Making It Home- Parshat Shelach (Behaloscha II) 2026 5786

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

June 5^th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 32 20^th of Sivan 5786

 

Parshat (Behaloscha II)/ & Shelach

 Making it Home

 (LAST WEEK'S ONLY below…)

Click here below for print edition

( weekly newsletter Parshat Beha'aloscha edition )

 

There's something going on here in the air that I've been noticing more and more lately. It's getting stronger and stronger and it's becoming harder and harder to ignore. My friends call it "Mashiach energy" or "Geula spirit". To me it almost feels like watching that ball coming down on Times Square on New Years Eve, the sand dripping down fast in that hourglass, or the last few seconds of the Nicks game championship. That's the energy I'm feeling here in Israel. That's what we're breathing in the air.

 

There is this unbelievable tension all around. There's a pressure as we're about to leave Egypt. Something big has to becoming. People are doing teshuva. Soldiers are wearing tzitzis and yarmulkas. Kids are in public schools as well. Hilltops are being conquered by 15-year-old kids and Arabs are fleeing and fencing in their communities for security. Our soldiers are sitting on borders we've never had before. The Litani, we're back in control of 70% of Gaza, of the Chermon. The land is being conquered and liberated- despite that was never our intent. The Har Ha'Bayis and visits to there- which I'm too small to say whether it's legitimate or not or to take a side in issue, but it's happening. More Rabbis are saying to go. Rav Shmuel Eliyahu of Tzfat said they should build a shul there. After all if they can play soccer there why can't we daven?

 

Aliyah is seriously on the table and podcasts and discussions of everyone, whether for reasons of rising anti-semitism- which is not the reason to move here- but hey… it's better than staying and being killed there. More Rabbis are pulpitting about it. I made up that word. It's like ploppling, but just from the pulpit… More jobs are opening up, more schools for Olim and yeshivos. Klal Yisrael no matter where they are are certainly not looking at serious long-term stay in galus for much longer.

 

At the opposite end of that extreme it seems the Satan also feels that tension. He's upped the ante to an extreme. Really?! Arresting Yeshiva boys in their houses for learning Torah? That's Bar Kochva Roman Greek Antiochus stuff. It's crazy. Demonstrations. Spitting on soldiers. Falling government and elections. A supreme court that is insane, blatantly corrupt and double standard. We have fake cease-fires. Fake peace accords. Enemies that are still refusing to give up their mission to destroy us and allies that can't make up their mind from day to day what a victory should look like. Soldiers dying daily, missiles and drones still dropping and a seemingly neutered army and leadership that is taking its cues from a president that can't make up his mind from one minute to another. The Satan is doing all he can do make us fight, protest, give up hope, settle for less, dig into galus- not bring the geula. That's the air we're breathing and I can't remember that type of tension since our first time coming back here. Since 3000 years ago when we were about to enter the land. The Parshiyot we're reading this week.

 

Behaloscha is the beginning of our journey it is the three-day journey away from Israel. We're almost there. We're almost redeemed. Shelach is the end of the story of why it didn't happen. In between those two stories is a parsha bifnei atzmo- it stands by itself. It's the smallest parsha in the Torah and our sages tell it is a book in of itself. That's not just homiletically. It's a halachic concept. If there's a fire burning on Shabbos one is generally forbidden from saving items from it as the Rabbis were concerned one might violate Shabbos by putting it out or carrying the items in a biblically forbidden manner. Yet, for a Torah scroll that has the 85 letters that this "book, that is encircled by two upside down letter "nun"s one can save it and violate the rabbinic decrees that generally apply. Interestingly enough the number 85 in gematria is peh- mouth or poh- here. There's something here that we need to uncover, something we need to speak about. It's everything…

 

So let's talk about it. We all know the verses by heart. We sing it when we open the aron. Va'yehi bi'nosoa aron- and when the ark travels… Moshe says Hashem should rise up and get rid of our enemies… and the second verse is U'vanucho yomar- and when the ark rests Return the tens of thousands of Israel. The hidden parsha that changes the tide of our history and where it all goes downhill is the story of the travel of the Ark of Hashem or the Ark of the Covenant as Rashi tells us right before this. From here we go to the complainers, the Kivros Ha'taiva- graves of desire, the complaining about the manna, the quail, and ultimately in this week's parsha for us in Israel already this week the spy's debacle and finally the death of the ma'apilim- the ones that went up without permission afterwards that were killed by Amalek. That's the process. That's where we are until today.

 

Amalek first meets us when we leave in Egypt. They show up here again in the form of the Emori (as it says in Devarim). They come because the Aron HaBris is not in our midst. Because Moshe is not there with us. Isn't it amazing these two bookmarks? It starts with Moshe telling us that the aron habris has to be with us, and even tells Hashem – va'yomer Moshe- that He needs to slow down the Ark from that three day run to Israel because it always has to be with us. And the end of the story is the Emori- like the word va'yomer attacking those that went up without the Aron. Without Moshe. That's where the story ends.

 

The truth is it starts with that first attack of Amalek when we left Egypt. There Moshe goes out to the hilltop and raises his hands. We need to see Moshe. He has to be with us. He is like the Aron. Rabeynu Bachya tells us that when the verse tells us the reason why the ma'apilim were killed is because the aron ha'bris and Moshe –

 

lo mashu mi'kerev ha'machaneh- that the Ark and Moshe didn't move (mashu-like Moshe) from within the camp.

