Karmiel

Karmiel
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Showing posts with label Rebbi meir Baal Hanes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebbi meir Baal Hanes. Show all posts

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Eternal Fights- Eternal Lights- Parshat Vayeishev/ Chanukah, 5781/ 2020

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 "Your friend in Karmiel"

December 11th 2020 -Volume 11 Issue 9 25th Kislev 5781

 Parshat Vayeishev / Chanukah

Eternal Fights- Eternal Lights

 

The Sefardim were there first, at least in the new/old settlement of Tiverya. Rabbi Chaim Abulafia, the chief Rabbi of Izmir who was born in Chevron but was sent back to Turkey to raise money for the community, was the one that was charged by the Druze ruler of Israel to return and rebuild the city of Tiverya. He was pretty excited as his great-great grandfather Reb Chaim Abulafia (Sr.) had originally been the chief Rabbi of the city, as was his grandfather Reb Yaakov. The city had lain in ruins until he arrived, having been destroyed by earthquakes and been abandoned. But now it was to be rebuilt. He gathered his sefardic congregants and made Aliya once again. Messianic fervor was in the air. Tiverya, the city where the Sanhedrin sat for almost 500 years and where the Talmud Yerushlami was written -no it was not written in Jerusalem-always had the tradition that the redemption would start from here in the North before the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash. On the same spot where the where the Sanhedrin sat and across from the place where tradition held that the ancient well of Miriam had rolled, he built the glorious Eitz Chaim synagogue in 1740, one of the nicest in the country. The Jews were back in town.

 

As the sefardic community that he led grew it became necessary to raise money for the community. Most of the Jews that had come to Israel at that time came with a Messianic fervor that the redemption was around the corner. They didn't have long term plans besides getting themselves spiritually ready for that day. The problem with that plan is that it doesn't always put food on the table. So therefore much of their support had to come from contributions from the diaspora. Jewish communities there wanted to have their representatives in Israel for when they would be heralded back when that great shofar blast called them. It was a match made in heaven.

 

But Reb Chaim wasn't interested in leaving anymore. He was 80 years old and been there-done that already. He knew that if he left once again the chances of him making it back to Israel weren't that good. So he came up with a plan. Rather than sending shada"rim- (shlucha drabanan- rabbinic messengers who were sent to raise money from community to community), they would send charity boxes. Each shul and each community would have their kupah- tzedaka box for Israel and particularly for his community in Tiverya and then the money would be sent back here. To sweeten the deal, he came up with the concept of connecting all contributions with the special benefit and segula that the city of Tiverya had. It was the resting place and grave of the great Mishnaic miracle worker Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes. Jews can never resist a good mystical charity incentive for success and salvation and thus the concept of the pushka was born.

 

It worked. The community flourished the Sefardim were building businesses. Infrastructure was developing, Christians and Muslims moved to the city and the Jews were at the heart of it all. And then the Ashkenazim came. The chasidim had arrived. There goes the neighborhood they said.

 

Led by visionaries and lovers of Israel, Reb Menachem Mendel of Permishlan, Reb Nochom Horodenkeh and Reb Meir of Vitebsk they as well came with the hopes and dreams of settling in the land of their ancestors. However, unlike the sefardic communities that flourished and were successful in integrating into the Middle East culture that they were already accustomed to, the Ashkenazim struggled. And their sefardic brethren weren't that helpful. Rifts grew between the communities and when the Sefardim came to the Ashkenazim to assist them in the building of the tomb for Rebbi Meir, the chasidim who already felt jilted because they were not getting any of the Rebbi Meir Baal Hanes funds that were being sent to Israel said that they couldn't and wouldn't participate. In fact, they were starting their own tzedaka fund campaigns. To make matters worse they demanded that the tomb of Reb Meir be shared by them. Why should the Sefardim have it all? And thus like the famous Solomonic decision with the baby and the two mothers claiming it was theirs, the grave was chopped in half. The Sefardic Rebbi Meir building would be built on the southern part and the Askenazic section would have to wait a few more decades until they would garner enough support to build their side. And thus Rebbi Meir's tomb sits today- his light divided into two buildings.

 

The Jewish politics though continued in Tiverya. A century later the Ashkenazim came to their sefardic brethren for support. The ancient shul of the great ashkenazic leader the She"la Hakadosh was finally going to be returned to their community. The shul which had ancient traditions of being a place where Jews for centuries would come and pray on the shores of the Kinneret was chosen by Reb Yeshayah Halevi Horowitz, the great sage of Poland and chief Rabbi of Prauge to build his shul in the 1620's after arriving and failing to settle himself in Jerusalem and Tzfat. It had survived four earthquakes but it fell into disuse. Yet it still remained a place of Jewish pilgrimage. However, because of the great poverty of the Ashkenazic community the holy ruins and area was sold to the Greek Orthodox Church in order to put bread on their table. The sale had a provision that they could buy it back when they had money, but over a century had passed and the Greeks had built a large church on its location. It was then that the Jewish community woke up. It was time to redeem it. We can't let this happen.

 

The timing was right for us. The Jews were finally in the red and had good relations with the sultan in Damascus and they sent a delegation to him to ask him to enforce the agreement and allow them to redeem their holy building. I'm sure they threw a little "bakshish" his way as well.

Sure enough, he agreed! The Greeks though were not too happy about this and they sent their own delegation and argued that it was well and fine that the Jews had the money to redeem the building and their original debt, however since then a new building had been built and if the church was meant to vacate it and hand it over, the Jews should be responsible to pay the enormous amount for cost of their building. I assume they threw the sultan a nice share of "bakshish" as well.

