Eagle One has Landed- Parshat Yisro Tu Bishvat- 2025 5785

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

February 14^th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 16 16^th of Shevat 5785

 

Parshat Yisro

Eagle One has Landed.

The man is really serious. Gaza will become the new French Riviera. Terrorists will be expelled. The turn-turn-it-into-a-parking-lot joke that lots of people said, and that I never thought should be a joke, well it looks like the Donald has been reading my E-Mails or at the least watching my statuses. See, you’re in good company. Except whereas I said “parking lot”, he heard amusement park. Stay tuned for Gaza Disney, with fun underground tunnel roller coaster rides, fireworks every night and “it was a small world” with Bibi Mouse and Donald Duck leading the parade.

The crazy thing is that Israel really doesn’t know what to do with themselves with all this love and support coming our way. See, we’re kind of used to the whole being a victim thing. Yes, even 75 year of statehood and “Never Again”ing it and brave Israeli army yada yada had not knocked the galus mentality “whole-world-wants-to-kill-us” and we-better-not-upset-the-goyim mentality. Unless you live in Lakewood or Williamsburg of course where of course you feel that you’ve already been redeemed and own congress and the court system and are the “biggest tax-payers” around and are entitled to do whatever you want in the medina shel chesed Hashem has blessed you with living in…Shh… be quiet Hamas protestor down the block… Ouch…

But here in Israel that’s not and has never been the case. Despite the fact that we’ve won quite a few wars- miraculously. Despite the fact that we’ve flourished. We’ve developed the country. We clearly have everything that we have accomplished in such a short time here because we’ve worked hard, we haven’t stopped and we’re an incredible nation that’s out to help and build the world, and Hashem kind of loves us…usually. We still feel that we’re not worthy. We still feel that we have to answer to the goyim. We still feel that we’re really not entitled to anything. Certainly not to the entire land of Israel. Certainly not to the right to wipe out our enemies. We can’t even hit them with tariffs.

We feel we have to every day defend our behavior. We’re so pathetic despite all of our songs about Jewish pride and the so much we have to be proud of. We’re great and the best at making museums about Holocausts, Memorials for fallen heroes, for dead children, for murdered soldiers. Really cool and shticky monuments and memorials too. Some with good movies, others with virtual reality glasses and others with light and sound shows with real smoke coming up from blown up bunkers where Jews were killed.  But winning wars and celebrating the destruction of our enemies and building amusement parks on top of their graves and destroyed cities… that’s never been our strong point.

Quite the opposite in fact. We apologize. We’re so sorry we won. Of course, we’ll rebuild your churches, your mosques, we’ll even declare them protected holy sites. Here’s half of Mearas Hamachpela. Here’s the Temple Mount. The tomb of Yosef in Shechem, and take the whole West Bank while you’re at it. We’ll even arrest and bulldoze any Jewish kids that try to plant a vineyard there.

Sure you can keep your golden pimple. We won’t even daven there. We’ll stay down here on the bottom by the burnt remains of our retaining wall and mourn the Temple that we once had that you guys destroyed. We’ll give you equal rights in the land that you threw us out of and would do so again tomorrow. You even unabashedly say that that’s what you still plan on doing to us. October 7^th the sequel. River to the Sea Part II.  

We’ll make you Supreme Court justices. We’ll give you voting rights. We’ll even throw 14-year-old kids living on hill-tops and that are settling the land who seem to be the only ones with any brains or sense of true Jewish pride, meaning and appreciation of any historical significance in this county, into jail for even suggesting that we actually fulfill the Divine mandate we were given to settle in the land Hashem has given us and destroy anyone that stands in our way. Yeah… We’re really bad at winning. At being who Hashem raised us and brought us up to become.

This is not a new problem. This is perhaps the oldest problem of our nation. In fact it is even the prelude to us becoming the nation of Hashem. It’s the last thing the Torah tells us before He chose us and gave us the Torah. The blueprint and map of what we are here to accomplish. The book and the mandate and pathway to us becoming the “mamleches kohanim” -the nation that will establish a homeland that will shine the light of Hashem out to the world where all will recognize His glory. Our glory. The parsha of this week’s Torah reading and perhaps the one with the most essential Torah narrative of our role in the world is called and named after… would you believe it? A goy. Yisro. Do you know why? Because Hashem knows that we probably couldn’t and don’t have the guts enough or self-respect or confidence to do it on our own. We need Yisro to tell us how great we are before we actually believe we are worthy.

