Money for Nothing- Parshat Behar Bechukosai 2026 5786

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

May 8^th 2026 -Volume 16 Issue 28 21^st of Iyar 5786

 

Parshat Behar- Bechukosai

 Money for Nothing

 

It's been rough for us tour guides here. It's been a while since we've seen any of you. I don't think even in Corona, or the beginning of this war have I ever gone this long without touring one of you. Not Pesach. Not Lag Ba'Omer. My summer is still pretty much wide open. Some people refer to a downturn in their business. "It's been slow, lately", others say, when they don't want to really talk about how bad it really is. But I'm here to tell you the real scoop, in case you didn't get it. It's dead. It's almost three months now. It's from before Purim. It's like the Jews in the wilderness and the manna is running out, there's no water and there's just a big hot dry dead wilderness in front of us. I get their kvetching a bit more, these days. I can understand why Hashem got upset at Moshe for being so harsh with us about our lack of faith, at least at one point. It ain't easy.

There are quite a few guys that are doing alternate things. Sruli, started to do some Real Estate. Avi and Ari are doing some driving and deliveries. Some of my driver friends got gigs doing army deliveries. Even my friend who bought an ATV business before this whole thing started is now renting them out to the Army. He figures if they can't be used to share the beauty and nature of Eretz Yisrael with people that are coming here to visit, then at least they should be put to good use killing the mamzers that made this happen and perhaps even potentially, hopefully expanding the current borders of Israel to those more in line with our biblical promise. Creating new routes and trails to take people on, when this is all over.

My friend Yoni, has been on my case to join him on these Auschwitz, Europe, graves, old shuls and dead murdered massacred Jews gig he's got going on. As if there's not enough of that to see over here… It's always interested me, that there are people that want to see that stuff. That are not scared of heading out to countries where they killed all of our ancestors, where they would do it again, where there's no Israeli army that would even pretend to be interested in saving you. Why spend money and help an economy that would use that money to give parnassah to the grandchildren of the same people that helped the Nazi's and even sold your grandparents out to them? Why aren't you nervous about going to a place where anti-Semitism and Jew-killing is a favorite national pastime?

Yeah, I know, you've got that going on in the States as well, these days, so maybe it doesn't make you so nervous. You're used to burying your head in the sand. Which is usually good practice historically for when they make you dig your own graves. Ouch! But what possible inspiration does one get out of those places in Europe? What do people find or see there besides, death, blood, and tumah? And don't tell me that it's to learn the lessons of the past and "Never Again", because where are you still living…?

So I told him, no. I'm not interested. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional tour outside of Israel, as my Swiss and Africa trips reveal. But I don't want to work there. I don't want to take Jews there. I don't want to connect them to those places. Hashem told us that we should never return to Egypt. After the expulsion from Spain, our sages as well declared that we should never go back there- of course they made an exception for 5 Star Pesach programs with separate swimming pools and spas, Mordechai Shapiro and Leiner singing, kosher magicians and poker tables, with big Rabbis who write columns about Mesora in Mishpacha magazine serving as Scholars in residence. But besides that our Rabbis felt that no one should step foot on that bloodied earth. I don't know why they didn't do that in Poland or the Ukraine, though. Maybe it's because the "Jewish travel" lobby would have to much to say. Maybe they didn't want to give up their future scholars in residence gigs. Maybe they just wanted to provide parnassa for tour guides during periods of time when Jews were too scared to come to Israel…

So what have I been up to? Well I filled you in on some of the stuff. My trips down South to Sinai to do some volunteering trimming grape vines in my friend Gal's field. I've started writing for Mishpacha magazine again. Stay tuned for the upcoming Shavuos edition. I'm just about finished with my new book, "War Torah", three years' worth of Parsha material and E-Mails seen through the eyes of a Rabbi/Tour Guide/ Oleh/ Me… which I hope to get out volume I, by the new Torah cycle. Sponsorship opportunities upcoming… Stay tuned! As well, I've been doing some more learning, reading and hitting the gym. Gotta keep the weight off, especially with all the couch sitting noshing, I've been doing.

What about Parnassa? It will come. That's what credit cards are for. As one of my tour guide friends, told me, after Corona, the first years of the war, and all the other gaps in business we've undergone, Hashem has always sent us our manna right back afterwards. It's gonna come. This past winter in fact, He even sent the parnassa beforehand. It was the busiest winter- at least until Purim since the post-Corona year. It's like the promise of getting triplicate in the 6^th year before Shemitta, that this week's parsha tells us about. Hey, why should tour guides be different then Shemitta farmers in that regard. We both make our living off the land. We even bring them all our tourists. So, Hashem gave us the same advance He gives them, in the months before this latest tourism drought. I just wish he didn't have to crush the dollar in the process… But at least, I'm not earning any right now anyways, so I don’t feel so bad.

Well once we’re on the subject of havtachos from this week's parsha and the mitzva of Shemitta, the year that we take a Shabbos from working the land, and step back and say Hashem runs the world. He pays my bills. I'm sitting at His table and I don't have to worry about the next course. Let's see if this is only a farmer thing or not.