 

 Much to the Ashkenazim's consternation the Sultan agreed with them as well- you're both right- and conditioned the return of the Jews upon paying for the building. It was money the Ashkenazi Chasidim did not have. Having no choice, the chasidim turned to their sefardic brothers and asked for their support to help redeem this holy place of miracles that was being desecrated by this Church. Yet the Sefardim remembering the Ashkenazim's reluctance to help them with the tomb of Rebbi Meir, turned their backs on them. And thus until today, the Greeks are still here in our land, in our holy place. We are still awaiting the miracles to redeem it.

 

See what I did there in the last sentence. I mentioned Greeks, I mentioned miracles, and of course Rebbi Meir, whose name means light. This has officially made this entire E-Mail- from an unemployed tour guide who's desperate to share his stories and inspiration of Israel any way and anywhere he can sneak it in- relevant to the upcoming holiday and the parsha of the week. Desperate times, people, desperate times…

 

Now I'm not the only one that makes the connection between Chanukah and the fights between Jews. Every year Chanukah time we read the weekly parshiyot that are all about the original fights that led us into our first exile in Egypt. It's not coincidental. It never is. In fact, the story of Chanuka itself from a purely historical perspective is not as much about our war against the Greeks and their vicious anti-religious decrees as it is about the civil war that took place between brother and brother. Between the Kohanecha ha'kedoshim, the holy Maccabees and their Hellenized brothers that joined the Greeks and fought against the very small minority religious establishment (pretty much since the beginning it has always been a minority). Can you imagine Jews, residents of Israel passing laws to desecrate our holiest spots, building houses of foreign worship, idolatry, paganism in the land where we are meant to be revealing the light of Hashem to the world? Houses of promiscuity, intermarriage, and culture were proliferating all over our land all under the guise of open-minded-ness", pluralism or getting-us-out-of-the-ghetto. Yeah, I didn't think you could imagine it…

 

At the same time let's say in your wildest imagination you could imagine the above. Could you picture yourself picking up a sword and fighting and killing those same brothers and fathers for those sins? Can you imagine yourself answering the call of Matisyahu of Mi La'Hashem Eilai- Who is for Hashem? Grab a sword and let's go to war for our beliefs. Or would you just blog about it in your weekly E-Mail or your facebook page while chewing on a latka and sufganiya. Not that I know of anyone like that… (can anyone eat these things without the jelly popping out on your shirt. I always get the booby-trapped ones… can someone please get me a napkin…). Well if you can't imagine that then maybe you should put down the donut. Maybe you should think again about the praise that you are saying of how Hashem gave the miracle and victory to the hands of the pure and the righteous and the studiers of the Torah rather than the hands of the impure, the sinners and the wicked ones. Those aren't just the Greeks. Greeks aren't sinners and aren't meant to be learning Torah. It’s against the sinners from us. We can handle the Goyim. It's our own that are more often than not the bigger problem.

 

That problem starts with the parshiyos hashavua that we always read this holiday. It's the brothers against Yosef. The many against the one. Yosef who is called a tzadik against…. Well, they're not wicked. They are the holy tribes of Israel. Yosef was the osek batorah- his father Yaakov taught him all he knew. The brothers? Well they also learned… but they were also people that went against the will of their father. They took their swords and killed the city of Shechem… It's confusing. Were they right in suspecting Yosef? Was Yosef the one who played with his hair all day the wicked one? Were his dreams of grandeur and leadership a usurping of the kingship of Yehuda. Was his lashon hara that he would snitch to their father his attempt of ridding himself of them so he could take it all for himself. Did it warrant killing him? Was he the Greek?

 

The She"la Hakodesh tries to explain the mistake of both sides along those lines. But in the end of the day, it's a Chanuka story of brother against brother. And perhaps it is for that reason I have seen suggested that we don't celebrate the victory of the war. There were too many tragedies on both of our sides. When the zealots kill out the sinners, it's nothing to throw a Chanuka party about. It's not the result we celebrate. It's cutting the tomb of Reb Meir in half and just building over our section. It's leaving the "Orthodox" in the hands of the Greeks on our holy sites and thinking we can sit back and pray in our sefardic synagogue. No we don't celebrate that miracle or fight at all, although we do thank Hashem that at least it was the side of good that won.

 

Rather the holiday of Chanuka is about finding a small little flask of pure oil. It's such a minor detail in the big picture of the historical, years long battles that led up to and after the establishment of the independent Jewish controlled "state of Israel" by the hands of the Chasmonaim. It's almost like one of the miracle side-stories that one reads about that took place in the 6 Day War or any of the wars of Israel today. There are so many miracles of battles, of people that were saved, of ways that Hashem misdirected the Arabs that attacked us. A small little oil flask story shouldn't be the heart of the whole thing. Yet it is. Because it’s the eternal lesson we are meant to take from this holiday and it carries with it the essence of fixing up the reason we suffered the tragedies that led to this division between Jews. The lesson being that we need to look for that little jug of untainted holiness and purity that could be hiding in all of the tumah, heresy, sins and external shmutz in the hearts of our brothers. We need to find that oil,  and that spark and light it in our Temple as unlikely, as pointless and short term of a solution as it may seem. Because we will be amazed to see that that holy oil will burn and burn and burn and will be lit in the courtyards of our holy city forever. We will witness the miracle of the eternal Jewish flame ignite once again. That is what we celebrate.

