Friday Frenzy- Parshat Chukas / Balak 2019 /5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

July 12^th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 40 9^th of Tamuz 5779

Parshat Chukas/ Balak

Friday Frenzy

 Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t make a difference what time Shabbos starts you’re always rushing the last minute? ‘Oh no did you set the Shabbos clocks? Who’s in the shower it’s almost candle lighting? ‘Or in Israel it’s ‘Who turned the ‘dood’ off, there’s no hot water.’ (For those who haven’t been here yet and have no clue why a dude would be in charge of your hot water…. I’m not telling you. Come to Israel and find out the pleasures of solar-heated hot water tanks yourself.). ‘Did you put the blech on? Did you print up Rabbi Schwartz’s weekly E-Mail for our meal yet?’ Really religious people make sure all their bottles have been opened. Ask them why. ‘Where’s the cleaners? How come no one set up the candles?’ If these conversations have not taken place in your home than you are not a shomer shabbos Jew.  Or your one of those exemplary people that recently heard a shiur a few weeks ago- it really only lasts a few weeks- where the speaker inspired you to get everything ready on Thursday or even Wednesday night so that you can come into Shabbos all peaceful and relaxed and not rushed and not hurried. Soooooo beautiful… So romantic… So holy… yeah, right! As I said it usually only lasts a few weeks or so, about as long as your resolution not to peek at your cellphone as it beeps in your pocket in shul.
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against good resolutions and extra preparedness for Shabbos. In fact, my wife has been on a kick for the last few years to have our table set already Thursday night, despite the fact that it’s a pain to lay my laptop on top of my challah board as I write this weekly E-Mail to you from my dining room table. But regardless of the table being set and even many times the chulent even being up Thursday night-there’s nothing like a chulent that has been cooking for 2 days straight by the way., which really can be a distracting smell while I write this- now you know why there are so many chulent allusions in my E-Mails.). But despite all her best efforts, we’re still running against the clock to the last minute. It doesn’t really make a difference. It seems that there is something built into Erev Shabbos that gives it that frenetic feeling.
Now there are some that might suggest that this is the yetzer harah, the satan or Donald Trump’s fault. I prefer to find the spiritual, holier excuse. To be milamed zechus on klal Yisrael that suffers from the erev shabbos frenzy. Just call me Rabbi Ephraim “Berditchever” Schwartz, the Rabbi who can see a Jew on his phone in shul or talking in the back in middle of Torah reading and say “hey, at least he’s coming to shul, right?” That’s what 15 years of Jewish outreach work does to you, what can I say.
So the truth is, I posit, that the erev Shabbos rush is actually built into Creation. In fact, it goes back to the very first Erev Shabbos itself. It goes back to Hashem. What do I mean there is a famous Mishna in Ethics of our Fathers

Pirkey Avot (5:6) Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth, [2] the mouth of the well, [3] the mouth of the donkey, [4] the rainbow, [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir-, [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.

Now if Hashem had a wife, which he doesn’t by the way for any of my Christian readers out there, you could imagine the conversation going on up in heaven. “You had 6 whole days to take care of this stuff… why the last minute... How many times do I have to tell you to get your stuff together in advance? Really…Now??!! Its five minutes to the first candle lighting ever and you forgot to take care of the mouth of the donkey! The rainbow?  What is a tong of tongs anyways?” As I said Hashem does not have a wife or a mother for that matter that would be yelling that at Him. But yet as you see there seems to be something to be built into Creation from the very beginning that there is a last minute rush to get things done. The question of course is why?
Now let’s leave all ten, or ten plus things according to the “some say” opinions, to the side. We had a long enough E-Mail last week. Although it is interesting that the majority of them are seemingly connected to Moshe Rabbeinu. Let’s just talk about the first three or the three “mouths”, that are mentioned. Why those three? Because this week’s Torah portion in Israel has the story of Bilaams talking donkey mouth, this week’s Torah portion outside of Israel (and our last week’s one) is the mouth of the well that Moshe hit, and the parsha before that one was the mouth of the earth that swallowed up Korach. Fascinating isn’t it? Three weeks in a row. Three mouths that were created at the last minutes of Creation and all three of them being pretty much the stories that show up in the Torah right before we are meant to finally enter the land of Israel. Before we are meant to finally achieve the purpose of Creation, of creating a home for Hashem here on this world by which his Divine presence can shine out to the rest of the world. By which we can repair the sin of Adam Harishon, that got thrown out of the garden of Eden, just a few hours before that twilight when Hashem had to create all of these last minute things. To fix that the things that got us thrown out His world in the first place
What are those three things and what are their significance? The Mishna in the previous chapter of Avot gives us a clue.

Pirkey Avos (4:21) Rabbi Elazar Ha-kappar said: kina’h-envy, ta’avah- desire and [the pursuit for] kavod- honor remove a man from the world.

