Hear the Cry- Parshat Mishpatim 2025 5785

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 21^st 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 17 23^rd of Shevat 5785

 Parshat Mishpatim

Hear the Cry

 

Dear Shiri,

 

I believe with all my heart that you did your best to protect your young boys...  You must have warmed them with hugs in the cold and drafty tunnels. Or rationed the little food you received to feed them an extra bite or two. Over the past 500+ days, I've looked at that photo of you and your kids being brutally whisked away. You were holding both of your children, a combined weight of at least 25 kilos - and you carried them effortlessly.  Some might call it adrenaline, but I know it was a mother's strength. And I will crop out the background of that picture and replace it with a tunnel - because I'm sure you were just as strong for your babies in that awful hellhole beneath Gaza.

 

I imagine you singing to your boys in whispers, keeping their spirits alive with stories and games even in darkness. I picture you counting their breaths as they slept, the way all mothers do when their children are ill or afraid. And I can't help but wonder about your last moments.

 

Did you watch your children die?

Did your children watch you die?

 

These questions haunt me, along with the stolen moments of childhood:

 

Did Kfir ever take his first steps?

Or say his first words?

Did he make it to his first birthday? Or his second?

Did Ariel get to turn 5 and hold up all five fingers on one hand for his age? Did he finally make it through the night without any accidents?

 

I try to suppress these questions because the more I wonder, the deeper my grief becomes.

 

Your final act of motherhood was perhaps your greatest - holding them close, being their whole world when their world had been reduced to nothing. We will remember you not just as victims, but as a family bound by love and a mother's infinite strength.

 

May your memory be a blessing, and may your children's smiles - those bright, beautiful smiles before October 7th - remain forever in our hearts.

 

I didn’t write the above. It was sent to me, as were hundreds of others of letters of mourning. Of sadness and grief. And of rage. So so so much rage… Of humiliation. Of the desecration of the name of Hashem. The honor of His nation. Like sheep to the slaughter.

La’ag Va’keles ba’goyim- scorned and degraded by the nations

La’harog u’labeid- to be killed and exterminated

L’makah- to be beaten

 And worst of all…

L’cherpa- to be humiliated and shamed…

 

The pain, the shame, the horror… it’s too much. Ad masai?! Until when… How much more Ribono Shel Olam? As someone else sent me a meme. Only in Israel can 5 bombs blow up on buses in one day and that’s not the worst thing that happened.

 

Yet I think the answer to that question is that Hashem is asking us the exact same thing. How much longer will we not do what he has given us the command and mitzva to do. How much longer will we sit by and play politics and allow this desecration of His name to continue. We don’t even have Biden anymore to blame it on. We don’t have to worry about the world. Donald, Himself, (and yes that capital “H” is intentional) is basically imploring us to step up to the plate and do what we need to? So how much longer, Hashem is asking us? What more does He need to do? It’s like that old joke about man drowning in the ocean waiting for a miracle and Hashem sends him a lifeboat, a plank to grab on to, a helicopter and he just drowns there waiting for a miracle. When he comes up to heaven Hashem asks him what else he wanted. He sent him everything he needs.

 

After 2000 years Hashem has given us an army. A holy army. He gave us planes, guns and to make it sweeter a new shipment of 2000 lb bombs. Trump has told us to destroy them. To kill them all. “Not a building should be left in Gaza”. And I’m sure he really doesn’t care that much about the West Bank or anywhere else. Does Hashem need to have the entire United Nations pass a resolution that Israel should murder every single man woman and child there for us to finally act. How many more murdered and massacred red-haired babies do we need to be handed back to us pathetically in coffins by jeering scorning celebrating mobs of “innocent” civilians and their spawn, until we say we’ve had enough. Until we recognize that the shame of humiliation of our God and His nation has boiled over. That the blood of our girls, our babies, our parents, our grandparents is screaming at us from the stained earth. Ad masai… Hashem is yelling at us. How much longer will you wait. What else do I have to do for you to awaken. Wasn’t 6 million enough…?

 

This week’s parsha is called Mishpatim. Justice. Laws. It’s a parsha that is meant to give us the moral compass we need to navigate in this world and fulfill our role as the nation of Hashem. It’s fascinating that this parsha really divides the narrative of the giving of the Torah into two stories. Last week we read Yisro which tells us the story of the Ten commandments and the Jewish people being chosen as the special nation of Hashem. We accepted that role joyously as one man and one nation. Yet peculiarly enough I think that the two words that we would be looking to see in that parsha, that we all associate with the receiving of the Torah don’t appear in Yisro. The words are of course, Na’aseh V’Nishma- we will do and we will hear or internalize to be more accurate. Check it out! Those words are not there at all…

 

Rather those words appear in the second narrative of the story of Sinai at the end of this week’s parsha. Yet this narrative brings a whole new story of sacrifices and sprinkling of blood on the nation and eating and celebrating. It’s a whole different story. It is only here that Na’aseh V’Nishma appears. The sandwich in between these two stories which our parsha are all the various commandments, “justice” and social laws, as well as the more spiritual ones including the holidays. It seems that to get to Na’aseh V’Nishma from merely just blind acceptance and doing without internalizing we need to go through Parshat Mishpatim first. Only then can we reach the point where we could sit. We could eat. We could celebrate. We could be free.