 

The tanna Rebbi Meir, the Talmud tells us, had neighboring youth that would drive him crazy. I'm sure the problem wasn't that they were playing loud music at night. They were sinning. They were bringing tumah into his neighborhood. Maybe they had parades of "pride" about their sins, maybe they drove through his neighborhood on Shabbos. Maybe they had phones that were not kosher. It doesn't tell us. But it reached a point where he couldn't take it anymore. He began to pray that Hashem take care of them. Genugt Shoin! His wife Beruria heard his prayers and like a good wife she corrected him. "We don't pray for the wicked to perish, Meir'l" she said. Dovid Hamelech teaches us in Tehillim  that yetamu chata'im min ha'aretz- the sins should perish from the land. U'reshaim od einam- and there will then no longer be anymore wicked people. We daven for them to do teshuva. We daven that their true light shines away all of their darkness. And so he prayed. And so he taught the world about the power of prayer for the repentance and returning of the children to their father. He is called Me'ir because he was able to light them up. He found the holy oil.

 

Fascinatingly enough there is an even deeper connection between Reb Meir and the holiday of Chanuka. The Ben Ish Chai and other works mention that there is a custom to light candles and make feasts on Chanuka in honor of Rebbi Meir. There are those that suggest that this is because when the ancient tradition of when his yartzeit really falls out, {This is despite the accepted celebrated date of Pesach Sheni. Thank you Rabbi Daniel Glatstien for your sources and an amazing shiur and book on the topic.} Even more fascinating it seems that the Shela Hakadosh as well whose yartzeit is recorded as a few days before Pesach also seems to have questionable sources. And wouldn't' you know it, descendants of the Shela claim that his yartzeit as well falls out in the month of Tevet. It seems even in their deaths there is that Chanuka connection that is meant to draw us to their graves. And perhaps non-coincidentally there is dispute, argument and confusion if there really is that connection or not.

 

The famous prayer of salvation composed by Rebbi Meir consists of three words. Eloka D'Meir Anani- May the God of Meir answer me. He teaches the world this prayer when he performs the miracle of saving his sister-in-law from a house of ill repute she was placed in by the Romans as a prisoner. He says this prayer after he found her to be pure, like the holy jug of oil even in the worst of the impurity of the Romans, just as pure as Yosef Ha'tzadik was when he was held in the belly of the cesspool of Egypt's impurity. The Maharsha notes that when Rebbi Meir invokes this prayer he is not asking for the God of himself -Meir- to answer him. We don't mention Hashem's name as the God of someone in our prayers when that person is still alive. Rather he was saying 'May the God who is me'ir; who shines light in the places of darkness, Who lit up the darkness of the Greeks with the holy oil of our Temple. May that God shine his light here as well. Perhaps that ability to find that light is the reason for the tradition that is tried and true that charity to Reb Meir will help one miraculously find lost objects. It is his light that revealed the finding of the sparks where it seems to be hidden. Where may be we never looked before. Where we didn't think it could be.

 

It may be that Rebbi Meir learned that prayer from his holy wife when she told him to see the Jew and not his sins. Every Jew has that holy spark and oil. We need to light it up and the sinners we perceive before us will disappear. They will disappear as quickly as it takes to say Ani Yosef Ha'od Avi Chai- I am Yosef is my father still alive. When Yosef's brothers, the tribes of Israel, heard those words all of their previous suspicious perceptions of Yosef disappeared. Ours can as well when we will see the Father that is alive in every single one of us. It will be a time when there are no Sefardim, no Ashkenazim, no chasidim and no mitnagdim, no Maccabees and no Hellenists, no Chareidim and no chilonim, no Democrats and no Republicans. We just need to find that hidden flask of oil.

 

Have a happy Chanuka and a hearty Shabbos and a light-filled week of miracles,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

" Es shlogen zikh aleh far di shtikeleh challeh.." They're all fighting for a little piece of Challa.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

7) Global warming may cause:

A) A rise in sea level

B) A fall of sea level

C) Multiple earthquakes

D) Migration of the magnetic north

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

Special Chanukah Treat for all you faithful readers!!!

I'm proud to present my latest

MISHPACHA MAGAZINE ARTICLE AND VIDEO TOUR

·         CASAREA; THE JEWISH/ROMAN CITY OF KINGS!

Special features include

SCHWARTZ AND SHWEKEY LIVE!

TULLY SCHWARTZ AND FRIENDS DANCE

And the most fascinating tour ever of one of Israel's hidden treasures

Click here to check it out!

https://mishpacha.com/watch-live-in-caesarea/

 

and click here to read my monthly column on this virtual tour

https://mishpacha.com/roman-holiday/

 

PLEASE LIKE, SHARE, POST

 and write the EDITORS of my Favorite magazine how much you enjoy these Virtual Tours, so we can keep them up!

 

Rabbi Schwartzes Chanukah Hit Compositions!

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/chasof-zeroah - My most lively Chanuka song and one you definitely need to sing by you Chanuka parties… Yitz Berry arrangements…

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/haneiros-halalu - You know you're bored with your old Haneiros Halalu and want something to lighten up you Chanuka listen to my composition and add it to your repertoire you will love it!

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/al-hanissim    My amazin Al Hanissim composition that will make you want to start dancing and getting into the mood. Arranged and sung by the amazing Dovid Lowy!

Everyone Else's Chanuka 2020 New Releases!

https://youtu.be/u6PvoWmHiUsMaccabeats Chanuka 2020 Candlelight

https://youtu.be/8YjLghDRrPE –  613 Acapella Ariaunuka?

 

https://youtu.be/4bNcy3v5TJk -Shir Soul Stevie Wonder Chanuka Mashup???

 

https://youtu.be/FePbZAs3dbs - Zusha- Chanuka is here!

