from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
October 24th 2025 -Volume 15 Issue 1 2nd of Cheshvan 5786
(Don't miss out on my brand new Parshat Noach song below! And my super Book offer!)
Sweety Birds and Bitter Months
The holidays are over. It's Shabbos again. The first week of the year with a just plain old regular week preceding it. Not a week of "erev" something. This past month it seemed was one big week of "Thursdays". Uh Oh…here comes another holiday, another Shabbos, another bunch of meals, shuls, meals, Shabbos clothing and no showers. It was nice to have a plain old regular week. A full six days before we came into Shabbos. The fact that was actually six days of work for me even the week after Sukkos was nice as well. It looks like a slow winter coming up and I still have some bills we have to pay off. So I now I feel I really earned Shabbos. I earned a bit of well-deserved rest. A day of holiness that comes after a full week of work. One that is different than the just another day off in an already overpacked week of shul and meals and celebrations that we've had until now.
Now that being said, I still can't get my mind off the incredible joy this past holiday season and particularly Simchat Torah and Hoshana Rabba had with the release of our hostages. It's been non-stop videos and statuses of watching and listening to these incredible young men returning from 2 years in incomprehensible captivity. One after another each of them seem to say the most mind-blowing experiences that they had.
They speak of Hashem there with them. They speak of the connection they had with him. The prayers they offered, that they felt were repeatedly answered. The light, just like that of the menora that they found within in that small cask in their souls, that the most impure, evil, cruel and ruthless couldn't vanquish. Jews who had never before even said the Shema, said it daily there. Jews who would go to parties on Shabbos, on Simchas Torah, dreamed of making Kiddush. Jews who never even fasted on Yom Kippur on Tisha B'av for the first time found the yid within themselves and not only returned to their Father in heaven, but became closer to Him then most of us will ever think of getting. Jews that were perhaps the Aravos- the broken, battered, smashed willow branches, that unlike the other species that have some ta'am, some flavor, some smell of holiness, some holy deeds, some mitzvos, perhaps didn't have any of that. They were just arvei nachal, reeds flowing down the stream, watching the river of holiness rush pass them.
Yet on Hoshana Rabba- those aravos came home. We all danced with them. They brought us joy. They were saved and we were saved. The word aravos- besides responsibility means sweet. Every morning we make a blessing on the Torah vi'ha'arev na- Hashem should please make the words of Torah sweet to us. We don't use the word "na" too often in our prayers. But on Hoshana Rabba when we dance and shake those Aravos we don't stop saying. Because we realize how sweet those aravos are. That without their taste, without their smell. They represent the sweetness and closeness to Hashem that can be found in the most bitter of times and places.
It is that sweetness of the aravos, that perhaps only the ones that were most distant from Hashem and Torah and mitzvos could experience, that we ask Hashem to bless us with when we study the Torah. We want a Torah that doesn't smell of our own ego, of even the delicious taste and fragrance of Torah study and it's great deep intellectual and amazing insights and warm lessons possess. We want it to be a sweetness that is only of closeness to Hashem. Of the fact that we are reading His notes to us. The notes of a Father to a child, the Voice that hasn't stopped calling to us since He wed us on Sinai, since He chose us as His nation; as His beloved child.
The hostages, our holy aravos, received those notes in the tunnels of Gaza. They felt our prayers. They felt that embrace. Their neshomas recited those prayers. Some even got a prayer book from their captives. That's crazy. When they got it. It was a letter from Hashem. It was a letter in the sefer Torah. It didn't make a difference what it said. It's just the sweetness of that communication. That they were bound with Hashem in the darkest place. That they were one nation with everyone in the world that was there with them. That felt their pain. That was trying to do whatever they could do get them out and hug, and sing, and dance and embrace them once again. Every Jew. Each in their own way. Some perhaps even in misguided erroneous and maybe even damaging ways. Yet, it all came from that same place of closeness. From that holy source and longing in our neshomas that we shared and united with at Sinai. We wanted to be k'ish echad- b'leiv echad, One man-one heart. We wanted to be one with Hashem together again.