 

This is to teach us, he writes, that the Ark and Moshe are compared to one another. They're equal. One and the same. And we need either one or the other, if not both to bring us into the land. To chase away our enemies. To finally rest and return the tens of thousands of Israel to Hashem and to His land. They're the Mashiach energy.

 

There's something fantastic that struck me about the Aron HaBris- the ark that was different than what I always thought about it. In general, in the yeshiva world we always connect the Ark with Torah. In yeshiva we connect everything with Torah and its study. Yet, amazingly Rashi here and the Chazal he quotes repeatedly note something more significant and a different perspective about the Ark, then I've ever had. The note that what is most important about the Aron is that the shivrei luchos. The broken tablets. Not the ones that Hashem gave us a second time. Not even the ones that even had anything perhaps even readable left on them. It's not about the Torah even. Rather, it's about the memory of these broken tablets. It's a reminder of what they stand for. That's what we need to take with us. That's what will bring us to Israel. That's what the Ma'apilim forgot.

 

What are these broken tablets and what do they symbolize? The broken tablets signify and remind us of our failure and our new understanding. They tablets were shattered because the people desperately wanted to come into the land. They needed a guide. They needed a replacement for Moshe. They needed a Waze. An engine that would drive them there.

 

We didn't realize it was Hashem that took us out Himself. We thought it was all Moshe. We believed that we weren't holy enough, that Hashem wasn't really into us enough, that we were worthy of being able to do that on our own connection with Him. With His love for us. So we went for something fake. Some gold cow. We were wrong. Fatally wrong. Because if we don't believe Hashem could rest in us, then guess what? He won't. Then the Torah itself will just be another golden calf, another means of connecting to Hashem through an intermediary, rather than as a tool to reveal that inner spark and fire that already burns inside of us. And thus they had to be broken and shattered.

 

Hashem's response was that if we can't imagine Him within us then he will stay out. He'll forgive us, but He's staying out. He'll send an angel. He'll send Bibi. He'll send someone to set up a Jewish state, that won't last. Because He's not going to be able to build a home in every yid and dwell His presence within us if we don't think we can handle Him. That we're worthy of Him.

 

It was then when we woke up and said that's not enough. We want You within us. We want the second tablets, but they will sit next to the first tablets to remind us that they should never serve as an alternative. They should be there to remind us always that it's not about having a "Jewish State", that it's about conquering a land, that it's about having the fish and cucumbers of Egypt. It's about building Him a Home. It's about having Him in our midst. It's always staying connected to Him. It's returning to the garden. Shuva Hashem.

 

Yet, the most amazing and mind-blowing idea is what follows the story of the ma'apilim- the ones that tried to go up without Moshe and the Aron Ha'bris. Because after-all what did they really do wrong. They told Hashem they sinned (again as it says in Devarim). They wanted to do teshuva. They wanted to go up ha'hara- to that mountain. The mountain that Meraglim were sent to go to and build a house for Hashem. The mountain that Avraham brought his son to sacrifice on the altar there. The same altar where Noach first sacrificed his offering. The same altar that Adam brought that first sacrifice on. They went up there willing to be moser nefesh- to give their lives and fight Amalek and wipe them out. They said we want to fight the battle Hashem told us to. Yet, it tells us Hashem didn't listen to them. He didn't hear their voice. Why not?

 

The reason is because they didn't have those broken luchos with them. They didn't say the one thing that they should've said that perhaps could've turned the whole thing around. When Moshe told them that Hashem said that they couldn't go because He was not with them. They went anyways. They forgot the message of the broken luchos. What they should've done is tell Hashem, as they did by the Eigel- that they want Hashem to come in with them. They want the Ark to come with them. They don't want to wander. They don't want Him not to have a Home for 40 years. They want Hashem to come in with them. To live with us. That's what the broken luchos was supposed to tell them to do. Yet they went on their own.

 

It's amazing that we find many times- not just by the Eigel, that when Klal Yisrael turned to Hashem and said we want You, that your gezeira- isn't good for us or for You, that it worked. In fact it's the story right before these two nuns and sefer of Pesach Sheini. The ones that were tamey, said "lama nigara"- why should we lose out. We want to bring the offering. We want you Hashem. When they accepted Hashem, and bowed to His will then it worked! Hashem let them bring Pesach Sheni. As well remarkably we find this in the story of the daughters of Tzlafchad, the one who is the Mekosheish Eitzim- the stick gatherer who's story follows this story, asking Hashem for their portion, that they were technically not entitled. As well it works! They're allowed to have a portion. All we need to do, is include and bring the aron habris with its broken tablets into our request. Into our journey. We can't do it on our own. But the second that we turn to Hashem and are mevatel our da'as to Him, we could've gone in. The ma'apilim didn't need to fall.

 

That is actually and exactly the next verse that follows their tragic death and failure. Hashem tells Moshe to tell us that it will be when we come into the land. What!? Did I miss something? I though Hashem just said that we're not coming into the land? What's going on? The answer is that we could go into the land. The decree is changeable. It was changeable. We just need to ask Hashem for the Aron to come with us. That He should be with us. But to do that we have to feel worthy enough. We have to see that fire that He put in us when we complained by the misoninim burning brightly. We have to know the He is already within us. That we're His children. That He's our Father. That we need to have a home together.

 

The mitzva that represents that is the nesachim. Until then one only poured wine on a communal sacrifice. We may have only been and thought ourselves as Nesichim- princes when we are together as a community. In the land of Israel though Hashem tells us, we are all obligated to bring nesachim. We are all princes. We all have wine. We all have grapes, that were planted, pruned, stepped on squeezed and fermented. We all have that royal elixir to bring to Hashem. We're all His children. Each one can have Hashem in their midst. Then we can be redeemed.