You know what’s funny? Do you know what the name Yisro means? More. Rashi tells us that the hidden meaning behind that name or spiritual essence is that he was called thus because it was in his merit that an extra parsha was added in the Torah. The parsha of the establishment of righteous judges. Judges without fear. Judges that will have the guts to stand up to evil. That will be inspired only by the word of Hashem. That won’t bow to societal pressure. That are concerned more about being spiritually correct rather than politically.

The name of the parsha that this goy added is meaningfully called V’ata Techezeh-And you shall see. Open up your eyes. Take a look. See… Take off the blinders. Understand why you’re here. Look at the miracles. Look where Hashem has brought you. See how he destroyed Amalek. How He beepered them. How He split the Sea. How He gave you the Manna. Do you get it? We need a goy to tell us that. Thus the parsha of the Torah and of us becoming a nation is called Yisro, after the goy that saw and came and directed us on the path.

But is that really true? Is that really what happened. Here, comes the amazing part my friends and pay close attention. We have a rule, a bizarre, incongruous rule that is really a spiritual oxymoron. It’s called eilu v’eilu divrei Elokim Chayim- that whenever we have a debate or a dispute between our sages in the Mishna or Talmud, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, Rabbi Akiva and Rebbi Gamliel, or even Rashi and Tosafos. There are truths to both sides of the debate. They both represent the word of Hashem Both opposing views are correct. It’s like the joke about the couple that comes to the Rabbi and she gives her complaints and the Rabbi tells her that she’s correct. The husband then gives his complaints and the Rabbi again turns to the man this time and says that he’s correct. The Rabbi’s wife is listening and objects. How can they both be right? The Rabbi turns to her and says that she is also right! Well, when it comes to the story of Yisro’s arrival, like all Jewish things there is a debate as well.And they’re both correct. They’re both truth.

Rashi, the Ibn Ezra and many of the commentaries that generally go with the simplest explanation actually read the story of Yisro as being a non-chronological one. He doesn’t come to Moshe until after the giving of the Torah. They follow the Talmudic opinions that understand that the reason he came is because he heard about the giving of the Torah. He wanted to be part of our nation. He was drawn to us and our mission. We inspired him.

The Ramban, Saadia Gaon and others however read the story chronologically and suggest that Yisro came before the Torah was given. He heard about our war against Amalek, our victory, the splitting of the sea. He was inspired by Hashem and the love and all He does for our nation and that drew him to our people. Fascinatingly enough, Rashi, although he goes with the opinion that Yisro came afterwards however understands that the Torah is relating to us that he came before, to relate to us that his coming wasn’t necessarily motivated as much by the giving of the Torah but rather it was because of the miracles. He came because of Hashem. He wasn’t going to wait until we caught on to how special and treasured we are. He figured that might be a waste of time perhaps. Rather he came to be our “eyes”. To show us how special we are and how much Hashem has set us up to accomplish.

Eilu V’eilu Divrei Elokim Chayim- both of these stories are true. There’s a lesson. A possible future. A reality that we were in then and that we are in today as well with two alternate and perhaps even opposite roads. Do we need the goy to see that we are chosen? That we have a job to do. A land to conquer. A world to light up with the truth. An Amalek to wipe out. Do we need Yisro to come and be our eyes. By the way… What’s the name of the secretary of State that just came to Israel and said we should build a Bais Ha’Mikdash? Rubi-o. Sounds like Yisr-o. What does the word Rubiya mean? Anyone remember that word from our Rosh Hashana black eyed peas? It means more. Yisro. One more added parsha. She’yirbu zechuyaseinu… That our merits should increase.  C’mon.. this whole E-Mail was worth the read just for that… 😊.

This Shabbos and every Shabbos before we bentch and thank Hashem for the Eretz Ha’Tovah the great incredible land that He has promised us and our forefathers that we have been privileged to return to. That we ask Hashem to have mercy on us, on Tzion, on Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. We sing and recite a Psalm.

Shir Ha’Maalos- A song of Ascents- of Aliya

 B’shuv Hashem es shivas tzion- When Hashem returns the captives of Tzion… our nation exiled for so long… our hostages.

Ha’yinu k’cholmim- we’re dreaming. We’re sleeping. We don’t get it… We don’t see what’s happening right before our eyes. We’re missing what’s happening. We think it’s just about getting out of Egypt. Out of the Holocaust. It’s a national homeland where nobody will bother us. Like America, but in Hebrew with falafel and shwarma too. We don’t realize that we have a job to do. A house to build for Hashem. A light to shine out to the world from there.

