from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
February 6th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 16 19th of Shvat 5786
Mountain Calls
I'm on a train now. It's a long train ride, so that should give you a clue where I am. Israel doesn't really have train rides that long. Although they do have charging ports for my computer, which the train I'm on does not. So, if you get only half an E-Mail this week, blame it on the Europe. It's hard to write this here though. It's a lot of mesirus nefesh. See, outside my window is the Alps. The magnificent, glorious snowcapped Swiss Alps that supposedly it's said that Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch was quoted as saying that when he comes to Shamayim they were going to ask him if he saw the glorious Alps. According to tradition he even traveled from Germany to Switzerland to see them when he was in his 70's. I didn't want to wait until 70, so a convenient cousin's Zurich bar mitzva got me over here a bit earlier. And so here I am trying to write my E-Mail with this glorious world just passing me by out the window, as I try to focus on my screen and you… So, pardon in advance if I have more spelling and grammar mistakes than usual… You have no idea what I'm passing up by even just writing this thing.
Now, I know some of you are already ragging on me, about how can I leave Eretz Yisrael? Is this same Rabbi Schwartz that bashes everyone each week about visiting or living in other places. Didn't he just write a song about that (check out below if you missed it…). Knocking down the Kerister/Uman/Aushwitz people. The Africa/Bahamas/Cancun folks… And here I am in Shvietz! Talk about hypocrisy. Talking the talk, but not walking the walk. I'm fine with that. I plead guilty. I'll bang al cheit for that this Yom Kippur. But let me tell you something. I miss home. As beautiful and magnificent as Switzerland and the Alps are. It ain't home. It's not the place where my soul is soaring or has been longing to return to. But it is pretty cool and amazing, I'll be honest.
Like all of my vacations, or the truth is my life. The highlight of my day is really getting up before dawn and learning. It's quiet. It's peaceful. I have my coffee and breather first on the porch while the stars are still out and the morning light/ dawn is slowly starting to rise. That's my hour. That's when I most feel Hashem. And it's usually the only quiet moment of my day, week and month. That's an even more special time for me when I'm on vacation. When I don't have to go to work that day or sometimes even week. It's when I'm not home for Shabbos and don't even have to worry or think about my sermons or davening for congregation. That's when it's really my Olam Haba time. It's my me and Hashem bonding time. It's when I truly feel at peace.
The past two mornings in Arosa, Switzerland was really just like that, but even better. I got up to the still starlit sky over the the snowcapped glorious mountains right outside my porch. As I gazed at them in awe and wonder, feeling so small and so close to their Creator, I had a few thoughts. All of course connected to this week's parsha, of course. All of course the essence of our being and of our nation. You know, I would never offer you anything less.
The first thought was about why the Torah wasn't given on these mountains. I mean, this is a chasuna/ wedding between Hashem and Klal Yisrael. This is the Chupa moment. Why is Hashem doing a takana wedding in the Sinai desert on a much smaller and less glamorous hill. He needs to get a new wedding planner, I think. To be honest, I think some takana subsidized wedding halls in Lakewood are probably proportionately closer to the fancy wedding halls, then Har Sinai is to the Alps. Now it wasn't like He was on a budget or something, or that He even chinsed out on special effects. Thunder Lightening…very very frightening… for me… for me… Sorry just rhapsodizing a bit…. It seems He was going all out on special effects. So why go low on the hall or the hill- excuse the pun?
The answer that most of us will give to that question really hasn't changed much since we first heard the question (although not nearly as creatively) in kindergarten. And the answer is that little Har Sinai was very humble, and Hashem wanted to show that humility is important for getting the Torah. It's a good answer. It's a good reason not to make a fancy wedding as well. Even a fancy takana wedding. Humility, modesty, are all good Torah traits. We should take a lesson from that. But at the same time, we're not in kindergarten anymore. We've graduated. It's time to reexamine the question and perhaps find something deeper. Because to be honest. Hashem is glorious. He wanted us to be in awe. He wanted us to remember this moment for ever. So why not go all out. He was doing so anyways. It's like a guy that makes a wedding in one of those old shlocky halls and then has a 50-piece band and Shwekey, Leiner, Fried and MBD entertaining. Either you're going all out. Or you're not.
