Egg Births- Parshat Beshalach 2025 5785

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 7^th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 15 9^th of Shevat 5785

 

Parshat Beshalach

Egg Births

 (my kids will appreciate the title)

 

Why are you asking me what will we be touring and visiting when you come for Sukkos this year? What our itinerary will be for the day that you booked me for on Chol Ha’Moed Pesach? What “the plan” is for your family trip to Israel will be when you come in three weeks from now… Yanky…

Yes, I understand that my daughter Shani is doing the rest of your weeklong itinerary planning and she wants to know, in order to plan around me and make sure that you’re not doing the same thing twice. But there’s a reason she didn’t ask me and told you to ask me. She knows that I won’t answer that question. I rarely plan or give people their itineraries much in advance, even before this war started. Yet since it has, I certainly haven’t wasted much time planning things and spending hours back and forthing it with them just to have it canceled because of the war changes. It’s just a waste of time. Time that I don’t have much of.

Yet, now certainly she knows that I’m really not planning things more than a day or two in advance. See, Mashiach is pretty much here. I don’t know if they got that E-Mail in America, and so I don’t really blame you for wanting answers. But here, at least to me it’s pretty clear that the geula is right around the corner.

I have a really hard time imagining not bringing the Pesach sacrifice in the new Temple on that mountain that has been cleared of that abomination and chilul Hashem that has been sitting upon it for way too long. I’ve been visiting those Red Heifers that are sitting in Shilo and that were brought here a few years ago from Texas and am imagining how immensely cool it will be if in a few weeks after Purim we will actually be burning them up and sprinkling their ashes in time for Parshat Parah, rather than just reading about the mitzva from the Torah as we have done for millenia. How this year Purim itself will be the day that Hashem allows us to finally destroy Amalek for the last time. The spring is here. The trees are blossoming. The dark winter is ending. The holiday of Redemption is around the corner. Your wife is already starting to make Pesach cleaning lists. Did you check if your hotel in Miami or Mexico has a Mashiach-coming- refundable-deposit clause? Don’t count on that great Rabbi who will be the scholar in residence there to have checked for you. I’m not sure he got the telegram either.

Now I know you’re thinking that I’ve been saying this for a while and it’s getting old already. But c’mon… Let me ask you what you would’ve told me, had I told you that the President of the United States just said that all the Arabs should be transferred out of Gaza. That Israel should return to its biblical borders in Judea and Shomron. That the Secretary of State of the America made a statement, that he sees no reason why the Bais Ha’mikdash shouldn’t be built on the Temple Mount already. You would’ve said one thing. That will happen when Mashiach comes.

Sadly, when you would’ve said that to me, it’s not because you believed that it would happen. Rather you would’ve said that because you heretically or perhaps to be more generous, exhaustedly after 2000 years of false hopes couldn’t imagine it really could happen. “When Mashiach comes” is just a way of saying “it ain’t really even happening”. It’s a euphemism for when “hair grows out of my palm”, “when dogs fly”, or what used to be a common one “when Ephraim Schwartz is skinny”. Yet guess what? All those above things happened this past week or two. We’re really heading into the end-game here.

Do you know how Biblical stories always talk about how the Jew in the Kings palace is giving him advice. Mordechai and Achashverosh, Daniel and Belshatzar, Moshe and Pharaoh, Avraham and Avimelech. We know it’s all true, but it sounds weird. Why would the greatest and most egotistical leaders of the world pay attention to this small Jew, who is such a minority of the world and is from a downtrodden nation? Why is all of world history so Israel and Jewish-people centric? Is it really? Or are we just looking at it with Jewish glasses, you wonder. Yet when in 2025, the first guest to the White House is Bibi Netanyahu, when the first statements and decrees of this new president are all about Israel, about borders, about Temples. When this tiny little land, and our tiny little people is all the world seems to be caring and talking and obsessed with. When we’re the only thing on the agenda of the now US sanctioned International World Court is Israel. That’s not Jewish glasses. That’s reality. “Jews is News” is on steroids these days. People… this is Biblical. This is what Chazal have foretold us to watch out for. It’s happening, dudes. It’s happening quickly. 

So don’t bother me please about itineraries and jeep tours and visiting graves of tzadikim or speedboating on the Mediterranean tour for Chol Hamoed. Certainly don’t ask me about Kotel tunnel tours to see the ruins of the retaining wall of the destroyed temple from 2000 years ago. They will be closed by the time you get here. It will be under renovations for the new Bais Hamikdash visiting center. You won’t need virtual reality glasses to see the show. It will be live and real. The day has finally come.

