Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
May 31st 2024 -Volume 13 Issue 33 23rd of Iyar 5784
Parshat Bechukosai
Kerry’s World
I’m
not a John Kerry fan. I don’t like hypocrites. I don’t like billionaires, especially
the ones that don’t donate to my shul. I was glad he didn’t become president
back when he ran against Bush. I was frustrated
that when Obama was elected that he selected Kerry to become his secretary of
State. In that position he made it a mission to pretty much persecute Israel, harassing
us over our settlements, turning a blind eye to Iran’s nuclear programs, and
made a fortune in his personal investments in Qatar and other oil rich
companies. It’s even arguable that it’s his policies, his emboldening of Iran
and his financing of terror and of legitimizing the “poor” Palestinian Authorities
claims enriching them more and more are what led up to the war that we are in
middle of. Thank you, John Kerry.
Yet,
this is the shemegegi that’s telling me that I have to watch out for my
carbon footprint and shouldn’t use deodorant or drink with a plastic straw
while he private jets all over the world collecting awards for creating
awareness about the danger of climate change and receding oceans. According to Kerry,
all of those terrible things were going to bring the end of the world already
in 2019. We’re still here, John, the only threat to the end of the world though
is that Iran Nuclear deal you pushed through… But hey, there’s no money in
opposing that. Israelis don’t pay off as much, and we still use plastic straws.
Now
although not a Jew, Kerry was even a catholic altar boy, yet he’s got Jewish
blood in him. His paternal grandparents, whose name was Kohn until they changed
it, were in fact not only Jews who converted out, but his grandmother was a descendant
of the brother of the famed Maharal Mi’Prague. I guess while the Maharal was
famous for making a Golem, his brother succeeded in creating descendants who
would give birth to one. Oy… when we Jews go off the path, we go far far off… We
fall to depths that nobody else can fall to. It’s one of the hazards of having
an elevated “chosen” soul that our nation has. It’s kind of like a beautiful
white shirt. It gets dirtier when it falls in the mud, than anything else. Certainly
more than those ripped-jeans-souls that the gentiles have where it doesn’t leave
a stain.
The
one thing, though, about Kerry and the irony of his story and his family
history is his name, which is perhaps the most appropriate for him. It’s one
that amazingly makes sense- on a spiritual level that is, for a Jew to take
when he’s trying to check out of our mamleches kohanim- our “Kohn”
family divinely- chosen-nation, status and try to hide and bury it. For the
name “Kerry”, would you believe it, is mentioned repeatedly in our parsha
and it hits at perhaps the core difference between his worldview and ours. Between
a God run world and one without. Between a blessing and a curse.
This
week we conclude the Book of Vayikra; the centerpiece of the entire five books.
It is the sefer that separates the stories of how we were created and
formed as a nation in Bereishis and Shemos, and the books of our journey from
Sinai to the land of Israel in Bamidbar and Devarim. It’s the segue book. Interestingly
enough, the first word and title of the book, Vayikra – and Hashem
called to Moshe, is written with a small letter alef. It can thus be
read as well “Va’yikar”- and He appeared, or more accurately and He happened
upon him. The word Yekar- spelled yud kuf and reish are
the same letters and root of a word that repeatedly shows up in the end of the
book of Vayikra as well. The word is Kerri- happenstance. Check it out. It
is in the long third aliya of the curses that will befall us if we don’t listen
to the mitzvos and if we become instead “John Kerrys”
And
if, during these, you will not listen to Me, I will add another seven
punishments for your sins:
I
will break the pride of your strength and make your skies like iron and your
land like copper.
Your
strength will be expended La’rik -in
vain; your land will not yield its produce, neither will the tree of the
earth give forth its fruit. (Vayikra 26:18-20)
So
that’s the first clue. The word la’rik- in vain, if you switch it around
spells la’keri- by chance. Associating all that occurs in the world to
happenstance and ignoring Hashem is vain. It’s a vain John Kerry worldview. But
we don’t need any hints as to what this is all about. Look at the next verses.