On that same note, I had another question standing out there in the morning under those mountains. How come they're not in Eretz Yisrael. I mean it is Hashem's favorite place on Earth. It's the land that has everything. That He keeps telling us is good. That no place else has everything like we do. Not their fruits, not their hills, valleys, not the Torah, not their tefillos and certainly not their Falafel. In Israel, no self-respecting Israeli- although that's kind of an oxymoron unfortunately, will ever buy a falafel that isn't straight out of the oil pan and has been sitting in a metal bowl. So why don't we have Alps here either. Don't get me wrong, we have the Chermon, it's glorious and magnificent, but it ain't the Alps. So why not put them here. Why should losers like myself, have to leave our Holy Land to travel on an airplane where they speak some German sounding language, "Achtung Juden", to see these wonderous awe snowcapped inspiring peaks?
To be honest, as I sat out here looking at these peaks, this morning, I had this incredible thought. I felt like I was looking at spiritual pornography- to be quite graphic. I was checking out this beautiful snow-capped woman walking down the street, but she wasn't my wife. She was pretty. She was beautiful. Her glory was calling to me to check her out. I even understood why some people would get sucked into that. But I felt like you do, sometimes when you pass someone like that on the street, that perhaps isn't dressed so modest, that I needed to avert my eyes. It wasn't my wife. It's not the mountain that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, or to be honest even have any real quality time with. That mountain is pretty and even awesome to look at, but can she make chulent? Can she fulfill me. Can she help me become the person I want to become? Is she someone that I want to have a home with? Build a family with? Because again, to be brutally honest, life, what I'm looking for, and ultimately achieving the happiness and completion I want for myself, is a lot more than having a pretty, even gorgeous thing to look at and show off.
It's that thought, that I believe keeps most men from straying, and even the ones that do that ultimately bring them back with full regret for their indiscretion. It's why we turn our eyes to not get sucked into that honey trap. We know it's wrong for us. It's the call of the Moabite women from their tents, to come in an get a quick bargain, that Bilam used on us. Yet, at the same time, why doesn't Hashem bring that mountain to His land? Why not have those beautiful mountains of Switzerland, glorify His own living room? Why have these spiritually scantily dressed pornographic pictures of other places around the world, like Cancun, the Bahamas, Spain, South America, Africa, Miami and Orlando filling up Jewish Frum Magazines for Pesach vacations, when the only place where we all know He wants us to be for the upcoming holiday is in Yerushalayim together with Him?
And I was thinking and pondering this deep question, I believe that is precisely the answer. The answer is that is precisely why most people prefer Pesach in their home rather then these exotic locales, or certainly regular Shabbosim. Even the ones that go away, and I'm really not judging here, I understand and even appreciate the beauty and niceness and convenience of vacation, of getting away to someplace different, of not having to "make" Yom Tov. But even the ones that go away, that wander and stray. They all say the same thing when they come back. "There's no place like home". Nobody makes their house into a Pesach hotel. Nobody makes Cancun in their backyard. Nobody imports the Alps across their patio window. They're fine with a picture of it on the wall. But they want their home to be home. To be haymish. To be theirs. To be reality.
Yidden, don't have fancy full-time live-in chefs making us gourmet exotic "tastes just like Chametz" cakes and pizzas in their home for Pesach. We don't have Sushi chefs and grill masters living with us all the time preparing us these exotic world-class meals and hotel breakfasts at home. We have Mom's cooking. We have Bubby's kugel recipe, we have Tante Chana's knaydel soup, and Savti's sponge cake and Totty's special chulent. We have food whose main ingredient isn't some exotic spice, rather it's the love that's put into it. It's an ingredient that no culinary school will ever be able to compete with. It's what gives Mama's cooking food the flavor of Mannah, that no matter what you taste or imagine, or what shape or dish it is, will still have that same holy flavor. It's why Shabbos food always tastes better. It's why nothing comes close to Mom's kitchen.
Do you know what the message of Har Sinai is that Hashem wanted us to appreciate and why He chose that less glorious mountain for the locale of the giving of the Torah. He wanted us to understand that we don't need the Alps to get the Torah. It ain't in any fancy locale. The thunder, the lightening, the mind-blowing revelation isn't in Cancun or in the Alps. It's not Ba'Shamayim and it's not me'eiver la'yam. It's on a small mountain top in wilderness. It's finding and seeing the beauty and real glory that comes from within and that's built and emanates from that smaller more attainable little hilltop that we're married to, rather than the more exotic one you see in the magazine. It's understanding and appreciating the warmth and beauty of a backyard wedding, or the one that years ago they did in the local shul courtyard in the shtetl rather than some destination wedding, where nobody really cares much about the bride and the groom, but rather are just checking out the awesomeness of the beaches, the locale and the sand, the sun, the slopes and the ski and all of the other local attractions and amenities. That's Har Sinai. That's where Hashem wanted us to get married.