Oz yimaleh schok pinu u’lshoneinu rina- then our mouths will fill with laughter and our tongues with song. We laugh. We’re happy. We sing. The job is not done yet. It’s a nice dream. We think it’s over. We got them back. We’ve returned. We have our State. Thank You Hashem… We think the dream has come true. But we’re missing the boat. That’s not what this about. We need Yisro to tell us something. We need Rubio. We need the goyim to be our eyes. Because 2000 years of exile, of persecution, of fear and subjugation under them has blurred our eyesight.

Oz yomru ba’goyim higdil Hashem la’asos im eileh- The goyim will then get up and say. Hashem has done something great and big for this nation. They heard about the war against Amalek. They heard about the Manna. They heard about our hostages coming home. They understand more than us, that this about something much greater. Part of making America Great Again is first making us great again. They look towards us and ask us if we’re still dreaming or are we going to wake up. Will we just continue paying lip and tongue service to what is happening? Is it just something that fills our mouth and tongues with great new catchy songs? Or will we be truly happy. Will we take it to the next level and bring the simchas olam to the world as we’re supposed to. As we were chosen to. Do we have the strength to say

Higdil Hashem L’aasos Imanu- Hashem has made us great. He gave us the most important role in the world. We have a job to do. A message to scream out to the world. A land to liberate and rid of evil. A world to uplift. A home to return to and dwell in. Do we have the strength to tell the world what justice looks like? What the vengeance of Hashem and the Jewish people entails. What the borders of our country need to be. Can we truly bring the world to understand that we understand that our job is not merely to be free and to be live under our fig tree, grape vine around the corner from the Makolet and kosher pizza store, but it’s to truly bring the world to simchas olam-

Hayinu smaychim- to be truly happy…

The Geula is coming my friends. This past week on Tu’Bishvat I was riding on these cool EZ Rider bikes with my tourists through the ruins of the city of Caesarea, a city that our sages tell us that will be in ruins as Jerusalem will be rebuilt. Along our ride, we passed by the Roman theater where the great Rabbi Akiva, who laughed while the foxes came out of the ruins because he saw in the destruction already the seeds of redemption. Ha’zorim B’dimah- the fields of Jerusalem that were sown with seeds of tears, he saw already 2000 years ago, that b’rina yiktzoru- that they will be harvested in song.

Rabbi Akiva was killed by them there in that theater with the words Hashem Echad on his lips. He had started the first Messianic movement, too early, when he rebelled against them with his army of Bar Kochva. He wasn’t dreaming. He did what needed to be done. He wasn’t just davening and or even learning for Mashiach and the redemption. He went out to fight and bring it. 2000 years late Yaakov Shweky sings Vehi She’amda in that same theater and Shema Yisrael with our return. Rome is gone. The tears that were planted have begun to bear fruit and our lips began to be full of song.

We continued on our ride on Tu Bi’Shvat and passed families with children planting trees. It was Tu B’Shvat. In Israel we don’t just eat dry buktzer/carob and dried figs and sing about shkeydiyah porachat-. We’re not dreaming. We’re planting. They weren’t all wearing Yarmulkas. Yet even the most secular here know that this is a holiday of redemption. Of planting. Of settling the land. Tears came to my eyes just watching these beautiful yiddishe kinderlach with their shovels and saplings. Ha’zorim B’Dima. Throughout Israel at the many sites where our children fell, the burnt car park, the Nova Festival site, Sderot trees were planted this year. We plant with tears. We plant with tears right after the Goyim tell us that we are great. We need to be nosey alumosuv- we need to carry our burdens, but as well we need to be alim- we need to be strong. We need to gather our strength.

With Tu B’Shvat the sap has risen. Purim is around the corner. Amalek is just waiting to be wiped out. Maybe even by 12:00 this Shabbos afternoon, if we listen to the Goyim. Pesach is around the corner. The month of redemption and return is here and coming fast. Do you know what the Presidential plane that Rubio arrived on is called? Eagle One. Kanfey Nesharim has landed and Goyim are telling us we are meant to be “great again” and meant to be even greater. Are we ready to stop dreaming?

Have a explosively fantastic Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Fun fartrikenteh baimer kumen kain paires nit arois.”.- No fruit falls from withered trees.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

8. Israel has implemented its "good fence" policy with which bordering country? ______

Which settlement among the "11 points" established in 1946 was within the territory of today's

Gaza Strip?

