Homesick- Parshat Va'eschanan Nachamu 2023 5783

 

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

July 28^th 2023 -Volume 12 Issue 42 10^th of Av 5783

 

Parshat Va’eschanan/ Nachamu

Homesick

“Are you homesick? Do you miss us?” I asked him.

 “Neah… I’m doing just fine and having a blast here…” he told me.

  I had a mixed reaction. I the one hand I was happy that he was having so much fun. This camp, that my son Tully went to for the summer cost me enough. The last thing I wanted was for him to be missing us and not enjoying it. Yet… yet… yet… I missed him. I don’t know if I ever missed him before. This was his first time away for an extended period of time. He’s the baby of the family- although now our bar mitzva boy. I knew my wife would miss him. After-all he’s her favorite. But I still had my Elka at home. She’s my favorite.

 

Tully’s a pain in the neck sometimes. I always fight with my wife about him because he can never do any wrong in her eyes and she’s his appointed defender. But when he said he didn’t feel homesick my heart fell a bit. I started to miss him. I loved him more. I even started to add him to my secret, private, daily ritual that I really never told anyone about. But hey, I’m feeling a bit mushy this morning. This weekly E-Mail is where I put it all out there. So here goes… the secret Ephraim Schwartz daily ritual reveal. There’s no need to tell anyone about it. It’s just between me and you…

 

So I don’t really talk to myself. It’s weird to do that. Yet, for the longest time there’s one thing I do say out loud to myself, pretty often when nobody else is around. When I’m driving in my car. When I’m spacing out. Or just alone in my room where no one else can hear. I’m not weird OK… It’s just some type of strange habit that started years ago and it makes me feel good. It probably started after I heard some type of shiur or something like that. I dunno… I just like to do it. And for someone reason I can’t stop.

 

“I love you Elka…. I love you Elka… I love you Elka….”

 

Yeah… that’s it. Ok. I don’t know. I think about my daughter and I say her name and my heart fills with love. I probably started it when she was a little girl and I would walk her to gan every day. We had those special shared moments together, and after our walk on the way home. I would just be in awe of that special love I felt for her and I would just start saying it. The truth is, and I’m really not just writing this so my other kids don’t feel left out or not “as loved”, I say it about my other children also.

‘I love you Shani,’

 ‘I love you Rivkah,’

 ‘I love you Yonah’. I even say it about Tully on special occasions.

 I usually say it when I feel a particular love for them. To myself of course. When they got engaged. When they had babies. When they made me particularly proud. Even Erev Shabbos or Yom Tov when I talk to them and share with them some Torah (that’s pretty much Yonah) or any other good news or update, I say it out loud. I say it to myself. It sounds nice out loud. It fills me with something special emotionally… perhaps even spiritually. So I really do it for all of them. It’s just Elka is the one that really doesn’t need any impetus. It just comes out by itself. Kind of like a burp or a hiccup that you can’t control. Although now this really is beginning to sound a bit weird.

In recent years, when I do this habit. I’ve started consciously something else to that as well. I started to say as well- and now this is really going to sound weird- but don’t judge me here. This is my safe spot. I started to say as well… “I love You Hashem”.

 To be honest, my love for Hashem isn’t the same or even close to the love I have for my children, for my wife, for my parents and most of my siblings. 😊 Let them figure out the word “most”. It’s probably not even as much as I love chulent. Which is pretty sad and pathetic. It’s certainly not as much as I know He loves me. I mean it’s quite obvious that Hashem is madly in love with me. He just always does tremendous things for me always and has given me one of the most blessed lives that I know of. But I do love Hashem back. And I want that love to get bigger and better. So, after I say my “love soliloquy” about Elka or my other children I then try to take some of that love and turn it to Hashem as well. “I love You Hashem.” I really, really do. It’s not as much as everything else. I wish it were. But I love You. I appreciate You and feel Your love for me. And you know what? Since I’ve been saying this, I really do find myself loving Him more. I do find myself growing more in my love for him. It even inspired me to add my wife and my parents sometimes into my private- or at least prior to this E-Mail private- ritual.

 Now, stop looking at me strangely here, Ok...  Like I’m a weirdo or something. You do the same thing as well. We all do this. In fact we do it twice a day. It’s the essence of our prayers. It’s what we said when we went to the gas chambers or our dead. I bet that there is not one shul out there that had explanatory Kinnot the other day that didn’t say at least once Jewish “Shema Yisrael” walking to our death story. It’s the basis of our lives. We’re all familiar with the story of Rav Eliezer Silver after the holocaust who went to find Jewish surviving children that were hidden in monasteries. The priests denied there were any Jewish children there. He then got up and and recited the Shema and the children one after another responded with the conclusion “Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad”.