But there's something deeper as well. I saw an incredible Chasam Sofer. He notes that Hashem tells Moshe in the prelude and days before our wedding on Mt. Sinai that He will lift us up carry us to bring us to Him on Kanfei Nesharim- which is mistranslated as the wings of eagles, but is in fact biblically and more accurately Griffins or vultures, to be more crude. He asks why it is that Hashem doesn't use a more politically and spiritually correct kosher bird, like a Yonah- a dove or pigeon that Bnai Yisrael is always faithfully compared to throughout the prophets and specifically in Shir Ha'Shirim- the song of songs, the ultimate love song of us and Hashem. His answer is because the Nesher is noted as the most unkosher of birds. It has all four signs of birds that are not kosher (predator, no extra toe, no crop, and a non-peelable gizzard). What Hashem is telling us, he writes, is that even if we are as non-kosher as a Nesher, He will bring us to Him. He loves us. We're His special, treasured, chosen nation. He made our wedding on Mt. Sinai, that small little haymish hill, to show us that He doesn't need the Alps. He's not looking for us to be the Alps. He doesn't need our fancy Beketche… to quote the recent song going around. All He needs and want is you. Is us in all our human glory, frailties, pimples and even tumah. Hashem dwells with us even in that state. He can lift us up and bring us to Him even then. He loves us even when we're not dressed up all fancy for a wedding or spent two hours having our hair and makeup done. He loves us and is married to us in our house robe and slippers.
He made that wedding for us and gave us that Torah even in Chutz La'aretz. He wanted to show us that even there He's willing to come to us and take us in. But he preceded that giving of the Torah with the message, that this wasn't just going to be just some fling and something that we just experience out there isolated and alone in the wilderness. It was a commitment to come and build a home with Him in His country. In our place. In the place where heaven will always meet earth.
Maybe just maybe that's why in Eretz Yisrael, the original Tziyonim dropped the levush and wear sandals and shorts and kova tembels. In Chutz La'aretz perhaps you need the beketche. In your living room, you don't need to be dressed up like the Alps. Our wedding with Hashem and the glory that we experienced on our exodus from Egypt was when we were on the 49th level of impurity. We weren't pretty. We had one mitzva in our hand. We sacrificed the god of Egypt, we took their lamb, and we roasted it and put its blood outside our doorpost and said we want something different in our house. Hashem saw that and skipped over all of our past sins and scooped us up and brought us to Him in that state. When we were in the gutter. Because He wasn't looking for the Alps or some exotic sin-free nation. He was looking for a wife. A treasure. A nation that will always be connected and one with Him. One that may not always be knock-out head-turning gorgeous, but when that He knew He could never live without or be revealed from anywhere else.
We read the parsha of the giving of the Torah, the week after Tu Bi'Shvat, the new year for the trees of Israel, the holiday of our land. As well our eyes already turn towards the upcoming month of Adar and the holiday of Purim. The sin and ultimate decree and perhaps even the message of Purim, our sages tell us, is that we were ne'heneh mei'seudaso shel Achashveirosh- we enjoyed and relished in the glatt kosher meatboards and beautiful exotic feast of Achashveirosh. We liked it in galus. We thought we had made it there. It was beautiful. It was convenient. It was even spiritual- kind of. But it was spiritual pornography. It was a bedatz eidah chareidis kosher magazine with perhaps no pictures of women in it, but with siren calls to mountains and places that were far, far, away from the Bais Ha'Mikdash. We were using the Bais Ha'Mikdash vessels Hashem gave us; the longing for ruchniyos, the yearning for holiness and for connection to Him, and we were knocking on harlot's doors in the spiritually bereft shtetlach of Shushan, Kerister, Uman and Lakewood, and yes even the Swiss Alps. We had Tu Bishvat seudos there and spoke about the kabbalistic meanings of the fruits on our fancy well bug checked fruit platters. But we lost sight of the good land and our home that Hashem was waiting for us to return to and come back and eat them with Him in His home-cooked- haymish gi'bakt kitchen.
So, He brought Haman upon us to remind us. He always does. He first sent us a few angry text messages and warnings. He even had kidnapped daughters, like Queen Esther, who He took along with so many other Jewish girls. He raised the level of anti-semitism up and up and up. Till we realized that perhaps Shushan, as beautiful and as kosher and as spiritual as it may've seemed wasn't really our wife. Wasn't who we should be looking to build a home with or in. That they will turn on us. That they really don't love us and won't be faithful to us. That like that Moabite woman sitting in the door of her tent calling to us, are only there for our money. To drain us. To distance us from our home. From Sinai. They're not there to complete us, they're there to consume us. To nullify and erase us. To make us feel small in front of their beautiful Alps. But never to build a home together with us. That's the story of Purim. That's how it all turned around. That's how we came home. That's where we are coming to today as well.