 

https://youtu.be/O2n9-WsgPZg  Nissim Black, My good friend Jacob L. get's an upsherin and Hava Nagila like you never heard it before…

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

 

To Settle- Parshat Vayeishev Ahhh finally… yishuv Eretz Yisrael. Yaakov Avinu has come home and his only wish our parsha tells us is to settle in at the home he had been longing for. Bikeish Yaakov le'sheiv b'shalva- Yaakov wishes to settle in tranquility. But it doesn't work. It's not going to be easy to settle Eretz Yisrael. There will be challenges. And yet unlike all of the other challenges our forefathers had in the previous parsha's, these are internal problems. It's Jew V Jew. Brother against brother. The problems it seems that we still face until today and need to learn and internalize well.

 

The first sentence that introduces this desire of Yaakov to settle the land perhaps reveals what this drive to settle the land is all about. What we should turn towards when we are faced with the challenges the land presents us with. What we need to focus and keep in mind as we return and settle the land.

 

Vayeishev Yaakov b'eretz mi'gurei aviv; b'eretz Canaan-And Yaakov settled in the land where his father sojourned in the land of Canaan. The simplest understanding is that this is the land of his ancestors. No matter what Israel and the settling of the land throws at us. Wars, masks, politics, parnassa, chinuch challenges, it will never lose this. It's the land of our forefathers, it will always be that. And that is what will always make our settling here meaningful.

 

But it's more than the place where they lived. It is mi'gurei aviv- which  I translated the word as sojourning. Yet the Baal Hatanya notes there are three different variations of the root word "gur" and each one of them shed a light on the mitzva of settling the land. Each one contains an element in an appreciation we should have about living in Israel.

 

The first is as we said it is a place to dwell. It's where our ancestors dwelled. We connect to them merely by living, walking and settling in the place where they did. The second one is like the word ger- convert or stranger. Eretz Yisrael is the place where one can finally lose the stigma and aspect of our exile that we are strangers in a foreign land. Every where else, no matter how settled or secure we may fool ourselves into feeling we are is really not where we are meant to be. The gentiles are always right about this. We don't belong in their country. We will always be strangers there. Even we serve in the highest levels of government, even if we build their entire economies, even if we give them our blood sweat, tears and antibodies. We're still strangers. We're like those holy converts to our nation will tell you that they always felt before their conversion and finding their home amongst Jews. Moving to Israel we finally are like geirei tzedek that after a lifetime of searching for meaning and truth finally feel they are where they belong.

 

The third translation of ger is in the word Bamidbar (22:3) va'aygar Moav- and Moav feared or in devarim1:17) lo saguru mipnei ish- Judges are cautioned not to be intimidated or fearful from any man. Yaakov wished to settle in a land where he would not have to suffer anymore from any fear of any man or nation. This is not only a fear of physical danger, it is a fear of spiritual danger. As long as we are not settled in our land, there is a feeling that Yaakov repeatedly has that that failing will be held against him. It will open him up to the atmosphere and put him at the mercy of the nations and influences around him. It's like walking around the street or shopping without a mask. In my house on my couch I know I'm safe. I have nothing to fear. Outside in the world away from the safety of my four walls, away from the country where I'm meant to be. Without that protective shield that Hashem has over our country we will always have the fear of the knowledge that it is because we are not living where we are meant to, that we don't have the mitzva of yishuv Eretz Yisrael in our hands that does not allow us to live b'shalva- in tranquility.

 

There are unfortunately so many that take the heroic and gutsy move to finally move to Eretz Yisrael. They seek to live b'shalva finally. And then the challenges hit them and they forget why they really need to be here. Why there is nowhere else for them. What the eternal reasons for being here really are. As well there are those that those same fears keep them away from making that move. Parshas Va'yeishev, the portion of settling in the land begins with the opener that we always need to keep in mind. It's migurei aviv- it's the land where we no longer need to fear, the land where we will never be strangers, the land of our forefathers. It's time for va'yeishev.

 

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

 

Chanukah - 165 BC- OK Let’s break for a week from our chronological sites and eras to talk about the holiday of Chanukah. So in the year 165 about 100 years or so after Alexander the Great comes to Israel and spares the country and Greek culture enters the Jewish world, the country is once again in turmoil. The generals of Alexander divide up the country and the Northern Syrian Greeks, known as the Selucids, led by Antiochus passes laws against the Jews and the revolt begins. It ultimate culminates with the liberation of the Beit Hamikdash and the lighting of the Menorah which miraculous oil that lasted for eight days. You learned all that in kindergarden. But where can you experience and relive that in Israel.

 

So obviously the places to relive these battles would be where they took place. Mod’in where the revolt took place is today a big city, but Umm al Umdan right outside of it a shul was found there from the Herodian post Maccabee period and underneath it another Chashmonean period shul was found, so perhaps it was there. There is nearby as well a great place the Chasmonean village that has been created as well as Neot Kedumim that have all types of activities including olive oil making for Chanukah.

 

The battles of the Maccabees are certainly sites that we are familiar with. At Latrun by the Ayalon valley, Yehudah fights off miraculously Nikanor. I like to play lazer tag with my tourist kids there, that’s really reliving the action. A little north of that by Beit Choron you have the amazing battle fights off the general Seron. Even as far South as Yavneh which is right above Ashdod you have the final battle when we threw off the yoke of the Greeks. On the other hand, in the Gush Etzion area by Tel Zekariah right outside of Elazar is when the Maccabees suffered a defeat and Elazar was crushed by an elephant. The yishuv is thus named after him. Further down as you head to Chevron the village of Karmei Tzur is named after the Chashmonean city Beit Tzur where they sent the Syrians and their general Lysisus back to Syria.

