Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
August 23rd 2013 -Volume 3, Issue 43–17th
of Elul 5773
Parshat Ki Tavo
Godly Graffiti
Kilroy was here. As American troops landed at various ports
during World War II they left that silly little cartoon of a man with a big
nose peeking out over a wall with the famous line "Kilroy was
here" to show that they had come, conquered and taken care of
business. The origin of Kilroy, it seems, started with this guy J Kilroy who
would inspect the rivets on the ships and left his scrawl there to show that it
had been inspected properly. So as the soldiers saw it at various unlikely
spots on the ship's hull the symbol became a talisman of the omniscience and
inscrutability of Kilroy and of the American troops conquest, victory and
protection. There's nothing liking vanquishing your enemy and leaving your
signature right there on the battlefield. It is a basic human need to want to
leave your mark for the world to see.
That doesn't really explain though, why exactly Kilroy's
name used to show up on our Yeshiva bathroom's walls. I mean, I know the
Yeshiva food was a little hard to digest, and yes it's true some of my
classmate's greatest accomplishments and epiphanies took place in those
hallowed stalls. At times, as well, it did even resemble a war zone. But still…
Kilroy? The oy part I got but the K-I-L-R really didn’t fit in. Although on
second thought maybe the idea of Kilroy's cartoon guy with the big nose peeking
over a wall was that we felt we were always being watched. Or perhaps it was a
yeshivshe interpretation of the actual Kilroy peeking over a bathroom stall…hmmm…Thank
god we had plenty of time to ponder this… But I digress. Back to our Torah E-Mail.
The truth is, it is not only US soldiers and bored Yeshiva
guys. From the early Egyptians with their funny hieroglyphics (camel, Egyptian prince
with left hand pointing up and right pointing down, bird, snail, frog, arrow,
spear, pharaoh- roughly translated as-
did you hear the one about the Jew that crossed the sea?), the ancient Greeks
with their Alpha Omega, Zeta, Upsilon symbols that they left on every college
campus they founded, or the Romans with their arches and gateways that were
built just for glory in every country they conquered-like a doorway with no
walls-one of which can be seen in the old city of Jerusalem today (called Ecco
Homo-but that’s a whole different story), each great nation wanted the world to
know that they had arrived. It's interesting for those of you who have been at
Masada if you make your way to the far southern end there is an ancient water
cistern with Hebrew graffiti all over it-No its' not Roman, they didn’t really
write Hebrew, it is from the early Zionist youth groups that would hike there
before the founding of the State. It was the early 1900's equivalent of "I-climbed-Masada-and-all-I-got-was-this-lousy-T-Shirt"
souvenir, it seems.
Which of course brings us around to this week's Torah
Portion, the Parsha of Ki Savo-When you will come to the land. The Parsha
begins with what the Ramban/Nachmanides suggests is the final mitzvot of the Torah
(although there is hakhel and writing a sefer torah following this, it seems
that these are the last regular mitzvoth for the nation), the mitzvah of
reciting and rejoicing when one brings one new fruits and ones tithes to
Jerusalem. It's a wonderful ending to an incredible slew of commandments. Be
happy. Recognize your historical connection to your forefathers who were
promised this land and appreciate that all that you have, produced and are
blessed with comes from Hashem. And then the Torah tells them/us of the first
thing they are meant to do when they come into the land. Take twelve big rocks
and write… Kilroy was here-oops… I mean write the Torah upon them…in 70
languages for all to see.
Now besides the incredible difficulty of schlepping these
big rocks and writing all of the mitzvos upon them, the book of Yehoshuah
actually tells us that all of this took place in one day. On the 10th
of Nissan of that fortieth year in
wilderness we crossed the Jordan river by Jericho. Joshuah split the Yarden,
just as the Red Sea split when we left, we then hiked all the way up into enemy
territory about sixty miles up to Shechem and Mt. Eival, all few millions of
us, set up these stones, recited the list of blessings and curses as the 12
tribes stood on opposite ends of the mountain, took down the rocks and headed
back to down to Gilgal where they set up the Tabernacle…Talk about a long day. This
left, of course, just a few days for our mass circumcision (which was put on
hold in the wilderness due to medical concerns) and of course Pesach cleaning.
One can imagine the Jewish women were not too happy to have to do it all on
their own especially with their kvetchy husbands and able body yeshiva boy sons
laid up in bed recovering. You know that somebody had to ask the question-Why? What
is this all about? Yes, there was no shortage of questions that first Pesach
Seder night, at least for those that were able to keep their eyes open after
that very tiring-though exhilarating week.
The 15th century Spanish sage Don Isaac
Abarabanel, who was himself expelled along with his fellow Jews from Spain
after hundreds of years sojourn in that great country that many thought would
be there final resting place-after all it was wonderful, comfortable and Jews
were successful as Torah and the economy flourished there-until it didn't
(something to think about for those living in similar situations today. I won't
mention any names of countries or of States that are so United-it can never
happen here-not here…), suggests a beautiful insight. He notes that wherever
one goes in the world one can see ancient pillars and monuments attesting to
the great victories and conquests that each nation has had. Everybody has a
Kilroy. Everybody except the Jewish people, that is. For our nation upon
entering the Land of Israel-Ki Tavo El Ha'Aretz, were different. We were
not conquering a land. We were returning to one. Just as our forefather Abraham
upon his arrival's first stop was to the valley of Shechem were he built his
altar on Alon Moreh and Hashem promised that his descendants that they would
inherit the land, so to we would came back to that same place. Just as many
centuries before our forefather Yosef was sold and started our Exile to Egypt
from that ancient city of Shechem, so his descendants would first stop there to
return his bones for burial in the homeland he never was able to return to.