What were the temptations of Adam that got us thrown out of the garden. The snake tempted Chava by telling her that she could be like Hashem. Hashem didn’t want them to be like Him. They could have honor, they could have knowledge. He made them jealous, He showed them a desirous tasty fruit. It implanted in them what our sages call zuhama- this spiritual poison and hunger for the things that ultimately make co-existing together with Hashem in the garden unfeasible. And so out of the garden we were sent. Two angels guarded the tree of life, but instead we were given another tree of life to attach ourselves to that would help us overcome this poison. It’s called the Torah. It is our way back to the garden.
Well we got that Torah a few thousand years later, and we were finally ready to return. We had a few stumbles along the way, the golden calf, the spies, lots of kvetching but the time was ripe. It was finally time for Hashem to give us our mouths back. The mouths that we had defiled way back when we sinned in Eden. The first mouth Hashem revealed to us was the mouth of the earth that swallowed up Korach. Korach represented that poison called jealousy. He wanted, as did Adam and Chava to be as close to Hashem as possible. Why is Aharon the chosen one? Why not me. The mouth of the earth swallowed him up. That’s what jealousy will do to you. The land and earth is from where you came. Mother earth. It’s where you will ultimately return. When you are jealous of another despite the fact that you may think it is for spiritual reasons, ultimately you will be consumed by it. That’s what mouths of earth do. They remind you that nafshi ki’afar tihiyeh- your soul should be humble like the earth from where you came.
The next lesson was the mouth of the well. It was the rock that Moshe originally hit to bring out water, but now he was meant to speak to it. The well and the water represents desire. We have this insatiable thirst that needs to be quenched. Initially the way to deal with those desires outside of the land of Israel when we first came out of Egypt is to hit that rock. Knock down your desires. When you do that then you will be satisfied as the water you need will come out. But as they were coming to the land of Israel there was a different message that was meant to be heard from the mouth of the be’er. It was the message that just as a rock obeys Hashem and can produce water, so to the Jewish people should recognize that their desires were given to them by Hashem. They just have to channel them. We are not a religion or a people that are meant to be hidden away in clouds of glory and thrown out of yeshiva the second that we realize some desire is burning inside of us. We are coming to the land of Israel where we are meant to plant, grow, make falafels, invent waze and mobileye and find the cure to cancer. We are meant to live in this world and eat delicious, grapes, pomegranates, olives and watermelons as we watch milk and honey flow and appreciate Hashem in all of it. Our desires are holy they just need to be talked to and channeled, as the mouth of the well was meant to tell us, in the service of Hashem.
And finally we come to good ol’ Bilam, the man who could just not get enough honor in life. He is the prophet of the non-jews our sages tell us on the caliber of Moshe. But he needs Balak to honor him. It’s not about all of the money in Balak’s house. It’s about getting the honor of taking down the Jews. It’s about even if Hashem says I shouldn’t go and curse the Jews, but maybe I’ll change His mind. Then I really will be the greatest prophet. The answer to that desire came from the donkey. The limo that he rode in on, that he thought was there to transport him and bring him to glory opened up its mouth as well. It showed him that he was not riding to glory. He was smashing into a wall with an angel of death ready to chop off his head.
 Do you know people like that? The pursuit of fame, glory, tweets, like and honor is what drives them? Are they your president? Prime Minister? Or are they me and you that post silly things and waiting to get a smiley emoji back that tells me “ Wow! They think I’m funny. Look how many thumbs up I got, how many “hits” I have. That’s not what coming to the land of Israel was meant to be about. It wasn’t about bringing out our honor and pride to the rest of the world because we are the best, smartest, strongest and coolest people in the world. That’s just the donkey talking. We’re coming into the land to create that home for Hashem.
Hashem created these things bein hashemashos-right before Shabbos. It’s not only because it was after the sin of Adam and Chava and Hashem needed to make some quick last minute changes to the world. Rather it is because that time of twilight is border between the holiness of Shabbos and the physical, material work of the six days of work when we are out there in the “real world”. These mouths are the bridge to bring us into Shabbos. They allow us to enter that world where we have returned to Hashem. On Shabbos we will dress with honor and give kavod to Shabbos, the day Hashem has given us to express that holy desire for honor. We will make hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz on our challas again and again, recognizing that the bread that comes from the ground is there to elevate our Shabbos table and not bury us in the petty jealousies that took down Korach. And we will fill our mouths with songs of praise that will pour like the water from the well as we eat the delicacies we desire in honor of Shabbos. As we eat our chulent.
We are told that when Mashiach comes the redemption of Hashem will come with the blink of an eye. On Erev Shabbos as we approach that moment when we enter back into the garden of Hashem, it is no wonder that we are rushed and hurried. The redemption is around the corner. We have been waiting 5779 years for that return. Hashem has been waiting as well. Perhaps it is that excitement that the waiting is almost over that causes that last minute hurry. I don’t know. It could be. Or not either way. It’s almost Shabbos and I got to get into the shower. Shabbos is coming! May it be the final yom shekulo Shabbos- the day and time when it will only be shabbos that we have been waiting for.
Have peaceful and holy Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Shabbes hot der rosheh in gehenem oich ru...”- On the Sabbath even the wicked in hell have rest.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/V9ybPi0ruvc   – Living Wells- Rapping Schar Mitzva, Mach a Bracha, Yishtabach fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JfNQAEeSrM – Dovid Lowy- He’s my new singer of choice as he has begun doing my songs for me. Get used to him. He’s great and this is his awesome Ein Od Milvado