And
if you treat Me as Kerry-happenstance,
and you do not wish to listen to Me, I will add seven punishments corresponding
to your sins: will incite the wild
beasts of the field against you, and they will bereave you, utterly destroy
your livestock and diminish you, and your roads will become desolate. (ibid
26:22)
Yeah,
after October 7th we found out what those wild beasts of the field
look like and what desolate roads of death smell like.
And
if, through these, you will still not be chastised [to return] to Me, and if
you [continue to] treat Me-Kerry- happenstance. Then
I too, will treat you b’Kerry- with happenstance.
I will again add seven punishments for your sins: I will bring upon you an army
that avenges the avenging of a covenant, and you will gather into your cities.
I will incite the plague in your midst, and you will be delivered into the
enemy's hands, (ibid 23-25)
Anyone
know who that army is? It’s Kerry’s army. But let’s continue.
And if, despite this, you still do not listen
to Me, still treating Me -b’Kerry-as happenstance, I will treat you with a Chamas- fury of
-Kerry- happenstance, adding again seven [chastisements]
for your sins:(ibid 27)
Yes. That is the name of his army Hamas Kerry.
You can’t make these things up…
You will eat the flesh of
your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat… My Spirit will reject
you. I will lay your cities waste and make your holy places desolate, and I
will not partake of your pleasant fragrances…I will make the Land desolate, …and
I will unsheathe the sword after you. Your land will be desolate, and your
cities will be laid waste. (ibid 28-31)
So
many of our sons, so many of our daughters devoured… so much desolate land and
farms… so many without homes… so many of our pleasant fragrance prayers that Hashem
is not answering…
And
those of you who survive I will bring fear in their hearts in the lands of
their enemies, and the sound of a rustling leaf will pursue them; they will
flee as one flees the sword, and they will fall, but there will be no pursuer. Each
man will stumble over his brother, [fleeing] as if from the sword, but without
a pursuer. You will not be able to stand up against your enemies. (ibid
36-38)
So
many terrifying sirens and noise all the times ring throughout this country,
that terrify the families that went through so much. So many of our holy
soldiers killed by “friendly fire” ‘stumbling over his brother as if from sword’.
Yet there are no real pursuers there. Just a bunch of teenage idiots that we
haven’t for some reason wiped off the face of the earth yet.
You
will become lost among the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume
you. And because of their iniquity, those of you who survive will rot away in
the lands of your enemies; moreover, they will rot away because the iniquities
of their fathers are still within them.
Those
in the land of our “fre-nemies” won’t be spared either. {Good Sad Joke break- A
Zionist and an anti-Zionist walk into a bar. The bartender says “we don’t serve
Jews”…:} They will rot and be thrown in the same stench that the world has for
us. They will be chased, persecuted and hunted like we are here. And in case
you didn’t know why…
They
will then confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers their
betrayal that they dealt Me, and that they also treated Me as -Kerry- happenstance. Then
I too, will treat them as-Kerry- happenstance and bring them [back while] in
the land of their enemies. If then, their clogged heart becomes humbled, then,
[their sufferings] will gain appeasement for their iniquity. (ibid 38-40)
And
the world complains that Donald Trump is busy with putting his name everywhere.
This guy Kerry’s got his name all over the parsha. He’s the core of all
curses. He’s the essence of all that we’re suffering through. It’s why we still
haven’t been redeemed and what we still haven’t been successful in fixing. It’s
what the world will look like if rather than being the Kohn of the world that
Hashem chose us to be, we become Baalei Keri. A nation that in some way
has drunk the Kool-aid that sees the world and everything going on as stuff
that “just happens”. The curses happen when we ignore the “Va’yikra-“the
personal call of Hashem to each of us and instead we are “Va’yikar- we
are Kerry. We just act as if things are happening without any calls from Hashem.
