Unsend- Retrieve- Matos/Ma'asei 5772

Insights and Inspiration

from the 

Holy Land

from 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

July 12^th  2012 -Volume 2, Issue 35 –22^nd of Tamuz 5772

Parshat Matos/Ma’asei

Un-Send- Retrieve

I don’t know if the guys at Google are thinking about me when they create their different applications for their E-mails. It sure feels that way sometimes. The Grammar check, the spell check, thesaurus, folders, search, are all tools I regularly use. Although as you, my faithful reader, know better than anyone how many mistakes I still manage to get in. It takes talent y’know. But that’s why they pay me the big bucks.

Recently I heard about another application that was coming out and it definitely sounded like it was made with yours truly in mind. It’s an undo sent E-Mail function. You know those E-Mails that you should have never sent. The people that asked you ridiculous questions and you couldn't help but think of a cynical response, The Letters to the Editor you had to write but should never have sent, The knee-jerk joke you forwarded and then said “Oh my gosh I didn’t mean to send it to him (or her)”, or even the weekly E-mail that was perhaps a little too insensitive or not-so-politically correct. Well now your problem is solved with the undo Email function. You can yank that E-mail right back and safely store it in a nice, cozy, should-never- have-been-sent folder, where it can live in cyber eternity as a testimony to mankind of your personal and private inner communication that needed to be said but not heard. If only God created us with that function on our mouths and words as well…

Being a Rabbi in the ancient tradition of Rabbis, more often than not learning to use your power of speech properly is one of the greatest challenges a Rabbi has to surpass at. A few wrong words to the wrong people at the wrong time have lost many a Rabbi their pulpit and more importantly the respect of their congregants or students. At the same time, being silent and turning a blind eye to matters that one is obligated to speak out about can also wreak havoc ultimately on ones community, a Rabbi’s conscience and obligation and responsibility to G-d to care for his flocks spirituality. You certainly can’t please everyone all of the time… certainly not Jewish congregants. But as one of the Rabbis of the last generation told his student in some sage advice before he took his first pulpit. A Rabbi that all of his congregants likes him, what kind of Rabbi are you? But a Rabbi that none of his congregation likes him what kind of person are you? Thank God I’m blessed with a wonderful congregation here in the Karmiel. They never hired me and so I can get away perhaps with a little more camaraderie or less political corrected-ness than at a “real” paying job. Yet still it is certainly one of the most challenging things I find in my life is to be able to say the right words to the right people at the right time and not God forbid the opposite.

A lesson I saw this week in our weekly portion subtly brings that lesson to life in of course the Torah’s usually subtle way. But if you are a Rabbi for as long as Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin (my father-in-laws grandfather) was, and as gifted an orator as he, then it jumps right out at you. The Parsha tells us about the reaction of the first of all Jewish Rabbis and the role model for us all; Moshe Rabeinu-Our Rabbi and leader for 40 years in the wilderness. The Jewish Peoples last battle before entering the Land of Israel, and Moshe’s last commandment and mission from God before he was meant to die, is to wage war and take vengeance on Midian. Midian was the nation that sent their daughters out to seduce the Jewish people in last weeks Torah portion (see the E-mail that was never sentJ) and only through the intervention of Pinchas was the wrath of Hashem in the form of a plague that killed 24,000 Jews halted. So the Jews are meant to wage war against Midian, and they smite them in a mighty battle that kills 5 different Midianite kings and their armies (with nary a loss on the Jewish side). But they make one big mistake. As they come back into the camp, Moshe looks out at this victorious army and what does he see? None other than the women of the Midian, which the Jews had brought back with them as prisoners. Uh Oh… bad idea…don’t you get it guys??! This is the whole reason why we went to war in the first place, to get rid of the problem of you hanging out with their women. Not good. One can imagine Moshe’s inner E-mail he was composing. Actually all we can do is imagine it, for as Rav Sorotzkin points out Moshe never sent it.

The Torah tells us what happened and one subtle phrase gives an enlightening and inspiring change in how to read the story.

And Moshe was angry with the commanders of the army the officers….And Moshe said to them “Did you let every female live? Behold- it was they who caused the children of Israel .. to commit a betrayal against Hashem.”

Until this year I read this verse in what they call in cyber-speak “CAPS”. DID YOU LET EVERY FEMALE LIVE?!!?. But Rav Sorotzkin points out that this is not the case. The Torah goes out of its way to say “Moshe was angry” and then it repeats the phrase by pausing and saying “And Moshe said to them”, rather than saying the more concise and grammatically correct phrase “And Moshe was angry and said to them.”. This is to teach us that Moshe didn’t respond in CAPS. He paused. He put the five second Google retrieve inner E-Mail button into play. He kept his emotions and anger in check and responded in a calm voice to them. In a way that they could hear, without the inner angst. In a way that every Rabbi and individual should aspire to achieve.

We are entering the month of Av as our mourning builds leading up to Tisha B’Av the day of the destruction of our Temples and we focus on the Divine causes that led to their being taken away from us. One of the reasons are sages tell us was because some of the Rabbis of that time didn’t rebuke properly (Google the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza if you’re interested). Another reason given is because some Rabbis were too harsh and stringent with the law and rebuke. Each of us is meant to serve as role models to others. We all have values we know are important and we all know someone who could use some inspiration and guidance to be shown the proper track of personal spiritual growth. We are a nation of Leaders and Rabbis to the world (like it or not) and we have to deal with that role responsibly. Let us learn from Moshe how to fulfill that role. Never answer or rebuke from a point of anger and take a deep breath and remember the Google 5 second rule. But then contemplate, pray and respond, when and if it is appropriate. We are all responsible for one another and we can’t be silent when words must be spoken. Hopefully if we feel and act that way to one another we will merit to having that house of Peace once again restored.

