Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
June 7th 2019 -Volume
9 Issue 35-4th of Sivan 5779
Shavuos
/ Bamidbar / Naso
Eureka!
“Ahhhh… ah mechaya…” he said as water splashed out of the tub all over the floor as he got in. And then as he looked down on the floor at the growing puddle it hit him. A big proverbial lightbulb popped up over his head. EUREKA!! EUREKA!! So excited was he by this revelation- that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged, that he ran through the streets saying the words Eureka again and again. I guess it became famous because he forgot to put on a towel out of pure excitement. For he understood that the solution to his puzzle was that being that gold is denser than silver all he had to do was immerse the crown in the water and see if it displaces as much as pure gold does. And thus the phrase Eureka!-which literally means “I found it” being screamed by a guy who seems to have lost his towel and his mind became part of the common lexicon.
Yeshiva guys don’t say eureka. We also do not forget our towels. In fact, I don’t know if anyone says eureka anymore. There are better words in the yeshivishe parlance though. ‘Moirahdik’ ‘Geshmak!’ ‘Mamash nit shayach!’ just to name a few. They are the words you scream excitedly when you have an incredible epiphany, although I confess I have never had any about math equations. Not in a bath. Not in a Mikva. Math just isn’t my thing.
Now when studying Torah, that is a totally different story. I don’t know too many people that have studied for a few years who haven’t had one of those moments. Everyone that has learned a bit has one. Those click, boom or walla moments, as they say here in Israel, upon having some type of revelation are what gives all of the joy to learning. It’s an amazing feeling. The metaphorical light bulb isn’t a metaphor. Some little light bulb actually does pop up in your heart. Your spirit feels uplifted. What chasidim and kabbalah refer to as the ohr haganuz- the hidden light has been revealed. And the installation of that light within each of us is the holiday of Shavuos.
It is a strange holiday and perhaps one of the least celebrated by non-observant Jews. Even Lag Ba’omer and Tu B’Shvat are more celebrated my years of experience teaching in Sunday schools than Shavuot. Yet the day that commemorates are standing at Mt. Sinai and receiving the Torah is perhaps the most significant day in the history of the world. It is the world’s eternal eureka moment.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of the holiday is that in the Torah it is never mentioned as the day the Torah was given. It is the holiday of Shavuot- weeks, it is the holiday of Bikkurim- the first fruits offering, it is the chag hakatzir- the holiday of the cutting of the wheat. It is almost as if he Torah is purposefully is leaving the most significant aspect of the day hidden. Something that you need to discover, reveal, walla!-unveil. In addition, the date it falls out is also not told in the Torah. It is after counting 49 days from Pesach. Once again there is that build-up and surprise. Each day getting closer and closer until tadaaa we finish counting and then what? Badaboom badabing! Shavuot! Torah! Eureka!
There are no external preparations for this day. No houses being cleaned. No Matzos being baked. No supermarkets being emptied out. There are no Sukkos being built and no lulav and esrog shuks opening up on a street near you. The goyim don’t even believe that it’s a real holiday when you tell them you want off from work. The yom tov is structured so that its entire revelation is one that needs to be discovered and revealed.
I’ll tell you another little secret about Shavuot as well. Did you know that it is a day of judgement? It is like Rosh Hashana. The New year when the world is judged? The Talmud tells us in Rosh Hashana that the fruits of the tree are judged on Rosh Hashana (Tu B’Shvat is when the year in regards to tithes starts). The Sh”La Hakodesh notes that since a man is compared to a tree. Each soul comes from that great tree of life that is from Gan Eden. Shavuos the day we received the Torah is the day that we are granted anew our spiritual connection to that tree. It is the day that we each are meant to find our own personal newness in the Torah we have been given. Pesach is the day that we were given our physical freedom, our bodies were formed. It is the time when the crops start to grow and sprout. Shavuos is when we were given our souls and when the Bikkurim- the newest fruits of that tree are finally ready to come to the Temple. When they have the ability to reveal that the entire world, the entire months of labor are all about revealing the godliness hidden inside of them
It is fascinating that our sages tell us that when the Torah was given each Jew upon hearing the word of Hashem directly from heaven had their soul pop out of their bodies. Poof! All gone. Then it was returned to them and the next commandment was given and poof! once again their souls left them. And then it was returned. Do you know why this happened- I mean besides that hearing the Almighty speak from heaven is a pretty powerful experience. It happened because the way that Torah is given and experienced should be like your soul popping out of your body and popping back in again. Boom! Mind-blowing literally. When you are studying Torah and all of a sudden you uncover a gem that you have been horuving over-been sweating and toiling over to understand, and all of a sudden that flash of lightning hits you and it opens up the heavens. You have just received the Torah again. Eureka! Something new has been revealed to the world and you were the one that revealed it.