 

Amalek, the Satan, our enemies feel that we're getting closer to that moment. They're job is to give our grapes that last squeeze. The world is dictating to us what we can and can't do. There are forces amongst us that are like the complainers, that are crying about our depression, our trauma, our long journey that's speeding up. There are others that aren't ready to give up their desires and Egyptian cucumbers or meat-boards, or even the holy Torah they're learning in the Exile. At the other end there are those that are trying to go up without the humility. Without Hashem. Without seeing what the Torah wants us to do. There are those that are scared of giants and White Houses. Of what the nations will say. If we're even worthy to have Hashem amongst us. The one common denominator that lies between these two nuns- is that they're about external circumstances defining our agenda and our ability. We're not hearing Kaleiv and Yehoshua telling us Hashem is within us. We can. He will. We are. It's hearing that voice that will bring us in. It's that voice that the Satan is trying to drown out.

 

Rav Asher Freund once said, I can take all of the miskenim- the nebachs, the pitiful forlorn out of the beit misheguaim- out of the asylums that they're in. The only problem is that they're not willing to give up their miskeinut- they're not willing to give up their pitiful state. They are misoninim- they are defining themselves by their tragedies, by their sad situations, by their galus, by their inability to overcome. They don't see or feel that Mashiach energy. They haven't drunk the l'chayim of Nesachim. But it won't be much longer. Because as I said. It's in the air. It's time. I'm thirsty. Aren't you?

   

Have a purposeful Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz  

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

" Vet moshiakh geboyrn vern mit a tog shpeter." – (What’s your rush?) So the messiah will be born a day later...

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

2. According to the Bible, the Tabernacle where Hannah prayed was located in the settlement of  _______ ?

Which kingdom is the governor's house at Tel Beth Shean related to?

A. Egyptian

B. Assyrian

C. Babylonian

D. Hittite

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/eretz-tu-bishvat   – In honor of the Eretz Yisrael love parsha… My song which is the tikkun of it all Eretz Yisrael! Dovid Lowy on vocals and arrangements… listen till end it's fun!

https://youtu.be/XLocQT7rs68?si=M8-g54tUX-_CMKcC   - Eitan Katz's latest release… what a song… really the only person I think that always hits it on the head… this is his ITI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc18bHzDOIM&list=RDQc18bHzDOIM&start_radio=1 Yoni Z- Latest Release G.E.U.L.A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSSjuXP30cM   – Love this best of Mona instrumental medley can you name them all?

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

Making Miracles Happen- 350 BC-   Perhaps one of the most important stories that not too many people know is the story of this building of the second Mikdash and it's message for us today. In a nutshell review. Cyrus allows us to start building the Temple and then it halts. Achashveirosh totally puts a quash on it. When Darius his son comes into power the prophets tell them to restart it even without his permission. They do. They don't his permission. It's ours. It's for Hashem. Don't worry the prophet tells us. Take the first steps and Hashem will do the rest. And He does.

 

After a few months of their building messages go from Israel and it's non-Jewish governors back to Darius about the rebuilding. They tell him that the Jews are rebuilding permanent stones. Sure they have wood inside in order to take it down if they ever rebel. That was the command of Cyrus. But still wasn't it halted. Who says they should be building? Darius gets the message and asks to see the original letter of Cyrus. Yet, would you believe what happened. It seems that it got misplaced… They couldn't find it. Yet, he wasn't satisfied. He sent messengers back to Media and there they found the original documents. It said we could build and thus he gave us his permits.

 

When his advisers and State Department complained, claiming it would upset our neighbors in the Middle East, that it would lead to us rebelling. That we were being occupiers. That previous administrations- such as his father's refused and even halted it's construction. Darius, perhaps inspired by our actions turned the tables on them. He told them that Achashveirosh never permanently banned it. It was a temporary hold. And he ordered that we should be assisted in our building. We should be sent offerings, money construction material. Persia/Iran wants to help us build the Bais Ha'Mikdash. It just needed to start with us taking the initiative. With us not waiting for our permits. If we stand up and take that dive, then they will follow. We will be their light. We will not be waiting for them to lead us. Because Hashem's house can only come when we are ready to make it happen. And when we are then we need to do it. No questions asked. And then no one can stop us.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE FAILURE JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate!

A husband shows his wife a study which indicates that on the average men use fifteen thousand words a day, whereas women use thirty thousand. The wife thinks about this and then tells her husband that women use twice as many words as men because they have to repeat everything they say.The husband turns from the paper and says, "What?"

 

Describe failure in two words? I can't.

 

We should've known about the failure of communism. In retrospect, there were a lot of red flags...

 

""Never fear failure, always embrace it." My mom said as she released me from her hug.

 

What was Genghis Khan’s failure of a brother named? Genghis Khan’t

 

What do you call a cow that's stopped producing milk? An udder failure.

 

Not everything on the Titanic was a failure. The pool is still full to this day.

 

A plane carrying Donald Trump made an emergency landing in New Orleans after alleged engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico. Turns out there was just a loud whine coming from the right wing

 

George Soros- the notorious Jewish anti- Israel Billionaire woke up in the hospital after surgery he had to undergo on his visit to Israel. He asked, “Why are all the blinds drawn in here?”

The nurse answered, “There’s a fire across the street and we didn’t want you to think the operation had been a failure.”