The mitzva that follows these laws is fascinatingly enough the laws of the prohibition to take interest. Seemingly this mitzva one would more appropriately expect to find in Mishpatim or in Devarim, as we do, rather than here in the middle of the mitzvos that have to do with Shemitta, Yovel and buying and selling land in Israel. The prohibition to take interest is applicable to every Jew everywhere. Even you guys outside of Israel. What's it got to do with what seems to be only Eretz Yisraeldikeh laws?

Now in case, you thought that this wasn't the case, the follow up verse and even more perplexing Rashi that explain them makes this even more clear. The reason the Torah tells us for this mitzva in Mishpatim is because he's your brother, you should worry about him, he will cry out to Hashem. As well, in Devarim it tells us that Hashem will give us bracha if we keep this mitzva. He will even bring us to the land to inherit it. It certainly seems that it has nothing to do with a specific connection to living in the land. Yet here, the pasuk tells us that we need to keep the mitzva because

 Vayikra (25:38) "I am Hashem, your God, who took you out of the Land of Egypt to give you the Land of Canaan to be Your God."

What does leaving Egypt have to do with charging interest? Rashi seems to address these questions, but his answers at first glance don't really seem to cut it.

Who took you out … " just as I discerned between a firstborn and a non-firstborn, I also recognize and will exact punishment from one who lends money to an Israelite on interest and claims that it belongs to a non-Jew.

Another explanation: “who took you out of Egypt” – I redeemed you on condition that you accept My commandments upon yourselves, even if they be difficult for you.

The problem with this Rashi's pshat is that first of all why is it the fact that Hashem is discerning between the first borns the barometer for Hashem's ability to tell the difference between one who lends with interest and doesn't. Hashem knows everything. He did ten plagues before that and showed he runs the world. He knows everyone's thoughts. The mitzva and prohibition seem to be directed to Jews who believe in Hashem. They're keeping the mitzvos. Perhaps they even believe in everything else. The challenge they may be forgetting and that this mitzva seems to be reminding us is that Hashem can tell who's a first born or not. What does this have to do with Ribbis?

As well, Rashi seems to learn this warning is directed not just to someone who charges interest, but rather someone who does it through a loophole. He gets a goy to lend it for him. He's trying to work the system. A way out of the mitzva. That's who this mitzva and warning is directed to. This is the mitzva that Rashi in the second pshat as well, seems to note is difficult. It's a different aspect of the mitzva then perhaps the other places where it discussed.

As well the next Rashis continue in what seems broader themes, but that the Torah seems to be noting is particularly note and warning worthy here.

To give you Canaan - as reward for accepting upon yourselves to fulfill My commandments.

The land of Canaan is given for many mitzvos. Perhaps even more so, for the mitzvos that can't be fulfilled here. The laws of the tithes, of sacrifices, of shemitta and yovel. What does interest have to do with living in the land. We can do that anywhere?

Yet it was the last Rashi that really threw me for a loop. Because it's not so much what he says, rather it's what he doesn't say. How he changes what is really said. And most of all the message and connection he seems to be making with our mitzva that sheds light on it all.

Rashi writes

In order to be a God to you - for whoever lives in the Land of Israel – I consider Myself his God, but …

Before I finish this famous quote, that Rashi paraphrases here, I want to ask you how you believe it ends. If you're anyone that ever argued with anyone about making Aliya, on either side of the argument, you're bound to finish that sentence as Chazal do in Kesuvot and other places.

"He who lives outside of Israel is as if he has no God."

All good Aliyah snobs (as Rabbi Efrem G. coined the phrase recently) know this gemara and throw it at all of you guys all the time. It's the exact opposite and contrast to the one that lives in Israel. It makes sense. Yet that's not what Rashi quotes. It's not how he finishes off the quote. He changes it. He wants to make a different message here. The question is what.

Rashi ends off that phrase differently. He writes

"but whoever leaves I consider to be an idolater".

Who said anything about leaving Israel here? Why does leaving Israel have to do with lending with interest? As well, it seems that someone that leaves is even worse than the person that doesn't come. As here Rashi calls him an idolator. That's a lot harsher than the godless person that Chazal call he who doesn't live here at all. There's something going on here, and I believe it's an incredible message for tour guides without work in Israel today. That's obviously what Hashem wrote in the Torah to teach us. It's all about me.

Rashi, writes that whoever leaves the land of Israel is considered to be a idolator. It would seem that this refers not only to those who illegally pack out or abandon Israel. As the truth is there's not too many in their right mind that would actually leave when things are going good. As Reb Chayim Kanievsky once told someone that asked him about leaving because he got a better job offer there, that he's a halachic shoteh if he does so. He's patur from all mitzvos because he's a fool, or mentally challenged and isn't liable for his actions which have no meaning. Seemingly he sees him as someone who's given a diamond and throws it away. Rather Rashi says "whoever leaves". Even someone who has a good reason. Even someone who goes when it's permitted to leave. He falls into the category of one who is permitted to leave, whether it's for parnassa, for a shidduch or even to study Torah. He's also viewed by Hashem as an idolator. That's pretty harsh. But that's what Rashi paraphrases. That's what he seems to be saying is the connection to the mitzva of Ribbis over here.

