Scar- Place- Parshat Shemot 2020 /5780

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

January 17^th 2020 -Volume 10 Issue 13 17^th Tevet 5780

Parshat Shemos

Scar-Place

Things were not going well for Yankel. He was already 24 and not married. Oy ah bruch! In the yeshivish world that he was part of this was getting closer and closer to being called an old bachelor. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't like he didn't go out a lot. He was actually quite the dater. He had a good reputation. He was a good learner, a nice family, great personality and had a heart of gold. The problem was that five minutes into every one of the blind dates he was set up with, the girls couldn't even look at him. They asked to be excused. Made up some type of excuse and left. He cursed the day that he got that ugly scar.

See, Yankel's problem was that right across the left side of his face there was a huge scar. This wasn't some cute Harry Potter 'z' that he could just brush his hair over it. It stuck out. It was really quite ugly despite his really cute face and eyes and his light beard. It wasn't really something he could hide. So what do young yeshiva students do when you need some extra divine help and direction to solve a problem? What Sefardim and chasidim always knew and did, of course. It has finally taken hold over the last few decades in the litvishe world as well, despite the fact that they had made fun of the others for years for doing this. But that's another discussion, that I just couldn't resist throwing in here. Yankel went to ask the great miracle Rabbi- his litvish equivalent of a chacham, a Baba, a Rebbe, who's every word is measured and holy; Reb Chaim Kanievsky, for advice.

Pouring out his heart and plight to Reb Chaim, he was pretty taken aback from Reb Chaim's response. He told him that he was dating wrong. He suggested that on the next date that he went on he should begin the date immediately- before anything, with the story of how he got his scar. Don't try to hide it or ignore it. Don't wait. As soon as she sits down begin your conversation with the "scar story". Hmmm… This was a little scary for Yankel. It doesn't seem like great opening light conversation line. But hey, it seems nothing else was really working. If that's what Reb Chaim tells him to do. You don't mess. Listen to the Rabbi, he has a track record.

So sure enough, a week later Yankel found himself in the Ramada Hotel lounge waiting for his next blind 'shidduch' date to show up and in she walks. Yankel greets her takes a big swallow and then jumps right in.

"Hi, my name is Yankel. I'm so glad you could come this evening. I want to just first begin to apologize about the big scar that is on my face. I'm sure you see it. See, about 5 years ago I was walking in the Old city of Jerusalem and I decided to walk through the Shaar Shechem /Damascus gate. I never really go that way. There's lots of Arabs over there, (It's almost as dangerous as Lakewood, Flatbush, Boro Park and Monsey-editor's commentary) but I don't know, I guess I was feeling a bit lazy and it's shorter that way. All of a sudden I see an Arab approaching a young Jewish girl and he had a bad look in his eyes. I saw him reaching into his robe. I knew there was trouble coming and so I started to scream and chase him. Now, I'm not a brave guy, but my feet carried themselves and I started to chase this guy away from her. She ran away, Baruch Hahem, but the Arab then turned on me. I started to run the other way and he yanked out his knife and swiped it at me and scraped my face. Thank God, some soldiers showed up and they neutralized him before he could do worse.

So that's the story of my scar. I know that it's not really pretty to look at and if it bothers you I totally understand if you don't want to continue to see me. I probably should never have walked that road that day. I really don't go to scary places (like America-ed).But it seems that Hashem wanted me to be there on that day.

As Yankel finished his story, he finally looked up. He was a bit bashful so as he was reciting the story he pretty much was looking down in his drink the whole time and twirling his ice around with that little plastic straw thing. He was shocked though to see the young girls face. It was white. She was crying. She turned to Yankel and finally composed herself and said two words "Mazel Tov!" Huhhh?

"That girl was me" she continued. "I never knew who my hero was that day. I didn't even tell the story to people because I was pretty embarrassed that I went to that dangerous Shaar Shechem gate. But I always wondered who that brave yeshiva bachur that saved me was. That scar on your face is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Whereas for other people that scar is deformity, for me it is a constant reminder of someone who was willing to give their life to protect mine. I'm yours. I don't want to date anyone else. Mazel Tov, I think we have finally found each other."

This week's parsha we begin the book of Shemos. It is the book of our exile to a pretty scary and dangerous place and it is the book of our redemption from there. Our sages tell us that Egypt is the "mother of all Exiles". All of the other exiles that we went through and endured until today have their roots in the first one we experienced as a nation there. Not only that, but in fact every personal challenge and struggle that we are faced with can be found at their core in Egypt. We were beaten, tortured, tempted, challenged in our faith…it was all there. And our redemption from Mitzrayim was our eternal redemption that gives us the strength to eternally overcome it all. To be redeemed. To go free.

What is the point of Galus/ Exile? Why do we have to go down? Why can't we just live in peace and worship Hashem like we want to. What are these dangerous places that Hashem seems to be putting us in? I saw an incredible insight this week from the Mei Marom, Rav Charlap Zt"l. He notes that those questions that I just asked you above are not questions that we as a nation are asking. It's not even questions that individuals are asking. You know who first asks those questions? It's our soul, our holy neshoma which Hashem takes from heaven and places in our physical bodies over here in this world. Why Hashem? It's so nice up here in heaven. It's so spiritual. It's so holy. It's so bad down there. Who needs the physical body? Let me stay up here in heaven. Why do I need to go into Exile from you? From your heavenly abode...