Now, do you know why you’re asking me this and this entire E-Mail until now seems just like a fantasy, a dream? It’s because it really in fact doesn’t seem real. A president of the United States should say we should throw the Arabs out of Gaza!? That we should build a Bais Hamikdash? That we need to destroy Amalek until the end?! That they will give us the bombs to do it? That the largest question on the entire globe today is are you pro or anti- Israel. That countries around the world at the far ends with millions of their own issues and problems are all only busy with one thing, which side are you on? The return of the Jews to their homeland and their borders and the destruction of our enemies or not. It’s a dream. It’s a prophecy. But that as well is exactly what we say each time we bentch when we say Shir Ha’Maalos. Hayinu K’Cholmim- we are like dreamers. Yet, the dream is almost over. We and the world are about to be Woke.

There’s another reason as well, though that I think we’re having a hard time adjusting to this thing and accepting it. It’s because, it’s not the way we imagined it. We’ve been looking for old men with white beards on donkeys dressed in a toga and sandals blowing a shofar. And who knows? Maybe he might come. But Trump? Really? C’mon… Bibi? That’s not the guy… What about the fighting? The army draft? The comfortable Jewish Torah life and new shuls and Beit Midrashes in exile we have built that are meant to fly up in the sky. The Eagle’s wings? Can our redemption really come from these natural in the Evening News type of occurrences?

The answer to that question and hesitation is yes and no. The answer to that question, the Sfat Emet tells us, is something that we need to appreciate and that we should’ve been internalizing every year on the holiday of our redemption of Pesach for the past 3000 years. Our redemption today will come k’yimei tzescha Mi’Mitzryaim- like the days that we left Egypt. As then, so now. The answer of how the redemption is meant to happen and is happening is not one big shofar blast, but rather two different Parshiyot. It’s last week, Bo, when we left. It’s this week’s Beshalach, when we step into the sea and it culminates.

Pesach is a strange holiday. There’s a custom to eat an egg by the Seder right before we start the meal. One of the reasons I saw given is that the chicken egg symbolizes a birth that takes place in two stages. The first is the mother bird creates the egg and it is brought into the world. Yet, the birth happens only later. The final birth of the chicken is when the baby bursts and breaks out of its own shell. The mother can only do so much. It can only bring it into the world. Yet, for the chick to be born, it’s gotta give the final kick itself. Mommy can’t do that for you. Neither could Pharaoh. Neither can Trump.

The Sefat Emet, whose Yartzeit was this past week, in almost every year of his commentary on this week’s parsha reiterates this concept. He notes that when we left Egypt in last week’s Parsha it was all from the hands of Hashem. It was in the merit of the promise to our Patriarchs. It was because if we would’ve stayed there any longer we would have been too far gone to redeem. It was the punishment of Egypt that had finally reached it peak and needed to be avenged and brought to judgement. It was to send an eternal message to the world that Hashem controls everything and we are His chosen nation. It was what the Kabbalists refer to as it’rauta di’li’ayla- it was an awakening from Above. It wasn’t because we did anything to be redeemed. It’s why it’s called Pesach- Hashem skipped over the normal protocols that would bring our redemption. But that’s not enough. That’s only good enough to bring the egg into the world.

This week’s Parsha is phase II. It’s called Parshat Beshalach- and begins with Pharaoh sending us out, because it’s about how we move from phase I to phase II. We didn’t leave Egypt. Pharaoh sent us out. They sent us out with gifts. They told us that we deserve to leave. That we deserve to have our own land. That our exile is over. Hashem gave us favor in their eyes. We went out from Egypt- “chamushim”- armed. Maybe they even gave us 2000 lb. bombs to blow up all the bunkers and tunnels when we got to the land of Israel. The boycott was finally over. The sanctions were removed. Egypt was on our side. But that doesn’t work.

If that’s the way we leave Egypt, as “shluchim of Pharaoh” then we’re really still servants. We still have to play by his rules. Mashiach is not here. The revelation of Hashem isn’t coming from us. It’s coming at best through us. The parsha tells us that when Pharaoh sends us out, we’re not ready to go conquer the Philistines in Gaza. Because it’s Pharaoh sending us out. It’s his rules. We will go back to Egypt and ask them if we’re allowed to do that when we face war with them. Can we get our hostages back or not? For us to make it home and to finally be redeemed, and to fight and win that battle of Amalek, which happens right after this story at the end of the Parsha, we need to understand that we don’t need Pharaoh. That Pharoah is meaningless. That Egypt is a nation that is irrelevant. That we have the power to redeem ourselves. Without him. Without them.

So what did Hashem do? He turned us around and sent us back to Egypt. He had us camp by Pi Ha’Chirot- on the edge of redemption. The was the last idol that remained that we hadn’t yet destroyed. The idol that said we need the approval of Egypt, we need the world to support us, that without the White House and our friend Pharaoh we can’t do it on our own. We would be walking right into a sea of death.

