Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
October 2nd 2014 -Volume 4, Issue 46 -8th
of Tishrei 5775
Yom
Kippur 5775
A
Yom Kippur Song
They
called him Yoyli. Or at least they used to, when he was still part of the
"Kehilla"; the hasidic Satmar community he was raised in. But it
wasn't for him. He was Joe now. Joe the agnostic, Joe the sinner, Joe the
"bum". It didn't bother him that much. He had friends; it seems that
there were quite a few that didn't fit in to the Satmar mold, that didn't make
it in "the system". So they left. They found jobs in the city and
left the life that they felt restricted them too much, that stifled them and
defined who and what they must be. The beards got trimmed, the payo/sidleocks
chopped off, The Yarmulka got replaced with a baseball cap and very soon
nothing at all. Their observances as well seemed to have fallen of the
Williamsburg bridge crossing into the city .First to go was their Teffilin and
prayers, Kosher soon followed, then Shabbos and the holidays. Joe and "the
boys" were "free".
The
first Yom Kippur after their 'official Exodus" was coming up. "Let's
celebrate" Jake (formerly yankel) suggested. "How about making a
big bonfire, BBQ, party with the crew, I actually found a great new butcher
"Tony's" great Italian sausages and tenderloins." Joe
offered to bring the boombox (do they still call it that?), Jake was bringing
the meat, Kayla and Sarah offered to make the salads and Jimmy (formerly
Yirmiyahu or Yirmy) was bringing the booze. There was about 15 of them total
and they were all psyched about their upcoming Yom Kippur party. It was going
to be the night were they showed they had moved beyond their past baggage.
Things
didn't work out the way they had planned though. They had a hard time getting
the fire started. Seems that kind of got left out in their cheder education and
they kind of never did the boy scout thing before. The meat didn't really taste
as good as they had hoped. The booze was just fine though. It seems 'Captain'
Jack was working hard to get them high that night although Jimmy did say he
wouldn't mind a bit of shlivovitz or 'Alteh Zayde' (old grand dad) to top it
all off. Joe decided to liven things up a bit and put on the Stereo with all
the latest pop hits. But after a while the crew from Satmar realized that they
really didn't know any of the songs.The disc he had bought of the greatest
dance hits of the decade was about 5 year olds and sadly for them had a bunch
of songs that they had failed to pick up during their year of freedom. And then
the stereo died. "Oh well" Jimmy said "let's sing some
songs that we do know. Hey, how bout this one?" he said with a smug
smirk on his face. He then broke out sacrilegiously in the tune of the Kol
Nidrei prayer of the Satmar community that they were part of. They all raised
their beers and clinked them together. Finally a song that they all knew. And
they began to sing…and sing… and sing..
At
first their singing was a mocking. It they imitated the nuances, the choir, the
funny guy in the back that always sang of key. But slowly something happened.
The singing became a bit more soulful with the flickering embers. Their eyes
slowly began to close and their voices began to rise with sentiment and
emotion. The beers were put down and the Yom Kippur davening continued.
"BiYeshiva
Shel Maalah UBiyishiva Shel Mata Anu Matirin LhitPalel Im Kol Ha'Avaryanim-In
the Heavenly Court and in the Earthly court below we hereby permit to pray with
all of the sinners".
"It
was the most powerful Yom Kippur of my life", Joe
said as he registered in Yeshivas Aish Hatorah in Jerusalem a month later. "We
all went home that night somberly and quietly. We had been transported to some
place incredible. For the first time I understood and appreciated how precious
my soul is, how no amount of running and hiding will ever turn off that
powerful heavenly magnet that resided in me. I knew I had a neshoma and I knew
that no matter how far I went, I would never be complete…I would never truly be
me… unless I developed it, I incorporated it, I lived up to what my soul was
capable of becoming. I'm here to learn. To start fresh. To become the Jew my
Father in heaven wants me to be"
This
past week, Shabbat Shuva we read the Torah portion of Haazinu, or perhaps to be
more accurate we read the song of Haazinu. It is the portion that is always
read around Yom Kippur. Although the entire Torah is holy and important the
song of Haazinu is arguably the most important part of the Torah. Maimonides in
his description of the last Mitzvah in the entire Torah, which is to write a
Torah scroll write that that mitzvah comes from the verse
"And
now you shall write for them this song and place it in their mouths". The
true mitzvah is to write down this final song of the Torah, however since we
cannot write just one portion of the Torah by itself so we are obligated to
write the entire Torah, But in truth it is all about the song. And what is this
song? It describes the heavens and earth testifying to the eternality of our
covenant with Hashem. It urges us to never forget our history, our roots. It
talks about how we will violate the commandments and sin and how we will be
punished and exiled. And finally it talks about our return, the vengeance with
which Hashem will punish all those who have persecuted us. This is the song of
the Torah, it is the song of all ages of our people that is deep within every
Jew's soul.