My flight back to Eretz Yisrael is scheduled for Sunday. I don't really want to fly home on Swiss Air. Too many goyim on the flight. They didn't even have a kosher meal for me. I'm ready to leave today on Hashem's wings. I've seen enough. I want to come home. I saw a fantastic story about Rav Kook who upon returning from America in 1924 from a fundraising mission together with Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstien of Slobodka, and the Kovna Rav Rav Shapira, on behalf of Torah institutions in Eretz Yisrael. It said that as he approached Shaar Ha'Gai coming closer to Yerushalayim he became discerningly more and more elated and emotional. He gazed out at the beautiful hills of Yerushalayim and turned to those in the car and said.
"In America, as well I saw owering mountains all around- the handiwork of Hashem. But those mountains were silent; they did not speak to us. These holy mountains of Eretz Yisrael though speak and call out to us. They speak clearly and their lucid voices enter our ears, effortlessly penetrating to the depths of our heart and souls."
I heard that silence in the Alps. I long for the music of the hills of my home. May we all soon hear that song.
Have a Mountainous Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" A barg mit a barg kennen zikh nit tsuzamen kumen, ober a mentsh mit a mentsh kennen.- Mountains cannot meet, but men can.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/eretz-tu-bishvat - Hot off the Press! My Latest New Fun Release!! Eretz Yisrael… you gotta listen till the end to the fun surprise English part…
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/vatem - This week's parsha- the promise of wings of Nesharim- returning to Hashem. My incredible moving and awesome kanfei nesharim composition. Once again Dovid Lowy vocals and arrangements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWrTZqv7HvM&list=OLAK5uy_l49sRBCclXCczipzxo32OM_Uf8Pd2Vork – And the Last Shwekey's Shabbos Drop -Pizmonin- For all my Syrian friends
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/torah-hakedosha – I composed this special song upon my father's Sefer Torah dedication to our Shul. The words recall to us the giving of the Torah on Sinai and our prayer "to" the Torah to beseech Hashem on our behalf. Beautiful!
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/vzakeynu-lirot-banim – And of course, this fun composition of mine that the great Yitz Berry did for me, upon the birth of my first grandchild. That Hashem merit us with seeing children and grandchildren who follow in the ways of Torah and Mitzvos V'Zakeinu
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
19. The cluster of the world's northernmost Doum Palm is located near the city of _______
Which of the following statements about the Bahá'à Faith is true?
A. A large community of followers of the Bahá'à Faith currently resides in the State of
Israel
B. The Bahá'à Faith originated in Shi'ite Islam in Egypt in the Middle Ages
C. The Bahá'à Faith advocates universal ideas of equality and justice
D. The Bahá'à Faith is widespread among patriarchal communities that oppose
modernity
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
The Return - 370 BC- And it was in the 71st year since Nevuchadnezzar had first started the exile of the Jewish people from Israel with the conquest and exile of Yehoyakim, Koresh the new King of the empire of Persia allowed and even assisted the Jews to return to Israel to rebuild the Temple. He and Darius were aware of the prophecy that was given at Belshatzar's feast and the writing on the wall. They understood that the reason why the Jewish people were exiled was because of their sins, but after 70 years that bill was paid. And thus they agreed at the beginning of their battle with Babylonia that they would allow the Jews to return. Darius only lived for one year, but on his death bed he called in Cyrus/ Koresh and commanded him to keep that promise.
Now our sages, tell us that this declaration and return of Koresh, really was only phase one. The real 70 years wasn't going to be up until the conclusion of the story of Purim. In fact this return, like the "First Aliya" to Israel in the 1800's really flopped with many returning to the diaspora. As well the earlier returns to Jerusalem, of Donna Gracia in the 1500's the students of the Baal Shem and the Gra in the 17 and 18 hundreds, as well as of Reb Yehuda Ha'Levi and the return to rebuild the Churva shul all pretty much flopped. Many died, many returned. The time wasn't ripe. The land didn't respond.
This goes back to almost every attempt at return until modern times which is truly miraculous. This starts with this first return of Zerubavel, the son of Shaltiel, the son of the former King Yehoyachin who was born in exile in jail in Persia. Why does Hashem give us all these false starts?
