Where's Moshe Top Ten List- Parshat Tetzave Zachor 2025 5785

 Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

March 7^th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 19 7^th of Adar5785

 

Parshat Tetzave- Zachor- Zayin Adar

 

THE OFFICAL ANNUAL -Where’s Moshe? -TOP TEN LIST

 

It’s Purim this week! It’s the week of Ve’Nahapoch Hu- when everything turns around. That being the case and in honor of the week, I figure that it’s time to turn around this weekly E-Mail as well. Let’s start with the Jokes. We’ll get to the Dvar Torah- which is by the way very worthwhile this week… as it is every week- eventually. But let’s put a smile on you face first. Let’s give you one week, when you don’t have to scroll down a million pages to get to the most important part of the E-Mail. Think of it as my Shalach Manos to you. My Matanos Li’evyonim for you poor “happiness-impoverished” pathetic readers who have nothing better to do each Friday afternoon before Shabbos besides read my Torah while you’re in the bathroom, or printing it up for your Shabbos table and torturing your children with my lengthy musings each week. Which I am very grateful for, by the way.

 

I understand that that you need this. It’s rough living in galus. There is really no other Torah E-Mail, if that’s what you want to call this thing, that says it like it does here. That calls it out the way it’s meant to be. That reads the Torah portion as a daily newspaper from God. That teaches you how every parsha either tells you to kill Chamas and how to really really torture them all to death, or to move to Israel because life outside of this country is really just a terrible sin and a pathetic existence in which Hashem generally gets annoyed after a while and just kills everyone in concentration camps that don’t get the point that they’re living in the wrong place and He really does not like the fact that you’re feeling comfortable there. Or alternatively is about loving every Jew-the ones that you have convinced yourself you don’t have to love, that there’s a mitzva to hate, that really get on your nerves, that are you’re only anchor to your self-confidence and self- respect as a “frum” Jew because you need to have someone that you’re better, frummer, holier or smarter then. There’s also no other E-Mail that really makes you believe that Mashiach is coming each week, only to be let-down again and again and again. Hmmm… Week-in-week-out, same old speech and dvar torah again and again… Remind me again why haven’t you unsubscribed yet? The jokes really aren’t that good.

 

But you haven’t. And as gratitude for Purim this week, we’ll start with the jokes. Especially Purim time I know you’ve been waiting for our annual Top Ten List. The annual Rabbi Schwartz Top Ten List is to Purim, like Matza is to Pesach, It’s like the four species are for Sukkos, like tears on a yom kippur machzor, Chafetz Chaim heritage video on Tisha B’av, chulent on Shabbos and flag-burning on Yom Ha’atzmaut in Meah Shearim. Without it you really can’t appreciate the holiness of the day. So let’s get started with our important work, but stick around for the Dvar Torah at the end, it’s worth it.

 

So being that today is the 7^th of Adar as well, I figured let’s talk about a topic that every self-respecting Rabbi that is giving a sermon this Shabbos on the generally topically boring parsha of the clothing of the Kohen Gadol in Tetzave is talking about. Let’s talk about something that is seemingly unrelated to the Parsha, yet at its essence of course it is related as well. And that is of course the fact that on this day, which is the yartzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Gaon of Vilna as well as every other commentary worth their stripes tell us, Moshe Rabbeinu’s name is not found in the parsha. It’s the only parsha in the entire Torah since he’s born that his name is not mentioned and it non-coincidentally always falls out on the week of his yartzeit. We’ll discuss later why that is, but first let’s try to figure out where in fact Moshe Rabbeinu was hiding during this parsha. What was he up to? I mean he took a week off, where did he go and why isn’t he here?  So get ready boys and girls. Hold on tight for the official 2025/5785 Top Ten List of the year.

 

TOP TEN THINGS THINGS MOSHE WAS DOING DURING PARSHAT TETZAVE

 

10) Moshe went around collecting with some yeshiva bochrim for Rabbi Schwartz’s weekly E-Mail and shul that nobody sponsored or donated to despite his incessant appeals. He was kind of upset about this and he felt guilty. I mean Moshe, is sitting there all year and there is really only one weekly Parsha E-Mail that reveals the Torah just as he gave it on Sinai and heard it from Hashem and there are 2878 readers and subscribers (admittedly some of them forcibly who were on a tour and just got added on the list at the end and are scared what will happen if they hit the unsubscribe button on the bottom- (PS don’t try it, it will just put a virus on your computer and send you to a million tzedaka spam lists) and yet none of them feel that they should donate, should sponsor. And here poor Rabbi Schwartz who works so hard each week, is starving to death, he almost had parave chulent last week. So Moshe took it upon himself to take off this week and go fundraising for the weekly E-Mail. It’s a shame because he could of just sent everyone this link

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E343033&id=50

And I’m sure everyone that would’ve wanted a tax deductible donation would’ve taken their credit card out and quickly donated so that we could have him back again…

 

Now you see why I started with the jokes 😊

 

9) Moshe Rabbeinu is missing from the parsha because he decided that after 4 years of Joe Biden and Kamala America deserved to be Made Great Again. He kind of gave up on Israel making itself great without America, because he understood that Israel we would never have the guts to do what it needs to do for itself, it’s hostages and it’s soldiers unless some Goy on the other side of the ocean told them that they could and even then… who knows?

 

So Moshe Rabbeinu entered the soul of some loud-mouthed red headed former TV show real Estate magnate and he became Donald Trump. He made him into Mashiach. It’s even works out that way in Gematria. Our sages tell us that Moshe Rabbeinu is the Go’el Rishon and Go’el Acharon- he’s the first redeemer and the last one as well. And he knew that Jews would never accept a Jewish Mashiach, I mean the last time we did, a whole new religion that pretty much killed us for thousands of years sprouted up. So he took over the soul of the President of the United States. That way he could redeem the Jewish people and finally yell at them enough until the wake up and return Israel to it’s borders and destroy Amalek. You know where Moshe was for Parshat Tetzave? Mar a Lago. The White House. If you don’t believe me ask a bunch of Lakewood guys, they know that Trump is Mashiach.