A. Urim

B. Kfar Darom

C. Nirim

D. Kfar Aza

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/vatem   - The words, the promise, our mandate… from this week’s parsha. My glorious composition V’Atem Tihiyu Li… You should sing this the whole Shabbos…

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/torah-hakedosha  -  Shabbos Yisro Kabbalas HaTorah is here and this composition of mine from the famous poem ( from selichos Tzom Gedalia) has incredible words that most- until my song- only knew the first part of it… Listen and take in the prayer to the Torah..

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/good-shabbos   – We read about this mitzva of Shabbos… what is it all about ..listen to this beautiful composition of mine that you will sing forever…

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ylBComcef4   Simcha Leiner’s latest… Kein Yehi Ratzon! Nice…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfNTo3GhK_M    – A beautiful Ilan Ilan for Tu B’Shvat..

 

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

 

Nevuchadnezzar -the King who gave honor to God?- 605 BC – It is mamash insane how important it is for us to learn Tanach and to understand and internalize the lessons and stories of our past that repeat themselves. Binu shnos dor v’dor- understand the lessons of each generation. This column somehow always seems to be caught up with what’s going on. Check it out this week…

 

We begin the story of the rasha, the evil king of Babylonia who in the fourth year of the King Yehoyakim exiles him and begins the process of our exile and destruction. Who is Nevuchadnezzar? So our sages tell us his fascinating origin story. It seems that he was the secretary of the previous King of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan whom we previously learned about. Baladan, was the king who had sent messengers to Chizkiya after he was miraculously healed from his illness that followed the miraculous defeat of Sancheriev’s Assyrian army right outside of the gates of Jerusalem. Chizkiya could’ve been Mashiach had he sung and praised Hashem after this victory. His failure to recognize the amazing opportunity that this victory brought and his continued alliances and reliance on other goyim to be on our team and give us their love led to his sickness.

 

When Baladan heard about his miraculous recovery and the defeat of his own mutual enemy that he shared with us of Assyria he sent messengers to Chizkiya. He sent his Rubio with great wishes. He wanted to make Babylonia great again as well. He sent him a letter that stated

 

“Peace be unto King Chizkiya, peace unto the city of Yerushalayim, peace unto the great God.”

 

When Nevuchadnezar who wasn’t present heard about the letter, he got upset. How dare they place Chizkiya and give him honor before Hashem?! They should’ve first written “peace to Hashem” before Chizkiya. He began to run after the messengers to stop them. And very quickly the angel Gavriel came down and stopped him. Yet, it was in the merit of those four steps that he rose to glory to become the king of Babylonia and ultimately became the one to destroy the Temple. It was only because the angel stopped him though that our exile was only temporary. If he would’ve actually taken more than those four steps, we’d still be speaking Babylonian today…

 

What is the message here? The message is that when the Goyim and their Kings stick up for Hashem and our honor and we don’t then we’re in trouble. In fact, the downfall of Chizkiya a and the Jews was because when Baladan’s whole entourage comes to Israel he shows them all of the glory of the Temple and our treasure houses. Maybe he even got them golden beepers. The Navi and story of Chizkiya and Nevuchadnezzar is that our job is not to talk about our greatness and glory. It has to be about Hashem. We can’t be impressed or influenced by the nations. We need to impress and influence them, but not to farkoyf them on us… Rather its’ to get them realize and appreciate how much Hashem’s glory needs to be revealed to the world.

 

Yes, my friends. It’s ba’yamim ha’heim- in those days. Ba’zman ha’zeh- in our times.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE TREE JOKES OF THE WEEK

What type of trees like to give High Fives? A Palm Tree

 What school subject is the fruitiest? History – because it is full of dates!

 What happens to grapes when you step on them? They wine!

 I was telling my children about the health benefits of eating dried fruits recently. It’s really all about rasin awareness

 A lumberjack went in to a magic forest to cut a tree. Upon arrival, he started to swing at the tree, when it shouted, “Wait! I’m a talking tree!"

The lumberjack grinned, “And you will dialogue!"

  What did one Jewish wheat say to the other one? What should we eat?

 How many olives did the girl eat? Olive them!

 I can cut down a tree just by looking at it. It's true, I saw it with my own eyes

 My friend told me “Did you know trees drop edible stuff that’s not fruit?” I said “that’s nuts”.

 Where do you buy barley? At the bar!

 What’s green, fuzzy, has four legs and will kill you if it falls out of a tree? A pool table.

 What do you give a sick lemon? Lemon Aid.

 Why you shouldn't trust trees? They seem shady

 When I see lovers' nαmes cαrved in α tree, I don't think it's sweet. I just think it's surprising how mαny people bring a knife on a dαte.