We send His messages straight to voicemail. We mute the messages on our groups
or archive them in some historic group that we feel is not relevant to us. We
ghost Him and then He ghosts us right back.
Do
you know what a Kerry world is obsessed with? Climate control, global warming,
melting icebergs, ozone layers, and carbon footprints. Don’t get me wrong, we
are all partners in Creation and our first mandate is to take care of the
garden of Hashem that this world is and to populate it and prosper and not
destroy it. But there is a God that is watching over this world. It’s not going
to get destroyed. It’s not going to implode, explode, melt or burn up. There’s
no fear for the believer in Hashem. We can mess up this beautiful car that He’s
driving us in, and we’re warned not to, but we don’t ever have to worry that He’s
ever going to let it crash.
A
Kerry world is a godless one. It’s one that Hashem isn’t in control. It’s a
world that there is no Vayikra- no constant call to mankind that is
telling us that we are meant to shine His light into the world. The greatest
threat to this world isn’t plastic straws, rather it’s licentiousness, it’s
promiscuity, it’s false gods and religions. It’s when we throw out the Creator
and think that things are just happening and that there is no ONE behind the
wheel. That’s when the curses ramp up and up and up.
We
read this parsha each year in the end of the period of the counting of the Omer.
Each day since pesach we recite a blessing and count until Shavuot-the
day of the revelation of Hashem; Al sefirat ha’Omer- on the counting of
the omer What is this blessing?
On
Pesach we brought a sacrifice from the barley that was in the measurement of an
omer, but what does that have to do with anything? If we’re counting
from that date and sacrifice, the blessing should be al sefirat mei’ha’omer-
from rather than of the omer. It’s just weird, if you think
about it, to be honest. It’s like making a blessing al sefirat ha’16
ounces. At least let the blessing be al sefirat ha’ korban se’orah-
the barley offering, or the korban omer- the omer measure
sacrifice. Perhaps even more appropriately the count should be from the Exodus-
from yetziat Mitzrayim or even better al sefirat la’kabbalat
ha’torah.- for the receiving of the Torah. What’s this omer thing?
Do
you know what the gematria of omer is? 310. The same as Kerry.
There he is again. Do you know what else the Zohar tells us has the numerology
of 310? The word yeish- “There is”.
The ARI’Zl tells us that the word “yeish” in fact is an acronym of two
words as well. Words and laws that last week’s parsha taught us all about; yovel
and shemitta. “Yud” for yovel and“shin” for shemitta.
Those are the two laws, that the curses above tell us, will all come if we do
not observe them. Not observing yovel and shemitta is kerri.
It’s saying that the land is mine. There is no Hashem. There is no call. There
is no yeish. I’m the owner of the world and I therefore have to make
sure that it doesn’t get globally warmed. I have to work it, because if I don’t
then I won’t have crops. I won’t have what to eat. There’s no yeish-
there’s only Kerry.
The
counting of the Omer is the antidote to that. It’s the counting of the 310. It’s
the movement- the yovel- which means movement, from the animal barley
food to the bread of the Shavuot offering and the cutting of the wheat. It’s
how we recognize that we are partners in Creation with Hashem rather
than in place of Him. We do this by counting every single day. Counting each
day tells me that each day counts. It doesn’t just happen. It’s there for me to
do something. To accomplish. To move towards something. To reveal Hashem. To
bring about the yeish. To say that there Is Hashem in the world.
Every single day. Every single moment. It’s to transform the 310 of Kerry
through the 310 of omer to the 310 of yeish and reveal it to the
world.
There
have been too many numbers that we have been counting this past year. 1,459 of
our brothers and sisters have been killed. 628 soldiers killed, 293 of them in
battle since the start of the war. There are 11,549 casualties and injuries so
far reported in this war. Many soldiers have lost limbs, trauma and are still
on breathing machines or in comas. There over 200,000 evacuated from their
homes in the North of Israel and the Gaza strip settlements. There are 124
hostages still in Gaza, of them it is assumed that over 30 are dead. And
according to today’s Wikipedia update there is still one that is considered
missing and unaccounted for. One…. Yes, isn’t that crazy? We still haven’t
found Echad. We’re still looking for that One. We’re still walking and
fighting in Kerry’s world.
