Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
February 8th 2019 -Volume 9 Issue 19-3rd
of Adar I 5779
Parshat
Terumah
Yoni’s Temple
OK let me back up a bit. He’s not really building the Temple in Yerushalayim. He doesn’t even in live in Yerushalayim. But he’s doing pretty much everything that needs to be done so that the second that shofar blast comes he will be already to get everything together to make it happen. His home, Beit HaMokeid, in Mitzpe Yericho is the training ground for his work and it is truly mind-blowing.
On my most recent visit there with some of my tourists Yoni showed us his different centers. He first showed us the different shofars he has acquired. There are some for the Levi’im, some that are straight and some curved as well as some that would be trumpets. He’s got us covered. He showed us different spices he put together that are identified in the ketores/incense that would be used in the Temple. He spent years researching them. We even got to burn some. {There is a prohibition to make ketores for your own personal use but that is only with the precise measurements, Yoni assured us. And he knows…}.
He showed us the techelet that he discovered, which he believes is different than the ones that they sell in the stores. Don’t ask him why… It’s a really long conversation… He went scuba diving for these sea horses and is positive that they meet all the criteria described by our sages. He even gave us a glass of wine that he is positive is the only wine that can be used in the Beit Hamikdash. Because as he pointed out all of the wines in Israel today come from vines from France, Italy and California. Cabernets Bordeaux’s and Merlots. Beit HaMikdash wine has to come from vines that are indigenous to Israel. So he went digging for ancient vines after he met with all the top viticulturists (I googled that word) and archeologists in Israel. He then planted the vines and he just got the first batch of the fifth year vintage (you have to wait until the fifth year crop till you can drink it). He wasn’t sharing any. He says we may need it any day.
We walked around his yard. He is raising native Israel origin sheep and goats that are blemish free. None of those mixed breeds from other countries. He wants the ones that Avraham and Yaakov most likely shepherded and that were used in ancient time. He actually regularly shechts some as he has “sacrifice workshops” he runs for Kohanim. I’m not making this up.
He showed us where he hopes to get a martial arts expert to train little Kohen kids and adults how to grind wheat with their hand, which seems to be the law. I trust him on that and we tried it and it is not easy. Also he pointed out the Kohanim have to walk around barefoot and so their feet need to be really strong. Lots of running. I’m a first-born and supposedly the service is supposed to return to us. But I didn’t say anything, to him. I just might have to be the Kohen that sticks with BBQing the meat. I’m good at that.
Yoni is certainly a dreamer. But he’s not sitting back waiting for it to happen. More than anyone I know he is living and breathing daily the redemption. And I am too every time I visit him.
This week’s Torah portion begins the next phase of the Torah. Story time is over. No more plagues, no more revelations on Sinai, no more brotherly fights and Egyptian drama for a while. It’s nuts and bolts time. Building the Mishkan /Tabernacle with all its different parts and vessels. The measurements, the materials the method of building this house where the Divine presence would dwell are not the most fascinating part of the Torah to me. I can barely figure out how to put schach on my permanent sukkah. But after visiting Yoni, I decided to give it another peek.
The portion begins with the Hashem commanding Moshe to take up a collection from everyone who’s hearts are inspired to bring all the necessary materials to build the Mishkan. After all this He commands
V’Asu li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Sochum- And
you shall make me a Mikdash-Temple and I will dwell amongst you.
All that I show you the construction of the
Mishkan and the construction of its vessels and so shall you do.
Rav Moshe Feinstien has an incredible insight here. He asks how is it possible to make a house that is holy? Only Hashem can make a place holy. We can only make a house and hope He resides his divine presence in it. His answer is that we in fact can. If we recognize that everything we have is from Hashem, it already is holy. We merely need to give it to Him. Uplift it for Him. Holy things are built out of holy materials. Holy materials become holy when a Jew reveals the spark of holiness in it; when he brings it up to Hashem. It’s why, suggests Rav Moshe, the Torah tells us what is needed before telling us what is to be built. First we need to sanctify it all and give it with heart. Only then is it a house of holiness that can then be a place where the divine presence will rest.
This is a command, for generations. The Chasidic Rebbes note that every Jew in every generation has the command to build a “house of holiness”. How do you build that house? Ask Yoni. He would tell you that everything has to be done by the “Book”. The way the Torah tells us. No cheap French wine knockoffs. As well everything has to be done with heart. Asher yidveno libo- he whose heart inspires him. If you’re holding back, it’s because you’re having a hard time wrapping your brain around the fact that none of it is yours anyways. It’s all from Hashem. We’re just here to unveil those sparks. But perhaps most importantly we have to believe that we really could build that house. Build a house for Hashem. Hmmmmm. I can barely get my house nice enough for my Mother-in-Law (J). A house for Hashem?
