Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
May 7th 2015 -Volume 5, Issue 26 -18th
Iyar 5775
Parshat Behar/ Lag Ba'Omer
Dancing with Hashem
I could swear his feet were not touching the ground as he circled
around and around. His eyes were closed heavenward, his curly side-locks
(payot) and glistening white beard swaying in the air with his hands stretched
out as if they were holding the hands of his Creator. Grabbing anyone to
join him in the middle of the circle, Sefardi, Teimani, Chasid, Black hatter,
soldier, secular and anglo rabbis from Karmiel :).
"Anachanu Ma'aminim Bnai Ma'aminim-We are believers the
children of believers" they all sang with him together. Welcome
to Meron. Lag Ba'Omer 5775.
Only Jews could make a holiday on the day that one of our greatest
sages Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (the 1st century Mishanic leader)
passed way. For many other nations this might be a day of sadness and mourning.
In traditional Judaism the period of Omer (the 49 days from Passover to
Shavuot) is our period of mourning for the students of Rabbi Akiva- the teacher
of Rabbi Shimon- who passed. Yet, on the day of Rabbi Shimon -Lag- the 33rd day-
the mourning comes to an end (or is interrupted) as we celebrate the tremendous
legacy Rabbi Shimon left us on the day of his passing- the fire and the secrets
of the hidden and mystical aspects of the Torah and universe that are found in
the teachings of Kabbalah.
As I walked through the jam packed streets of Meron (over a half a
million people come over the course of the day) I watch Hashem's children who
have picked themselves up from their mourning as they dance and celebrate like
crazy. Circles after circles around bonfires. There are 10's of Kiosks and
tents that are set up offering free food (kugel, cake, chulent, sandwiches)
drinks, wine donated from people and organizations around the world. The rich,
the poor there is no difference when it comes to that small mountain top we are
all one joined in dance, song, prayer and Torah. The way it should be...it used
to be... it will be.
This week we read Parshat Behar. It is named that after the first
verse in the Parsha
"And Hashem spoke to Moshe- Be'Har- on the mountain-
of Sinai" The Parsha then goes on to detail the laws of the Sabbatical
Year and the 50 year Jubilee year and the incredible laws that take place
during these years. All land that was sold is returned to their owners in the
50th year. The land cannot be worked, slaves are freed, debts
are declared exempt and most importantly the obligation to assist those that
are struggling. The Medrash asks the question as to why these laws are
particularly singled out as being taught at Sinai? My father-in-law Rabbi Yosef
Sorotzkin in his monumental work Meged Yosef, explains the Medrash's
response that there have been many attempts throughout history to create
societies in which all were equal, where one is not treated any less because of
their financial hardships, their social status, where those more fortunate were
obligated to care for the more needy. Yet, they have failed. Judaism is
different. We are a nation that has its eyes and its memory firmly planted on
that mountain where we were born as a nation. The Torah can mandate that I
forgive the debts that are owed to me, I do not charge interest on loans I
lend, I leave my land- the source of my income barren-giving it a Shabbos, I
free my slaves because we remember where we came from. We remember that what made
us a nation is how we all stood as one after having left the slave pits of
Egypt. We swore we would never forget that unity, that responsibility, that
heavenly mandate. We remember the mountain.
Other nations do not have that mountain to look back to. Ideals of
equality, sharing of wealth and renunciation of our hard earned possessions and
acquisitions fall to the wayside without a recognition of our Divine Benefactor
who wishes all His Children to appreciate the goodness, freedom and blessing of
having and being sufficient enough to serve Him. We understand with those
miztvot that were given to us on the mountain that no matter how desperate and
tragic our situation, there will come a time of Jubilee when we return to our
ancestral heritage, when our debts are finally forgiven. When we will
experience the final Shabbos together with Him. It is with that knowledge that
we can pick ourselves from our mourning and dance, we can celebrate the
greatest light that explodes from the darkness and we can float and sing and
stretch out our hands to heaven to dance with us.
I went inside to pray by the grave of the great Rabbi Shimon and I
came out about an hour later and the old Rabbi was still dancing in the middle.
I asked someone who he was. He did not know his name as well, but told me that
he had been there all night dancing, floating, singing. It seemed from what I
gathered that the Rabbi had lost his children and family in a tragedy. Lag
Ba'Omer, had become his day. The day when he felt he could dance and pick
himself up again. The flames of the bonfire around which he danced were a
testament to the flame and spirit of the eternal souls that we have. Just as
all our souls are united and forged as one and a spirit of Hashem. So too in
drawing every type of Jew together closer to that warm flame in joy he was
creating that eternal connection we all shared to dance with Hashem.
From Mt. Sinai to Mt. Miron, may Hashem bring us all together one
again on his eternal Temple mount in Jerusalem once again rebuilt.
