The Sound of Sirens- Parshat Vaykahel Pikudei Hachodesh 5786 2026

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

March 13^th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 21 25^th of Adar 5786

 

Parshat Vayakhel-Pikudei/ Ha'Chodesh

 

The Sound of Sirens

 

I apologize in advance if the E-mail is incoherent this week. Waking up and running to a bomb shelter every few hours because ballistic missiles might be falling on your head and destroying your house and killing your family isn't a situation that generally lends itself to the communication of well-thought-out deep insights. My brain is frazzled and I don't even have a handful or more of children in the house without school driving me nuts. It's just Aliza. Although, a frazzled anxiety ridden wife can be a handful as well. Almost as much as a couch stranded, tourist-less husband without sleep can be. Yeah, I don't even think the word is incoherent even. I think incomprehensible is the better word. But as I said, my brain is too frazzled to think much these days. Welkam to Eezrael 2026. Part III or IV of the Gaza/ Hezbollah, Iran/ Mashiach wars Movie series.

 

So yes, this latest phase of the war has brought things to a new level of insanity. It's like just when you thought things were getting quiet. Boom! Hello. Freddy is baaack. This time with ballistic sirens. With really huge scary missiles. Not those little baby katyushas that were until now. Wasn't Hezbollah done with already? Didn’t we beeper them? Didn't we destroy Iran's nuclear threat. It's like Hashem keeps telling us, tatteleh… "It ain't over until it's over". Or until the Fat Kohen sings in the Beit Ha'Mikdash. I hate those sirens so much. They're so jarring. Which is kind of the point. I get it. It sends a shiver down your spine. You look back at your house as you make your way to the miklat/shelter and like Lot's wife you take one look back and wonder if it will still be there. I always take my favorite coffee cup with me. I like that cup. It's hard to find a cup that keeps my coffee warm, the way I like it. We've been through a lot together. And then as I continue to make my way to that shelter in those thirty or so seconds we have- at least when it's from Lebanon, Iran gives us a bit more time.- I turn around and make sure Aliza's on her way too. After-all what good is a coffee cup if there's no one to make the coffee.

 

You know what I was thinking last time I was in the bunker? That if Mashiach finally decided to get his donkey over here already and blow that shofar that would ring out to the world, do you know what everyone would do? They'd probably run to the bunker with their coffee cups. Hey, how are we supposed to know? They sound the same. Woooo oooohh woooo oooohww woooo ooooohhhww. Tekiah. Shevarim. Tekiah. Isn't it crazy that we're living in a time when the shofar blasts of these sirens are coming day in and out. That the yovel has come to the land. Which the Talmud tells us is a yababah- a continuous blast that is heralding in freedom to the land and the world. That's the only sound we hear again and again and again. The alert I get on my phone that jostles me even sounds like that word. yababa yababa yababa…

 

Uru yisheinim mi'shinaschem- Awaken sleeping ones from your slumber- is not a spiritual homiletic interpretation of the lives we are living. It's the reality. And it's non-stop. At 12:00 AM. At 2:00 AM. At 4:00 AM. But that last one was just a warning that we might have to go to the shelter. So don't sleep too comfortably. Nice of them to tell us that. As if we were going to any ways…

 

So, I've got sirens on my head. Literally. I'm hearing shofars. I'm waiting for Mashiach. For this to be over already. So to get away from this all, I take a peek at the parsha. What do you know? We've got sirens there too. I can't get away from this thing. There's no where to hide. There ain't no mountain high enough…Ain't no valley low enough… Ain't no river wide enough…To keep me from getting to you. I told you. I'm losing it. So where are the sirens in this week's parsha? Get ready. IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES THERE WILL BE A MESSAGE AND AN ALERT COMING YOUR WAY. PREPARE TO MAKE YOUR WAY TO A PROTECTED AREA WHERE YOU CAN BE SAFE AND NOT BE INSPIRED. I told you. I'm losing it…

 

This week's parsha concludes the book of Shemos. It's a double whammy. That's like one siren after another with the last two parshas of Vayakhel and Pikudei being read and in fact the longest Torah reading of the year. Isn't it appropriate that the longest reading should be the ones right before we finish the Book of Redemption. A book that it seems has a hard time getting to the end and concluding. Oh and in case two parshas isn't enough for you, Our Rabbis threw in one more, it's parshat Ha'Chodesh this week as well, when we read the last of the four supplemental readings of the mitzva of the New month of Nissan and the mitzva of Kiddush Ha'Chodesh and of course the laws of the Pesach sacrifice the upcoming holiday of our Redemption, for real this time.

 

The parsha and book concludes, not with the Jewish people coming into the land. Not with us being safe from our enemies. Not from us establishing a Jewish national democratic homeland where all religions can practice their faiths freely. Not with Shwarma and falafel stores, apple orchards and wheat fields and not even with Kollels, yeshivos and places to study Torah all day long. The Sefer Ha'Geula- the Book of Redemption didn't even end with the revelation of Hashem on a mountain where we stood together united finally, for a few minutes at least, as one man with one heart. That's not the end of the story. It's not about getting the Torah that we can learn all day.

 

The end of the Book, the conclusion of the redemption, ends with hammers and nails and the construction project of Eternity. It's building the home for Hashem amongst us. Within us. It's returning to the Garden of Eden life, where Hashem is walking with us in the garden. All the time. Listen to the last words of the Seforno on this Book.