Hashem brought us back there in order that we learn the lesson of how to break that egg ourselves and be born. And then He told us to march. To enter in that sea as frightening and incomprehensible and counterintuitive as it may seem and watch how the sea and the waters split. The Midrash tells us that each Jew had to do this. It wasn’t just Nachshon, who was the first. Each and every Jew had to jump off into the deep end. And each Jew saw when they did that how the sea split before them. They saw that they could do it. That we could do it. That we don’t need Pharaoh. That if we do what we need to do, Hashem will take us all the way through.

There are two stages of redemption. Hashem didn’t birth us in a second. The entire story of our Exodus is about first getting the world and Pharaoh to understand that we need to be free. That we need to go home. That we have a job to do. A Temple to build. Perhaps Hashem understood that after 210 year of Exile, we wouldn’t even have the dream that this could ever happen. That we could ever get there. Perhaps He understands that even more-so today after 2000 years of Exile.



So, He turned the heart of Pharaoh around. He hardened it. He punished them. He then made him realize that the world will not be fixed and Egypt itself would only be better off if we did what we were supposed to do. We saw this all happening for an entire year. We saw miracles. We saw the hand of Hashem. As well tragically we saw many of our brothers and sisters killed in this process. We lost, according to the midrash, perhaps even as much as 4/5^th of our nation on the way back from the Holocaust of Egypt to the Promised Land. But the time came and we were on the way. But that’s still not a redeemed nation that can be the light to the world. That’s merely a proxy and slave of a world that wants us to be its human shield from the terror and evil that shines in a godless world.

So Hashem turned their hearts against us. He brought us to the point where we had to look the world in the eye and tell them that we deserve it on our own. That we will jump into the sea with or without you. That we understand that Hashem wants us to do this, and he doesn’t need the approval of the Pharaoh. He wants us to drown that concept and flush it down the proverbial Red Sea drain. A lowly maidservant, our sages tell us, saw more on that day, than even the great Prophet Yechezkel who was privileged and holy enough to see the throne and chariot of Hashem itself when the heavens opened up before him. Do you know what that maidservant saw that he didn’t? She saw

“zeh Keli v’anveyhu- This is my personal God and I can glorify Him”.

Yechezkel saw the awesomeness of Hashem and the heavens. The maidservant however saw the incredible power that she herself possessed to bring the glory of Hashem down to the world. That she herself could glorify Hashem. That we could break out of our shell and enter a new redeemed glorious world if we just kicked a bit out of our comfort zone. The shell is not hard. It just needs us to push on our own.

We’re at the end game, boys and girls. Pharaoh has armed us. He’s told us to go ahead and take our land. Hashem has given our favor in his eyes and the eyes of all of Egypt. The only question that remains is if we are ready to jump into the sea and do it on our own without him as well. Are we ready to say that we don’t need you Pharaoh. That we can clean out Gaza. That we can destroy Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and even face-off with Iran and return to our biblical borders and conquer and settle the land as we were meant to so long ago… in its entirety. That we are prepared and feel confident that Hashem is b’kirbeinu- that Hashem is within even the most lowly maidservant of ours. The maidservant who perhaps five minutes ago was serving idols and didn’t have Shabbos. That might have been dancing on Simchat Torah at a festival and in one minute, on one black Shabbos, discovered Hashem within herself. Discovered her faith. Recited Shema Yisrael. Understood that she couldn’t rely on anyone else besides Hashem and that faith. That took upon herself on that moment to become that light. To declare her faith. To sing a song.

Parshat Beshalach- the Parsha of Pharaoh sending us out is not called Beshalach. It’s called Shabbos Shira. It becomes transformed from a story of Exodus at the permission of Pharaoh to one of us all finding and singing a song of redemption that we can sing. We can’t sing a song if Pharaoh is sending us out. We sing when we accomplish and reveal the most inner part of ourselves. The song we sing is not God Bless America and doesn’t have any spangled banners in it. It’s a song of Zeh Keli V’Anveyhu. It’s the God that I have revealed by jumping into the sea that I am glorifying.

We each have a sea in front of us. A sea that is not easy to jump into. For some it’s moving to Israel and leaving Egypt. For some it’s observing mitzvos, learning Torah, Shabbos. And for others it’s finding and uplifting the godliness, the spark of Hashem in the maidservants that we don’t believe have Hashem in their midst. But for all of us there is that sea and we have to understand that the pathway to redemption isn’t through Washington D-SEA. Through declarations of Pharaoh, the UN and even our “Friends” in the Bayit Ha’Lavan. Its within us. So now I ask you. What are you planning on doing this Sukkos?

