The Sound of Sirens- Parshat Vaykahel Pikudei Hachodesh 5786 2026

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

March 13^th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 21 25^th of Adar 5786

 

Parshat Vayakhel-Pikudei/ Ha'Chodesh

 

The Sound of Sirens

 

I apologize in advance if the E-mail is incoherent this week. Waking up and running to a bomb shelter every few hours because ballistic missiles might be falling on your head and destroying your house and killing your family isn't a situation that generally lends itself to the communication of well-thought-out deep insights. My brain is frazzled and I don't even have a handful or more of children in the house without school driving me nuts. It's just Aliza. Although, a frazzled anxiety ridden wife can be a handful as well. Almost as much as a couch stranded, tourist-less husband without sleep can be. Yeah, I don't even think the word is incoherent even. I think incomprehensible is the better word. But as I said, my brain is too frazzled to think much these days. Welkam to Eezrael 2026. Part III or IV of the Gaza/ Hezbollah, Iran/ Mashiach wars Movie series.

 

So yes, this latest phase of the war has brought things to a new level of insanity. It's like just when you thought things were getting quiet. Boom! Hello. Freddy is baaack. This time with ballistic sirens. With really huge scary missiles. Not those little baby katyushas that were until now. Wasn't Hezbollah done with already? Didn’t we beeper them? Didn't we destroy Iran's nuclear threat. It's like Hashem keeps telling us, tatteleh… "It ain't over until it's over". Or until the Fat Kohen sings in the Beit Ha'Mikdash. I hate those sirens so much. They're so jarring. Which is kind of the point. I get it. It sends a shiver down your spine. You look back at your house as you make your way to the miklat/shelter and like Lot's wife you take one look back and wonder if it will still be there. I always take my favorite coffee cup with me. I like that cup. It's hard to find a cup that keeps my coffee warm, the way I like it. We've been through a lot together. And then as I continue to make my way to that shelter in those thirty or so seconds we have- at least when it's from Lebanon, Iran gives us a bit more time.- I turn around and make sure Aliza's on her way too. After-all what good is a coffee cup if there's no one to make the coffee.

 

You know what I was thinking last time I was in the bunker? That if Mashiach finally decided to get his donkey over here already and blow that shofar that would ring out to the world, do you know what everyone would do? They'd probably run to the bunker with their coffee cups. Hey, how are we supposed to know? They sound the same. Woooo oooohh woooo oooohww woooo ooooohhhww. Tekiah. Shevarim. Tekiah. Isn't it crazy that we're living in a time when the shofar blasts of these sirens are coming day in and out. That the yovel has come to the land. Which the Talmud tells us is a yababah- a continuous blast that is heralding in freedom to the land and the world. That's the only sound we hear again and again and again. The alert I get on my phone that jostles me even sounds like that word. yababa yababa yababa…

 

Uru yisheinim mi'shinaschem- Awaken sleeping ones from your slumber- is not a spiritual homiletic interpretation of the lives we are living. It's the reality. And it's non-stop. At 12:00 AM. At 2:00 AM. At 4:00 AM. But that last one was just a warning that we might have to go to the shelter. So don't sleep too comfortably. Nice of them to tell us that. As if we were going to any ways…

 

So, I've got sirens on my head. Literally. I'm hearing shofars. I'm waiting for Mashiach. For this to be over already. So to get away from this all, I take a peek at the parsha. What do you know? We've got sirens there too. I can't get away from this thing. There's no where to hide. There ain't no mountain high enough…Ain't no valley low enough… Ain't no river wide enough…To keep me from getting to you. I told you. I'm losing it. So where are the sirens in this week's parsha? Get ready. IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES THERE WILL BE A MESSAGE AND AN ALERT COMING YOUR WAY. PREPARE TO MAKE YOUR WAY TO A PROTECTED AREA WHERE YOU CAN BE SAFE AND NOT BE INSPIRED. I told you. I'm losing it…

 

This week's parsha concludes the book of Shemos. It's a double whammy. That's like one siren after another with the last two parshas of Vayakhel and Pikudei being read and in fact the longest Torah reading of the year. Isn't it appropriate that the longest reading should be the ones right before we finish the Book of Redemption. A book that it seems has a hard time getting to the end and concluding. Oh and in case two parshas isn't enough for you, Our Rabbis threw in one more, it's parshat Ha'Chodesh this week as well, when we read the last of the four supplemental readings of the mitzva of the New month of Nissan and the mitzva of Kiddush Ha'Chodesh and of course the laws of the Pesach sacrifice the upcoming holiday of our Redemption, for real this time.

 

The parsha and book concludes, not with the Jewish people coming into the land. Not with us being safe from our enemies. Not from us establishing a Jewish national democratic homeland where all religions can practice their faiths freely. Not with Shwarma and falafel stores, apple orchards and wheat fields and not even with Kollels, yeshivos and places to study Torah all day long. The Sefer Ha'Geula- the Book of Redemption didn't even end with the revelation of Hashem on a mountain where we stood together united finally, for a few minutes at least, as one man with one heart. That's not the end of the story. It's not about getting the Torah that we can learn all day.