 

Whenever I used to feel sad for any failure, my dad would tell me..

"Don't worry son, keep trying. Sky is the limit for you."

I will never forgive the old man for ruining my chances of becoming an astronaut.

 

A 5 year old boy was in kidney failure.

Dad: "Son, I'm sorry, but your kidneys aren't working anymore."

Son: "it's gonna be fine, dad."

Dad: "I know...we can start dialysis and get you on the donor list."

Son: "I was actually thinking about just asking for my adult knees early.". (It took me twice… but actually its pretty teef… if you think about it…)

 

I created a Reddit competitor. It's failure was poetic, given its name: Blue-it

 

Why was the baseball stadium in Poland a huge failure? Pretty much anywhere you sat you were behind a Pole.

 

A moth goes into a pediatrist’s office, the pediatrist asks the moth, “what seems to be the problem?”

The moth responds, “My whole life is a mess. My marriage is in shambles, my daughter married this guy who I despise and who despises me, my son is a wretched failure, which only reflects my own failures.”

Understandably confused, the pediatrist asks “that all sounds truly awful, but I’m a pediatrist, what is it that brings you to *my* office?”

The moth says, “oh, the light was on.”

.*******************************

The answer to this week's question is A– It's nice when you have an easy Jewishish question. Everyone knows Chana is in Shilo… right? You don't even need a Rabbi Schwartz tour for that. On the other hand I don't know how many of you have been to Beit Shean. The truth is even those that were there at the ancient Roman capital city in the Jordan Valley, probably never made their way up the Tel to the Top where the Governors's mansion from the pre- Israel Egyptian period reigned here. I've been there once in my tour guiding course and it's not worth the shlep up in the hot Jordan Valley. But I got it right So the test continues with Rabbi Schwartz having 1.5 points and the MOT having .5 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.

The Real Deal- Parshat Naso/Behaloscha 2026 5786

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

May 29^th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 31 13^th of Sivan 5786

 

Parshat Beha'aloscha

 

The Real Deal

Click here below for print edition

( weekly newsletter Parshat Beha'aloscha edition )

 

Let's start with a quick easy quiz. When is chulent not chulent? When it's pareve. When is cheesecake not cheesecake? When it's non-dairy. When is Sushi not sushi? When it has tofu instead of fish. When is coffee not coffee? When it has soy milk in it. Ok you got part one right. Very good. Moving on.

 

When is ceasefire not a ceasefire? When soldiers are still getting killed every day. When haven't you won a war yet? When your enemies are still attacking you and they continue to pose a threat to you. When is a peace agreement not a peace agreement? When your enemies are still determined at the next possibly opportunity to come back and attack you again and don't really want peace and believe you have nor right to exist. When isn't a victory a victory? When your enemy is still breathing, laughing, plotting and still controlling your actions. When you feel that you need to rehabilitate them. Arm them again. Pay compensation. When they're not waving a white flag agreeing to any terms you give them- which should be that they have to wave Israeli flags from their rooftops, they have no citizenship rights in the land of Israel, they can't even worship false prophets and certainly not false gods or even have houses of worship or churches to celebrate their deviant religious Jewish breakoffs. Just like the Torah describes the existence of gentiles should be in the land of Israel. It's a simple as pareve chulent and non-dairy cheesecake. Perhaps even simpler.

 

OK, you're still doing good on this exam so far. Let's take this to the next level. Phase Three. When are your mitzvos not really mitzvos? When you're not fulfilling them in the Land of Israel. That's not me that says that it's the Ramban and Rashi and pretty much most of the commentaries. It's also pretty explicit in the Torah throughout. The function of mitzvos, are for us to "come to the land" fulfill them here and then shine out a light to the rest of the world from here. We're obligated even biblically to fulfill them outside of Israel, but they're not real. They're just signposts- or tziyunim as the verse the Ramban and Rashi tell us to keep us in practice until we can fulfill them when we come home. On that note…

 

Where is one's Torah not really Torah? Where is one's Shabbos not really Shabbos? Where is one's God not really ONE God? Yup… Over there. Hashem is one only when we all come here and reveal Him. We can't experience Him and He isn't revealed unless we're all here. In fact, where are we really not a united nation? That's right, again. When we're not here.

 

Mi Ki'macha Yisrael- who is like Your nation Yisrael

 

Do you know that song? That great statement we say whenever we're impressed with something Jews do. Do you know that MKY Whatsapp group? Well don't forget the rest of it, they seem to leave out.

 

Goy Echad BA'ARETZ- one nation in the Land.

It's only here that we are one nation. It's only here that true achdus is possible. Until we all get here, we will be perpetually divided. We will still have dual citizenship. We'll be sefardi, Morrocan, American, French, Ashkenazi, Yeshivish, Dati Jews… We won't be one nation under God. We won't be indivisible. We won't have our pure unique individual Jewish light shine out, because it will be tainted with the air and the earth and the country that we live in that we identify ourselves with to some capacity. It's pareve cheesecake. It looks and smells and tastes Milchigs. But it ain't. And neither are we.

 

There's one more series of questions that I'd like to get to in this quiz, but since you didn't do so well on the last part, let's jump to the parsha and see what we can do to raise your grade. Hey, what do you know this week's parsha is called Be'haaloscha- when you will rise up. At least for us in Israel it is. But even you chutznik, which are behind us this week and are reading Naso. That also means lift up. So, I'll try to do that for you, being that we read that already last week.