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdG3YjwwnAU  –A truly beautiful Shlomo Katz song I have never heard before (start at 1:30) Ma Tovu

https://youtu.be/tnljfeGZ7CM - This is not the music I like, but my kids do. Chasidish guy rocking it up Ein Adaom Nokef Etzbo?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3EtlVaiZyo  - Shwekey Ma Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov from this weeks Parsha

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q   A settlement that was destroyed and rebuilt under the same name:
A) Kabri
B) Beit HaArava
C) Kfar Masaryk
D) Nir Etzion

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Balak– The incredible thing about lamdanim is that they can learn out of anything some halacha. Torah is torah not stories and lamdanim look to make connections and derive one thing from another. This week I’ll share with you a halachic debate about davening that comes from the least likely source. Bil’am the wicked Midainite who tried to curse the Jewish people.

The medrash tells us that Bilaam’s strength to curse is that he knew the one second a day that Hashem gets angry, when he runs the world with the attribute of judgement, as rav Dessler explains. and he utilizes that moment to curse the Jewish people. That is how he could be successful. Now tosafos in brachot asks the question that if Bila’am only had a moment to curse the Jewish people what could he do in one moment. Tosfos answers two suggestions. The first is he would just say the word kla’aeim- destroy them and that would be sufficient. The second answer is that all Bil’am had do was start at that moment the curse. Once he started and so to speak lit the engine than he could continue as long as he needed. A nice midrashic tosafos right? What does this have to do with practical laws of prayer.

The Aruch Hashulchan explains that according to the second answer of Tosafos the same rule should apply for one who starts to pray a second before the time for reciting shema or prayer is over. As long as you start beforehand you can continue even afterwards. This by the way is pretty practical in many shuls that start davening too late or close to sunset for Mincha or the morning prayers too late to make zman kriyat shema or teffila.

The Mishna Berura argues though and says one cannot rely on this leniency. Why not? So Reb Chaim Kanievsky suggests that since there is two answers to tosafos and the first answer where he says a one word curse clearly does not hold like the second, we cannot rely on the second answer to permit one to start right before the time and continue on.

The Revid Hazahav offers a bit of a more lomdushe teretz though. He makes a difference between curses and prayers. A curse is supernatural. Perhaps it works as Tosafos suggests, get the engine running and you can keep going on as long as you want. Prayer though he suggests is like other mitzvos. Just as one does not get a mitzva for eating Matza after Pesach is over, or sitting in a Sukkah after Sukkos one does not fulfill the mitzva of prayer after the time is up. That is the reason he suggests the Mishna Berura disagrees.

So what do you say? Pretty lomdushe for a simple story of Bila’am. Lomdush and halachic a double bonus. Amazing!

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

Death of Yehoshua 1265 BC – He was 110 years old when he passed away on the 26^th of Nissan. Just 10 years short of the age his Rebbe Moshe Rabbeinu died. Chazal tell us that if head finished the job of conquering the land instead of giving the people a break he would have lived to 120. The conclusion of the Book of Yehoshua is very much like the conclusion of the Torah. Yehoshua gathers the people to Shechem and gives them words of rebuke and encouragement to live in the land, remove all of the idols from their midst and to follow the Torah and its laws. He makes a monument and it is placed by the Ark in Shiloh with his words of the Torah and he goes back to his city of Timnat Serach or Cheres and he dies there.

When I first moved to Israel I was privileged to visit the grave of Yehoshua. It is located in Area A of the Palestinian authority and on his yartzeit thousands visit the grave. Unfortunately we require a military permit and protection to visit the grave of the man who originally led us into battle to conquer the land. As Chazal tell us that he didn’t finish conquering the land and throwing out our enemies and I guess that is the price he is still paying for that failure.

Now where exactly is his burial place and how do we know that it is there? The Torah tells us it is is in Timnat Serach and the arab village of kefel cheres where tradition places him has a similar sounding name. In addition the Navi tells us that he is buried North of the “volcano” and sure enough on the Highway 465 Chotzeh Binyamin that goes through the Shomron there were many volcanic rocks and lava hills found. In fact just a few KMs south of this village there is a place called Hirbat Ara’ara which has remains of a volcano and above it towers a hill with a grave on top of it that the Muslims would call “Sheikh  Abdalla”- Abdalla for you non-arab speakers means Servant of God or Eved Hashem. And guess what Yehoshuah was called? You got it! The second to last verse of Yehoshua

Yehoshua (24:29) And Yehoshua Bin Nun the servant of Hashem died and he was 110 years old.

