Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
November 4th 2016 -Volume 7 Issue 2 3rd
Cheshvan 5777
Parshat Noach
A Whole New World
The screen opened up and I felt like Noach. I
felt a little like he must have felt. Total awe. It felt like I had landed on
the moon. I now appreciated why they had dedicated this museum for the first
Jewish astronaut Ilan Ramon here in Mitzpeh Ramon. I felt like I had landed on
the moon. I was staring out at this incredible expanse; this amazing crater
that was formed during the Creation of the world in last week’s Parsha and then
was given its incredible awesome beauty as the waters of “the Flood” passed
through it and eroded it. It was absolutely breathtaking. I imagined it was
that incredible of overwhelming reverence that Noach must have felt when he
walked out of the Ark. The world that he had once known for the first 600 years
of his life was gone. This brutally raw, fresh empty world open in front of
him. A world restarted. A world full of potential. A world that he
was now given a new chance and a new mandate to rebuild and to form. How
beautiful and powerful it is to see Hashem’s incredible Creation in all its yet
untainted naked glory.
How overwhelming it must have felt to see this
incredible world and to understand the enormity and the sanctity of the task
before him. As he walked down those steps from the Ark, as the animals, two by
two that he had cared for the year of the Flood began to disembark, he
certainly comprehended and felt how significant all of our task in this world
is. He was meant to be a partner in this whole Creation thing with God. And
what an amazing partner to have. How miniscule one feels standing there. Yet
how significant Hashem must feel we are to take us as his partners in this
Creation. How precious we must be and how much potential we must have. Hashem
wouldn’t take a partner that wasn’t up to the task. Wow! Wow! And Wow! I think
I need a drink. Noach certainly did and I can relate and appreciate that as
well.
The post-flood world of Noach fascinates me.
What does it take to make and create this world? What ingredients were I given?
Do I have? What is my job? The first thing that Noah has with him are of course
all of the animals; two of each kind. Yet these are not your average run of the
field lions, horses, iguanas, giraffes, bluebirds, porcupines and of course
bunny rabbits. These animals were and are the only ones in the entire Torah
that are referred to as couples. “Ish V’ishto- a man and his wife. Our
sages note that these are the only animals that were faithful in the world to
their spouses. This is not an easy task for bunny rabbits I can tell you from
experienceJ. They were holy animals. The truth is animals
are not humans. They do not have the Divine spirit blown into them as we do.
They’re job walking off that Ark was to fill the world; To eat, to be eaten and
to serve as the reminder to Man that we are different than them. Walking off
that Ark. Noach understood that they will be animals, they will no longer be ish
v’ishto. He, we, will be responsible for them and it will be left to us to
create that Divine home for Hashem as His partner in Creation in creating a
world for Him. The snakes will never again be equals in that job. It’s up to
us.
Noah is not only though in his job. He has
three sons. Three other couples. Ish v’ishto. The names of these
children are fascinating and are the ingredients in the forces that will
eternally dominate and guide the path of the formation and the ultimate
completion of the world. There is Shem. The word Shem means ‘name’. Just as the
first act of Adam upon being created was to give names to all of the animals
that Hashem brought before him, so too Noach’s son, our ancestor Shem’s job
would be to give shem the
identifying essence of all of the Created world. It is interesting the two
similarly spelled yet opposite words in Hebrew, the Holy tongue. Sham- means
there. It is unidentified. It is abstract. It’s over there. Somewhere. It is
undefined, it is unrecognized by itself. It has no essence. It’s just there. Shem
is the opposite. It has an essence. A spirit. A purpose. A divine purpose that
defines it. That makes it unique. It is man’s job to find the shem. To
transform the sham and give it its shem. To reveal it and uncover the
godliness hidden within it. It is us bringing the heaven down to earth. It is
an incredible non-coincidental usage of phraseology that the word and force
that has tried and continues to try to destroy the Jewish people is called
anti-shem-itism in Hebrew and is the source of the word in English as
well. For what evil is truly trying to do is to prevent us from accomplishing
our most primary divine role in this world.