 

Perhaps the greatest challenge to someone, to a nation that has undergone 210 years of slavery, persecution, exile and subjugation, is understanding and internalizing what being a free man is. Our hostages that are returning now after merely 500 days of being held in tunnels can explain that to you. Or perhaps they can’t… After living so long with being forced to do things, without having any ability to exert our basic human essence and expression of free will, the only thing we know how to do is take orders. The only way that we see society and others is of subjugators and servants. Man doesn’t have free-will. We don’t have choices. We are either the powerful ones that enslave or we are slaves that follow orders. The only thing that we can say after Hashem took us out of Egypt miraculously with a strong hand is Na’aseh- You are our new master. We will now do what You tell us to do.

 

 The mountain was held over our head, as the Midrash perhaps homiletically is teaching us, and we have a new Master. But we still have a slave mentality. We still don’t understand that our servitude to Hashem is a different animal entirely. It is a partnership. It is about us making choices. It’s about us revealing His spark and essence within each of us and in all of mankind. The reason Hashem took us out, the reason He gave us the Torah, the purpose of Him bringing us to the land, is for us to reveal that divine spark that is in all of humanity. It is to bring Hashem’s light to the world. We’re not meant to be a nation that is merely slaves or servants of a new powerful Divine Master. Rachmana Liba Ba’ai- Hashem wants our hearts. He needs our hearts. He needs the “nishma”- the internalization of who we are and the understanding that our freedom allows us to preform His will and shine His light unabashedly to the world.

 

Thus the first mitzva in this lesson is that we can never enslave a fellow Jew. We can purchase him. We can pay his bills for his crimes and take him into our home to rehabilitate him by giving him work, while providing for his family. But he’s not our slave really. We have to set him free. We have to bring him to a point where he expresses his humanity. And if he can’t do that in 7 years because he is so entrenched in that slave mindset, then he has until the yovel year and then he is automatically freed

 

. This is such a critical and essential first step for us to freedom because it forces us to look at the world in a different light than we have done. It forces us to get out of the slave/ owner mentality that has been drilled into us. Because as long as we can enslave others then we ourselves are really still slaves. We’re slaves to a worldview that Egypt engrained in us that there are only masters and servants in the world. There are none that have free-choice. There is no spirit of Hashem. We have to understand that being a slave for so long creates within us a slave mentality that may prevent us from leaving that life. That even when our master throws us out and tells us to leave, we may not have the strength to do it.

 

That godless slave/master worldview of galus is what the entire parsha of Mishpatim is trying to knock out of us. It’s a sickness that tells us that we can’t conquer and throw out our neighbors because we are subject and slaves to the world’s judgement and opinion. The first sentence of our parsha is

 

Eileh Ha’Mishpatim asher tasim lifneihem- These are the judgements Hashem has commanded Moshe to place before us.

 

The Talmud derives from this that the laws are what Hashem tells us to do. It is forbidden to go to the gentile courts. Even if they rule like our courts and laws. Because we need to know that they are NOT our moral compass. The Torah and Hashem’s laws are. If we need to go to them then we are really still slaves. Then it’s because we are still enslaved to them. Then we can buy a Jewish slave and keep him forever. Then we can fall under hard times and think that we can sell our own daughter to the nations. Sell our children to their ideology and their judgement and their resolutions. So the second law the Torah tells us

 

L’am nochri lo yimhso lmachro- You can’t sell her to a goy. Don’t sell out our children, our hostages, our impoverished to them. Rather take her as your wife. Provide for her. Realize that this poor Jewish maidservant kibbutznik is a free-man, just as you are. She as well has a spark of Hashem to reveal. Don’t let the goyim enslave that. Don’t let them turn you into their slaves to their opinions or judgements. You’re free. I took you out Egypt. You’re Mine. Do what I need you to do. Be My partner in fixing the world.

 

How? Next law… If someone kills someone. Kill him. He’s evil. Eradicate Him. If he plots and conspires to kill him and it’s intentional then even take him away from the Bais Hamikdash and kill him. There are no safe zones. There are no off-limits places where you should feel you can’t touch them. If someone kidnaps another human being put him to death. That the old-world view of masters and slaves, that is the essence of evil. That is the squashing of the Divine spark. Our job is to wipe out that evil.  Sure, Hashem could take care of it on His own. But He wants us to be His partners. It’s only as His partner, His Messenger, His nation, that His spark within us will be revealed.

 

In Hashem’s world we need to understand and personalize our job. An eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound. A baby for a baby. This law although our sages tell us refers to a monetary payment isn’t described as such. The reason that it isn’t punitively literal is because it’s impossible to exactly and precisely take the perfect vengeance that’s not too much or too little. Yet, the Torah doesn’t describe the retribution as a fine, or a payment or compensation. It’s payback. It’s personal. It’s your eye for the eye that they took out. It’s not just a bill. In a goyishe world compensation, or “reparations” are just a bill and negotiation. In Hashem’s world it’s an eye for an eye. A slave mindset doesn’t allow one to do that. One can pay, but they can’t get vengeance. They can’t restore justice. There is no justice. It has to be nishma- internalized to get here. That’s what Hashem wants us to understand and start absorbing into our psyche.