The Kaftor VaPerach mentions that Jews have been making the pilgrimage to visit this grave since at least the 13^th century. In addition to Yehoshua being buried there, there is a tradition that Kalev Ben Yefuneh, his fellow spy is buried there as well as Nun, Yehoshuah’s father.

We have finished Sefer Yehoshua as we continue this journey chronologically going through Jewish history and identifying the stories and eras as they connect to tour guiding and visiting the land of Israel sites they took place Up next Sefer Shoftim! Looking forward to doing it with you. Meantime Chazak Chazak Vnischazek on Yehoshua!

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S  TERRIBLE IN A HURRY JOKES OF THE WEEK

What do you call a South American girl who's always in a hurry? Urgent Tina
There’s a special type of people who are always in a hurry. They are called Rushians.
Why was Batman in a hurry? He had to go to the Batroom.
What did the doctor say to the short guy in a hurry? You're going to have to be a little patient
Berel and his wife walked into a dentist's office. Berel quickly says to the dentist, "Doctor, I'm in one hell of a big hurry! I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to go play golf. So forget about the anesthetic and just pull the tooth and be done with it. I don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!"
The dentist thought to himself, "My goodness, this sure is a very brave man, asking me to pull his tooth without using anything to kill the pain."
So the dentist asked him, "Which tooth is it, sir?"
Berel turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, Honey, and show the doctor which tooth hurts.
Yankel calls the doctor and said, “Hurry! My wife’s going into labour! What must I do?”        The doctor said, “is this her first child?”
“No” says the very overwhelmed Yankel says, , “this is her husband!”
A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen. ‘Careful,’ he said, ‘CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You’re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They’re going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you’re cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don’t forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!’
The wife stared at him. “What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don’t know how to fry a couple of eggs?”
The husband calmly replied, “I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m driving.”
A young lawyer, starting up his private practice, was very anxious to impress potential clients. When he saw the first visitor to his office come through the door, he immediately picked up his phone and spoke into it, making belief he was actually talking to someone. "I'm sorry, but my caseload is so tremendous that I'm not going to be able to look into your problem for at least a month. I'll have to get back to you then." He then turned to the man who had just walked in, and said, "Now, what can I do for you? Make sure to do this fast, as I am in a mad rush, as you can see from the endless telephone calls of clients."
"Nothing," replied the man. "I'm here to hook up your phone.”
Three hijacked passengers, an American, A Frenchman and an Israeli were captured by ISIS and were about to face a firing squad. Before their execution they were asked what they would like to eat for their last meal. The American prisoner asked for a juicy steak. He was served the steak and then taken away to be shot.
The French prisoner requested roast duck. He was served the duck and then taken away to be shot.
The Israeli prisoner asked for strawberries. “Strawberries?” asked the terrorists. “But they’re out of season!” “It’s okay,” said the Israeli. “I’ll wait….

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

Answer is B–  I like doing these exams in this E-Mail not only to show you how much information we were responsible to know to become licensed tour guides in this country. It’s also for me as I research a bit to learn new things and remind myself of some of the things we learned. I remembered this information. Biet Ha’arava by the Dead Sea was evacuated right after the announcement of the State when we realized we couldn’t hold it against the Jordanians. I know that it is a jewish Kibbutz today, so it was the right answer. The question though to me was what were the other choices connection. Nir Etzion, up by Mt. Carmel I knew was established from refugees from the Gush around the same time, so that was its connection, although it was never moved or reestablished although the Gush of course was. Kabri, which is near Kfar Masryk was actually established by the refugees of Beit Ha’arava so that is their connection. I didn’t know that although I pass by them near Nahariya on the way to Rosh Hanikra all the time. Learned something new. Regardless the main thing is that I got the answer right. As Beit Ha’arava was reestablished in 2000 or so in its original location. V’shavu banim l’gvulam- the children have returned to our borders.  So the score is Schwartz 29 and 6 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.

A Holy Room Above Hell- Parshat Pinchas 2018 / 5778

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

July 6^th 2018 -Volume 8 Issue 37 23^rd Tamuz 5778

Parshat Pinchas

A Holy Room Above Hell

We’re gonna do it different this week. Usually I start off my weekly E-Mail with a cool story, a joke, some radical political statement or a personal anecdote. That sucks you into reading one paragraph and then another and before you know it you’re halfway through and then I sneak in there “this week’s Torah portion” and boom- I’ve got you. But not this week. This week we will start with the words “In the Torah portion this week”, and you will just have to trust me, the payoff and stories at the end and maybe even a joke here and there will be worth it. Life-changing even perhaps. I haven’t let you down yet right? You can do it. I know you can. I have faith in you and that’s really what it is all about.