Which of course brings me to this week's parsha once again, but this time with an entirely new appreciation and understanding of a story that I believe we've all missed the boat on- excuse the pun, all of our lives. Because believe it or not in this week's parsha as well, the arava shows its beaked face. Yup, our friend the raven (which is kind of cool that in English it has the same letters of arov). As we know we have the strange story after the flood whereas Noach sends out two birds to see what the situation is on the ground. Not that he could leave before Hashem told him to, of course. But yet, it seems that at the end of days-"mikeitz- yom" which is the word that the Torah uses to tell us when he sends them on this mission, Noach wants to know when the redemption is coming. When will he see the light once again? When will he be able to bring those sacrifices, he's been holding for so long? When there will be a new covenant between Hashem and mankind?
So he sends out the arov- the raven. Why the raven? Hey, who should he send out? The tzadikim? The righteous animals? They're not the problem. They don't go out to the scary world. They need to stay in the safety of the teiva. In the Ark. In the Bais medrash. The raven anyways is expendable. Hey he was messing around and not keeping the mitzvos in the Ark of separating from his spouse, while the entire world is suffering, our sages tell us. He's just going around like he always did before. Black feathered hat and shtreimel and all…
He's a bird that that is unfaithful and even cruel to his children. He's black. Although fascinatingly enough our sages tell us that the reason he's cruel to his kids is because he doesn't recognize them. They come out whitish. He suspects maybe they're not his. Maybe his wife has been with a white bird. Ouch! It's not his son. The raven whose name is orev-connection, is disconnected from what is going on with the rest of the world. He's disconnected from his own children. He's all alone. He doesn't get what a Father and son should look like. He doesn't taste the sweetness of his name and his existence. Adam called him orev, sweety (which is kind of like Tweety) back in the Garden, but he just feels bitter inside.
So Noach sends him out. He's got bad energy. He's not one of us. There's no room for him our yeshiva or system. He'll never serve in the army. He probably won't ever get a shidduch anyways. He's just a sinner that is only seeking his own pleasure and sweetness. But he's seeking it in the wrong places. He needs some time alone, to be in the dark world. To be in a tunnel. And you know what we need that time as well to see how empty the Teiva is without him.
And the raven goes back and forth. The Talmud tells us that he keeps coming back to Noach, not necessarily because he misses him. Quite the opposite. He comes back to quarrel, to protest, to level accusations against Noach about how Noach himself is also selfish. Is also messing with the ravens family. See, the problem the orev has is that he thinks everyone is like him. He doesn't trust that anyone cares about anyone else besides themselves. Sweetness after all is only self-pleasure and fulfillment. And thus, he's not interested in any mission. He doesn't like the bitter world out there. He wants to come back home. He wants back to his Kibbutz to his home to his family to the Ark. And the Torah tells us that he comes back again and again and each time Noach embraces him and sends him out. Again. Maybe this love and caring will finally do the trick. Maybe the end of days will be here when that orev, those aravos finally realize that we are one with them and Hashem is one with us.
But that day is not here, Rashi and the Midrash tell us. The day of the Raven will only come with Eliyahu Ha'Navi. The Torah tells us that he goes and returns
"ad yoveshet ha'mayim"- until the water dries up.
The Baal HaTurim notes that the word yoveshet is the same letters as Tishbi. Eliyahu Ha'Navi Eliayahu Ha'Tishbi- Eliyahu is the one that returns parents to their children and children to their parents. It's why he's called Tishbi- the returner. When Eliyahu Ha'Navi flees from the wicked king Achav (fascinatingly enough an individual whose name is brother and father) who is cruel to him, who doesn't recognize him who wants to even kill him and all of the prophets of Hashem, it is the orev that brings him food from that very table of Achav. It supports him. It pays Eliyahu's Kollel check hiding in a cave and tunnel in the wilderness. Eliyahu had cursed out the Jewish people. He disconnected himself from Achav. From those aravos that he didn't see any value to. And yet it was those orvim, those very ravens that sustained and supported him and gave him the power to not only survive but to bring back every Jew forever.
It is at that moment in time and that realization of Eliyahu that Hashem charges him with his mission. He will be by every bris and every Pesach seder. He will always see that physical connection we all share, that covenant on our bodies of Hashem. And he will always see that we all went through Egypt together. We all were redeemed. We were in the slave pits as one. We were persecuted as one. Our babies were all killed, were burnt, were stuck into bricks, ovens and smelting pots. We went through the Crusades together, the Inquisition, the pogroms and the camps. We were all hostages and all in Gaza. And we were all redeemed. We all share that Pesach seder of every generation trying to destroy us, and Hakadosh Baruch saved His children from their hands. That is the job of Eliyahu. He realizes and gets that when he sees the ravens as his providers. As the ones that will give him food from the Table of the King. The King who is our brother and our Father. That is the sweetness of the orev. The sweetness of eating with out Father once again back at His table.