 

There’s mitzva, after mitzva, after mitzva, in this parsha that is all about us being that partner. That hand of Hashem that He chose us to be. There is even a mitzva that we shouldn’t be an

“eid chamas”- a false witness to steal. To kidnap. To join forces in their evil by merely giving credence to their cause. To saying that anything besides death is coming to them. There is a mitzva of revenge against killing anyone that kills even a non-Jewish slave. This non-Jewish slave is someone that you took under your wing. He’s a loyal citizen of Israel. He maybe even serves in the army. He may be a Bedouin. But he was killed brutally. We are obligated to avenge their deaths. To bring justice to their murderer. To put them to death- even if the murderer is Jewish even more so when they are Hamas. In fact, it is here that we learn out that the punishment for murder is with sword. This is the source.

 

Yet after all of these mitzvos Hashem tells us, again right before we arrive at the narrative of Nishma, that He will bring us to the land when we follow the laws. Our borders will go down to Egypt. The land of the Philistines (Gaza), Up to the Euphrates through Lebanon and Turkey. There He will chase out and kill out or enemies. Is it only Hashem’s job though…? No. The Torah then shifts it to us, His partners.

 

“Don’t bow down to their gods. Don’t serve them. Don’t do like their actions.”

 

We’re not their slaves anymore. We don’t bow down to their values. We don’t answer to their courts. Not international ones or personal ones.

 

“Destroy you shall destroy and shatter and break their altars and you shall serve Hashem”.

 

“Do not make a treaty with them. Don’t let them live in your land, lest they cause you to sin to Me.” How???

 

“For you will serve their gods and they will be a mokeish- a stumbling block for you.”

(In hebrew, by the way, a bomb on a bus is called a mokeish)

 

This is not Donald Trump talking. Although from the way he talks and the way we talk it sounds like he’s reading the Torah more accurately than we are. This is Hashem. This is Him telling us that we’re free. That the world is in front of us. That He’s waiting for us to stop waiting for eagle’s wings and for stinging bees, or helicopters or life boats. It’s up to us to remove the chilul Hashem. It’s up to us be Nishma. To internalize these mitzvos. It’s up to us to realize that we really really are free. That we are no longer slaves. That we need to set all of that slavery free and allow our true free choice to do what needs to be done to happen.

 

The haftorah tells us about how right before the destruction of the Temple, the prophet Yirmiyahu recalls to the Jewish people this mitzva of setting free slaves. It seems that even when we had the temple, we couldn’t shake this goyishe world view that we are enslaved. It was the reason our sages tell us that we were exiled. It’s the reason why we are still not redeeming ourselves. We are a nation that were rescued and very easily said na’aseh. We will become slaves to Hashem. We will take a new master. We can follow Torah. We can observe mitzvos. We can obey the nuances of every law and take orders well. Yet, it’s the Nishma that we haven’t yet arrived at. We haven’t internalized that Hashem isn’t looking for order-takers. He wants us to be one with Him. Nishma is Shema Yisrael Hashem Echad- that we are One with Him. That’s the second narrative of the Torah. That’s when we merit to hear the story of the sacrifices, the celebration, the atonement of the blood finally, and seeing Hashem as we sit and celebrate together with Him.

 

This Shabbos we bless the month of Adar. It is the last month of the Jewish calendar before the month of Nissan, the month of redemption is here. The month of Adar is one where we remember that first exile from our Temple to Persia and how the Amalekites tried to wipe us out. How the whole world turned against us. How Hashem gave us the strength to be

‘l’aamod al nafsham” to stand up for our lives. 

To kill ALL of our enemies. We did that then. Can we do that today. We did that there as we fought for our lives in Chutz L’Aretz, in Iran, in Persia. Can we do that here in Eretz Yisrael as well? Hashem tells us we can. Do you hear it? Are you Nishma? The blood of our children is calling out to us. Do you hear Shiri? Kfir? Ariel?  Theirs should be the last call, the last cry that we need to finally realize the time is finally now.

Have a consoling Shabbos and a blessed joyous month of Adar,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

 

************************

YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Got shtroft ober der mentch is noikem-  God punishes but man takes revenge..

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

9. “Anu” Museum is located in the city of ______

Who were the Black Panthers?

A. A social protest movement established in the early 1970s protesting institutional

discrimination against members of Mizrahi communities

B. A group of street artists operating in Jerusalem in the 1990s, inspired by blacks in the United

States

C. A group of poets who highlighted the absence of representation of Mizrachi Jews in Israeli

culture

D. A radical armed group operating against Israel in West Bank refugee camps

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ANiOJXflHs  -  The mourning in Israel for the Bibas loss..

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/avinu-malkeinu   - My haunting memorial song Avinu Malkeinu composition. Composed in memory after the Har Nof massacre but that still tragically is relevant…

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yizkeraim  -  This song Yizkereiem, I composed after the three boys were kidnapped and killed by the first Gaza War in 2012… As well May Hashem avenge their deaths and the blood of all of the Martyrs and finally herald in the Geula…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gut1jyzwFV8    – Must see hilarious and so so true spoof on BBC “Slim-tifada”. Eretz Nehedert!

