Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
December 21st 2018 -Volume
9 Issue 12-13th of Tevet 5779
Parshat
Vayechi
Shhhh… I’m going to tell you a secret. Don’t
tell anyone. I can trust you, right? OK, get ready. Here we go… Mashiach
is on his way. Are you disappointed? I don’t mean are you disappointed that
he’s coming, of course. I know you’re all ready to give up your homes, your
pizza shops, and plethora of Kosher food supermarkets. Your tuition, shidduchim,
“at- risk” youth, government-interference-in-schools and vaccination crises you
certainly want to escape from. I don’t even understand why you’ve continuing
suffering them and haven’t just packed out already. What I mean to ask is, are
you disappointed that this is what my big secret is. You’ve heard it before.
Chabad has been telling you it for years with big billboards. Although some of
them might think he’s already come. But we’ve heard that before as well. Yet,
when Rabbi Schwartz tells you he’s coming you know it must be true. Tour guides
are not allowed to make things up. It’s against the rules. So now are you
getting excited?
I often quote for my tourists as we begin our
trips, the powerful insight I once heard said by Rav Hutner. He said that when
the Christians came they stole tanach from us. Once they started being
busy with Isaiah 53 and Ezekiel 25 nobody learns tanach anymore. Then,
he continued, the maskilim- enlightenment movement in the 1700’s stole dikduk-
grammar from us. Until they came along it was learned and studied and great
poetry came out of it. But once they made it the focus of yiddishkeit,
we stopped learning it. Anyone that did was suspect of being a heretic. He
concluded that the secular Zionists- the tziyonim, stole Eretz Yisrael
from us. If you talk too much about Israel and the love for the land and moving
there. Boom. You’re one of them. I added that Chabad stole Mashiach.
Anyone that talks too much about Mashiach and his coming, you may as
well pinch in your hat in the front and the back and start putting teffilin
on people in the subway. You’re a chabadtzke. He concluded ruefully,
with the words we say in one of our Yom Kippur piyutim
“Ein lanu shiyur rak ha’torah ha’zos”-
the only thing we have left is our Torah
It’s all about the bass…
I mean Bais… Midrash, of course. What
did you think I meant?
When I’m with my
tourists, I tell them that we are going to try to recapture some of the
tanach that has been tragically stolen from our education. I, of course
throw in some Eretz Yisrael as well. Dikduk, I don’t mind leaving for
the maskilim though.
But the truth is you’re
right to be a bit sceptical. We’ve been waiting a long time and have had quite
a bit of disappointments throughout the millennia. Many people thought after
the holocaust and with the establishment of the State we were looking at not
just the reishit tzmichat geulasayinu- but the imminent conclusion of
our redemption as well. Certainly after the miraculous 6- Day war messianic fervour
was on a high. But even in early centuries. The Chasidic movement was viewed to
be messianic, The Ramchal and Reb Yonasan Eibeishitz were accused of being
closet Sabbateans, followers of the false Messiah Shabtai Tzi in the 1600’s.
And even before that, the Rambam, who himself decries those that foolishly try
to figure out when Mashiach is coming gives a date, as do Saadiah Gaon, Rashi,
Tosafos and the Ramban. The Talmud tells us that 65 years after the destruction
Rabbi Akiva, pinched in his black hat and put up posters all over Yerushalyim
that Mashiach had arrived and was none other than his student Bar Kochva. Three
years later, when Hadrian ploughed down the Temple Mount and Rabbi Akiva was
tortured to death in Caesarea before a jeering mob, that hope died as well.
So perhaps you have a
right to be sceptical. It may even be a healthy thing, particularly if someone
tries to convince you that he’s here already or has come. But yet we have a
mitzvah and principal of faith to believe that he is coming. B’chol yom
she’yavo- any day he can come. So are you packing yet?
This week the parsha
tells us of the first person to try to reveal the keitz- the final day
when mashiach will come. It is the end of Yaakov’s life and he calls his
children together and the Torah tells us
Bereshis (49:1) He’asfu v’agida lachem
es asher yikra b’achris hayamim- gather and I will tell you what will occur
in the end of days.