Have a Shabbos that brings you and your family peace,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

Har Hamenuchos- O.K. a cemetery is not necessarily a cool place but it is the three weeks so give me a break. Actually the Har Hamenuchos cemetery the largest active cemetery in Israel today, (although Har Hazeisim is larger in size but not as active), is certainly a place where many can go and experience  and learn about the many great and even controversial figures that are buried there. Established in 1951 while the Jordanians had control of the old city of Jerusalem and Mt. of Olives cemetery was not a friendly place for live Jewish people to go to The cemetery became the central cemetery for Jews in Jerusalem and even from around the world to be buried in.
Many of israel’s early zionst figures are buried there including the 2^nd president of Israel Yitzchak Ben Tzvi, the composer of Hatikva, Naftali Hertz Imber and the mayor of Jerusalem Gershon Agron. Some of the leaders of the early enlightenment movement Martin Buber and Peretz Smolentzkin are buried there as well. Rabbi Meir Kahane- the right wing leader of the Kach movement as well as the great spiritual singer Rabbo Shlomo Carlbach are also “resting” there
But certainly what attracts the most people to Har Hamenuchos cemetery are the great religious spiritual leaders that are buried there where jews from around the world come to pray by their gravesides imploring Hashem in the merit of the righteous to grant their requests for life, children, health, marriage and peace.
The earliest grave is that of the Chida the great 18^th century Kabbalist and Halachist for the Sefardic community who although born in Jerusalem died in Italy where he served as Rabbi but was moved here in 1960. In addition to many of the Rabbis of Israel that are buried here Rav Moshe Shapiro the Rav of Lublin and founder of The Daf Yomi movement (see below for information on the culmination every 7 ½ years of the page a day study of Talmud in a few weeks) who died in lodz before the holocaust and although the Nazis destroyed the cemetery there, his grave was left intact and was reinterred here as well.
Rav Moshe Feinstien- the great American Halachist, Reb Shlomo Zalman Aurabach, the Rebbe of Belz, and most recently and tragically Reb Noson Tzvi Finkel head of the the Mirrer Yeshiva and this past week Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashuv the leader of the Hareidi Jewry in Israel. Rav Elayshuvs funeral which according to most estimates had over 300,000 attendees was the largest funeral to take place at Har Hamenuchos. Not a cool place but a place where one can literally see the spectrum of Klal Yisrael as they rest together awaiting the ultimate resurrection.


RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
Reb Elyashuv tribute in English- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9oBu8jVNo  

Reb Elyashuv tribute in Hebrew- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpjB2oCJArM

Reb Elyashuv tribute Chief Rabbi of Israel- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJXsTRUPQ0c

Reb Elyahivs funeral- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYfpDnTgZWo

In Between Protests- Pinchas 2012

Insights and Inspiration  

from the  

Holy Land 

from  

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

"Your friend in Karmiel"

July 12^th  2012 -Volume 2, Issue 35 -22^nd of Tamuz 5772

Parshat Pinchas

In Between Protests

The cause was just. The crowds began to gather. It was time for the people to speak up and be heard. This was another blow to the democracy and freedom that their forefathers had given their lives for. Who does the government think they are? Have they forgotten that they were placed in office to represent the people? If we don't stand up know who knows what can be next? Chopped liver? Kishka? Dare I even think about Chulent? And with those highly motivated principles the Million Big Gulp March against Mayor Bloomberg's NY state Soda-ban on sales of 16oz or larger sodas in eating establishments began.

Queens city councilman and currently running for congress (god help us) Dan Halloran flanked by two aides dressed up like 157 oz Big Gulps declared that the ban challenged "the principles on which our country (your country) was founded". David Krakauer, a 16-year-old New York native who lives in Israel, said there's no such soda ban in Israel (my country:) ). "Every person has the right to decide how much soda he can drink - not the government". Now although David might be correct when it comes to Soda bans in this blessed country of ours, we still can't get a decent slurpee here. Perhaps even more frustrating, for some reason Israelis seem to feel that an extra large coffee is not larger then a small 4 oz cup (1/3 of which is full of bootz (mud/ coffee remains). A regular size here is like a shot glass! Now that is really something to protest about. But here in Israel we are a peaceful accepting country- that are averse to protests...umm...maybe not so much...OK we are the kings of protests and counter-protests and counter the counter-protests. So why can't I have my Thank heaven for 7-11 large coffee that I can nurse for an hour or two?

The many protests here make it easy to be a newsman in Israel. Since I have been here I don't believe a week has gone by that there is not another protest or rally. Chariedim in the army, Settlements in the Shomron, Pro-peace, the rights for homeless people to live in expensive houses in Tel Aviv, Ethiopians equal rights, alternate marriage, secular marriage, grave digging, internet usage, illegal immigrant rights, pro-Sabbath anti-Sabbath and all of this was just in the past month or two. News papers here never have a slow day. We are an opinionated people that do not like to keep our opinions to ourselves or even to our few hundred closest friends. We feel the need to tell the world about our issues and everything becomes a crisis. Welcome to God's chosen nation.

In our weekly Torah reading we have arrived at the end of the story of the Jewish people in the wilderness. The beginning of the book of Bamidbar fast forwarded two parshiyot ago to the last few months of their forty year journey as the Torah repeatedly tells us that they are camped in

"Arvot Moav Al Yarden Yericho-on the plains of Moav by the Jordan river across from Jericho." It is here when the Jewish people complain about the water after the death of Miriam and Moshe and Aharon are told that they cannot come into Israel because of their sin of hitting the rock. It is here when a snake plague strikes the Jewish people after complaining about the Manna, and it is here that the conclusion of last week's Parsha told us that the Jewish people began to sin with the daughters of Moav and the worship of their idolatry. In the wake of that last act of rebellion 24 thousand Jews die in a plague that was only stopped by Pinchas who spears the leader of the rebellion in front of Moshe and all of the nation.What is going on? Why all the unrest after all of the years in the wilderness, right at the brink of their long awaited return to their promised land?

It is interesting to note that this week's Torah portion, which also contains in it the counting of the people "B'ArVot Moav Al Yarden Yereicho", tells us about the command to Moshe to go up to the mountain of "Avarim" as he will not merit to go to the land of Israel. The word Avarim is very similar to the word of Arvot. Erev is evening a point between day and night or mixture, Arvot-plains are a place that is in between the mountains and the sea, and Avarim means transition- avar- to pass from place to place. The Jewish people are now standing at a moment of transition. One leg and one ideology of theirs is still in Moav, while the other is on the Jordan towards Yericho and the Holyland. Rav Kook notes that it is at the moments of transition in life that one is faced with lifes greatest challenges, the challenge to leave behind the comfortable and accustomed to world of the past and step forward into a different stage with a greater opportunity for growth and greatness.