 

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

Hostage Kings and Children- 600 BC – It’s not only our children that are taken hostage. We’ve lost our Kings as well. The navi tells us of the evil Jewish King Yehoyakim who rebelled against Nevuchadnezzar. As we mentioned last week, the world map had changed. Assyria fell to Iran as did Egypt and its leader Pharaoh Necho. Bavel was the new world leader on the block. Yehoyakim still living under the old world concept rebelled and Nevuchadnezzar. wasn’t going to let that sit. He came to Jerusalem where he took Yehoyakim, the King of Israel himself into exile to Bavel, as well as many of the vessels of the Temple. There he kept him in prison in his palace for three years. Did the Jewish people try to get him out? It seems not…

 

 Perhaps they were too fearful. Perhaps they weren’t so fond of this king that had done so much evil and been such a goy… After all he desecrated the temple, brought licentiousness into the land and as we will see next week had it out with the prophet Yirmiyahu as well. He’s not someone that Israel was going to go up against Iran to rescue.

 

Remarkably after three years Yehoyakim was released. He was returned to Israel. Nevuchadnezzar thought he could trust him. Yet to hedge his bets, the prophet Daniel whom we will discuss as well soon and who starts to tell us about this time frame as he lived in Bavel, tells us how Nevuchadnezzar kept all of the children and many princes there in Iran with him. He wanted educate them and assimilate them into their culture. He wanted to turn them against their people, make them into Chamasnikim…

 

Yehoyakim returns to Israel, yet when he comes back it seems he doesn’t learn his lesson. He continues in his evil ways. He ignores the prophet Yirmiyahu. He emboldens himself to rebel once again against Nevuchadnezzar. This was a bad move. It was signing his own bitter death warrant. His ignominious and violent end is a message for us today. Stay tuned as we continue to learn about this last era before our Temple is destroyed and we head out to the story of Purim in Persia with this exile. Yet it is here already that the first exile begins at the 70 years of exile’s that the prophet foretold of was mistakenly first calculated from. (Those that are learning Oraysa’s Amud Yomi of Megilla this past week know what I’m talking about…)

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S DEAD GAZA BABY JOKES OF THE WEEK

(DISCLAIMER- I REALLY WASN’T IN THE MOOD TO WRITE JOKES THIS WEEK, BUT THEN I FIGURED YOU GUYS WOULD GET ALL UPSET…SO THIS IS THE TOPIC THAT CAME IN MIND… ) THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES ME SMILE…BUT DON’T READ IF YOU’RE TO DELICATE…YOU’VE BEEN WARNED….)

What is the best thing about dead Gaza baby jokes? They never get old

 

How do you make a dead Gaza baby float? 2 scoops of ice cream 1 scoop of dead Gaza baby

 

What's better than 2 dead babies in a dumpster? One dead Gaza baby in two dumpsters

 

Q. whats more fun than spinning a dead Gaza baby around at 50mph? A. stopping it with a shovel.

 

 I was going to cover my bathroom floor with dead Gazan baby skin... but my wife told me that would be infant tile.

 

How many dead Gazan baby’s do you need to fix a lightbulb? Apparently more than 11 cause my lightbulb is still broken

 

What's the difference between a dead Gaza baby and a Styrofoam cup? A dead baby doesn't harm the atmosphere when you burn it.

 

What's the difference between a dead Gazan baby and a trampoline? I take my shoes off to jump on a trampoline

 

How do you get 100 Gazan babies into a bucket? With a blender.

 

What is funnier than a dead Gaza baby? A dead Gazan baby in a clown costume.

 

How do you stop a baby from crawling around in circles? Nail it’s other hand to the floor

 

What is the difference between a Gaza baby and a onion? No one cries when you chop up the Gaza baby.

What’s the difference between a Gaza baby and a pizza? A pizza doesn’t scream when you put it in the oven

What’s the difference between a Gaza baby and a bagel? You can put a bagel in the toaster. You have to put the Gaza baby in the oven.

 

How many Gazan babies does it take to paint a house? Depends how hard you throw them.

 

What do you call a dead Gaza baby pinned to your wall? Art.

 

What bounces up and down at 100mph? A Gaza baby tied to the back of a truck.

 

What is red and hangs around trees? A Gaza baby hit by a snow blower.

What is green and hangs around trees? Same Gaza baby 3 weeks later.

 

What do vegetarian ogres eat? Cabbage patch kids.

 

What do you call a Gaza baby on a stick? A Kebabie.

 

What goes plop, plop, fizz, fizz? Twins Gaza babies in an acid bath.

 

There’s plenty more… but even I’m getting nauseous…

 

***************************************

The answer to this week”s question is A –  I only got half of this one right. And I should be ashamed of myself. The ANU museum which is the new formerly called Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv I knew. I’ve been there. I’m not the biggest fan of it. It’s a bit secular for me and lame all though they have some cool exhibits like shuls from all over the world. The Black Panthers though I should’ve known. I debated if it was the jewish protest movement of the Sefardim against the Ashkenazim. I kind of remembered learning about it. But I read the answer wrong and thought it saud the Ashkenazim against the Sefardim. So I went with D which is the terrorist movement in the West Bank and was wrong. So it’s a 50/50 on this one and the  new score is Rabbi Schwartz 6 Ministry of Tourism 3 on this exam so far.



Marriage 101- Mishpatim 5776/2016

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

Febuary 5^th 2016 -Volume 6, Issue 18 26^th Shvat 5776

Parshat Mishpatim

Marriage 101

There’s a great joke. It’s funny because it really insults everyone in the Orthodox Yeshiva world. It plays into all the stereotypes and really nails them. Don’t get insulted. I’m sure you are different. You’re already non-stereotypical because you read my E-Mail. But it’s a great joke and I can’t resist. So here goes.