Our entire life is one big galus. We are sent down to this world to lift it up. It is a world that at first glance looks terrible. It looks scary. We get scars. We sin. We fall. But in fact it is the world that brings us redemption. It is the only place where we can experience redemption from. The word galus/ exile in Hebrew is the same root word as l'galot to reveal. The function of galus is to reveal the hand of Hashem, His holiness, our desire and connection to him in the darkest of places. In our scars. In our beautiful precious physical and spiritual battle scars that we suffered in the dangerous places he sent us to reveal Him from.

The light that shines at the end of those dark tunnels, the light of redemption is the most powerful in the world. It's the exodus-of-Egypt light. It's the return-to-Eretz-Yisrael-after-the- Holocaust light. It's the love of a groom who has waited for so long for his bride wedding type of light. It's the Kallah who has finally found her hero revelation. It's the light of Mashiach.

Each of us has our scars and our challenges. We all have our questions and the answer to all of them is that we are in galus. We have a revelation that we are meant to unveil. At first glance we may want to turn our heads away. To curse the day that we failed, that we got so scarred. But then we are missing the point of why Hashem sent us through those gates. They may seem like the gates of misfortune of misery and of pain, but in fact it is the pathway back to heaven. Back to Hashem, to our land and to our home. Mazel Tov. Let the wedding begin.

Have a restfully reviving Shabbos!,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Bei mir bist du sheyn."– To me you’re beautiful.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/OFoScpzgcI4   – Check out the Kinnerets disappearing island tahnks to the fantastic blessed rainy winter here in Israel

https://youtu.be/rR5uHapnOsU   – The Rambam's/ Maimonides Yartzeit today listen to his story

The

https://youtu.be/Pe1mrlHneeQ - Jewish Blugrass- by Kol Ish- Yigdal the 13 principles of Rambam… different…

https://youtu.be/reeVAdiU0xQ   - Yishai Ribo On TV singing Yigdal Elokim Chai

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

10)  The Jindas bridge crosses the following river:

A.    Ayalon

2. Alexander
3. Sorek
4. Lachish

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/MITZVA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Rasha Lama Taka Rayecha– Striking your fellow man – The Parsha this week introduces us to Moshe Rabbeinu, our great leader who brought us down the Torah. Interestingly enough the first teaching that Moshe gives a fellow Jew is when he sees one Jew striking another Jew. Moshe intercedes and gives him Mussar- Rasha lama taka es rayecha- Wicked one why are you hitting your friend. The Talmud derives from this first teaching of Moshe that one who lifts up his hand to strike another Jew is called a rasha a wicked person. This is because Moshe tells the man even before he hit the other person "why are you hitting him" present tense-not "why did you hit him" past tense. This is not just a description of the person but rather it has practical ramifications as well. The RaMa in Shulchan Aruch (CH"M 34) rules that one who raises their hand to hit someone is in fact invalid to be a kosher witness in legal proceedings.

Now Moshe's Mussar schmooze reveals that hitting is a bad thing, but where in the Torah do we in fact have a prohibition for hitting. So the Talmud tells us that it can be found in a fascinating and unlikely place. There are court mandated and executed lashes that are given when someone violates a biblical prohibition, of course with fair warning and witnesses. The lashes are determined by how much the person can sustain with a maximum of 39 lashes. The Torah in telling us this law says

Devarim (23:5) Arbaim Yakenu lo Yosif- He may be given up to forty lashes, but not more, lest being flogged further, to excess, your brother be degraded before your eyes.

If the Torah is telling us that you can't give any extra lashes or strike a wicked person than certainly an innocent person one is prohibited to hit. The punishment for hitting someone interestingly enough depends on the damage. If one causes a bruise or wound that has a monetary value to it then one has to pay the victim. If there is no monetary loss in the damage-it's not physically significant than you get lashes from the court. This is because one only gets lashes if there is not payment made. If you pay, then you get no pain it seems.

Now what about play-hitting? Am I permitted to hit someone if he tells me to give him a punch? What about football or other contact sports? Now the Talmud does say that one can forgive any monetary damage to oneself and allow someone to hit him. At the same time though the Shulchan Aruch Harav and other poskim rule that one still violates the prohibition of hitting someone else. It would seem to make sense as well. The concept is that it is not my body to allow someone to damage. Our bodies are from Hashem. There are authorities though that say that one only violates the prohibition when they hit someone else against his will. So it's really not that clear if it would be permitted to play that slap-my-hand game hit-or-miss that some people like to play. As well this column is not large enough to explore the issue of why many of those contact sports might not fall into the category of raising your hand to hit someone. Would love to hear what your research might have to say.

Now there is an exception where it seems that it might even be a mitzva to hit and that is of course for educational purposes. Shlomo Hamelech says in Mishlei

 Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

Nothing like a good potch! This is not only true for parents but even for teachers who have the responsibility to discipline children it would seem that this is something that is not only acceptable but even a mitzva. I certainly had quite a few teachers that felt that way. Now although this was probably the standard 30 or 40 years ago, the majority of Rabbis today pretty much point out that today's generation corporal punishment besides being illegal is in most cases counterproductive. We are a generation that requires the carrot rather than the stick. We've lost enough of our childen due to teachers or parents that might have used the belt too often or hit them out of personal anger and frustration which was never permitted in the first place. This is certainly an important mitzva that Rabbeinu Yonah says is one that is unfortunately very rampant amongst people and it is worthwhile to be careful. It is after all the first Mussar schmooze of our teacher Moshe.

