Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
August 21st 2020 -Volume 10
Issue 43 1st Elul 5780
Parshat Shoftim
Longings
I was looking back at my notes of the drashah (sermon) I
gave this shabbos last year in my shul. I had shared with my shul an idea and
song that I had composed about some words that we will recite repeatedly this
month Yes, in my shul one of the perks my congregants have is that they get to
hear my new compositions with all of its hidden meanings and inspiration first.(click
on the song down below by the Videos of the week) The words are from the extra
psalm that we add into our davening. Psalm 27 L'Dovid Hashem Ori V'yishi-
Hashem is my light and salvation is recited this entire month. The conclusion
of this chapter of tehillim are the words of my song
Kavei el Hashem chazak v'ameitz libecha v'kavey el Hashem- Long
for Hashem, be strong and He will give your heart courage and long for Hashem.
I told my shul, that my B"- non-stop summer of tour guiding
was over. I think from Lag Ba'Omer until the first week of Elul (last year) I
had maybe 5 days, that I wasn't working and touring with tourists. (This year it's been more like 5 days of
touring since Purim) It was good and exhausting. It was time for my
vacation, finally. See usually after the summer is over, usually around the
second week of school, is when I go away. There are no tourists
then, I can get a nice vacation home/ Tzimmer with a pool and Jacuzzi for about
a quarter of the price. There are no tourists, no traffic; it's just me and my
family with a nice beautiful view from the glorious Galil of the hills and
valleys. In the right places we can even see the Mediterranean. Ah mechaya…
it's what keeps me going all summer long. Actually the first two days I usually
just go by myself, because after a long summer of talking all day long for
months on end, I just want quiet. The rest of the family joins from Friday thru
Sunday. I introduce myself to them once again, after them not having seen much
of me for a few months. By the end of the weekend, they're ready to pay someone
to take me out of the house on a tour again. Mission accomplished.
So there I was, driving my last family back to Yerushalayim for my
last tour. It was a crazy day. We had started in Yerushalayim. We hit the
coastline Akko, the old city and speedboating, we hopped over to Meron for
Mincha and went up to Tzfat for a quick tour of the old city. We even went up
to the Golan for a sunset view of the Syrian border from Mt. Bental and then to
top it all off we had dinner by the Kinneret in Tiverya. It was an insane day.
I was ending off the summer with a bang. But I was energized because I knew my
vacation was right around the corner. I was by the finish line. And then my
phone rang…
"Hi Rabbi Schwartz, I got your name from a friend of mine.
We decided to stick around in Eretz Yisrael for another week. We were wondering
would you be free next week to tour our family…"
Kaveh el Hashem- I was longing for my vacation. I wanted the
peace and quiet. But I'm very bad at turning down any tourist requests. I have
a Divine responsibility to share my love and passion of Eretz Yisrael with
everyone, especially the ones that want to pay me for it… And besides who knows
when an international pandemic might come and I might be out of work… So
Chazak V'Ameitz Libecha- I strengthened my heart and told
them no problem… and once again I pushed off my longing V'kavey el Hashem-
I longed for my vacation with Hashem. Fast forward a year later after 4 months
of 'vacation'… I long for those days when I could share Eretz Yisrael with my
tourists once again…
We have entered the month of Elul a month that our sages note is an
acronym of the words Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li- I am to my beloved and my
beloved is to me. It is a month of longing for Hashem and his longing for us to
return to Him. Shlomo Hamelech in Shir
Hashirim describes Yom Kippur as Yom chatunoso- our wedding day, when we
received the second tablets and Hashem forgave us for all our sins. Elul is
like that betrothal period when we are longing for that chasuna day when
we will be reunited with our Beloved. And every day of that engagement our
longing should grow and grow.
There is an incredible Bnai Yissachar on this week's Parsha that
shares with us exactly what those ga'aguim- the Hebrew word for longing
should be about. At the end of the parsha we are told the mitzva and procedure
of going out to battle. As in all of the mitzvos in the Torah there is an
eternal message we are meant to take out its teachings despite that we no
longer have ancient enemies or wars that we are fighting. Yet our sages read
this portion as one that can be taken homiletically. The enemy is our yetzer
hara- our evil inclination, that is trying to stop us from returning to
Hashem. He is the enemy. The camp that is coming against us. So we prepare for
this battle and the Kohen and the officers come out to charge us up for battle.
We can do it. And then we are given the exemptions; the list of three
categories of people that have specific challenges that they need to take care
of before they enter this battle.
The Bnai Yissachar finds a hint to these three groups in the words
of Dovid Hamelech, the commander in chief of our army in the words of the Psalm
Tehillim (89:3) Tashev enosh DAKA-
You have brought man to the crushing point
Va'tomer shuvu bnai adam- and you say
'return son of Man'
The word 'da'k'a'- crushing point' is an
acronym of three words dira, kerem and isha- he who built a home-dira,
planted a vineyard-kerem, or just got married-isha. These three
people are three challenges one needs to overcome, three areas of growth that
one needs to work upon before being ready to join the fight- the battle to
return to Hashem our beloved. What do they represent and what are their message
to us?