Why would someone leave Israel? There's only one reason. The reason is because you don't believe that you can find all that you need here. That your parnassa can and will happen here. That your bashert is here. That your Torah will even be on a greater level here. That your kids won't go off the derech here. You believe in Hashem. You want to serve Him. You know he preforms miracles. That he's good for His word. That He's quite capable of providing us with Manna and water in the wilderness. That He can even bring ten plagues on Egypt. But you have trouble understanding that He can tell that you’re his first Born. You think that you're subject to the same hishtadlus that perhaps the rest of the non-first born world is.

Perhaps you believe that you're just a little bit better and more loved then the non-Jews. Enough so that you can't lend Jews money with interest. But you can still work the system through them. You can use the non-Jews and be like them to rip off your brother. To advance your business interests. You can lend money through them, but you're forgetting that you're sitting on the table of the King. That you're brother is a first-born. That all of the mitzvos Hashem has given us is for us to appreciate that we are at his table. He gave us the mitzva that wherever we are living we shouldn't lend with interest because if you do, then you're forgetting that He gave us the land. We have a bank where we are taken care of from where our savings come from.

If you lend with interest, you really don't believe in Eretz Yisrael either. You're worshipping the same idol that someone who leaves Israel is serving. You're serving the dollar. You're worse than someone who's never lived here and never experienced it, who's just a nebach godless tinok she'nishbu, that may even be wearing a black hat in Lakewood or a shtreimel in Boro Park. If you're here and you leave here because you think it's gonna be better there. That, only there is where your yeshuah, your parnassa, your Torah and your children's chinuch is, then you're inherently leaving Hashem to worship idols instead.

The farmers here who have kept shemitta, as the Torah promises them, have seen that blessing. My friend Gal, out in Sinai that I visited told me that the bracha was that he was able to take off and learn Torah in Yerushalayim for a year. The tens of thousands of Kollel families who somehow manage to marry off ten kids and buy them all apartments as well will tell you about the daily miracles they experience. The soldiers, the generals, the families and survivors of this war and the entire country that's lived through this war and seen those missiles flying over our head and the so many times we should've been wiped out, know that we're sitting on the King's Table upon which His eyes aren't removed for even one second.

We're not living b'keri- with the mikreh, the happenstance that those who are living outside in the godless world are living. Hashem doesn't have to put all other things aside to deal with reminding us of where we are, who we are. We can be yashevtem la'betach b'artzichem- we can live, settle, dwell, sleep and just live securely here in our land. It's the final and best bracha. It's the only place where we can do that. So, I'm not going anywhere these days. When are you going to join the party?

Have a Shabbos of Chizuk and Chazak!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

" Di shversteh arbet iz arumtsugain laidik"– The hardest work is to go idle.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdfk4KAiad4   – Lubavitcher Rebbe gives chizuk to Reb Nochum Partzovitz of Mir… Wow…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPI354InKqU – TYH's latest new release and hit that's gonna hit all over until you get sick of it… Ahavas Yisrael- Yossi Green and Storch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDU4bEDI31Y   - Ronald Reagan's greatest aging Jokes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATo6Pk1fAGQ – Kobi Brumer- New Bar Yochai Kodesh Hakedoshim- nice…!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or3hlR093Qk – Dovi Lowy's Oseh Shalom unplugged… got into it this week…

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

31. A monument designed by the artist Dani Karavan near the city of Be'er Sheva is called

____________

The broad wall in Jerusalem is considered to be part of the fortification that defended

Jerusalem, during the war campaign of which of the following occupiers/warlords?

A. Ashurbanipal

B. Sargon

C. Tiglath-Pileser

D. Sennacherib

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

Hopes Dashed- 351 BC-  The King is dead. Achashverosh dies and his son, who according to Chazal was the child of his and Esther's thus making him Jewish, Darius the Persian becomes King. That year officially concluded the 70 years from the destruction of the Temple by Nevuchadnezzar and thus immediately the Jews with the urging of the prophets Chagai and Zecharia began work on the building of the Bait Ha'Mikdash. But before we get to that….

 

Let's understand how and why the Jews weren't that into it. What the prophets said. Why it wasn't so pashut. And what the message for us today is. See, because this wasn't the first time that we were being called to this task. It happened many times before this and I believe it's critical for us to appreciate the mind-set of those returnees and non-returnees. It's important for us today.

 

The truth is from the time that Sancherev exiled the 10 tribes, 150 years before the destruction. Yeshaya and other prophets spoke of the redemption and ingathering of Exiles. Chazal tell us that it is for that reason that many of the good kings of Israel were considered to be Mashiach, like Yoshiyahu and Chizkiyahu. In fact, Yirmiyahu Ha'Navi even thought it was the Messianic time and he went to galus to try to bring the 10 tribes back. But we weren't worthy at that time and ultimately the Temple was destroyed. It's as the parsha tells us this week in the tochacha, we have chance after chance and if we don't grab the opportunity, it will get worse.