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

Shimshon- the Lion, the Wife and the Wardrobe  – 959 BC- Now as we will see Shimshon is not your typical judge or prophet. He had an incredible ascetic, Nazirite upbringing. The reason for this is because his spiritual drive was so strong constantly ringing in heart in the words of the Navi and because he was going to be entering into the most dangerous spiritual realms. As far low as you can go. The power for greatness was countered with a drive for taking hold of the Philistines from within and destroying it. It's an important introduction to understanding this leader who the Torah tells us is a judge like Hashem. Not bound by your typical rules laws and drives.

That being said, our story starts with him telling his parents that he needs to marry a philistine woman he saw from Timna. Timna, the place where Yehuda met Tamar dressed up as a harlot, seems to have been a place to pick up women that can get you into trouble. His parents asked him why he couldn’t find a nice Jewish girl. But Shimshon seemed to tell his parent then "when you know- you know." This is the one.

His parents take him from the city he lived in called Tzora, which today is a yishuv near Beit Shemesh. He walks down from the city with his parents and the pass by vineyards, which is pretty cool because there are lots of vineyards there today. Shimshon not being able to walk through the vineyards being a Nazir- a really frum one it seems, who just happens to be going to marry a shiktza, goes around the vineyard. There he meets a pretty scary young lion. This was sign that he was going to be struggling with pretty dangerous things. No problem for Shimshon, though, he kills the lion with his bare hands and keeps heading on the way.

He arrives at Timna which is actually a site that you can visit today called Tel Batesh, south of Tel Shachar not far from Tzora where you can see the gates, houses and roads of the Philistine city that was there as well an olive press and some interesting things right above Nachal Sorek. It's not a super packed site or well-kept so I don't get there too often. There he makes marriage arrangements they agree to wait the traditional year and he's set to go. A year later when he goes back there he takes the same old lion route in order of course to make the blessing of the miracle that Hashem provided for him there and he checks out the lion which it now seemed some bees made a hive in and it was full of honey. Cool! Not being one to pass up sweets Shimshon sngs some honey and heads down to Timna to pick up his Philistine shiktza 'honey'.

The Philistine chevra decide to throw him a nice party and to shake them up a bit he gives them a riddle and bets them that if they solve it he will provide them with 30 sheets and sets of clothing. If they don't get it than they have to pay up to him. The riddle is about his lion and he asks them to explain the words "from the Eater comes out food and from the strong comes out sweet." This is a pretty cheap riddle because obviously know one would know what he's talking about. But the Philistines were cheaters and they pressured his fiancé to pressure him and he made the mistake of trusting her. As we'll see women had this power of Shimshon that he just couldn't resist, particularly the plishti ones. They tell him the answer is obviously the lion and the honey story and he knows he's been betrayed. But a deal is a deal. At the same time, he's not paying these cheaters out of his own pocket. So what does he do?

No problem. He heads down to Ashkelon, the next philistine city kills 30 philistines and takes their clothes and gives them to cheaters. Don’t mess with Shimshon is the message he was pretty much telling them. They didn't get the message though it seems. His father-in-law gave his daughter to someone else, rather than to this crazy radical Jew and then the fun really starts. Stay tuned next week. 

PS Like to share this story as well at Biblical zoo or Ramat Gan Safari when we see lions, or in the Slifkin museum of natural history not far from this story in Beit Shemesh where I explain the different names for ages of lions; gur, kefir, lavi, aryeh and layish. Yeah lions, are important animals to us so we have lots of names for them. As well it's fun story to tell when I go visit some of the bee farms in Israel in Kfar Tavor in the Galil, Yad Mordechai in the South and Kfar Sirkin and Kfar Bilu along coastline in the merkaz. There's lots of honey places in Israel as well, after all it's the land of milk and honey (yes, I know that is date honey in the Torah, but honey is honey).

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE LION JOKES  OF THE WEEK

What's a lion running a copy machine called? A: A copycat!

Q: What's the difference between Simba and O.J.? A: One's an African lion the other a lyin African!

Q. Why did the lion loose at poker? A. Because he was playing with a cheetah

Q: What do you call a lion with chicken pox? A: A dotted lion.

Q: What do you call a lion who chases camels across the desert? A: a chameleon.

Q: What do you call a lion wearing a stylish flower hat? A: A dandy lion

Q: Why are lions religious? A: Because they prey frequently, and prey as a family!

Q: Where does a lion sleep? A: Anywhere he wants to!

Q: What does a lion do on a canoe? A: Use his Roar

Q: How does a lion greet the other animals in the field ? A: 'Pleased to eat you.' !

Q: On which day do lions eat people ? A: Chewsday !

Q: What's a lion's favorite soccer player? A: Lion-el Messi

 Q: Why did the lion spit out the clown? A: Because he tasted funny.