For the past forty years in the wilderness the Jews, as they have  historically have done, have acclimated and even prospered in their different environment, both in a religious and material way. Yet, the time was close when they had to move forward, into a new world. The challenges of creating a state, that island of God in the sea of paganism and idolatry around them terrified them. The idea that they would have to leave Moav and Egypt behind and leave the comfortable spirituality of Moshe Aharon and the miracles of the desert of the clouds of glory, Manna and well of Miriam was the struggle they faced on the banks of Yericho. It all came to a forefront these last few months. And it brought out the worst of them.

Rav Kook notes that similar challenges were taking place in his own time. He viewed the return to Israel in the early1900's as the final transition of our people home. Much of the fighting, the differing ideologies, the determination to build but at the same time to bring over ideals foreign to our holyland were the same struggles that happened the first time we came here over 3000 years ago. In his times the question was will Socialist Russia, European culture and Secular even anti-religious creeds be the seeds that are planted in the new Jewish state. In our days it is Capitalism, anything-goes media driven hedonism and even Big Gulps that many don't feel they can do without or leave behind on the "banks of Moav".

We are in the three week mourning period from  the 17^th of Tamuz, when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, until the 9^th of Av, when both Temples were destroyed,  that is also known and referred to as a time of possible transition. In the words of our sages the period is called Bein Hametzarim- based on the verse in Lamentations Kol Rodfeha Hihiguha Bein Hametzarim - all her pursuers overtook her between the narrow straits. Why does this verse become the name of this period of time? Perhaps because it defines the challenge of the failure of the transition. We were stuck in the narrow middle. We couldn't move forward. The idolatry and the foreign ideals that we brought with us into the Holyland led to our destruction. Our inability to join together as a nation dedicated to one ideal of the service  and glory of the Almighty, who has waited for so long for us to build His home...our home... is what is keeping us here.. The protests, confusion, self interests and the eternal inability for us to see the big picture of what could lie behind that next door if we allowed ourselves to open it is still haunting us as we are locked in these self-inflicted straits. Egypt, Moav, Babylonia, Greece, Spain, Europe, Russia and even the United States and Canada are not where were supposed to be. We're stuck between the straits and the our pursuers both physically and spiritually are still overtaking us. The final transition is still taking place and the fighting and protests are evidence that we know that we are close. May we soon merit to see that great day when we merit to finally and eternally cross over all the narrow borders that are holding us back.

Have a beautifulShabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

This week's Insights and Inspiration is dedicated in honor of the engagement of my Brother-in-law Chanochi Sorotzkin to Shulamit Deutch from Har Nof. Mazel Tov to my inlaws Rabbi Yosef and Chana Sorotzkin and to the Deutch family. May the young couple merit to build a Bayis Ne'aman Bi'Ysrael.

Please have the baby Ha'Tinok ben Aviva Michaela in your prayers for a refuah Shlaima/ a complete healing.

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 RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FAVORITE HISTORIC YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK

RAV KOOK ON YOU TUBE AND RAV YOSEF CHAIM SONNENFELD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhgkztlid_Q
  AND HIS BIO

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7iHIRwpU2o 

  

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

The house of Rav Kook/ Beis Dovid- In a small little neighborhood- if one would even call it that on the north side of Yaffo street next to Nachalat Shiva in Jerusalem lies the 4^th Jewish settlement outside of the old city walls of Jerusalem since 1873. Named after Dovid Reiss the founder of the neighborhood which consisted of a walled gate with two story homes that surrounded and open courtyard, the Beis Dovid neighborhood became the center of most major issues and decisions that took place in the early formation days of the State of Israel in the 1920's because of its most prestigious resident Rav Avraham Yitzchak Ha'Kohein Kook. Rav Kook who was a student of the great Volozhin Yeshiva and the son-in-law of the Rav of Ponovizh Rav Dovid Rabinowitz Teumim (AKA A"Deres) was given smich at age 20 from the Aruch Ha'Shulchan. He moved to Eretz Yisrael to become the Rav of Yaffo and then after WWI he was appointed Rav of Jerusalem where established the chief Rabbinate becoming the first Chief Rabbi of Israel (Palestine-back then).

Rav Kook was known as the Rabbi for everyone new immigrants, poverty stricken families from the old Yishuv, as well as secular Zionist and socialists all found an open door (that was built specifically outside of the walled gate so that he would always be reachable. He was known for his love of every Jew regardless of their religious observance and he saw and developed the ideology that the replanting and settling of Israel was the mitzvah that was a fulfillment of the ultimate redemption. Each year on Simchat Torah there are thousands that dance from the house of Rav Kook for 2^nd Hakafot with Torah Scrolls. Today one can visit his home and see his modest dwelling in the museum that is there. The letters in his study, pictures with great Rabbis and early Zionist leader together with the fascinating movie of his life will give you a true sense of this most special and pivotal figure in early Eretz Yisrael history.

Happiness is... Balak 2012

Insights and Inspiration

from the 

Holy Land

from 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

July 6^th  2012 -Volume 2, Issue 35 –15^h of Tamuz 5772

Parshat Balak

Happiness is…

I’m an Israeli now. July 4^th was a fun BBQ excuse holiday which is always a good thing, but this year I didn’t even notice that it passed; maybe because I’m still looking for some good meat to grill in this country. Yet I remember the day when we would talk get together and discuss the difference between the American dream and its rights as opposed to those of Israel and the Jewish State.  One of the primary differences I always noted was this concept of the pursuit of happiness. In Israel we were and are looking to survive and to be able to make a difference and society that was impactful and hopefully Divine,  (the problem is that every Jew has a different opinion of what that means- some even two). But happiness was never our pursuit. Fulfillment, accomplishment, spirituality, Divine connection and most of all peace are what we pray for and what move us.  Happines? That’s an American pursuit, and one that certainly interesting to explore. What is this pursuit and why aren’t we searching for it over here?