Perhaps the greatest Eureka moment came when the first man was created. He looked around and saw an amazing world. It was perfect. It was Rosh Hashana. The entire physical world was created in all its glory and the spirit of Hashem hovered over the Garden. The tree of life was the center of that Garden and it was flourishing and blooming as all life flowed from it. But then Adam sinned. He was chucked out and two angels were sent to protect that tree. The tree of life will no longer be a stroll down the garden. Man will have to work for it. He will have to uncover it. It is the Torah that is our eitz hachayim, our tree of life. The new year of trees, the day that we can renew our connection with that Tree of Life is now Shavuot, the day we received our new Tree of life. Each year on Shavuos we get to experience once again that connection. That voice of Hashem beckoning us from Mt. Sinai to take our part in it. To experience its power to restore our souls to us. We stay up all night and study and in yeshivos before shacharis we would dance.
Ashreinu Ma Tov Chelkeynu.
How fortunate are we and how special is our lot. We don’t have to go to the bathhouse to figure out some meaningless math problem to achieve life, to get recharged. We go to the Bais Midrash. We crack open a book that has been studied by millions of our ancestors and we find our own little chiddush in it. Our own revelation. Our Eureka! And that light will join all of the other lights of all of our brothers and sisters throughout all generations, and it will light our way back to the Garden of Eden. The revelation of Hashem on this world once again.
Have a enlightening Shabbos and a Chag Shavuos Samayach,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
**********************************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“A sach mentshen zehen, nor vainik fun zai
farshtai’en..” Many
people see things but few understand them.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q A desert region is where the annual precipitation is:
A. Above 500 mm
B. 300-400 mm
C. 200-300 mm
D. Up to or less than 200 mm
RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYz4Eb3f2Ro
– Best Song Ever!! I Believe
Rabbi Mordechai Dubin you will play this a hundred times and it will never
leave your mind again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxDIBsE_Cw&list=PLJHqz-5HcHDNGWYeGMlO7e7uzWPxItm9B&index=51&t=0s – Ani kovati
et moshavi –Aron Razel I have established my place in the Beit Midrash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4eu4mgIn5I
–Rabbi
Ephraim Wachsman English Shavuos composition beautiful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNO4KbM29TE&list=PLJHqz-5HcHDNGWYeGMlO7e7uzWPxItm9B&index=38
–
Asher Bachar Banu by Shmuli Ungar beautiful song for Shavuos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV29cmR2awU – Shlomo Carlebach Lulei Torascha –arguably one of his holiest songs…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS”
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Shavuos– Now
I told you above math is not really my thing. But to be a lamdan some math is
required. There’s a lot of cheshbon in lomdus; calculations. Things have to fit
into place. Let’s start with an easy number one that we have been counting up
to as we approach Shavuos. Then you can appreciate the lomdus which really
should have made all of us pause.
See,
we know that there are 49 days that we count from when we left Egypt the second
night of Pesach until we received the Torah. Do we all agree on that? Well
we’re all wrong. See do the math. The Jews left on Thursday. The first day of
counting would then be Friday. That would make the 50th day Friday
as well. The problem is that we know the Torah was given on Shabbos which would
then make it on the 51st day. This is the problem the Magen Avraham
raises, once you start lomdishly calculating the days. Now for those of you in
the Diaspora that are keeping two days yom tov, you’re good to go. But we here
in Israel that will be taking people on tours on Monday next week as Yom Tov
will be over. How can we celebrate the giving of the Torah before it was
actually given.
Now
comes the fun. There is nothing like a lomdushe calculation dilemma that seems
so basic to bring out the best of everyone. Since it’s Shavuos and you have
added Torah time I’ll give you a few approaches. The Mogen Avraham himself
suggests that it was supposed to be on the 50th day but since Moshe added
another day it was switched to 51, but we do it on the original planned day. Not
such a lomdushe answer. On a more spiritual plain the Maharsha suggests that
the 50th day was the day that we had completed our elevation from
Egypt and that an extra day was to commemorate our yirat chet like the 50th
yovel year and that is the reason we celebrate on the 50th day
despite it not being given until the 51st day. Again not such a
lomdushe answer.
The Chok
Yaakov is a little bit more lomdish but at the same time technical. He
said that back then it was done on the 51st day because they didn’t
establish the months according to the set pattern that we have it. And
therefore it came out on the 51st. But today we always have it on
the 50th day which is when the Torah was meant to be given. Again a
bit technical and not easy to say that they did on the wrong day and we have it
right. But all of this is really a build up to the chap the Chasam sofer brings
from his Rebbi the Hafla’ah.
The
Hafla’ah says that until they got the Torah their status was that of non-Jews.
If that is the case, then non-jews count the day after the night. Unlike us that
always have the evening before the day. Therefore he says, they were originally
told to count the day after Pesach in the evening. For non Jews that would be
the evening after the 2nd day of Pesach. Which would mean that if
they left on Thursday then Friday is the day after and Friday night would be
the first count. 50 days from that would thus be on Friday and the Torah would
then be given on the 50th day of their count Shabbos which would in
fact be the 51st day of leaving Egypt as they started counting a day
late. Today however we count a day earlier than they did, we start the night
after we left rather than two nights and thus the 50th day as well is
celebrated as the giving of the Torah.