 

The end of the Book, the conclusion of the redemption, ends with hammers and nails and the construction project of Eternity. It's building the home for Hashem amongst us. Within us. It's returning to the Garden of Eden life, where Hashem is walking with us in the garden. All the time. Listen to the last words of the Seforno on this Book.

 

Shemos (40:37) And when the Clouds (of Glory) went up from the Tabernacle the Children of Israel traveled- and so much was the Shechina permanent in the Mishkan, that it didn't move from there until the Bnai Yisrael needed to travel. This didn't happen in Shilo and neither in the First or Second Temple. But it will be even greater than this in the Third Temple, may it be established and built speedily in our times. As it says in Zecharia (2:9) and I will be there, says Hashem, a wall of fire surrounding you and with honor I will be within it

 

That's the end of the story. That's what these sirens are all about. Why do I say sirens? Because as I said, the prelude to this is sirens around the land, but a different type of siren. One that you may miss if you're sleeping. If you're not tied in. But who's sleeping these days?

 

See in Parshat Vayakhel, right after all of the description of the donations and work that was being done for the Mishkan is elaborated and reiterated once again, the Torah tells us that the construction people came to Moshe that the people have brought too much. They don't stop. They keep coming and coming. Dai Kvar. It's enough. So what does Moshe do?

 

Ibid (36:6-7) Va'yaviru Kol ba'Machaneh- he passes the sound through the camp.

 

Wooooo ooooohwww wooooh ooooohhh. He turns on the sirens. He sounds out alerts.

 

"Each man and woman should not do anymore work for the donations of the Kodesh."

 

Sirens mean stop work. No more tourists. No more holy work. The job is done. And it was.

 

Va'yikaleh ha'am mei'havi- The people stopped bringing and the work was enough and even more.

 

Do you know what the sign of the Geula is? It's the siren telling us that we've done enough. We can stop doing. We don't need more tzedaka. We don't need more merits. We don't need more Torah. More Yeshivos. More achdus. We just need to sit and bask in the glory of Hashem. The work is done. Stop trying to fix and to donate. It's Shabbos. Va'Yichulu Hashamayim Vi'Haretz- the heavens and earth were finished on that 7^th day of Creation. It's the same word as

 

Va'Yichalei Ha'am li'havi- the nation stopped bringing. They were concluded. We've come full circle. Hashem created the world in 6 days and on Shabbos He rested. We now have left Egypt. We've built Him his home and now it's time to rest. To sit in His light. To dwell with Him and Him with us. The clouds have come down. And as Rashi tells us it was a sign that the sins of the past, of the Eigel, of the false idols, of our exile, of Egypt and everywhere else has been forgiven. Shabbos is here. The Redemption has concluded. Listen to the sirens.

 

The Talmud in Shabbos and the Midrash learn out a rather strange law from this verse. It tells us that hidden in this command not bring anymore is the law and prohibition of hotza'ah on Shabbos or what we like to call "carrying". Moshe was telling them that Shabbos is coming and they shouldn't carry any more. See, without this verse we wouldn't know that "carrying" from one domain to another is called a "melacha"- a prohibited work on Shabbos. But since it says that they "stopped carrying and the melacha was enough"- we derive that carrying is also considered a prohibited creative act on Shabbos.

 

Now although this verse on the simple level doesn't seem to be talking about not carrying on Shabbos, the Talmud notes, but rather for them to stop because the work was done and it was too much already. Yet, fascinatingly and of course never coincidentally enough, we learn out from the verse by Yom Kippur, where it also says that word of passing a shofar sound throughout the land. And just as there where it tells us to blow the Shofar it's talking about on a day that it's prohibited to do work, Yom Kippur, over here as well it is a reference to stopping from carrying on a day that is prohibited, Shabbos. Yet, now if you think about it, is where it becomes cool and today.

 

For the Shofar blast over there on Yom Kippur, the siren, is talking about the Yovel year. The year that heralds in the redemption. That freedom is cried throughout the land. That all slaves go free. That we have been forgiven. That there is nothing left that we have to do. It's why we blow the shofar each Yom Kippur at the end of the day. After ne'ila that one moment that we taste Gan Eden. When we are alone locked/na'ul together with Hashem. That's the siren sound. That's where we derive on Shabbos that we are prohibited to carry. To move anymore from one reshus to another domain. On Shabbos we have to understand that our work is over. We're there. We're redeemed. Everything that needed to be done for the Shechina to rest with us is ready. We just need to sit down at the Shabbos table. We need to rest. We need to be present. We need to stop trying to move. To carry. To change. To fix. We need to just put away our phone and be One with the clouds of Glory that are around us.