 What do you call it when your friend try to convince you eat more fruit? Pear pressure.

 What kind of tree does toothpaste grow on? Toiletries

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The answer to this week”s question is b – Finally! I got one entirely right. It helps a bit that these are war zones. The part A though I knew even before the war, The Good Fence which was our open door policy to Lebanon before the first Lebanon War in 2000. Thousands of Israelis would got to Lebanon to shop and even have farms there and Leabanese would come into Israel as well enjoying our better medical services and shopping. Yes, it was once good with Lebanon before it became today. Now we’re back hopefully returned to our biblical borders that we won’t give back…

Part B was also easy. Kfar Darom was in Gush Katif until Ariel Sharon threw us out in exchange for the wonderful peace we’ve been experiencing since then. So I got them both right this week and the  new score is Rabbi Schwartz 5.5 Ministry of Tourism 2.5 on this exam so far.

Distinctly Jewish Pleasures- Vayeitzei 2018/ 5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

November 16^th 2018 -Volume 9 Issue 7 8^th Kislev 5779

Parshat Vayeitzei

Distinctly Jewish Pleasures

There are certain pleasures in the world that only a frum person can experience. That is the topic I wanted to write about this week. It started when I came into shul, it was a Monday. It’s a long tachanun on a Monday. I finished repeating shmona esrey and was about to start vi’hu rachum, when a chasan walked in. Kaddish! No tachanun. If it would’ve been a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday there would have been some joy. Tachanun on those days is only about 3 or 4 minutes. But on a Monday or Thursday when you just knocked off a good 7-9 minutes from our morning services the elation was palatable. There wasn’t a face that wasn’t smiling. Someone commented to me afterwards. This is one of those pleasures in life that a non-religious person or a gentile will never experience. They may have cheese burgers, Santa Claus and the Super Bowl, but the joy of unexpectedly getting out of a few extra paragraphs of davening… that’s something only a frum yid can appreciate. Ashreinu ma tov chelkeinu- Fortunate are we and how good is our lot.

So that got me thinking what other uniquely frum pleasures are there out there that no one else gets to appreciate. Of course there is chulent-chili, stew, goulash and something called mélange, but it isn’t even close to a real chulent. You’ve got herring, kishka, chopped liver and kokosh cake. But that’s me I jump to food right away. But that’s really not fair because every cultures got their own ethnic cuisine. I was looking for distinctly religious pleasures. Not to say that chulent, particularly my wife’s, isn’t a religious experience but you know what I mean.

So what do you do when you don’t know something. I googled Uniquely Jewish pleasures that goyim don’t experience, and nothing came up relevant. All it gave me was links about Shabbos goys. That meant that this was a still undiscovered thesis waiting to be written. Google had left me room to expand on this narrowly researched area. So I went to work researching. But where? How?  Thank God for Facebook.

So I put up a post and all my friends chimed in within 3 hours I had close to 200 responses. There were some that were better than others. I’ll give you the ones I like best and maybe throw in a few more by the jokes below.

These four words being sung after the Torah reading “Chadeish Yameinu Kikedem-Yisgade’eel”- no speech this week.

Gebrochts on the last day of Pesach- for Chasidim

Being in an unfamiliar town and finding a kosher restaurant, or flayshigs in supermarket, or kosher crackers in a vending machine

Having someone bring you some milk chocolate as a present and realizing you’re the only one not flayshigs for the next 5 hours.

Lying down in bed and remembering as you’re falling asleep that you really did daven mariv already.

When your host cries out its time to bentch and he didn’t say a vort (or read Rabbi Schwartzes E-mail) at the table.

Really short selichos on Erev Yom Kippur

A cloudy Motzai Yom Kippur so you don’t have to say Kiddush Levana and can run home and eat right away.

Finding a big piece of flanken on bottom of chulent pot at a Kiddush that no one else realized

was there

Two words- Hoicha Kedusha (for my readers that are frummly illiterate- that’s when rather than repeating the entire Mincha amida you just say a quick kedusha and your done)

Being at a simcha and being able to eat whatever you want because your spouse is on other side of mechitza

And on and on and on… Send me yours. It’s a great topic. But perhaps the greatest pleasure in my mind that is Torah. I’m not getting frum on you here. I’m not trying to pitch you or sell you anything. And truth is that it’s not a pleasure that most of us get enough of the time. It’s probably one that I can tell you that I personally don’t get most times I crack a book, open up a Talmud or prepare a class or sermon. But it’s a joy that you get like no other. When you work hard at a good vort and poof it clicks. When the Talmud opens up after working on it a bit and all the pieces you were struggling over all fit together into a glorious tapestry. When something that you never saw before in the Torah or the parsha all of a sudden reveals itself to you. When you hear a great class or shiur that touches parts of your soul you knew existed but never thought could be inspired. Could be blown away. It’s more than just a Eureka! lightbulb moment.  It’s like you’ve just connected to something older, higher, more incredible than you ever thought you could. You found your place in the Torah. You appreciate that you have just gotten a taste of olam haba- the world to come, in this world. You want to, and sometimes do, jump up and dance.  A goy will never have that. That’s ours and ours alone.