 

Shemos (40:37) And when the Clouds (of Glory) went up from the Tabernacle the Children of Israel traveled- and so much was the Shechina permanent in the Mishkan, that it didn't move from there until the Bnai Yisrael needed to travel. This didn't happen in Shilo and neither in the First or Second Temple. But it will be even greater than this in the Third Temple, may it be established and built speedily in our times. As it says in Zecharia (2:9) and I will be there, says Hashem, a wall of fire surrounding you and with honor I will be within it

 

That's the end of the story. That's what these sirens are all about. Why do I say sirens? Because as I said, the prelude to this is sirens around the land, but a different type of siren. One that you may miss if you're sleeping. If you're not tied in. But who's sleeping these days?

 

See in Parshat Vayakhel, right after all of the description of the donations and work that was being done for the Mishkan is elaborated and reiterated once again, the Torah tells us that the construction people came to Moshe that the people have brought too much. They don't stop. They keep coming and coming. Dai Kvar. It's enough. So what does Moshe do?

 

Ibid (36:6-7) Va'yaviru Kol ba'Machaneh- he passes the sound through the camp.

 

Wooooo ooooohwww wooooh ooooohhh. He turns on the sirens. He sounds out alerts.

 

"Each man and woman should not do anymore work for the donations of the Kodesh."

 

Sirens mean stop work. No more tourists. No more holy work. The job is done. And it was.

 

Va'yikaleh ha'am mei'havi- The people stopped bringing and the work was enough and even more.

 

Do you know what the sign of the Geula is? It's the siren telling us that we've done enough. We can stop doing. We don't need more tzedaka. We don't need more merits. We don't need more Torah. More Yeshivos. More achdus. We just need to sit and bask in the glory of Hashem. The work is done. Stop trying to fix and to donate. It's Shabbos. Va'Yichulu Hashamayim Vi'Haretz- the heavens and earth were finished on that 7^th day of Creation. It's the same word as

 

Va'Yichalei Ha'am li'havi- the nation stopped bringing. They were concluded. We've come full circle. Hashem created the world in 6 days and on Shabbos He rested. We now have left Egypt. We've built Him his home and now it's time to rest. To sit in His light. To dwell with Him and Him with us. The clouds have come down. And as Rashi tells us it was a sign that the sins of the past, of the Eigel, of the false idols, of our exile, of Egypt and everywhere else has been forgiven. Shabbos is here. The Redemption has concluded. Listen to the sirens.

 

The Talmud in Shabbos and the Midrash learn out a rather strange law from this verse. It tells us that hidden in this command not bring anymore is the law and prohibition of hotza'ah on Shabbos or what we like to call "carrying". Moshe was telling them that Shabbos is coming and they shouldn't carry any more. See, without this verse we wouldn't know that "carrying" from one domain to another is called a "melacha"- a prohibited work on Shabbos. But since it says that they "stopped carrying and the melacha was enough"- we derive that carrying is also considered a prohibited creative act on Shabbos.

 

Now although this verse on the simple level doesn't seem to be talking about not carrying on Shabbos, the Talmud notes, but rather for them to stop because the work was done and it was too much already. Yet, fascinatingly and of course never coincidentally enough, we learn out from the verse by Yom Kippur, where it also says that word of passing a shofar sound throughout the land. And just as there where it tells us to blow the Shofar it's talking about on a day that it's prohibited to do work, Yom Kippur, over here as well it is a reference to stopping from carrying on a day that is prohibited, Shabbos. Yet, now if you think about it, is where it becomes cool and today.

 

For the Shofar blast over there on Yom Kippur, the siren, is talking about the Yovel year. The year that heralds in the redemption. That freedom is cried throughout the land. That all slaves go free. That we have been forgiven. That there is nothing left that we have to do. It's why we blow the shofar each Yom Kippur at the end of the day. After ne'ila that one moment that we taste Gan Eden. When we are alone locked/na'ul together with Hashem. That's the siren sound. That's where we derive on Shabbos that we are prohibited to carry. To move anymore from one reshus to another domain. On Shabbos we have to understand that our work is over. We're there. We're redeemed. Everything that needed to be done for the Shechina to rest with us is ready. We just need to sit down at the Shabbos table. We need to rest. We need to be present. We need to stop trying to move. To carry. To change. To fix. We need to just put away our phone and be One with the clouds of Glory that are around us.

 

Do you know what the ultimate teshuva and perhaps the hardest and final teshuva that we need to do is? It's not to change. It's not to fix. It's not to bang on our chest. It's not to make new resolutions. It's not to give more tzedaka, charity, learn more Torah, burn more sheitels or phones, add new takanos. It's about stopping and finding Hashem within us. It's returning to our core. To our essence. It's not about saying I'm not good. I have to change. It's about seeing how holy and good you are. How much Hashem is already there within you? How the clouds of Glory are hugging and protecting you. Stop moving. He's here. Get up from your slumber and see what's in front of you. Open your eyes.

 

It's not dreaming about a better place or world or better you. About returning to Eretz Yisrael about living a perfect life. About doing things and bringing things to build the Bais HaMikdash. Everything is here already. You just need to put the pieces together. Hashem loves us. His Shechina and His hand is showing itself like it has never before. In a wall of fire. Greater than even in the wilderness, in the Mishkan in Shilo, in the first or second Temple as the Seforno says. Tens of thousands of ballistic missiles falling and almost nothing is happening. We just keep running to a miklat and back again and again. Because we don't see the geula. We don't hear the shofar's siren telling us to stop moving from place to place. Just come home. The work we've done. The 2000 years of Exile that we labored, that we died, that we sacrificed, that we were martyred, that we prayed and longed for to finally be over is complete. V'hoseir- It's more than complete. So why are you still moving. Why aren't you freeing your inner slave. Why do you still feel you need to carry from one place to another. You're in the camp of the Shechina. You're home. Put away the phone and sit at the table.