 

8) Moshe got a draft notice. There he was sitting in yeshiva learning away like he always does. The next thing he knew they announced that Israeli Gestapo Army was banging on the doors trying to arrest anyone that wanted to learn Torah. He and his chavrusa quickly dusted off and pulled out their ancient Greek dreidels and started spinning them. As well, they called half the guys that instead of being in the Bais Midrash were outside drinking coffee and smoking, to come inside as well and open up a book for the first time that month. But it didn’t help. Torah didn’t protect them. Moshe felt his power weakening. All of those demonstrations that he had attended. All the politicians from Eitz and from Degel and the Aguda that had promised that he would never have to eat army food or face anything more dangerous then spoiled milk in the coffee room, while he was being moser nefesh for Torah on his father-in-laws credit card in Ramat Eshkol 20,000 shekel a month rental honeymoon apartment, were crumbling before his eyes. The Israelis were coming for him. So Moshe ran away back to Lakewood and started working for his shverr in the Jew-lery business. Parshat Tetzave after all talks about the precious stones in clothing of the Kohen and he saw that as sign from Hashem, that he should disappear.

 

7)  Where was Moshe? He was in a tunnel in Gaza. He was there learning with Eliya, Ohad and Avinatan and the Cunio brothers David and Ariel. He was there teaching Keith how to make a bracha. He was answering Amen on Agam’s Kiddush on water, on Romi’s bentching. He was telling Rom that he would be alright. Despite the fact that the Israeli army and government were given by Hashem all the tools to wipe out Amalek, that controlled the switch for the electricity for all of those wild animals over there and could flip it at any moment, that held the faucet for every drop of water that these monsters were drinking, that were holding 10’s of thousands of their evil spawn in prison and could easily hang them all up on a tree like Haman until our holy brothers and sisters were freed, yet they weren’t doing anything. We couldn’t pull the switch. We couldn’t shut the faucet. We wouldn’t do what it takes to get them back and speak the only language that they understand. We were still in Mitzrayim.

 

 So Moshe went down to Gaza to take them out. He said erase me from Your Torah, from Your Yeshivas and Bais Midrash. I’ve got more important things to do. Ohad needs me. Matan is cold and lonely and being tortured. I’ve got to go pull the babies out of the wall you put them. That’s where Moshe disappeared to… Ok that wasn’t too funny…

 

6) Moshe’s not in the parsha because he couldn’t get into yeshiva. He did apply to get in on schedule. Yeah, in the past he had a bit of a problem coming on time to things, but he learned from the Eigel golden calf story that he has to be on time or all heck breaks loose. But it seems that some big “askanim” paid off the yeshivas and when opening day for applications came, they were all filled up. So Moshe, like many kids in Lakewood with parents that didn’t have enough money or connections, was left out of the parsha. It was really a shame. He really could’ve turned out well. He didn’t even have a smart phone. But hey, there are bills to pay. The yeshivas have a reputation to maintain. And to be honest, he was raised in a goyishe home with Egyptian internet access, who knows what he watched and has been exposed to in his youth. He might be a bad influence on our bochrim. So like so many other kids like that, he disappeared. He was erased.  

 

5) The other reason why you don’t find Moshe Rabbeinu in the parsha, was because he had been there too long and he finally just gave up hope. He was done with dating. By “parsha” we of course mean shidduchim. And Moshe was out of it. There was a crisis. There was no shortage of Jewish girls, but they had been taught that they could only marry someone who only learned all day for the rest of their lives. Now Moshe was pretty shtark when we was younger. They even say that once he went 40 days and 40 nights straight without even eating food. Yet, then he got busy with all types of other things. There are some that even say he joined the army at one point and went to fight against Og and Sichon….rachmana nitzlan. He was hitting rocks, bringing down manna. Put it this way… he wasn’t as shtark as he used to be. Not shtark enough for Hindy from Masores Shprintza. He never learned in Brisk. There are even rumors that he even told someone that he wasn’t allowed to move to Israel ever, and then where are we going to do our honeymoon year? So Moshe was a shtikel out of the parsha… But I’m sure there’s some nice priest’s daughter from Midian baal teshuva that he might be able to marry.

 

4) Where was Moshe the week before Purim when Amalek and Haman wanted to wipe us out? Why didn’t he warn us about them? What was he doing? Why didn’t he martial the army, the intelligence, why didn’t he lift up his hands and send Yehoshua to go kill them? Where was he when they plotted to kill our men, women, children in one day and burn them all in ovens? I’m sorry it’s inappropriate to discuss this now in the middle of a war. But we will establish a commission to look into this afterwards. Once Moshe’s base is more firmly established and it’s alright to go to new elections. Now is not a good time to for our morale to discuss the absence of Moshe. But don’t worry, those responsible will eventually have to give answers. Just not today or tomorrow…

 

3) OK, I’ll tell you the real answer. I’ve been sworn to secrecy. Hashem isn’t really allowed to know about this. So please, let’s just keep it between us. Shhh… Moshe was on a tour with me last week. He heard that there were these tunnels that came into Israel from the Egyptian border near the Philedelphi thingy. Israel never really did anything about them, because after all Egypt is our friend and the Arabs over there are good Arabs and would never hurt us.  You know, like Chamas used to be. So Moshe heard about these tunnels and he decided that he just couldn’t die without having a Rabbi Schwartz tour of Israel. He needed to check out Shilo, ride on ATV’s in the Gush, candle factory in Tzfat, a little dip under the waterfalls in Ein Gedi. Perhaps even make some chocolate in a cool factory in Tiverya. Now he did see those big red signs that said

 

“THIS IS AREA A where anyone that hit a rock with a stick instead of talking to it IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER AND IT IS AGAINST THE LAW AND MAY BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR LIVES”.

 

But like most Israeli’s he understood that was just a suggestion and scare tactic to prevent you from seeing some really cool things. So he ignored it and came with me on a tour. He’d just been watching those statuses for too long already and he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He figured that the rule of “Whatever happens on a Rabbi Schwartz tour stays on a Rabbi Schwartz Tour” would keep his secret safe. Yet, I guess he forgot that Purim time Mishenichnas yayin yatza sod- on Purim when the wine starts to come in all secrets come out.