There was this young man, a really nice and innocent young Yeshiva student, raised a little sheltered from the world and its ways. Let’s call him Yankel. So Yankel got engaged recently. Her name was Shani. She came from an illustrious rabbinic family. Her father besides being an amazing Rabbi with a penchant hearty penchant for chulent had very high aspirations for his daughter and her husband to be. Yankel, wanting to do it right, decided that he was going to engross himself in all of the laws and traditions of marriage and he decided what better place to start then from the great works of Maimonides-the Rambam.

Yet it seems that he was having difficulty finding the section in the Rambam’s fourteen volume set of laws called Yad Chazaka { A mighty hand- Yad being the Gematria of 14), that dealt with marriage.

Not being a shy boy Yankel decided to go to the top yeshiva and ask where the laws of Marriage could be found. He went to the famed Brisk Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he lived and asked a young man there where the laws of marriage could be found. The Brisker looked at him and responded that it of course can be found in the volume that tell with Kinyan-acquisition and binding legal contracts. Yankel was very excited and went home and checked his Rambam, however he was disappointed that it was not there.

Not one to give up readily Yankel decided, that perhaps he should try the Chasidic yeshiva down the block, after all Chasidim get married very young and are always making weddings for their millions of children. They certainly should know. So he asked the young Chasidic Rabbi he met in the yeshiva and was told that the laws of marriage could certainly be found in Tahara- the volume that deals with the laws of purity. Which of course Yankel said he should have figured, marriage being a very holy thing and all. Yet, once again after checking his Rambam thoroughly he came up empty handed. It wasn’t there.

Yankel’s next thought was perhaps these guys are too religious. I might be going the wrong route here. Let me try a perhaps more modern worldly look maybe Yeshiva University, or the Hesder Yeshiva down the block. So Yankel makes his way over there, and stops the young men outside of the Yeshiva and politely asks them if perhaps they know where the laws of Marriage could be found in the Rambam. Without batting an eye they all told him that it was obviously in the volume called Ahava-Love where the Rambam deals with all the laws that connect and express our love for Hashem. Sadly though when Yankel came home, lo and behold it wasn’t there either.

Almost ready to give up, Yankel decides that he’s going to give it one more shot. The one place that he hadn’t tried yet and perhaps the first place he should have tried was the Sephardic Yeshiva. The Rambam was of course a Sephardi and if anyone should know it would be those that practice the Sephardic and Maimonidean traditions. So Yankel, headed into the Sephardic yeshiva and decided this time rather than asking a simple Yeshiva student, he found out who the Rabbi was who would study with the young Sephardic Yeshiva students before they got married. He approached the Rabbi and asked him “Rabbi, or holy Chacham, perhaps you can tell me where the laws of marriage can be found in the works of the Rambam?” The Rabbi without batting an eyelash responded “Why in Nezikin- The laws of damages, of course….” Bada Boom Bada Bing.

If you didn’t get the joke above or at least smile. You either are just not that familiar with Yeshiva world, or are standing next to your mother-in-law right now. The truth is the laws of marriage in the Rambam is the volume called Nashim-Women, where the Rambam delineates all the laws of marriage, divorce, a women taken forcibly, levirate marriage and a Sota- a woman suspected of being unfaithful. Who wudda ever thunk that marriage has to do with women, Huh? The truth of the matter is though as we know perhaps the most critical and the essence of Jewish life is marriage and family. The first Mitzva in the Torah and command to mankind is to be fruitful and multiply. Yet interestingly enough, how to make a marriage work, the obligations a man has to his wife are not necessarily so spelled out as clearly in the written Torah as one would expect them to be. One really has to scratch the surface a bit and pull out their yeshiva thumb twirl in the air to discover them. Which come to think of it, is not bad practice for marriage in learning that not everything will be that simple to figure out.

This week’s Parsha Mishpatim is really a confluence of Jewish laws.  It begins with laws of servitude and from there it jumps to a man who is forced to sell his daughter as a maid servant in order to provide for her. And then in jumps to laws of not dishonoring one parents, civil laws when one damages another, when ones animals or property damage, laws of honesty, returning lost objects, kosher, oaths, sacrifices, holidays, Shabbat, how to treat a convert, even laws of the various death penalties and agricultural laws. Reading the portion one literally feels like they are experiencing ADHD. Just jumping from law to law and topic to topic, seemingly without any connection. It certainly is unlike any organized law book I have ever seen written. The basic responsibilities that the Torah delineates in fact for marriage-namely that the man must provide for his wife the three basic necessities which is to take care of her K’Mishpat Ha’Banot- as is the custom of Jewish women which many of the commentaries explain refers to shelter and a marriage befitting a Jewish woman, are hidden in the laws of the man who buys a young Jewish girl as a maid servant and his obligation to marry her to his son. The only more specific obligation the Torah says he is he must not minimize the basic understanding of marriage and must provide her with children, clothing and spending intimate time together regularly. It’s strange that it’s so hard to find these laws. There seems to be more time spent on oxen, witches, converts and slaves then seemingly the guiding principles of what is the center of Jewish life; our marriage and our families.