To
be honest these numbers overwhelm me. It’s every day opening up the papers. It’s
seeing the holy faces of the fallen sons, fathers and husbands. It’s seeing the
posters, hearing the cries of the families of hostages, the empty yellow chairs
and ribbons. I just want to tune it out. I just want to get back to touring. I
just want to move on and I can’t process anymore. I can’t count. But that would
be Kerry. That would be even worse than missing a day of counting the omer
That would be ignoring the call., and Hashem this year is yelling at us to pick
up the phone. To rise up. There is a revelation that will happen this year
Shavuot. It will be on a mountain, but not in the wilderness, not in Sinai, but
in Jerusalem. He will need us to be His Kohen’s to the world. He, as well is
sick of our Kerry world. May this upcoming month of Sivan herald in the geula shlaima
as we finally finish up our count.
Have a blessed Shabbos and an uplifting chodesh
of Sivan,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
**********************
YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" Di
velt iz sheyn nor di mentshn machen zi mies.- The world is beautiful
but people make it ugly
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer
below at end of Email
8. The Battle of Ain Jalut was fought between the Mamluks and
the_____ .
According to Muslim tradition, which event took place on Laylat
al-Qadr?
A The first time the Koran was sent down from heaven
B. The night the Hijrah began
C. The binding of Ishmael
D, The night journey and the ascent to heaven
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYtUsQv3iA
– The
latest funny Bardak wedding spoof commerical.
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/torah-hakedosha
-
Getting closer to Shavuot… Here’s my incredible inspiring song of the
Torah Hakedosha who should daven for us composed by my father’s Hachnasat sefer
Torah Dovid Lowy on the amazing vocals and arrangements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB-pQXtHbZk – MBD’s classic
Refa’einu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U-rbugZHOw
- Elazar Bitton Refainu beautiful medley
for our soldiers..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqRbVQIODiA
–
And one last one from Eli Herzlich
a beautiful Refainu medley this last week of Iyar- Ani Hashem Rofecha…
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S PARSHA PRAYER
INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK
Heal Us- There are so many injured, so many wounded, so may
prayers being offered on behalf of those suffering from all that this war has
wreaked upon our nation. Besides the daily psalms that we all pray for those
that are sick and in the hospital that need a complete healing, we have our daily
Shemona Esrei prayer that contains the heartfelt prayer of Refaienu-
That Hashem should heal us. Every Jew knows somebody that they are davening for
when they say that prayer. There is nothing like a sick person or someone that
is at the door of death or undergoing some type of medical emergency that doesn’t
have them in mind for this prayer.
Fascinatingly enough the words which this prayer starts with comes
from our haftorah this week. It is the final words of the haftorah which comes
from Yirmiyahu’s prophecy to the Jewish people. What makes this fascinating
though is that seemingly the haftorah has nothing to do with sick people,
injured or diseases. Rather, its all about Yirmiyahu’s Mussar to our nation,
which is why it was chosen, that contrasts a nation that has faith in Hashem
and what will happen when we do and what happens if god forbid we don’t. You
know that song Baruch Ha’Gever that we sing from bentching? That’s also
comes from this haftorah. Blessed is the man that trusts in Hashem and Hashem
is his trust. The other part of the verse is Arur Hagever- cursed is the
man that trust in man and places it in the flesh of his arm and removes Hashem
from his heart. Blessings and curses, just like our parsha for those that have
faith and those that don’t. So what does healing the sick have to do with all
of this, which is the conclusion of this Mussar of Yirmiyahu?