As all good searches must begin I started my search at the easiest location; Google- of course. Which then sent me to Wikipedia. They then informed me that 50% of ones happiness quotient is related to ones genes. Hmmm… I think it’s a little too late to work on that. My next hit brought me to that classic work of wisdom and art the famed "you’re a good man Charlie Brown" and the happiness song. Here I found out that "happiness is finding a pencil and pizza with sausage and five different crayons and tying your shoe". Well the pizza thing wasn’t too Kosher (tofu sausages certainly don’t make me too happy) I don't use pencils and not great with crayons or shoes). It was pretty much downhill from there. Deepak Chopra- "Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted" ,(Huh?). Albert Schweitzer -" Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory". And the always insightful George Burns- "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city". And last and perhaps least the profound and insightful Don Marquis "Happiness is the interval between periods of unhappiness". Feeling joyous yet?’

Which, as is usually the case brings me to the place that is generally the only real place where I have usually found meaningful and satisfactory answers to the most pressing questions of life; our holy Torah. It’s a good thing, I guess, that Hashem gave us this book of wisdom and life or who knows what we would look like. This week’s Torah portion gives us a perspective of an individual who was certainly one of the least happy people in the world. We are told the story of Bilaam the prophet who was courted and enlisted to utilize his supernatural spiritual powers to curse the people of Israel. The lessons of Bilaam are lessons in un-happiness. Or what happens to someone who is too caught up in the pursuit of the elusive rather than the acceptance and the experience of what he has.

The Mishnah in Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) contrasts for us the difference between Abraham and Bilaam and their disciples The students of Abraham possess three primary character traits a good eye, a humble spirit, and a sense of contentedness while Bilaam's students possess the opposite, an evil eye, arrogance and greed. The Talmud tells us that Bilaam was the equivalent of Moshe our greatest leader in his capacity to achieve prophecy and lead the gentile world. Instead, his self absorption- that eye of his that could only see his own universe rather than reflect out to the rest of the world and serve their needs and elevate them brought him down. He had the power to bless humanity but instead he chose to curse. While Abraham looked at the world and felt humbled by the Almighty and his Creation, Bilaam's arrogance and his pursuit for honor drove him to attempt to defy Hashem's directive. In the end the Torah tells us he was mocked when his own donkey spoke and in his obsessive blinded pursuit of the happiness that can never be achieved, he became the symbol of an individual who ultimately couldn't even get respect and control upon that which his own backside would ride.

When one examines our Jewish leaders and heroes in the Torah and throughout our history, there are two things that one can find that are fairly consistent. The first is that none of them ever were ever engaged in a pursuit of happiness. Rather as King David in Psalms tells us our role is it is to be Bakeish Sholom V'Rodfehu- search out peace and pursue it. The righteous look out at the world and ask themselves not how can I become happy? Rather how can I make the world happier, kinder, more peaceful, and more holy. The focus on building a world of love and peace is the pursuit that is our unalienable Divine mandate; it is for that which we are created.

The second characteristic that can be found by those who merited to have had the privilege to encounter and to develop a relationship with our holy masters is that they all were filled with an incredible sense of happiness and inner peace. In the worst of times and through the greatest of struggles, from our forefathers and to our great leaders today somehow there is somehow a reservoir of happiness that fills them that allows them to shine it out and bring light and joy to the world. Their secret and the Torah's lesson? It is not the pursuit of one’s own happiness that will bring them joy or fulfillment. Rather it the pursuit of others happiness, the happiness between man and his fellow, between man and his Creator, and between our Loving Father and his children that will ultimately result in true inner happiness.

We live today in a society that has more and better "stuff" then ever before in the history of mankind. Yet we also live in a generation that suffers from more depression and a true lack of inner peace, joy and satisfaction than ever before. The early settlers of Israel came with different ideals. Perhaps if we would all take a step three thousand years before the founding fathers of the United States set out their mandate for the foundation of their society in the Declaration of Independence. And we looked back to our own heritage and our Forefathers and Jewish heroes as our beacons; we would be closer to achieving that happiness we seek. Our ancestors saw themselves and happiness not in their Independence and in their opportunities to further their own personal goals and lives, rather it was in their dependence on the Almighty for all the goodness that they had and the furtherance of his love and the worlds happiness and relationship with Him and with each other that was their life work and ultimate fulfillment. May we merit soon to see the true fulfillment of those dreams.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

Old Yishuv Museum/ Old City Jerusalem- There is so much to see in Jerusalem particularly in the Old City but this modest but fascinating museum is truly and experience for the whole family that will inspire and even entertain its guests of all ages. The old city yishuv in Jerusalem dates back to the 16^th century with the arrival of Rabbi Yehudah Ha’chasid. Jews certainly lived there before but the most recent yishuv dates to that era of the ottoman turks. As one walks through the various displays of life back then, one can get a true appreciation of the struggles they had to survive until it was handed over to Jordan in the 1948 independence war and the destruction of the Rova. There are stories of midwives, brides, their living conditions, all types of activities and games children used to play (pre-i-phones and game-stations). One can also visit the ancient shul built over the home of the AriZ’l the “father” of modern Kabbalah study and practice who lived there until he moved to Egypt and then Tzefat where he is buried. As we work on appreciating the love and sacrifice Jews have had for Jerusalem there is no greater place then the Yishuv Musuem to get a feel for the commitment we have had to our holiest city. May we soon merit to see it fully restored.

The Universe's Guide for the Hitchhiker- Chukas 2012

Insights and Inspiration

from the 

Holy Land

from 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

June 29^th  2012 -Volume 2, Issue 34 –9^th of Tamuz 5772

Parshat Chukas

The Universe’s Guide for the Hitchiker

It is one of my favorite parts about living in Israel. As I pull over to pick up the hitchhiker on the side of the road, I remember my good old days when I was a student here in Israel, traveling the country with a few shekels in my pocket and waiting to see where the next kind ride would take me to. In America one would have to be a little crazy to stop on the side of the road to pick someone up. We were rightfully scared by our parents and all those horror stories of “picking up the wrong people”. But here in Israel hitchhiking is a way of life. It’s an opportunity to meet someone new, perform a chesed/kindness for your fellow brother or sister and for Rabbis like me- to get a good story and possible sermon out of the deal.

So Chaim a middle-aged bearded Sephardic gentleman dressed in his suit and hat hopped in my car and asked where I was going. Rule 1 of hitchhiking- get in the car first- it’s air conditioned-after that you can figure out where you need to go and how the driver will get you close enough for your next hitch. When I told my passenger Chaim I was going to the Giv’at Shaul neighborhood of Jerusalem his face lit up.