 

The truth is though everywhere you go in Israel everyone is trying to get in on the action all of the museums have Chanukah activities, the parks have games and period-era costumes, and everyone is getting in on the action. But of course the most important Chanukah experience is to walk through the streets of the old city of Yerushalayim at night and see the neiros b’chatzros kodshecha- the candles, just as they were 2000 years ago lit in the courtyard, streets and window of our holy city. Am Yisrael Chai!

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE CHANUKAH  JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Mom: who ate the entire plate of Donuts?

Dad: I thought they I only had room for one and in fact there was room for eight! A true Chanuka miracle.

 When the police Corona inspectors crash your illegal Chanuka Party and you hide your dreidels and pull out your gemaros and pretend like your learning Torah in a legal capsule you'll know that we have come full circle.

 Which hand is best to light the menorah with? Neither, it’s best to light it with a candle.

How can you recognize a Hanukkah hippie? He’s the one with his hair in dreidel-locks.

How much Hanukkah gelt did the skunk get? One cent.

What’s the best Hanukkah gift for the person who has everything? A burglar alarm.

What do you call a speck that falls into the latke pan? An unidentified frying object.

Why don’t we eat clowns at Hanukkah? Because they taste funny.

What’s the difference between Hanukkah and a dragon? One lasts for eight nights, the other sometimes ate knights.

What’s the best thing to put into the sufganiyot? Your teeth.

What did the candles say when the menorah complained about getting too hot? Whoa, a talking menorah.

What did the older Hanukkah candle say to the younger one? You’re too young to smoke.

Why was the broom late to the Hanukkah party? It over-swept.

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Answer is A –  I'm no scientist or environmentalist. But I do read the papers and this one was pretty easy to figure out. First of all I have no idea what migration of North magnetic means or if that is even a sentence or a thing or just an Israeli mistranslation. Earthquakes are caused by the Syrian African Rift not global warming, so it obviously wasn't that one. So it was either rising or lowering sea levels. And since hurricanes and all melting icebergs and glaciers are all being blamed on global warming so obviously the sea is rising, which of course makes sense as when water heats it expands and rises. So another one right and the score now stands at 6 for Rabbi Schwartz and 1 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.

 

Friday, August 10, 2018

My Favorite Grave- Re'eh 2018 /5778


Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
August 10th 2018 -Volume 8 Issue 42 29th Av 5778

Parshat Re’eh
My Favorite Grave

Can you imagine a sign in a non-Orthodox, or perhaps even non- ultra-Orthodox synagogue that was advertising a field trip for an exciting fun and inspiring filled day visiting…. the graves of dead Rabbis. Do you think that it would generate a lot of enthusiasm? Do you think that everyone would run to get there really early in the morning so as not to miss the bus? How about in your shul? How many people do you think would be signing up for this one? More than for the concert, or the shul annual ball-game or picnic. I venture to say that more people might even show up for the board meeting or even to hear Donald Trump speak. (I don’t even think his supporters like to hear him speak, but I think even they would come to hear him before running around graves all day.). No I don’t think this should be billed as the can’t-miss event of the year.

Yeah, that’s one of the major differences, which I like to point out to my tourists, between American Jews and Israeli Jews. See here in Israel, as anyone who has been around on vacation would know, even if you didn’t take me as your tour-guide (shame on you!), that perhaps one of the biggest attractions of Israel and a must-do on your summer vacation is to visit the graves of great Rabbis and pray there. Go to the Meron to Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai and it is a mob scene, kind of like it used to look like 25 years ago on Lag Ba’Omer. Today, of course there are a half a million on Lag Ba’Omer. I venture to say that there are at least 100,000 visitors there over the three weeks of summer, from what I can tell. Go to the grave of Rabbi Akiva in Tiverya, or Maimonides. Swamped, is putting it mildly. Kever Rachel in Bethlehem, the cave of our Patriarchs in Chevron have also hundreds of thousands that have visited and prayed there this vacation. Then of course you have your hard-core guys that like to jeep out to the boondocks in the hills of the Galile or Golan and find the graves that are harder to get to. Some hike for days to get to these holy places. It’s pretty wild. There are some graves that are so far out you’d probably have to bury me when you get there if I tried to take my tourists there.

The amazing thing to me is however, not the amount of people but the diversity of them all. There are chasidim, lots and lots of them of course. But then you have your Sefardim, your people with knitted kipas and then you have hundreds as well, of men and women that are certainly not comfortable in their Kippa or are not dressed at all religiously. The annoying paper or satin Kippa sits awkwardly on their head, and the women keep pulling that really smelly shmatta silk scarfy thing around their bare shoulders or open necklines. Yes they are there as well. It is a chavaya of prayer for them too. This is our tradition, this is our heritage, this is a point and place that is holy and that I can feel I can connect to Hashem. I may not keep Shabbos, I may not always eat kosher, but I will not deny that my soul wants to connect to its Creator and that my summer experience wouldn’t be complete without some spiritual uplifting as well.

 It’s also a great place for the whole family to get together. To celebrate a birthday, have a reunion. Let’s meet by the cemetery, by the tomb. They have BBQ grills and picnic tables there. We can pray, bond and eat. The holy trinity of Jewish Israeli life. Yes even secular Israelis. And that my friends, is because even the most secular Israeli, has a neshoma that is more on fire more often than not, then those of you in the “other” “guldeneh medina”.