 

Our Rabbis tell us that hotza'a is a melacha geru'a- it's an inferior melacha. Everything else that we did for the Mishkan is part of a creative process. It's building, fixing, creating, making something new. Hotza'a- carrying isn't really doing anything. It's just moving from place to place. Do you know why it's a melacha geru'ah? Because as opposed to everything else that creates something. When I move something from place to place. When I carry something from one place to another. I'm saying that I'm not really where I need to be. That this isn't where it needs to be. That the Shechina won't work and happen unless I change. It's constant movement. It's not about what I do with the things that Hashem has created. It's about moving myself from place to place. It's about not being at rest. The limud of that prohibition is from the siren. It tells us to stop moving. To sit back and watch the yeshuah. See it unfold. Realize that where you are is exactly where Hashem wants you to be. He put you there. He's there with you. His Shechina can rest with you even there. Find that. Connect with that. And then you will be redeemed. Then you will break those bonds of slavery that hold you back from celebrating with Him. And freedom will ring throughout the land.

 

There is another time in our history when a kol was sent out throughout the land. When a siren was rung. When we were awakened and when everything changed. When the Navi tells us we stopped and then we were redeemed. And guess what? It was on the 1^st of Nissan. It was Shabbos Parshat Ha'Chodesh. The book of Ezra tells us how Ezra returns with the exiles and begins to continue the rebuilding of the second Temple. The process begins with them leaving Bavel and heading to Persia to Iran. On the first of Nissan. Shabbat Parshat Ha'Chodesh.

 

Ezra 7:9 For on the first month (Nissan) Yesud Ha'Maala- it was the aliya from Bavel was established and they arrived in Jerusalem by the goodness of the hand of Hashem upon them on the fifth month (Av).

 

There in Yerushalayim they brought sacrifices. The Navi gives a whole accounting in same way that it does in our parsha of all of the gifts that they brought. There, word gets to Ezra that the people are married to non-jews. They're off the derech. They're sinners. They haven't done teshuva. Isn't that amazing. Mind-blowing. How can it be, that the we've returned to Israel and even begun sacrificing when most Jews are still in galus and when the ones in Israel are still intermarried. So then Tishrei comes. Rosh Hashana and then Sukkos and right before Chanuka on the 20^th of Kislev Ezra calls everyone together. He presses on the siren. He sends out a call. and tells them it's time to leave their wives. To give thanks to Hashem. To find their inner selves. To return.

 

Ibid (10:7) Va'yaviru kol bi'yehuda vi'yerushalayim – and he sent out a kol, to all of Yehuda and Yerushalayim to gather in all the exiles to Jerusalem.

 

The sirens went out. The nation gathered. The people are nervous but a servant named Shechanaya ben Yechiel takes charge and tells them in incredible words.

 

 Ibid (10:2-2)We have rebelled against Hashem. We have taken foreign wives from the nations of the land. Yet now we have a Mikva/ a hope, that can purify us from this. And now we will make a covenant with Hashem our God to remove all of the women and children born of them with the plan of Hashem. And the Chariedim of the mitzvos of Hashem and His Torah will fulfill this.

 

Not in one day. The people say that the "melacha" is too great. But the process begins. There is Hatikva. There is hope. The Chareidim will work with us. They will help us get to where we need to get to. We're all culpable. We're all one.

 

Did you get that person's name? Shechanya- Hashem dwells. Shechina. The son of Yechi-El. Hashem lives. Am Yisrael Chai. It comes together and the comes Nissan. Shabbos Parshat Ha'Chodesh. The parsha of renewal. The parsha that we fade like the moon into the darkness but we come back. And then the work is concluded.

 

Ibid (10:17) Vayichalu Ba'kol anashim ha' hoshivu es ha'nashim nochriyos ad yom echad la'chodesh ha'rishon- and the men concluded returning the foreign wives by the first of the the first month. Nissan. By this Shabbos. They concluded. It was Va'Yichulu. The work was done. The Mikdash could finally be rebuilt. The sirens stopped. The Geula had arrived.

 

The moon doesn't have to do anything to arise. It just has to reveal itself. When it is darkest it shines brightest. It's when its true light shows itself. It's when it best reflects the sun that it draws its' light from. That is the month of Nissan. That is where we find ourselves today. The teshuva then came after we realized who we are and how much we are loved by Hashem. When we found that inner spark and light. It wasn't by changing and it wasn't by doing things differently. It was by listening to that siren. It was by hearing that sound and shofar from Sinai resonating still within ourselves. It's by being in the land where that siren and call is happening. After that we just naturally returned. We left all the foreign influences behind. We stepped into the Mikva into the hope and we walked out cleansed. Pure. One.

 

It's been a long time since that return of Ezra that could’ve been the final return had everyone come back. Had they had faith in the intermarried secular Jews in Israel returning and doing teshuva in one minute. Had they seen the spark and understood that our mission was only about building the Bais Ha'Mikdash. Nothing else is a redemption. Nothing is else is important. But this time around, No one will be left behind. There is no fourth Bais Ha'Mikdash. The siren is ringing. It's time to stop and answer it's call. The geula is here. Will every one please take shelter in your protected space. In the shade and shadow of Hashem. It doesn't get more coherent than that…

 

Have a quiet and renewing redemptive Shabbos,

 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

" Dos lebn iz nit mer vi a Cholem, ober vekt mikh nit oif!- Life is nothing but a dream, but don’t wake me up!