 

Last week's Parsha for us, and in fact the entire Book of Bamidbar is about the development of our nation from our birth in Shemos and Matan Torah at Sinai this past Shavuos. It's about us becoming Midabrim- speakers. That's the age when a child becomes a person. That's the essence of being a human and specifically a Jewish person with a special speech to give to the rest of the world. As the famous Unkelos translates by the creation of Man that we are a ruach memalila- a spirit that speaks. We were able to do that when we got the aseret ha'dibrot- the ten statements, speeches we were meant to give to the world and to live by.

 

Thus the first two parshiyot deal with the counting of the nation. Each person counts. Each one has a place in the camp. Each has a purpose and speech that we're meant to give. We have a flag. We camp around the Ark. The Shechina and the voice transmits through us. It's why as well we need to be in Israel and have a Bais Ha'Mikdash for us to truly have the meaning we were created with. As long as we're tamey, we're Sotas, we're metzoras- we're just negative, we have bad that overwhelms us, then we're outside of the camp. We're not there. We're in America. And the voice of Hashem isn't speaking from us. We may even think we're Nazir's. That we can stay holy and create new laws and takanos to protect us from those temptations, but that's also a sin. That's also not really part of the camp. That's not a united entity. That's being your own crown but, not having any other jewels on it besides your own. That's not the crown Hashem wants to wear.

 

Parshat Naso though tells us how to uplift those. Because none of us can really transmit unless we're all there. As long as some wires are missing the transmission is gonna be broken. So Naso, is how we uplift everyone. We bring them all back. We all get the blessing of the Kohanim together. The Nesi'im are inspired as well. They bring their sacrifices. The Levi'im are counted and put into place. The camp is ready to sail. We have our shofars to blow to the world. To win wars with. We're three days away from Israel. We're ready to become. For Hashem to be revealed. And then it goes south. Beha'aloscha that began with that uplifting of the Menora, of the lights all shining to that middle candle and from there to the rest of the world, all of a sudden go out. We lose it all.

 

What happens? The Torah is not clear. It gives us a few cryptic stories that don't really explain themselves. It's hard to understand how a nation that just a year before were standing at Sinai, that got atonement for the golden calf, that saw miracles like never before, that received the second Luchos could fall so fast and for what? It's weird. Let's take a look and see perhaps a few clues that could direct us to a pathway of understanding and what that could mean for us today as well.

 

The first story the Torah tells us is of the Mis'oninim- the complainers. What were they complaining about? The Torah doesn't tell us. Rashi says that it was because Hashem was trying to rush us into Israel and made the three-day journey in one day and we got tired out. Why did He do that? It seems He knew that we could only behave for the first few minutes of the trip. Better get us in before we mess it all up. Well… it seems it didn't help. Others suggest that the opposite really is true. In fact we know that Eretz Yisrael is only acquired through tribulations. This was meant to be the yisurim that we had to undergo. If we would've accepted them with love, joy and faith then it would've been all over. We would've earned the land. We would've come in be'menucha to our final resting place. But we didn't.

 

Why didn't we? Why doesn't the Torah tell us that this is what the complaint was about and leave it just as complaining. It's strange. And why does that cause us to be eaten up by a fire. That seems pretty dramatic for a bit of kvetching over a three-day marathon. It also seems strange that the verse tells us that they were complaining, but it doesn't say to whom. It just says they complained in the ears of Hashem and Hashem heard. That's a weird way of putting it. It seems they were complaining about Hashem, but not to Him. Just about Him so that He could hear. And boy did He hear…

 

The Jews response to this fire is that they cry out to Moshe. Again, strange they don't daven to Hashem. They daven to Moshe. Moshe in turn doesn't rebuke them on this. Rather he cries out to Hashem and Hashem sinks the fire. Our sages tell us that Moshe in fact doesn't even cry out to Hashem but rather on Hashem. It switches the aleph of el- to, to an ayin-which means al- on Hashem. He cries out blaming Hashem. What are You doing here? What do you want from me… from them? That's story one. As I said strange.

 

The second story is even stranger. The Eruv Rav that joined the Jewish people start having a desire. The nation as well joins them and start crying. They want meat. They remember the "free" fish of Egypt. And then the strangest part. They talk about five things they're missing. That the Manna doesn't taste like. Kishuyim- cucumbers, avtichim- melons, chatzir- seemingly vegetables, betzeilim- onions and shumim- garlic. Really? That's your problem. The salads?! Even stranger, is why takkeh doesn't the Manna taste like these five things? Rashi tells us that they're not healthy for a nursing woman, yet the next question is perhaps, why not? What is it about these five things that nursing woman shouldn't be eating. As I said it's a really strange story.

 

Just to continue on to the next two stories quick. This story leads to Moshe complaining to Hashem that he can't handle the people alone. He never gave birth to us. Hashem should just kill him already. Very very strange… Hashem gives prophecy to 70 elders and to Eldad and Meidad who predict Moshe's death. He then provides slav- quail for the nation and they die choking on it for a month straight. Weirder and weirder… Finally it ends off with Miriam's Lashon Harah on Moshe and his marriage to the Kushi woman whom he separated from, which leads us into the story of the spies next week and ultimately our 40 year journey in the wilderness with everyone pretty much dying and never being or becoming the nation of Hashem in Israel… Ouch. Downhill. Strange stories. What's pshat?