Q. How does a lion stop a video? He presses paws (pause).

Q: You’re riding a horse at full speed. You’re being chased by a lion and there’s a giraffe in the way in front of you. How will you escape this highly dangerous situation?
A: Get off the carousel

Dov is an Jewish actor, so down and out he's ready to settle for any acting gig that he can find. Finally he gets a lead, a classified ad that says: "Actor needed to play ape."
"I could do that, " says Dov.
To his surprise, the employer turns out to be the local zoo. Owing to mismanagement, the zoo has spent so much money renovating the grounds and improving the habitat, that they can no longer afford to import the ape they needed to replace their recently deceased one. So until they can, they'll put an actor in an ape suit. Out of desperation, Dov accepts the offer.
At first, his conscience keeps nagging him, that he is being dishonest by fooling the zoo-goers. And Dov feels undignified in the ape-suit, stared at by crowds who watch his every move. But after a few days on the job, he begins to be amused by all the attention, and starts to put on a show for the zoo- goers: hanging upside-down from the branches by his legs, swinging about on the vines, climbing up the cage walls, and roaring with all his might whilst beating his chest. Soon, he's drawing a sizable crowd. 

One day, when Dov is swinging on the vines to show off to a group of school kids, his hand slips, and he goes flying over the fence into the neighboring cage, the lion's den. Terrified, Dov backs up as far from the approaching lion as he can, covers his eyes with his paws, and prays at the top of his lungs, "Shma Yisrael Ado-nai Elokeinu Ad-nai echad!" (Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G‑d, the Lord is one!)
The lion opens its powerful jaws and roars, "Baruch shem k'vod malchuto l'olam va'ed!" "Shut up, you idiots," a panda bear mutters from a third cage. "You'll get us all fired

"

A group of interfaith religious leaders were getting a tour around the Jerusalem Zoo by its administrator, Shmuel Shapira. Shmuel showed them one cage where a lion was lying together with a young lamb.

The head of the delegation was amazed. "For 2000 years, we've prayed for signs of the messianic era and the prophesy that the lion will lie down next to the lamb. How did you do it?"

“It was quite easy,” Shmuel replied, "All it needs is a new lamb a day!"

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Answer is A–  As opposed to last week where I thought it was a no-brainer this one I had absolutely no clue. I don't remember any bridge called jindas and had no clue what nachal it went over. I figured it had something to do with the Mamaluk Baybers bridge with a leopard on it, which was this 13^th century Arab ruler of Israel, and I was right about that. Where it was I had no clue. I guessed Sorek as I thought that might be close to Lod and Ramla the Mamaluk headquarters, but the correct answer was Ayalon also on road to Lod and Ramla and it was the Baybars bridge. Thankfully I don't have tourists that have any interest in Mamluks and so I pretty much deleted most of my information on them and certainly of their bridges. So I got this one wrong although it is probably one I would've skipped as I really had no clue. So the score is Schwartz 6 and 4 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.

Aliyah Children-Parshat Ki Teitzei 2019/ 5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

September 13^th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 49 13^th of Elul 5779

Parshat Ki Teitzei

Aliya Children

They were two brothers. Let’s call them Moshe and David. They were both making Aliya. The year was 1905, this was the period of time known as the 2^nd Aliya to Israel. Both brothers had enough of the antisemitism they suffered from in Europe. The Kishinev riots, the pogroms, and the general laws passed against the Jews drove them out. Most of their friends were going to America or Australia that absorbed over one million Jews during the 10 years of the 2^nd Aliya until World War I. But they both chose to come to Palestine. They came for reasons that sounded very the same but were exactly the opposite.

Moishie, the more religious of the two, was coming to Eretz Yisrael, for the same reason his uncle who had come years before had come. The Shechina was in Galus- the divine Spirit was in exile. He needed to come to the Holy Land to bring that spirit back there with him. To return his soul and the shechina with Him to the land that Hashem had promised our ancestors. It was the only place a Jew was meant to live and to become the Jew that he could.

Dovid was from a new generation. He had enough with the old ways. With the ‘exile’ ‘ghetto’ Jewish mind-set and all the archaic laws that went along with it. Dovid also said he was moving to Palestine because “the shechina was in galus”, in Exile. The shechina was in Exile and he wanted to go to Israel to get as far away as possible from it. He was coming to the land where the shechina had long ago left and was not coming back to. He was going to go there to create a New Jew. One that wasn’t burdened by and tethered down by the traditions of the past.

That in a nutshell defined the 2^nd Aliya to Eretz Yisrael. Jews that came from traditional shtetl homes. Jews looking to create a new life, who were idealists, but both of them needed each other. And even more significantly they both needed a leader that could speak their language and bring out and direct those yearnings for Eretz Yisrael, in the way that would ultimately develop the land. Many of the Moishies that came starved. They couldn’t find work; they couldn’t support their families. They thought they would be coming to the land they had learned and studied about that Hashem would bless and would be flowing with milk and honey. And the land remained desolate and their cupboards were bare. So they left. Some went back to Europe and others to America.

Many of the Dovids left as well. The child mortality rate back then was close to 80%. The anti-Semitism they were fleeing from seemed to have followed them there, where they were subjected to the whims of the Ottoman governors and the local Arab populace that robbed and destroyed those fields that they tirelessly slaved over only to see go up in flames and being taken from them repeatedly.  It’s estimated that about 70% of the 2^nd Aliya didn’t make it to the end game. They never saw the establishment of the State. They moved off respectively to what they thought would be greener spiritual or secular pastures.