This week the Torah portion of Pinchas talks about the aftermath of the plague that struck the people after they sinned with the daughters of Moab. Hashem commands us to avenge those deaths by waging war on the Midianites who were behind this whole thing. Rashi notes he spares Moab, although their daughters were involved because Ruth and ultimately Mashiach will come from them. The Torah then goes through a lengthy naming of all the families of Israel. Hidden inside that list, kind of like the way I hide my dvar Torah in my weekly E-mail there is a verse that stands out. In the recounting of the family of Reuvein the Torah tells us that Dathan and Aviram , who were from that tribe are not around anymore because they sinned with Korach rebellion against Moshe and were swallowed up live in the ground. Then the Torah tells us sort of by the way

Bamidbar (26:11) “And the children of Korach didn’t die”

Now if you blinked you missed this verse, but Rashi doesn’t blink and he notes seemingly the anomaly of this teaching. First of all it would seem that the Torah previously tells us that anyone that was in the sin of Korach was swallowed up. So if they sinned seemingly they should have been dead. If they didn’t sin, then it should have just stated they lived. What does it mean that they didn’t die?

So Rashi notes that actually they did sin. Not only did they sin, but they were in fact from the instigators of the entire rebellion. Yet Rashi notes

“At the time of the dispute, they had a thought of teshuva- repentance in their heart. Therefore a high place was fortified for them in Gehennom and they resided there.”

Wanted to know where the term a high place in Hell comes from. This is it.

Now if one reads Rashi correctly Rashi is not stating that they repented. If they would have they wouldn’t have been swallowed at all. Rather they had thoughts of repentance and seemingly that was enough to get them out of the very bottom. It seems like a strange thing. I never really understood it. Are they sinners or repenters? As well, if they survived shouldn’t it have told us this back in the story of Korach? It was three parshas ago and 40 years ago chronologically. Why here? Why now? One last question, perhaps, why reveal this story of the miraculous survival of the children of Korach here with the listing of the name of the families of Reuvein? They were Levites, tell us about it when we recount their tribes family. The answer my friends can perhaps be found in this week’s story of the week. Isn’t it cool you made it this far… Now for the payoff.

It was a few months ago. The Gadol Hador, the great Jewish leader of our generation, Rabbi Aryeh Leib Shteinman passed away at age 104. I don’t usually like to go to funerals, and particularly those of great men when there are 10’s of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people coming. I know it’s wrong of me, perhaps lazy of me. I should go. I should show my respects, but perhaps too my failing I never felt connected so I really avoided them.

Rav Shteinman was different. He opened a yeshiva in Karmiel. I met him twice here and he even gave my son Yonah a blessing on his Bar Mitzva day. I still wouldn’t say I felt connected. But there was something pulling me to go and I felt I needed to connect perhaps a bit deeper, as I was certainly fully aware of orphaned our generation would be without him. It was on the way home from this funeral that I heard two stories that blew me away. And I am pretty well padded as you know, and it takes a lot to do that to me.

There was a man that had come to the funeral with a long beard and was crying incessantly, at the loss of his Rebbe that had changed or even saved his life. He said that he was raised religious and had some terrible experiences that turned him off. It was too repressive. Too challenging and there was too much fun to be had elsewhere. So he left Torah and Mitzvos, he partied, he had fun and he walked away from his parents’ home after they had it out about the shame he had brought upon the family. Ultimately this young Bnai Brak yeshiva boy-let’s call him Yankel-found himself in love with a non-Jewish girl that he declared he would marry. His cousin, who was not religious as well with whom he was living with, was upset that his own flesh and blood was going to go this far to cutting himself off from his family and people. Although he wasn’t observant, he knew that marrying out of the faith would be the end of his cousins’ connection to his old life and his family.

Now even though he couldn’t get him to break it off, his cousin did insist that Yankel go back and at least spend a Shabbat at home with his family and tell them to their face what his plans were. Yankel agreed, but on the condition that his parents would not put any restrictions on him. He was no longer observant, and he wasn’t going to fake it for them. They agreed and Yankel went home for Shabbos.

Friday evening, the family had a pleasant meal together. After the meal Yankel went out to smoke on the porch and then he came back and told his parents his plans. Their hearts broke but they realized he was a big boy and they were not going to be able to force their will or faith on their son anymore. Shabbat morning, Yankel did not go to shul. He pretty much sat on his smartphone all afternoon. He had some chulent and then went back to his room. At about an hour before Mincha, Yankel’s dad asked his son if he would join him for the Torah class of Rav Shteinman. He wasn’t too hopeful, but he figured he may as well try. Lo and behold Yankel agreed. They went to the class and afterwards his father brought him to Rav Shteinman and told him that his son was no longer observant, in fact he didn’t even keep Shabbat. Rav Shteinman turned to the young man and asked him how long had he already been not Shomer Shabbat.

“Two years” Yankel said

“And during those two years, did you ever have any regrets any thoughts of teshuva?”- The Gadol Hador asked.

“Yes, probably about 4 times” Yankel responded brazenly

“And about how long did those thoughts last for?”- the elderly Rav asked as he stroked Yankel’s hands and looked into his eyes.

“Each time for maybe ten minutes or so… I guess”.