That feeling, the moment, perhaps gets its first appearance in this week’s Torah portion. Our forefather Yaakov is fleeing for his life. He was at the top of his game until then. After his years in yeshiva and Kollel in the tents of Shem, he got his father’s blessings, unexpectedly. The dew of the heaven, the fats of the land. He won the jackpot. He goes to learn for another 14 years in Kollel and then he is off to find his wife. He’s got money, he’s got Torah, he’s got blessings, and then it all goes to pot. His brother wants him dead and he must leave in Israel. His father never left, but he is exiled. His nephew Elifaz sent by his brother Esau comes to kill him and leaves him penniless. He’s lying out in middle of Beit El with nothing but a dismal future leaving the holiest place on earth. And then he sleeps. He dreams. Angels go up and down a ladder

Bereshit (28:13) V’hinei Hashem nitzav oluv- Hashem is standing over him

Hashem blesses him that the land he is lying upon will be his and his descendants. Hashem will watch over him, and return him home and will never leave him until that happens.

Yaakov awakes in awe. He had just experienced the most incredible pleasure that only a yid can feel.

Ibid (23:16) Achein yesh Hashem bamakon hazeh v’anochi lo yodati- Surely Hashem is in this place and I did not know

Yaakov knew that Hashem is always watching him before this. But what about when it seems that things are so bleak. What about when I am thrown out? When everything is gone. When I am going to step out of the Beit Midrash for the next 20 years and barely able to crack a book. When I am being chased, persecuted, killed. When the only company I have is the crooks that I will be working with, when my life revolves around the sheep all day and night. When I have bills to pay and am so so far away from my father, my land, from the place where the Divine presence is meant to shine from? Will I be able to find You there?

Hashem assures him that He is standing over him. He is and will be standing over his descendants until they come home. There is a gate to heaven with angels that will follow you down wherever you go, and there will be angels that will bring you and your prayers back up through that gate always. The ladder will start from you. From wherever you rest your head to sleep at night.

Yaakov is blown away by the revelation. He takes those 12 rocks that joined together to become one and takes an oath that he will return. He will make those rocks into a house of Hashem. His children will be those building blocks that will bring Hashem to this world. We will be able to find Hashem and rejoice in Him no matter where you are as we know that there is a ladder that is planted on top of our heads that we can always climb up. That will always raise us higher.   

There are lots of pleasures that we have that goyim don’t but perhaps the greatest gift is when we are able to see the hand of Hashem when things look the bleakest. When missiles are being shot at our borders and a band of soldiers are saved because they got off the bus 5 minutes before their bus was blown up. When our buildings are being blown up and the only one to get killed is a Palestinian illegal. When we finally retake our Temple and throw off years of persecution and we don’t have enough oil to last for more than a day and it lasts for 8. Those are the real moments of yiddisheh exhilaration. As we approach Chanukah, we’ll have latkas, we’ll play dreidel and get gimmels and win that pot of chocolate gelt- goyim will never get that either. But let’s enjoy that greatest pleasure. Let’s gaze into those small little flames and remember the miracles that take place and the gates of heaven that are always open and that rock of Yaakov and Hashem’s promise that we will return. We will build Him that home again. This time it will be forever.

Have pleasure filled  Shabbos,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Az du gaist oifen laiter, tsail di treplech -When you climb a ladder, count the rungs.

RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://youtu.be/omE3J8GXkZs  – inspiring new song by SY Rechnitz and an even more inspiring video sung by Baruch Levine and Simcha Leiner in the wake of the Pittsburgh attack

https://youtu.be/Eqwz6lMxmj8- Goyim eating Chasidish food

https://youtu.be/s5WI8nDU2VQ- Yoni Z video Ma Naaseh made me think of Yaakov’s dream

https://youtu.be/JQGLN1alhAs?list=PLJCT7aJVkqcE_XRwUavvtIPHmTbxVLjGS   The morning song of the early chalutzim pioneers in Israel pretty amazing!