 It’s the prayer that parents say to their children from the youngest age when we put them to bed. It’s the last prayer someone says after the final confession before dying. Shema Yisrael is everything. It’s our love statement that Hashem is One and that He loves us and we in turn love Him. So yes, you do it to. It’s not as personal and as powerful as the private expression of love I have when I’m alone in my car where it’s not part of a set prayer ritual. It’s not even close. But you all do it… so stop looking at me that way…

 The words of the paragraph interestingly enough are not just to love Hashem, or even the statement that Hashem is our God and is One. Rather it starts off with the two words Shema Yisrael- Hear O’ Israel. The Midrash and Targum tell us that this intro in fact meant to take us back to the beginning when we first heard those words to the deathbed of our father Yaakov when he gathered all the tribes around him and wanted to reveal to us the end of days. He saw that the shechina had left him before he could reveal this secret to them and suspected that perhaps there was something lacking amongst his descendants that caused them to be unworthy of this prophecy. We turned to our father then and said Shema Yisrael, a reference to Yaakov’s second name and then exclaimed our full belief and faith in Hashem and His love for us. Moshe on his dying day as well tells us that same statement and said that we should recite it daily. Twice daily actually, to be accurate. When we arise and when we go to sleep.

 The Chasam Sofer goes in a different direction though and takes this an even holier place. He asks why is it that we have to add in the two words Shema Yisrael. Why isn’t it enough to just say I love You Hashem. You’re our God, You’re One. There is no other mitzva where we say Shema Moshe or Shema Yaakov or Yisrael. We have to wear tzitzis. We have to destroy Amalek. We have to keep Shabbos. Why here and what’s the reason why we say the name Yisrael again and again?

 The mystical and perhaps even emotionally psychological answer that he gives is the mere mention of the name Yisrael- which he says is a reference to Eretz Yisrael creates a spiritual power that that fills ones heart with holiness and love. He says just as the Torah says we shouldn’t mention the names of idols or idolatry and impure things- which is why we don’t say J-man’s name and we just call him yoshka pondrik or when we were kids we used to say yoshka pickles- although it is really a desecration of the sanctity of pickles. But we don’t mention their names as it creates forces of tumah and purity. As well and even more so, just saying the name Israel again and again creates love and holiness. It’s why Moshe through out the book of Devarim which is really a book of the repetition of the Torah finds Moshe always saying Shema Yisrael.

 There’s even a great pasuk that tells us this secret. The verse says in our parsha prior to the Shema.

 Devarim (6:3) ‘V’Shama’ata Yisrael’-  And you Israel shall hear and you will guard to fulfill that which will be good for you and which you will become very great as Hashem the God of your fathers spoke to you of the land flowing with milk and honey.

 The Chasam Sofer says, that the pasuk can be read homiletically. That if we hear merely just hear the word ‘Yisrael’. Then in it will fill us the with the love and memory of Hashem’s promise to our ancestors and we will have the additional gift of power and strength to fulfill the commandments of the land.

 The Shvilei Pinchas suggests that this idea of the Chasam Sofer is not merely about the land of Israel but it’s as well just saying the name of the nation of Israel. In fact the entire power of the land of Israel is drawn from the nation of Israel who is one with it. Who it is named after. For even the name Israel alone saying ‘Yisrael.’, hearing ‘Yisrael’ is a segula to be filled with love for them and to be able to accomplish anything in the world that stands before us and tries to separate us from our mandate.

 With this he explains why Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai who on the one hand suggests that the only way to fulfill the obligation to study Torah by day and night is by literally doing so seems at first glance to contradict himself by saying that one’s obligation can be fulfilled by the mere recitation of Shema in the morning and evening. He explains that the saying of Shema is what will give a man the extra spiritual power to learn all day and night. Just by saying the words lovingly “Yisrael… Yisrael… Yisrael… Israel…” will create and fill one with such love that nothing else can stand between him and our Torah. For the Torah itself is as we are told is made up of 600,000 letters that correspond to the souls of the Jewish people. Saying and hearing Yisrael is like saying and reading the entire Torah. It connects me to everyone. It connects me to everything.

 Saying things twice or numerous times out loud hits things home. It reinforces things in our heart that we sometimes bury and don’t associate with. As I’ve said in the past, the one pasuk and song in the books of our prophets that I’ve always connected with (and that I’ve even chosen as the Hebrew name of my book series… PS stay tuned for my newest book hopefully coming out soon… just finished the first draft…) Is the words of the prophet Yirmiyahu

 Ha’ben Yakir li Ephraim ki Yeled Sha’ashuim – my dear son, Ephraim who is the child that is my plaything

Ki Midei Dabri bo- for as long as I speak of him

Zachor ezkereinu od- I surely remember him.

 Whenever Hashem mentions my name. He loves me more and more. Ok, he’s talking about all of us which are called after the tribe of Ephraim. But I take it personally as well. He loves me. He says my name all the time. When he “wakes up” in the morning and is “driving to work” he says “I love yo Ephraim, I love you Ephraim, I love you Ephraim..” He’s filled with love for me. Like, I’m filled with love for my children. More than that… a lot more than that…

 This Shabbos is Shabbos Nachamu- the Shabbos of consolation.  We spent all day yesterday on Tisha B’av saying one word again and again. Tzion… Yisrael… Eretz Yisrael… our father… our city… Your Temple… We love you… We miss you… We’re homesick for you… We say that every day, but it wasn’t like yesterday. Yesterday we meant it. Yesterday, we felt it… Yesterday we were really, really, homesick. And Hashem heard us. He counted our tears. His heart exploded with love as well… And he consoles us… Nachamu Nachamu… again and again… be consoled. I’m coming. The day is coming… Camp is almost over… I’ll be home soon. You’ll be home soon. We’ll be united. Ahavas Olam- the eternal never-ending love He has for us will finally shine forth in the world. We won’t be homesick ever again.