The answer I believe and that seems certainly obvious from the Torah, is that this was never meant to be a mere law book and handbook. The Torah was given for us as the holy word of Hashem to inspire us and to elevate our souls and lives to fulfill the mandate and function of our creation. The Torah isn’t a pick and choose book of laws that are convenient, relevant or even necessarily understandable to their fullest. It’s our understanding and appreciation that Hashem should permeate our lives in everything that we do in every interaction that we have. The parsha begins with those who we might be most insensitive to, our servants, our ‘help’, the people we pay for and provide for that we may feel we deserve to take advantage of. Yet the Torah tells us remember not too long ago, just three Parshiyot ago, you were also slaves. Remember how it felt. God’s world that you are meant to be building should be a different one. It continues with our interactions and responsibility for our animals, our fellow man, the ones we fight with perhaps sometimes. It juxtaposes these laws with sacrifices and laws that have to do with our relationship with Hashem. There are not two different approaches or choices on how to become the people we are meant to become. To be the nation of god we must be just as vigilant as we are in how we worship Hashem and engage in spiritual holy activities as we are in how we treat our fellow man. Jew, non-Jew, convert, poor people, widows, orphans, slaves each one of them are children of God and we are meant to treat them with the dignity His children deserve.

The opposite is true as well. One cannot truly feel that one is a ‘good person’ by ignoring his Creator and focusing solely on being kind and responsible to your fellow man. Tikun Olam and all the significant ‘social’ and environmental causes that are bereft of a connection with Hashem, that do not connect to Shabbos, to holidays, to a fulfillment of our mitzvos that imbue spirituality and the divine into the world, will never ‘fix’ the world, never bring it to the destination it was meant to achieve. It’s the full package. Our commitment and the covenant that we entered into was for all of it or nothing. The Midrash tells us that Hashem offered this deal and the Torah to all of the nations and they all rejected it. There were some that were more than happy to become spiritual and there were some that agreed to become more socially conscious, and there were some that had no problem with all of it besides for a little adultery or thievery here and there. The Jewish people being the only nation that responded with the two most important words in the history of the world. Naaseh Vnishma- we will do and we will listen. Not only will we fulfill the letter of the law, but we will integrate its concepts in order daily lives in the principles that will guide us for eternity. Just as we will always fulfill the Torah, we will always listen and hear the Divine words. The word Nishma is future tense as the word Naaseh-we will do is. We will always hear the call of the Torah. We will always be listening to that Divine word that continues to express itself through it. It is the constant ringing in our ears. It’s what will guide us in all that we do.

There is perhaps no area in our lives like marriage, which requires that basic consistent all-encompassing commitment. We’re married when we get up, when we go to sleep, when we are at work, when we are on vacation. Through hard times and easy times. The good, the bad, the ugly, the holy and the even holier. The way to get good at marriage is to get a good head start by embracing and being raised in a life that expresses that total all in commitment. Someone who is good at being sensitive and taking responsibility for the poor, the needy, the downfallen and trodden should certainly become an expert at taking care of their spouse. Someone who embraces the joy and sanctity of Shabbat, holidays, who every bite he takes is careful that it should meet Gods standards will have the foundations of home that is committed to God. They will be able to bring a higher purpose, a lasting eternal sense of accomplishment in the house that they are creating. A marriage handbook can never be just about the two of you and you will be able to communicate and connect to one another. It is about having a shared value system for which you can build a Bayis Neeman B’Yisrael- a home built on commitment and faith. Faith to one another, faith to our Torah, faith to the Jewish people and Israel and faithful to elevating the world to our Father in heaven.

It is with great pride and joy and enormous thanks to Hashem that I am delighted to share with you that this past Tuesday evening my Bechorah-my first born-, Shani got engaged to her Bashert, the sweetest yeshiva bachur who whadaya know name is Yackov Yisrael;-or Yankeleh as I told him he would be called. May Hashem bless the young couple that the joy and love that we hope that they always find in one another, shine out to the rest of the world. May they truly merit to build that home of faith together. Mazel Tov!

 Have a totally awesome Shabbos and a blessed joyful Chodesh Adar Tov,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S VIDEO OF THEWEEK

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/asher-bara  -An Ephraim Schwartz composition in honor of daughter’s engagement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKDPY8R5a6I – Ilan Ramon the first Jewish astronaut whose yartzeit is this week tribute video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyGZRsNziUE  -The Shadchan song in honor of Shani and Yackov Yisrael’s wonderful Shadchan Mrs. Chana Klein- this is actually the fourth of the Berger childrens that she set up with their Bashert!

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

                                                                                  

“Besser gut un a bissel aider shlechts un a fuleh shissel” Better good and a little rather than bad and a full plate of it.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S JEWISH PERSONALITY AND HIS QUOTES IN HONOR OF THE YARTZEIT  OF THE WEEK

“Wisdom is to the soul as food is to the body.”

“How can you expect me to be perfect...when I am full of contradictions.”

“There is no one so lonely than a man who loves only himself.” -Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra Yartzeit this Shabbos the 27^th of Shvat

Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra –Ibn Ezra (1089-1167) --Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (usually called simply "Ibn Ezra"), a true giant of the spirit, was perhaps not such a great poet as Rabbi Judah Halevi, but as a man of Torah scholarship, art and secular knowledge, he surpassed all his contemporaries, and his influence upon learning and writing in Italy, Southern France and England was greater than that of any other Jewish figure.