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q The year in which Tel Aviv was established:

A. 1906

B. 1907

C. 1908

D. 1909

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS” CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Toldos– A lamdan looks at a pasuk, a verse or a story in the Torah, and unlike the pashtan who seeks the simple understanding, or the darshan who looks for the midrashic explanation or sub-story, he looks to understand the halachic nuances and their application. It’s that appreciation that sheds light in general not only on the narrative in the text, but can open up gates in understanding more global fundementals and principles.

A great example of this approach is in this week’s Torah portion when Yaakov awakens from his dream where he saw the angels going up and down the heavenly ladder. When he awakes he makes the statement

Bereshit (28:17) ‘Surely Hashem in this place and I didn’t know!’ And he was frightened and said ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Hashemand this is the gate of heaven’

According to the Midrashim and Talmud the place where Yaakov slept was connected to the Temple Mount, either through the land crunching underneath him, or via the slope of the ladder that was directed towards it. Yaakov’s fear and awe was that it is forbidden to sleep in such a holy place, there is a law of morah mikdash- one is obligated to have awe of the Temple. The Rav of Brisk even notes that Yaakov would have even been willing to forego all of the incredible blessings and revelation that he received in that dream rather than violate that Torah commandment. Which is pretty amazing in of itself!

The question that he asks though is that there seems to be a slight problem. See the Temple wasn’t built yet. Seemingly a critical part of the obligation to have awe of the temple is that the temple had to have been built. Moriah was just an empty mountaintop. Why would Yaakov have regretted that he slept there and been willing to give up that incredible guarantee of the land of Israel, that Hashem will protect him always and that he will return him back home, if there seemingly was nothing significant about the place.

He answers with a deep understanding of the entire concept of the awe of the mikdash based on a precise reading of the Talmud. The Gemara tells us

Yevamot (6.) The Talmud teaches us (Vayikra 19:30) You shall observe my Shabbos and you shall have awe of my Temple- It says Shabbat observance and awe of the mikdash to teach you that just as the observance of Shabbos, it is not Shabbos that you are in awe of rather it is He who commanded it, also the awe of the Mikdash it is not the temple that you are meant to have awe from, only He who commanded it.

The Gemara continues and discusses all of the laws of mora mikdash; not to wear shoes, spit etc… The Rav however denotes that the fear of the Temple and its subsequent laws in truth are not connected to the physical structure of the temple. It is the Divine presence- the hashra’at HaShechina that emanates from there that is the driving point of the law. That being the case, he notes, Yaakov who precieved and actually had the shechina rest upon him in that place, would be obligated in all of the laws of morah mikdash- having awe of the Temple.

As we mentioned last week, a brisker can’t resist a good corroborating Rambam

Rambam Beit Habechira (7:1) It is a positive commandment to have awe of the Temple as it says u’mikdashai tira’u- you should have awe of the temple. And not from the temple itself should one have fear rather from He who commanded to have awe of Him.

And thus we understand perhaps why despite that while the place itself where he rested may not have been Har Hamoria (as it was in Beit El) and there was no Mikdash, yet since this was a place where the shechina rested, it would have the same halachic guidelines as if it was the temple itself.

And there you have it; A story explained, a new understanding in the laws of the Temple, an insight in a Talmud and a corroborating Rambam. A real lomdushe shiur!

  

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

Gad and Reuvein and the Eastern Jordan- 1272 BC- Perhaps one of the most associated words with the early settlements of Israel is chalutzim- Pioneers. Now generally in America when we think of pioneers we think of Davy Crocket and his ‘coon skin cap or shtreimel J. In Israel the original chalutzim were known for their kova-tembel- their cloth “dunce caps” literally translated, which were those floppy cloth caps that kept the sun out of their eyes when they worked the field. They were called that, because they were generally considered simpletons. I mean you gotta be simple-minded to move to this barren “cursed” land where nothing grew for millennia and hoped to make it flourish. But guess what it did! The tembels got it right.

Now the original chalutzim and term as it is used in the Torah probably wore heavy metal armour and helmets. They were soldiers. The first time the Torah uses that term is when the two tribes of Gad and Reuvein approach Moshe and ask to receive their portion of Israel on the eastern side of the Jordan River. In the lands of the Emori and the Bashan that they conquered. They had lots of cattle and they needed grazing land for them. Moshe thought they were wimping out of the big battles that lay ahead of conquering the land of Canaan and wiping out the 7 nations that were there. They told Moshe that they would go “chalutzim” before the nation into battle. Moshe told them that “before the people” is not enough they must be chalutzim before Hashem. And they take the oath and all is good.