Have a consoling Shabbos Nachamu,

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 

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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

 

“Az me redt zikh arop fun hartsen, vert gringer.” .- When one pours out his heart, he feels lighter

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

 

32) Al Khssgalil is the Arab name of the city:

According to the Oslo Accords, Jericho is located in which area?

A) international

B) A

C) B

D) C

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

 

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/good-shabbos - Admit it you’ve missed this for the past three weeks! And you’re getting sikc of my acapella Al Eileh. So we’re back again with my Good Shabbos song to welcome in your holy day of Shabbos nachamu… Good Shabbis Good Shabbis Good Shabbis…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukRlH4ZmxqE – Naftali Kempeh’s latest release hot of the press today! Hadur Na’eh.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dptj7zzIig&t=3s   – The song everyone will be singing this weekend. Shlom Carlebach’s Nachamu which of course defines this shabbos

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2AzOY10_mw  – The Nachamu that only us old timers will sing and remember tzlil V’Zemers iconic Nachamu…ready for nostalgia?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP6ZN_rlKc4  – And in honor of their daughters engagement this week! Mazal Tov!! SY Rechnitz’s Nachamu sung by my dear friend Moishie Mendlowitz!

 

 

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

 

Jezebel’s Death-. With the two Kings dead, killed by Yeihu at the behest and at the shlichus of Yonah, the prophet/student of Elisha there remains one last piece of vengeance left. It’s time to take out the evil queen and wife of Achav, the mother of the recently killed former King of Israel, Yehoram. Jezebel, was the daughter of the King of Tzidon and it was under her influence that the worship of the Baal spread around Israel. To make matters worse it was she that ordered the death of the prophets of Hashem and whom Eliyahu Ha’Navi had to flee from. Yet, the worst act in the eyes of Hashem and Eliyahu was fascinatingly enough her libel against Navot, the Jezre’elite who’s vineyard her husband coveted and her hiring of false witnesses to have him killed. It was Navos’s blood that was calling out to heaven for revenge and that day had finally come.

 

Yet, Jezebel was a wily one. She had realized that Yehu, who was the former general of Yehoram and Achazya his brother the Kings of Israel, had betrayed them. She heads up to the window of her palace in Tel Jezre’el and dresses herself up “to kill” excuse the pun- or more accurately to be killed. There’s a great lookout point in Tel Jezre’el overlooking the vineyards below where to tell this story from. There she sees Yehu approaching and calls out to him flirtatiously heralding him as “Zimri” the murderer of his masters. Zimri was the one that murdered the earlier kings of Israel; Basha. His name in Tanach lingo goes down in infamy like Brutus and Judas do in Roman and Christian lexicon. The ultimate traitor.

 

Yehu, though is not impressed. He calls up to the guards and tells them to give her a little freefall action. They chuck her from the window, he runs her over with his horse and then he goes on up to celebrate with a nice victory feast. After he eats, he tells his men to go take her out for burial. Not that she deserves it, but since she is the daughter of the King of Tzidon then he might as well afford her some type of burial. His point was made. Everyone got the message that there was a new sheriff in town. Navot, who had been given a death of stoning by being thrown down and stoned had been paid back measure for measure. Yet, it seems Hashem had still not finished with her. She was going to serve one last lesson for Israel. When they got down to her there was pretty much nothing left. The dogs had eaten her entire body and were lapping up her blood. Exactly as Hashem had told Eliyahu and had prophesied would happen.

 

Yet there was something left of her. Her head, here hands and feet were not eaten. The reason for this, our sages teach us was she had merit that whenever there was a funeral she would walk with the pier, and she would clap her hands or wail. Additionally, when there was a wedding she would sing and dance before the bride. To us this doesn’t seem too significant, yet Hashem doesn’t hold back reward from anyone. That is the lesson Hashem wanted us to learn from her in her death. His judgement is precise. This is the end of the evil Jezebel. But Hashem is not over with her house and the house of Achav. It’s payback time and next up are the other children of Achav.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE HOMESICK CAMP JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 

Yankel went on a business trip went out for breakfast When the waitress came to his booth, she asked "What can we get you?"

 

Yankel paused and said "I'll tell you what- I'd like the special, but I want my toast burned to a crisp, my egg not really done well, my coffee weak and when you bring me the food I want you to yell at me."

Puzzled, the waitress said "What are you, crazy?!"

"No," said Yankel - "I'm homesick.

 

An Irishman arrived at J.F.K. Airport and wandered around the terminal with tears streaming down his cheeks. An airline employee asked him if he was already homesick.

"No" replied the Irishman "I've lost all me luggage!"

"How'd that happen?"

"The cork fell out!" said the Irishman.