The Baal Shem Tov explains another anomaly of this Mussar as to
what this double language is. What does it mean that if we trust in Hashem and
He is our trust? Isn’t that the same thing. Similarly in the blessing of refa’einu
we also uniquely say Refa’einu Hashem V’nirafeh- Heal us and we will be
healed. We don’t say redeem us and we shall be redeemed in the blessing of ge’ula
or forgive us and we will be forgiven or return us and we will be returned.
Only by the blessing of re’fainu do we find that terminology. The answer
he explains is that many people have faith in Hashem. It’s easy to believe.
There are no atheists in the foxhole and there is nobody that is in a serious
medical situation that doesn’t pray. The question is though what happens after
we pray and we don’t necessarily see the immediate results. What happens when
we have faith and put our trust in Hashem and the hostages are not returned, the
war is still going on, our children are still getting killed daily. Hamas and
Hezbollah are still shooting, laughing and mocking us. What happens to our
faith then?
That is the second part of the blessing and curse. It’s not just being
the gever and that believes in Hashem, it’s being the one that continues
to understand that Hashem is His guarantor. Hashem is still standing there
watching over and in control of the situation. He is healing us, even though we
may not feel or see that healing taking place. It’s as well why the prayer ends
off with the description of Hashem as not only the healer but also the rachaman-
the Merciful one. Doctors can heal but they disconnect from their patients. Hashem
is the One that is not just a doctor, but we understand that the entire process
of healing that we are going through is one of mercy. It’s coming from a Father
in heaven that we can always trust is merciful in all He is doing. The curse
comes when we trust in mortal doctors or in the strength and power of our own
hands. When we do that, we are essentially replacing Hashem and there is no
curse worse than that.
The crux of all of our problems is that we suffer and our sick with
a lack of that faith. We don’t see it. We need to be healed from it. It’s as
well why in the blessing of Refa’einu we refer to Hashem as Hoshiyanu-
our savior. It’s not just physical healing that we are seeking, it’s spiritual
healing that the prophet Yirmiyahu is telling us about. We ask to be healed of
this sickness of lack of faith ki tehilaseinu ata- because we want to
sing to You Hashem, Because we want to rejoice with You. We can’t do that while
we are being beaten down, while our enemies flourish. May Hashem answer those
prayers and bless us with a refuah shlaima b’karov.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR
PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
701 BC-The Siege of Jerusalem- It’s Pesach Seder night in Jerusalem. The army
of Sancheirev of over 180,000 gather to Jerusalem. Chizkiya
as we said has stopped up the springs and fortified the broad walls, adding on
the walls of the cities by building the houses into the walls. If one is in the
Rova of Jerusalem today, head on over to the broad wall where I
like to tell the story of what happened here that Pesach seder evening.
Now the Navi tells us that the army of Sancherev
was camped by the
ta’alat ha’breicha ha’elyona- the channel of the upper pool
Asher bi’mesillat sdei ha’koveis- on the path of the field of the washers.
What pool? What washers? Where does this story
take place specifically?
Well like all good Jewish things there’s a
debate among historians, archeologists and Tanach scholars.
The first view is that this is North East of the
old city near the Lion’s gate and Santa Anna where they’ve
uncovered a pool which flows from the Shaar Ha’Perachim east of the Temple
Mount. This view is supported by Josephus who describes in the North East
of Jerusalem near the Rockfeller’s Museum today a place called the Matzeiva
of the washers, which although is a little bit far from the old first
temple walls, yet its close enough to carry on a conversation.
The second view is a little further west near the
Damascus gate also known as Shaar Shechem, by Chizkiya’s cave
and 2nd Temple quarry. There a pool was found as well as some first
temple artifact that can actually be viewed in Temple Tunnel tours. We’ll
talk later about the significance of these caves which are seemingly a quarry
for the second temple period, but recently they reopened these caves and I
understand they have a nice movie there as well that includes this story.
The third view of where this story took place is
actually in the Mamilla area where they found pools that led down to the
old city and many first temple remains as well. It’s crazy to think that where
we have the beautiful new Mamilla mall today was once a place where
there was terror and fear and an army of the likes that we had never seen
attack our holy city and terrorizing the people within the wall.