 

Even with the periods of Exile, there was hope maybe with Gedalia it would be rebuilt. There was hope that Yehoyakim could bring them back. The many moment though was when Cyrus gave the go ahead and Ezra returned with Zerubavel to be the Kohen. Chazal tell us if the Jews would've returned with them it could've all been over. But they didn't. And thus the work was halted it was put on pause. The children of Haman stopped it. The Shomronim made problems. The Jews in Bavel said… see we told you so…" It was another false hope that was crushed.

 

Thus when the time came in the time of Darius once again. Hashem gave Chagai prophecy tell the Jews to return. Chagai turned to the Jewish people and told them this prophecy, but they didn't buy it. What was their tayna? Sit back and hold your seats and tell me if this sounds familiar…

 

They claimed there were no miracles, like Egypt, and this was supposed to be even greater than then. They claimed that we were still in Galus. That the nations still ruled over us. That we can't upset them. Hashem through the earlier prophets spoke of a period when we will be at rest from our enemies and we're not. This is not like the period of Shlomo Ha'Melech. This is not what we were waiting for. They wanted a supernatural redemption and this wasn't it.

 

Sounds familiar? Sounds 2026. It's good to know history and Tanach. What was Hashem's response through Chagai. Let's see next week. 

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE AFTERLIFE JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

I have like 50 jokes about the unemployed. Trouble is, none of them work.

 

I’m unemployed and asked my friend for advice.

He told me: “Get a job at NASA, they always have space.”

 

Why couldn't the unemployed teacher see? She had no pupils!!

 

My wife and I are both unemployed. My mum died in a car crash. We have three children and we're all staying in my grandma's place, and my grandma died this week. My dad has to work at 73. I'll do any job to take care of my family. Please share.

Sincerely,

William, Prince of Wales

 

I hate it when engineering students refer to themselves as engineers...

Like you don't see med students calling themselves doctors or arts students calling themselves unemployed.

 

My wife didn't leave me because I'm lazy, overweight and jobless. She left me because I don't know anything about baseball.

That was strike four

 

Why can't you trick an unemployed jester? Because he's nobody's fool!

 

What do you call an Apple employee who got laid off? Steve Jobless!

 

Being unemployed is horrible. I never thought I'd lose my job as a psychic.

 

Common synonyms of unemployed. Writer, blogger, and activist.

 

University: just the same as being unemployed. But your parents are proud of you.

 

The number of unemployed musicians today...Is disconcerting

 

People ask whether I’ll make cheese in my afterlife. I tell them, “There’s no whey in hell.

 

Ok, I admit it. I’m an unemployed leather worker. I’ve got nothing to hide.

 

I have 50 jokes about the unemployed. the thing is none of them make any cents

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The answer to this week's question is D– Finally! An easy one to get me out of this 50/50 rut I'm in. I'm not a big architecture guy or know many of the monuments. But Andartat Ha'Negev is a pretty famous one, commemorating the soldiers of the Negev brigade of the Palmach that fell in 1948.The second part as well is pretty easy. Tanch is one of my stronger points and the Broad wall in the Rova is where we tell the story of the Pesach night siege and miracle of Sancherevs army that were killed by an angel when we woke up the next morning.  So full point for me on this one and the new score is Rabbi Schwartz having 22 points and the MOT having 9 points on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.