 

There's an interesting theme that seems to run through this parsha of the Mis'oneninim. It's the theme of nursing, of birth, of coming into being. Moshe Rabbeinu tells Hashem that he didn't conceive us. He didn't birth us. He can't nurse us. He's not the Omen- a nurse maid that nurses a child. Interestingly that word Omen- has the word manna in it. It comes after a strange elaborate description of the manna. The manna is like a seed. Like tazria. It in fact is like the ein bedolach which is a clear crystal. Its flavor is like a shad mi'shemen- which literally means kneaded with oil, yet as well the word shad- is the place where a baby nurses from. It falls like dew at night, dew of course being the symbol of resurrection of birth. Manna is on top of that. It's our kesher, our connection the place where we can nurse our life and spirit directly from Hashem.

 

The Jewish people though don't take the manna that way. They grind it on stones, not appreciating that the precious gem that it comes from. In fact, the Bedolach, is mentioned in the river Pishon that back in Eden that flows from there. They instead, create their own rechem- that they grind it on. They take that seed and smash it, not leaving it as the precious seed it is. They cook it and not let it rise like rich oil that is natural that comes from the shadayim of Hashem, from his holy dew. They make it artificial. They make it about Ani. Me. My strength. They become disconnected from Hashem, because they stopped nursing from Him.

 

It's interesting that many times when it discusses the mitzva and blessing of being fruitful and multiplying it refers to Hashem as E-l- Shad-dai. By the blessing of Yosef as well, Yaakov tells Yosef Hashem should bless him birkas shadayim vi'rechem. On the other hand, sha-dai our sages tell us comes from the word dai- Hashem told the world that it is enough. Nursing which comes from the place of the shadayim really is that process. When one nurses, they can't procreate. It's taking the world that has been built, the life that has been created, and stopping to create and form it and rather to nurse it so that it can stand on its own. It can be its own person. But the person that has been nurtured to life with the milk of his mother. With that taste and DNA in their blood always. That will flavor the person they become. The ani. When they don't nurse from Him. Then they're lost trying to find themselves from somewhere else.  

 

In fact, the word Mis'oninim- complainers even sounds like the word ani. Mis'oninim. We became more and more about Me. About I. The word Onen, the commentaries note comes from the word grief. It's the state one is when someone's close relative dies. He's focused only on himself. His sadness. His loss. He doesn't see Hashem. He's alone. He's only ani. When one is in that state and they don't feel Hashem and it's only me alone, then everything is sad. Everything is bad. There's no light. It's when a baby starts to cry.

 

It's interesting those five things that a nursing mother can't get from outside sources and that are bad for her and her baby if she gets them from an external source. Each of those words and foods have a Hebrew essence and connection. Let's take them one by one and perhaps we can understand on a deeper level of what Klal Yisrael was longing for. The kishuim- cucumbers come from the word koshi- difficulty, challenges, hardships. They were longing for the hardships of Egypt. See in Egypt despite the fact that it was so difficult. Yet, it was predictable. We knew what to expect. It was same old thing day in and out. We were in a womb. It was tight. But we were not traveling running, going into the unknown. We miss those koshis as opposed to this fast race Hashem is taking us on.

 

The avtichim- the melons are the word bitachon. Security. There in Egypt. We felt secure. We had protection. We knew what was coming. Sure there's anti-Semitism. Sure we have an anti-Semitic mayor. There's demonstrations and flags. But we miss that false sense of security. That Materna or Similac fake milk we've been nursing, like those fake difficulties that we thought were predictable that made us feel comfortable. But they really weren't from our mother's milk.

 

Next we have the chatzir- the veggies, the grass, the things that flourish natural, but that the prophet tells us ka'chatzir yaveish. It just dries up. It looks really green and beautiful, but it's not real. It's not nutritious. It's just grass. Weed we smoke for a quick high. It's the children that we had in Egypt, which are compared to that grass. That like seed are yoreh ki'cheitz- come shooting out like an arrow. Six in a row. But guess what? They weren't real either. They all got thrown in the river. They died.

 

The ba'tzeil- that onion, is the word tzeil- shadow. The word shum- garlic is from the word sham- there or neshoma- soul, or mashma'ut- meaning. We miss that sense of meaning and purpose we had in Egypt. That feeling like we were in shadow of the something greater than us. Those huge pyramids we built. Those big houses in Jackson. I mean Goshen. The great organizations we built, we were part of, the chesed organizations, the Shuls and the Torah and Daf Yomi we studied there. But at the end of the day… its not real. It's not Israel. It's not Hashem. It's about Ani. It's me. It's nursing from Egypt. And when you do that, you're in a state of grief. You get depressed. You get hungry for meaning. You're never satisfied. You become asafsuf- you're gathering more and more and more… but not really satisfied. Because you're not nursing from Hashem. Your too busy cooking, grinding and baking.  

 

Those five things, an ability to deal with challenges, a sense of security, the ability to flourish, a sense of meaning and purpose a child who is developing into one who will speak for himself and to become the person they need to become, they have to get from their mother's pure milk. From her emuna. Her faith. It's why she's called an eim. Eema- she's the person that connects us to that aleph. We can't get that artificially. Not from Egypt. Not from anywhere else. We get that from the manna. The torah is only given to the ones that are ochley manna- the ones that draw their sense of self from Hashem. That nurse from him. And the manna doesn't taste like any of that artificial stuff.

 

When someone doesn't have that, then they become onenim- they become people that are trying to find their own ani. That pursuit of a sense of self without Hashem brings them down that vegetable rabbit hole. They tap into their own desires. They want meat. They cry over the families. That they can't just procreate with anyone. They want to be fruitful like those fish- the dag, they were in Egypt, rather than, the zera gad- the word dag backwords, that seed of gad, which is mazal, which is the band of Hashem the tribe of Gad represents. Rather than the aguda echad. The one bound nation to Hashem.  