His adventurous, almost legendary life began in Tudela, Spain, where he was born about the year 4852 (1092). He was a man of so many excellent gifts, and such a wealth of universal knowledge, that one is at a loss to judge his mastery of learning, poetry, philosophy, Jewish grammar, astronomy or mathematics. He spent the first half of his life in the various cities of the Arabic part of Spain, always in financial difficulties and dire need. In one of his poems he makes fun of his ill fortune and complains that "if he were to sell candles, the sun would never set; if he should deal in shrouds, no one would ever die." Life was made somewhat easier by the generosity of his admirers, who appreciated the elegance and stylishness of his poetry and other writings.

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra spent the second half of his life travelling from country to country, studying peoples and countries, languages and cultures. About the same time as his great contemporary, Rabbi Judah Halevi, who according to some accounts became his Father-in-law, he set out for-the Orient, together with his son Isaac. He visited Africa, Egypt, and the Holy Land, where he learned Kabbalah, the deepest and most mysterious part of Torah study, from the sages in Safed and Tiberias. Then he traveled to Babylon and Persia, where the Caliph of Baghdad had permitted the Jews to have their own prince. Finally he returned to Italy where he lived in Rome, Salerno, Lucca and Mantua. There he wrote most of his great commentaries to the Bible, and his books on Jewish grammar and philosophy. He wrote poems in honor of his friends and spent much of his time teaching a great number of disciples who gathered about him.

Ibn Ezra did not stay in Italy. He moved to Provence, in Southern France, where he was received with much honor and respect. For it was there that the two great lines of Jewish tradition, the Sephardic in Spain, and the Ashkenazic from Northern France and Germany, met.

After three years of quiet study, in Beziers, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra again took up the wanderer's staff and went across the channel to London, where at that time a rich colony of enthusiastic Jews were eager to have this great representative of Jewish learning and art in their midst. Yet before his death Rabbi Abraham wanted to return to his old home. At the age of about 75 years he died in Calahora, between Navarra and Castilia.

As a student and writer, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra was as tireless as a traveler. His style and form in poetry were considered even more perfect than that of Rabbi Judah Halevi. While Rabbi Judah Halevi's poems and prayers are full of feeling and longing for the restoration of the Jewish people and the Temple, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra wrote poems which clothed some of the deepest thoughts and mysteries of learning into verse. Unless one is very well acquainted with the entire literature of the great Sages before him, it is sometimes almost impossible to understand the true meaning of Ibn Ezra's writing. This is also true of his greatest work, the commentary to the Bible, generally known under the name "Ibn Ezra." It is a mixture of the most lucid explanations and implications of deep mysteries.

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra wrote also several books on Hebrew grammar, a profound dissertation on philosophy called "Yesod Mora," and several books on astronomy and mathematics. His "Chidoth," riddles in poetic form, and his small poems written on innumerable occasions, made him the master of all rhymers in Spain. It has been told that Rabbi Judah Halevi once wrote a poem of which each line began with a letter of the Aleph Beth. When he came to the letter "Resh" he could not find a suitable thought. Finally he fell asleep. When he awoke he saw that a stranger had fitted a perfect line to his poem, beginning with a "Resh." Full of joy and admiration he is said to have exclaimed: This is either the work of an angel or Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra.

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra is dear to us, not so much because of his elegance of writing, his poetry, philosophy or science, but as the man who with all his familiarity with secular knowledge, was full of piety and the spirit of G‑d. Warmth and deep feeling, which is said to be lacking in his secular poetry, permeate all his religious poems, prayers and writings. It is here that Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra shows his true nature, his boundless faith and absolute confidence in G‑d. Through all his work rings his despair over the separation of the Jewish people from G‑d, the Torah and the Holy Land, and with the fervor of his soul he prays for the reunion of these three in the time of Mashiach.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q. Terra Rossa soil is formed out of:

A.    Sand stone

2. Granite
3. Lime stone
4. Chalk (Kirton).

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL RASHI OF THE WEEK

Can you imagine a Judaism that didn’t have a Shabbos? Didn’t have Pesach Shavuot or Sukkot? Incomprehensible right? Not according to Rashi in this week’s Parsha and his understanding of the basic Pshat of the Torah commandment. Our Torah portion this week which brings down a chulent of varied laws tells us the mitzva of the Sabbatical year, which we observed last year in Israel. Right after that the Torah tells us the mitzva of Shabbat and the Mitzva of the pilgrimage holidays. Rashi, seemingly troubled by the juxtaposition of these laws, explains that one might think that in the Shemitta year one did not need to observe the weekly Shabbat of Bereishit/Creation, therefore the Torah-seemingly because the entire year is called by the Torah Shabbat. Therefore Hashem tells us the mitzva of Shabbat to tell us that even in the 7^th year one must observe it. Similarly Rashi notes by the holidays that one might think in the Sabbatical year the holidays might be removed from their place and therefore Hashem commands us about them as well even in that year.

This is truly a mind-blowing concept. Why would I think there would be no Shabbos or holidays, just because it’s a Sabbatical year. Perhaps the clue is in the word that Rashi uses “Shabbat Bereishit”. There are two aspects to Shabbos one that we remember that Hashem created the world and that it belongs to Him, and the second is that he runs the world and controls it and gave it to us as a special day to remember that he took us out of Egypt “Zecher LiYitziat Mitzrayim”. When a farmer observes the Shemitta year, then to a large degree he is already testifying that the land belongs to Hashem. He has shut down his business, he allows anyone who wants to come in and take what they like each day. It is a daily testimony to what Shabbos Bereshit is meant to mean to us. Therefore one might think that Shabbat Bereishit is extraneous.