Now there are many commentaries that see the
three basic challenges mentioned in Pirkey Avot that take a man out of this
world; Kinah-jelaousy, taava- desire and kavod-the pursuit
of honor. The vineyard being the sign of jealousy as seen in the famous Tanach
story of King Ahav coveting the vineyard of his neighbor Navot the Jezre'elite.
Ta'ava is represented by isha, the woman that one desires. And kavod-honor
is the person who built a house as the verse tells us that once we conquer the
land and build houses we can become haughty and arrogant. But the Bnai
Yissachar takes this idea a step further, he talks about the natural longings
that one has yet to experience and realize. One has to 'get their own house in
order' before embarking on that battle with the yetzer hara. For the
battle we are up against is not just to conquer our enemy. It is to bring a new
reality to the world; to reunite eternally with our beloved.
The first category is 'he who built a house
and has not yet inaugurated it". We are going out to fight a battle
and the picture and image we need to have in our mind is that the purpose of
our battle is to build a house for Hashem. To establish His dwelling place down
here in this world. But before we do this we need to know that our own homes
are established. Hashem is not looking to live in a nasty neighborhood with
neighbors-us- that don't know how to build and inaugurate-be mechanech-
holy homes. Are our own homes one that He can feel comfortable living next to? Or
do we have things that perhaps He might not be that happy with in them. Are
they homes of peace and harmony, or are we the 'noisy' neighbors always
fighting, gossiping and airing our garbage all over the front lawn? If we
haven't been mechanech our own homes how can we do battle for His?
Next up we have the vineyard. Our sages tell us
that the vineyards and wine represent torah. It is that yayin hamishumar-
that hidden wine of wisdom found in our holy book. Each Jew has their own
'vineyard', their own piece of Torah that they are meant to reveal in this
world. It's amazing to think about. Rabbi Akiva had his Torah that he had to
reveal, Rashi had his and The Baal Shem Tov and Rebbi Nachman had theirs. And
just as the Divine revelation was given to them to reveal their portions, each
of us have our own. We need to plant our own vineyards. Reveal our own Torah in
the world. If we haven't then we aren't prepared to do the battle that will
reveal that divine light into the world.
Finally, we have the man who has betrothed a
woman and but has yet to have bonded with her. She is not yet fully his. They
haven't become one. There is no love like that of a chasan and kallah.
There is no greater longing than for that wedding day. The love Hashem has for
us we are told is Ahavas Olam- and eternal love, but also all of the
love in the world. Meaning if one took all the love between every bride and
groom, every parent and child, every friend for one another in the entire
world. And then one took all of that from every generation from the beginning
of time, that is the love Hashem has for us. Ahavat Olam. Before we go
out to reunite that beloved with us, we have to experience that and fulfill
that love to its completion in our own lives. We need to feel what that
actualization of that desire a bride has for groom is like, then we can be
strong enough to take anything that the Yetzer Hara might throw at us. For
there is none fiercer fighter than one that is fighting for what they love.
This year has been the year of longing. For millennia we have been waiting and
longing for Mashiach; for Hashem to return, for His House, for His light. But
we than went back to our regular life and pushed those hopes to the backdrop of
our busy, hectic lives. This year though there isn't anybody that isn't longing
for the end to finally be here. Kavey el Hashem… We all realize how
broken the world is and we pine for a better fixed one. But in Elul we are
meant to desire more. Chazak v'ameitz libecha- we need to strengthen our
hearts, we need to dream bigger, we need to be prepared to fight and fix
everything we can because our beloved is waiting for us. He is calling to us.
The astrological sign, the mazal of the month of Elul is the besula-Virgo,
the girl that is waiting to get married and find her beloved and that is
waiting for that great wedding day. V'Kavey el Hashem. May this month be
the one where all of our longing finally brings us to our home.
Have a super Shabbos and
blessed month of Elul,
Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" Dos gantse lebn iz a milchome..!"- All of life is a war.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
41)
The J- Trail and the Gospel Trail pass through:
A. Mount of Olives
B. Mount Zion
C. Kinarot Valley
D. The Banias
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
"We would
love it," she said, "if you could bring five of your soldiers over to
our house for Thanksgiving dinner."
"Certainly, ma'am," replied the sergeant.
"Oh... just make sure they aren't Jews, of course," said the woman.
"Will do," replied the sergeant. So, that Thanksgiving, while the
woman is baking, the doorbell rings. She opens her door and, to her horror,
five black soldiers are standing in front of her.
"Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "I'm afraid there's been a terrible
mistake!"
"No ma'am," said one of the soldiers. "Sergeant Rosenbloom never
makes mistakes!"
A kiss is
heard, then a hollow slap. When the train comes out of the tunnel, the German
has a horrible black eye.