Rav Shteinman put a big smile on his face and did the math for him

“So 10 minutes times 4 is 40 minutes! 40 Minutes that you were standing in a place where our sages tell us that where baalei teshuva stand not even a tzadik gamur can stand in heaven. You were higher than the most righteous jewish leader ever could stand. I am jealous of you…His rebbe then said. I am jealous of you… Shabbat Shalom.”

Yankel went back home to his cousins house and the words of the Rabbi gave him no rest. He kept hearing the Rabbis voice, He saw the caring in his words and the true awe that the Gadol Hador, the man who studied Torah all day and all night, who wrote great works, who lived in humility and modesty, and who embodied everything that Judaism was meant to be… He saw the awe that the Rabbi had of him. Of Yankel. He broke his engagement. He came back home. He became this crying Rebbe at his Rabbis funeral who would try to impart the lessons and power of even a thought of teshuva could have to his own students.

There is a part two to this story, that’s even more amazing but first let’s finish up the Dvar Torah.

The Jewish people right before we enter the land of Israel are at a crossroads. We have just suffered a horrible plague. 24,000 had been killed when they let their desires overwhelm them and they sinned in the most immoral of ways. Can we pick ourselves up from that. Hashem tells us we can. He tells us to avenge the Midianites. They are the ones that His anger and wrath is against. Not us. He tells us that Moav will be spared. There are sparks of holiness even in this impure tribe that seduced us. Not just sparks of holiness but in fact Messianic sparks can and will come out of the most impure place once it becomes uplifted. Once it becomes brought under the wings of the Shechina.

After that we are named the families of each tribe and we begin with Reuvein. Reuvein our sages tell us was the first person to recognize the power of teshuva. It was he that returned to pit to find his brother Yosef. It was he that was in sackcloth mourning and repenting for having sinned by “messing his father’s bed” and defiling it in the act that Torah compares to illicit behavior of the worst kind. Hashem adds his letters “yud and hey” to each of the tribes names, to show that each family has the name of Hashem in their midst always. That we have that same soul as well.

And then, right then it tells us about the children of Korach. The children that didn’t repent, but had thoughts of repentance. They were placed above everyone else, as they were swallowed and our sages tell us from there they sang out praises to Hashem. Praises and Psalms that King David who was anointed King by their very descendant none other than the Prophet Shmuel, incorporated in Tehillim. Psalms that we recite every Monday in our shul after morning service  and every Rosh Hashana before Shofar reading for even thoughts of teshuva, of repentance are holy.

Now back to Yankel. When asked what made him go to the Rav’s shiur in the first place. After-all if you were a critical or even typical cynical Jewish reader of the story, it’s the part that doesn’t make sense. Yankels smoking on Shabbos, do you really believe he would even step foot in a yeshiva, let alone the class of Rav Shteinman?

But Yankel explained. He sais when he was a little boy, Rav Shteinman came to their class, (as he did incidentally almost until the end of his life) and he would test the children. He would ask boy’s questions and they would get candies ofr answering correctly. Yankel was asked once by the Rav a question and not necessarily being the best student he didn’t know the answer. So the Rav asked him a few minutes later an even easier question. Yankel thought long and hard, but unfortunately as well this time he really gave the wrong answer. The third time around the Gadol asked him a really easy question. Not necessarily one that would be obvious that he was giving the ball away. But easy enough that really anyone who was paying any attention to what they were studying would know in a heartbeat. Unfortunately Yankel was not from that aforementioned group. He answered once again wrong and the exam ended shortly afterwards. After the exam as the Rav was handing out candies to the children who earned them. He called over Yankel and told him the following lesson which really encapsulates it all.

“In Judaism we get rewarded for our efforts, not for our results. All of the children here tried and answered one question and therefore they all got a candy. You on the other hand tried to answer three questions. Therefore you get three candies.

”

And the Rav stroked his hands and looked in his eyes and handed Yankel three candies. That’s why I came to the shiur Yankel said. There was something about this Rav, that I remembered that wanted, perhaps even needed to see him again.

There is perhaps nothing more fleeting or meaningless in the modern world and mind-set than “good intentions”. How does that old adage go about the pavement on the road to Hell. Not so in Judaism. A hirhur teshuva, a thought of repentance of regret is a whole world. A thought to do a mitzva, raises up a planet. A candy, a word of encouragement can save a life. We have the power and the name of Hashem within us. Yet how often are we so indignant about the sins, failings, weakness, an lack of observance of others. That is sinat chinam. That is not loving someone and focusing on their flaws when ultimately it is the most counterproductive thing one can do. It is perhaps that for that reason why the Torah waited 40 years until the Parsha of Pinchas, the great zealot, and the role model of religious zealotry to teach us about the lesson of the children of Korach. It may be that the Torah waited until the period right before Tisha B’Av, when we mourn our Temple that was destroyed because we failed to see the greatness in each other. The good intentions, the fleeting thoughts of teshuva that even the simplest and most distant of us might have and the tremendous value and holiness that they possess.

We have lost our Gadol Hador. But we have not lost his lessons. May his teachings forever continue to inspire us, his orphaned nation.