Rashi brings the gemara
which tells us that Yaakov wanted to reveal when Mashiach would come
however the shechina departed from him and he was unable to. The
Lubavitcher Rebbe asks (who else?), what was the point in Yaakov trying to
reveal the end of days? If you ask me it would be pretty depressing, as it
would be over 3000 years away. Even if you want to suggest that Yaakov wanted
to reveal the time of the Exodus from Egypt to them, which had the potential to
be the final redemption had we merited. It was still a good few centuries away
and couldn’t possibly be that inspiring. In addition, if Yaakov, who’s every
desire was bound to the will of Hashem, felt that it was important, why didn’t
Hashem allow him to reveal it? Why did the Divine presence leave him?
The Rebbe thus explains,
brilliantly, that Yaakov understood that if he revealed to his children that
the coming of Mashiach was imminent. That it was a done deal. That they
had the ability to make the leaving of Egypt the final Exodus. We would be able
to go to Eretz Yisrael and never leave and never be exiled. Never have
to wander, suffer and be hidden from Hashem. If we knew that, we would’ve made
sure not to fail, not to fail and not to sin. Perhaps our Exodus from there
could’ve even come and been sooner. After all, if the fact that Hashem knocked
off some years because of the extremely hard labour and the persecution we
endured, we certainly could’ve gotten off early for good behaviour. Not only was this what Yaakov wanted to
happen, but Hashem did as well.
The problem is that if
we are only “behaving” because we know the redemption is right around the
corner, we aren’t meriting it on our own initiative. We are only doing teshuva,
we are only keeping the mitzvos because we know mashiach is on
his way and we don’t want to be left behind. So Hashem had to remove His shechina,
to even out the “free-will” balance. It
was then that the keitz- the end of days was removed from Yaakov. Yaakov
realized that it was preferable to have the shechina with us and the
Divine help that we need to make it through the galus, then the knowledge
of the expiration date of when it would finally be over.
There is no question in
my mind that mashiach is around the corner. Hey, Donald Trump got
elected president. Now if only he would run for prime minister of Israel as
well… But seriously we are living in a period when we see all of the prophecies
being fulfilled. I recently bought a book by the tachana merkazit in
Yerushalayim, which in itself is pretty cool that you can buy sefarim at
the bus station. It’s called Ha’Nevuah- the prophecy. It goes through all of
the different predictions of the torah of the end of days and it’s
amazing. The desolate land flourishing once again, the exiles returning en
masse, the milk production, the water technology, the light unto the nations.
This is it. But yet, for most of us it doesn’t seem like an imminent reality.
The shechina has been removed from us in recognizing and appreciating
that it is almost here. It’s been removed so we might merit it on our
recognizance. So that our motivation and inspiration to do the mitzvos,
to increase our Torah, to reach out and love our fellow man and unite as a
nation should be for the sake of Hashem and not for the redemption.
So that’s why you have
to keep our little secret. Don’t forward this week’s E-Mail to the usual 100 or
so people you forward it to weekly. They’ll find out soon enough anyways. In
the meantime, just pretend like you don’t know. Go on to work like you do every
day, daven the same way you always have and certainly don’t increase
your charity by sponsoring any weekly E-Mails. People might get suspicious.
I’ll let you know when it actually happens, being here on the ground and all. I
can’t promise though that you will be able to get a good seat though when it
happens. You know us Israelis. We’ve been waiting in line here a lot longer
than you have and we don’t let anyone, certainly not late-comers push to the
front of the line.
Have a redemptive Shabbos Chazak!
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
********************************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Az meshiach vet kumen, vellen alleh krankeh
oisgehailt verren; nor a nar vet bleiben a nar.”- When the messiah comes, all the sick will be
healed; only a fool will stay a fool.