That’s
what happens when math and lomdus meet. If you didn’t get the cheshbon just
read it again and again. It works!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Division of the Land –Tribe of Asher 1265 BC –
So now we are getting closer to my neck of the woods. The Upper Galile
and the Northern coastline of the tribe of Asher. Unlike the other
tribes, Asher’s portion is really not that clear as it mostly lists cities and
it seems to blend with some of the other tribes as well. The only clear thing
is that it starts at the tip of Mt. Carmel near Chaifa and goes
all the way North into Lebanon today to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Yep just as Jordan is illegally occupying our
divinely granted portion of Israel the area of Reuvein and Gad in Jordan today,
Lebanon is occupying the portion of the tribe of Asher.
The truth is the verse
tells us later on in the book of Shoftim that Asher was not successful in
conquering its portion or not. So seemingly they lived amongst other tribes and
intermingled with them. This also explains the question that is discussed if
Akko was part of the borders of Israel or not. It certainly seems to be within
the borders as it runs u the coastline, but perhaps Asher never conquered it
and thus it never had status of Israel. Until today the cemetery of Akko is
located a few kms inland in the village of Kfar Yasif to make sure they have
burial in Israel.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE JOKES OF THE WEEK
There
once were 2 people: A and B.
A
was always up and about while B was always dormant, staying put in his bathtub
all day and night.
One
day, A had a cold. When A was walking about a countless number of individuals
insulted A and laughed at him. Unable to smell, A could not understand what he
was doing wrong.
So,
A went to visit B, the smartest man that he knew. As soon as A walked into B's
house, B could tell what was wrong with A. Being polite, B refused to blatantly
say that A smelt awful. Instead, he spent nearly a half hour asking questions
like, "when did you last shower?" and, "have you lost your sense
of smell?"
B
then realized he was late to his third bath of the day, asked A to excuse him,
and walking into the restroom to draw himself a bath. After B had laid down in
the bath for a while, A got bored and wanted to leave.
Angered
that he never got his answer, A called out to B and asked him why people were
mad.
B
responded:
"You-Reek-A
Sentences
you have to read twice
"This
is my step ladder. I never knew my real ladder."
"A
man is washing his car with his son when the boy goes, 'Dad, can't we use a
sponge?'"
What
has four wheels and flies? A garbage truck."
A
Mexican magician says he will disappear on the count of three. He says, 'uno,
dos...' and poof. He disappears without a tres."
"Two
satellites decide to get married. It wasn't much of a wedding, but boy was that
reception amazing!"
What's the difference
between a poorly dressed man on a unicycle and a well-dressed man on a bicycle?
Attire."
"What did the buffalo
dad say to his son as he left? Bison."
"An old woman fell in a
well. She didn't see that well."
"An
Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a German are all watching a dolphin do
some excellent tricks. The dolphin notices that the four gentlemen have a very
poor view, so he jumps higher out of the water and calls out, 'Can you all see
me now?' And they respond: 'Yes.' 'Oui.' 'Sí.' 'Ja.'"
"What
is orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot."
A
man walks into a bar and sees a bunch of people waiting to get refreshments. He
asks the bartender, 'Is this really the punch line?'
Berel
had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet his wife Kayla
had stayed by his bedside every single day. One day, when he came to, he
motioned for her to come nearer. As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of
tears, “You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When
I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were
there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed
right here. When my health started failing, you were still by my side. You know
what?” he concluded. “What, dear?” she asked gently, smiling as her heart
began to fill with warmth. “I think you’re bad luck.”
Yankel, Feivel, and Ziedel find
themselves at the pearly gates. The men walk up to the gate and the angel
greets them and says, “You have made it to heaven, now all you have to do is
pass the test to see what your fate will be.”
“What is the test?” they asked
The angel says, “You must walk
through the room of ducks. If you are able to make it to the other side without
stepping on a duck you will be paired with most beautiful woman in the world
for all eternity.”
The men start rejoicing, but the
angel stops them and warns, “BUT If you step on a duck you will be paired with
the ugliest woman in the world for all eternity.”
Yankel enters the room with confidence. He
makes it only about half way and steps on a duck. The angel says, “You have
failed. You will be paired with the ugliest woman in the world for all eternity.”
Berel says, “I can do this! Step
aside.” He makes it almost all the way through, but unfortunately steps on
a duck just short of victory. The angel says tells him, “You have failed.
You will be paired with the second ugliest woman in the world for all eternity.”
Zeidel is the last man and is hesitant to
enter the room, but he eventually makes it all the way through without stepping
on a single duck. The angel exclaims, “You have made it! You will be paired
with the most beautiful woman in the world for all eternity!”
He is suddenly transported beside
the woman. He turns to the woman and asks, “How did you get here?” She
replies, “I don’t know, but I stepped on a duck.”
************
Answer is D– This is pretty basic. Yes less than
200 mm a year is a midbar. In fact 60% of Israel is desert. The Negev is more
than half of this country. By the way what does the word Negev mean? Dry.
Because there is almost no rain that falls there. Tahta being said though when
it does rain there are flash floods all over that are dangerous and roads need
to be closed. Because there is no grass or trees like they have in the North
where rain falls over 500 mm a year that absorbs it all. In the south it comes
rushing down in torrents. So the score is Schwartz 24 and 6 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam
so far.
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