“Wow, is Hashem good! He listens to our prayers, He is truly always there! Just a minute ago I asked him for a ride to Giv’at Shaul and sure enough you pull right up!”

Little did I know that my husbandly errand to deliver some clothes to Beitar was a Divine plan to give Chaim a lift to Giv’at Shaul. But hey, that’s the way things work here in Israel. Now I’ve been happy to get lifts before, but Chaim’s response definitely took it up another league. He immediately pulled out his trusty pocket Tehillim (Psalms) and began to sing praises to the Master Divine traffic controller who provides rides to all those who ask Him. I’m not sure exactly what psalms he said that conveyed that message but I knew that Hashem was smiling.

In this week’s Torah portion we read the story and song of the Jewish people in honor of the miraculous well that provided them with water during their 40 year sojourn in the wilderness. It is a short song but nevertheless rich with vivid and poetic imagery:

 “Thus sang Israel …Come up, O well, call out to it! The well that ministers dug, nobles hewed . . . from the wilderness a gift. And from a gift to the valley and from the valley to the heights . . . as it is seen over the surface of the Yeshimon”.

The Shemen Ha’tov, (as does Rashi) note that this song as opposed to the song at the splitting of the sea omits the name of Moshe. Whereas by the sea, the Jews were in their national infancy and still required the guidance and inspiration of Moshe to direct them to focus their songs of praise on the Almighty who had performed the great miracles of the Exodus from Egypt, 40 years later the Jewish people had arrived. The song was their own. The Abarbanel re-enforces this point and suggests that the water they had received in the past came as a result of complaints and fear. Now for the first time the Jewish people received the miracle of this well and the water it produced without any of the previous prerequisite kvetching. The well according to the Medrash went down into the caves and showed the miracles of the salvation they had achieved and water flowed in rivers throughout the camp. Unsolicited love. The unexpected gift. The hitchhike they didn’t even know was already on the way to them.

Living in Israel one has the opportunity to be more in touch with these little “small” “miracles”. It’s interesting; we do not find the Jewish people singing songs of praise for the miraculous Manna they ate that fell from the sky each morning. They do not compose a song in honor of the fantastic clouds of glory that accompanied them paved the roads, protected them and even provided incredible climate control and dry cleaning service, according to the Medrash. The song they sang was about the simplest and most basic of human needs- water, a cold drink on a hot day. Perhaps that is the most essential kind of song to sing. Chaim, my passenger taught me that it wasn’t me who was giving him a ride (although he thanked me profusely when I dropped him off) in the same way that the Jewish people noted that it was not Moshe that was performing the miracles for them. It was the well from Hashem and it was for them. We are all hitchhikers in this incredible universe Hashem manages for us. We just need to open the door, hop in and thank him as he takes us where we need to go.

Have an absolutely perfect Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

RABBI SCHWARTZ FAVORITE JOKE OF THE WEEK

A man stood on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night in the middle of a storm. The night was rolling and no cars passed. The storm was so strong, he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly he saw a car come towards him and stop.

The guy, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door to realize that nobody was behind the wheel. The car started slowly forward.

The guy looked at the road and saw a curve coming his way. Scared, he started praying, and begged for his life. He hadn't come out of shock, when just before he hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and moved the wheel. The guy, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appeared every time before a curve.

The guy gathered strength, got out of the car and ran to the nearest town. Wet and in shock, he ran into a bar and asked for two shots of tequila, and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he went through.

A silence enveloped everybody when they realized the guy was crying and wasn't drunk.

About half an hour later, two guys walked into the same bar, and one said to the other, "Look Pete, that's the idiot who climbed into the car while we were pushing it."
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RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

Biriya- in the heart of the second largest forest in Israel right outside of the city of tzefat lies this small little hilltop and fortress that in the 1940’s captured the heart and soul of our soon to be fledgling nation. The yishuv of Birya mentioned as the home of various tana’aim in the Talmud and also the place where Rabbi Yosef Karo wrote his first volume of Shulcah Aruch- the code of Jewish law on Orach Chaim was abandoned in the 17^th century until the jews started to return here with the assistance of Baron Rothschild and P’IKA(Palestine Jewish Colonization Association) who purchased the land in the 1890’s and was first settled unsuccessfully in the 1920’s. In 1945 with the British limiting Jewish purchase of land in Israel and emigration, the Jews fought back by occupying hilltops and establishing Jewish settlements. Birya, being one them, was occupied by 24 young men from the Palmach as a training camp for young recruits. However the British after finding an illegal arms cache expelled the Jews from the settlement. This being the first time the British had thrown Jews out of a settlement raised uproar amongst the Jews. And on the 11^th of Adar a few days later (taanis Esther that year) thousands of Jews who pretended to be going to their annual pilgrimage to Tel Chai detoured to Birya and reestablished the camp. The next day after many of the groups had left. The British once again came with tanks and threw the Jews out. But the Jews would not be stopped and that Friday evening  and Shabbos  the Jews returned for the third time from Rosh Pinna and Tzefat- even getting permission to bring food  on Shabbos as the Rav of Tzefat felt that it was a dangerous area that protected the city from the arabs around them. And the British finally caved and allowed 20 men to remain and work the ground. Jews celebrated that Purim throughout the country. Until today each year Purim of Birya is celebrated as youth groups from around the country relive that great moment when it was clear that the Jews were willing to do whatever it takes to never give up the land. Today one can visit the beautiful forest see the short film of the history of Birya in the visitor center and explore the old homes of this early Yishuv.
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Summer Trips Staff Stuff- Korach 2012

Insights and Inspiration

from the 

Holy Land

from 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

June 22^nd 2012 -Volume 2, Issue 33 –2^nd of Tamuz 5772

Parshat Korach

Summer Trips Staff Stuff

Summer is here. It is time once again to begin planning that ancient Israelite tradition that dates back to the moment we became a nation- The family summer trip. You see historically we received the Torah on Shavuot, hung around Sinai for a little over a month and then we began to plan our first summer trip into the wilderness of Sinai on the way to Israel. Like most Summer trips this one had its hitches. The kids complain about the food, angry natives that aren’t too accommodating or interested in the Jewish tourist business and we end up wandering around as the visit turns into a forty year journey. Of course no family trip is complete without all the delightful fights-“Why does he get to see it in front?” “She started it” I’m bored- this is not what you told us it would be like” “Are we there yet?” “When can we go back home again?!” Yes, this very significant Jewish ritual reminds us time and time again of why we are grateful that our children are in school all year round and why we are the people of the book rather than the people of vacations.