Our Worst Enemy- Parshat Behar Bechukosai 5785 2025

Insights and Inspiration from the Holy Land from Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz "Your friend in Karmiel" May 23rd 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 28 25th of Iyar 5785   Parshat Behar- Bechukosai  Our Worst Enemy   So what are your hobbies? Are you into sports? Do you like hiking, biking, collecting postage stamps, reading? My father likes shopping in Target. My wife likes scrap-booking. Most Jews are foodies. Personally I like music; composing and singing, although there are many that would like to see me take up a new hobby, particularly those that suffer through my Shabbos table compositions. I also like writing; in case you didn't notice. But as Rav Kook once brilliantly said, he writes not because he knows how, it's because he can't remain silent anymore. This week's E-Mail is one of those writings for me. Although the truth is most weeks really are.   It seems, from what I understood and heard in the media, that our Israeli soldiers also seem to have developed a new hobby, that I was until this week clueless about. According to Yair Golan, a former major General in Israeli Army, and former Economy Minister our soldiers like to kill Palestinian babies for fun. Nice. I wonder if he meant to say that we take their blood for our matzos on Pesach as well. Isn't it great the way that Jewish blood libels work? Yet, it would seem that if that is what their hobby is, they don't seem to be very good at it. Certainly not good enough for my liking. Maybe they need to find a new one.   Now if it was just this antisemitic Israeli loser-who by the way is a Harvard graduate, surprise-surprise- it would be one thing. But joining the chorus of self-hating Jews and Israelis is no less of a figure then the former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, who fantastically got on the BBC to explain to the world how what Israel is doing in Gaza clearly falls under the category of International War Crimes. It seems whenever we defend ourselves and don't just walk passively into a gas chamber or a Kibbutz oven while singing soulfully Ani Maamin it's a problem and crime. Now if he was accusing Israel of fraud, bribery and corruption, then I think he should be taken seriously. After-all the man is the expert on those subjects having served time in Israeli prisons for those offenses that he committed while he was in office, after selling out Israel in both the Lebanon war and the second Gaza War against Chamas, pretty much leaving them both alone so that we could thank him for October 7th. It's nice when a former Prime Minister whose approval level reached the 3% level, the lowest in our country's history gets up publicly and tells us what we we're doing wrong.   Yet, that seems to be the way of many former loser Prime Ministers of Israel. Hello Ehud Barak, the man who was willing to hand over most of Jerusalem to Yasser Arafat including the Temple Mount and make it the capital of Palestine and who was once quoted as saying that if he were a Palestinian he would be a terrorist. He forgot to mention that as well if he were a Palestinian he wouldn't be living in a 25 million shekel house in Tel Aviv or hanging out with Jeffery Epstien's chevra in NY. Well, while most of Israel sanefully condemned this guy Golan, Barak praised him as a brave man that speaks truth that needs to be heard. With all of this support, who needs the UN to condemn us. Why be worried about George Soros, another great lover of dead Jews, when we have our own haters here. Who said Israel can't do it just as good as anyone else? Is it any wonder that the next day, Canda, France and England all called in their Israeli ambassadors and are talking about sanctioning us. That two Embassy workers in the US are shot by a lunatic. That 40% of the worlds antisemitic crimes are in the United States the largest amount in the world according to the latest study I just saw. Why should anyone not hate Israel and the Jews if we hate ourselves so much?   Now this is not a new phenomenon in our history. We have always been our worst enemies. Yes, wars, horrors, tragedies, our enemies and October 7th brings us all together and unify our nation for a minute or two. Yet at the same time and as these things shlep out what happens is that we turn against each other. We point fingers. We even pathetically justify our enemy's hatred of us. The German "enlightened" Jews did that to the poor old-fashioned "ghetto" Jews of Poland. The besser mentchen of Hungary did as well. The original sabras of Israel would make fun of the European refugees and called them "soap" (you can figure out that one on your own) and scorned them for being "sheep to the slaughter". There were Jews that converted to Christianity in Spain and Torquemada the grand inquisitor himself was Jewish. During the period of the Crusades and various expulsions many Jews even debated great Rabbis and were behind the burning and censorship of the Talmud. Most of Stalin's rabidly anti-religious communists politburo were Jews and the Yevsektsiya was the Jewish section of that party, who went after their co-religionists with an atheistic zeal that only Jews can have for one another.   This sickness though, isn't just the last millennia. It goes back to the Roman period when Jews fought and killed one another in the Bar Kochva revolt and in the period before the destruction of the Temple as well. Earlier in the story of Chanuka its estimated that Hellenized Jews were 20% of the Greek army that the Maccabees fought against. Hellenism is "Harvard"-ism in today's modern lexicon. It happened in the first temple period, it happened back in Egypt. Again and again and again… yes, my friends we really really are our worst enemy. We always have been, and we never seem to learn. It seems to be our eternal depressing curse. And as this week's parsha tells us, and that I never really noticed before, this is not just a metaphor. It really is a curse. The curse of Hashem.   Parshat Behar and Bechukosai are the last parshiyot of the book of Vayikra. The book that started off with Hashem calling to Moshe, lovingly, with the Mishkan being built, with the sacrifices to come close to Hashem, with the purification from all of our impurities, sins and mistakes, ends with the horrific curses and foreboding doom that awaits us if we don't "walk" in the laws and mitzvos of Hashem. If we do not toil in his Torah. If we remove Him from our lives. From our land. From our home. If we live lives as it happens to us, rather than understanding that we are a nation with a purpose, with a role, with a mandate. Then Hashem will reciprocate in kind and the world, our world, will fall apart. The curses will replace the blessings that we were meant to experience and bring.   