 

Do you know what the ultimate teshuva and perhaps the hardest and final teshuva that we need to do is? It's not to change. It's not to fix. It's not to bang on our chest. It's not to make new resolutions. It's not to give more tzedaka, charity, learn more Torah, burn more sheitels or phones, add new takanos. It's about stopping and finding Hashem within us. It's returning to our core. To our essence. It's not about saying I'm not good. I have to change. It's about seeing how holy and good you are. How much Hashem is already there within you? How the clouds of Glory are hugging and protecting you. Stop moving. He's here. Get up from your slumber and see what's in front of you. Open your eyes.

 

It's not dreaming about a better place or world or better you. About returning to Eretz Yisrael about living a perfect life. About doing things and bringing things to build the Bais HaMikdash. Everything is here already. You just need to put the pieces together. Hashem loves us. His Shechina and His hand is showing itself like it has never before. In a wall of fire. Greater than even in the wilderness, in the Mishkan in Shilo, in the first or second Temple as the Seforno says. Tens of thousands of ballistic missiles falling and almost nothing is happening. We just keep running to a miklat and back again and again. Because we don't see the geula. We don't hear the shofar's siren telling us to stop moving from place to place. Just come home. The work we've done. The 2000 years of Exile that we labored, that we died, that we sacrificed, that we were martyred, that we prayed and longed for to finally be over is complete. V'hoseir- It's more than complete. So why are you still moving. Why aren't you freeing your inner slave. Why do you still feel you need to carry from one place to another. You're in the camp of the Shechina. You're home. Put away the phone and sit at the table.

 

Our Rabbis tell us that hotza'a is a melacha geru'a- it's an inferior melacha. Everything else that we did for the Mishkan is part of a creative process. It's building, fixing, creating, making something new. Hotza'a- carrying isn't really doing anything. It's just moving from place to place. Do you know why it's a melacha geru'ah? Because as opposed to everything else that creates something. When I move something from place to place. When I carry something from one place to another. I'm saying that I'm not really where I need to be. That this isn't where it needs to be. That the Shechina won't work and happen unless I change. It's constant movement. It's not about what I do with the things that Hashem has created. It's about moving myself from place to place. It's about not being at rest. The limud of that prohibition is from the siren. It tells us to stop moving. To sit back and watch the yeshuah. See it unfold. Realize that where you are is exactly where Hashem wants you to be. He put you there. He's there with you. His Shechina can rest with you even there. Find that. Connect with that. And then you will be redeemed. Then you will break those bonds of slavery that hold you back from celebrating with Him. And freedom will ring throughout the land.

 

There is another time in our history when a kol was sent out throughout the land. When a siren was rung. When we were awakened and when everything changed. When the Navi tells us we stopped and then we were redeemed. And guess what? It was on the 1^st of Nissan. It was Shabbos Parshat Ha'Chodesh. The book of Ezra tells us how Ezra returns with the exiles and begins to continue the rebuilding of the second Temple. The process begins with them leaving Bavel and heading to Persia to Iran. On the first of Nissan. Shabbat Parshat Ha'Chodesh.

 

Ezra 7:9 For on the first month (Nissan) Yesud Ha'Maala- it was the aliya from Bavel was established and they arrived in Jerusalem by the goodness of the hand of Hashem upon them on the fifth month (Av).

 

There in Yerushalayim they brought sacrifices. The Navi gives a whole accounting in same way that it does in our parsha of all of the gifts that they brought. There, word gets to Ezra that the people are married to non-jews. They're off the derech. They're sinners. They haven't done teshuva. Isn't that amazing. Mind-blowing. How can it be, that the we've returned to Israel and even begun sacrificing when most Jews are still in galus and when the ones in Israel are still intermarried. So then Tishrei comes. Rosh Hashana and then Sukkos and right before Chanuka on the 20^th of Kislev Ezra calls everyone together. He presses on the siren. He sends out a call. and tells them it's time to leave their wives. To give thanks to Hashem. To find their inner selves. To return.

 

Ibid (10:7) Va'yaviru kol bi'yehuda vi'yerushalayim – and he sent out a kol, to all of Yehuda and Yerushalayim to gather in all the exiles to Jerusalem.

 

The sirens went out. The nation gathered. The people are nervous but a servant named Shechanaya ben Yechiel takes charge and tells them in incredible words.

 

 Ibid (10:2-2)We have rebelled against Hashem. We have taken foreign wives from the nations of the land. Yet now we have a Mikva/ a hope, that can purify us from this. And now we will make a covenant with Hashem our God to remove all of the women and children born of them with the plan of Hashem. And the Chariedim of the mitzvos of Hashem and His Torah will fulfill this.

 

Not in one day. The people say that the "melacha" is too great. But the process begins. There is Hatikva. There is hope. The Chareidim will work with us. They will help us get to where we need to get to. We're all culpable. We're all one.

 

Did you get that person's name? Shechanya- Hashem dwells. Shechina. The son of Yechi-El. Hashem lives. Am Yisrael Chai. It comes together and the comes Nissan. Shabbos Parshat Ha'Chodesh. The parsha of renewal. The parsha that we fade like the moon into the darkness but we come back. And then the work is concluded.