This week’s Torah portion shares with us the family fight that took place on our Sinai trip. Not exactly “why does he get to sit in the front?”- But close. Korach and his group of 250 men, we are told, team up against Moshe and Aharon the leaders of the Jewish people and demand equality and new leadership. “Who are you to rule over the Jewish people” “We are all holy”.  Korach wants to sit in the front. Yet unlike Rabbi Schwartz who just turns up the music a little louder in the car hoping to drown out the fighting in the background, Moshe implores them to recant. Ultimately when they refuse, he leaves it up to God to decide, as the earth opens up and swallows them alive. Ahhh… quiet at last.

Not so fast, the Torah, tells us though. Once again the people claim and complain accusing Moshe of being the one responsible for the death of poor Korach. Hashem by this time pretty fed up with this trip wants to terminate the whole thing now. This is not working. A familiar story that I’m sure many can relate to on these family trips. Which is why it’s always good to do them with both parents, so that when one has had enough the other can calm them down and make sure that the trip will continue until its very bitter end. In our family, my wife and I generally alternate that role. The trip must go on. In the Torah’s story Moshe and Aharon calm down Hashem (14,700 deaths by plague later) and the trip continues.

And now we come to the beautiful part of the story. For once and for all Hashem decides to show the nation, who seemingly with all that has taken place still needs convincing- although they are by now probably sitting very quietly in the backseat J, what this is really all about. He commands the head of each tribe to bring a staff and to place it in the Tabernacle and the one whose staff flourishes the next morning will know that they are chosen by Hashem to serve as the Priest for the Jewish people. The next morning as they arise, “Walla”(as we say in Israel), Aharon’s staff sprouts flowers, buds and almonds and the deal is closed. The Jewish people recognizing their mistake (finally!!), fear retribution once again. Yet Hashem reassures them that Aharon and his children are forever charged with protecting the sanctity of the Tabernacle and that the Jewish people will be protected in their merit as long as they continue to respect their authority.

The Rav of Brisk notes that it is fascinating that the Torah points out that at the end of the story each member of the tribe took home their staffs. It would seem that this was definitely not something that we would want to remember. The trip that went really sour, thousands dead, all the fighting and the final blow that no one besides Aharon can lead; their bad lottery tickets that didn’t win the prize-so to speak. Yet he notes that it was this that they took home with them, because they wanted to remember the incident. They needed to remember it, because to a certain extent it was a sign of their desire for greatness to be close and serve Hashem as priests. To a larger extent it was also a sign that Hashem ultimately did not throw them out of the car-although they certainly deserved it, rather He took the time to show and explain to them that Aharon was meant to flourish and lead while their staffs were meant to continue to journey and grow.

Rabbi Yisrael Reisman suggests that in these stories lies an incredible insight into the proper way to guide our children. Maimonides notes that the Jewish people never believed or were inspired or convinced by the miracles that were performed for them and certainly not by the punishments. Sometimes what it takes to convince the Jewish people is the beautiful wonder of Hashem. The flowers, blossoms and almonds and the time to invite them into the Tabernacle to bring their staffs and their desires for greatness, had a much more impactful conclusion then the deaths plague, fire and splitting of the earth. This method worked so well that the nation even took those staffs home with them, feeling and seeing the value and specialness of the lesson.

As the summer begins, our trips begin. Our children and our families will have souvenirs and memories of these special moments that we will share together. I always found amusing and ironic that the Schwartz family souvenir of choice of the many places we went was always a shot class-perhaps because we all needed a stiff drink remembering all of the adventures that we endured on these trips together. Yet with the right frame of mind our trips can be ones that will bring our families closer, that will be learning and growing opportunities and will most important of all give us an appreciation of the staffs that each of us hold and carry as we continue to march forward in the service of Hashem. We just need to focus ourselves on the flowers and the blossoms and the miracles of the potential we all have.

Have a totally awesome Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money. ~Susan Heller
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RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

TEL DAN- Located at the lush northern part of the Galile the border of what was once Syria the Tel Dan Archeological site is officially Rabbi Schwartzes favorite spot in Israel. Although with the history of the place it was not necessarily the holiest of places for our nation. The story of Tel Dan begins with the story of the tribe of Dan that was not successful inheriting their portion in Israel on the coast who come up here (after a brief stop to steal the idol of Micha) and conquer the ancient city of Laish making it their own. They are drawn hereby the beauty, water and serenity that until today you can experience as you wander through the flora, Gan Eden streams and ancient walls and city of the biblical tribe. Here also one can see that ancient temple and altar where the Temple of Yeravam and his descendants the kings of the divided kingdom of Israel lived throughout the period of the first Temple. Most exciting as well in the Tel Dan site is the discovery of the Gate to the Canaani city from the times of Avraham- who the Torah tells us chased the kings who captured his nephew Lot to here ( the oldest archway ever found in Israel). In the distance one can see the Moutain named after the Bris Bein HaBesarim which took place afterwards and the fortress of “Nimrod” across the hill. Delightful all year round cold water pools and springs to dip in, Jewish history and even modern history as the in 1964 this was the site of the battle over water with the Syrians. Tel Dan has it all and its right here in the North close to me!
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Time Travel- Parshas Shelac 2012

Insights and Inspiration

from the 

Holy Land

from 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

June 15^th   2012 -Volume 2, Issue 32 –26^th of Sivan 5772

Parshat Shelach

Time Travel

I hit Enter and I wait… and wait… and tap on some keys…I’m still waiting. It’s not downloading. Why is this taking so long? Maybe if I pull out the plug and start all over again it will work faster. I reach for the plug and all of a sudden it finally goes. Nothing like a little fear tactic of disconnecting your computer from its electrical life force to kick it into shape. Kind of like technological water-boarding, I guess. Now if only I could figure out what to do with the long waits in the post office or the motor vehicle department. But for some reason I don’t think any amount of plug pulling will speed up those lines.