The curse, punishment or perhaps the best word is the consequence of our not following the mitzvos that jumped out at me this week though was this verse right in the beginning   Vayikra 26:17- And I will place My face upon you, and you will be smitten by your enemies and your haters will subjugate you and you will flee and there will be no one pursuing you.   Who are the enemies and who are haters? So Rashi tells us the enemies, which it mentions on the blessing side of the coin as running from just a few of us, are the nations that come to attack us. The haters though, which are only mentioned in the curses that will rule over us, those are   Mikem and bachem- they are the ones from us that will come up against us. "I only give rise to haters from amongst you". For when the nations of the world, the Gentiles, Amalek and Midian when they come to attack us only going for the things out the in the open. They burn down our fields and crops. Our own homegrown enemies, though, they go over the hidden treasures. They knew where the true value is and go for the gold.   There's only so much damage, the verse and the curse seems to imply that a goy can do to us…. The real damage though is only what we can inflict upon ourselves. It's the homegrown Jewish terrorist supporters and Torah haters, that we have to really watch out for. Those are the real tzoris…. We may think that we are fleeing and being chased by our enemies… but that's not the real problem. The problem is us.   This parsha and these curses are always read before the holiday of Shavuos, just as the curses and Mussar of the book of Devarim given by Moshe are read before Rosh Hashana. The Talmud tells us its because Shavuos is also a new year. It's the new year when Hashem judges the fruits of the tree. Now I imagine when we read these scary verses before Rosh Hashana it gets us kind of nervous. Judgement day is coming. Who will live and who will die are here. The books are opened. We've had a whole month of Elul to get ready. Anyone feeling any of that now? Or are you just thinking about all night learning sessions and blintzes? And you Americans I imagine are thinking about the like 4 day Yom tov coming up… (Yeah, Friday and Shabbos is Erev's and then Sunday is another Erev for the two day following Yom Tov on Monday and Tuesday. It's worth it to make Aliyah just to avoid that…). Judgement day for trees doesn't really speak to me though. I'm more of a meat and potato man myself, Pizza and Pasta work as well. Sure I like oranges and apples, but I'm not really that trepidated for this judgement day. If there would be a judgement day for my car making it through the year, that would be of more concern for me. So what's with this whole pre- Shavuot curses?   Now the truth is the word curses is really not the word our sages utilize for these parshiyot. The word they use is the Tochacha- rebuke, or perhaps more accurately the showing and proving of the proper path. Tochiach in Hebrew is "to prove". Hochacha is a proof. Fascinatingly enough this concept of tochacha is a mitzva that we learned a few weeks ago in the parsha of Kedoshim. Hochayach tochayach amisecha- A Jew is obligated to rebuke and set straight his friend. If not the Torah tells us then we bear his sin. That idea interestingly enough is based on another concept, again another one that we are familiar with. Rashi even mentions it in our parsha and fascinatingly enough is that it is not only in this tochacha but specifically in the piece that talks about our enemies from within.   The verse repeats this curse of running when there's no one there a few verses later.   (ibid; 27) And each man will stumble in their brother as if from a sword and there is none pursuing them  and they will not be able to arise from before their enemies.   Rashi there notes, that the verse states that a man will stumble in their brother, rather then "on" or "with" or "from"our brother. Our sages derive from this that each man stumbles in the sin of their brother. For Kol Yisrael areivim zeh la zeh- each Jew is a guarantor and responsible for one another.   His sin is my sin. I'm punished and cursed because I am his guarantor. When I have an enemy from within me attacking me, maligning me, destroying me, then I shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that its coming from the outside. It's from the UN, from Hamas, from Iran, from the EU, or from the ICC. We're running from the wrong things if that's what our assumption is. They're not there. It's the sins of my brother that are considered my sins that are the problem. All the missiles, Iron Domes, negotiations and peace agreements won't heal the cancer from within. Because we are all in one boat with a hole in it,  Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai teaches us,and as long as one guy is drilling in it all the horse power we put into our engine is not gonna get us out the ocean we will drown in.   Rav Kook has a fascinating halachic chakira- not sure how to translate that, but perhaps a halachic exposition, a brisker klehr if you will. He notes that there is a mitzva of giving rebuke and there is a concept as well of us being responsible for one another; of us being one. He asks which is the point and which is process? What's the chicken and what's the egg? Is the goal that we should all be doing the right thing and following the mitzvos, and thus the way that we make that happen is by each one taking responsibility for one another and rebuking and correcting one another and making sure we all are following the will of Hashem. Or perhaps he suggests, and ultimately proves according to many sources, that it's exactly the opposite. The point is that we should be united. The point is that we should all feel sense of responsibility for one another. That we understand that as long as one Jew isn't doing what he's supposed to than I myself am not complete. That I'm missing my arm, my leg. That I'm not really walking in the path of Hashem as long as he is not beside me. That the shechina is not going to come down to the world as long as he is left behind. That he's not doing what he's supposed. As long as my sister or brother or father is still a hostage in Gaza. As long as my son is still serving in Gaza or Lebanon. Our family is not complete. I'm not complete.   The mitzva of tochacha, of me rebuking him and bringing him close is not about getting him to do the right thing, it's about me developing that sense of responsibility that I'm lacking with him. It's not that he is the enemy from within. It's that I am that same enemy as well, as long as I don't bring him close, that I don't succeed in giving my tochacha.   