 

Berel walks into a bar and orders 4 beers, and drinks them, and leaves. The next week same time does the same thing: orders 4 beers, drinks them, and leaves. The third week; same thing. The bartender is curious so he asks. "Well, I moved here few weeks ago. Back home my 3 brothers and I met every Thursday after work for a beer. Since I was feeling homesick I figured I would keep up the tradition even if I had to do it alone."

This goes on for several weeks until one week the man comes in and orders three beers and a coke. Bartender says, "I hate to pry but what happened? Did one of your brothers pass away?"

Berel chuckles and says, "No nothing like that. I just decided to quit drinking.

 

I came home the other night to find my wife crying on the floor. I said what's wrong? She said I'm homesick . I said what do you mean, you're at home. She said I know. I'm sick of it.

 

What do you call a homesick Asian? Disoriented

 

Yanky's parents were about to leave for a business trip. They told Yanky he would be staying at his Bubby's house for the week and they dropped him off on their way to the airport. Once his parents' car had left the driveway, Yanky started sobbing intensely.His Bubby asked Yanky, “what's wrong? Are you homesick?”

Yanky replied “No. I'm heresick”.

 

Achmed comes to the United States from Palestine, and he's only here a few months when he becomes very ill. He goes to doctor after doctor, but none of them can help him. Finally, he goes to a Palestinian doctor.

The doctor says, "Take dis bucket, go to the nearest farm and find a cow. Collect all of their manure and then take it to the chicken coop as well pick up all of their droppings bring the bucket home and stick your head in it and breathe it in for 10 minutes."

So Achmed does as the doctor orders he takes the bucket, goes into the other room, breathes in the fumes for ten minutes..He comes back to the doctor and says, "It worked! I feel terrific. What was it?"

The doctor replies, "You were homesick."

 

In Florida the other day, there was a bumper sticker on a parked car that read: "I miss New York."

To help them out, someone broke the window, stole the radio, shot out all four of the tires, added an Al Capone Gangsta bumper sticker and left a note that read: "Hope this helps."

Is this a great America or what?

 

A Jew is finally able to leave the Soviet Union to make aliyah and one of the things he takes with him is a giant painting of Stalin with a heavy frame. The Soviet customs officer asks: "Why would you take such a picture with you when you leave the Soviet Union?"

The Jew answers: "When I get homesick, I'll just look at the portrait of our great leader and it will be fine".

In Israel, the customs officer asks him: "Why the devil would you take a panting of this murdering goy with you to Israel?!"

The new oleh answers: "If I ever get homesick, I'll look at this ugly mug and this feeling will be gone very fast!"

Some time later a relative meets him in his apartment and asks him about the painting. The new oleh answers: "Who cares who the loser is on the painting, the frame is solid gold!"

 

 

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The answer to this week”s question is A  -. So I going to count this one as half right, but I’m not giving the MOT a half a point for the part I didn’t get. See I knew that Jericho is Area A. It’s easy to figure that out. A. stands for Arab, B is for Beineinu- Israelis and Palestinians. And C stands for Chelanu- Ours- Israeli. Jericho is definitely Arab. I got that part right. The first part of the question I had no clue. I don’t know Arab villages whenever tourists ask me what village that is or another is, my standard answer is Allah Akbar. Why not? They don’t care- If don’t care. I have never heard of Al Khssgalil. I would’ve guessed some Galil Arab city like Nazareth or so. But truth is there is no place called Al Khssgalil. It’s one of those wonderful Israelis mistrans-goog-late. The city they meant to write is called AlKhalil which means friend. Avraham being the “yedid Hashem” the friend or Chaver of God. And thus the connection to the word Chevron. So being that they spelled the word wrong in English they don’t get credit for it. So the score is 23.5 for Schwartz and 8 for Ministry of tourism on this exam so far.

The Greatest Love of All- Parshat Va'eschanan / Nachamu / Tu B'Av 2021 5781

 

Insights and Inspiration

                                                                       from the

Holy Land

from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

 "Your friend in Karmiel"

July 23^rd 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 41 14^th Av

Parshat Va'eschanan / Tu B'Av/ Nachamu

The Greatest Love of All

 They had known each other for years, but their love had never been consummated. They had grown closer and closer. They could feel the hot oxygen emanating from each other on their faces. But yet they never touched. They never felt that physical contact or the loving embrace of their beloved, their counterpart. All around them was a world full of color, full of connection, generations giving life to new generations. Yet like Romeo and Juliet these two remained doomed to never realizing that dream. They were frozen in time. Only about 2 inches from one another, but there it seemed they would always remain. Until a few months ago. When the tragic love story, seemed like it might just have a happy ending, despite many geologists' predictions.

 I’m talking of course about stalactites and stalagmites, you understand. Why what did you think this was about? For those non-scientific types out there or non-geologists. Stalactites and stalagmites are these little icicle-like looking things that are formed in caves from cracks that are formed by water dripping through a cave with a certain humidity level where the CO2 kind of burps out of these little cones and drips water with some of the stone dust and minerals to form another cone from the ground up. I know it doesn’t sound too romantic-especially with the burp in there. Nor does this sound too scientific. But I’m a Rabbi and a tour guide not a scientist. And the geology part of our course was in Hebrew about two month after I moved here when my Hebrew pretty much consisted of ‘shalom’, ‘peetza’, ‘falafel’ ‘shwarma’, ‘toda rabba’, ‘sherutim’. You know the important words. So when they started talking about pachman and chamtzan du shtayim, I was kind of at a loss.