Have a musical Shabbos and a fruitful Tu Bi’Shvat!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Di eyer viln zayn kliger fun di hiner”.- The eggs think they are smarter than the chicken.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

6) Following the Mamluks, the Land of Israel was ruled by the ______________?

Which of the following sentences about the Pool of the Arches in Ramla is true?

A. The pool was first built during the Second Temple period

B. The dating of the pool is uncertain despite excavations at the site

C. Some researchers see the pool as a source of inspiration for the Crusaders’ pointed arches

D. Some scholars believe that the arches in the pool were built by the Crusaders

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/shiras-hayam-the-song-of-the-sea-vayosha - Shabbos Shira is not complete without singing the original tune that we sang when we crossed the Sea, that of course I remembered and composed for you, right here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ti_vBpxYM8  – Funny Eretz Nehedert Red Cross Uber!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmctIbvWe68 - Also from the parsha Ki Lashem Hamelucha this haunting song is done beautiful by Pesach Eidensohn

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgExmPv1Jqg – Motty Steinmetz, Baruch Levine, Hershy and Zanvil Weinberger doing an incredible Memkomcha of Ben Tzion Shenker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIX-UoDMx0  – Shuki Solomon and Shlomi Meir singing a Shir Shel Eretz Yisrael… a love song of the land…

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

Yehoyakim the wicked- 609 BC – With the youngest son of Yoshiyahu, Yehoyachaz taken to exile in Egypt by Pharaoh Necho after a mere three months of ruling, where he dies, his older brother become the king next. This brother, Elyakim, as he was called when he was born, had his name changed to Yehoyakim by Pharaoh Necho. It seems the custom was that when you put someone new in charge, they get a new name. Fascinatingly enough, and perhaps even bizarrely as well, there is a moshav and intersection right by Har HaCarmel that is named after his original name Elyakim. I say bizarrely because this king was really not good news and non one you wanted to be named after. If you thought however that his brother Yehoyachaz was bad. Yehoyakim really took things to a whole new level.

 

The Navi itself doesn’t really tell us that much about what this king did. The prophet Yirmiyahu however looked at his 11-year rule as being the one that finally brought Nebuchadnezzar to town to being the process of the destruction and mentions that it was sins one the level of his grandfather Menashe that brought this down on the nation. Our sages though didn’t spare any words about this king. There are some that describe him as being an atheist that denied Hashem has any power over the world. Others describe his incestuous relations with his closest relatives, his removal of his circumcision, tattoos of idolatry and heresy on his body. This is 25-year-old almost last King of Israel. It is he that brings the fate of the people to its sad destruction.

 

His end will come and will be bitter as we will see in the coming weeks. However fascinatingly enough his downfall begins when he reads the political map a bit wrong. Pharaoh Necho who appointed him levied a huge fine against the nation of gold to pay and punish Israel for the insurrection of Yehoyachaz his brother. Yet in his third year of rule, Nebuchadnezzar the King of Bavel took control, and he captured and sieged Jerusalem taking Yehoyakim as a prisoner to Babylonia in copper chains along with vessels from the temple. There he subdued him and sent him back to be his faithful vassal king in Israel.

 

The end is near. Nebuchadnezzar is already in Israel and exiling kings. The Kings of Israel are pawns to the world leaders and their decrees. They’re not taking their cues from the prophets, from Hashem, from the Torah. This is bad news. Does it sound familiar?

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S GAZA RETURN MEMES OF THE WEEK

Where in the USA can you keep one day Yom Tov? Gaza

 

In America they started saying last night by Mariv- Ha’Maavir Aravim… (you either get it or not…)

 

Hamas before Trump’s announcement

“We are refugees for 75 years Gaza is not our homeland”

After Trump’s announcement

“We will not move to Egypt Jordan or Syria, Gaza is our homeland.”

Make up your mind this is too confusing…

 

If Gaza becomes an American State as least they will be able to keep guns in schools…

 

The US taking Gaza will be the largest US takeover of Israeli land since Ramat Eshkol

 

A cannibal tribe in New Guinea announced that they would be willing to take 10 Palestinians a week.

 

The concept of the US having sovereignty of a mostly ruined lawless enclave of Hamas supporters is disturbing. But so it goes in Detroit.

 

It turns out the two state solution was Israel and America.

 

For Palestinians a new two State Solution- Jordan, Egypt.