There was twice in our history when we were all united in one place and with one heart and when the shechina came down. The first was on Shavuot when we stood on Sinai. We were one man and one heart and we accepted our mandate to bring Hashem's light to this world as one. The second was less then a year later on Yom Kippur when Moshe came down with those second tablets and told us we were forgiven for our sin of the golden calf. That we learned that despite the fact that only a small portion of us sinned yet we were all held accountable. That forgiveness and teshuva are possible when we all unite together, when we mourn together, when we tell Hashem that we want to see Him together. We want him to dwell amongst us. It is with that story that the book of Shemos concluded and that the book of Vayikra began. And it is with the reminder and consequences of us not living up to that the book concludes.   The AR"I and the kabbalists explain that the judgement of the trees is whether mankind, we the nation of Hashem, will repair the sin of that original tree of knowledge back in the garden when Hashem walked with Adam. The tree was perhaps the first to sin when Hashem created it by not producing a tree that's bark tasted like the tree. It was an eitz oseh pri and not an eitz pri- A tree that bore fruit and not a fruit tree. There was a disconnect. It wasn't one. Mankind's job is to unite the universe. To bring it back to that state of Oneness without any disconnect. To do that we need to be one. We need to be one with each other and we need to be one with the land of Israel from where that spirit and light shines out to the world.   Do you know what Shemitta has to do with Mt. Sinai, as Rashi asks in the beginning of the parsha. Shemitta is all of the details, specifics and nuances that relate to revealing the light of Hashem in His land. Sinai is revealing that same light and oneness that is in each and every Jew. All our klaloseihem, and prataoseha- our nuances, our differences, our opinions, our light. They are all one. They are all Hashem. They are all in the Garden.   Ezra decreed that we read this tochacha before Rosh Hashana/ Yom Kippur and before Shavuos to remind us of that arvus that we possess. To tell us that when we are not functioning as one then nothing will function right. Creation is broken. There's famine, there's no rain, there are no crops, there's plague, there's death, there's destruction, there's Holocausts and there's October 7th and wars in Gaza and enemies around the world that will come and destroy us. If we are not one and take that responsibility for our brother then they will naturally become our enemies from within, that will seek the hidden treasures. They will seek the soul that is lacking. They will look for that spark that we their more knowledgeable and observant brothers have hidden from them. Hidden, because we have written them off. Hidden, because we called them our sonim- our enemies. Because we've made them and allowed them to become our enemies, by not feeling and understanding enough that they are our arms, our legs, and our only way to reveal the shechina in the world. And that we are not complete without them.   Our world is in turmoil today. We're moving faster and faster to our redemption. We've seen the blessings, the return to the land, the flourishing of its crops in its once desolate ground, the miraculous fall of our enemies and ameilus in Torah like never before. We even merited to experience the return to Yerushalayim in this week's 68th anniversary of the Six Day war on Yom Yerushalayim. Sixty Eight is Chas. It is Hashem having mercy upon us. Chas V'Shalom, mercy and peace. Peace from within and peace from without. He is only waiting for us to read and internalize that tochacha. If we are able to, then by this year Shavuot we will once again merit to stand as one man with one heart and walk together in Gan Eden with Hashem.   Have an amazing Shabbos and a blessed Chodesh Sivan Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz  ************************ YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK   " Vos der mentsh ken alts ibertrachten, ken der ergster soineh im nitvintshen." .- What a man thinks up for himself, his worst enemy couldn’t wish for him. RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK answer below at end of Email   19. The annual amount of precipitation below which a geographical area is defined as a desert is ______ mm. Which of the following facts about the Israel Trail is true? A. The trail passes through northern Samaria B. The trail was designed so that its sections connect settlements C. Its southern start or end point is the Eilat beach D. The trail is marked in white-orange-white colors RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buiNbNUqB2g -   In honor of Rosh Chodesh bentching this beautiful song by Pesach Eidenson and Dudi Kalish Yechadshehu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rljpmmmux94 – The latest hilarious Bardak, brilliant yeshivish wedding dance… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0_R6pbgaA  - Mordechai Shapiro's latest Trying my Best… sounds great… Part I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCShKilDjNY  – Getting into Shavuos Mode with Zanvil's latest Bonai Chavivai   https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/kad-yasvun  – Which of course is not as good as my Kad Yasvun composition with vocals and arrangements by the one and only Dovid Lowy! RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK 589 BC -False Hopes- With the siege on Yerushalayim one would think that the hearts of the nation would be broken and would try to repent. In fact, Tzidkiyahu the king even makes the people take an oath that they would free all of their Jewish slaves that they were working. This week's Torah portion tells us how that was forbidden, and how there is a mitzva to free slaves after 7 years. The people even listened for a bit, but then went right back to sinning again and taking those Jewish slaves back. The parsha this week of Behar and Bechukosai tells us of the curses and destruction that will follow and guess what? It did… There were even some that made golden calves once again, the prophet Yirmiyahu tells us. Whether this is a metaphor or not is of discussion, but certainly the concept is that we created false gods that we thought we could rely on. What were they? The Talmud tells us that Israel felt they had great warriors. One guy could even stand on