I know I really shouldn’t be that impatient. It is amazing that with a click of a button on our computer we are sending messages all the way up to outer space and back and it seems kind of silly to be upset if it takes an extra nano-second or so. But having lived in that great city that never sleeps, New York , for many years, you somehow develop a lack of tolerance for anything that you can’t beep with your horn and get an instant response. Yet I don’t think New Yorkers are the only ones who have this experience. I think for most of us at different times the clock just seems to be ticking verrrrryyy sssslllooowwwlyy… As a Rabbi friend of mine once said –I don’t mind if people look at their watches during my sermons. It’s when they hold it up to their ears to see if it’s still ticking and checking the batteries that I begin to get nervous.

This weeks Torah portion teaches an important lesson about the passage of time in one of the more tragic stories in the Torah. For those of you who have been keeping up with our journey you will know that the Jewish people have left Mt. Sinai and are marching off preparing to go to the Land of Israel . In order to find out what the challenges that lie ahead are, they send out spies to check out the land. Unfortunately these spies come back with a very scary report about giants and wars, how it’s a land that will eat up its inhabitants and then they show them these huge fruits to demonstrate the scariness of the land. The nation becomes terrified, they weep, they mourn, they long to return to Egypt and they lose faith in God. They have accepted the Lashon Hara-the Evil talk of the Holy Land , and they have forgotten that their God in heaven promised them this land as their birthright. Hashem, once again disappointed by his nation and their lack of faith issues the consequences. For saying Lashon Harah  the spies will die immediately. (According to Rashi who quotes the Medrash their tongues stretched out until their bellies and worms crawled in- just in case you needed a visualJ). The rest of the people from age 20-60 would die in the wilderness, never to enter Eretz Yisrael. And their children the Torah tells us

–

I shall bring them; they shall know the land that you have despised… They shall roam for forty years and bear your guilt until the last of your carcasses in the wilderness. Like the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, a day for a year… Forty years.. and you shall comprehend straying from me.

Wow! I’m sure your saying. This seems like a very harsh punishment. The truth of the matter is there is something very perplexing about this punishment. First of all why are they punished at the rate of 1 year to 1 day? Seemingly in heavenly punishments we have a concept of the punishment fitting the crime Mida K’neged Mida- Quid pro Quo (for all you latin speakers). Why would they have to pay such a steep price and exchange rate? Also it seems that the children under 20 are not culpable for the sin, as they were not included in the decree of death, so why would they have to suffer and wander for forty years? Seemingly only the sinners above 60 should have died and not entered the land of Israel (an appropriate punishment for their lack of faith and desire to fulfill the Divine mandate to live there). What point was there in them wandering?

The answer, I believe, has to do with our perception of time. We all know the old adage “Time flies when you're having fun”. The Torah even tells us that when Jacob was working for his wife Rachel for seven years it was as if it was only a few days. When you are engaged in something meaningful the hours feel like minutes and the months like days and the years like weeks. It flies by. On the other hand when you’re doing something you dread, sitting in a class you don’t want to be in, waiting in the dentists office, or just waiting for your computer to log on then it seems like hours. Each day that those spies were in the Land of Israel should have flown by; marveling in the wonder, beauty and holiness of this God Promised Land. But it didn’t it felt like a year. When they conveyed that message back to the people they cried and mourned and transmitted that message. Israel is horrible, each day there is as painful as a year. Children who witnessed this needed to learn a different message. They had been traumatized- they “bore that guilt of their parents”. It would take forty years of hearing their parents long to step foot in the Land of Israel to change the impact of that 40 day tragic trek through the land of Israel.

There is a powerful in message for us in this story. None of us can control how much time we have here on this world. We only know that it is limited and the clock is ticking from the moment we are born. What we do have control over is how we will experience that passage of time. Will we be engaged in meaningful, inspirational activities that gives us an appreciation of every precious moment that we have- so much, that we don’t even realize that its passing by. Or are we going to be staring at our watches counting the minutes as they schlep on our march to the grave. The summer months are here and as a parent of children I know that there will be moments that I am spending our quality vacation time and it will be amazing and go so quickly but will be captured for eternity. Then there will be those days that my children will inevitably say “what do we do today Dad??? I’m so bored”. Children know that each day of summer vacation is precious and shouldn’t be wasted. The truly righteous and accomplished understand that we should approach every day of our lives with that same perspective. So maximize those moments when your sitting in front of a computer, or waiting on line. Say a prayer, learn a little bit. Maximize your time with something meaningful and watch how it just flies by.

Have a inspirationally long Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvwpNkJd82w
Lipa- Hang Up The Phone J)

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

Mitzpeh Revivim- The year was 1945 the vision of a Jewish state was already starting to be actualized and three dreamers came out to the Negev to expand the borders of Israel in the South. Revivim was one of 11 points in the Negev that were established before the State of Israel as “agricultural scientific expeditions” as it was illegal to open new settlements under the British mandate. The small group lived in old byzantine caves without water and electricity with the sole purpose of creating “facts on the ground” that when the state of Israel would be established the negev would be ours providing an important and strategic border with Egypt. Today one can visit Revivim have a tour with actors dressed in the time period (English and Hebrew) as well as see the planes that fought in the independence war, see the incredible water irrigation tunnels that were made and hear the story and feel the inspiration of the those early settlers who gave their lives to build us this land.

Shake em' Up- Beha'aloshcha 2012

Insights and Inspiration

from the 

Holy Land

from 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

June 8^th   2012 -Volume 2, Issue 31 –18^th of Sivan 5772

Parshat Behaloscha

Shake ‘em Up

Many people give much thought to the legacy that they will leave over after they die. We buy life insurance so that our family will be provided for. We work hard and put away money so that our retirement years will go easier. For most of us the idea of leaving this world penniless would be a great tragedy. Yes, we all know that we can’t take it with us. But over a lifetime of accumulating, working and building it’s not easy to leave it behind; to leave with nothing to testify we were here.

But that’s us. Not so Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, one of the great Jewish spiritual leaders and thinkers of just two generations ago. Last week I was reading a biography of his life. Being the impatient reader that I am, after reading the first few pages I flipped to the ending.-Spoiler Alert-He dies. L. But in describing his last few weeks before his death, his family said that the one thing that he was absorbed with was the opposite of what we might think. He was giving everything he had away. He had told his family that it was his desire that he would have to borrow the pen that he would need to write his last will and testament. For it was his wish to leave this world without any possessions whatsoever. To be as empty handed as the day he came in, that was his dream.