 

Anyways in Israel in Mearat Hanetifim they have the largest concentration in one place of the greatest variety of these magnificent S&S’es. It’s a great place to really appreciate the beauty of Hashem’s creation. They take on all types of shapes and forms. With a bit of imagination one can see spaghetti, broccoli, a bride a groom, a wedding cake, a boat, smurfs, eggs a finger, Moses and even the Lion King. It’s really cool. Just to think that this is really something that geologists estimate with a growth rate of .2 mm a year it took hundreds of thousands of years if not more to form which for us observant Jews who believe that Hashem created the world 5776 years ago would mean that he created it this way in the 6 days of Creation. So stepping into these caves that were left untouched by man, until they were uncovered in 1968 by a dynamite blast, is like stepping into that pristine world of Creation and it is truly awesome.

 

One of the highlights of the cave that tour-guides like to show is the stalactite and stalagmite that they have named Romeo and Juliette. They stand literally an inch or so apart and for some reason before connecting it dried up. There was no water dripping out from the top to the bottom. It was the unrequited love. I would bring tourists there and I always commented that it was to me like that love between Hashem and the Jewish people. From top to bottom. We had almost connected. We had almost joined heaven and earth. But it stopped. I always believed that one day they would come together and just few months ago. The impossible seemed to happen. They started dripping once again. There is hope. Much to the geologists and scientists predictions that it was hopeless. Which of course gave me much satisfaction. Like most Yeshiva guys we like when scientists are proven wrong- it makes me feel less bad about skipping all those classes when we were in yeshiva J. That true eternal love is on its way. I’m not one for interpreting heavenly signs. But I sure am hopeful… Maybe that happy ending will be here as well for us.

 

It’s a romantic week this week. This Shabbos is the holiday of Tu B’Av- the fifteenth day of Av (Tu is the numerical value of 15 Tet-9 plus vav pronounced U as 6). The Talmud tells us that in early times ‘there were no happier days for the Jewish people then the 15^th of Av and Yom Kippur, when the daughters of Israel would get dressed in white and dance in the vineyards and court the young men to marry them”. A little different then I would say we celebrate Yom Kippur today- I must say. But that’s another E-Mail. In modern times I’ve seen many places that advertise and call this the “Jewish Valentines Day”. Oyy… Primarily flower stores and synagogues that are trying to get people into their doors with some extra enticing summer singles programming. I saw one ad that called it “Tu B’Av is Two B’Love” Oy Oy Oy…I don’t think that’s what our sages were talking about.

 

So what is the reason for this holiday? How come most people haven’t heard of it? What’s it about?

The Talmud at the end of Tractate Taanit 26: says

 

“"On these days, the young maidens of Yerushalayim would emerge in the streets wearing borrowed white clothing [so as not to embarrass the poor who did not have garments of their own. They would form a circle (and dance) in the vineyards. What would they say (while they danced)? 'Young man, lift up your eyes and appreciate whom you are selecting (to marry). Don't look at our beauty. Instead, look at the family (from which we descend).' It is written (Song of Songs 3:11), 'Go out and look, you daughters of Zion, at King Shlomo's crown, which was adorned by his mother, (for him to wear) at the day of his wedding and the day of his heart's rejoicing.' The expression 'at the day of his wedding' refers to the Giving of the Torah, (Yom Kippur when the second tablets were given) and the expression 'the day of his heart's rejoicing' refers to the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash (the Temple in Jerusalem), may it occur swiftly in our lifetime."

 

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? What happened on this day? Perhaps Jacob found his beloved Rachel? No? Adam met Eve? No. How about Ruth married Boaz? And again no? So what did happen on this day to make it such a special day?

 The Talmud tells us quite a few things. Some seemingly not so comprehensible. The first thing historically that happened we are told that the Jews as the end of the forty years in the wilderness stopped dying. Doesn’t that sound romantic to you? Makes you just want to go out and dance in the vineyards, doesn’t it? Why is this a happy thing? The reason why the Jews stopped dying is because all the men age 20-60 that were meant to have died over the 40 years were dead. Meaning that there tens of thousands of orphans and widows that entered the land of Israel. This would seem like a good day to make a fundraiser or prayer ceremony for widows and orphans. Or maybe just to have a marry-a-widow holiday. That theme seems continues for the next point in history where it comes up even before the temple was built- which would then make it obviously before its destruction on the 9^th of Av-is in the end of the book of judges after the great civil war where we almost wipe out the tribe of Binyamin and the tribes did not want to marry them. On Tu B’Av, our sages tell us, they decided to once again allow their women to marry them. And they would gather in Shilo and dance and carry off their brides. This is certainly a little more romantic however again it is only after they tribe was on the brink of destruction.