The time of the orev had not come yet for Noach. So instead he sent out the Yonah- the dove. The Yonah is white. He's pure. He's faithful. He's the opposite of the orev- the raven. He's the esrog to that arava- willow branch. Our sages tell us that in fact Yonah Ha'Navi the prophet is the spiritual child of Eliyahu Ha'Navi. He was the child of the Tzorfati woman who died that Eliyahu brought back to life again. It is he that will breathe that new life into the world. He will find the olive branch, that holy oil, the neshoma of Klal Yisrael. The letters of Yonah in mispar katan gematria is the same as the name of Hashem it’s the yud' hei' vav' hei' but instead of the second hei there is a "nun." The 50th level instead of the 5 books of Torah. It is the level above the Torah. It is the Torah connected to Hashem. ( OK that was deep- and only for the real kabbalists here on this group, don't feel bad if you missed it).
The Yonah comes back and he brings that olive branch and tells Noach that he prefers the bitter taste of the olives but that it is from the table of King, rather than the sweet pleasures that come from man. He comes out to the world and is willing to suffer and taste bitterness, as long as it is from Hashem. He will get a small Kollel check. He will live a life of hardship. He will find his place in the light of the Torah lamp. And he will find rest there. He will leave the ark, perhaps but he will always live with those values and faith that he got there. But the truth is, he's still missing one thing in this new world. And he's still making a mistake. He still is tasting the world as bitter. He still doesn't taste the sweetness of the world, in the sweetness of Hashem. He may dance on Simchat Torah with a Torah and be happy in his Sukkah, but it still isn't really sweet. He needs "sweety" in his life. He needs the orev. He needs to taste the flavor that the ravens bring from the shulchan of Achav- the sweet table of brotherhood; of our Father. But for that he has to wait for Eliyahu Ha'Navi; his father. The returner. The day when the water will dry up. Of Tishbi.
Yonah the prophet as well was given a mission to return the city of Ninveh. He has to realize that the mission of Eliyahu is to bring the entire world to Hashem. Yonah however though doesn't get that as well. Fascinatingly enough he goes in buries himself on the bottom of the boat. An Ark. He becomes like the orev was. Because ultimately without the orev- without the entire world coming to Hashem, his mission will not be fulfilled.
So Hashem throws him into the sea. It's a mabul. He provides him with a fish. It's the feast of the Leviathan. It's the Ark of light. He's in a teiva again. And then he davens. Then he realizes his job. Then he goes out. Then he brings them back to teshuva. Yet he still feels bitter. He doesn't taste the sweetness. He's tired. He's resentful. He can't believe that these goyim can return but his brothers can't. That these goyim see the beauty and purpose of Klal Yisrael and our mission, and how sweet our portion is, and so many of our aravos don't. That the fathers are still distanced from their children. He doesn't see the light that they have, that they will find as they as well will undergo darkness. He doesn't see perhaps that maybe they are already sitting at the table of Hashem in the tunnel there with them holding His letters to them. His holy "teivos", while he's still eating bitter fruits without the sweetness they have.
This month when the flood happens is called Marcheshvan- it is the bitter month of Cheshvan. What a terrible name for a month that comes after all of the sweetness of the holiday season of Tishrei. After the month when we picked up our aravos. When we read the book of the Yonah. When we danced with our Torah's complete. Yet, the Bnai Yissascha says reveals a secret about this month that we are beginning. He notes that the Yalkut teaches us that when the Jews built that first home for Hashem in the wilderness, we completed its work in the month of Kislev, Yet Hashem waited until the month of Tishrei. Until Sukkos until we had its dedication. So the month of Kislev felt bad. It was left out of the party. It was thrown out of the teiva. It was bitter. So Hashem consoled it and promised that He would make it up to him. He would throw him an olive branch. He would in the times of the 2nd Temple give him a second shot. He would give him the rededication of the Temple holiday called Chanuka. We would light a menora from that olive oil, it would be miraculous. The children would return and it will be eternal. Just as they are returning today once again and the first holiday they will be celebrating is Chanuka and many have their Menoras already. They are ready to relight that spark that has been ignited and return to our Father. We will we eat doughnuts which are sweet (although those still in galus have to eat potato latkes but they can dip them in sweet applesauce. Unless they're litvaks and like bitterness still and then they have sour cream… I'm just sayin…Really sour cream?!!!).