That’s why you need to visit Yoni. The Sefat Emet reads the first words of our Torah portion homiletically. It begins
Vayikchu li teruma me’eis kol ish…- A person should take for Me something uplifting from every person.
We need to learn from everyone. Yoni isn’t just everyone. He’s just a Jew that doesn’t just dream or daven, but really is working to build the beis hamikdash. He knows that Hashem put him and us here for one purpose and one purpose only; to bring his presence down to this earth. And if Hashem chose us to be here, He probably knows what He was doing. So we could do it. He is doing it. And I hope to be there right there by his side…. I really want to taste that wine. It would certainly be a hit by our Purim Seuda.
Have a dreamy Shabbos!
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Men ken machen dem cholem grosser vi di
nacht..”– You can make a dream bigger than the night..
RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://youtu.be/GdnxER4EbPY
–
For those that missed it Nachum Segals Halftime show. From what I
understand the only thing worth watching at this years Superbowl
https://youtu.be/SEWLf673MKY
- The Crockpot show- Not Ben Shapiro-Mordechai Shapiro…. Strangest interview
ever. It is painfully hilarious if you can watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajpRIBwFYjU - Once we’re on the subject
of dreams here’s Shulem Lemmer doing A Million Dreams beautiful!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q The following were the first to break into the old
city of Jerusalem in the Six Day War:
A. The Har’el and the Jerusalem
Brigade
B. The Paratroopers and the
Jerusalem Brigade
C. The tank reconnaissance and the
Har’el Brigade
D. The Paratroopers and Golani
Brigade
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS”
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Parshat Teruma– There’s a rule our sages
tell us that divrey torah “aniyim b’makom echad v’ashirim b;makom acher”-
the words of the Torah are ‘poor’ in one place and are ‘enriched’ in
another. Meaning that if one place you feel that you are missing something,
then look around a bit, you may find the treasure you seek someplace else. Not
everyone knows that they are poor though. A lamdan, however never reads things
simply. He asks questions many times that might seem obvious but that others
might just move ahead with. He then looks for the treasure that will enrich the
text someplace else.
In
this week’s Torah portion the Torah tells us the material used in the building
of the Mishkan/ Tabernacle. It lists the necessary building materials that
would be used. Let’s see if you can spot which of these things are not like the
other to quote Sesame Street.
Shemos (25:3) and
this is the portion you shall take from them: gold, silver and copper; techelet
(blue wool) purple wool and scarlet wool; and linen and goats. Red dyed ram
skins and tachash skins and Shittim wood.
So
which of these things are not building materials? Beehhh… you get it? Yes,
goats seemingly are not things you build with. Rashi therefore notes that the
goats are in fact goat’s hair. So most of us would be fine with that, but not
the Brisker Rav. See when I’m in the mood steak I usually ask for some cow. I
just think it’s a cute way to ask for it. But the Torah is not cute. Why say
goats and not specify the hairs of goats? The next verse tells us that they
took skins of rams and tachashim (a mysterious animal). So why not say
hairs of goats?
Zugt
the Brisker Rav, looks someplace else. In the portion of Vayakhel in the
recounting of what was brought the Torah tells us
Shemos (35:25) All
the women whose hearts inspired them with wisdom spun the goats.
Those
of you that review the parsha each week with Rashi should already get a feeling
where we are going with this. So Rashi explains over there that they would spin
the fleece while it was still on the goats. (The seforno explains that goats
here loses its luster each time it is handled so in order to maximize its shine
they would do it on the goats). The Rav notes however the context of this verse
is just a recapping of what everyone brought, the other verses don’t tell us
that how they made anything; not how the wood was carved, how the wools were
dyed. Why is it telling us how the goats hair was spun?
So
if you put the two pieces together you have an answer. They actually brought
goats as it tells us in our Torah portion. As opposed to everything else that
was inanimate the goats had to be brought live. Why? So look in parshat
Vayakhel where the words are enriched and the reason given is because the women
needed to weave on the goats themselves. And there you have it do you feel
enriched?
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Mt. Blessing and Curse 1272 BC –
At this point I am writing this column with my finger in my tanach. We’ll see
what I do once we finish the tanach period. The problem however comes
when you realize that Tanach is not necessarily in chronological order. Or as
our sages tell us ein mukdom u’miuchar batorah- there is no earlier and
later in the Torah. It’s not a history book. Was never meant to be one. So
therefore when I arrived at the next story I realized that we had gone out of
order. Oh well, there’s a lesson in that as well.
See the day that we
crossed the Jordan River into Israel, we marched all the way up to the
two mountains in the middle of the Shomron. It’s about 40 or so miles
(67 KM). According to google maps only a good 15 hour journey. Not bad for a
million or so people to do in one day. They brought with them the 12 stones
that they hauled out of the Jordan River and then Yehoshuah wrote “the Torah”
on them in 70 languages. What exactly “The Torah means is up for debate. Some
see it as just the blessings and curses that were recited on the mountain to
the entire nation, while half stood on one mountain and half on the other.