Now one of my and many of the Israelis favorite grave, or tzadik to visit is the tomb of Rebbi Meir Baal Hanes. There are both Ashkenzaic and Sefardic ones there. The Sefardim built theirs first. The Ashkenazim didn’t have money back then so they just very King Solomonically sliced the grave in half. Later on the Ashkenazim had money and built on their side. There’s a great little shuk there with all types of Judaica chatchkes. You can give some money and light some oil candles. And there are great picnic tables and lots of grills in the shaded roof. The bathrooms could use a bit of work though. They even opened up a hachnasat orchim hospitality room where you can free food and drinks. And it is packed. 

Interesting enough, although Rebbi Meir is popular today. It seems when he was around, he wasn’t necessarily as well-accepted. In fact, that I like to tell my tourists that as opposed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who is the most quoted Tanna in the Talmud, without a chapter that doesn’t mention his name, Rebbi Meir is the most un-quoted Rabbi. See, every Mishna that doesn’t have any name attributed to someone, which is left anonymous, is Rebbi Meir. Now although we know that it is certainly a Jewish value to repeat something over in the name of the person who said it, that rule seems to have been to the side when it came to Rebbi Meir. Particularly Rebbi Meir being a descendant of converts, there should be an even greater mitzva to show extra sensitivity to him. So why leave him anonymous.

 The Talmud suggests that it is because they didn’t trust Rebbi Meir. His teacher wasn’t a great guy. He was a known heretic, name Elisha Ben Avuya, or Acheir-the other, and yet Rebbi Meir never abandoned him. They didn’t believe that he had the power to repent. That one can take the good and leave the bad. Rebbi Meir did though. Even after he died and smoke rose up from Elisha’s grave Rebbi Meir refused to budge until the smoke abated and he felt that his teacher was forgiven. So the Rabbis didn’t accept him. They even called him acheirim- the others. They couldn’t get to the depth of his thinking. They ruled that the law does not follow him whenever he would debate his colleague Rabbi Yehuda. He was “chutz la’machane” outside the camp.

Yet today he has been resurrected. I think it is perhaps fair to say that he has even become one of the greatest fund-raisers of our time. Maybe even more than Oorah, or Kupat Ha’ir despite the fact that you can win great prizes or have every Rabbi pray for 40 days for you somewhere. See the charity of Rebbi Meir Baal Hanes was the first international pushka of the Jewish people. Way before those little blue and white charity boxes from the JNF promising to plant a tree for every Bar Mitzva boy (worst gift ever…). For centuries Jews all over the world would give charity in honor of the “God of Rebbi Meir” and beseech Hashem for all of their pressing needs. They would promise to light a candle for his soul and to connect themselves to this tzadik. And their prayers were answered.

In the “frum” world today Rebbi Meir seems to have somehow become associated with finding your lost car keys and other important things like your misplaced cell-phone. I don’t know of any source that explains why he became the lost object go-to man, I assume that it is the same old pressing- need thing that was centuries ago. Just that today our lost cell-phone and car keys are the equivalent of someone starving for food, getting killed by the Cossacks or dying of the black plague; the crises of old. I can tell you that it works though, as I’m sure every frum person out there can as well.

Now why is Rebbi Meir associated with charity? Why am I writing about him this week? And what does this have to do with the Parsha? There is an incredible insight that I saw from the great 19th century Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Nineo, the author of the Emes L’Yaakov that explains this custom with an incredible interpretation in a verse in this week’s Torah portion and a dispute in the Talmud that surrounds it. In the middle of the great speech of Moshe, that is the entire book of Devarim, Moshe tell us

Devarim (14:1) Banim atem la’Hashem Elokeichem- We are children of Hashem
The Talmud in Kiddushin brings a debate on this verse

Kiddushin (36.) You are children of Hashem- When you are behaving like the ways of children then you are called children. When you are not behaving like children you are not called children, these are the words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rebbi Meir says R. Meir says, in either case you are called children –

He then brings verses to show that we are children even when we are foolish, children when we are not trustworthy and don’t have faith, children when we are corrupt and even children when we worship idols and abandon God entirely. In the words of the prophet Hoshea (2:1) we are children that don’t even claim to be “ami- members of My tribe” even then Hashem says Bni Kel Chai- We are the children of Living God.

The Rashba notes that although the law is generally that we don’t follow the view of Rebbi Meir in this one particular rule the law is like him. In fact there is only one other case where this happens in the myriad of debates of Rebbi Meir and Rebbi Yehuda. The reason he suggests is because in this particular law we find that the great Rabbi Akiva, who the law generally follows ruled like Rebbi Meir. Where is that?  By another great story in the Talmud.

The Talmud tells us
Bava Basra (10.) The wicked governor of Jerusalem, Turnus Rufus, once asked Rabbi Akiva
If your God loves poor people then why doesn’t he give them their livelihood?”
Rabbi Akiva answered that Hashem leaves that to us in order that we be saved from Gehenom (through the merit of giving charity).

 Turnus Rufus responded “On the contrary they will be punished for helping them it is like a King who got angry at his servant and he puts him in prison and orders not to bring him food. If one person comes and feeds and gives him to drink will the King not be angry? And aren’t you, the Jewish people, considered servants of your King?”

Rabbi Akiva answered him ”It is rather like a King that gets angry at his son and puts him in prison and orders him not to be fed and someone comes and feeds him and gives him to drink. Will the king not send this man a present? And we are considered children of Hashem as it says ‘You are children of Hashem’.

The Talmud continues with TR saying that we are only children in times when we are behaving but in the times of Rabbi Akiva when we were exiled and the Temple had been destroyed we no longer enjoy that status. Rabbi Akiva however responds that we are commanded to give charity even in times of Exile and thus he quotes verses showing that even in galut we are the children of Hashem.