The leader that remained, was the Volozhiner student, about whom the Netziv, it’s Rosh Yeshiva, commented that if the entire yeshiva was only founded for him it had fulfilled its purpose. The Rav of Yaffo and the first chief Rabbi of Palestine, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, understood the challenges of this fledgling nation and its returnees. He saw equally the idealism and what he termed as the gevura/ the courage of both of these groups to have the holiest of underpinnings. Every Jew has a purpose. Every Jew has a purpose that is meant to be fulfilled in Eretz Yisrael. The purpose is to work, to build, to plant, to grow and to make this land flourish. At the same time the purpose is to imbue all of that labour with the holiness that only a yiddisheh neshoma that is connected to its Creator can bring forth. That only a Jew that is ensconced in Torah and mitzvos and is in touch with the spiritual nature of his soul can reveal to the world.

For the next 30 years of his life until his passing on the 3^rd of Elul 1935, his life revolved around bringing these two camps together. Perhaps his most famous venture was his month long Masa Hamoshavot- when he joined together with the head of the Old Yishuv Chareidi community at the time Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnefeld to travel around the entire country and visit all the Dovids or Dudus that worked day and night on the fields of the kibbutzim and moshavot. When they were told by one of the kibbutzim that they were wasting their time, as they would not be influenced at all by these Rabbis and their old traditions. Rav Kook responded that they had not come to influence but rather to be inspired by the incredible sacrifice these young idealists had to plant and grow the holy land of Hashem.  This wasn’t a line he was giving them. It was dvarim ha’yotzim min halev- words that pour right out of the heart, which our sages assure us will always penetrate the hearts of the listeners.

One of most powerful anecdotes of those journeys were when they came to Migdal. At the time there was only one mezuza in the entire yishuv that a young girl had brought with her from Europe. The kosher situation was non-existent, there wasn’t a synagogue the ‘Dovid’s’ had left that all behind. When Rav Sonnenfeld mentioned to them about Shabbos and spoke about the universality of the day of rest, he noted that it was the responsibility of anyone Jewish establishing a “Jewish State” to mandate its observance. The head of the yishuv, a Professor Glickin, took offense immediately he responded that he felt Jewish in every fibre of his being. Yet he did not feel Shabbat spoke to him or was relevant at this time. Yet at the same time, he is definitely free-minded in his observance and yet he has no problem if the Rabbi can convince him to do teshuva and change his ways.

Rav Kook quickly stepped in and told him that no one was questioning his Jewish identity which certainly is burning strong. It is a powerful spark. It just needs to be fanned. The professor responded that he feels he is finding his spark and his place in the resurrection of the agriculture of Israel. Rav Kook picked up on that cue. He spoke to him all about the incredible holiness of the land of Israel, its fruits, the incredible service of Hashem and the Jewish people in making this desolate land flourish again. The professor, whose entire life was dedicated to buying lands and restoring them to their Jewish roots, was touched by the Rav’s appreciation of his contribution.

The Rav then asked him, that there is a Jew that has a lot of money and who has tremendous passion for Israel and he wants to buy the Temple Mount from the Turks. Glickin nodded, this is something he could appreciate and himself longed for. Yet this person, continued the Rav, wants to plant a huge orchard and garden there on top, perhaps even make it a fantastic agricultural park. What is the Professors opinion of this plan? Glickin turned red, and with the fire of zealotry responded that he would personally go and destroy this orchard. This is our holy place. This is our Temple Mount. This is not a place for gardens or orchards. I would rip every tree out myself personally. Rav Kook smiled and turned to him. “Did I not tell you that the fire of Hashem is burning inside of you...”.

We continue our journey into this incredible month of Elul with the Torah portion of this week. We have left the Judges, the Kohanim, the leaders of the nation in last week’s Torah portion and this week we arrive at the “amcha”. Perhaps one of the most fascinating mitzvos and puzzling mitzvos is the one that starts off this parsha the law of the yefat to’ar. The Torah tells us that when a soldier goes out to war and he finds amongst the enemy a beautiful woman that he desires. He may take her home and ultimately after a waiting period and a process of her mourning her own home he can marry her. The Talmud tells us this law is given under the extraordinary circumstances of a soldier at war.

Kiddushin (21b) “The Torah only spoke against the Yetzer Hara- the evil inclination, for if Hashem would not make her permissible he would marry her in a forbidden manner”

It’s a strange law that stands out in the Torah. If something is inappropriate and undesirable the Torah generally prohibits it. We don’t make concessions for the yetzer hara. Let’s throw him a bone…is not our way. In fact, there are those commentaries that note that by the mere fact that this is the only place the Torah makes such an exception in every other circumstance we do have the ability to overcome our desires and inclinations. But still… Why here? What makes this different.