On the other hand as well the holidays as they are brought down in these verses speak about the agricultural aspect of the holidays, the spring, reaping and harvesting seasons of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. The idea being, Rashi notes that in a year that one does not engage in these activities one might thing that the holidays are “moved from their place”. Our farmer has moved beyond his fields already. He is already in a spiritual state, there is no need for him to connect the holidays with the agricultural seasons.

For both of these days Hashem tells us, yes but Shabbat was given to you as a day of rest as well, the holidays were given to you so that you may come see “my face” and celebrate with me. Regardless if you are working your fields this year or not, regardless if you acknowledge already my existence. I want you to celebrate Shabbat and Yom Tov, because it is our special time together. They are days for you and I to bind. What a beautiful thought!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL HISTORICAL EVENT THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-

Space Shuttle Columbia explodes in return to Earth- 29^th Shvat 2003 – A Jew in space, who would’ve thought. The excitement was palatable. Ilan Ramon after years of training and being accepted into NASA’s program was set to be the first Jew on the moon. Ilan was no stranger to flying and to adventure, a decorated officer in the Israeli Air force, he was the youngest air force pilot to participate in the attack on Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981. Ramon who was told during his wait that the Israeli government was running out of funds for the project and may have to cut it, told his superiors that he was no longer a representative of the Israeli Air Force, rather he was the representative of the entire Jewish people.

Prior to his departing to space on Space Shuttle Columbia, where his mission included the manning of a multispectral camera for recording desert aerosol, he arranged to take along Kosher food, a Kiddush cup and a small Torah scroll that had survived Bergen-Belsen. He also brought along a mezuzah adorned with barbed wire -- symbolizing the Nazi concentration camps -- in tribute to his mother who survived Auschwitz and his grandfather who was murdered there, as well as a dollar from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. On board the Shuttle, Ramon welcomed the Shabbat with the first intergalactic Kiddush. As he passed over Yerushalayim, he recited "Shema Yisrael," the age-old declaration of Jewish faith.

The Space Shuttle Columbia, returning from its STS-107 mission, broke up upon re-entry, 16 minutes before its scheduled landing. All seven crew members perished, including Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, a combat pilot in the Israeli Air Force.

Miraculously 37 pages from the diary he was keeping while in orbit survived the crash and were returned to his widow, Rona, who has shared an excerpt with the Israeli public in a display at Jerusalem's Israel Museum. Only two pages were displayed, one containing Ramon's notes, and the other is a copy of the Kiddush prayer. In the words of the curator of the museum "The diary survived extreme heat in the explosion, extreme atmospheric cold, and then "was attacked by microorganisms and insects. It's almost a miracle that it survived — it's incredible. There is 'no rational explanation' for how it was recovered when most of the shuttle was not, he said”.

The letter is perhaps the sign and miracle of Hashem attesting to the great Kiddush Hashem that this hero of Israel accomplished both in his life and his death. May his memory be blessed.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S SON-IN-LAW JOKES OF THE WEEK

Sam was the owner of a worldwide branch of stores and a multi-millionaire. When his daughter Sarah got engaged to a very religious young man he called the future Groom into his office. “So tell me,” said Sam, sitting the young man down. “What are your plans for the future?” “Well”, said the Groom. “I plan on studying holy works all of my life.” “And how exactly do you plan on supporting my daughter if you are studying all day?” questioned Sam. “I am sure The Lord will provide.” Answered the young man. “And what about your kids? How do you plan on supporting them?” “The Lord will provide” answered the young man again. “How did it go?” asked Sam’s wife after they finished talking. “It went great” Sam replied. “I had just met the young fellow and already he thinks I’m the Lord!”

Leah announcing to her father that she was engaged.
The father asked, 'What does he do? Does he have any money?' 
Leah replies back saying, 'You men are all alike.
That's the first thing he asked me about you!'

Berel and his Father-in-law didn’t get along to say the least. Finally for Chanuka one year Berel decided to buy his father-in-law a gift. He handed him a certificate that showed that he had purchased him a plot to be buried in Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. The Following year his Father-in-law came to him again for Chanuka and asked what his gift was this year. Berel replied “Well, you still haven’t used the gift I bought you last year!”

Best Rabi Schwartz Line of the Week- When my daughter came to me and told me that she was concerned that her fiancé really didn’t speak English well and she was concerned about the language gap. Her very wise father told her that she was ahead of the game. It took me over twenty years to realize that my wife and I are speaking different languages….It’s so much easier when you know that going in don’t ya think J

:**************

Answer is C – Geology was not my favorite topic in our tour guiding course. Thankfully most tourists are not that interested in it as well. I remember the concept of Terra Rosa as being this very fertile red dirt that Israel is rich with. I have no clue what it comes from. I ruled out Chalk stone because it’s white and not red. Granite isn’t really found too much in Israel which just left sand stone and limestone. I went with sand stone, but I was wrong. And should have known better. Limestone is perhaps the most prevalent in the Jersualem area the Judean hills and that’s where there is a lot of Terra Rosa as well. Good thing most people don’t care.