RABBI SCHWARTZES COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/yesimcha
- This week’s Torah portion my beautiful composition
from the parsha of birkas habanim and banos. Yesimcha Elokim- like and share J
https://youtu.be/KZONyoL-AK4
Ever wonder how
we can wait so long for Mashiach? Check out energizer bunny Rabbi! Funny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxYcHAYHZjQ&index=13&list=PLhj2bbUa_1xYblDSJhSh8rBG7YLJFtjKA&t=0s- The orginal ani maamin (and
in my opinion the nicest) by Pirchei
https://youtu.be/eL4hxGVwcwU - An
Maamin Medley Simcha Leiner
https://youtu.be/giQxG9nhANY - The
story and music behind the original Modzitz Ani Maamin
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q The Samaritans do not
observe:
A. Rosh haShana (New Year)
B. Yom haKipurim (Day of
Atonement)
C. Hanukah
D. Sukkot (Succoth; Feast of
Tabernacles)
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S “LOMDUS”
CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Parshat Vayechi– Lamdanim are
precise with their words. Each word is measured. Each word is necessary. The
greatest sages wrote the most succinctly. However, if you unravel those few
words a whole world can unfold before you. Perhaps one of the most succinct and
brilliant of the lamdanim was Rabbi Akiva Eiger. His questions and notes
on the Talmud are generally never more than a few words and usually he just
throws you a source. The rest is for you to figure out. Here, let me show you.
In
this week’s Torah portion, Yosef visits his father Yaakov on his death bed. The
Torah tells us that Yaakov bowed down to the head of the bed. Rashi on that
verse explains.
Bereishis (47:31) He
turned himself to the side of the shechina- the divine presence. From here they
said that the shechina is above the head of the sick person.
The source that Rashi seems to be
referencing is the Talmud in Shabbos 12b and Nedarim 40b that both quote Rebbi
Avin as saying
Reb Avin said in the name of Rav from where do we know
that the shechina resides above the bed of the sick person as it says
Psalms (41:4) The Lord will support him on
his sickbed
Now
if you took a peek at Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s notes there and he says 7 short words
“look at Rashi in
Chumash Parshat Vayechi ‘and he bowed’ etc.”
Succinct
enough for you? We’ve seen the Rashi. Can you figure out what is bothering Reb Akiva
Eiger? Seemingly, the problem would be that
Rashi suggests that the source of the idea that Hashem is above the sick is
from Yaakov, bowing down toward the head of the bed. It would seem as well that
the gemara should use the Torah verse as a source as that’s always a
better source than tehillim which are words of the prophet. So when
Rabbi Akiva Eiger learned the gemara, he remembered this Rashi, obviously and
noted it.
Now in yeshiva, my rebbi Rav Meir
Hershkowitz, would always try to explain Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s questions. Yet in
suggesting solutions he would always say lomdishly “there is a way to
‘not -understand’ Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s question.” Meaning,
he didn’t feel that any answer he could come up with was something that Rebbi
Akiva Eiger hadn’t already thought of. The best we can do is try to come up
with a way that would explain it to ourselves.
So in that vein the Maharik explains
that we require both verses. For from the verse from Tehillim of Rebbi Avin we
only see that the shechina, Hashem’s presence, is above the sick person.
But where exactly it doesn’t tell us. Our verse which tells us that Yaakov
bowed to the head of the bed is the next piece of the puzzle. Why the head of
the bed? It must be because that is precisely where the shechina that
Rebbi Avin mentioned is resting.
How’s that for a lomdushe insight?
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
The Death of Moshe - 1273
BC- That’s it we finish the
5 books of the Torah this week. Not bad it only took us a few months. The Torah
ends with Moshe’s final speech to the Jewish people and blessings, his writing
of 13 Torah scrolls (1 for each of the 12 tribes and one for the Ark of the
covenant), his ordination of Yehoshuah and going up to Mt. Nevo where he received
the “kiss of death” from Hashem. The Torah tells us until today no one knows
where he is buried.
Now Har Nevo we
do know where it is. It’s right across from the top of Dead Sea in in Moav
/ Jordan where it meets the Jordan River. In fact, a quick google
search tells me that there are churches over there. The Muslims of course have
their own bubbeh maaseh, off the road down to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem one
can pass by Nebi Musa a big mosque there. Now they also believe that
Moshe didn’t come into Israel, but for political reasons Baibers, in the 1200’s
took what was once a lookout to Har Nevo and Moshe’s burial place, and made it
into the place that Muhammed brought Moshe after he died.