 

Trump saw Free Palestine posters and said “Hey, I’ll take it…

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The answer to this week”s question is C – Ok, I’m getting annoyed now. Another half and half credit. The first part was easy. I knew the history of different empires of Israel and the Ottaman Turks came after the Mamaluks in 1517 and ruled for 400 years on the nose, until WWI. The second part though stumped me. I don’t think I ever took anyone to these fun little pools that you can rent boats in and sail through in Lof under a the mosque there. My tourists just don’t seem to be the type to be interested in ancient Muslim buildings or pools. Despite how fun they might seem. That being said I really had no clue as to the answer. I remember the arches looked Crusaderish, but I didn’t remember ever learning that it was perhaps the source of Gothic mediaval Crusader architecture and Arches. But I guess I was wrong, that seems to be the correct answer. The Crusaders started building that way after they saw this mosque and pools. I guessed answer B that we don’t know when it was from. But actually the opposite is true. This is the only building that has a sign and inscription from the year 789 BC Abbasid period when it was built! So I got them half right this week and the new score is Rabbi Schwartz 4.5 Ministry of Tourism 2.5 on this exam so far.

His-Story- Passover 2015/5775

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

April 2^nd  2015 -Volume 5, Issue 22 -14^th NissanAdar 5775

Pesach

His-Story Lesson

“Get off the computer now…it’s Erev Pesach, nobody should have time to read your weekly E-Mails any way, there’s too much to do.” I disagree with my family. I think many of you are just sitting at home this past week as you do most weeks and just stare at your computer screens and wait until “ding- you have mail” pops up and you can rest comfortably knowing that you have your weekly inspiration. But in order to show respect and solidarity with the traditional Egyptian style slave labor cleaning and preparing that goes on in the Schwartz home before Pesach I bring you the abridged version this week. Shalom Bayis, boys and girls Shalom Bayis…

OK two quick ideas in a nutshell. The first came to mind as my oldest daughter Shani experienced her first “March of the Living -style-(it was through her seminary)” journey to Europe this past week I had mixed feelings about it. I’m not a fan of Eastern Europe, not a fan of Concentrations camps or anti-semitism either and don’t necessarily appreciate the value of giving them one tourism dollar on the blood of my ancestors. I know that knowing our history is important and never again and having an appreciation of the gift of the State of Israel area all critical parts that become internalized on these trips but still I don’t know how sold I am on actually having to travel there and see it. On the other hand many of our Jewish holidays seem to be about remembering our past, our roots and our history. In fact on Pesach we are mandated to even act out the story of Egypt. We eat Matzos, bitter herbs, and throw frogs and lice on the table. Or at least some of us do. So maybe there is a point to re-experiencing the holocaust experience. In fact I read a few stories of quite a few survivors that would actually put on their black and white prison garb and would start their seder with the words “We were slaves to Hitler in Poland.” Talk about passing on the message to the next generation.

Yet I saw an idea from the Baal Shem Tov this past Purim that I think applies equally to Pesach. There is a law that says that if one is “Koreh Es HaMegilla LiMafraya LoYatza”-which literally means one who reads the Megilla retroactively he does not fulfill his obligation. The Halacha/law being that if one reads the megilla out of order of the chapters and verses one does not fulfill their obligation. The Be”sht though interprets the words homiletically though. He who reads the megilla and understands the story of the Purim as being one only retroactively, as a story that happened in the past or a Jewish history lesson, has missed the point of the reading and does not really fulfill their obligation. The miracle of Purim is an eternal miracle. It is how Hashem appears to each one of us in moments of darkness and manipulates the world for us to persevere to thrive to overcome and achieve our destinies. Purim isn’t a 2500 years ago story it’s a 2500 year continuing story of us.

If this is true for Purim, it is even truer for Pesach. There is a debate in the Gemara between Rav and Shmuel how does one fulfill the obligation to recite the Hagada and story we are Biblically obligated to recite this evening. Shmuel suggests that we must begin our story with Avadim Hayinu- We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Rav on the other hand suggests that we begin with story of our ancestors being idolators. We talk about our “father” Terach and mention Esau, we go back to Jacob and Lavan as well. For most kids (and not a few adults) it feels like we’re going over the entire Torah from the book of Bereishis. Even more interesting though is that the conclusion of of Rav’s recitation ends with us singin Dayeinu where we mention the post Egypt stories that continue with the manna, the giving of the Torah and ultimately the building of the Temple- “to atone for our sins”. C’mon it’s late. Why do we feel the need to pack the entire Jewish story into one seder. Leave the Torah giving stuff for Shavuot, the Temple stuff maybe for Sukkot, atoning for Yom Kippur. Why are we packing it all in?