Noach’s next son is Cham. Cham, just as his
brothers entered the Ark holy. Ish V’ishto. Millions of people in the
world and he was allowed to live, not just because he had protektzia-
That would not be enough to make it through the divine- holiness, spousal
faithfulness meter that determined who could come in the Ark. He was in fact
holy. He represents as well one of the most important aspects of Creation. If
not the most important. Cham- means heat. It means passion. It is desire. It is
fire. It the physical. The land of Israel is never called that by name in the
entire Torah. It is always called Eretz Canaan-The land of Canaan; Canaan, the
son of Cham. The function of the Jewish people is to take the land of Canaan,
the place from where the world was created and lift it up to the heavens. To
direct and subjugate it to our Father in heaven. Cham is cursed by Noach for
seeing his father’s nakedness and reveling it. According to Rashi he either
sodomized him or castrated him. Both of those acts are forces that violate man’s
ability to elevate his most essential ish v’ishto relationship. Either
by engaging in an act that distorts the the act that can produce life and bring
Hashem to this world, or by removing man’s ability to reproduce and bring more
of the Divine spirit into this world. The shechina that is found only
between Man and his wife with the potential to produce life. Noach curses Cham
that he should always be subservient to Shem. Those passions those physical
desires that entire physical universe needs to have the Divine essence its shem.
It will be us that will inherit Canaan. We will direct that most physical of
places to its ultimate holy destination.
Finally there is Yefet. Rashi quotes Unkelos
that defines the word Yefet in the blessing given to him by Noach as expand. It
is a two letter root, peh and taf; Pat. We have a few words in Hebrew
that utilize that root. Mefateh- someone who seduces. Someone who goes beyond
his borders and is trying to expand even further. Petach is an opening. Yefet
is the expansion of this world. The expansion of Hashem horizontally in this
world. It is all the nations of the world. It is the ultimate objective. It is
the place that the Hashem’s spirit that Shem has brought down from above and
given essence to here in this world will find its universal expression. It is
the heat, the energy and the fire of Cham that Shem has channeled in the Land
of Canaan and lifted up to the heavens, that will be used to fuel the entire
world in a longing for the ultimate revelation. It is the animals, the plants,
the beauty of a world that sings out in that three noted harmony to the song of
its Creator. It is the Garden of Eden, but this time created by us and Hashem
as partners. His dwelling place has finally made it to this world.
Noach’s first act upon disembarking from the
Ark is to bring a sacrifice to Hashem. He takes the earth and builds an altar.
He takes fire and dedicates it for a holy use to bring an offering to Hashem.
The Torah tells us Hashem smells the pleasant offering. The rayach nichoach-
the smell of being brought down, of resting, of Noach. At the end of last weeks
Parsha the story of the decision of Hashem to bring the flood is because
Bereshis
(6:3) My spirit will not contend anymore concerning man.
My
ruach . Hashem is out of breath with us. Noach, the new partner in Creation
in the new world restores that spirit. Hashem once blew life into us. We now
blow it back into Him.
Noach
then begins to plant. He plants a vineyard. It is not just that he needs a
drink, but rather wine, the Torah tells us is the spirit that is (Psalms 104) Masyamayach
et lvav enosh-it gladdens a mans’s heart.It is rightfully called spirits.
Noach understands that this new world is meant to be filled with simcha-
joy. The curses of Adam and Eve in the old world was etzev- in sadness
you shall eat, in sadness you shall give birth. Noach’s world, our world, our
job is to fill the world with happiness. With joy. From top to bottom. To
uplift Canaan and to turn it into Eretz Yisrael. To shine that light out to
Yefet. To create homes of ish v’ishto. To have the shechina and
the ruach of Hashem finally and once again walk with us in His garden.
Ilan Ramon before he embarked on his flight to
outer space went to Yad Vashem and was seeking something meaningful to bring
with him on his momentous and historic journey. He met Joachim Joseph 71 year
old astrophysicist who shared with him his most prized possession. Joachim, a
holocaust survivor was 13 year old boy in Bergen Belsen when he received his
precious gift. It was on 4½ inches tall, yet it contained his entire world. The
gift was Sefer Torah- a miniature Torah scroll that his Rabbi, Rabbi Simcha
Dasberg had smuggled into the Nazi concentration camp. Today was Joachim’s Bar
Mitzva. In the early dawn hours before roll call a small group of men and boys
gathered around Joachim’s bed. The stronger ones covered the windows and kept
watch on the door as Joachim recited the blessing over that holy scroll.
Afterwards the men congratulated him, one gave him a piece of chocolate that he
had hidden away, and then Rabbi Dasberg gave him the most precious gift of all.
He handed him the Torah and told him
'This little Sefer Torah is yours to keep now,
because I'm sure that I will not get out of here alive. And you maybe will.
Treasure this Torah. Tell its story. Tell our story. Bring it with you as you
will build a new world.”
Rabbi Dasberg was murdered just a few months
later. But Joachim survived and ultimately came to Israel where he raised a
family. A Jewish family, descendants of Shem so many millennia ago in the land
that was once called Canaan but that had recently become Israel. Ilan Ramon
took that Torah with him because in his words as he told the word in his
broadcast from the heavens from the spaceship Columbia.