Again Rav Kook gives us an incredible insight. He notes that the soldier that we are talking about here is not your typical soldier. For those that remember last week’s Torah portion not only were the soldiers who had just built a home, got betrothed or planted a vineyard sent home, but anyone that was fearful of any sin in his hand as well was discharged. According to Reb Yosi in the Talmud this was even for sins of a minor nature. This soldier that is fighting in this battle is someone of a holy calibre. Even more significantly as Rashi notes this battle is a permissible war. It is a war that was not for the defence of Israel or even the initial conquest of the land which are obligatory wars. This was one that was mandated by a Sanhedrin of 70 sages (which of course there isn’t today and therefor this entire law is not relevant today) to expand the borders of Israel. This could be for political reasons (maybe someone has an election to win…shhhh) or for financial reasons, or even to strike fear in the hearts of our neighbours not to mess with us. The soldiers that are fighting are volunteers. They are idealists. They leave their wives, their established houses, their grown vineyards at home and they are fighting for the homeland. They are Dovids and they are Moshes.

It is that strength and that holy fire that will bring out the biggest and strongest challenge. The Jew, fashioned in the image of Hashem, on one hand has the highest soul that is looking to draw close and fight the battle of Hashem and create that perfect Holy world. At the same time, it is in a body that is made from the earth that will need to be raised up from the lowest of the low. It will need to reveal those holy sparks as buried as they may. With that gevura, energy and drive to reach higher and to elevate the world comes the pull deeper and deeper downward. For those are where the deepest sparks may lay. When we go out to war the Torah tells us we have to recognize that the yetzer hara will be most powerful. If we just write it off and pretend it doesn’t exist, we will fail and ultimately “take her in a forbidden manner”. 

So what do we do? We don’t prohibit it. We tell him to wait until the battle is over. Until our soldier leaves the heat of that battle. In the interim we tell him how holy his fight is, how special his battle , the fields he is planting is in fact holy land. Show him that his dvar reshus- his permissible war is also a mitzva. His daily job at the office is a Kiddush Hashem- a sanctification of Hashem’s name. The desires and temptations are natural. They come with the territory of someone that is involved in the holiest job on the planet. They are part of the fibre of every Jew who can never sit still in Creation. Who understands that he is put in this world of reshut- where so many things are permissible and  are waiting to be uplifted; to be brought to their spiritual fulfilment that only we can bring it to. And our job is to fight that battle not by ignoring and pretending that they don’t exist or that we are above the downfall. But rather to fan that spark inside of us that will allow us to elevate those sparks as well and to create a perfect beautiful physical world that reflects the sanctity of our Creator.

One doesn’t have to live in Eretz Yisrael to be a Jew that is making Aliya. We are all bnai aliya- children who are striving to uplift the world. We all have battles that we have to fight, and challenges that can bring us down. Elul is the time of year to recognize that all of those battles are there for one purpose. To bring us closer to Hashem and to bring the shechina closer to us. For those of us that are Moishie’s who are fortunate enough to be engaged primarily in the world of Torah and mitzvos the challenge is to not lose sight of the holiness that can be found outside of the Beit Midrash, the synagogues and our homes. We need to bring that same degree of holiness and spiritual enthusiasm to the other areas of our life as well. To the stores we shop in, the markets we frequent, and the streets we drive in. To our neighbors, our brothers and sisters and to the entire world.

For the so so many Dovids, Dudus, or Davids amongst us who are primarily involved in the social causes, the chesed, the advocacy and philanthropic areas of tikun olam, we need to bring Hashem to those causes as well. Reveal His name in all that we do. Don’t ashamed, don’t be universal or agnostic about it. You are doing a mitzva. A holy job that you accepted 3300 years ago on a Mountain called Sinai in the wilderness. The spark and drive that you have is holy. Fan that flame. Let it shine.

But perhaps most importantly for all of us is to remember that we are all brothers and sisters in all of this. Moishie can’t do Dovid’s job. And Dovid can’t reveal the spark that Moishie can. We are all connected Hashem’s Kingdom will only reign supreme when all of His children appreciate one another. When we do that the Shechina will finally no longer be in exile as well. V’haaleinu l’socha- we should merit to make the ultimate Aliyah together with it.

Have uplifting Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Dos gantze lebn iz a milchome..” - All of life is a war.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/yJf4tWBUq94  – 3 Brothers Performing Together - Chaim Yisrael, Itzik Eshel & Avishai Eshel singing beautiful

https://youtu.be/zCa0KTNJCH0  – New Benny Friedman Harieni Mikabel with his children singing along with him…

https://youtu.be/ECy3CMxShIQ     -Yishai Ribo singing an incredible new song Seder Ha’Avoda the service and feelings of Kohein on Yom Kippur…

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q    A prophet who does not make part of the Twelve Minor Prophets (Trei Asar)
A) Amos
B) Micah
C) Zechariah
D) Isaiah

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Ki Teitze– There are no synonyms in lashon hakodesh- the holy language of the Torah. There are words that might be similar to one another, but each word has its own nuance and each word is used precisely to convey the idea that is being presented. The difference between a lamdan and a layman is whether one pays attention to those varied nuances or not. The layman gets the basic idea and moves on, the lamdan understands that if the Torah uses a particular word, particularly if it is not the standard term than one should pay attention to the usage. There is something more below the surface, and if you just pause for a moment and ponder it you may reveal an insight or an idea that you may not have if you just breeze right on through it. This is particularly the case when the Torah goes out of its way to switch up words multiple times in a narrative. Those should jump out at you. Those are the opportunities when even a non-lamdan should take heed.