 

2) So this one might be a little hard for you to believe, I know. But I’ll tell you the truth, take it for what it’s worth. Do you know where Moshe was? Is? He was at one of those “Free Free Palestine” pro-Hamas demonstrations outside of your house. You may have seen him there next to that girl with the purple hair wearing a kafiyeh paid for by Qatar. He looked kind of silly there with that green bandana on top of his yarmulka, shtreimel and black hat with the Palestinian flag. Lots of people that he was a Neturei Karta-nik. But he wasn’t. He was there giving the one last shot he had to try to wake up all of his fat, comfortable brothers and sisters living in their big beautiful houses and lawns with Trump signs and American flags on their porch that the clock was ticking for them to get out. That despite all the Torah and mitzvos and yeshivos, shuls and chesed organizations that they had built there, they were doing it all in the wrong country. They were doing it in a place where the Shechina could never rest. It was like davening and learning in a spiritual toilet, while the Holyland was crying for its children to come home.

 

He figured Corona would be enough to wake them up, but it didn’t. Gezeiros against education shidduch crisis, tuition crisis… nothing worked. It seems that the only language Jews understood to get out of galus was gas chambers. It was having their babies thrown into the Nile. And he was so sick of that happening. 6 Million should’ve been enough. So he upped the ante. He put on a green bandana and joined the crowds and the campuses and hoped they would hear the echoes of Kristalnacht, of Chiemlinsky, of 2000 years of countries that we felt too comfortable in. That they would remember who they are and where they were meant to be living. He’s still there at those demonstrations. Check him out on the News. He’s trying to pull you out of the Galus. Last time 4/5^th’s didn’t make it out and decided that those meat boards there in Egypt were too good to pass up. This time he’s not letting that happen again.

 

And now for the Number one reason and place Moshe is on Parshat Tetzave…. But before that let’s pause for the Dvar Torah. See as well as being Parshat Tetzave this week it is also Parshat Zachor. It’s the parsha and perhaps the only one that we have a biblical mitzva to read. The one mitzva that we have a biblical obligation to read about fascinatingly enough is not that of the Giving of the Torah. It’s not that of building the Temple for Hashem. It’s not the sacrifices. It’s not the story of the binding of Yitzchak, the Creation of the World by Hashem. It’s not the Ten Commandments, or even the biblical commandment to eat chulent every Shabbos- a flayshig one of course. None of those important events or mitzvos do we have a biblical obligation to read. The only mitzva in the entire Torah that Hashem commands us to read and remember is that we wipe out Amalek. That we never forget who Amalek is. That we don’t even leave one of them alive with a pulse. That every single one of their babies, their cows, their women and houses are all burned and destroyed to the ground.

 

That’s the only mitzva Hashem is concerned we might forget. That He knows we will forget. That He understands that perhaps only if He commands us to remember and read it each year will something even stick in our brain that He chose us specifically to do this job. That he partnered with us and entrusted us with. Because only when we wipe out Amalek will His throne finally be complete and His shechina will finally be revealed to the world.

 

Do you know what Amalek’s force, power and threat is? We don’t need to look much further than Haman to understand them. Haman chooses the month of Adar to destroy Klal Yisrael. To be his October 7^th. His turning around our Simchas Torah. He chose the month where he thought that Moshe Rabbeinu died. When Hashem created the world on the sixth day of Creation it says

 

“Va’yehi erev va’yehi boker yom HA’shishi- and it was evening and it was morning and it was THE 6^th day.

 

Our sages tell us that the capital “THE” sixth day refers to the 6^th of Sivan the day we got the Torah. The entire world was created on the condition of us receiving the Torah. Of us becoming the nation of Hashem. Of us accepting the role of bringing the Shechina down to the world and shining His light out to Creation. It was created for the light that Moshe would bring down and connect us with. Just as when the world was created Hashem saw that and every day and said that it was ki Tov- it was good. On the day that Moshe was born the verse tells us that light filled the house and the entire world and his mother gave birth to him

 

“va’teireh “ki tov”-  that he was good.

 

Moshe gave us the Torah. He was the bridge that brought down that Shechina at that monumental moment in history at Sinai. We were one with Hashem and the whole world heard and saw that glory. But then it disappeared. Hashem came down to us and then went back up again. Now it was upon all of us to find our inner Moshe and unite and bring the Shechina down once again but this time for good. And that’s when and where Amalek comes into play.

 

Amalek is the force that tells us that we can’t do it. We can’t fight him. We can’t erase the doubts of whether Hashem is truly in our midst. If Moshe is alive within us. If we can be the Moshe that returns the Shechina to this world. They wage war and the only time we win that war, as we will read on Shabbos and Purim is if look up to the mountain and see the hands of Moshe uplifted. If we realize that we have Moshe in our midst even though we don’t see him. That Moshe is within me. Within my army. He’s in each and every Jew.

 

Haman sees Moshe died in this month and he plans our genocide for 6 days later. Six days to count back the six of Creation to the worlds destruction. The world of Tov would destroyed. The world was created for Moshe and on the sixth day after his death the 13^th of Adar would be the day that forgot Moshe. That the world and Shechina would never be able to reach its resting point. That the Jewish people would finally be wiped out. That the 14^th of Adar, the Shabbos after Moshe died would be the day when the world would return to tohu va’vohu- to its darkness and desolation. But Haman was wrong.

 

And now for the Number 1) place that Moshe was on parshat Tetzaveh, where he is today… Moshe Rabbeinu is in each and everyone of us. He was born within us on that day. On today the 7^th of Adar. He’s telling us to remember that we were chosen to reveal Hashem. Remember that we have the power to wipe out and eradicate Haman, Amalek, Chamas. We can destroy all the churches, the mosques. We can build the Bais Ha’Mikdash and burn that Red Heifer and bring sacrifices to Hashem once again. We can unabashedly tell the world that there is only one God and that we are His nation and His light. We can be the world’s Moshe Rabbeinu. We can unite as one man and one heart because we did already before when Moshe gathered us and he’s within us gathering us once again.