Nachmanides,
the great 13th century sage the Ramban write that this song is the
ultimate promise to our nation that we have never been abandoned. Even more
fascinating, he writes that the song does not even suggest that Teshuva/
repentance is not even a prerequisite for this eternal promise. We are always
His children, we will certainly return. This is the music of our soul, it is
this more anything else that the Torah wanted us to have written down
.
We
approach what will hopefully be the last Yom Kippur before we see the end of
this song fulfilled. We have seen and sung our songs of hope, our songs of
rebellion, our songs of exile and our songs of return. Yet our souls are still
longing for that ultimate song of redemption; the cleansing song of
forgiveness, of healing of consolation and of the final return of our Abba to
us, to Yerushalayim with our/His Temple and home rebuilt. The words of the
Torah many of us have forgotten and have not fully upheld, but that one song
that is so deeply embedded in each of us is just waiting to burst forth.
As
I do every year, I would like to ask forgiveness from any and all of you who I
may have offended or slighted this past year. It was certainly never my intent
to cause pain or hurt to anyone. I would also like to express my appreciation
to all those who have communicated and given me feedback over the year and
particularly those who have generously contributed to our Synagogue and
programs. Your words and donations mean a tremendous amount to me and inspire
me to continue to share my inspiration, musings and jokes J
with you. Thank you for being my hearing board. It is my hope that you will all
be blessed and sealed with a year that is full of joy, happiness, health,
Parnassa / livelihood
and maybe even Aliyah for those that are still not fortunate enough to live
here yet. And I hope that you can find it in your hearts to have myself and my
family in your prayers as well as all of those that we know that so desperately
need salvation and miracles from Hashem be it in finding their Basher/Soulmate,
be it in having children, or overcoming struggles in matters of health, finding
a job or making ends meet, or those that are undergoing challenges from with
their children, parents, or other struggles. As well please have in mind our
country and our soldiers that we should have a year of peace, with no more
losses, no more tragedies and a year that will finally bring the redemption. If
we are all praying for one another, than our Father in heaven will look down
upon us His family and seal us all for a Gut G'Bentch'd year.
Shana
Tova and Gmar Chatima Tovah
Warmly,
your friend in Karmiel
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
**********************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FAVORITE TESHUVA QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"When you come to Shamayim we may have answers as to why
we sinned, we were weak, the challenges were to hard, we couldn’t overcome our
inclination…our main judgement will be though on why we did not do Teshuva…why
we didn't just say we were sorry and return to our Father who is waiting for
us"-Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman
"99% of Teshuva is not focused on the past, rather it is
focused on the future." The Rebbe from Slonim
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
(answer below at end of Email)
Q. Zodiac wheel decorations were found
at:
a.
Migdal and Sephoris (Tsipori)
b.
Bet Alfa and Bet She’arim
c.
Hamat Tiberias and Bet Alfa
d.
