as you peacefully protest the
election results.
Whatever happens
I implore you, please don't buy up all the toilet paper.
I just found out
that my father voted Democrat… I am in shock… he would have never done that
while he was alive.
By the ruling
of our Rabbis an extra name has been added to Trump for our prayers for him
"Eliezer". From now on he should be called "Loozer Trump"
(it was much better in Yiddish)
The law states that
if you are in line to vote when the polls closed they are legally obligated to
allow you to vote. I think we need to establish this law by wedding
smorgasbords as well.
The way it
looks now the only way that Trump will make it to 270 is if he loses 50 pounds
If Trump wins
pollsters lose all credibility. If Biden wins kvittels lose all credibility.
It looks like
Election day this year is turning into a three day yom tov
Right now,
they’re erecting a massive protective fence around the White House in the event
that things get crazy. I took four years but Trump is finally getting his wall.
At this point,
I’m not sure if Trump’s trying to keep protesters out or keep himself in,”
2020 total
election votes so far: 139,817,274 Calories I’ve eaten in the past 48 hours:
197,513,872
TRUMP- Last night I
was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances
Democrat run & controlled. Then, one by one, they started to magically
disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. VERY STRANGE
Me- Last night I had an entire pizza in
front of me. Then one by one, the slices started to magically disappear as the
night went along. VERY STRANGE, and now this morning there is no sign of it.
*********************************
Answer is C – And so right from the start we
start with the difficult and crazy questions of information I will never need
or use. But whadaya know, despite not having a clue who this Abu Nabut is I got
the right answer with a bit of process of elimination. I know Akko and Chevron
pretty well and I know some of the Arab names associated with those cities and
I don't remember any Abu Nabuts, I figured Abu Ghosh, a little suburb outside
of Telshe Stone doesn''t have anything to significant about it where Jaffa on
the other hand certainly does. So I went with Jaffa which was the correct
answer! Turns out this Abu Nabut, which means father of the "club"
because he walked around with a club all day and beat up people, was good
friends and lived at the same time as EL Jazzar " the butcher of
Akko" who was governor of that city, while Nabut ruled Jaffa. He even
tried to take over Akko but was stopped by Haim Farchi and ultimately that led
to Farchi's downfall. So technichally there is an Akko connection too. But
being that Nabut was the governor of Jaffa that would be the correct answer. So we start off
the new exam on top with 2 for Rabbi Schwartz and 0 for the Ministry of
tourism.