His reasoning, he told those that were close to him, was because he felt (based on some Talmudic sources…that I won’t complicate you with) that even after one departs from this world, whatever material possessions he owns and is connected to, still binds the neshoma/soul to this physical world in some way. It’s hard to let go. He didn’t want to have anything that would make it hard for him to get to where he knew his soul was longing to connect to. It was time to go ‘home’ and leave everything behind.

I’ve thought a lot about that story this past week as I recall the process our family went through two years ago when we were packing and mostly getting rid of our stuff preparing for our move back ‘home’ to Israel. Should we take this? Do we need that? Will be able to get it there? If we can, will we be able to afford it? Will it work as well? What will fit? We were purging and it felt good. It felt right. I’m no Rabbi Dessler, but his mindset and that story gave me much needed inspiration. I  remember staring at my extra mouse pad that I was thinking of taking and thinking about his pen. We don’t need it. We can’t take it with us. Let’s leave it behind.

I recently started to study the Book of Ezra. It’s a mind numbing beginning. The King of the World- Empire of the time-Cyrus the Great- just 50 years after the destruction of the temple has ordered it to be rebuilt. He encourages and will support the effort for all the Jews to return home. To have it all back. A dream come true? We would think so. But they didn’t come. In perhaps the greatest failure in the history of our people only 42,000 of the millions of Exiles returned. They couldn’t leave. After only 50 years they were too Babylonian. Even great sages and leaders remained behind. The Torah was greater in Bavel, the scholarship, the service of God. But the Talmud states in retrospect that it was a mistake.

This week’s Torah portion carries within it one of the most bizarre Jewish rituals-and we have quite a few. Yet the Slonimer Rebbe gives an incredible insight that challenges us to rise and to move beyond this great challenge, and he shares the pathway by which to grow in precisely this area. The Parsha tells us about the dedication of the tribe of Levi as the servants of the Temple and the intermediaries between the Jewish people and God. Aharon, the High Priest, is commanded to purify each one of them-not strange- accept their sacrifice – still pretty standard…and then shave all their bodily hair off-strange… and then to pick each one up and perform the waving offering upon them-huh?. What is the waving offering? Remember Sukkot time, how we took that Lulav and Etrog bundle and shook them up and down and all around? O.K. now replace Lulav and Etrog and insert 250 lb Levi… 22,000 of them. …one by one.-walla- wave offering.

What is the meaning of this strange and exhausting offering? The Slonimer Rebbe explains that this was the process of the Levis letting go. To be a Levi meant that you were entirely uplifted. You would be free to be thrust to the right and the left and up and down and nothing was holding you to the ground. You could soar and not be afraid or attached. It must have felt great. It’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Yet, the Rebbe continues, it is not just the tribe of Levi. Each one of us can do it. Should do it. We can’t do it all the time. We weren’t meant to live that life. Certainly, Aliyah isn’t for all of us at this point in our lives as well. But there is a time when we can all experience it. When we can work on that feeling. That time he suggests is Shabbos. Each Friday evening as we sing Kabbalat Shabbat and welcome in the Shabbos Queen we sing Lecho Dodi-

Hisnari Mefar KMoomi- Rise up from the dust-

Livshi Bigdei Tifartech Ami- Clothe yourself in the splendorous garments of my nation

Hisoriri Hisoriri Ki Va Orech Koomi Ori – Awaken Awaken for the time to awaken has come

Oori Oori Shir Dabeiri- Awaken Awaken and sing the song of the glory of Hashem revealed.

Can you leave this world behind and just relish in the otherworldly splendor of the Divine? You can. Shabbos is that workout place to soar. It’s the time when we put away all our connection to the worries, the business, the constant accumulation of our things and we let ourselves be uplifted. Rabbi Dessler was able to do what he did and gain the perspective that he had because he lived a lifetime of Shabbatot. He knew how incredible it felt to be able to taste a life disconnected from the illusory material down here and attached to the Eternal spiritual reality up here. He left this world for one that is referred to as Kulo Shabbos- All Shabbos. All the time. And he didn’t want anything to spoil that great day.

We’re not all Rabbi Dessler Jews. I certainly don’t think any of us are even as great as our ancestors, who for whatever high spiritual reasons couldn’t make Aliyah at the time of Ezra. But we can at least be Shabbos Jews. Our Neshomos are just waiting for us to give them that weekly shake up. That special dose of holiness. Let’s give them a lift for one day a week let’s think about giving our souls their Aliya. Lets all experience how wonderful it is to be home.

Have a Great Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

RABBI SCHWARTZ FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them you're a mile away and you have their shoes.”


RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

Synagogue of Nitai Ha’arbeli- Actually the incredible synagogue remains that one will find on the foothills of the Arbel mountain overlooking the kinneret are from the 4^th or 5^th century after the period of Nitai Ha’Arbeli yet for close to a thousand years Jews would come to this area and this synagogue and remember the greatness of this great scholar who dwelled here.
Nita’H’Arbeli the Zug or Masoretic partner in the transmission of the oral torah of Reb Yehoshua ben Perachia lived in the period of the Chasmonaim- is quoted in Avot as the author of the statement Distance yourself from a bad neighbor and don’t be friends with a wicked person and never give up hope from tribulations.
The Arbel was a mountain that became a source of hope for the Jewish people it was occupied in the times of the Chasmonaim, during the period of Herod there were great revolts where people hid up in its caves (which he slaughtered capturing them with manmade cranes sending up soldiers). We are told of great heroism that took place during that era.
The synagogue is unique in that it has its entrance from the east rather then the North or south and its glorious entrance gate that still remains was made out of one huge solid rock. The synagougue had two floors making it almost 40 to 50 feet high. This was a community project. Right outside of the shul there was a box that was excavated that served as a charity box for those who would come to pray and those that would need would take from there.
The Talmud tells us that our sages believed that the redemption would first start in the North.
“ As Rab Chiya and Rabbi shimon ben chalafta walked and saw the morning sun over Arbel who’s light was shining they commented- so is the redemption of Israel bit by bit it comes out and grows brighter along the way”
May we see that day soon.