 To make matters even stranger, the other reasons for the holiday seem even more bizarre. The Talmud tells us that it was a day that the 10’s of thousands of killed Jewish soldiers after the Bar Kochva revolt were finally permitted to be buried. Alternatively, (or additionally) it was on this day that they would stop cutting trees for the altar as the summer equinox was ending and there was no longer enough sun to dry out the trees. So maybe this should be an ecological holiday or a day for the Chevra Kaddisha- Jewish burial society. What does this have to do with marriage? With romance? With Tu B’Love?

 If you ask me perhaps the most romantic thing about Tu B’Av which is not mentioned in the Talmud is that it is the middle of the month. It’s a full moon. Is there anything more romantic then that? The sky is clear, you are out in the field with your beloved. The sun is setting and that huge moon starts to rise and shines its beautiful light amongst the stars down on the face of your beloved. The 15^th is the peak of the month of Av. It’s when the moon is at its fullest. In the words of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav it’s when the Kinnot-lamentations turn to tikkun- to fixing to completion.

 This past Sunday we were sitting on the floor mourning the destruction, yet we are told that at Mincha on Tish B’Av from that destruction Mashiach is born. The Talmud noted above calls Tu B’Av the day of the rebuilding of the Temple. In it is pointed out by many that the first day of Passover always falls out on the same day of the week as the 9^th of Av. To tell us that just as the first redemption took place on Passover the eventual celebration of the building of the Temple will as well take place on the same day in Av. Just as by Pesach it took us until the 7^th day by the splitting of the sea until we truly realized the salvation was complete and we burst out in song. The 15^th of Av- the 7^th day from the 9^th of Av is the realization of the simcha of that day of the building of that Temple. It is when the moon is fullest it was when we can see clearly that the smoke of destruction has been pre-empted already with the day of return. It is when we reveal that we can reconnect and the juices, the oxygen the fuel that we need to rise up and meet our beloved once again is within us.

 Let’s work backwards. Rabbi Akiva and his students felt that the revolt against the Romans was the Messianic period after the destruction of the Temple. Yet they were crushed. Hadrian slaughtered us. It was when we thought it was truly all over. We couldn’t even bury our dead. Hadrian didn’t permit it. Why not? Why do we bury any dead? Because we believe that they are our treasure, because we were taken from dust, we will return from dust, but most importantly because we believe we will rise up again by the resurrection of the dead. There will be a future. Our death is merely like a seed being returned to the ground only with time to grow and flourish. When we were able on the 15^th of Av able to do that again. We didn’t just have closure. We understood that Hashem was telling us that our future would come. We will rise again.

 In the times of the Temple ceased to cut the wood for the altar on this day. The sun would no longer be hot enough to dry out the logs. We had all the fuel we needed. We could now light the fire from ourselves. Hashem had provided us with the wood, all we needed to do was to ignite it. With our fire, with our faith, with our longing with our love. The Talmud tells us that on Tu B’Av as well the barriers that were set up to divide the Jewish people by Yeravam and keep the northern kingdom-the 10 tribes separate from Jerusalem were removed by the King Hoshea. We had thought we were divided. That Hashem Echad that can only be seen when the nation is one on this world would never happen. And yet on the 15^th of Av, we realized we are ‘too small a people to be a small people’. We can get together. Love and connection that we share can see past all the politics, the fights and the religious differences. The Jews returned to the Temple.

 Even before the Temple when we first came to the Land as well. Can you imagine the devastation after the civil war. The vision of that kingdom of Israel, that dream to one day build the Temple would never happen. Jew killed Jew tens of thousands from the tribe of Benjamin would murdered and tens of thousands of Jews were murdered by them. One can’t even fathom that. The Civil War in America was ‘peanuts’ compared to that war. And yet when all was said and done. On the 15^th of Av we saw that full moon and realized that we could still reconnect. We can still find love. That stalactite from above still had some juice in it and we just need to join in a circle find our bashert and create the highest love, the holiest marriage from what seemed like the ashes of our destruction.

 And finally to where it all began from. The first 15^th of Av. It was a week after the last 9^th of Av in the wilderness. For forty years each morning after the 9^th of Av the tribes woke up and buried their dead. But that year they didn’t. They had all died. It was all over. Was it a mistake? Did they miscalculate? They waited a week and on the 15^th they realized that they had truly come to the end. Yet is that a cause for celebration. For weddings? For romance? The Talmud tells us that something else happened that year on that morning for the first time in 38 years Hashem spoke to Moshe face-to face once again. The shechina had once again returned to that same pristine state that it was before we rejected and complained about Israel. The claim that we had that Hashem took us out of Egypt because He hates us was finally eradicated. There was no longer any hate. We had healed. The voice of Hashem returned. Rashi notes in last week’s parsha that although Moshe did not do anything wrong by the sin of the spies, Hashem didn’t speak to him directly with that clarity until the 15^th of Av. “to teach us that the shechina only spoke to him in that merit of Israel”. 38 years we don’t have that clarity. Which if you ask me is why there is so little in the Torah about that period of time. Once the shechina comes back Moshe doesn’t stop transmitting. The entire book of Devarim is the ecstasy of that returned and reunited love. There is nothing more powerful than that.