Have a heavenly Shabbos

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Besser mit a klugen in gehenem aider mit a nar in ganaiden”- It’s better to be with a wise man in hell than with a fool in paradise.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q. Alters abolished during the 1^st Temple period:

A. Ramat Rachel and Lachish

B. Tel Arad and Tzuba

C. Lachish and Tel Be’er Sheva

D. Tel Be’er Sheva and Tsfat (Safed)

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HAFTORA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Pinchas – This weeks haftora is one that I talk about often with my tourists. In fact I spoke about it this morning. It is the epilogue to the story of Eliyahu on Mt. Carmel. After preforming the great miracle of Hashem bringing down the fire that eats up his sacrifice as opposed to that of the prophets of Baal. The Jews go back to sinning and Jezebel the wife of Ahav sends people to kill him. He flees for his life, wanders in the wilderness and Hashem miraculously provides water and food for him. He ultimately makes his way after 40 days and 40 night to Chorev (Mt. Sinai?). Hashem asks him what he is doing here and Eliyahu answers that he is hiding for his life as the Jews have violated the covenant/ bris and worship idols and frankly are not really impressed with the miracles and they’re hunting him down. Ouch!

Hashem then brings wind, fire, and earthquake and then in a soft quiet voice comes and asks again what is he up to when he gives the same response. Hashem basically tells him his season is up and he should appoint new kings and new prophets. Meaning Eliyahu can’t handle the soft spoken way.

The connection to our Torah portion is that Pinchas, who was also a zealot, it never mentions that he died. As well Eliyahu the zealot never dies but goes up to heaven in a fiery chariot. Our sages suggest Eliyahu is really Pinchas.

It is interesting to note, I point out, that we see Eliyahu upon two occasions; by the Pesach Seder and by circumcisions where we have a special seat for him. In recent studies they have found that the two rituals that Jews keep despite being even unaffiliated are Pesach and circumcision. Now if you ask me those would be the first two I would not do if I wasn’t religious. I would keep Purim and Simchat Torah. But yet those are the two most common commandments. Both symbolize the covenant that we have never rejected and Eliyahu is always there to testify. Pretty amazing. That is why he will be the one who heralds in Mashiach because he is the one that can testify that we have always kept it.

Eliyahu Hanavi (905-890 BC)-  Perhaps the greatest and certainly one of the most famous prophets Eliyahu Hanaiv is known by all. He lived after tehe split of the kingdom and prophesized in the northern kingdom of Israel. He is the mysterious figure that our sages tell us never died and has been known to come to help, warn, and guide the Jewish people throughout their exile. He has free reign on both worlds. Eliyahu HaNavi was one of the very few to be taken up to Heaven without dying. He is known as the “Angel of the Covenant,” and according to Jewish Tradition, he is present at each circumcision, when a new Jewish soul is brought into the World. Generations of children have heard the lullaby that begins:

“Eliyahu HaNavi, Eliyahu HaTishbi, Eliyahu HaGiladi…”
“Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Giladite…”
“Bi’mehera Yavo Elaynu, im Mashiach ben David.”
“May he soon come to us, accompanying the Messiah, Son of David.”
Eliyahu is the harbinger of the Mashiach , and he is the one “who will restore the hearts of the fathers unto the children and the hearts of the children unto the fathers,” uniting the generations of the Jewish People across all of the ages.

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

Splitting of Sea- 1312 BC-  Now this of course took place by Egypt. When the Sinai desert was under Israel’s control from 1967 until 1982 one could visit there and see where the Jews crossed, I am told. Not anymore. However one can certainly go to the Red Sea, after all that is the beach of Eilat. In fact every year on the 7^th day of Pesach, the day that the sea split 3000 years ago the Rabbis of Eilat go down to the red Sea and sing the songs of the splitting of the sea which is pretty awesome. Now although I can’t show you the splitting of the sea, I can show you what a sea that has been dried up looks like. Can you guess where? Yup sadly the Dead Sea is pretty much almost 40 percent gone. Once you pass Masada you pretty much can’t see it anymore, until you get close to the new manmade pools on the bottom that have been trying to put the water back in. Now unlike the splitting of the sea this was not miraculous. This was in fact the negligence of Israel and Jordan as they drained the Jordan River of much of its water for their countries consumption and thus less flowed into the Dead Sea drying it up.

Now besides the splitting of the sea locations of discussion in the museums of Israel one can certainly see remains of ancient Egyptian chariots. And of course in the Music Museum one can even see musical instruments they found there.  Now for the wealth and booty of Egypt, there’s not too many places I can show you that. But we can go to Kfar Kedem for the Talmudic experience and ride on donkeys which the Torah tells us the Jews left Egypt carrying all of the booty that we got there. And that’s lots of fun too!