"Lag" Samayach and have a spectacular Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
***********
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
Lag Ba’Omer
a different type of bar yochai song…pretty funny
This one is really funny I thought.. “Wish it was Lag Ba’Omer
now”
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE
WEEK
While in the states I picked up a great book with
yiidsh quotes and wisdom and I have always wanted to teach my kids Yiddish so here
we go each week another great proverb in yiddish maybe you guys will learn it
too!!
“Besser
a yid mitun a burd, vi a bord mitun a yid.”
Better a Jew without a beard than a beard
without a Jew
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FAVORITE QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai:
"If a man plows in the plowing season, sows in the sowing season, reaps in
the reaping season, threshes in the threshing season and winnows in the season
of wind, what is to become of the Torah? But, when Israel performs the will of
God, their work is performed by others" - Talmud Berachot
“The soul of man is a lamp of
G‑d" (Proverbs 20:27). Just like the flame of the
lamp strains upwards, seeking to tear free of the wick and rise heavenward -
though this would spell its own demise - so, too, does the G‑dly
soul in man constantly strive to tear free of the body and the material
existence and be nullified within its source in G‑d”– Reb
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
RABBI
SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
(New exam this week these questions are from the most
recent tour guide exam-let’s see how I do)
answer below at end of Email
Breccia (Brektziya)
is?
A.
A
Crusader Queen of Armenian descent
B.
Pyroclastic
ash
C.
Sedimentary
rock composed of fragmented angles
D.
The
intermission in Prayer in a Greek Orthodox Church service
.RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL MIDRASH OF THE WEEK
This weeks Parsha tell us of the mitzvah of
Tzedaka, helping your brother who has fallen financially. The Midrash tells us
of a conversation between Rabbi Akiva and Turnus Rufus, The Roman ruler of
Judea in the times of Rabbi Akiva. Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva “Your
Torah says that Hashem loves the poor and impoverished. If so why does he not
provide for them.”
Rabbi Akiva responded as only a good Rabbi could “If
Hashem would provide for them then the rich would have no merit with which to
save them from Gehennom/Hell. For only Charity has the merit to save a person
from his punishment.”
Ten matters were created each stronger than the
other.
Rock is strong but iron breaks it
Iron is strong, Fire melts it.
Fire is strong, but water extinguishes it
Water is strong, but clouds carry it
Clouds are strong, but wind disperses it
The body is strong, but fear breaks it
Death is mightier than all the aforementioned,
yet Tzedaka/charity is more powerful as it saves from Death.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL THINGS TO DO IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Experience the bonding of the
thousands of Jews – Lag Ba’Omer is one of those days when you can just stand in
awe of the tens and even hundreds of thousands of Jews that all come together
ot dance, sing and celebrate together. Food is shared by all, drinks flow like
ater, random people are dancing and singing with their brothers thay may have
never met but have always been connected to. Am Yisrael Chai! The holiday of us
picking up from the ashes of destruction of the deaths of the students of Rabbi
Akiva and celebrate life, celebrate Hashem who blows life into his nation and
celebrate the unity and shared heritage, history and our rebirth from tragedy.
There are those that fly in from all over the world and there are history books
and travelogues that go back centuries of Jews that all came just for this
special day. Experiencing the joy and the unity here in Israel. You can
understand it.
******************
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S BARBER JOKES OF THE WEEK
A barber gave a haircut to a priest one day. The
priest tried to pay for the haircut but the barber refused saying, "I
cannot accept money from you, for you are a good man - you do God's work."
The next morning the
barber found a dozen bibles at the door to his shop.
A Muslim Imam came to the
barber for a haircut, and again the barber
refused payment saying, "I cannot accept money from you, for
you are
a man of God."
The next morning the
barber found a dozen Korans at the door to his shop.
A Rabbi came to the barber
for a haircut, and again the barber refused
payment saying, "I cannot accept money from you, for you are a man
of God -" The next morning the barber found a dozen more Rabbis waiting for
a haircut.
********
So the Gentile barbershop moved into town and put up a sign
attacking the fancy Jewish barber shop down the block. The sign said, "Why pay twenty
dollars? We give haircuts
for two dollars."
The smart Jew got even by
putting up a sign of its own stating ,"We repair two-dollar
haircuts!"
*********
I was at the Barber a few months ago and asked him “why do u
always charge me double? You ought to charge me less because for I don't have
much hair!”
He answered me and said “No, no! We don't charge for cutting
the hair! We charge
for having to search for
it!”
****************
Answer is C: The
answer was definitely not going to be the church thing they’re just palying on
the word association of break as in intermission. The Crusader Queen was
Melisinde so it wasn’t that either. Pyroclastic ash is a close choice because pyro
is fire and clast is broken pieces…so it could be…but that’s not the word I remembered
for ash. I remembered it was a rock of some sort which of course makes the
correct answer C. If you are a tourist and this information interests you… find
a different tour guide. Rocks are not my thing. Rolling Stones on the other
hand J
******
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