En Gedi and Um-al-Qantir
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL
GEMATRIA OF THE WEEK
Perhaps one of the most moving prayers of Rosh
Hashanah/Yom Kippur davening is Nesana Tokef which describes the Day of
judgment and the awe and trepidation up in heaven. The prayer concludes with
the statement Teshuva Tefila and Tzedaka Mavirin Es Ro'ah Ha'Gezeira-
that Repentance, Prayer and Charity remove the harsh decree. On top of those
three words in little letters it says three words Tzom (fast), Kol
(voice), and Mamon (money). Those three words each have a gematria of
136. In the added psalm we recite each day since the beginning of the month of
Elul has the sentence that B'zot An Botayach-in times of trouble in this
I have faith. B'Zot- in this in gematria is 408 the sum 136+136+136
those three tips that remove the decree. In addition my Rebbe noted to me that
although charity may be difficult and teshuva may feel challenging Prayer/Kol
serve in place of the other two as it says in song of songs Ki Koleich Areiv
because your voice can is pleasant also
can be translated as your voice serves
as an Areiv a guarantor. The word Areiv is Gematria 272 which is the
gematria of 136+136 the gematria of Tzom And Mamon that prayer can serve as
guarantor for the other two.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Har Azazel - the fun part of the trip to see the famous and
significant site which was the peak ( excuse the pun) of the Temple service on
Yom Kippur during the first and second Temples, is that the only way to get
there is by jeep- or a very long difficult hike through the Judean desert. The
Torah tells us how each Yom Kippur the High priest would take two identical
goats and through a certainly deeply mysterious process would perform a lottery
declaring one goat as being sacrificed to God and one to go to
"Azazel" (which our sages teach us is the angel of our evil twin brother-
the "other" brother and twin of Jacob and child of Rivkah and
Yitzchak above). The Azazel goat would then be taken for a thirteen KM hike (in
biblical measurements) by a priest (who would not live out the year) to the
highest mountain peak in the Judean Desert passing along the way 10 booths that
were set up to escort him to the peak offering him food and drink should he
need although it was Yom Kippur (he never did). Upon arriving there a string
was tied to his horns and the goat would be thrown off the mountain top to its
death along with all the sins of Israel.
P.E.T.A (people for the ethical treatment of animals would
not approve of this ritual- but they don't like me eating steak drinking milk
eggs or cheese either). The Talmud records for us that when the Jewish people
achieved atonement-meaning that this service included remorse for their sins
and a dedication to repair their ways, there was a red string that would turn
white in the Temple letting them know that they had been forgiven. For the first
forty years of the Temple it always turned white after that it was touch and go...
When we returned after 2000 years to Israel and recaptured
the Judean desert in 1967, archeologists wanted to verify that this was indeed
the place although this is the highest peak in the Desert and the proscribed
distance. They built a model goat identical in weight and build to a real goat
(built according to PETA standards) and pushed it off hoping to see where it
landed and to find ancient goat bones.
Sure enough they found bones and were very excited until....
They saw some Bedouins come later that night and make a barbeque there in the
desert and realized they had come upon a modern barbeque spot rather than an
ancient Temple ritual location. Yet most agree that although there is no way to
find 2000 year old goat bones this is indeed the location of that ancient
ritual. We will just have to wait for the rebuilding of our Temple with the
coming of Mashiach to confirm it.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S COOL YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
I Don't know what to make of these clips below
besides hopeful that maybe Mashiach is coming pretty cool though strange shofar
sounds heard around the world. Even more interesting is the Talmud quoted in
the 2nd clip that predicts this happening in the shemitta year
before mashiach comes
someone
told me that this is here in Karmiel pretty wild..
Reb Shlomo Carlebach Kol Nidrei
*******************
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S YOM KIPPUR JOKE OF THE WEEK
A
middle aged Jewish woman goes in search of a famous guru. She takes a plane to
India and then a boat up a river, and then hikes into the mountains with local
guides. All in all it takes her months of hardship to track down this guru.
When she finds him he is in the middle of some kind of ritual which lasts for
days and the guru's followers won't let her see him. Finally the guru is ready
to receive visitors and calls for the woman to be admitted. She stands before
the famous guru. "Harvey," she says. "It's time to come
home!".'
****************
An
old rabbi was having a discussion with a young agnostic. The younger man told
the rabbi, "According to Nietzsche, God is dead. "The rabbi thought
for a moment, then replied, "According to God, Nietzsche is dead."
*************************************************************
Answer
is C: There are many Synagogues found in Israel from the period of the
Mishna and Talmud (2nd-6th century) and perhaps one of
the most interesting things that we find in those ancient shuls are the central
mosaic motifs on the floor that are the Zodiac astrological wheels in some of
the synagogues we even find besides pictures of the various astrological signs
a central image of the mythological Greek goddess "Helios" with her
long blonde hair and chariot of horses leading schlepping the sun. Not an image
you would expect to find in a shul today. Some have suggested that the signs of
the Zodiac or as our sages referred to them as "mazalot" was
showing that the world is controlled by these signs but we the Jewish nation
are above Mazal and our controlled only by the direct Divine. Regardless
as far as the question above Tzippori has the Zodiac as well as Beit Alfa and
Hamat Gader and I think Um al Quaniter in the Golan as well but I don't remember.
Ein Gedi is unique in that it has a list of the signs but no picture. So C is
the only correct answer with both choices.
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