Rashi and many of the commentaries translate the word chalutzim as armed. The Baal Haturim notes the similarity to the word Chalitza which is the process of removing one’s shoe when one doesn’t want to fulfil his obligations for levirate marriage with his brother’s widow. He suggests that since every soldier wrote a get before they went to battle in case they didn’t make it back, it was like chalitza, their wives could remarry and not marry be bound to marrying their brother-in-law.  I mention this when we pass by Nachal Darga by the Dead Sea- I avoid the 6 hour intense hike there J- where they found gittin- divorce documents from the soldiers of Bar Kochvas army.

But the term chalitza, certainly means remove, and as we know all Hebrew terms are connected in Lashon Hakodesh- the holy tongue. So many suggest that chalutzim when it refers to soldiers or even pioneers is a reference to single-mindedness, a removal of all personal distractions and inclinations. A chalutz is driven. That is his essence. They prepared their divorce documents so they would not feel torn of their thoughts of their wives back home. This is the idea of the pioneers then and of now.

There are all types of places to talk about Israel’s early pioneers. Particularly around the Kinneret where you have the farm for women farmers in chavat Kinneret. You have the Chalutz movement, founded by Yosef Trumpledor that we talk about up in Tel Chai and or by the cemetery of the shomrim there. In the Hula valley the Dobrovin farm is a fascinating place to talk about the non- jewish chalutzim that were there. In the Negev by Sdei Boker, where Ben Gurion became so attached to these “heroes” that he ultimately joined them in his retirement and decided to be buried there.

You of course have as well the modern day “settlers and pioneers. They are all drawn by this single minded and holy desire to settle Hashem’s land. Whether it’s in the Golan, where the tribe of Menashe settled or in the Gush Katif museums that I take people to in Jerusalem or in Avney Eitan in the Golan, or in the many settlements in the “West Bank” or in Chevron. Jews as our ancestors are willing to give up everything and in many case endanger their lives and their families in order to settle Hashem’s land.  Chalutziyot is still here, now we just got to get back the area that was where the original chalutzim lived- The eastern Jordan river bank, currently in Jordan.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH ONLY JOKES  OF THE WEEK

A Gentile goes into a clothing store and says,“This is a very fine jacket. How much is it?”

The salesman says, “It’s $500.”

The Gentile says,“OK, I’ll take it.”

Two Gentiles meet on the street. The first one says,“You own your own business, don’t you?
How’s it going?”

The other gentile says,“Just great! Thanks for asking!”

Two Gentile mothers meet on the street and start talking about children. Gentile mother 1 (said with pride):“My son is a construction worker!”

Gentile mother 2 (said with more pride):“My son is a truck driver!”

A man calls his mother and says, “Mother, I ! know you’re expecting me for dinner this evening, but something important has come up and I can’t make it.”

His mother says, “OK.”

A Gentile couple goes to a nice restaurant. The man says:

“I’ll have the steak and a baked potato, and my wife will have the julienne salad with house dressing. We’ll both have coffee.”

The waiter asks,“How would you like your steak and salad prepared?”

The man says, “I’d like the steak medium… the salad is fine as is.”

The waiter says, “Thank you.”

A Gentile man calls his elderly mother. He asks,

“Mom, how are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

She says, “I’m feeling fine, and I don’t need anything. Thanks for calling.”

A little old Jewish lady sold pretzels on a street corner for 25 cents each. Every day a young gentile would leave his office building at lunch time, and as he passed the pretzel stand, he would leave her a quarter, but never take a pretzel. And this went on for more then 3 years. The two of them never spoke. One day, as the young man passed the old lady’s stand and left his quarter as usual, the pretzel lady spoke to him.

“Sir, I appreciate your business. You are a good customer, but I have to tell you that the pretzel price has gone up to 35 cents.”

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

Answer is D–  This is another one I really wasn’t sure of. Precise dates are just not my thing. I’m more of an early 1900’s type of guy. Does anyone really care if it is was 1906, 1907, 1908 or 1909? Gimme a break, what is this trivial pursuit? Truth is if you would’ve asked me I would have said 1911. Why? I dunno, that’s what I thought I remembered. But thankfully that wasn’t one of the choices, or I would have certainly gotten it wrong. 1909 was the closest date to that so I went with it. And whadaya know I was right! So I still maintain by a hair my perfect score on this exam

And the score continues Schwartz is 6 for 6 on this exam so far.