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH HELL JOKES  OF THE WEEK

Hannah comes home from her afternoon out with Arnold looking very unhappy.
"What’s the matter, Hannah?" asks her mother.
"Arnold has asked me to marry him," she replies.
"Mazeltov! But why are you looking so sad?" her mother asks.
"Because he also told me that he was an atheist. He doesn't even believe in Hell."
Her mother then says, "That’s all right Hannah, it really isn’t a problem. I suggest you marry him and then I will show him how wrong he is."  

A priest invites his rabbi friend to join him in the confession booth. A penitent enters on the other side, saying, “Bless me, father, for I have sinned this week.”

“Very well,” the priest replies. “Say three Hail Marys and put $5 in the collection box.”

The next penitent says, “Bless me father, for I have sinned three times this week.”

“Very well,” the priest says. “Say three Hail Marys and put $10 in the collection box.”

At this point, the priest feels the call of nature. “Why don’t you take over for me while I’m in the loo?” he tells his rabbi friend. “You see how it works. Nobody will know the difference.”

Soon another penitent enters the booth. “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned twice this week,” she says.

“Go back and sin again,” the rabbi instructs her. “We’ve got a special this week: three sins for $10!”

A Rabbi once traveled to a distant town to speak on the subject of teshuva to the locals. He wanted to get across the point that we all will be called to task in heaven for our actions on this world. He warned, "Everyone in this community is eventually going to die. Therefore you must do teshuva before it is too late."

As his point was taken, he noticed that everyone in the room became somber
except one man who was grinning. The Rabbi wondered why this man wasn't
getting into the proper mood. He decided he should make the point stronger.
"My good townsfolk, you must remember that sooner than you think, you are going to die. At that time you will be called to judgment in the heavenly court. All your sins will be revealed and discussed. It can be a horrific experience. Repent now." As the Rabbi looked around the room he saw people squirming uneasily and looking distressed. But, to the Rabbi's chagrin, he saw that the man who had been grinning was now chuckling.

The Rabbi realized that he was now going to have to pull out all the stops.
"Members of this noble community, you must realize that your lives on this
earth are only temporary - as fleeting as the shadow of a passing bird. Soon
will come the frightening Day of Judgment. You will be brought before the
heavenly tribunal whose judges you cannot bribe or deceive. All your
innermost secrets will be presented and scrutinized by the court. Your
feeble excuses will not work there like they do here. The judgment will be
exacting. Your only chance is to repent now before it is too late." At this
point, everyone in the audience was turning white and trembling with fear.
Everyone appeared as though they were about to faint, excepting the one man
who by now was laughing out loud.

The Rabbi couldn't control himself and he asked the man why he was reacting
this way. The man replied, "Because I am not a member of this community."

Four Jerusalem beggars are driving home one Sunday afternoon when they are involved in a terrible car crash. Unfortunately, none of them survive. When they arrive up in heaven, they are kept waiting to get in because the angel at the gates can’t find them listed in the book of heavenly new arrivals. "I'm sorry," he says to them, "but I can't find you in the book."
So he has no choice but to send them down to Hell.
A week later, God visits the entrance gates and says to the angel, "Where are those nice Jewish beggars who were supposed to be here by now?"
"You mean the fund raisers? I didn't see them listed, so I sent them to Hell," replies the angel.
"You did what?" God says, "I wanted them here. If you don’t want to join them, you’d better call Satan and get them transferred back here right away."
So the angel phones Satan and says, "Satan, you know those Jewish beggars I sent you last week? Well we really need them up here. Could you please send them back?
"Sorry, I can’t oblige," Satan replies, "they've been down here only a week and already they’ve raised $100,000 for an air conditioning system."

Benny’s dog has died and he goes to see his rabbi. "Rabbi, I wonder whether you could find the time to say a special blessing at my dog's grave?"
The rabbi replies, "I'm afraid it isn't possible, Benny. In fact the rules don't really make any allowance for animals."
Benny says, "But I'm really upset, rabbi."
"So maybe you should go to see the Reform rabbi over the road," says the rabbi.
As Benny walks away dejectedly, he turns to the rabbi and says, "What a shame. I was willing to donate £1,000 for such a service."
At which point the rabbi shouts, "Come back, come back."
Benny turns round and says, "I thought you couldn't help me."
"Ah," says the rabbi, "but you didn't tell me your dog was Orthodox."

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

Answer is C– OK annoying thing about this question. Alters is spelled altars inless your talking about alter-egos or an alter kackers. Which it seems the ministry of tourism who issues this exam are because they refuse to learn English enough to spell things correctly. As well tsfat is spelled Tzfat, safed, Tesfat, Zfat and what else you can think of. Why they cant spell it normal is also annoying. But that’s just me ranting. Anyways I guessed this question correctly. It was definitely Tzfat. I don’t know of any First Temple Tzfat it wasn’t even around then. Beer Sheva and Arad both have one. I wasn’t sure about Tzuba. I never saw archeology there, just a great chocolate shop. So I guessed correctly C Lachish and Beer Sheva. I knew Lachish was Bayis Rishon, but didn’t know of a mizbayach there. Turns out they didn’t find it till 2016, after  I finished the course. And there you go!