The answer is that Rav is coming to answer the question that is not being asked by the Seder. Maybe it’s the question of the son “who does not know how to ask”. Who perhaps feels too comfortable where he is to ask. Why were we sent down to Egypt in the first place for? Hashem took us out, Hooray! But he also sent us there. What is it all about. The answer is that we should not read the Hagadda as only a history story. You can let your kids watch the movie for that. Rav believes that story of Pesach is still an ongoing story. It started with us as idolaters and it is still going on until the Temple will be built. We went down to Egypt because we had a destiny to fulfill. We were meant to redeem Egypt from Egypt. To build a home for God starting from the lowest of the low, the 49^th level of impurity and raise the world up to the Highest of the high. We were meant to learn that each of us have the power and the ability to slaughter the false gods that the world worships and bring the glory of the one God, who created and maintains the world and is awaiting for His glory to shine in the Temple we will build for him. He who reads the story of Pesach “retroactively” hasn’t fulfilled his obligation. We were brought down for a purpose and we are still rising up and in the process of redemption until we achieve the final promise of “Ve’Havaysi”  that he will bring us all to the land from where we will shine out His light to the world.

The Seder night is the night to pass that message on to our children. But even more so it is a message to pass on to ourselves. The Baal Shem Tov also taught that all four sons are not just our children but they are all us. We are the wise son, we are the wicked son, we are the simple son and perhaps most tragically we are the son who has even forgotten to how to ask. To ask for the final redemption. To ask that we may fulfill the purpose and mission of our Exile and Exodus from Egypt. To ask that we may very soon be the vessels that bring the Shechina once again back to its home. So this may Pesach let us all remember to ask. Don’t just tell stories. Tell His story.

Have a Chag Kasher V’Samayach- A Happy Kosher Pesach,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

  

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RABBI SCHWARTZ'S CORNY PASSOVER  JOKE OF THE WEEK- WARNING NOT KOSHER FOR THOSE THAT DO NOT EAT KITNIYOT

What do you call someone who spent hours preparing the seder plat- egg-zosted

Why do we eat horseradish with the four cups of wine? When it chrains it pours

Why did the Egyptians have the Jews make all the pyramids and find their own straw? They were anit-cementic

How does NASA prepare its seder in space? They Plan—it

What did Moshe say to Pharoah when he refused to let the Jews out after the first plague? That was dumb

How do you drive your mother crazy Erev Pesach? It’s a piece of cake

The Holy Prophet- Kedoshim 5774/2014

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

April 25^th 2014 -Volume 4, Issue 27-25^th of Nisan 5774 

(9^th day of the Omer-one week and two days!)

Parshat Kedoshim

The Holy Prophet

We do not have creepy, fat, old men with beards and red suits coming down our chimney to stick things in our socks. That's the other team. We don't even have a chimney. We also do not believe in bogey men, whatever they are, or bunnies that hide eggs on our front lawns-not that we have any of those either. (front lawns-I mean, eggs we have plenty of, we bought way too many for Pesach). We believe in Hashem, who watches us and protects us and we are pretty much not into these mythological figures that are there to somehow frighten or trick children into behaving. I'm good with this. Which is why I had difficulty understanding why in middle of our Pesach Seder our little Elka, (my little Elka J), was hiding underneath the table. At first I thought it was where she hid the afikoman, but the look of terror on her face was telling a different story. No amount of kosher for Pesach chocolate which always seems to work to resolve any major issues in life and put a smile on her face (mine as well) seemed to work. Finally my wife, who seems to understand my children a lot better than I ever will claim to, got the story. It seems that my daughter was suffering from Eliyahu Hanavi phobia- the fear that some ancient prophet with a long white beard and donkey was going to visit our Seder and drink some wine. Not that we have any shortage of wine by the Schwartz Seder and not like Elka even likes wine. She was scared, I was getting tired, we still needed to sing songs and "who knows one?" it and make lots of animal noises by Chad Gadya. The Schwartz Seder was in jeopardy

What was I to say? Obviously, we could not tell her Eliyahu was not coming. That would be heretical on Pessach night, the night when we pass down our age-old traditions. We had already resolved, using my Rabbinic acumen and training that it was not necessary to sneak around the back door and dress up like Eliyahu and scream "BOO!" when they kids opened the door, as this seems to be a more recent Jewish custom (perfected by my father) without any basis in anything besides frightening and tricking children-see other teams customs above. We even agreed that we did not have to shake the table and spill out any of the wine from Eliyahu's cup while the kids weren't looking to get them to believe that he really came; also a later custom and frankly a waste of good wine. So what was left? To convince her that Eliyahu was a nice prophet that loved little children, didn't really seem to be the way to go either, although the story of him bringing a child back to life might attest to that, I didn't think the resurrected dead child thing would give her any less nightmares.

Meantime, our little 4 year old Tully was getting all antsy already. He was excited to meet Eliyahu. He even told Elka that he would protect her as he would open the door and she could go upstairs. Interestingly enough that seemed to work. Daddy, Mommy and her older brother, 15 year old Yonah weren't protection enough for her, but Tully our little Israeli, all brave and ready was all she needed. She knew that only a fearless Israeli raised kid could deal with this situation. Tully after all kills the cockroaches in the house and will chase the cats away as his mother and sister cower behind one another. He's kind of like King David with the slingshot in that way, forget about a donkeys jawbone. So Elka went upstairs. Tully opened the door. Yonah jumped out and said "BOO" dressed with his jacket over his face and a hat covering his eyes. And Tully laughed and laughed. We even got to shake the table and show him the wine Eliyahu had drunk. When Elka came back down, Tully told her. "Elka, it wasn't scary. Eliyahu even looks like Yonah...". And so another Schwartz Seder comes to happy ending. Next Year in Jerusalem, hooray!