 

Ibid (10:17) Vayichalu Ba'kol anashim ha' hoshivu es ha'nashim nochriyos ad yom echad la'chodesh ha'rishon- and the men concluded returning the foreign wives by the first of the the first month. Nissan. By this Shabbos. They concluded. It was Va'Yichulu. The work was done. The Mikdash could finally be rebuilt. The sirens stopped. The Geula had arrived.

 

The moon doesn't have to do anything to arise. It just has to reveal itself. When it is darkest it shines brightest. It's when its true light shows itself. It's when it best reflects the sun that it draws its' light from. That is the month of Nissan. That is where we find ourselves today. The teshuva then came after we realized who we are and how much we are loved by Hashem. When we found that inner spark and light. It wasn't by changing and it wasn't by doing things differently. It was by listening to that siren. It was by hearing that sound and shofar from Sinai resonating still within ourselves. It's by being in the land where that siren and call is happening. After that we just naturally returned. We left all the foreign influences behind. We stepped into the Mikva into the hope and we walked out cleansed. Pure. One.

 

It's been a long time since that return of Ezra that could’ve been the final return had everyone come back. Had they had faith in the intermarried secular Jews in Israel returning and doing teshuva in one minute. Had they seen the spark and understood that our mission was only about building the Bais Ha'Mikdash. Nothing else is a redemption. Nothing is else is important. But this time around, No one will be left behind. There is no fourth Bais Ha'Mikdash. The siren is ringing. It's time to stop and answer it's call. The geula is here. Will every one please take shelter in your protected space. In the shade and shadow of Hashem. It doesn't get more coherent than that…

 

Have a quiet and renewing redemptive Shabbos,

 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

" Dos lebn iz nit mer vi a Cholem, ober vekt mikh nit oif!- Life is nothing but a dream, but don’t wake me up!

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2BwMTfn68k    – Yeedle and Ben Ezra beautiful Mimakim new drop… beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGJ7QaHZYUQ - LKavod Shabbos. Eitan Katz Eishes Chayil Chupa…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0cXWexP6tU&list=OLAK5uy_npIgRt6QGiKy3EEI-Q8NJY3yr11HsTbvU  - Abie Rotenberg's Son and album? What do you think? War on gravity…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvUNXWRjpWE&list=RDnvUNXWRjpWE&start_radio=1   – I think I'm the only shul in the world that uses this tune every Shabbos in Shul… Abie's vi'shamru

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzLeBVvKw8g&list=RDDzLeBVvKw8g&start_radio=1     – and here's Carlebachs Vshamru- the classic one!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

24. From the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the 21st century, the railway route

from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv passed through Nahal /Wadi

________________

In which of the following agreements was the route of the "Green Line" determined?

A. Rhodes 1949 Armistice Agreements

B. Oslo Accord

C. Camp David Accord

D. Sykes–Picot Agreement

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

The mysterious tomb of Daniel- 368 BC- With Daniel's last prophecy and vision of the end of Days and everything we're experiencing we don't hear from him anymore. Where is he buried. Shouldn't we go daven by his grave. This is his era. This is what he foresaw. Where is he?

So the oldest and first tradition we have from him is from Binyamin of Tudela the famous 12^th century traveler. He tells that he found the tomb of Daniel in Shushan. In Persia. In Iran. And he tells us a fascinating story and custom about his tomb.

 

It seems that his grave was originally on one side of a city in Persia by a shul and that side became very wealthy. Of course attributing it to the tomb of the prophet. Well the poor people on the other end of town weren't that happy about it. So they protested and a compromise was reached where every year the tomb and coffin was dug up and moved to the other side of the city, until they eventually both became rich. This lasted until the Shah Sinjar came, whom he says was a ruler over 45 other kings and ruled from one end of the Middle East to the other. Although his reign was only 4 months and 4 days. Which is a lot longer then the last few who didn't even make it 4 days… 😊 . Well, he didn't like this whole moving the coffin thing and he had him buried by a bridge in the middle of the two sides of towns. There it was established as a place of prayer for all religions. It stayed there until the year 683 when it was brought to Shushan where Binyamin found it buried.

 

Another tradition by the Seder Hadoros says he was buried in the Chidekel/ Tigris river like the bones of Yosef in the Nile. Now I don't know if we can get to the Chidekel, yet if he's in Iran… who knows? Maybe soon we'll start seeing pilgrimages there once again…

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE IRAN WAR JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

Being an Israeli means to get annoyed that you received an alert in which was never followed up by a siren about a ballistic missile that was on its way to kill you.

 

I just turned off the news and put on a serial killer documentary to relax.

 

A  missile fell in Bnai Brak in an open area. The Mayor is wondering where there is still an open area in the city. The heads of all the local organizations are as well on their way to find city budgets to develop it.

 

What do you call a pig with lights and sirens on it's back? Hambulance.

 

A missile fell in Tiverya the city planners said to leave it there. It fits in with all of the other potholes in city.

 

A missile lands in Tiverya and takes one look and turns around and says "it looks like you did the work here already without me.

 

2026 the year when women in pants dropped bombs on men in dresses

 

IRC General- Should we blow up the Nuclear Reactor in Iran?