 

He’s telling us to leave America, leave galus, he’s telling us we have a land to come to, an army to join that will stop at nothing to kill Amalek and bring back every hostage and soul. That we have a Torah, we have mitzvos, we have Shema Yisrael, we have Shabbos and we don’t have to sit in tunnels in Gaza anymore to discover them.  Moshe Rabbeinu’s yartzeit is on this day that is always parshat Zachor so that we will always remember the deepest and most important thing that we are most apt to forget. That the power to defeat Amalek, the power of the recognition of our inner Moshe is alive and well. And Haman and all of his tens of thousands of descendants in green bandanas will in one second will be turned around and hung on the gallows that they prepared for us. Because Am Yisrael is Chai. Our Avinu is Chai. And Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t disappear or die today. He was born within each of us.

 

He’s also telling all of you that you should donate to my annual campaign. That if another week goes by without a sponsor it will really be a bad thing. That you want Rabbi Schwartz’s special book offer for Pesach. That he pretty much won’t let you on the temple mount until you have a copy of that book. So in that spirit… here’s my link once again.

 

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E343033&id=50

 

 We did Shekalim last week… It’s still not too late for you to donate and have your shekalim donated before Haman’s shekalim are cast and his lashon harah that the Jewish people are too cheap to donate to Rabbi Schwartze’s annual campaign. And on that note… May Hashem finally give us the merit by this Purim and perhaps even this Shabbos to not just read about the destruction of Amalek, but to actually see it’s fulfillment. And with that… The Bais Ha’Mikdash is just around the corner. May it be this year!

                            

Have a beautifully violent Shabbos Zachor that kills all of our enemies, returns all of our hostages and fills us with that joy of Adar that only the eradication of Amalek can fill us with,

 

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz 

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Got shtroft, ubber der mentsh iz zikh noikem.. -   God punishes but man takes revenge.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

11. The 1942 conference convened in Germany discussing how to carry out the Final Solution is

called ______

What rationale was applied when choosing the date to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day?

A. This date is close to that of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

B. This date is close to that on which the Auschwitz death camp was liberated

C. This date is close to that of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany

D. This date is close to that on which Kristallnacht occurred

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yiddelach -   Purim is here let’s get started with Rabbi Schwartz’es Purim hits! Yiddelach from last year….

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/layehudim   - And here’s my Layehudim by Dovid Lowy on vocals and arrangements start dancing NOW!!

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/techelet-mordechai - My original Purim song with Yitz Berry! Techelet Mordechai the perfect drunk yeshiva guy song…

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/389yusuJ6Ng  -  OD YOTER GOY! Hillarious… if you understand Hebrew…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjvSId7wZY – WE WANT MASHIACH NOW!! Eli Marcus’s updated remix. Just sing this all Purim long….

 

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

Daniel And Purim?- 598 BC – On the theme and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh of this weekly column and its timeliness, it’s time to introduce an unknown figure or rather perhaps more accurately a less known misidentified figure, none other then Daniel. It is at this juncture with the exile of Yehoyakim by Nevuchadnezzar that Daniel a nice young Jewish boy is taken into Exile. He is raised in Nevuchadnezza’s palace and is given the highest Harvardian Ivy League education. Like most good smart Jews he makes his way to the top inner chambers of Nevuchadnezzar and ultimately is the one that interprets his dreams of grandeur that Hashem gives him that he will inherit the world. As well he tells him of his ultimate downfall if he’s too arrogant and only worried about making Babylonia Great Again and not understanding that his job is to make sure that Israel gets on the right page and that Hashem rules the world. Yes, see that’s what the Jews job is… We’ll talk more about those stories later on…

 

In the mean time let’s jump a bit ahead. Daniel lives through Nevuchadnezzar. He makes it through the lion’s den. He sees the next king Darius of Media as well as Belshazzar of Persia/ Iran for whom he interprets the writing on the wall when he celebrates what he thinks is the end of the Jewish people’s promise to rebuild the Bais Ha’Mikdash utilizing the vessels of the Temple at a party that he ultimately dies/gets killed by. And then we come to the story of Purim. Is Daniel there too?

 

Our sages tell us that he is. He has a small role. He is Hasach, the servant of Esther that is sent to tell Mordechai to get out of his sackcloth. Mordechai fills in Hasach/ Daniel about the Final Solution of Haman and tells her to go plea before Achashveirosh for our nation. Esther balks at this and says that she can’t just waltz into Achashverosh. What will the world say? The UN? Sweden? The Democrats? We have to worry about the “optics”. Fascinatingly enough Hasach doesn’t give this message back to Mordechai. According to the Targum, Haman in fact has him killed. The Midrash tells us that the angels Gavriel and Michael instead tell Mordechai Esther’s response. What’s the idea behind this story?

 

Perhaps one can suggest and see past the entire story of Purim and zoom out and see the big picture. Daniel saw it all. He saw the Temple, he saw the exile of Yehoyakim, He saw the destruction, he saw the celebrations of our nations of the prophecies they thought wouldn’t be fulfilled. Daniel saw the failure of political solutions. He saw the failure of rebellions. He understood that Mordechai’s plan of having Esther plead might be problematic, he understood that Esther’s giving up hope as well was also not the path. He’s the middle road between both. He is caught in the middle as being the oldest statesman, yet at the same time he stared the lion’s in the face and knew Hashem will save us if we have faith. Amalek/ Haman may kill him, but Klal Yisrael will be saved. The redemption starts from the moment of his death. He didn’t live to see the miracle of Purim. Yet it is his faith and his messages and prophecies that our sages tell us speak to our times today….