“It represents more than anything the ability
of the Jewish people to survive. From horrible periods, black days, to reach
periods of hope and belief in the future”
Ilan was tragically killed when the Columbia
was destroyed coming back down from the atmosphere. But his message, his
charge, his inspiration is forever memorialized right in front of me as I look
out at this new world here in Mitzpeh Ramon. I don’t think I will ever fly to
outer space. My job, our job is to bring the heavens down here. Our partner is
counting on us. It’s time to make a whole new world.
Have an other-worldly Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
***********************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpVSAjk3fdA
– The great Aharon Razel classic on this weeks Parsha Tzei Min Hateiva!
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Az der man iz tsu gut far der velt iz er
shlekht farn vayb.”– When a man is too good for the world, he's bad for his wife.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR
GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q. The paleo-magnetism site in Israel is
in the following rock:
A. Chalk
B. Nari (Calcrete)
C. Basalt
D. Kurkar (Calcareous sandstone)
A. Chalk
B. Nari (Calcrete)
C. Basalt
D. Kurkar (Calcareous sandstone)
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ILLUMINATING RASHI OF THE
WEEK
It’s amazing to see how our greatest Rabbis examine Rashi and
see in his words hidden meanings and sources. This year we will explore our
examinations of Rashi by featuring the ways and idead that our greatest Rabbis
explored in Rashi and thus the text of the Torah and a short bio of each Rabbi
from around the world and the exiles and societies that all studied this same
classic commentary.
Rashi will many times
alert us to certain anomalies that the Torah has in the simple reading of the
text that we might just gloss over in a periphery reading of the Torah; something
we should never just do. The first verse of the Torah in this weeks portion
begins
These are the generations of Noach; Noach was
a Tzadik he was complete in his generation. And Noach had three sons Shem Cham
and Yafet.
Did you catch that anomaly?
The verse begins that it will tell us what Noach’s generations are and it then
stops and tells us that Noach was a Tzadik before returning and telling us his
kids.
Rashi notes this and
says
“The
generations of Noach is Noach. For the products of a Tzadik are his good deeds.”
A very nice perhaps
even homiletic interpretation but what does that really mean? The Yid Hakadosh
of Pshisch the great Chasidic Rebbe explains that many people do things for
their children. The in fact live their lives and behave and put all their
energy so that the next generation will be continue to the tradition.
Unfortunatly when it comes to their own personal growth and their own mitzvas
they are lax. What happens is that their children do the same thing for the
next generation. He said He can’t wait to see the final generation that
everyone has been building and working towards. The truly righteous though
understand and appreciate the best way to influence and inspire the next
generation is by focusing on ones personal growth. Living a life and being a
role model by ones personal observance in becoming the best Torah Jew and
individual one can become. That is what he understands to be the message that
Rashi is trying to convey from the Torah. What are the generations of the Tzadkik;
the righteous person? Their own good deeds. Their own action are what
ultimately becomes the pinnacle of their accomplishment and it is that which
ultimately successfully becomes the bar and the model that the rest of their
descendants measure and aspire to achieve.
Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak
of Peshischa - (1766-1813 ),
The “Holy Jew”of Peshischa, was the leading disciple of the “Seer” of Lublin,
but subsequently split off to form the famous Peshischa movement of Chasidut.
As opposed to what as he saw as the more miracle oriented and centered Chasidut
that was being practiced by his Rebbe. The Yid Hakodesh developed a more an
elitist, rationalistic Hasidism that centered on Talmudic study and formed a
counterpoint to the simple average miracle-centered Hasidism of Lublin. His
moniker the “holy Jew” was given to him by his colleagues as he had the same
name as his Rebbe Rabbi Yackov Yitzchak Horowitz and they did not want to call
him by name. He was referred to as the holy one because he grew each day greater
and greater. Rabbi Simcha Bunim of
Peshischa and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk were among his many disciples who
became great Rebbes in their own right.
NEW SECTION!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TYPES OF JEWS IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
We’ve covered cool places in Israel, historical events, cool
things to do in Israel this year we dedicate this column to each week
appreciating the incredible diversity of Jews we have here in Israel as Hashem
brings the ingathering of the Exiles rapidly to its conclusion.
Chasidim (over 2000,000)- Zionists like to think of themselves as the one who began the
Aliya movement to Israel. They are wrong. The first major mass Aliyah movement
began in the year 1777 when 300 chasidim came to Israel under the leadership of
Reb Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and other great leaders to begin the settlement
of the land and to prepare it for the coming of Mashiach. Although 300 does not
sound like a lot today. Back then they made up 5% of the population of Israel.