Zugt the Emes L’Yaakov, so we see that the entire source and permission to give tzedaka while we are in Exile is because we rule like Rebbi Meir. We are always children of Hashem. Religious, non-religious, Shabbat violators, and Israeli flag-burners and spit-on-Israeli soldiers Meah Shearim Neturei Karta guys. Ashkenaz, Sfard, Reform Conservative. Rabbi Meir rules we are all children of Hashem. A child is always a child.  A child can always come home. A child always deserves that his brother and sister will be there for them. It is why whenever we give charity we remember the soul and ruling of Rebbi Meir. It is the merit of Rebbi Meir that can return that which is lost from us. That which we need most to fulfill our purpose in this world, to be returned to us, so that we can in turn return to our Creator, our Father.

We enter the month of Elul this Shabbos, the Bnai Yissaschar tell us that Yaakov and Esau split the months of the year amongst each other. Yaakov took Nisan, Iyar and Sivan. The months that we left Egypt until we received the Torah. Esau got the next three months, Tamuz, Av and Elul. Yaakov however fought with Esau’s angel and took back the month of Elul. It is the month when we do teshuva, when we return to Hashem as we approach the New Year and Yom Kippur in Tishrei. Prior to that battle the Torah tell us that Yaakov was fearful and he was troubled. Rashi notes
Bereshit (32:8) he was fearful he might be killed he was distressed because he might kill acheirim-others.

The Koznitzer Magid notes that when Rashi says he was fearful that he might kill “acheirim-others” he wasn’t referring to Esau or his soldiers. This wasn’t a Golda Meir I-won’t-forgive-them-for-having-us –kill-their-children moment. Esau was trying to kill him and it is a mitzva to kill those who try to kill you. Besides Rashi should have just said he was scared he would kill Esau. Rather he explains Yaakov was nervous he might kill “Acherim”- the ‘other’, none other than the soul of Rebbi Meir, who was called Acheirim, that would  descend from the converts of Esau. The battle of Yaakov was the battle for the soul of Rebbi Meir. Would he remain by Esau or come on over to our side? Would we have the month of Elul for Teshuva or would it be another month of destruction like Tamuz and Av? Would we be children of Hashem? Would we have a mitzva of tzedaka? Will we be given the opportunity for a few dollars to help our brother and “buy” our way out of our sins, and receive that gift from Hashem?

Yaakov won. Elul is ours. We can do teshuva. We can go visit the grave of this great tzadik. We can rediscover that we are always Hashem’s children. All of us that are there. We are brothers and we are sisters. We have one Father. He’s waiting for us to return. One doesn’t have to go to Tiverya to find Him. But it definitely helps. Just make sure you take the right tour guide.

Have a uplifting Shabbos and a fantastic Chodesh Elul Tov,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Oif tsedokeh iz oich do chazokeh” Charity is also a habit.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q. A street dating to the 2nd Temple period, that ascends from the Shiloh pool to
Robinson’s Arch was built:
A. By Herod the Great
B. By Simon the Hasmonean
C. After the days of Pontius Pilate
D. By Nehemiah

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/fM14vcaDXhM- Yoni Z Ayo filmed in Eilat cool!

https://youtu.be/yyUFJMm3hv8  Shmuli Unger Mach a Bracha Elka loves this song!! And now the video

https://youtu.be/feiF540ofYw - Who else remembers Nyet Nyet Chekobov song…? This is supposed to be updated version… I dunno…

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HAFTORA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Re’eh Ashkenazim and Sefardim read different Haftoras this Shabbos. We’ll talk about the sefardic reading which we will make up in a double haftorah reading in two weeks from now. This week us Ashkenazim take a break from the haftoras of consolation to read the haftora of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. (Thank You Rabbi Spitz for your great article on this topic- check it out on ohr.edu )The particular verse of the hafotra that connects it to the Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos experience is the ending words of the haftora the vision that Yeshaya sees of the messianic time when

(66:23) And it will be every month as it is renewed and every Shabbat at its appointed time all flesh will come to bow before Hashem.
This vision of Yeshaya really incorporates the entire “big picture” of the Jewish peoples mandate on this world. We are put here to uplift the entire world. All of mankind shares these universal themes. The heavens are the throne of Hashem and the world is his foot-stool. The function of this world is to lift mankind up and bring the worlds together. Yeshaya sees the birth of the Jewish people as Hashem being our midwife. We are here to fulfill the hopes and dreams of the mother. To bring life to the world. To blow in it the spirit of Hashem. Each new month has in it the new opportunity to be born again. To put the past behind us and to embrace the new opportunities. And to start fresh and bring the redemption.
There is one really cool verse in the haftorah that I point out to my tourists regularly. They are in fact written on the Kotel. Well not actually the Kotel but if you go to Robinsons arch near the Southern wall excavations and look up by the bus in the middle of the wall you will see the words
(66:14)  U’rieesem v’sas libchem v’atzmoseichem kdeshe tifrachna- and you shall see and our hearts will rejoice and your bones like grass will sprout up.

These words, written on the wall archeologists suggest were perhaps written there after the destruction of the Temple in the third century when right before the advent Christianity in the Roman empire was accepted, the Jews were offered the opportunity potentially to begin rebuilding and someone wrote that on the wall in the hopes that we would be able to complete it. They knew their haftorah and Isaiah back then I guess. Well we have returned. Most of us that is… now we are just waiting to finish the job. Who knows? May it even be this month.