Ok now that we got the location down pat, next
week we start to get to the people and the speech that was given here.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE JOHN KERRY/ENVIROMENTAL JOKES OF THE
WEEK
John Kerry walks into
a bar. The Bartender says “Why such a long face…?”
John Kerry is busy
trying to raise money right now for his campaign. It was reported today that
Kerry's hoping to raise $80 million before the Democratic convention. That's a
lot of money. Yeah, Kerry has two ways to raise the $80 million: soliciting
Democratic donors and going through his wife's purse.
"There was an
embarrassing moment at a recent Democratic fundraiser. When John Kerry was
handed a $10 million dollar check, he said, 'I do.'"
John Kerry keeping a low profile this week. He
said he wanted to get away and go someplace where no one would expect to see
him. So I guess he showed up at his old seat in the Senate. Nobody's going to
look for him there.
Why Did the Chicken cross the road
DONALD TRUMP: I've been told by my many
sources, good sources - they're very good sources - that the chicken crossed
the road. All the Fake News wants to do is write nasty things about the road,
but it's a really good road. It's a beautiful road. Everyone knows how
beautiful it is.
JOE BIDEN: Why did the chicken do the...thing
in the...you know the rest.
SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road
because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!
BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if
the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs. No chicken will be
required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.
AOC: Chickens should not be forced to lay
eggs! This is because of corporate greed! Eggs should be able to lay
themselves.
HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point
does it make why the chicken crossed the road.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the
chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of
the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no
middle ground here.
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with
that chicken.
AL GORE: I invented the chicken.
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the
chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross,
and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will
remain against it.
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that
this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this
side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the
road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he is acting by not
taking on his current problems before adding any new problems.
ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe
there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the
other side of the road.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent,
hardworking American.
DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did
he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed
I've not been told.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the
chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and
that was good enough for us.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to
cross the road.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross
the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?
I'm an environmental hipster. I believed in
global warming before it was co... nevermind."
What do you call an environmentally conscious
Mexican? A green bean.
I heard about global warming... So now I leave
my air conditioner on all the time. I know just one individual can't save the
planet, but I do my best.
Global warming is a joke. Even the Antarctic
ice sheets are cracking up.
According to a news story, if global warming
continues, in 20 years the only chance we’ll have to see a polar bear is in a
zoo. So in other words, basically nothing is going to change.
Global warming can reduce terrorism. Because
the isis melting.
If you don't know what to talk about on a
first date try mentioning Global Warming. It's a huge icebreaker.
I watched a movie about the dangers of global
warming. Pretty good but it had an anticlimatic ending
**********************************
The
answer to this week”s question is A– So I
think that this is the first one I got entirely wrong. And the truth is I
really should’ve gotten it at least partially right if I went with my first instinct,
which I didn’t. Right away I should’ve know that the battle of Ein Jalut was
between the Mamaluks and the Mongols. It really is an important battle in the lower galile area that pretty much
kept Islam on the table in the world until today as the Mamaluks defeated them
in an incredible battle. I knew that, yet for some reason, I doubted myself and
answered Crusaders, which was a different battle that took place in the Gilad
area… So I got that wrong. Part two as well, I first wanted to go with the
revelation thing which is the correct answer but then switched to Muhammed
going up and getting the prayer thing which was wrong. Interestingly enough
these Muslims- like the Christians are such stinking unoriginal religion
ganavim. The holiday is like their Shavuot, fascinatingly enough they say that
they’re not sure what day at the end of the last ten days of Ramadan it is.
Just like Moshe adding on a day for Shavuot which is also not described as a
specific day in the Torah (just at the end of the counting of the Omer. Muslims
even stay up and read Koran that night… Stinkin’ thieves.. So first
one entirely wrong after 8 questions and the score thus is now. Rabbi Schwartz 5.5 and Ministry of
Tourism 2.5 on this exam so far.