the wall and chuck the missiles right back at them. He was our "Iron Dome" and even better as it threw the missiles right back at them. Yet, when we continued to sin, Hashem threw him off the wall. We also had the cousin of Yirmiyahu named Chanamel who thought he could invoke the names of the angels which he knew personally to come down from heaven and help them. The only problem is Hashem changed their names and then he was useless as well. Perhaps that as well is a good metaphor that spiritual metaphysical solutions are also not there to save us. But perhaps the last great hope was our "friends" amongst the nations. Tzidkiyahu sent messengers to Egypt and asked them to come join and fight with us against our "common enemy" Bavel/Iran. Hey does that sound eerily familiar? Calling other nations, even perhaps arab nations to our side against the common enemy in Iran. Egypt even sent boatloads of soldiers to save us. Yet, once again never count on the nations to be there for us. What does Hashem do? He brought up the dead bodies of the ancient Egyptians that perished when we left Egypt about 800 years prior or so. The Egyptians saw them from their boats, they remembered their hatred from us and they turned around and went home. Israel was alone. There was only Hashem in heaven that could save us. He wanted us to just repent and find Him. Yet, it is there false hopes and avoidance of Teshuva that ultimately led to our downfall. RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TRAITOR JOKES OF THE WEEK   A CIA Agent, KGB spy and Mossad agent were sent to infiltrate a terrorist cell. The terrorists figured out the three were infiltrators and thus captured them.The terrorists decided to torture the three infiltrators. They started with the CIA agent. “Do not worry, for I have been trained in the United State’s most insidious enhanced interrogation techniques and how to resist them.” They heard the agent crying for around 10 minutes before he was tossed back in the cell, bloodied and bruised. “I failed. I told them everything I knew.” Next, the terrorists came for the KGB spy. “Comrades, there is nothing to fear. For our glorious cause, I have survived in the most dangerous areas of the Motherland, and will not fail!” Once again, screams reached the cell. But the KGB agent lasted only 30 minutes. Afterwards, he was tossed back in the cell with several broken bones. “Comrades, I am ashamed to admit that I have betrayed the glorious Motherland and divulged all manners of secrets.” Finally, the terrorists came for the Mossad agent. With his head resigned, knowing that members of the two greatest spy agencies failed, he was unsure as to how he would survive. The torture started. Screams concern again echoed within the cell. But they didn’t soon cease. 10 minutes passed, then a half hour, then hours. Throughout that night, the torture continued. It went on for an entire week, but it didn’t seem that the Mossad agent would break. When the week was up, the terrorists tossed a very broken man back in the cell. The KGB and CIA agents were surprised. “How did you last so long?” Through a mouth of broken teeth and blood, the Mossad agent replied. “I tried to tell them everything, but my hands were tied.”   An FBI chief is informed there is a traitor in his staff. He decides to test 3 agents he suspects. He loads his gun with blanks and then calls them in to his office. He sits down the first agent and asks him: Chief: "Are you a patriot?" Agent: "Yes sir, I am." Chief: "Do you love more, your country or your family?" Agent: "My country sir!" Chief: "Alright, take this gun and head into that room. Inside waiting is your wife and you need to kill her with this gun." The agent gently picks up the gun off the table and walks into the room. One minute of silence later and the agent returns with a defeated look on his face. Agent: "I can't do it sir, I don't have what it takes." Chief: "You are dismissed." The same line of questioning repeats with the next agent. The agent then picks up the gun and walks in the room where his wife is waiting. Three minutes pass without a sound being made. He returns with an angry look and says: Agent: "I won't do it sir, this isn't right." Chief: "You are dismissed." Next agent comes and the same line of questioning is repeated. He grabs the gun and walks into the room where his wife is waiting. Not five seconds pass and you hear BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Then some loud banging, things falling over, grunts and heavy breathing followed by a faint squeal and finally complete silence. The agent returns with his clothes wrinkled and his hair messed up. He puts the now empty gun on the table and says: Agent: "Sir, for some reason the gun fired blanks so I had to strangle her."   Why did the traitor wear two watches? Because he's a two timer.   Why did Lenin mark the names of traitors with? at the end? Because they question Marx   Berel, John and Achmed were sentence to death by a firing squad because of treason to the state. Berel was the first up. the general gave the command to his soldiers to shoot. “Ready..Aim...” Then Berel suddenly shouted “EARTHQUAKE!!” All the soldiers hid for cover and Ben escaped. John was next. “Ready...Aim...” Then John Screamed “TSUNAMI!!” The soldiers hid for cover again and they lost John as well. The last was Achmed. “Ready...Aim...” Then Achmed suddenly shouted “FIRE!”   What do you call a traitor who is deaf in one ear? A mute-in-ear   Where is Benedict Arnold's favorite place to shop for groceries? Traitor Joe's Why did the traitor wear two watches? Because he's a two timer. What did the jungle bird say to his friend after being betrayed? "Toucan play this game..." Oyyy… *************************************** The answer to this week”s question is C-  Ok after a lousy streak here, things are finally starting to pick up, as I got this one right. A desert in Israel is not made out of sand as I point out to my tourists. It's also not a place that's barren. In fact in the Torah we find that it is a good place to graze animals, which a desert certainly isn't. Rather a midbar is more like a wilderness and is defined by the lack of rainfall there, which is really only a few days a year and less than 200 mm of water. The second part of the question was also pretty easy as the Israel trails runs across the country from Tel Dan in north to the shore of Eilat. It's not a straight line but rather goes to historical and beautiful nature sites and is a few months. Soooo I finally got both right picking up my score to now Rabbi Schwartz 12 Ministry of Tourism 7 on this exam so far, which should me back in passing range.