Yet there is another month that is still bitter. It is the month of Mar Cheshvan. Because when Shlomo Ha'Melech built the first Temple in Jerusalem for Hashem he finished its work in the month of Cheshvan. In what the Navi describes as the month of Bul. Yes it is the month of the mabul. The flood. Yet he as well waited until Tishrei to make the big party for its dedication. So the month of Cheshvan remains mar- it remains bitter. It's not sweet yet. It remains bitter and empty of holidays until we make it sweet by dancing and uniting with those arovos, with those ravens, with those that found light in the darkness. That sat at our Father's table. That came out and taught us how sweet even what seems like the worst tunnel could be, when you are with our Father. But Hashem promised Mar Cheshvan that the day will come when he will be paid back as well. He will be the sweet month of Cheshvan. He will be the day when the water dries up and the tops of the mountains are seen. When we will all get off the Ark together and bring sacrifices to Hashem Who will smell our sweet offerings once again. Who will shine that rainbow and will renew His eternal covenant with us and the world. That is the month we are in.
May this year be the one where we celebrate the holiday of the month of Cheshvan. They are already selling doughnuts in the bakeries of Israel. The sweetness is palatable and the we are all drinking in the delicious taste and lessons of our returned hostages and aravos that we danced with. May this Chanuka we see the Temple once again rebuilt, and the eternal light of the Menora lit forever with the coming of Eliyahu Ha'Navi the return of the hearts of the father to their sons and our the children to our Father.
Have a uplifting sweet Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Az men zetst a feygele in shtaygele arayn, veys men nit tsi ehr lacht es tsi veynt es" .- When you put a bird in a cage, you don't know whether it's laughing or crying.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
4. The name of the kingdom that ruled the land during the Return to Zion is the _______
Kingdom
Where are the remains of the Machaerus (“Michvar”) fortress located nowadays?
A. In Jordan
B. In Israel
C. In Syria
D. In the Palestinian Authority
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://on.soundcloud.com/cEeqiAvnM3Ine5wZOf – In honor of the parsha My Latest Composition and the best most fun song you will sing this Shabbos and every parshat Noach at least with your kids at your meal. Yona Motza! Great arrangements and vocals by Dovid Lowy and you MUSt Listen until the very shticky ending!
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/shomer-yisroel – The two year anniversary of the composition of my first War song in honor of the first Tachanun that we return to singing this week Shomer Yisrael….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX3Duu0PnjA&list=RDIX3Duu0PnjA&start_radio=1 - Mind blowing song and video of Hostage return!
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/liveblogs/live-blog/2459189/former-hostage-or-levy-describes-turning-to-god-in-captivity.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com –What an amazing inspiring message… it says it all from a man that's name is Or!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
To Bow or Not To Bow- 582 BC – So the Jews are in Exile in Bavel. Daniel with his successful prophetic interperation of the dream of Nevuchadnezzar gets elevated to a position of greatness and in kingdom. It never takes too long for us Jews it seems to make our way to the top. Along with him he takes his three friends Chananya Mishael and Azarya who had been exiled with him from Israel before the destruction. And thus comes the first big national challenge of our nation in Galus. How do we play it. Should we be PC and bow our heads and accept our fate and wait for the redemption? Or perhaps we need to be proud Jews unintimidated by what the world and its leaders might say. We need to stand up for the glory of Hashem. Enlighten the nations. Tell them the truth that Hashem has charged us with doing.
How does that play out? Well after that dream of the Idol/statue that Nevuchadnezzar had which foretold of his glory and all of the future empires and exiles that we will suffer under, he decides to recreate that statue and make it in his honor out of gold and have a great ceremony where all would be bow down to it and thus to him. Chananya Mishael and Azaraya have a problem with this. There is only One God. This is a chilul Hashem. We can't do that. We know we will face the death penalty if we don't bow down. But we are willing to do that. We will not be part of a desecration of Hashem.
Rom Breslavsky, a recent hostage described how they Hamas animals as well tried to get him to convert. To accept their faith. To bow down to their murderous Allah and religion. He had that spark of these three heroes in them and refused as well despite the consequences that he suffered.