 There are those that say that one does not realize how special, how important, how much you loved someone until that person is taken away from you. The 15^th of Av, that most powerful day of rejoicing is the day that after you realized how much you have lost, how much, you have loved, how much you need that relationship and how much you are in pain and your life is in disarray and incomplete without it, that all of sudden you get it all back. You get it for real. It’s not a day of romance. It’s a day of true love. Of eternal love. Not of Romeo and Juliet and not of stalactites and mites, but of heaven and earth, of Hashem and his beloved, of our people with one another. It is His kingdom and His home finally on earth. It is the greatest love of all. And if those stalactites are any sign, we should be experiencing it pretty soon…

 Have an uplifting Shabbos

 Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

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 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

" Men farshpetikt nit chasseneh hoben un shtarben" You're never late to getting married or dying.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

38) According to the Bible, the king in whose time the United Kingdom of Israel was divided:

A) Solomon

B) Rehoboam (Rehav’am)

C) Ahab (Ah’av)

D) Hezekiah (Hezkiyahu)

 RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO  OF THE WEEK

 https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/choson-choson  – My latest song in honor of my Son Yonah's wedding this coming week- getting on your dancing shoes for "Choson Choson" . The words come from the Rambam in the laws of marriage. The singer and arranger? The great Ari Goldwag!

https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/pihah-pascha   – And my second latest song composed for the Chasuna this week in honor of my lovely future daughter-in-law Batya for her chuppa. Piha Pascha sung and arranged by my dear friend Yitz Berry

 https://youtu.be/AxhRfQdgsVY   - Baruch Levine sings SY Rechnitzes new song Kulanu

 https://youtu.be/5dptj7zzIig    - Shabbos Nachamu of course isn't complete without Reb Shlomo's rendition "one more little bit sad song little bit happy…"

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

 The Other Side – Parshat Va'Eschanan- We read this parsha right after Tisha B'Av every year and we read about Moshe Rabbeinu's longing and praying to come into Eretz Yisrael. It's the way we feel after three weeks of mourning our destruction. Yet there is a question that always bothered me. You see, Moshe Rabbeinu did in fact come to Eretz Yisrael. He was actually in The Golan Heights which he conquered from Og and Sichon as well as the other side of the Jordan that even today has still not be liberated by us. He wasn't allowed to cross the Yarden into the other side of Eretz Yisrael, but he was in what is certainly halachically Israel. The other side of the Yarden is obligated in Shemitta, Yovel, Terumos and Maasros.  So what was Moshe complaining about.

 Reb Yaakov Kamentezky even notes that the Midrash that notes that Moshe wanted to come into the land to fulfill the mitzvos that are only in the land. It doesn't say that Moshe wanted to come to fulfil the mitzva of settling in the land, why not? The reason is because Moshe could fulfil the mitzva on the other side of the Jordan as well. That's also yishuv ha'aretz. So what in fact is the difference between the two sides of the Jordan?

 Reb Zalman Sorotzkin notes that the one thing that Hashem kept telling us about this side of the Yarden is that it is a land of milk and honey- zavas chalav and d'vash. It seems that the other side of the yarden does not have that quality to it. It is for that reason that Rebbi Yosi in fact argues with the Chachamim and says that Bikkurim is not obligated on fruits grown on the other side of the Yarden as one cannot recite that they are from the land of milk and honey. What does this mean on a spiritual level? Is one part of Israel different than the other?

 The Tashbatz notes that there are two kedushos, two sanctifications. The first is the places that are conquered by the Jews that sanctifies the land in its obligations for mitzvos. The second is the land that Hashem's shechina was meant to reside in and who's air  and land has certain properties to it that have the ability to shine out that holy light to the rest of the world from. That characteristic is called milk and honey and that is only on the western side of the Jordan. That is the Eretz Ha'Tova that Moshe wished to be part of.

 The idea of Milk and honey can perhaps be understood as many commentaries point out that both milk and honey (at least bee honey) come from sources that are impure. Milk, the Talmud tells us comes from blood and honey comes from a bee. The tamei becomes pure and a source of sweetness and life. That is the power that only this side of the yarden has. All of Israel is holy and it is all obligated in mitzvos. Yet the primary function of the land it to turn that most impure and reveal the light and life of Hashem in it. When we do that we bring the shechina back down where it was meant to be.

 

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

 War and the death of Avshalom- 840 BC – So Dovid and his men were gathered by the city of Machanayim on the other side of the Jordan river in the portion of Gilead. This was the same Machanayim that Yaakov passed when he saw the camps of angels when he left Israel to Charan. He divided his army into three with Yoav, his brother Avishai and Ittai Ha'Gitti leading the divisions. Avshalom for his part appointed Dovid's nephew Ammasa (son of his sister Avigal) to lead his army. Yoav and Avishai as well, being Dovid's nephews, made this a real family fight. And you know what they say about that. Dovid himself wanted to go out to battle, but his men and the people of Israel all persuaded him not to. His one and final request to Yoav though was to spare Avshalom, despite all that he had done he was still his son. Avshalom though it seems didn't reciprocate those affections as he did go out to battle. Unfortunately for him it was his last one.