The settled mostly in Tzfat, Tiverya and Hebron as Jerusalem was very difficult
to live under the Turks as well ultimately they were challenged by the mitnagdim
in Jerusalem as well who came there. There are 10’s of different chasidic
dynasties in Israel and more than half the world’s chasidim live in Israel. The
largest Chasidic group in the world is Satmar numbering over 120,000 chasidim
many of which live in Israel and are known for their anti- Zionist beliefs. In
Israel the largest Chasidus is Gut or Ger which has over 10,000 families alone.
Belz, Viznitz and Karlin Stolin also have courts that numbers in the tens of
thousands. Two growing Chasidus are Chabad and Breslav both which do not have
Rebbe’s and I will dedicate a column to each of them in their own right as they
differ from the rest of the chasidic world in that area.
Besides living in the
major cities of Jerusalem, Bnai Brak, Kiryat Sefer and Beitar. Many Chasidim
today are actually the ones that are settling the land. May of them moving at
the beghest of their Rebbe’s en masse as whole communities for far flung parts
of the country where they can create their own ‘safe’ isolated shtetls
untainted by the influences of the surrounding Israel.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE OUTER
SPACE JOKES OF THE WEEK
: How do you know when the
moon has enough to eat? A: When it’s full.
What kind of music do planets
sing? A:Neptunes!
What do planets like to read?
A: Comet books!
Where would an astronaut park
his space ship? A: A parking meteor!
The first 3-man space shuttle
came splashing down from the moon and the ship the U.S.S. Seagull picked up the
capsule.
The first man who got out of
the capsule was Protestant and his minister asked him, "How was it, my
son?" The Protestant astronaut answered with a big healthy smile, "It
was truly a great experience." The second man was Catholic and when he
emerged from the capsule his priest blessed him and asked him, "In the
name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost --How was it?" He replied,
"It was fabulous, Father!" The third man was Jewish and with great
effort left the space ship. He was still huffing and puffing as his Rabbi came
up to him and asked, "How come -- nu, what happened? The other two
astronauts came out composed and refreshed -- and you, nu?"
The Jewish astronaut
answered, breathing heavily, "Every 90 minutes, shacharit-mincha-ma'ariv,
shacharit-mincha-ma'ariv!"
The Jewish astronaut just
returned from Mars and was asked all about his journey. He mentioned that while
he was there, among other things, he was actually invited to a Martian Bar
Mitzvah.
An intrigued reporter jumped
right in: "Please, tell us all about it. Was it nice? Was it fun? How was
the food?"
The astronaut replied that it
was just "OK."
"What do you mean?"
snapped the newsman. "Was it the food?"
"No", said the
astronaut, "the food was fine."
"Were the people not
nice?" countered the reporter.
"No, the people were
very friendly."
"Well, then, what was
it?" asked the reporter. "Why was the Martian Bar Mitzvah only
OK?"
The astronaut looked at him
and replied, "There was no atmosphere."
Two astronauts land on Mars.
Their mission: to check whether there is oxygen on the planet.
“Give me the box of matches,” says one. “Either
it burns and there is oxygen, or nothing happens.”
He takes the box and is ready
to strike a match when, out of the blue, a little green Martian appears, waving
all six of his arms and yelling…”No, no, don’t!”
The two guys look at each
other, worried. Could there be an unknown explosive gas on Mars?
Still, he takes another
match…and…
A crowd of hysterical green
Martians is coming to them, all waving their arms: “No, no, don’t do that!”
One of the astronauts says,
“This looks serious. What are they afraid of? Nonetheless we’re here for
science, to learn if Man can breathe on Mars.”
So he strikes a match–which
flames up, burns down, and NOTHING HAPPENS!
So he turns to the Martians
and asks, “Why did you want to prevent us from striking a match?”
The leader of the Martians
answers, “It’s Shabbos!”
Answer is C – Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. I really don’t know much
about paleo-magnetic fields. As far as I know magnets are just something you
stick on your fridge. That being set. I know that the world has a magnetic
field. I saw that on Start Trek when I was a kid. Paleo magnetic means
basically that the magnetic field which is the thing that directs the pointer
on the compass. Is the opposite of a regular magnetic filed because it retains
some of the old magnetism from a long time ago. Don’t ask me what that means.
Anyways I got this one right because I pass the place all the time. It is in
the Golan heights not far from MT. Bental where the rock is all volcanic and
made out of Bazelet or Basalt. Supposedly if you bring a compass there and wave
it over some rocks it will go in all types of wacky directions. North is South
East is West. I can’t tell you for sure. I’ve never been there. Most of my
tourists aren’t really the scientist type.
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