In this week’s Torah portion we have the mitzva of yibum and chalitza the levirate marriage and the process for someone who does not wish to fulfill this mitzva. In a nutshell the law is that someone who’s brother dies without children, the widow “falls” to yibum- meaning the brother of the deceased has a mitzva to take her as his wife and produce an heir that will carry on the name of his deceased brother. If he does not wish to marry her then being that with the death of the brother she automatically had already “fallen” into his mitzva jurisdiction, the only way to “free” him of this obligation and to free her to marry another is by a process known as chalitza. That process consists of him coming in front of the court declaring his refusal to marry her. She takes off his shoe and spits in it in a ceremony that is meant to reflect the Torah’s disappointment and disdain for “the man who will not build his brothers house” and she is then free. That’s yibum and chalitza. Got it?

Now take a look at the Torah description of the scenario of chalitza

Devarim (25:7) V’Im lo yachpotz ha’Ish -But if the man does not desire

 to take his brother's wife, the brother's wife shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and say,

Me’ein yivmi-"My husband's brother has refused

to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel

lo ava yabmi-  he does not wish to perform the obligation of a husband's brother with me.

Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and he shall stand up and say,

Lo chafatzti lakachta-"I do not wish to take her.

Then his brother's wife shall approach him before the eyes of the elders and remove his shoe from his foot. And she shall spit before his face and answer [him] and say, "Thus shall be done to the man who will not build up his brother's household!"

Did you note the changing terms? I bolded them for you. The brother does not chafetz- desire. The woman on the other hand doesn’t say he doesn’t desire, rather she says he is lo me’ein he refuses to do the mitzva. And then she adds ‘lo ava’- he does not wish to do the mitzva. When he comes to court however he reiterates his stance that he does not desire- chafatzti to take her. In the end the court leaves it pretty neutral and he is described as the man who doesn’t build his brother’s house.

The Ksav V’Kabala notes the differences in terms and explains. He suggests that chafetz- desire is reflective of the man’s objection which is not to fulfilling the mitzva. Rather he has a problem with her. He doesn’t desire her. It could be for whatever reason. She is not attractive to him. Maybe spiritually, maybe physically, maybe emotionally. He has a lack of desire for her.

She on the other hand doesn’t use the term he doesn’t desire rather he is me’ein- he refuses to fulfill his obligation. It is not out of lack of desire. Rather it is a refusal to step up to the plate. And then she adds. Lo ava- he does not wish or the way the Ksav V’Kabala understands the word, he has no motivation either way to fulfill the mitzva. He is being complacent.

When he is called to court however he reiterates however that his problem is with her. Lo chafatzti l’yabma- I don’t desire her. The court however not wishing to judge one way or the other who’s responsible allows the yevama to make the neutral statement “the man who does not build his brother’s house”. Not the one who doesn’t desire, not the one who refuses, not the one who isn’t motivated. Just the person who at the end of the day did not build his brother’s house by marrying his widow.

C’mon, you have to appreciate this. It is a vort like this that makes you want to go back and read the parsha again and look for other instances of non-synonyms you ignored. Well, that’s what this column is all about. Inspiring your inner lamdan.

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

The battle of Sisera and Song of Devora 1124 BC – This battle is one that I mention a lot to my tourists as there are so many places where one can mention it. Particularly in this time of year as we approach Rosh Hashana. After all this battle is what makes our day so special right? What am I talking about? As I tell my tourists, you tell me…

While  you think about that let’s talk about the story. So Yavin the King of Chatzor, right in the Hula Valley by Ayelet Hashachar today, one of those Canaani Kings that the Jews after settling the land got too lazy to wipe out, overtook the nation in the North and began to enslave the people. This was of course punishment from Hashem for leaving his ways. But now for the first time they were being subjugated by the Canaani Kings they left around rather than the previous battles which were external enemies. Yavin has a general by the name of Sisera who rules an army that consists of 900 chariots. To give you a sense of what that means remember that Pharaoh in Egypt only sent out 600 chariots against the Jewish nation fleeing. This is 150 times as many as Pharaoh in Egypt. It’s a big deal.

Opposite him stands Devora and her general Barak Ben Lapidot whom she calls to battle by Mt. Tavor. The location is a perfect one as it is the crossroads of three tribes; Yissachar, Zevulun and Naftali. There Barak, after getting assurances that Devora would stand with him in battle, gathered an army of 10,000 men. This was an open affront to Sisera and Yavin and the army came rolling into town. The battle begins in Kedesh Naftali, near Yavni’el south of Tiverya and continues to the valley by Megiddo on the western slopes of Mt. Tavor. The Jews came storming down the mountain and the Canaanites didn’t know what hit them. The midrash suggests they saw a big fiery sword in the sky. The Kishon river which flows from Mt. Carmel into that valley became a raging river and swept the chariots out to the Sea.

Sisera seeing defeat flees the battlefield and flees to Alon Batzaananim which is seemingly between Yavne’el and Menachmia of today to the tent of a Kenite woman, a descendant of Yisro, named Yael. In fact, today the Nature Reserve called Churshat Yaelah, in that area there is a spring called Ein Yael named after her. Yael invites him into her tent, liquors him up and tires him out and once he is fast asleep she yanks out the peg from the tent and jams into his head killing him. Barak, upon seeing the miraculous defeat of Sisera and his army headed up to Chatzor and finished the job they should have done years before and wiped out Yavin and the Cananites.