Ayatolla's heir- Not painful enough. Let's shut down school during Pesach cleaning.

 

Iran warns Israel it has huge stockpile of cardboard Supreme leaders.

 

Today is the tenth day which is one week and three days in the counting of Chol Hamoed Purim.

 

Do not believe the News. The United States and Israel di not bomb Iran. It was mostly a peaceful protest against their Nuclear weapons facilities.

 

Homeland Security has ordered a return to normal schedules conditionally. Parents can decided all children that don't help with Pesach cleaning have to return to school tomorrow.

 

At the rate my family is eating here over the past few days. There won't be anything left to sell for Pesach.

 

Home Front Command/ Pikud Ha'oref clarifies that a refrigerator is not a safe secure shelter. There's no need to go into it every ten minutes.

 

Fun Fact: There have been no flights to Iran for 46 years. For over a week no all flights from Israel have only been to Iran. Talk about making up for lost time…

 

 Our Purim food is almost used up. Now what will we eat in the mamad

 

Iran: Our missile accuracy is almost 100% 95 percent of our missiles have made direct hits with Israeli rocket launchers.

 

Israel remains the only country in the world that knows exactly when a missile will fall, but can't tell you when the next bus is meant to arrive.

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

The answer to this week's question is A– There goes the streak. I had no clue what nachal it ran through. I guessed Ayalon even though I knew that it was probably not right. As it's on the way and he new trainline passes through there. But the correct answer was Sorek or Refaim. On the other hand part II I go right just byh a good guess. I knew it wasn't Olso or Camp David Accords. And I knew it was 1949 lines. I wasn't sure though if it was in Rhodes. I don't ever remember it being called that. But I was pretty sure Sykes Pico was way before that and only the first draft. So I got the right answer. So we're back to a 50/50 which is better than not getting it right and the new score  of Rabbi Schwartz having a 17 points and the MOT having 7 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.

Friday Fasts- Parshat Vayechi / Asara B'Tevet 2025 5785

Holyland Insights and Inspiration

 from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

January 9^th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 11 10^th of Tevet 5785

 

Parshat Vayechi- Asara B’Tevet

Friday Fasts

Fridays shouldn’t be a fast day. I need my morning coffee to wake up my brain and get working on this million page E-mail that you get weekly. I have three drashos to prepare for Shabbos. Now granted this week, I don’t plan on giving a Friday night drasha. It’s hard enough to keep my people there and not join the breakoff minyan for my sermons, or head out after Mincha to the shul that the Rabbi doesn’t speak between Kabbalas Shabbos and Mariv on a regular Friday night. Forget about when their stomach is growling, and they as well haven’t had a morning coffee.

I rarely even speak Shabbos morning unless I’m serving a chulent Kiddush afterwards. I’ve always been a big believer that being a Rabbi means feeding their body and soul. A drasha without a chulent kiddush is like putting on the hand tefillin without the head one. Like Matza without Shulchan Orech. Like salad without steak. Like crackers without herring. Bagel without lox or even cream cheese. Yeah… it’s a fast day tomorrow, and that’s what’s on my mind. If you’re reading this while you’re fasting and getting hungry, then it should be a lesson to you read Rabbi Schwartz’s E-Mails when you can eat. There’s always going to be some food reference. Print it up for your Shabbos table.

So although I only have two drashos this week. There’s still a whole lot to do on Fridays. I've got to get the shul in order. Put up the chulent there. That’s besides at least pretending to help Aliza with the erev Shabbos errands and cleaning. As well one of my most important Erev Shabbos jobs is to make sure the food tastes good for Shabbos. Especially the weekly shul chulent. So it’s really inconvenient to have a fast on Friday. It’s why in general our sages worked out that we postpone the fast if it falls out on Erev Shabbos. Except for this one... What's up with dat? 

Now the truth is that over all though it's not that bad of a fast. It's the shortest one on the Jewish calendar. I plan on getting up and having a coffee even before the fast; before 5:06 AM.. Then I can have my cheese Danish as well. Am I the only one out there thinking like this? What do you think about on a fast day? Oh yeah… I forgot something bad happened today. Unlike our holidays where they tried to kill us-we won-let's eat, our fast days are about that they tried to kill us-they did-let's not eat. It feels sinful to be thinking about food on a day that Jews died. Maimonides tells us that the point of the fast day is for us to increase our Teshuva, our sins that have caused this destruction. I guess we have to do something to distract ourselves from the food, so let's talk about what happened today. What are we meant to do Teshuva for? Who died? Why am I not eating? What is this fast of the tenth day of Tevet all about?

The truth is it's kind of a strange fast day. The Talmud tells us that on the tenth of Tevet the Romans sieged the city of Jerusalem. OK, a siege is a bad thing. But the truth is compared to the other fasts that surround the destruction of the Temple this seems kind of minor. The 17^th of Tamuz the walls were breached and the massacres began. On the 9^th of Av of course both temples were destroyed. Even the fast of Gedalia right after Rosh Hashana the last hope post-Temple of Jewish life in Yehuda and Yerushalayim died when one Jew assassinates the leader of the remaining community of Israel. But a siege? We've had plenty of those. And no fasts.