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2BwMTfn68k    – Yeedle and Ben Ezra beautiful Mimakim new drop… beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGJ7QaHZYUQ - LKavod Shabbos. Eitan Katz Eishes Chayil Chupa…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0cXWexP6tU&list=OLAK5uy_npIgRt6QGiKy3EEI-Q8NJY3yr11HsTbvU  - Abie Rotenberg's Son and album? What do you think? War on gravity…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvUNXWRjpWE&list=RDnvUNXWRjpWE&start_radio=1   – I think I'm the only shul in the world that uses this tune every Shabbos in Shul… Abie's vi'shamru

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzLeBVvKw8g&list=RDDzLeBVvKw8g&start_radio=1     – and here's Carlebachs Vshamru- the classic one!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

24. From the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the 21st century, the railway route

from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv passed through Nahal /Wadi

________________

In which of the following agreements was the route of the "Green Line" determined?

A. Rhodes 1949 Armistice Agreements

B. Oslo Accord

C. Camp David Accord

D. Sykes–Picot Agreement

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

The mysterious tomb of Daniel- 368 BC- With Daniel's last prophecy and vision of the end of Days and everything we're experiencing we don't hear from him anymore. Where is he buried. Shouldn't we go daven by his grave. This is his era. This is what he foresaw. Where is he?

So the oldest and first tradition we have from him is from Binyamin of Tudela the famous 12^th century traveler. He tells that he found the tomb of Daniel in Shushan. In Persia. In Iran. And he tells us a fascinating story and custom about his tomb.

 

It seems that his grave was originally on one side of a city in Persia by a shul and that side became very wealthy. Of course attributing it to the tomb of the prophet. Well the poor people on the other end of town weren't that happy about it. So they protested and a compromise was reached where every year the tomb and coffin was dug up and moved to the other side of the city, until they eventually both became rich. This lasted until the Shah Sinjar came, whom he says was a ruler over 45 other kings and ruled from one end of the Middle East to the other. Although his reign was only 4 months and 4 days. Which is a lot longer then the last few who didn't even make it 4 days… 😊 . Well, he didn't like this whole moving the coffin thing and he had him buried by a bridge in the middle of the two sides of towns. There it was established as a place of prayer for all religions. It stayed there until the year 683 when it was brought to Shushan where Binyamin found it buried.

 

Another tradition by the Seder Hadoros says he was buried in the Chidekel/ Tigris river like the bones of Yosef in the Nile. Now I don't know if we can get to the Chidekel, yet if he's in Iran… who knows? Maybe soon we'll start seeing pilgrimages there once again…

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE IRAN WAR JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

Being an Israeli means to get annoyed that you received an alert in which was never followed up by a siren about a ballistic missile that was on its way to kill you.

 

I just turned off the news and put on a serial killer documentary to relax.

 

A  missile fell in Bnai Brak in an open area. The Mayor is wondering where there is still an open area in the city. The heads of all the local organizations are as well on their way to find city budgets to develop it.

 

What do you call a pig with lights and sirens on it's back? Hambulance.

 

A missile fell in Tiverya the city planners said to leave it there. It fits in with all of the other potholes in city.

 

A missile lands in Tiverya and takes one look and turns around and says "it looks like you did the work here already without me.

 

2026 the year when women in pants dropped bombs on men in dresses

 

IRC General- Should we blow up the Nuclear Reactor in Iran?

Ayatolla's heir- Not painful enough. Let's shut down school during Pesach cleaning.

 

Iran warns Israel it has huge stockpile of cardboard Supreme leaders.

 

Today is the tenth day which is one week and three days in the counting of Chol Hamoed Purim.

 

Do not believe the News. The United States and Israel di not bomb Iran. It was mostly a peaceful protest against their Nuclear weapons facilities.

 

Homeland Security has ordered a return to normal schedules conditionally. Parents can decided all children that don't help with Pesach cleaning have to return to school tomorrow.

 

At the rate my family is eating here over the past few days. There won't be anything left to sell for Pesach.

 

Home Front Command/ Pikud Ha'oref clarifies that a refrigerator is not a safe secure shelter. There's no need to go into it every ten minutes.

 

Fun Fact: There have been no flights to Iran for 46 years. For over a week no all flights from Israel have only been to Iran. Talk about making up for lost time…

 

 Our Purim food is almost used up. Now what will we eat in the mamad

 

Iran: Our missile accuracy is almost 100% 95 percent of our missiles have made direct hits with Israeli rocket launchers.

 

Israel remains the only country in the world that knows exactly when a missile will fall, but can't tell you when the next bus is meant to arrive.

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The answer to this week's question is A– There goes the streak. I had no clue what nachal it ran through. I guessed Ayalon even though I knew that it was probably not right. As it's on the way and he new trainline passes through there. But the correct answer was Sorek or Refaim. On the other hand part II I go right just byh a good guess. I knew it wasn't Olso or Camp David Accords. And I knew it was 1949 lines. I wasn't sure though if it was in Rhodes. I don't ever remember it being called that. But I was pretty sure Sykes Pico was way before that and only the first draft. So I got the right answer. So we're back to a 50/50 which is better than not getting it right and the new score  of Rabbi Schwartz having a 17 points and the MOT having 7 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.

Mommy Issues- Parshat Ki Tisa- Parah 2026 5786

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

March 6^th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 20 17^th of Adar 5786

 

Parshat Ki Tisa/ Parah

Mommy Issues

 

It's not Mother's Day. We've got a ways to go until that goyish Hallmark holiday. Or as most frum yeshivish Kollel guys and cheap husbands who don't like to spend money on presents or flowers like to say, every day for us is Mother's Day. But give us a break, Hallmark, we have a hard enough time remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and yes for some of us even our kid's names forget about their birthdays, we really don't need more holidays to get us into trouble. Fuggedabout grandchildren's birthdays (and names ☹…). Happy Birthday Yoel!