 

They complain in the ears of Hashem, but not to Him. They're not connected. They've been counted they feel they have their place. They're in that womb, but they're not read to leave it yet. They're not ready to become mi'dabrim. To chase their enemies away with the name of Hashem. They're still struggling on that Egyptian fake milk that they can't seem to get out of their system. So Hashem brings down a fire to burn those edges away. He burns in them that fire of Hashem. It eats up those edges that still have Egypt in them. Yet there's still the asafsuf, the Egyptian sense of gathering. The people connect to that. They still want to nurse from Egypt. They're not ready to take the manna in its purest form. It's gotta be a meatboard with a mehadrin hashgacha. It's gotta be a Dubai kosher chocolate or challa. They want that slav- that shalva- the delicious serenity that they felt there. It was kosher. Why not?

 

See when someone is depressed, they engage in stress eating, depression noshing, they start to look for inappropriate highs online in bad places. They're so focused on their basar, that they don't see that fire of Hashem that is burning inside of them they are extinguishing with all of that artificial chulent. It's pareve cheesecake. It's not chalav Eretz Yisrael. It's at that point that Moshe tells Hashem that he can't be that mother, that nurses them. They can't have anything artificial even from him. It has to come directly from Hashem. He saw what happened when they became too attached to him. They made a golden calf. Their desire to connect to their flesh and find themselves is too great. He himself will become their golden calf. Hashem should kill him if that is the case, because ultimately, they won't be connected to Hashem. They will be nursing from Moshe.

 

Hashem thus, tells Moshe that He will destroy their desire. He will bury it there. They will see and learn that it is a destructive force. They will have so much meat and will gather and gather and gather, but they will see that it doesn't satisfy them. They won't be happy. They won't be midabrim. They will be nefels- miscarriages. They will be buried with their taivos there. They'll learn that chulent without meat isn't chulent, neither is pareve cheesecake or fake sushi. They'll only want natural, whole foods. No more chemicals. Only from Hashem.

 

Incredibly as well at the same time, Hashem takes that holy spirit from Moshe and divides it up to 70 elders and specifically to Eldad and Meidad. Isn't it amazing those names, Dahd- is the place where a baby nurses from. El-dahd from the nursing place of Hashem. Mei-dad from that place. That's where the spirit will draw from. That spirit tells us that Moshe will die, but Yehoshua will bring us in. Moshe is not eternal. There will be leaders in the next generation. There will be Yehoshua. There will be redemption. We just need to be driven to only nurse from the real source. We can't be satisfied with artificial. We need to want the real thing.

 

The plan and state though falls apart with Miriam. With that Lashon Harah. With the claim that Moshe perhaps isn't directly nursing from Hashem. That lashon harah leads to the spies, to our desire to stay with Moshe, to not enter the land. To not bring about the redemption. To not leave the womb. To not come home and become who we were meant to be. We continued to eat that manna. We loved to suckle so much. We couldn't imagine doing it on our own. We wanted to stay in that spiritual bubble and not bring it into the real world.

 

And now for the last questions of the quiz. When is a redeemed nation not really redeemed? When there's still a golden pimple sitting on our mount. When is a nation not a free nation- not an am chafshi b'artzeinu? When we're still asking other nations what we're allowed to do. If we can build a bais ha'mikdash, if we can destroy idolatry. If we can wipe out our enemies. When am I just as bad and just as exiled as the Jews who died in the midbar? When haven't I fixed their sins? When am I still suffering from the same lack of faith, the same lack of self-identity, the same frailties that they did? When am I still nursing from the nations and not from Hashem…? That' not a question I'm going to answer. It's one that we have to each answer for ourselves. We have to look at the garlic, the melons, the onions, the security, the meaning, the identity where we're putting our koichus and ask ourselves if it's perhaps still from Egypt. Is it Similac? Pareve? Or is it Whole Food. Holy Food. The real deal.

 

We're living in a time of AI. Artificial intelligence is all the rage. Some believe it's the future. It's a world that has fake peace deals, fake victories, fake Jewish states, fake ceasefires. The food we eat is all fake. The entertainment we ingest isn't real. The News is artificial. It's lies. We see this we hate it. It's the slav- that serenity that Hashem is stuffing down our mouth until we say we want the real thing. We want redemption. We want the Temple. We only want to nurse from you. We're getting closer and closer. It's time to give up all of the chemicals and answering the last exam question. Are we ready to truly become the ochley manna. To become us.

 

Have a spectacular Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

" Fun iberessen cholyet men mer vi fun nit deressen.."– From overeating one suffers more than from not eating enough.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

The name of the King of Judah killed in battle at Megiddo is ______ .

What is the widely accepted research hypothesis regarding the ritual objects discovered in the Cave of the Treasure at Nahal Mishmar?

A. The ritual objects are related to Edomite culture, similar to findings in Biblical Tamar.

B. The ritual objects were hidden in the cave by the Essenes, similar to the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

C. The ritual objects were smuggled from Tel Arad during the city's destruction in the Bronze Age. D. The ritual objects were used in the Chalcolithic temple in Ein Gedi and were buried in the cave after it was abandoned.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yesimcha   - Birkas Kohanim this week and so why not learn the Rabbi Schwartz Composition… Some sya my nicest song… Yesimcha the bracha with Yitz Berry arrangements

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atlob8Qawgo – Yaakov Shwekey's latest release Ani Yehudi…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjSR-mrRctE   Benny Friedmans Shavuos Release Heliegeh Torah…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tgtH0oUW5kA    - This short clip of Hanan Ben Ari doing Hashiveynu just blew me away…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxm1xpkt-zo   Reb Shlomo Carlebach on why He's so happy….