The Abarbanel continues and explains that the most
important and primary act that we, the Jewish nation, had to do when first
returning to the land, was to lay down those stones. Unlike the Romans,
Egyptians and Greeks before them or the Spaniards, Turks, Americans or even
early Zionists after them, our stones were not testaments to our conquests or
our might and victory; rather they were our "old testament", our
Torah, our tradition, our recognition that this land was given to us by Hashem
and that we had an eternal covenant to maintain and to fulfill in inheriting
the land. The Abarbanel so poetically describes the two mountains and the
valley in between as our gateway to the land, two doorposts-mezuzot. Upon
those doorposts we would have our Torah inscribed to always remind us and to
serve as a testimony to the world.
"So that you may enter the Land that Hashem your God,
gives you, a Land flowing with milk and honey, as Hashem, the God of your
forefathers, spoke about for you".
Before entering ones new home, we place a mezuzah upon the
door. The final sentence of that mezuzah that is on the home of every Jewish
house for millennia wherever we may be found throughout the Diaspora is
"In order that your days and your children's days may
be increased upon the land that was sworn to your forefathers to give to you
like the days of heaven upon earth."
When we kiss our Mezuzah before entering our homes we not
only are recognizing that Hashem has given us our home and all our possessions,
but that our home is really in Eretz Yisrael, that our home in Eretz Yisrael
has a Mezuzah on it as well that we all swore an oath and entered into a Divine
covenant to uphold. Our monuments, our first graffiti, rock engraving when we
came to Israel was that we don't need Kilroy, Rome, America, or even the extraordinary
forces of what Yaackov Shweky most recently called "the greatest
soldiers in the world-chayalei Yisrael". We are under the protection
and order of Hashem and his Divine Promise. All that we need is for us to
uphold our agreement, fulfill our mandate and share the joy and happiness that
the entire world will know that Hashem's presence on this world will bring.
As we approach Rosh
Hashana the New Year, when all of our prayers revolve around the return and anticipation
of that great day, it is worthwhile to ponder and reflect if we are truly doing
all we need to live up to our ancient agreement. Are we as excited about the
Torah, our mitzvos, our special role in the world as we were when we stood upon
those mountains by Shechem on the day we first came home? If we do then we will
once again merit hopefully this coming year to fulfill once again the mitzvos
of Ki Tavo El Ha'aretz-when we finally all come back to our home
rebuilt.
Have a spectacular Shabbos,
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
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RABBI
SCHWARTZES TOUR GUIDE COURSE QUESTION OF THE WEEK
(answer
below)
(can
you believe we actually need to know where Johns parents lived?)
Which
of the following was a non-millitary monastic order established in the land of
Israel during the Crusader Period?
(a) Templar
(b) Hospitallier
(c) Franciscan
(d) Carmelite
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"If we ever forget that we
are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." –
Ronald Reagan
RABBI SCHWARTZES JOKE(S) OF THE WEEK
Ronald
Reagan
****************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ YOUTUBE LINK OF THE WEEK
Ronald Reagan humor at it's best-now that was a president!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=wrRTau5jusU
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RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-
Yad
Kennedy- High up in the hills over
Yerushalayim near the yishuvim of Ora and Aminadav is the heart of what is
called the Kennedy Peace forest is a memorial to the 35th president
of the United States who was assassinated in 1963. JFK himself was a supporter
of the Jewish National Fund and at a dinner once said " What work could be more heartwarming
or more enduring than the great forest at Jerusalem. Your children and
grandchildren when they visit Israel will find your monument". The
memorial and forest which were donated from Jews from all 50 states is in the
shape of a tree trunk cut short with 51 pillars corresponding to the 50 states
and…not not israel the wanna be 51st J L but
Washington DC. On the memorial one can see the emblems and insigna of each
State as well as a glorious view from this highest mountain top of the
Jerusalem hills (2700 feet) of the hills and valleys of the Jerusalem
mountains. Inside the monument there is a library of JFK as well as an eternal
flame that burns. Dedicated on July 4th 1966 with thousands of US
dignitaries this forest and its memorial stand as a testimony to our two
nations historic connection.
Answer is C- I believe the answer to this question is the Carmelites. The Templars and Hospitaliers were both militarily armed crusader orders that were sanctioned by the Pope to offer "protection of the Temple and the pilgrims that would come from Europe to visit their "holy sites". They made a lot of money and were in general pretty slimy people. The Fransiscans who were not a military order and were charged with protecting the holy sites were not much better-at least in Spain being the ones behind the inquisition and all, but I don’t believe they were established in Israel until after the Crusader period. Which of course leaves the Carmelite who were pretty hooked on Eliyahu Ha'navi seeing in him the heralding of the "Messiah" and being reincarnated as some early Christian "fathers of the church". Ironically enough right where Eliyahu had his miracle with the prophets of Ba'al where he destroyed their idols and idolators they have built a church with a big statue of him which I'm pretty sure he will take care of when he comes back. But over all unlike Eliyahu they were a pretty peaceful lot and they were establishe during the crusader period so I guess they are the right answer.
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