Yeshaya Hanavi Era of Prophecy (780-700 BC)- Yeshayahu was the author of his own book. It has 66 chapters and it his prophecies that make up the majority of the haftoras 15 in total. He was considered the greatest prophet since Moshe and he died (or more accurately was killed by King Menashe) at age 120 just as Moshe did.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Golden Calf  Aftermath- 1312 BC-  So Moshe gets atonement for the Jewish people. Afterwards he realizes that this Jewish sinning and idolatry problem is not going to go away. Hey, if we could do what we did right after hearing Hashem Himself on Mt. Sinai then what’s gonna happen in a couple of years from now when that is long behind us. As well, Moshe realizes that he ain’t gonna be around forever to pull off this incredible getting Hashem to let us off the hook deal. And he also recognized that Hashem was gets pretty angry and threatened to dump us. So he asks Hashem what will happen when he’s no longer around. “Show me Your Face,” Moshe requests, while the going seems good and Hashem seems to be in the right mood.
So Hashem tells Moshe that he will not be able to see His Face but he can see Him from behind. And in perhaps the most read and famous Torah reading, that we recite each fast day Hashem tells Moshe to stand in the nikrat ha’tzur- the grotto of the flint rock and He will pass before him. Moshe does so and Hashem teaches him the 13 attribuites of mercy telling Moshe that we just need to recite these words and emulate Hashem’s ways and all will be forgiven. Boom. No need for God to send come down to earth and impregnate any woman or kill his make-believe son. No just emulate his ways and recite the 13 and we’re good to go.

Now in Israel there are a few places that I talk about this story. First of all whenever I go by the multitude of churches that still desecrate this country. Which are certainly much more spiritually and Jewishly repugnant than any of the mosques that are around. After-all as Maimonides says Islam isn’t idolatry. Christianity on the other hand that denies that Hashem gave us these 13 attributes and that He will never abandon us and that had to come up with some ridiculous trinity concept certainly is. As well I also like to mention this story when we are by Rosh Hanikra and point out to my tourists what a grotto is and that there is flint all over here. not that this is the place but it’s a great place to envision it. Particularly when one closes ones eyes and listens to the sounds of the waves, which is the Kolot Mayim Rabim of the Mishbirei Yam that King David tells us the sound sounds of crashing waves of the sea are the sounds of the heavens and the greatness of Hashem.

But the last place I speak about this story, which I only recently just starts, is in Peki’in by the cave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who hid for 13 years there and sefarim suggest that this was the cave of Moshe that Hashem transported for Rabbi Shimon, who shared the soul of Moshe. He was there 13 years studying each year a different attribute and it is Rabbi Shimon that then came out and said I can save the entire world from judgement. That’s pretty cool I think. But that I only tell my really mystical tourists. And of course you guys that actually read this section of this extraaaa long E-Mail. Thanks!

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S REALLY TERRIBLE NEW MOON  JOKES  OF THE WEEK

What is Hitler’s least favorite month? Jewly.

Q: How do you know when the moon is going broke? A: When it's down to its last quarter.

Q: Did you hear about the great new restaurant on the moon? A: The food is excellent, but there's no atmosphere.

What do you call a moon out of orbit? A Lunatic!

Q: How does a man on a moon get his haircut? A: Eclipse it.

Q: Why wasn't the moon hungry? A: Because it was full!

Berel and Shmerel were sitting on a bench talking ... and Berel says to the Shmerel, "Which do you think is farther away ... Florida or the moon?" Berel turns and says "Hellooooooo, can you see Florida?"

In 2020 after the Israelis sent their first astronaut to the Moon, Ahmadeinajad, from Iran announced that they would be sending a man to the Sun. The engineers objected. "If you send a man to the Sun, he will burn up!" "What do you think I am, stupid?" he replied. "We'll send him at night!"

NASA had sent many shuttles to orbit the earth and attempted to include passengers of all races, colour and creed. One day, they realized they hadn't invited anyone from the clergy so they invited a priest and a rabbi to orbit the earth.
Upon their return, they were asked to go straight to the Media room to give the world their impressions of the experience.
The priest came into the room with a smile on his face. His statement was full of joy. He said, "It was totally amazing. I saw the sun rise and set. I saw the beautiful oceans. I'm truly in awe."
But the rabbi came into the room completely dishevelled. His beard was tangled, his kippot was askew and his tallis was creased. The reporters asked him whether he enjoyed the experience.
He threw his hands in the air and said, "Enjoy? Oy vay, you must be joking. How could I find time to enjoy? Every few minutes the sun was rising and setting! So it was on with the tefillin, off with the tefillinminchamaariv, mincha, maariv.... Oy Gevalt."
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Answer is A– Or maybe the answer is D. See, herod built the Temple Mount and the Beit Hamikdash as well as Robinsons arch which was a staircase that went up from the road below. So Nechemia who brough the Jews back here at thebeggining of the 2nd Temple period and Shimon who expanded the Temple in the times of the Chasmonaim are definitely wrong. As there was no Temple Mount structure then, although jews definitely went down to the Shiloah pool even in the first Temle period. So seemingly the right answer is Herod. However when I posted it on my Whatsapp Tour guide group, someone pointed out that in his recent hishtalmiyot- that is the continuing ed that we tour guides need to go on a Ministry of Tourism sanctioned and led tour once a year, the told him that recent excavations show that the road was built by Pontius Pilate who lived after Herod and all the coins they found there date from only that time. That is not to say that it wasn’t there before, and I’m not sure if there are sources that show he went all the way down to the pool. So this may have been a trick question based on the new finds. But I find it hard to believe that Herod didn’t have a road there as he built the whole structure and generally didn’t do half jobs. But I think that if someone answered Pilate he could argue its correct as well based on recent finds.