 

See, I didn't remember that. My wife did. My daughter probably told her though. My Mother used to be the one that remembers all of those "important" dates for me. But she's not been great about that lately though. Hey, when there are bli ayin harah tens and tens of great grandchildren then you're entitled not to keep track anymore. What's fascinating to me though, is Aliza's Omi whose ken-aynin-hora close to 100 amu'sh and has probably close to a hundred descendants, but still seems to remember their names and birthdays far better than anyone. I guess when you hit that age then maybe it gets easier. Especially since each one is another spit in the eye of the Nazi's that wiped out her family and our nation. May she continue to have good health ad me'ah ve'esrim- till 120 descendants if not more…

 

So it's not Mother's day this week. Yet, my mother did remind me that it is our anniversary. She even sponsored the E-Mail this week in honor of the occasion. Which is a good thing, because you didn't. But don't worry, if you feel bad that you didn't sponsor and were one of the few that didn't donate to our annual Purim campaign then don't worry, we're still accepting donations. The gates of donation and sponsorship are always open to you. You can even order my book or books for Pesach of which the proceeds go to supporting my shul. See below. It's still Adar. You can still make me happy.  I'm just sayin… no need to feel guilty. Feel generous.

 

But yes, it's our 32^nd anniversary. Gematria- Lev. Our big emoji heart. Thanks for reminding me Mom. I think Aliza forgot. So that means I get extra credit for remembering. So for me this is the time of year to remember not just my wife, but more importantly the mother of my children, the grandmother of my grandchildren (two more just this past few months! TYH) and God willing the great-grandmother of what will be our future generations, that Hashem should bless us with good health to enjoy and lots of chocolate and sugar to give them and send them back to their parents to deal with. There's nothing like grandparenthood.

 

Now as you readers of this weekly E-Mail know. The Parshiyot and Torah reading that we read each week aren't just stories and narratives about the past, they're about us today. Most specifically, they're generally about me and my exciting life and what's going on in the Schwartz family. It's amazing that Hashem gave us this book about my life 3000 years ago and no one really understood it until they read my E-Mail each week and understood the prophecies it was meant to reveal and important messages as it relates to my life. So as I opened up the parsha to check out my anniversary E-Mail from Hashem I was a bit taken aback to find out that it was parshat Parah! That's not nice. There goes all my extra credit points…

 

But of course, Hashem isn't obviously talking about my beautiful tiny skinny wife's appearance in referencing this parsha on our anniversary. He loves me too much to do that. The fact that a fat shlub like me got anyone that gorgeous to marry them is perhaps the greatest miracle since the splitting of the sea. Forget about all of my other flaws. And of course, all of her other excellent attributes, although admittedly it was really the looks that sold me. I never really bought into the whole hevel ha'yofi thing. I've always been more of a hevel guy, as the past page and a half where I really didn't say anything meaningful or inspirational is quite reflective of. But hey, you're still reading so I guess we must be in the same boat.

 

But it is parshat Parah and the specific reading of this week, which is number 3 of the four supplementary readings we add from Shekalim and Zachor before Purim to Chodesh  next week before the month of our redemption, Nissan. The custom or mitzva (biblical like Zachor according to some minority opinions) is to read about the mysterious purification process of the burning of a Red Heifer, a mommy cow, and the sprinkling of its ashes in order to remove the impurity or tumah of coming in contact with the dead, that would prevent one from coming to the Temple, from eating from the Korban Pesach. From becoming truly redeemed.

 

Now I said that this was a mysterious process because there's a lot of anomalies that I'm probably not going to talk about or write about this week. The fact that it's red- Esau, Trump? That it purifies the impure while making the Kohen that does the sprinkling and is involved in the process become impure. A message perhaps about the extents or consequences of Jewish outreach work. About changing our conceptions of who's pure and who's impure. Every one's got their own take. It's mysterious and thus flexible and thus it's fun for Rabbis. And convenient. But you've heard them all before. Rather I want to focus on the reason or the lack of reason given for this mitzva. It seems contradictory yet at the same time it seems to be essence of everything. It's how we finish this war. It starts in Corona, it's going on now and it's my anniversary. It's my heart. Let's finally get started here.

 

I believe that every one is familiar with the Midrash that Rashi quotes that the essence of the Red Heifer is that the Mother should come and atone and clean up the mess that her baby, the golden calf- also this week's parsha's story non-coincidentally enough, brought to the world. This is of course appropriate for my wife because she's always cleaning up after me and her children and even grandchildren. This is an important Rashi that every man who doesn't like to clean should share with their wives when they ask them to clean up after themselves. Or maybe not… She may just send you to your room without dinner, because you're acting like her child.

 

On the other hand, Rashi tells us that this is just a midrash. It's not the real reason. The law and mitzva is called a Chok, an inexplicable mitzva. A mitzva without a reason that we can or will fully understand. King Solomon didn't get it, Moshe didn't either. It's a secret. We do it because Hashem told us to. And as many suggest perhaps that's the ultimate purification process is the nullification of oneself to the will of Hashem, that one doesn't understand. Again you've heard that before, that's not what this is about, or where we're going.

Perhaps the biggest proof that some of the commentaries note, particularly the Chasam Sofer in numerous places, as well as some of the Rishonim, is that this mitzva we're told was given to them even before they received the Torah. It was one of the three commandments that we learned right when we left Egypt after the splitting of the Sea, when we arrived at Marah, along with Dinim and Shabbos. That was a few months before the giving of the Torah, and another few months until the sin of the Golden Calf. The Mommy cow came first. It precedes all of that. And thus unless you want to go with the refuah before the makka approach, the Hashem-sends-the-cure-before-the-sickness pathway- which some do use to explain why the mitzva of the Mishkan as well precedes the Eigel as well although not chronologically accurate, yet it still doesn't explain why specifically that mitzva is taught of all the commandments back then in Marah at that early stage. Why of all of the mitzvos is this the chok of the "chok u'mishpat" that's mentioned there that we learned together with Shabbos and Dinim that needed to be learned and internalized.