Happy Purim…  

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S JOKES OF THE WEEK

You had them up above leave me alone… hopefully will send Purim E-Mail and jokes next week’s edition… provided I can afford it because you sponsored it right…

 

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The answer to this week”s question is A –  Ok in case you even ever doubted that there is Ruach Hakodesh going on in this weekly E-Mail, this one has to be proof for you… I mean how amazing is it that the weekly tour guide question more often than not connects with the parsha or current events and holidays. Well this week when we read about Amalek the question of the week has to do with the Final Solution and the Nazi’s Yemach Shemom. According to Rav Soloveitchik whnever we remember the Nazis and what they did, we as well fulfill the mitzva of Zachor. As well he writes that any nation that wants and calls for the Genocide of the Jewish people are part of the zera Amalek. Yes, Chamas guys that means you… So therefore I got this one right. The convention of the Nazis final solution is called the Wansee convention where the ten sons of Haman in the Nazi era sat and plotted our murder. And of course the controversial Yom Ha’Shoah was chosen because of the Warsaw uprising day, to kind of give a sense that the mitzva to remember the Holocaust is to remember to kill them all. Which I think is quite appropriate… although it would be nice if we actually did it. So Amalek questions are my strong point and aopposed to last week when I got both wrong this week I got them both right!  And thus the  new score is Rabbi Schwartz 7 Ministry of Tourism 4 on this exam so far. Back in passing range! Whew…

War Worries- Parshat Vayakhel -Shekalim 2024 5784

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

 

March 8^th 2024 -Volume 13 Issue 21 28^th of Adar I 5784

Parshat Vayakhel- Shekalim

War Worries

I’m getting scared. Terrified is perhaps even a more accurate word. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this way before. I feel like I’m walking on nails. That there’s this huge black cloud coming my way and it doesn’t seem like anyone else I talk to really sees it. I mean everyone to a large degree understands that what I’m feeling is accurate, yet like me we’ve been ignoring it. Trying to push it to the back of our minds and shoo it away. Focus on happy/laughy stuff. Yet it’s getting closer and closer. The war is about to really begin. And from everything that I see and hear and am watching, it’s gonna be bad.

 It hit me yesterday when I was talking to my BBQ guy for soldiers about some upcoming groups that wanted to sponsor some “chizuk dinners” for some soldiers. Like I tell them, they are our Kohanim Gedolim today, these chayalim doing Hashem’s holy work and this is our Matnat Kehuna- our priestly gifts of cow chow. He told me that he’s having a harder and harder time finding bases to do Grills as most of the soldiers have already moved up to the Northern front. Golani has already moved to the North, as has most of the Shiryon Armored Brigade. Many other units as well are moving up there. I was by an Airforce base and someone told me that they have even seen planes taking tanks up there. The war in the North is coming.

 What makes this frightening is that it’s really not a “war in the North”. It’s a war that according to everyone I talk to is one that will be on the entire country. The way the military experts and officers I have spoken to tell me- (which are not the guys in the coffee room in Lakewood or in the back of the Shteeble you go to.)- Hezbolla is not Hamas. They’re not teenagers with rockets, or Kalishnikovs. Hezbolla is a trained army by Iran that has between 50-100 Elite forces. They have missiles- not rockets that are targeted and can take down buildings and skyscrapers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that Iron Dome can’t do anything about. I’m sorry did I say “can” take down. The way that they described it to me was that they “will” take down. The estimated figure of civilian casualties I mean fatalities is over 35,000 in the first three days, when- not if – the war breaks out. My friends that work in the hospitals and Kupat Cholim here and around Israel have told me that they are having regular exercises to prepare for 500 casualties a day minimally. This is what’s coming our way. This is where we’re headed.

 Now it seems almost incontrovertible to me that this war is happening, as it pretty much is to everyone in this country. There are close to a hundred thousand residents of the villages and cities in the Upper Northern Galil all along the entire border that have been evacuated for months already. They’re not only not living in their homes and farms because of the incessant missile attacks. But rather as quite a few have them have told me, they know that there are tunnels that have been built under their homes and fields from Lebanon. They’ve heard them drilling for years and the Army has never done anything about them. Soldiers that are there in the North have even confirmed this to me, as they are serving there right now.

After October 7^th these families learned that ignoring tunnels and an enemy of subhuman and sub-animal monsters on your border is just not a healthy thing for your family if you want them to stay alive and not chopped up into little pieces and burnt to death. It’s just bad homestead planning. So they’re not going back until they’re cleared out. They’re not getting cleared out unless or until we invade and go into a foreign almost nuclear Iran proxied country called Lebanon. When that happens, the fun begins. Welcome to Gog and Magog.

 According to a report I saw on Arutz 7 yesterday, Bibi has given them until next Friday to come to a “diplomatic solution” otherwise Israel we begin it’s full stage war. Happy Adar everyone. Purim Samayach!

 Now the truth is once you understand this you can understand as well, why we’re talking about cease fire right now- we want to give soldiers a break with their families before the war starts. It’s as well why they army and government has been very conservative – or cheap, or broke in terms of providing many of the basic necessities for soldiers. Why we’re not flattening buildings and cities like used to and are sending our holy boys in to fight building by building and losing so many of them. It’s because we’re saving whatever money and resources for the war in the North. The final battle of Mechiyat Amalek. The war that will finally bring Mashiach. Maybe that’s why I’m laughing so much when people call me up about their tiyulim and trip plans for the Summer and even Pesach and “maybe we can go to Masada?” or “do I think that Tzefat will be open by then?” type questions just make me roll my eyes. The only tours I’m thinking about for Pesach are the Bais Ha”mikdash ones. I just don’t see it any other way.

Now this E-Mail is not here to frighten you. It’s really more about me just putting my feelings, stories, jokes and of course most importantly new songs down on paper and sharing them with you. It’s getting it off my chest and expressing in the wonder and awe how the inspiration of our Torah reading is always there to give me direction. Give me focus. Bring us light. Well this week as we bless the new month of the  Adar Number 2 and Erev Rosh Chodesh is also parshat Shekalim and the Parsha of Vayakhel. There’s a lot going on in the Parsha, the reading and Shul this week. Hey, it’s the end of days, we have a lot to accomplish.  Let’s take it apart half piece by half piece. Let’s become whole.

The parsh aptly named is Vayakhel and Moshe gathered the people. He made us one. Rashi tells us this takes place the day after Yom Kippur. After we were forgiven for the Golden Calf. We’re back before Simchas Torah again. We’re rewinding to before October 7^th. We’re uniting the people to build a Beit Hamikdash. It’s like it didn’t happen. It’s perhaps what should’ve happened if we didn’t have that sin. We pick up the story of the building of the House for Hashem where He will reside with us where we left off in Parshat Teruma and Tetzave before we read the story of the sin. We gather together as one, not as if it hasn’t happened, but as a nation rectified after we suffered the ramifications of our failure to make it happen.