Our sages explain fascinatingly enough, it's because Hashem saw He couldn't wait too much longer. We were getting too comfortable. The Jews were assimilating. And a little bit longer there would have never been anyone to take out. That would be willing to answer that shofar blast. So Hashem started an early redemption. 42,000 went up with Zerubavel. There were great scholars and Rabbis and leaders and fascinatingly enough even wealthy people joined the team. They set our roots back up there. They created the foundation. It will take a few more years. It will take Haman and Purim for this work to finish. To pick up the pieces, where as we will see this failed beginning started. But the taste of the redemption begins now. We're on the way home.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE MOUNTAIN JOKES OF THE WEEK
How do you make a Swiss roll? Push him off the Alps.
God created the first Swiss and asked him:
"What do you want?"
"Mountains," replied the Swiss.
God created mountains for the Swiss and asked him, "What else do you want?"
"Cows," said the Swiss.
God created cows for the Swiss. The Swiss milked the cows, tasted the milk and asked, "Will you taste, dear God?"
The Swiss filled a cup with milk and handed it to God. Dear God took the cup, drank it and said, "The milk is really quite good. What more do you want?"
"1.20 Swiss Franc."
Rabbi Schwartz returns to Israel. My congregants turn to me and ask
" So..did you enjoy your trip to the Swiss Alps?"
Me: Yes, it was amazing.
Them; Did you enjoy the views?
Me: Mmm...No.
You: Why?
Me: The Mountains blocked the view.
Hashem was showing off the mountains he made to his angels.He showed them the Alps, the Himalayas, and the Pyrenees.
Impressed, the first angel said "that's nice, got any more?"
Hashem replied, "oh yeah, Andes.
Why do you never play hide & seek with mountains? Mountains peak.
What is green and glides down a mountain? A skiwi
I like mountains. But volcanoes are ash holes. (sorry I couldn't resist…)
Why are mountains so funny? Because they are hill areas.
While on vacation in Switzerland I see people my age out there climbing mountains, skiing and ziplining and here I am feeling good about myself, because I managed to get my leg through my underwear without losing my balance.
A cloud, a lake and a mountain are having a big argument, they are all yelling claiming each one is the greatest form of nature alive. To settle this, they come up with a little challenge: Who can kill the most humans with a single action.
The cloud goes first. With all of it's cloudy might, it clumps up all the energy possibly and it produces the most majestic form of lightning you could ever imagine. It travels furiously towards the ground and it savagely ruptures a man in half and burns his remains into a handful of ashes.
The lake goes second, knowing it was at a disadvantage it waits patiently until there's a full moon and a high wind so the odds are slightly in its favor, and it manages to produce a very decently sized wave that drags and kills a dozen of college students that were lake swimming that night.
Finally it's the turn of the mighty mountain. He won in a landslide.
Did ya hear about the pilot that flew in to a mountain? He had a bad altitude.
Why are mountains always tired? Because they don't Everest.
Why did the girl break off with the frostbitten mountain climber? She was lack-toes intolerant..
A blizzard hit a remote prison way up in the mountains, the faculty were all evacuated but there was no time to save all the inmates. After the weather calmed down, the roads were snowed over, and would be impassable until the thaw come springtime. Rescuers were flown in to find the the inmates had all perished due to the unbearable cold. It seemed the only think left to do was to remove the bodies to give closure to the families of those involved. It would be a great expense to clear the roads, or could the deceased prisoners be able to be flown out?
When interviewed afterwords, the head coordinator was asked about the logistics of the operation. After considering all options, the choice was made to airlift the bodies after weighing the frozen cons.
Why did the chicken lay its egg on the mountain? It wanted to make an egg-roll.
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The answer to this week's question is C–Back in the game! I got this one right. The Bahai is a fun religion. It's a breakoff of Islam in the 19th century by this guy Baluha or something. They felt that Islam had lost its way and really the religion is one of tikkun olam- l'havdil. Bringing all religions together and planting gardens all over the world. The Muslims of course killed them, they don't like competition much. It originated in India where they're mainly based. But their head was held and died in prison in Akko. Which made it holiest place in the world for them, and which they daven facing. According to Wikipideia they're the fastest growing religion based on proportion after ultra Orthodox Judaism… yup that's cool! The Doum trees in Eilat are the most and quite magnificen it's where Rabin signed peace accords with Hussein of Jordan if I remember correctly. So got em both right and the new score is Rabbi Schwartz having a 13.5 points and the MOT having 5.5 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.