 

The battle took place in an area called Ya'ar Ephraim which is on the other side of the Jordan. Despite the fact that this area was in the portion of Menashe, a deal was made with Ephraim who were near the Jordan river that their animals could graze on the other side of the Yarden where there was more pasture area. Dovid's army despite being outnumbered trounced the army of Israel led by Ammasa killing 20,000 of them. If you think about this number, it's hard to fathom Jew against Jew fighting blade to blade all over a power struggle instigated by Dovid's son Avshalom. But Avshalom got his due for this in the most horrible of ways.

 

The Navi tells us as he was fleeing he passed under and oak tree and his beautiful long hair that he prided himself upon got caught while his donkey kept on going leaving him dangling there between heaven and earth. When Yoav heard that he was there he was upset that the soldiers who were fearful of Dovid's wrath and promise did not kill him. Yoav thus himself went there and disregarding Dovid's orders he stabbed him in the heart and then had ten youths stab him to death corresponding to the sin of the ten concubines of Dovid that he took for himself and then dumped him in the woods piling a huge pile of rocks on top of his corpse. This will come back to haunt Yoav as well.

 

Today on Har Hazeitim there is a huge 60 foot monument called Yad Avshalom. This is certainly not his grave, for two reasons. Number one, this building was built hundreds of years after Avshalom in the first century. Second of all the Navi tells us that Avshalom was buried on the other side of the Yarden in the forest as I just mentioned. So what is this edifice?

 

Interesting enough the Navi tells us that Avshalom himself built a monument to himself in the Kidron valley over here. He realized that he didn't have children and felt that this would serve as his legacy and memorial. It seems it did. For generations there was a tradition that Jewish mothers would come here and throw stones on the monument. Even better whenever a child misbehaved their parents would bring them here and tell them what happens to children who rebel against their parents. Ouch! Whether this is the location of where ancient monument was, nobody knows, but the story of and Avshalom's memory certainly does, although not necessarily in the way that he had hoped for.

 

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE ICE CREAM JOKES  OF THE WEEK

 

New Ben and Jerry's flavors

Anti- seMINT- Made with real BdS

VaniAlla wAkbar- an explosive flavor

Yasser AraFUDGE- can't get enough of that fudging

Achmed Yas-sinomin- a Ham-must try flavor

Jihadi Khaffiya Toffee- Gaza's finest

MIntifada Chocolate Chip- It will blow you away

Peanut bitter Palestine- always nutty and bitter

Lynch Banana- will drive you crazy

Push the Jews into the Sea Salt and Caramel- It's biblical

Self- Hating Juice- Those explosive Hamas rocket shaped lollies

 

Ben and Jerry's waited until the 9 days were over (and ice cream sales dropped) to launch this…what a move!

 

In other news Ben and Jerry's is now officially Chalav Yishmael

 

Where do you learn to make complicated ice cream dishes? Sundae School.

Why does everyone invite ice cream to the party? It’s cool.

Did you hear they passed a law banning ice cream? Don’t worry, it was ruled un-cone-stitutional!

 

“Hey, Ernie would you like some ice cream?”
“Sure, Bert.”

 

What’s Dracula’s favorite ice cream flavor? Veinilla.

 

My Ice Cream gets tested positive for Covid. They've put it straight into iceolation… Oyyyy

 

Joe and Bob are sitting outside a cafe enjoying a couple cigars when a young Jewish boy walks out of the ice cream parlour right next door.

Joe says "see that Jewish kid Yankel over there,  he's dumbest kid I ever met, watch this...." and he calls the kid over.

Joe puts 50 cents in one of his hands, and a dollar bill in the other and holds them both out to the boy. Joe says "which do you want, 50 cents, or a dollar?" Yankel quickly snatches up the 50 cents, says thank you, and happily walks on his way eating his ice cream.

After the boy leaves, Joe says to Bob "I see that kid once a week, I always see if he takes the dollar, he never does, he ALWAYS takes the 50 cents! I told you, he's the dumbest kid I've ever seen!"

Next week, Bob is sitting outside the cafe by himself and sees the same boy come out of the same ice cream parlour, and calls him over.

Yankel comes over and Bob says "my buddy who I was with last week, he always offers you a dollar or 50 cents, why do you always take the 50 cents? You know a dollar is worth more, right?"

Yankel says "Of course I know it's worth more, but if I take the dollar, he'll quit asking altogether!"

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Answer is B- Like last week's question this answer as well was covered on my most recent tour in Emek Izra'el (should be out in the next week or two). But the truth is this one was easy. Everyone should know this. The divided kingdom started after Shlomo died and his son Rechav'am took over who listened to his friends and raised the taxes to show what a tough guy he was. Yerva'am ben Nevat broke off and started his own kingdom in the north after that. Achav was a later king in the North and Chizkiya was in Yerushalayim when the 10 tribes and northern kingdom was exiled. So the correct answer is obviously Rechavam which I got right. So the score now is 30 for Rabbi Schwartz and 8 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.