The way we unite, Rashi tells us is “al pi diburo” It’s through the word of Moshe, the word of Hashem. It’s with the mitzva of Shabbos, when we have faith and understand that all of our pursuits, drives and needs not only material and physical but even spiritually to build a house for Hashem and a Mishkan are only by the word of Hashem. We stop for Shabbos. We don’t have to do more. He’s there with us and taking care of it all. We just have to get out of that stress and push it all away and appreciate, that He is the one taking care of everything. We just need to relax and take faith. We don’t need to build the Mishkan on Shabbos. He’s building it and taking care of it. It’s not our home it’s His.

 The rest of the Parsha is a repeat almost of the building of each vessel and the structure of the Mishkan. It’s amazing. It’s each person the Torah tells us is donating their heart. Their skills. Their talent. Their holy light. Everyone has something unique. Everyone has something they can build or design. This one has some gold, this one can sew curtains, this one can carve the Menora, the Ark, the cherubs. Each person was given “chacham lev” and “tevuna”- and understanding and wisdom of their heart that no one else has. Generally when we think of wisdom we think of the brain, yet the Torah tells us that this project isn’t about the brain. It’s the wisdom of the heart. It’s understanding the emotion of the contribution that only you or I can bring.

  Betzalel who was the head of the project, the Talmud tells us was given the wisdom to combine all of the holy letters of the Torah- tziruf osiyos. The sages explain what that means is that each letter represents a different Jew. The entire creation is written from the Torah. Putting the letters together means understanding on a mystical level how each Jew can contribute. What our piece is. How everything comes together and the world shines out Hashem from when all those pieces of the puzzle of the Torah and Am Yisrael come together. He is called Betzalel because he is Be’tzeil El- He is the shadow of Hashem. He reflects the light of Hashem down here in this world.

Fascinatingly enough the additional parshat that we begin to read this week as well which is the first of the four supplementary parshiyos that are added, Parshat Shekalim is the opposite message at first glance. The Talmud tells us that when the month of Adar begins we begin to be “Mashmia al Ha’Shekalim- the Jewish court would begin to put out word and collect money for the annual daily sacrifices. Each person would give a half Shekel. No more and no less. We’re all the same. There is no more individuality. There’s no nicer or worse half shekel. We’re all equal. We’re all only a half. What is the difference between the sacrifice and the contribution to the Mishkan where we are each charged to bring as much of ourselves as we can? Why shouldn’t Rechnitz, Reichman or Trump give more than Schwartz?

 The answer is as we said in the name of the Parsha. It’s Vayakehl-Al Pi Diburo. It’s understanding that it’s all from the word of Hashem. It’s taking a step back and the rich man saying that all that I have and afford is only what Hashem has Given Me. He’s my partner in everything and He determines and wants His name to shine out not mine. That the community should shine as one equal unit. I can’t stand out in that way. It’s about the poor person who may not feel he has the half shekel to donate. It might be his monthly salary. It might be his kids lunch money. It’s about him saying and realizing that he as well has a very rich partner called Hashem in his life. His partner says that he could afford. That he wants him to stretch himself. That he shouldn’t be worried. That he can have faith. That in each donation that comes to the daily sacrifices that faith and word of Hashem is present. That’s the half shekel. That’s what we start off Chodesh Adar the month before the redemption of Nissan will take place.

 The Talmud tells us that we read the parsha of shekalim before Purim because we need this reading to remind us of how we overcame our enemy Haman who thought to destroy us. Haman gave 10,000 shekels to Achashveirosh and claimed to him that we should be destroyed because we are a “nation that is spread out and divided between the nations”. We read our Shekalim Parsha first- and this year because it’s a leap year (and of course the year that Mashiach is coming) we read as well Parshat Vayakhel to bring the merit of our nation uniting before his Shekels. Our half shekels came first, our personal donations and heart came first. That’s how we not only avert his genocidal plot for us. It’s how we destroy Amalek. It’s how we destroy Hezbolla and Hamas. It’s how we build a house for Hashem.

 The Gaon of Vilna points out that when Mordechai got the reprieve from Achashveirosh the Megilla tells us in a strange language that we were ordered

“Hikhalu v’amod al nafsham”- to gather and stand up for our lives.

The word “hikhalu” is plural, yet “amod-to stand” is singular. The redemption comes when we come together as one. Rav Teichtel notes that it is why Purim is like a second giving of the Torah. Because again we were as one man with one heart. It’s why Esther tells Mordechai leich knos es kol ha’yehudim- to go and gather all the Jews. It’s the only way our salvation can happen. It’s the only way Hashem can be revealed. It’s what the Talmud tells us that in the future the Jews will all do teshuva for Hashem will bring someone like Haman who will bring terrible decrees against our nation and we will all repent and immediately be redeemed. Isn’t it interesting how  the difference between Hamas and Haman is the changing of the Nun to the letter Samach- the next letter and level up. OK I know that’s just the English writing of the word Hamas. But in Hebrew do you know what the difference of Gematria is between the 2? It’s thirteen. Echad. One. That’s how we win. That’s how we all do teshuva. That’s why I shouldn’t be scared.

 The messages from this upcoming month of Adar are in front of us. The war is coming. But so is the redemption. The month of joy is in front of us. We need to continue to unite. To love. To be there with all of our heart and to reveal Hashem. And as he preformed miracles for our ancestors back then so will He preform for us today and final herald in the Mashiach.

 Have a joyous Shabbos and an exuberantly happy Adar again!