Even more fascinating the Talmud tells us that the tenth of Tevet is more severe than any of the other fasts in that if it would fall out on Shabbos (which it doesn’t as we arrange the calendar so it does not) one would fast even on Shabbat. It’s why we are fasting today unlike other fasts falls out on Friday which are postponed. The reason is because the verse in Yechezkel (24:2) that describes the day tells us

 "Son of man write for yourself -this day; This very day the King of Babylonia has reached Jerusalem this very day"

Wow! This very day…Those words in Hebrew B'Etzem Ha'Yom HaZeh, are used on very significant moments. The day we left Egypt, the day Hashem brought the flood, the day Moshe died as well as the holiest and most important fast day of the year Yom Kippur. The Avudraham, the 14^th century halakhist derives that the prophet is telling us that this day just as Yom Kippur would even be fasted on Shabbat. Can you imagine? No chulent! What is it about this day, which really in most other ways is pretty lenient and short. It is after-all only a daytime fast and doesn’t have any of the stringencies as Tisha B'Av which begins the night before and when which we can't wash or even greet people as we are in mourning. The tenth of tevet seems kind of mild in comparison.

A bit of a clue can be found in one of the extra fast selichot supplications which we say in the morning that mentions a few other events that happened on the 8^th and 9^th of Tevet. Seemingly there is a connection between them and the fast today. We are told that on the 8^th of Tevet during the second Temple the Greek King Ptolmey ordered 72 Rabbis into separate rooms and had them translate the entire Torah. Miraculously they all made changes from the literal text that would avoid any mistaken interpretations and they each independently made the same adjustment. (There are those that are more cynical that suggest the miracle would have been greater if you had put them all in the same room and they came out with the same translation in agreement). Although this was a great miracle the Rabbis saw in this a reason to declare a fast day of mourning. Again, the question is why? I'm sure all the newspapers at the time heralded the miracle and advancement of Jewish scholarship.

The next day is the 9^th of Tevet, yesterday, which was declared a fast day because it was the day of the death of the great leader at the beginning of the 2^nd Temple Ezra the Scribe. This as well seems perplexing. We do not have any fast days for any great leaders. Not Abraham, Not Moshe. Not Joshua not King David, why Ezra? In addition, it's not like he died a tragic death or was killed. He seemingly died of old age. It's sad, yes. We lost a leader, but it happens. That's life…or death. Why the national day of mourning for all of history?

The answer, I heard from one of my teachers, is that all of these days are precisely connected. Who was Ezra? Ezra was the great leader who was given the job of getting the Jews to come back to Israel after 70 years of Exile in Babylonia and Persia and to rebuild the Temple. And you know what? The Jews didn't come. They ignored his call. They were quite comfortable in America, I mean Persia J. They were happy to send donations and contributions, don't get me wrong, but really? Israel? Aliya? The Temple? We'll come visit on our vacation time. We have Torah, Yeshivos, schools and our community here. In the words of Rabbi Yehudah Halevi the author of the Kuzari who describes that period.

" Alas, King of Kuzar, you have exposed my point of disgrace! Indeed, this sin prevented the fulfillment of that which God had destined for the Second Temple… For Divine Providence was ready to rest upon [the Jews] as at first, if they had all willingly heeded the call and returned to Eretz Yisrael. However, only a minority took heed, while the majority–including the most prominent among them–remained in Babylonia, acquiescing to exile and bondage, just so that they would not have to part with their dwellings and businesses… If we would be prepared to draw near to the God of our forefathers wholeheartedly, He would save us as He saved our ancestors in Egypt. But since that is not the case, our utterances of “Who restores His presence to Zion,” etc. are like the chirping of the birds, for we say these things without proper intent. (Kuzari 2:24)"

The fast of Ezra is the fast of the complacency of the Jews. We didn't heed the call. We didn't see the opportunity.

Similarly, the 8^th of Tevet when the Torah was translated. The Jews heralded it as a great thing, a miracle! Now our neighbors can read and learn about us. Now our own children will be accepted into Greek culture, gymnasiums and universities. The UN will smile upon us. We are a nation like every other one. Our Torah is an accepted religious book and they might even start lighting Menorahs in their Greek White Houses next to the other "traditional" winter holidays. The Jews, failed to see that this was the beginning of the end. The Torah lost its neshoma, it's soul. The headlines the next day blared "We have made it!" what we didn't realize was that we had really lost it.

Which brings us to today, the tenth of Tevet. It was a regular day in Jerusalem. Everyone clicked on their news apps and whadaya know? The king of Babylonia has laid siege on Jerusalem. Oh well. Any missiles fall? No. Any injuries? No. Ahhh.. Baruch Hashem Thank God! I guess that's just life in Israel. We should really hold new elections for a new king that will do something about these pesky attacks and sieges. Now back to work. The restaurants and stores all remained opened. Life continued… for the next THREE YEARS! And it got worse and worse. And we seemed to have failed to hear the message. To see the impending doom. We had too much faith that "Jerusalem will never fall" Hashem will never let us lose the temple and the holy city. He needs us as much as we need Him. We continued to eat our danishes….