The book of Shoftim then shares with us the incredible song that Devora composes, perhaps one of the most beautiful in Tanach. There she recounts how Hashem saved the nation. She praises he tribes that joined the fight and lambasts the tribe of Dan, Reuvein and Asher that stayed on the side lines. (by the way inspiring that song by Yigal Calek and London Boys Choir lama yashavta bein hamishpisayim-I’ll see if I can find it on youtube for you guys below-betcha never knew it came from here and bet you didn’t even know what the song was talking about…). Finally, she gives us the image that brings us to Rosh Hashana. The mother of Sisera is sitting by window waiting for her little boychik to come home with the booty of the Jews. When she sees through her “magic mirror” he ain’t comin home she cries. How many times did she cry? 100 times. And each year on Rosh Hashana we blow 100 blasts on our Shofar to commemorate those cries which symbolize the eradication of evil from this world according to the Sifsey Chaim’s explanation.

And there you have it an incredible story that you can share with your tourists and think about when you drive through the Jezre’el Valley, the Tavor area in the lower Galile or even by the Kishon river or up by the Galile Panhadle near the Hula valley.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S KIBBUTZNIK JOKES OF THE WEEK

Marvin Epstein was on his first trip to Israel and couldn’t believe how advanced the country had become. Innovation everywhere, even on Israel’s farms, far surpassed what he saw anywhere else in the world. Driving through an agricultural kibbutz, Marvin started experiencing car trouble.

He stopped, got out of the car, and as he lifted the hood to study the engine, a brown and white cow from an adjoining field walked over.

After a moment or two, the cow turned to Marvin and said: "Looks like a faulty carburetor to me." Then she walked back into the field and resumed her grazing.

Amazed, Marvin walked up to someone and said: "Is that your cow in the field?"

"The brown and white one?” a kibbutznik responded. “Yes, that's old Rivkah."

"Well," continued Marvin, "my car broke down, and she just said: 'Looks like a faulty carburetor to me.’ Even the cows in this country brilliant?”

The kibbutznik shook his head and said: "Don't mind old Rivkah. She doesn’t know a thing about cars."

 

A Texas cattleman on vacation in Israel was visiting an agricultural kibbutz one day, boasting to the kibbutznik about the size of his ranch. "Takes me three whole days to ride across my farm on a horse."

Dudu, the kibbutznik takes a slow drink of water and replies, "We had a horse like that once, but I shot the lazy thing."

 

Danny Steinberg decided to work on a Kibbutz in Israel for the summer as it had always been his dream. One Sunday morning, Danny was in line for breakfast in the communal dining room. The Kibbutz had a cook who asked Danny how he wanted his eggs.

Not wanting to burden him, Danny said cheerfully, "Whatever is easiest for you."

With that, the cook took two eggs, cracked them open onto his plate, and handed it back to him.

 

Levi was called into the KGB offices in Sovier Russia after applying for a Visa to move to Israel. Comrade Lev, why now, just when things are getting better for your people, are you applying for an exit visa to make Aliyah to Israel?

“Well, comrade, there are two reasons. One is that my next-door neighbor is Pamyat (the anti soviet Russian party) and he tells me that after they get rid of you communists, they are coming next after the Jews.

But they will never get rid of us communists!: The officer barked at him

I know, I know, of course you are right! And that's the other reason.

Benny from Haifa passed away and was sent ‘below’. He was amazed, however, to discover lush vegetation, running streams, waterfalls and beautiful lakes everywhere. Everyone seemed happy.  

“You look surprised,” said a resident.  

“Yes, I am,” replied Benny, “I expected this place to be very dry and exceedingly hot. Like a desert. But all I can see are trees full of all kinds of fruit, beautiful flowers, lots of vegetables, lush grass and water everywhere. This is not hell”  

“Well,” said the resident, “it used to be like you thought, but then the Israelis started to arrive and they irrigated the daylights out of the place!” 

A disappointed Coca Cola salesman returns from his assignment to Israel. A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Israelis?" The salesman explained, "When I got posted, I was very confident that I would make it. But, I had a problem. I didn't know Hebrew. So, I planned to convey the message via three posters. 

The first poster was a man lying in the hot desert sand, totally exhausted. 

The second poster was the man drinking the Coca Cola. 

The third poster was the man now totally refreshed. 

"These posters were pasted all over the place." 

"That should have worked!!" said the friend. 

"Of course it should have!!" said the salesman. "But I didn't realize that Israelis read from right to left!!!"  

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Answer is D–  Also not the challenging of a question for a ben Torah. It shouldn’t be at least, although I’m not sure how many would get this wrong. It’s easy not necessarily because every learning Jew know which prophets are in the 12 minor prophets. I think that probably sadly maybe 15% could name them all. I probably couldn’t off-hand either. But it’s a giveaway in regards to anyone who has seen the navi knows that Isaiah/Yeshaya Hanavi is no minor prophet with 66 chapters and close to 1300 verses it’s the largest of the books of the prophets. Now if they would’ve thrown Esther or Rus in there then it might have thrown some people for a loop maybe even Yechezel.   So the score is Schwartz 35 and 8 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.