'So unlucky' thinks
the German soldier. 'The French man gets the kiss and I get the blame!' 'Well
done, my girl!' thinks the old lady. 'You stood up to that brute!'
The beautiful
woman is puzzled. 'Why would that German kiss that old lady?'
Yankel,
meanwhile, thinks 'How clever I am! I kiss the back of my hand, hit the German
and no one suspects me!'
The CO says, "Are you crazy? You just joined the Israeli army, and you alreadywant a 3 day pass? You must do something spectacular for that recognition!"
So the soldier comes back a day later in an Arab tank!
The CO was so impressed, he asked, "How did you do it?"
"Well, I jumped in a tank, and went toward the border with the Arabs. I
approached the border, and saw an Arab tank. I put my white flag up, the Arab
tank put his white flag up. I said to the Arab soldier, 'Do you want to get a
3 day pass?' So we exchanged tanks!"
This goes on for a bit until suddenly, the Palestinian side goes quiet.
A head pokes out of the Israeli foxhole. “Hey Muhammad! You run out of ammo?”
“Yeah!”
“Well come on over, i’ll sell you some!”
One of the
officers in the class begins by asking the first question, "Will we have
to fight in a World War Three?"
"Yes,
comrades, in all likelihood, you will," answers the general.
"And who
will be our likely enemy, Comrade General?" another officer asks.
"The
likelihood is that it will be China."
The class looks
alarmed, and finally one officer asks, "But Comrade General, we are 150
million people and they are about 1.5 billion. How can we possibly win?"
"Well,"
replies the general, "think about it. In modern war, it is not the
quantity, but the quality that is key. For example, in the Middle East, 5
million Jews fight against 50 million Arabs and the Jews have been the winners
every time."
"But sir,
" asks the panicky officer, "do we have enough Jews?
On his first
day of class Itzik asked his instructor, "If our chute doesn't open, and
the reserve doesn't open, how long do we have until we hit the ground?"
The training
officer looked at Itzik without hesitating and answered, "The rest of your
life."
"Very well
trained, General."
"I hope
so. You see, my men over at the United States Army are so well trained, you
see, they're the bravest men in the world."
"Well, I'm
not so sure about that General," replies Goldstein. "My men are very
brave, too."
"I'd like
to see that," says Marshall.
So Goldstein
calls private Barak and says: "Private Barak! I want you to stop that tank
simply by standing in front of it!"
"Are you
crazy?" says Private Barak. "It would kill me! Are you some kind of
fool?"
Goldstein turns
to a Marshall and says, "You see? You have to be pretty brave to talk like
that to a general."
A CNN reporter,
a BBC reporter, and an Israeli commando are captured by ISIS in Syria.
The leader of
the terrorists told them that he would grant them each one last request before
they were beheaded.
The CNN Reporter said, "Well, I’m an American, so I’d like one last
hamburger with French fries.”
The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the burger & fries. The reporter ate it and said “Now, I can die.”
The BBC Reporter said, "I’m a reporter to the end. I want to take out my
tape recorder and describe the scene here and what’s about to happen. Maybe
someday someone will hear it and know that I was on the job till the end.”
The ISIS leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder and dictated
some comments. The reporter then said, "Now I can die knowing I stayed
true until the end.”
The ISIS leader turned to the Israeli commando and said, “And now, Mr. Israeli
tough guy, what is your final wish?”
“Punch me in the face ,” said the soldier.
“What?" asked the leader, “Will you mock us in your last hour?”
“No, I’m not kidding. I want you to punch me in the face ,” insisted the
Israeli.
So the terrorist leader shoved him into the open and kicked him in the behind.
The soldier went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9 mm pistol from
under his flak jacket, and shot the leader dead. In the resulting confusion, he
jumped to his knapsack, pulled out his carbine and sprayed the terrorists with
gunfire. In a flash, all terrorists were either dead or fleeing for their
lives. As the soldier was untying the reporters, they asked him, “Why didn’t
you just shoot them in the beginning? Why did you ask them to punch me in the
face first?”
“What?” replied the Israeli, “and have you report that I was the aggressor?
Answer is C– This was pretty easy because I pass it all the time. The Yoshka trail was classic Israeli entrepreneurism. It was established in 2007 by and Israeli hiker that saw the potential for tourism and marketing by creating a trail that could travel in the "footsteps of the 'New Testament'. The truth is even if I didn't know the correct answer it is easy process of elimination. The two places the J-man hung out were Jerusalem and the Galile. The Jerusalem options are not the right answer because there are two of them. Har Tzion and Har Ha Zeitim. So that leaves the Kinnarot and the Banias. He was in the Banyas, but that's only one site. The Kinnarot valley that starts near Tzippori and covers most of the places Yoshka "relieved himself" in this country is the more logical answer. So I got this one right and the score is Schwartz 30 and 11 for MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam my grade is looking up..!