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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CHIZUK/TZEDAKA OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK

 

Just when you thought this E-Mail couldn’t get any longer… well here it goes. This essential column which is dedicated to giving you readers an opportunity to have a meaningful part of helping out our country and nation by donating to a weekly link of a different organization, a cause, soldiers, refugees, supplies, Hostage families, widows, farmers etc… There are so many needs and I know that you want to participate and help them not just read about them. So each week I will feature in our E-Mail in this column another cause and link that you can contribute and make a meaningful difference to. (this of course should not come at the expense of your sponsorship of my weekly E-Mail or our upcoming Purim appeal in another month 😊) But this is a way that you can bring light and money to the so many that need it. Give what you can. But give regularly and if you can I’d really appreciate if if you send me a screenshot or message of your donation as I can then forward it to whoever receives it so they know that it came from our helpful readers. So here we go…

 Merkaz HaChesed of Sderot- Founded 24 years ago the by my friend Avichai Amusi who had moved to the city of Sderot by the Gaza Border with the aim of caring for the people of Sderot as well as the residents of the towns and villages in the region The Chesed Center is a not-for-profit organization that is based on the work of volunteers who bring their enthusiasm to these projects. With so many familied moving back now the demand is more than ever…

 The Chesed Center incorporates the following areas of assistance:

 1. Distribution of food baskets – Some 670 families in Sderot as well as those in the towns and villages in the Gaza Strip area receive food baskets every week. The baskets contain in-season fruit and vegetables as well as basic food commodities. About half the food baskets are handed out at a special distribution center while the rest is delivered to the homes of those needy individuals who are unable to come in person to the center. In addition to the weekly allocations, special efforts are made at holiday times (Rosh Hashanah – New Year – and the festivals celebrated in the fall, Purim, and Passover) to make a substantial distribution of food on a much wider scale and thereby they will have all they need to celebrate the festivals and experience the true holiday spirit.

  2. Soup Kitchen - The Sderot Hessed Center runs a restaurant to provide a nutritional response as required on a daily basis. The kitchen serves a hot and nutritious meal for about 80 diners, most of whom are senior citizens, especially those who have been left all alone in the world; Holocaust survivors; and the handicapped. The soup kitchen is designed to look like a regular restaurant. The atmosphere in this restaurant is welcoming and shows respect to its patrons just like family, and those same people who lack the means to eat warm and nutritious food during the week can now enjoy every day an hour or so of relaxation and contentment.

3. Clothing store – This is a second-hand clothing store, d offers for sale clothes, shoes, and other accessories. The clothes are donated by well-known companies or collected by the local residents, sorted and sold at a nominal price, a policy which shows respect for the customers who come there to buy their clothes.

4. A charity furniture store - This store offers second-hand furniture, which was donated to the Hessed Center, collected by the Center's volunteers and distributed to the needy and families on low incomes. In special cases, the Center succeeds in obtaining new furniture and these are allocated to needy families.

5. A charity store for tables and chairs – These chairs and tables are made available for festivities and celebrations as well as for mourners, heaven forbid.

 6. Yad Sarah

NOW THEY NEED YOUR HELP MORE THAN EVER WITH FAMILIES MOVING BACK TO SDEROT!!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCk04TvWeaY  

 

And here’s the link to donate

 https://thechesedfund.com/ameiricainfriendsofiyim/emergency-food-and-assitance-to-homeless-and-beraved-families-in-sderot  

 

YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

" Ven tsu a krank iz duh a refueh, iz dos a halbeh krenk...”- When there’s a remedy for an ailment, it’s only half an ailment.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

30.The Zin River flows into the ___________.

In which route was the Ancient "Derech Hamelech" (Path of the kings) paved?

A. The route between the Gulf of Eilat and the Coastal cities of Lebanon

B. The route on the Transjordan ridge

C. The route on top of the mountains

D. The route between Alexandria and Gaza

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yiddelach   – In Honor of PURim MY latest new release… Its; the only song I’m posting this week. You just have to listen to it five times… If You want the Rap at the end… IT’s amazing… Tell me how much you love it…

 https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yiddelach      -  Come on you can’t get enough…

 https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yiddelach      – Isn’t it catchy…

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yiddelach     – You want to hear it one more time…

 https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yiddelach     – Now Call you r kids over and make them listen to i..t 😊

 

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S PARSHA PRAYER INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK

 Half the Job- This week we begin to read the first of the four parshiyot before Pesach the first being of the mitzva of the half shekel coin that we bring for the daily sacrifices. There’s a fascinating Midrash that tells us of a debate between Rebbi Yehudah and Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi about the power of prayer and teshuva. Rabbi Yehuda learns that Teshuva can accomplish half of the job of everything that we need, while prayer can accomplish everything. Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi however disagrees and says that prayer only can accomplish half the job. He brings a proof that Moshe prayed for forgiveness for Aharon after the sin of the golden calf and thus only two of his sons, Nadav and Avihu were taken, rather than all four.

 The commentaries discuss why it works this way. Why can’t prayer accomplish everything? The Trisker Magid explains that Tefilla/ prayer has two components to it. There is Hashem who hears our prayer and answers and then there is us that receives it. With prayer we can only accomplish that we ask Hashem for the needs that we have. He wishes to answer and give everything to us, but we have to have enough space within ourselves to receive all of that benevolence. If we haven’t repented then there’s not enough room for all He wants to shower upon us. It is for that reason that the Derash Moshe notes that we say every prayer a confession of selach lanu and we ask Hashem for Teshuva. That teshuva opens us up to be able to receive the complete package that we then continue to ask Hashem for.

 

Perhaps that is as well the idea of the half shekel donation as well for our daily sacrifices that we contribute. Hashem is telling us that the money we donate which is meant to serve as an atonement, as teshuva for our sins is only half the job. We can’t just pay and be done. We have to Pay and Pray. It’s two pieces of a whole.

 One last great thought from the Ropshitzer. He writes that whenever he davened he would ask for double of what he needed. That way since prayer only accomplishes half, he then would get half of the double which is exactly what he needed. With this idea he explains homiletically the verse in our parsha when it talks about the money collected for the Mishkan. The Torah tells us that the people were bringing too much and they were told to stop. The pasuk says

 V’hamelacha haya dayum v’hoseir- the work was enough and there was more.

He notes this is a contradiction for if it was enough then how was there more? He answers with this idea. The “work” he says is of course prayer. The work of prayer brought them exactly what they needed. How? V’hoseir- because they prayed for more than they needed.

Great Vort! Great idea! So daven double and Hashem will answer us all…

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

 

730 BC-The Last King of the North- The Jewish Nation of Israel is in tatters. We have civil war between the Northern Kingdom led by Pekach which engaged Aram to help them, and which captured and killed hundreds of thousands and even joined with the Philistines from Gaza to ravage the Jewish cities of the Shefela. As well we have the response of the kingdom of Yehudah led by the wicked king Achaz who turned the Temple into a house of idolatry and cut a deal with Shalmaneser of Assyria to attack and exile most of the Northern Kingdom. According to one account already 7/8 of the ten tribes in the North had already been exiled by the time the last and final king took over. The king Hoshea Ben Elah was the one that brought us to our bitter end.