Yet C,M & A didn't act upon their own. This was a big decision and there was a prophet with them in Galus. None other than Yechezkel Ha'Navi who saw the throne of Hashem. So they asked them what the proper path to take was. He told them that his tradition from his Rebbi, Yeshaya Ha'Navi, was that in exile under the goyim they should just bow their heads and avoid the situation. Call in sick that day. Run away. Don't upset Trump. Don’t' stick it to them in the eye. Avoid confrontation. Be PC.
They don't like that response. They tell him that it will be a desecration of Hashem that this act and party goes on and that no one objects. That every one bows to this flesh and blood animal. To Yoshka and no one says anything about it because they are scared to stand up for Hashem. They want to go forward with their plan and suffer the consequences if need be. Are they permitted to do this? Yechezkel thus turns to Hashem, who cryptically tells him that He won't preform any miracles to save them. They're on their own for this one. If they want to do it. It's on their hand but shouldn't expect any miracles.
They willingly accept this decree and plan to move forward with their plan. The glory of Hashem is at stake and they are ready to get up at the grand ceremony and refuse to bow? Will they be saved? Stay tuned as we begin our new year of Eras and places in Israel with the story of our nation in Exile.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE RAVEN & FLOOD JOKES OF THE WEEK
Researchers for the New York Department of Vehichles and Highways found over 200 dead ravens on the Highway recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A Pathologist examined the remains of all the ravens, and confirmed that it was NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be from vehicular impacts. However, during the analysis it was noted that varying colours of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analysing these paint residues it was found that 98% of the crows had been killed by trucks, while only 2% were killed by cars. The DMV then hired an Ornithological Behaviourist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills. They quickly concluded that when ravens eat road kill, they always have a look-out raven to warn of impending danger. They discovered that while all the lookout New York ravens could shout "Cah", not a single one could shout "Truck".
What's the difference between a crow and a raven? All birds have tail feathers that help them fly called pinions. Crows have 3 pinions and ravens have 4. The difference is just a matter of a pinion.
I saw an ill Raven on the side of the road, and took it to a vet. After a few tests, the vet tells me that it has a viral infection, and to put on a mask. Turns out it had Crowvid.
Why did the flight attendant prevent the raven from boarding the plane? He had too much carrion.
Did you hear about the hate-group whose members are mainly doves and chickens? It's called the Coo Clucks Clan.
God: Earth is going to be flooded. Someone should build an ark.
Moses: I Noah guy who can do it
Noah's son walks into a kosher deli and orders a sandwich. "Sorry," said the owner. "We don't serve Ham."
One day God calls down to Noah and says, "Noah me old friend, I want you to make me a new Ark".
Noah replies, "No probs God, me old Supreme Being, anything you want after all you're the boss...
But God interrupts, "Ah, but there's a catch. This time Noah, I do not want just a couple of decks, I want 20 decks one on top of the other".
"20 DECKS!", screams Noah. "Well, OK, whatever you say. Should I fill it up with all the animals just like last time?"
"Yep, that's right, well . . sort of right . . this time I want you to fill it up with fish", God answers.
"Fish?" queries Noah.
"Yep, fish . . well, to make it more specific Noah, I want carp wall to wall, floor to ceiling Carp!"
Noah looks to the skies. "OK Go.., let me get this right, You want a New Ark?"
"Check".
"With 20 decks, one on top of the other?"
"Check".
"And you want it full of Carp?".
"Check."
"Why?" asks the perplexed Noah, who was slowly but surely getting to the end of his tether..........
"Dunno", says God, "I just fancied a Multi-Storey Carp Ark.
What did Noah say after he let the dinosaurs in? Welcome to Jurassic Ark
Dear Noah,
We could have sworn you said you were leaving at 4:00.
Sincerely,
The Unicorns
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The answer to this week”s question is A – Well at least it took e three weeks until I got my first answer wrong. Or at least 1/2 wrong. The first part I got right. The return to Zion is of course under Persia, or modern day Iran by Darius and Cyrus the Great. Isn't it ironic (or Iranic…oysssh). That todaya Iran is the enemy and Trump is being called the new Cyrus. The second part though I got wrong. I have no idea what the Macherus or whatever it is called is all about. I'm not even interested in googling it to be honest. I guessed Palestinian authority, the answer is Jordan. And so for sure I really don't care about it. So Ill take the hit. Half wrong. So I got this one half right and thus the new score is Rabbi Schwartz having a 3.5 point and the MOT having .5 point on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.