 

Yet, as one delves into it a bit more, I noticed that there's a lot of similarities between the mitzva of the parah and the golden calf and the story of the red heifer and that's when things started to get crazy. Do you know what happens when we leave Egypt after the splitting of the Sea. The Jewish people bizarrely ask a simple question. Ma Nishteh. What will we drink? The water is bitter. We're going to die in the desert. Hashem just split the sea for them. Where's their faith? What does Hashem tell Moshe to do? Throw a stick into the water. Make it sweet and give them to drink. And then teach them about the Red Heifer. Does any of that sound familiar to the golden calf story. They just received the Torah. They saw Hashem face to face. Yet 40 days later. They have questions of faith. Who will lead us? There's no Moshe. There's no one to make the water of Torah sweet. To give us to drink. To bring us to the Land. We will die in the desert. Sound familiar?

 

What's the end of that story? Moshe throws down the Luchos, the tablets. The only other time in the Torah where we find Moshe throwing something down. And then he gives them to drink from the ashes. What Chazal tell us is like the bitter waters of the Sota, the wayward wife. And it is there once again that our sages make a connection and tell us that the Red Heifer, mother cleaning up after her children should play a role. Should be taught. Should be read. But here it gets even more fascinating.

 

See all of this takes place with and through Moshe. Moshe himself is cast into the river. In fact, all of the Jewish babies are cast, just like the ashes of the red heifer, in the river back in Egypt. The river there is the Nile which is of course, a false god. We're immersed in it. We're swimming in idolatry. Yet, there rather then being thrown into the river, we have the daughter of Pharaoh, "tashleich es amasa" she throws out her hand and takes hit out of there. It's why he's called Moshe. Because he's taken out of the water. What's baby Moshe's first response when taken out of the water. He wants to nurse. He's thirsty. Ma Nishteh? It's interesting that the word Moshe is like a kind of conjunction of ma and nishteh. Sort of… Ok. But it's more accurately the word Mah- what with the shin in the middle. He's connected to the shoresh. To the source. He only wants to drink from the source. He won't nurse any of that idolatrous Egyptian milk. He only wants his real mother's milk. He only wants it from the source. From the mother cow. Everything else is bitter. It's pareve soy milk. Oyy milk…

 

I saw a fascinating thing on ChatGPT. Do you know that there is one word that almost all of the 1072 languages that were examined, from Chinese, to Indian, to Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Spanish and Arabic all have in common? That is the word for Mother. Mom, Mama, Ima, Oma. It's all the same. There are not too many other words like that which go from language to language. There was in fact a later study done by Roman Jakobson and George Peter Murdock of over 2000 languages and that they called the Mama/Papa universals. as the word for father also almost always has a B/P sound in it like Abba or Papa, explains this unique phenomenon as in an interesting way. They call it baby linguistics. The first sound a baby makes is usually when it nurses and is that mmmm humming sound and it suckles. The first sound that it makes it expresses itself is the smacking of its lips afterwards and is the P/B papa sound and name. But we don't need Linguists to teach us wisdom. Our Rabbis and Kabablists see in the word Ima- as being the root of the word faith. Emuna. Aleph is Hashem. Mem is the source. It is the prefix that means "from".  A mother is a connection to the source. Father Av is Aleph Beis- It's building off of that source. The Mother brings one back to the source. It nurses and nurtures from the source. The Father takes it to the next level. It moves you forward or fatherwood.

 

When a baby is born, it's first reaction is to connect to that source. To nurse from its mother. It's the first sound out of its mouth. Mah Mah… It's the first thing baby Moshe does. He realizes that the Nile is not his source. Egypt isn't his place. The Egyptians felt that the Nile was their God that there was no source greater. That is the 49^th level of Tumah. Do you know what Tumah/impurity is? It's the letter tet that is clogging up that first aleph of Ima. It's the ninth letter that prevents one from connecting with the yud. The yid. With Hashem. The difference between 1 and 9 aleph and tet is 8. The number 8 is above this world, but it is also the letter chet. It's sin. That's what stands between the source, the aleph, the ima, and the baby.

 

When we leave Egypt, when we see the splitting of the sea when we're born as a nation, it is thus no wonder why the first question we ask is ma nishteh. We're calling for Mother. We want to connect to the source. Why is it bitter? We don't want to drink from bitter waters. We don't want Egypt. We want the sweetness of Hashem. There Hashem tells Moshe the lesson. Cast down and throw in the eitz. The wood. The mayim Chayim of Torah and the waters will become sweet. We will connect to Hashem. And it is there He commands Moshe whose very name is to pull us out of the water and connect us to the source to teach us about the Red Heifer. The mother cow who will clean up the tuma of her child. Whose ashes, whose nullification of oneself, connects us to our source. The source from which become purified and born again from the purified waters.

 

The same story as well happens with the Golden Calf. Do you know what an eigel is? Its not only the word for calf. It's also a circle. A circle is self-sufficient. It revolves around itself. As do most babies. It doesn't think about anyone besides itself. It wakes us up in the middle of the night and doesn't mind pooping in its pants because it knows someone else will change it. It doesn't see anyone else. But it has a desperate need to drink from its source. The Jewish people without Moshe are dancing in front of golden calf. They desperately need to drink from holy waters. They desperately want to get to Eretz Yisrael. To be redeemed. They need a source of life to get them there. To be that intermediary. Because they don't have faith. They don't have an ima. There's no mother cow in sight. So they make their own cow. They take the gold of Egypt and they dance and bow down and sacrifice to that. They make their own circles. The word for these dance circles is mecholot. They forgive themselves. They don't need anything more. And thus, Moshe finds them when he comes back. It is those self-serving circles around themselves that don't connect to Hashem that nurse from tumah that upsets him more than anything else. In a word we had serious Mommy Issues.