 The Navi tells us that when Assyria attacked and exiled much of the North, Pekach’s captain Hoshea aligned himself with Tiglat Pileshar and assassinated Pekach. He then paid of Tiglat and was appointed the King of the North or Ephraim. As king he agreed to be a vassal of Assyria and pay an annual tax. He was trying to do his best to hold things together.

 The Navi tells us in an interesting description that although he was also an idolatrous king, yet he wasn’t as bad as the ones prior to him. He did one thing good which in fact ironically turned out to be bad and the final blow to the Northern Kingdom. He removed the security fence and guards that had prevented the Jews in the North from going to Yerushalayim to worship in the Beit HaMikdash. These had been in force since Yeravam ben Nevat-the king who followed Shlomo, the first generation after the Temple had been built. Since then nobody had gone to the Bait HaMikdash from the North.  And now they were finally permitted to go. The day was actually established to be a quasi holiday celebrated until today on the 15^th of Av. This would seem to have been a good thing. But it wasn’t.

 See, the problem was that the Jews didn’t go. They stayed in the North. They stayed in Lakewood. In Boro Park. Perhaps they were comfortable enough in their own shuls and places of worship. Maybe they said-perhaps even rightfully so, that Yerushalayim wasn’t frum enough. Achaz after all had defiled the Beis HaMikdash with idolatry. It was not “holy” enough for them. It felt too goyish… But Hashem and our sages didn’t see it that way. The fact that no one went made this a terrible accusation against us if not the final straw to break our back. And thus it was decreed that the game would be over.

 As in all our lessons in this column there is so much that we have to learn, to rectify, to understand in order that we don’t make the same mistakes. They same righteous justifications. It is not for naught the Torah tells us that we have to learn our history and know the years of generation and generation. History is repeating itself. We just need to look at our past to understand our present.  

 RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TERRIBLE ANNIVERSARY JOKES OF THE WEEK

 

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?'

I said, 'Dust.' And that's how the fight started....

  My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asked, “Do you know her?”

“Yes, ” I sighed, “She’s my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn’t been sober since.”

“My God!” says my wife, “Who would think that a person could go on celebrating that long?”

And that’s when the fight started.

 

A wife wants a fancy Porsche for her fiftieth birthday. She drops hints to her husband:

"You know we've had a really good year, heck, good decade, fiscally. For my birthday, I'm really hoping for something sleek, maybe baby blue. Something you can really step on and it'll go from 0 to 200 in like .2 seconds..."

The husband nods knowingly. So for her birthday, he buys her a scale.

And that's when the fight started...

 

My wife told me she wants to give her clothes away to starving children, I told her that if they fit them they aren't starving. That is when the fight began

 

I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95. Instead, she bought a jar of face cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the face cream. And that’s when the fight started.

 

 A woman is standing in her room looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, “I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.”

The husband replies, “Your eyesight’s near perfect.” And that’s when the fight started.

 

 For his birthday, I gave my son an iPhone. My daughter received an iPod for hers. For my birthday, I was pleased to receive an iPad. My mother was given an iMac for her birthday. Thinking along the same lines, I got my wife an iRon. And that's when the fight started…

 

 Esther was throwing darts at her husband's picture on a dart board and not even a single one hitting the target. When he entered, saw and asked, “Honey! What are you doing?”

Esther said " Missing you…".

And that's when the fight started…

 

 A man walks into a bar,looking all bummed out, and orders a drink. After a few minutes he orders another. About thirty minutes later he orders a few more drinks. The bartenders asks," Dude you look really depressed. Is everything okay? "

The man explains," My wife and I got into big fight. She says she won't speak to me for 31 days."

The bartender asks," Well isn't that a good thing."

The man replies," Sadly, tonight's the last night."

 

My Dentist friend just divorced his wife who is a manicurist. All they did was fight tooth and nail

 

A married couple are having a fight. Finally the wife screams at the husband to get out of the house. She throws his suitcases at him and he packs his things. On his way out, the woman says, "I hope you die the slowest, most miserable, most agonizing death imaginable."

So he turns and says, " What, so now you want me to stay?"

 

 "Got in a fight with my wife last night" says one guy to his friend.

"Again", said the friend, "How did it end this time?"

"Well, she ended up on her knees, practically begging"

"Really, what did she say?"

"Get out from under the bed you coward"

 

 A married couple were fighting when they drove past a farm full of pigs. The husband then asked his wife, "Family of yours?"

The wife looked at the pigs, then replied, "Yea, in-laws."

 

 Husband says: When I get mad at you, you never fight back. How do you control your anger?

Wife says: I clean the toilet..

.Husband says: How does that help?

Wife says: I use your Toothbrush.....

 

 The entire 15 years of marriage my wife and  I have only had one fight. And it's still not over…

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The answer to this week”s question is B– I’m in this sick rut. I’m just getting them half right or half wrong depending on which way you look at the glass. Actually I thought I would get it the other way right and wrong, but the truth is I wasn’t sure of either answer. Nachal Tzin I guessed Yam Ha’melach but I wasn’t sure because it’s really a bit south of there, and really the correct answer would’ve been to the Arava which is the direction of the Dead Sea, but it seems that either answer was correct, as in ancient times or even more recent times before the shrinking of the Dead Sea the water from the Nachal got there as well. So that part was right. The second part though confused me and I got it wrong. For some reason although I knew that the coastal road was called Derech Ha’Yam and the mountain road called Derech Hahar, I thought that one of those was also derech Ha’Melech so I went with the Gaza Alexandria answer. But the truth is thee correct answer was the Transjordan route. I probably should’ve known this. It is a biblical question and the route Bnai Yisrael wanted to take. But I got it wrong. So still in the Rut but I’m still passing this exam with the latest score is Rabbi Schwartz at 21.5 point and the MOT having 7.5 point on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.