And then it happened; The 17^th of Tamuz, Tisha B'Av and even the fast of Gedalia. It was over. We are without a home. The prophet tells us that we should remember "this very day". The day we didn't listen. A day that looked and seemed like any other. Write it down and remember that there are no simple days in Israel; not while the Temple is destroyed. Listen for the messages and the cries of Ezra for us to come home, to stop assimilating and looking to the world for light. We fast even on a Friday today, because we have to realize that Shabbos is not coming if we don’t wake up and listen. It’s not erev Shabbos… It’s Erev Tisha B’Av. It’s October 6^th and we’re not listening to the chayalot that are screaming about white terrorist tenders that are gathering around our “fortified fences”. By the way in case you didn’t get the message, last year as well the tenth of Tevet also fell out on Friday… That’s two years in a row an anomaly that last happened the year of Yom Kippur War… and that won’t happen again for another 47 years. Although by then it will certainly be a Yom Tov…

The Shabbos that comes, when we ignore the messages is not Simchas Torah. It’s death and destruction. If the only way we'll wake up is to even take away our chulent on Shabbat- so be it. Stop eating and start fasting. Maybe if we would’ve got the message it would’ve been different. We need that return. We need to hear the call to fix the problems and to start repairing the fighting and lack of commitment to Hashem, His Torah and His land. We need to stop chirping like birds and start meaning and acting on the hopes and dreams of all our ancestors. That's why we are not eating today and that's why we are not yet home yet.

This week, the book of Bereishis concludes with Yaakov and Yosef's last request to be taken out of Egypt and buried in the land of Israel. The reason was to remind all their generations that we need to come home. It’s a parsha of last messages that are eternal. Messages that guide us home. Next week we begin the Book of Exodus, redemption. May it truly herald in the final redemption. I don't want to fast another day. I want all of us finally home.

Have a meaningful fast and a great Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Keyner iz nit azoy toyb vi der vos vil nit hern.” - Better the best of the worst than the worst of the best.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

3. In which century did the “Return to Zion” (“Shivat Zion”) begin? ______

Who was the governor of the Province of Judah during the Persian period, and the restorer of

Jerusalem’s walls?

A. Ezra

B. Nehemiah

C. Darius

D. Ahasuerus

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yesimcha  One of my nicest compositions according to many fans… This week’s parsha Yesimcha… The blessing for children Wow!!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PjWZUpRQfc – Recently discovered “NEW” Shlomo Carlebach song “Nigun Vayigash” with Yehuda Solomon and Shlomo Katz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnHKG2UiSdo&list=OLAK5uy_lBTsYUu17Yt5Kx_3J-jLCAyOqd_VlBNPA    – If you ask me… This is the nicest album Baruch Levine has ever put out… All of the golden Pirchei oldies… And Moishie Mendlowitz too… This is one link that you will listen to again and again and put on your favorites or download..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt-wMk59OwM – Ari Goldwag’s latest release Tikva Tova… Beautiful…

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

Yirmiyahu- 627 BC – We’ve reached the beginning of the final spiral towards destruction and Exile. And one of our guides and sources for all that will take place is none other than the Prophet Yirmiyahu. He is the author of Sefer Melachim according to Chazal, as well as his own book and Eicha/Lamentations that we recite on Tisha B’AV. He saw it all. He warned us about all. He’s one of the most unique prophets. Let’s get to know him a bit as we enter this next phase of our history.

 

Born in Anatot, which is right outside of Yerushalayim near Maalei Adumim today in the portion of Binyamin, Yirmiyahu came from a family of Kohanim. Unlike many of the other prophets Yirmiyahu’s prophecy isn’t always grammatically correct, the Abarbanel attributes this to the fact that he started prophesying at a very young age. In his own home even he was not really accepted and the Navi refers to himself as a man of strife and fighting. He was ultimately threatened to stop his prophecies and was chased out by the people of Anatot including his own family members. This fate as the prophet that no one wanted to accept or listen to followed him throughout his days. Yet unlike other prophets that had similar fates Yirmiyahu becomes the only prophet to demand revenge from Hashem on those who pursued him. He doesn’t take this fate sitting down. He understands he has a bigger job to do and he thus moves to Yerushalayim.

 

He begins his work as a prophet in the 13^th year of Yoshiyahu and he even feels that perhaps the danger of destruction could be averted with the King’s teshuva movement. He travels to find and collect the 10 tribes and return them to the land. Yet, the teshuva movement didn’t last. The nation had hidden idols behind their cabinet doors. There are many places in Israel, such as in Tel Arad and others where archeologists have discovered idols and even altars that were taken apart, but not destroyed. The Navi records many conversations that Yirmiyahu has and prophecies thus about the impending destruction that will befall. The anger Hashem has to us. His disappointment in our nation that thought that sacrifices without meaning are what He is looking for, That somehow it will make Hashem forget and ignore the corruption and idolatry that was plaguing our nation.