As we continued the holiday, I had a chance to ponder Eliyahu HaNavi a bit more and his special place amongst our Pesach holiday. One of our traditions is that Eliyahu who was taken to heaven alive in a fiery chariot was told that he must always return to the Jewish people, whom he maligned, accusing them of not observing Hashem's covenant. He will be present at all Jewish circumcisions and Pesach Seders, which interestingly enough historically no matter how far we have fallen from religious observance, seem to be two rituals that we have never abandoned. Although one might think they would be the first to go. In addition the last prophecy in the Books of Prophets tell us that Eliyahu will be the harbinger of the ultimate redemption heralding in Mashiach and the Messianic era. Pesach being the time of redemption it's no wonder he's there.

 Throughout our history there has always been a tradition as well of Eliyahu revealing himself to individuals, generally holy ones, and assisting them in some mystical way. The Talmud is replete with stories of him and one of the traditions of the Schwartz family Seder is the story of my great Uncle Henry (Hershel) and my grandmother Bubby Zeldy O"BM being visited by him, assisting them in escaping the inferno that was to be Europe during the Holocaust. Who is Eliyahu and what is he really all about?

There is a story that I was recently reminded of, as I read a great new book by my friend (and former chavrusa/study partner) Rabbi Yechiel Spero. It is the story of a simple Chasid whose greatest wish was to see the great prophet Eliyahu himself. As every good chasid, does he went to the Baal Shem Tov and asked him how he may merit such a revelation. The Baal Shem Tov instructed the Chasid that if he was truly serious about his request, he should travel to a small village two days travel away and bring with him a large basket filled with food for the weekend. Dutifully the Chasid followed his orders and as he came to the small village in time for Friday night services he hoped for an invitation for a place of lodging. Much to his dismay though, no invitation was forthcoming so he knocked on the closest door with a mezuzah where he was greeted by a young widow with small children. He offered them his basket of food and spent Shabbat there with them, all the while on lookout for that heavenly prophet. When Shabbos was over and much to his disappointment he didn't meet any one that even resembled anything close to Eliyahu, he returned back to the Baal Shem with his failure.

The Baal Shem Tov however told him that he must try once again if he wanted to see the great prophet. So off again he went with his basket of food, arriving at the town and stopping off once again at the widow's house where he spent Shabbos with her children, waiting and waiting…But to no avail. Returning once again dejected, the Baal Shem Tov told him that the third time is "Gleeda (ice cream)". {He didn't really say that, it's just an Israeli maxim, whose meaning I have yet to understand, but kind of a more positive outlook than the" three strikes and you're out" American adage}. So off he went the third time. This time he figured maybe he should wait around in shul a little longer. Maybe Eliyahu would then pop in. But after waiting another hour he decided it was time to head on over to his usual place of lodging. As he reached the door though, he overheard the young child talking to his mother.

"Mommy, we don' have anything in the house to eat. I'm so hungry… What will we do?"

His mother answered him in words that pierced our Chasid's heart.

"Don't worry, my dear child. The past two weeks we also had no food and Hashem sent Eliyahu HaNavi to us to bring us a full basket of food. I'm sure he will come again this week…"

This week's Torah portion begins with the commandment to Moshe to

"Speak to the entire congregation of Israel and tell them they should be holy, for I Hashem their God is holy."

Rashi notes that this Torah portion and it's commandment contain most of the principles of the Torah and it was therefore read in front of the entire nation gathered together. The Torah's tips for holiness though might be somewhat counterintuitive to the modern day "spiritually seeking" ascetic viewpoint. There are no commandments to make random fasts, or meditations or to dip oneself in ritual baths frequently, practicing abstinence and being a vegetarian. Sorry to disappoint. The laws and directions here to becoming holy are pretty basic. "Don't steal, don't lie, don't curse, don't seek revenge, revere your parents, give charity, pay your workers on time, respect your elders, Don't gossip, don't hate your brother in your heart and of course love your friend as yourself." How are you ranking on the holiness scale?