 

What does he do? He casts the tablets down. The tablets of which the first five which begin with I Am Hashem who took you out of Egypt. Hashem who birthed you. Hashem who is your Mother and source. Those first five commandments conclude with honoring your father and mother. Seeing that the source where you will nurse that faith from is your parents. Your Av and Eim. They are what gives you long life. They are your connection to Egypt. To Sinai. To who you are. To where you need to drink from. Someone that doesn't have that relationship with their Mother, their father, that has Mommy or Daddy issues will never have a source to connect to the top. They remain an eigel. They see themelves as being self-sufficient. And all the have is bitter waters to drink as a result.

 

The second five tablets correspond to that same concept, but on understanding how that then plays out into our interaction with our fellow men. Our brothers and sisters. We're all from one Mother and Father. We all have one source. Those were the Dinim that we were taught in Marah. The first time we asked for a drink. When we first learned about that mother cow.

 

Moshe takes that golden calf and burns it up and makes us drink it. He shows us how a circle an eigel that only revolves around ourselves is bitter. It's a sota. It's not a real relationship. It's a betrayal. It's tumah. It's death. It's brother killing brother and father killing son. It's distance from Hashem. It's Him not being with us. It's sending an angel to lead us instead of Him. It's a surrogate parent. It's formula milk. Similac. Although in Israel fascinatingly enough its called Ma-terna… hmmm… So much closer to Ima. That's the result of the sin of the Golden Calf and it is that sin that our sages tells us lies at the heart of all that we've suffered and have gone through until the final redemption. It's the bitter waters that we still drink, until we have that red heifer once again to reconnect to the source and purify us in the Holy Living Waters of Hashem.

 

In Shilo today there are three red heifers waiting to be burnt up. I take my tourists there all the time to see them. Those cows were discovered and brought over here during Corona.  It was actually because of Corona that they were born and discovered because since the government wasn’t' really functioning, the owners never had to tag them which would've invalidated them, as there was no real FDA in effect. It's also how they were able to get them into Israel. The period of Corona in retrospect was kind like being in a womb. We were locked down. Locked up. We could barely breathe with that farkakteh mask. We were badad- in isolation. Yet, I noted at the time that the word ba'dad also means that we were at the place from were we nurse and suckle. We were in arms of our beloved Mother. We had faith and realized that there was no other Power besides Hashem. And we drank from that faith for over a year. And it was then that the Red Heifers were born.

 

A few years later we find ourselves locked up again. This time though we keep going into bomb shelters. It's a larger womb. This one is more than just our immediate family. It's everyone on the block. There are sirens going on outside and missiles falling all over and we're not scared. We're in the arms of Hashem. We have faith. Our Mommy issues are almost over. We know there is no one else that we can count on. That we can drink from. Miracles are happening. The Geula is on its way. Purim has just ended. Amalek is being wiped out like never before and we see the prophecies unfolding before our very eyes in ways and scenarios that are biblical scale miraculous. We're coming close to our anniversary. To the holiday of Pesach from when we were born.

 

I noticed how interesting it is that the redemption of Purim came through Queen Esther. She is the child who has no mother and no father. She doesn't reveal where she is born from. That is the hiddenness. That is Esther. That becomes revealed at the end of the story. She is the Eim Ha'Malchus. She will be the mother of King Darius who will allow the Jews to return for the second commonwealth and rebuild the Bais Ha'Mikdash. Purim is over once again. We read the story. We lived the story this year. May we merit as well to burn up those Red Heifer of Shilo and sprinkle the living waters of Hashem and redemption and what the Haftorah tells us is the resurrection of the dead, as we see listen for that shofar blast telling us the day has finally arrived.   

 

Have a moooiridikeh Shabbos,

 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

" Vos a kind zol nit der’raiden, vet di muter im farshtain..- Whatever a child babbles, its mother will understand.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc--CmZpyno&list=RDoc--CmZpyno&start_radio=1   – Nissim Black is back with this PURIM song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U98v5N5L6U&list=RD1U98v5N5L6U&start_radio=1  - A new Simcha Leiner Drop. Aneinu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYAolaOvEaE&list=RDfYAolaOvEaE&start_radio=1     - A Shabbos in a Krectchmeh Medley… love it..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8RJfJtskjE&list=RDj8RJfJtskjE&start_radio=1  – Not Acapella Season but love this aprorpriate Kippa live Am Yisrael Chai medely in the Shuk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBCPUVfJ7I&list=RDzHBCPUVfJ7I&start_radio=1    – Hashem Ish Milchama- Shloimie Gertner

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

23. The border between the Land of Israel and Transjordan was first established in modern

times during _______ rule.

Upon planning of the National Water Carrier of Israel, which considerations led to the

decision to pump the water from the Sea of Galilee - and not from the Jordan river?

A. Security considerations

B. Engineering considerations

C. Environmental/ecological considerations

D. Economic/budgetary considerations

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

The last Prophecy - 368 BC- Purim is over. The Temple started being built and some Jews, the Rabbis, Zerubavel many leaders and serious people returned. Most stayed. They figured they'd come in a bit when it quieted down and unfortunately as we said last week. Koresh's declaration ended. They were forbidden to come. The Iron curtain closed on them. They missed the chance. And then since they didn't all come back and at the behest of the Shomronim/Kutim that were in Israel the work on the Temple had been halted. The short-lived geula seemed to be drying up. The story of Purim would have to come for us to really understand that Hashem wanted from us.