 

We will continue the life and times and prophecies of Yirmiyahu in the coming weeks. With Asara B’Tevet this week we start the beginning of the end with the last battle of Yoshiyahu, who’s only really failure was not consulting with Yirmiyahu before he went to war.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FUNNY IGNORE JOKES OF THE WEEK

In the city, you ignore sirens and listen for gunshots. In the country, you ignore gunshots and listen for sirens. In Detroit, you ignore both.

 

As a true American Patriot I always put phone numbers I want to ignore under the contact "Freedom". Because I always let Freedom Ring.

 

Moshe is waiting on the platform at the station. He notices a Jewish man standing nearby and asks him for the time. But the man ignores him. Moshe then asks him again, and the man responds in the same way. Frustrated, Moshe asks "Excuse me, but I've asked you for the time twice, why are you ignoring me"

Suddenly, the man looks up and says, "We're both waiting for the train, if I answer you, then when we get on the train you will come and sit next to me, we will probably start talking, and I may invite you to my house for Shabbat, there you will meet my daughter, you will probably like her, you may eventually want to marry her, and to be honest with you, WHY WOULD I WANT A SON IN LAW WHO CAN'T AFFORD A WATCH?"

 

My wife has been addicted to Netflix lately and has started to ignore me... ...So I went ahead and renewed the subscription for another 10 years.

 

i tried to ignore my girlfriend's bulimia. but she kept bringing it back up

 

Berel woke up one Shabbos morning in a bad mood. When he came down to breakfast, he put on his yarmulka and sat across the table from his visiting sister, Sarah.

"I'm not going to shul today!" he said to Sarah emphatically.

"Yes you are." Sarah replied calmly.

"No I'm not . . . I don't think I really want to ever go again!" Berel said with obvious irritation. "The people down there don't like me, they ignore me sometimes . . . they don't appreciate me at all . . . and I won't go back."

"Yes, you will go today, and you will continue", said Sarah with confidence. And, I'll give you two reasons. Number one, you're 45 years old ... and Number two, you're the Rabbi!"

 

They say Donald Trump was charged with crimes that would have been ignored if someone else had committed them. I guess orange really is the new black. (OK not all of you will get this… But if you do it’s funny…- but don’t try too hard…)

 

Is it ok to ignore dumplings in my Chinese takeout? Or will I be charged with wonton neglect?

 

You know what happens to those who ignore the past? They usually fail their history exam.

 

I get ignored so much.My name should be Terms and Conditions.

 

Arguing with your wife is like reading a software license agreement......in the end, you ignore it all and click "I agree".

 

One day, I asked my English Teacher, "Why do we ignore some letters in pronunciation eg. the letter H ...in Hour, Honour. ...etc. ...??????

My English Teacher said, " We are not ignoring them; they're considered silent ".......

I was even more confused. During the lunch break, my Teacher gave me her packed lunch and asked me to heat it in the Cafeteria.

I ate all the food and returned her the empty container.

My English Teacher : What happened? I told you to go and HEAT my food, you are returning me an empty container.

I replied, "sir, I thought 'H' was silent.

 

I asked my acupuncturist to use smaller needles this time, but they ignored me. I’ve never felt so stabbed in the back.

 

A guy walks into a bar and takes a seat. Before he can order a beer, the bowl of pretzels in front of him says "Hey, you're a handsome fellow."

The man tries to ignore the bowl of pretzels and orders a fine Pilsner beer. The bowl of pretzels then says "Ooooh, a pilsner, great choice. You're a smart man."

Starting to freak out, the guy says to the bartender "Hey what the heck is going on, this bowl of pretzels keeps saying nice things to me!"

Bartender says "Don't worry about it, the pretzels are complimentary."

 

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The answer to this week”s question is B – So I got this one right Baruch Hashem… Although it is a bit of a trick question. See, we all know that the Churban of the second Temple was in the year 70 CE. As well we have a tradition that the second temple stood for 420 years. Thus if you do the math subtracting backwards it would put the beginning of the era when Ezra came back with the Jews from Bavel to be in approximately the year 370 BCE or so, which would make the answer the 4^th century. Yet, according to most Ezra’s return of the Shivat Tzion is in the year 530 BC or so… Or if we want to date it to 70 years from the siege of Jerusalem it would be 516 BC. As the siege of Asara B’Tevet took place in 586 BC. So as you see this is a historical problem. There have been many explanations written about what Rav Shimon Schwab addresses as “The missing 150 years”. But anyways I knew the answer they were looking for was the 6^th century and therefore got it correct. The walls were of course built by Nechemia who was the governor of Jerusalem. It really wasn’t until Alexander the great came about 150 years later that we became independent. And about 130 years after that when the kingship returned to Israel in the second temple with Yehuda Hamaccabee on Chanuka! So the new score is Rabbi Schwartz 2 Ministry of Tourism 1 on this exam so far.