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

The final Prophecy- 350 BC-   The last prophecy we have is of Zecharia and Malachi. Two years had passed since Darius the son of Achashveirosh had taken reign and the prophets had urged the Jews to return and continue the building of the Bais HaMikdash that had been halted during Achashveirosh's reign. Yet, the Jews did not heed the call. They were too nervous of what our neighbors would say. What Darius would say. They justified it saying it wasn't yet the time of the redemption despite the incredible miracles and fulfillment of all of the words of the prophets. They just didn't have what it took. They thought that prophecy was over and to a large degree they were right.

 

Yet, Hashem wasn't going to take this sitting down. So he sent one last prophecy and command even though they were told there wasn't going to be anymore. The prophecy came to Zecharia after the Jews in Bavel sent a question to the prophets and Rabbis of Jerusalem whether they should still be fasting on Tisha B'Av or not. On the one hand we were returning, we were even bringing sacrifices in its place. We're being told we should build the Temple. Yet on the other hands it's still in ruins and destruction. Are we meant to fast on Tisha B'Av or not? That's where the Navi lost it.

 

He told them that Hashem doesn't need your beketches… I mean your kinnos. Your lamentations or your mourning. The time to build is not. He needs you to fix your sin of the past, not by mourning it and watching Chafetz Chaim heritage videos and hearing shmoozim about our sins. Rather He wants us to return build the Mikdash and live here like mentchen. Go back to where the sins of hatred and fighting and lashon hara and even the worship of false idols and bamahs took place and build one Home, one Place, one Temple, the only one, where we all can daven together in one large minyan- just as we stood on Sinai and worship and serve Hashem. That's how His light comes down to the world. That's what a world redeemed will look like.

 

The Navi tells us that Hashem is willing to even make this the final resting place if we can do this. We don't need to go to galus again. We need to be unafraid of what anyone else will say. We need to come home and start the work-instead of just praying and mourning for it.

 

The Jews heed this message in Israel at least. They begin the work in the 2^nd year of Darius in the month of Kislev. On the 24^th of the month. It's erev Chanuka- before the holiday even happens. Darius hasn't yet given that building permit yet, but the Jews faithfully listen to the prophet and begin anyways. Thus the 2^nd Temple begins to be built for the second time.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE OVEREATING JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

The other day I saw a little Yerushalmi boy eating a lot of chocolate on a bus.

 I told him: "Stop! Eating too much chocolate is bad for your health and makes you fat!"

 He looked up and said:"My grandpa has lived for 95 years and he is still well and healthy, you know."

"Do you mean that this is because he eat a lot of chocolate?"

"No, this is because he doesn't mind other people's business."

 

What do you have after eating too much alphabet soup? A large vowel movement.

 

So the Priest visits his Jewish neighbor to torment him a bit. When they sit down the priest being  hungry sees there's a bowl of peanuts on the coffee table. After chatting with Berel for a while he realizes that he's eaten almost the entire thing. He apologizes snidely for his gluttony and for eating the whole bowl.

Berel replies, "Don't worry about it. I just like to suck the chocolate off them."

 

"Let us gradually stand and recognize our newest member of Overeaters Anonymous...

...and welcome him into the folds."

 

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.

 

Eating too much cake is the sin of gluttony. However, eating too much pie is okay, because the sin of pi is zero.

 

What was the name of the Greek hero that was punished by the gods for gluttony? Diabetes.

 

What do you call a man who became fat from eating too much McDonald's? Big Max

 

What’s another word for Gluttony? Insinuate (that's pretty clever!)

 

I got banned from Olive Garden for eating too much breadsticks

“how many did you eat?”

“Olive them.”

 

There were many knights at King Arthur's round table, but without a doubt the fattest was...

Sir Cumference. He was known for eating too much pi.

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I passed!!- so last week we completed the exam… I didn't even realize before Shavuos rush that it was last question… I ended up with 22.5 points out of 33 which if that would be the entire scoring grade is 3 points a question would give me 67.5 which is a passing grade! Now the truth is there are three questions that you can skip and assuming that I would've skipped the ones I got wrong, then I'm looking at a 70 something… also passing. But the real truth is this is only part A of the exam the second part of the exam is worth 70% of your grade which is itinerary planning part of it. Assuming I did good on that.. or at least 50% on that I would've passed and probably with flying colors…!

So 13 years later, B"H I still got it… On to this past July's exam with question take it with me and see how you do…

 

The answer to this week's question is D– So, I'm not off to a great start here. The first part was easy. Everyone knows Va'Yikonen  Yirmiyahu es Yoshiyahu Kinna/ Lamentation that we recite on Tisha B'Av. Yoshiyahu was killed going up to fight against Pharoah Necho who wanted to pass through the land to wage war against Aram. He was shot up like a sieve in his chariot, having gone to war against the advice of Yirmiyahu. SO I got that one right. The second part, I really went against my instinct of the Calcolithic one and went with the Dead Sea Essenes guys. I was wrong. The treasure found had about 430 or so items, like little idols, a hippo elephant and copper and gold miniture thrones and ritual stuff. So I start off with a 50/50  and our start off score is Rabbi Schwartz having .5 points and the MOT having .5 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.