 

Daniel was at that time living in Shushan HaBira in Persia/ Iran. When he heard what happened with Koresh he made a journey to go talk to him to try to see if he could get him to back down. If this sounds familiar, think Bibi heading over to Trump. You can't make this stuff up. Hashem was serious when He tells us to learn our history. On the way by the Chidekel river which is the Tigris River that flows from Iraq he has a vision, his last vision from the angel Gavriel. There he tells him about the End of Days. This prophecy is a hidden one although much of it concerns the entire second Temple period. There he tells him about the downfall of Persia, of the rise of Alexander of Greece. Of the divided kingdom between Egypt and Syria and the ultimate rising of the Roman empire. The entire period of the second Temple is revealed to him. But he doesn't stop there.

 

The prophecy continues with all types of allusions to the rise of Christianity and Islam. It even describes the final battle between Yishmael and Edom that we are currently experiencing. He describes a battle on Jerusalem and ultimately even the wrath of Hashem falling on Edom and avenging His nation. This is followed by the coming of Mashiach and the resurrection of the dead. It's mind-blowing stuff. It's hidden. Daniel asks for dates and timelines. But that's beyond the Malach's payroll. He just assures him that we will all do teshuva. We will come home. The end of days will be here and the glory of Hashem will be revealed.

 

It's said that we have more prophecy today then ever before. For then it was only visions and metaphors and cryptic messages. Today we see them all fulfilled. We're living it. We're watching it unfold. The end is near. We just need to make sure we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE MOMMY JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

Son: “Mom, can I have $20?”

Mom: “Does it look like I am made of money?”

Son: “Well, isn’t that what M-O-M stands for?”

 

“It’s spicy” is a universal mom code for “I don’t want to share.

 

When a kid says " Daddy, I want mommy", that's the kid version of "I'd like to speak to your supervisor."

 

What three words solve Dad’s every problem? Ask your mother.

 

My nickname is Mom. But my full name is “Mom Mom Mom Mom Mom.”

 

A curious child asked his mother: “Mommy, why are some of your hairs turning grey?”

The mother tried to use this occasion to teach her child: “It is because of you, dear. Every bad action of yours will turn one of my hairs grey!”

The child replied innocently: “Now I know why grandmother has only grey hairs on her head.”

 

Kid: “What’s a man?”

Dad: “A man is someone who is responsible and cares for their family.”

Kid: “I hope one day I can be a man just like mom!”

 

Before having kids, every mom thinks she’ll be a super-chill mom.

That’s because, at that point, we had no idea they’d break all our stuff, make ridiculous demands, and take roughly 10 years to get out of the car

 

What did baby corn ask mommy corn? Where is pop corn?

 

What did the lazy child say to his mom on Mother’s Day when she was about to do the dishes? “Relax Mom… you can just do them in the morning.”

 

The eldest of three siblings comes up to his mother and asks: "Mommy, mommy, why is my name Leaf?"

"Well, honey," the mother says, "it's because when you were a little baby, a leaf landed on your head."

Satisfied, the child goes away.Later, the middle child tugs at her mother's hand. "Mommy, mommy, why is my name Feather?"

"Well, darling," the mother says, "it's because when you were a little baby, a feather floated down and landed on your head."

The little girl smiles and goes on her way. A few moments later the youngest child runs into the room and says: "WARGLBARGLAAHRGLB?"

The mother says: "Be quiet, Refrigerator."

 

Here’s a joke my dad told me: What do you get when you cross mommy and daddy? A mistake

 

What did the daddy fire say to the mommy fire when their child graduated? "That's ar-son"

 

Silence is golden. Unless you have kids, then silence is suspicious.

 

What did the mommy spider say to the Baby spider? You spend too much time on the web.

 

 I hate when I’m waiting for mom to cook dinner, and then I remember I am the mom, and I have to cook dinner.

 

Silence is golden. Unless you have kids, then silence is suspicious

 

There is a legend that if you take a shower and scream “Mom!!!” three times, a nice lady appears with the towel you forgot..

 

When your mom’s voice is so loud, even your neighbors brush their teeth and get dressed.

 

Son: “Mom, what’s a weekend?”

Mom: “I don’t know, sweetheart, I haven’t had one since you were born.”

 

Why do Mothers have to have two visits to the optometrist? Because they also have eyes in the back of their head.

 

You know you’re a mom when you say I’m going to donate these bags of clothes to Goodwill. But first, I’m going to drive around with them in my trunk for four months

 

You know you’re a mom when you understand why Mama Bear’s porridge was too cold.

 

You know you’re a mom when picking up another human to smell their butt isn’t only normal, but necessary.

 

Mom’s recipe for iced coffee:

Have kids.

Make coffee.

Forget you made coffee.

Put it in the microwave.

Forget you put it in the microwave.

Drink it cold.

 

What do you call a mom who can’t draw? Tracy.

 

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes.

 

I would write a book about parenting, but it would just be filled with rants about doing everything myself. And cocktail recipes.

 

Mother to son: “I’m warning you. If you fall out of that tree and break both your legs, don’t come running to me!”

 

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The answer to this week's question is A–Again not an easy one but I got it right. The first part was easy. The Two state solution was of course developed under the British mandate. If it were up to the Jews with our small heads it would've happened. Thank God the Arabs knew it's an all our nothing thing. It's supposed to be even more than the River to the Sea. We're meant to get the other side of the Jordan River as well. So it hasn't happened and will never happen until we delare ur rightful sovereignty over the entire biblical borders of Israel as Hashem promised us. The second part wasn't as easy. Yet the correct answer is security. See we needed the water carrier to come from Kinneret because it was total surrounded by Israel on all sides as opposed to the Jordan which had our enemy on the other side of the River.  So continuing our streak here with a new score  of Rabbi Schwartz having a 16.5 points and the MOT having 6.5 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.