In terms of the 13 Torah’s
of Moshe I can’t show them to my tourists as well, however in many places in
Israel one can see Torah’s that have been brought home to Israel there are many
cool ones. In the Foreign Ministry there is a sefer Torah smuggled out
of Bagdhad. In Tzfat the Abuhav synagogue has a 500 year
old sefer Torah written by him, that saved the Ark that it was in druing the
Earthquake there of 1837. As well in the Karo Synagogue there is a Torah
smuggled out with the Jews from the Spanish inquisition as well as from Persia
and Iraq. My personal favourite is perhaps the oldest complete Torah in the
world which can be found at Kever Rachel. There is one from ashkenaz
from the 14th century and one from Spain 13th century not
long after the Rambam lived. They’re my favourite because they were donated by
my Uncle Mendy OB”M who was behind the entire building of Mama Rachel. May his neshoma
have an Aliyah.
Finally although not a
resting place for Moshe Rabbeinu, but when ever I go to the Rambam’s grave
in Tiverya there is a big sign that says from Moshe to Moshe there has
been no other Moshe. Just as Moshe Rabbeinu was not allowed to enter the land
of Israel, the Rambam was not allowed to live his life dream of moving here,
although he did visit. Yet the Rambam is buried here and it is fitting that
Moshe Rabbeinu is memorialized there as well.
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S MASHIACH JOKES OF THE WEEK
(Thank
You Mendy)
Yankel comes home from shul and tells his wife: "They say Mashiach is
coming any day, and will take us all to Israel."His wife becomes hysterical. "Oh no! It would be terrible. It took years till we could finally move into this neighborhood and buy the house we wanted. Now we've spent a fortune fixing it up. I don't want the Mashiach to take us away."
"Okay, okay, don't worry," the husband says. "We survived Pharaoh, we survived Haman. With G-d's help, we'll survive the Messiah too!"
Avi and Chaim are waiting at the government office, and the typical Israeli government employee is taking a long time to come. One person turns to the other and says "We have been waiting so long for her! It is like waiting for the Moshiach!"
The other responds, "Not at all! The Messiah will definitely come eventually; as for the government...
Berel visits a zoo and is taken to the lion's cage. He witnesses there the literal fulfillment of Isaiah prophecy - a lion and a calf in a cage together.
Amazed, he calls over an attendant. "How long have you had a lion and a calf in a cage together?"
"Over a year already."
"How do you do it?"
"It's easy. Every morning we put in a new calf."
A Rebbe once told his chasidim:
“When Moshiach comes there will be a long line, with everybody rushing to greet him".
I, however will not rush. To the contrary, I'll try to be last on line. "When my turn comes Moshiach will ask me: "R. Mendel! Where were you until now?!" I will reply: "Moshiach, Where were you until now?!
The
difference between Misnagdim and Chasidim. When Mashiach comes and goes into a
Litvishe Beit Medrash and the recognize him they will say
“Mashiach, wow you got here so fast. If you would’ve given us a
little more time and a heads up we would’ve prepared a beautiful shtikel torah
and pilpul for you.”
When he comes to a chasidish yeshiva they will tell him
“Mashiach, what took you so long, if you would’ve been here quicker
we would’ve saved you a little bit of kugel and herring!”
************
Answer is C– You don’t have to be a tour guide to answer
this one, just a bit of a detective that can do some basic process of
deduction. Alternatively, you can just play the Sesame Street Game of which of
these things are not like the others. You don’t have to know that the
Samaritans, or Shomronim as they are referred to in Hebrew and Tanach, are
‘fake Jews’ who after the destruction of the second temple pretended to be
Jews, and only follow the written law as they understand it and not the
Rabbinic explanations, traditions and establishments. Although if you knew that
you certainly could get this question right. All you have to know is that
whereas Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana and Sukkot are all biblical holidays, Chanukah
established during the 2nd Temple is rabbinic. If you don’t know
that much, then you probably should go to yeshiva and learn a little before
becoming a tour guide.
score is Schwartz 9 and 1 for MOT
(Ministry of Tourism) on this exam so far.