How does all this make me holy? The answer suggests that great 19^th century sage, the Chatam Sofer, is that holiness doesn’t' come from separating oneself from society and hiding in some cave somewhere and meditating on oneness of God and the universe. Holiness means recognizing that there is holiness already in each and every one of us. We are charged to treat our neighbors our friends, our employees, the world with the dignity of being in the presence of the Holy one Blessed be He, Hashem. We are meant to see ourselves as already being holy beings. Moshe was commanded to make this statement unique by gathering all of the people together so that even the lowest rungs of society, the sinners, the idolaters, the gossipers would all know that they also possessed that holiness. They would know it and the most righteous would know it about them as well. We all have the power to be Eliyahu HaNavi. We can all bring Mashiach today.

Pesach has ended, but it is not over. On Pesach we began the process of counting up to the ultimate function of our Exodus; to receive the Divine Revelation on Sinai and in the process achieving that highest level of human holiness possible. We became one with our Creator. We received His spirit within us and we were commanded to reveal that inner spark to all of mankind. Eliyahu came to our Seder to tell us that we are up to that task. Only holy people can experience that revelation. We don't need to hide under the table. We just need to appreciate our holiness enough to open up the door.

Have an absolutely Divine Shabbos and enjoy your Chametz Challah J!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

Th

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RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HOLINESS QUOTES OF THE WEEK

"In a sense, we have all wandered away from our true selves. Birth is the beginning of our soul’s journey, sent off from its divine source to live in an unnatural state, a land of materialism. Throughout our lives, therefore, we crave to be reunited with our real selves. We search for our soul, for the G-dly spark within ourselves. We long to reconnect with our source”."- Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

(answer below at end of Email)

The "Pools of the Arches" in Ramla was built by -

a) Haron Al Rashid

b)  Ibn Tulun

c)  Baybars

d)  Salaadin

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL GEMATRIA OF THE WEEK

"You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am HaShem' (V'yikra 19.18)

The end of the verse 'I am HaShem' is difficult to understand.  Why is it necessary for the verse to add this as a summation of the mitzvah? Rav Mendel of Kassov suggests that  the Gematria of  the word 'ahava/love' Alef=1 Heh=5 Beit=2 Heh= 5 is the same  as the Hebrew word for 'one' [Echad] - 13. This is to tell us that each person is supposed to love his fellow completely as if they were really one person. If he loves his fellow in this manner, and his fellow loves him in the same way, than together they have made the name of HaShem. This is because two times 'ahava' [2 x 13] has the same value of the four-letter name of HaShem [26]. This is the meaning of 'You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am HaShem.' When a Jew loves another completely and they
are as one, then they complete the name of HaShem. 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

Amat HaTaninim, Beit Chanina-I had the opportunity to visit this neat little place over Pesach right in between Zichron Yakov and Hadera near the coastline. Its' really a great little place for families with little kids (although Pesach it was quite swamped). They have two crocodiles over there that are pretty neat to watch, a little pond and paddle boats, little train ride through the swamp/nachal that was once full of crocodiles. There are little water slides and fun sprinkler/watergun shooting things there as well for the little kids and they aoffer all types of activities by pre appointment making pitas and crafts. There is also a great little campground there. The spring is here so go camping and see our cool country!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S  COOL YOUTUBE CLIPs OF THE WEEK

Reb Shlomo's classic "you never know..you never know"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRjj2KX0iQE

 Awesome and rare clip of the Kotel on Pesach from 1913

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amdSyhzYuIo

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S  JOKES OF THE WEEK

Zaidy and his little granddaughter  (let's call her Elka) were sitting talking when she asked, "Did Hashem make you, Zaidy?"

"Yes, Hashem made me," the grandfather answered.

 A few minutes later, the little girl asked him, "Did God make me too?

 "He most certainly did,sweetheart" the grandpa answered.

For a few minutes, the little girl seemed to be studying her grandpa, as well as her own reflection in a small mirror. Her grandfather wondered what was running through her mind. At last she spoke up. "You know, Grandpa," she said, "Hashem's been doing a lot better job lately." 

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It was a small town and the Catholic Priest, the Protestant Minister and the Jewish Rabbi were very good friends. Of course, there was a lot of kidding and joking between them all year long.

To their surprise one year, the Priest and the Minister received a Christmas card from the Rabbi. It read:

"Roses are reddish, Violets are bluish When the Messiah really comes You'll wish you were Jewish."

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RABBI SCHWARTZ' S EXAM ANSWER OF THE WEEK

Answer is A:  If you have not yet visited the pools of the arches it’s a really neat place to see it is one of the oldest remains from the Abassid Arabic period in the 8^th century  more than 1200 years ago! It served as a water reservoir that was filled by an underground spring and was connected with aqauducts. Today it’s a cool place to take the family indoor boating through the glorious arches and ceilings that encase this pool. I know that probably most of the names don't have meaning to most of our readers and truth is I can't even tell you what the first two are known for. However the correct answer is A Good old  "Harry"..