Other sages see it as the entire Torah so that all the nations could come and
read it, despite the fact that it was plastered over. And yet other
commentaries believe it was merely the 10 commandments or the book of Devarim
written by Moshe. Whatever it was it was certainly monumental. Literally.
So seemingly these two
mountains should not be too hard to place. Some of the commentaries explain
that it was particularly written not in chronological order after the story of
the battle of Yericho and Ai because it was giving us the
geographical “Waze” directions to get there. Pointing out the miracle that they
passed all these enemy cities on that day that we came in to Israel and no one
started up with us.
In fact, if you are in
the Shomron near Shechem there are two mountains Mt. Gerizim
is the mount of Bracha and Eival the curse. In fact, Gerizim is
well preserved as the Shomronim that live there- basically these phony
Jews that date themselves back to the first Temple, actually believe that Har
Bracha is the Temple Mount and they offer sacrifices there. Which is
certainly cool to see. It would make sense that these are the mountains as the
Torah tells us they are near Elon Moreh which we know is Shechem.
But not everything is
always as it seems. See the Torah tells us it is near Gilgal as well and
this is not near Gilgal which is closer to Yericho. It’s also not
near the Jordan River which as well is mentioned in the Torah as part of
its location. Also as those who are there can see it is really quite impossible
for half to be on one mountain and the other half to be on the other and for
them to actually see and certainly not hear what is going on from the valley in
between. Unless it was miraculous which is certainly the opinion of the Bavli
it would seem.
The Yerushalmi on the other hand quotes an
opinion that it is not the mountains near Shechem rather it was too small hills
they formed near Gilgal. Yeah, that’s what tour guiding in the Jewish country
is like. Whenever you think you find something there will always be someone
else that says it’s not for real. But that’s part of the fun of touring. You
always get to learn and appreciate the texts and descriptions as something
practical- as its meant to be- rather than some Tolkien map of some make
believe Hobbit world.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S DREAM JOKES OF THE WEEK
Iranian president Rouhani calls Trump
and tells him, "Donald, I had a wonderful dream last night. I could see
America, the whole beautiful country, and on each house I saw a banner."
"What did it say on the
banners?"
Trump asks.
Hassan replies, "UNITED STATES OF
IRAN."
Trump says, "You know, Hassan,
I am really happy you called, because believe it or not, last night I had a
similar dream. I could see all of Tehran, and it was more beautiful than ever,
and on each house flew an enormous banner."
"What did it say on the
banners?"
Hassan asks.
Trump replies, "I don't
know. I can't read Hebrew."
Moshe was talking to his
psychiatrist. "I had a weird dream recently," he says.
"I saw my mother but then I noticed
she had your face. I found this so worrying that I immediately awoke and
couldn't get back to sleep. I just stayed there thinking about it until 7am. I
got up, made myself a slice of toast and some coffee and came straight here.
Can you please help me explain the meaning of my dream?"
The psychiatrist kept silent for some time, then said, "One slice of toast and coffee? Do you call that a breakfast?"
The psychiatrist kept silent for some time, then said, "One slice of toast and coffee? Do you call that a breakfast?"
A minister told his friend Rabbi
Goldman, "Last night, I dreamed of the Jewish Heaven. It was a slum,
and it was overflowing with people – running, playing, talking,
sitting – doing all sorts of things. But the dream, and the noise, was so
terrific that I woke up."
The rabbi said, "Really?
Last night, I dreamed of the Protestant Heaven. It was a nice, proper suburb,
with neatly trimmed lawns, and houses all neatly lined up."
"And how did the people behave?" asked the minister.
"What people?"
"And how did the people behave?" asked the minister.
"What people?"
A woman woke up one morning and told
her husband, “I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace for
Valentine’s Day. What do you think it means?”
Her husband replied, “You’ll know
tonight!”
His wife was ecstatic. Her heart
melted in romance as she anticipated her husband’s gift.
That evening the man came home with
a small package and gave it to his wife.
Excited and delighted, she opened it
and found inside a book entitled: “The Meaning of Dreams.”
And while we’re on the subject..
Yankel was in trouble. He forgot his
wedding anniversary. His wife was really upset.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"
The next morning Yankel got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.
Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house.
She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Yankel has been missing since Friday.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"
The next morning Yankel got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.
Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house.
She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Yankel has been missing since Friday.
************
Answer is B– I love multiple choice questions
particularly these when you have two factors in every question because then you
can really narrow it down. Truth is I wasn’t sure if it was Jerusalem brigade
or Harel brigade, but I definitely knew that it was the Paratroopers. So it was
easy to then narrow it down, because it certainly wasn’t the Golani and so I
continue with the score is Schwartz 15 and 1 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on
this exam so far.
