from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
November 10th 2023 -Volume
13 Issue 5 26th of Cheshvan 5784
I never dreamed of being a soldier, being a warrior, being
Rambo, or even a super-hero that beats up bad guys and destroys evil. I’m more
of the wimpy type. I was the guy that stood behind the big, tall, scary, strong
guy (back in Long Beach it was Rechnitz) and wagged my fingers from my ears and
stuck out my tongue and mocked whoever it was that I thought deserved it. That
was as brave as I got. I wanted to be a comedian, a librarian, maybe even a
writer- although becoming a tour guide and Rabbi kind of fits all those
life-skills. But actually taking a gun and getting out there and facing off
against evil in the really battle-field- not just the pulpit one or social
media one, that was never me. And it still really isn’t.
It’s why when this whole thing broke out here, I was kind
of at a loss. This wasn’t a time for words. The enemy that we’re facing, the
evil that needs to be eradicated, the filthy, sub-human, baby-killing, dreck
that needs to be wiped off the face of the earth wasn’t going to happen with
words. This called for real men with real guns. Big bad boys with big bad guns.
Me and my jokes and laptop and Whatsapp statuses weren’t going to be able to do
much. I felt helpless. And the first three days I just sat in front of my
computer and watched with horror everything that was going on…that I couldn’t
do anything about.
And then Hashem had mercy on me… like he always does. My
phone rang. It was a friend of mine. His son was on the border not far from
Karmiel. He was hungry, he needed cigarettes, he needed some chizuk and some
love. Would I by any chance be able to go up there and bring him some stuff? I
can do that! I’m good at love. Chizuk is what I do. Cigarettes, food,
nosh, pizza, meals? No problem. I’m in! And it’s been life changing.
Since that first week, for those that haven’t been
following me on my statuses- which you should of course- shame on you…- I’ve
been heading up a few times a week to bases all over the North and even center
of the country bringing stuff to soldiers and to families that have been
evacuated. There are local volunteer organizations that have been making hot
meals for them. Many of you readers or other followers have sent me money to
buy them stuff. Pizza, cigs, supplies, nosh, BBQ’s, whatever they need.
Whatever I can get.
It’s amazing how much this means to them. I stop off at army
posts all over the North and some of these soldiers have been there for weeks
without hot meals, without any smokes, without any love. I jump on them, I kiss
them. I joke and laugh and tell them how holy they are. What an incredible job
they have. How they are the High Priests of our nation. The Maccabees. I blast
music and sing and dance. And then I fire them up to the heavy task at hand
that stands before them. To wipe out this garbage and to return Israel to its rightful
borders and get me a nice room with a view in the future Jewish hotel in
Beirut, Israel while they’re at it.
When I do all this, something amazing happens. There is a
light that goes on in their eyes. There’s a fire that I can feel gets ignited.
They have been waiting for this. They join in the song, the dance. We grab
hands. We jump and we sing songs to Hashem. Songs of faith. Of hope. Of victory.
Of peace and of Mashiach. It’s not just the soldiers. It’s the families that I
visit. That Klal Yisrael is visiting. That Klal Yisrael is embracing and joining
together with. There is a light that has exploded that gives us a sense and
appreciation that we all each actually do have a part in this that we can play.
That we need to play. That we need to become. That part is about melding together
and breaking down all the previous barriers and becoming one. Becoming One.
United in our hearts and souls. United as a family and as a nation. That is the
real battle that is taking place and we are all soldiers in that battle.
Well, if we are soldiers, then we need to have weapons. As
the saying goes you don’t come to a gunfight with a slingshot or knife. What
weapon do we have in our arsenal? The answer… Torah. Yeah… I know you weren’t
expecting that from me. I always like to shock a bit. But actually, I don’t just
mean just learning Torah. I mean learning it like never before. Like it was
meant to be learnt. Lilmod al means la’asos- to learn it in order to
really do it the right way. And that means starting at the beginning and reading
the Torah and finding the eternal messages that it contains for us. And then
perhaps most importantly implementing them. Taking it from the word and The Book
to action. From the couch or the shtender to the battlefield, to the frontlines.
It’s what I’ve always tried to do with this weekly E-mail. And this week’s
parsha contains perhaps the most important lesson of all; the lesson of chesed.
Parshat Chayei Sarah is a Torah portion that repeatedly
mentions the concept of chesed. Eliezer asks Hashem to show kindness to
Avraham by answering his prayer that Rivkah passes the outrageous shidduch-
kindness test he had set up. That incredible task of her offering to giving
water not only to him but to his camels as well to drink, which in itself needs
explanation. When this happens the verse again tell us that he recognizes the chesed
of Hashem. He recognizes her chesed. He asks Lavan and Besuel to do chesed
and to let her go with him. The word ‘chesed’ appears 4 times in this perek
alone, more than any other parsha in the entire Torah.
As well fascinating enough the parsha begins with the story
of the burial of Sarah and has quite a few funerals in it, Avraham’s and
Yishmael’s as well. Burial of the dead, our sages tell us and the kindness that
one does with the deceased is the ultimate “true” kindness- the chesed shel
emes. It’s the quintessential kindness and thus introduces this parsha of
chesed. Yet, why would that be highest form? What makes it so unique?
There’s an incredible Yalkut Midrash that tells us that
Hashem notes that Avraham is the true Baal Chesed when he buries his wife. In
fact the Midrash on the verse of Avraham burying Sarah explains the verse in
Mishlei/ Proverbs about chesed using this burial as the greatest example of the
kindness of Avraham.
Rodef Tzedaka V’Chesed-
He who pursues charity and kindness
Tzedaka zeh Avraham –
charity is Avraham as it says…
Chesed – is the kindness
that he did to Sarah.
Why would this be the epitome of kindness? Seemingly if I would
ask you to give me some examples of the kindness of Avraham it would be his
tent with 4 doors that would always welcome in guests. His taking in Lot. All
of the people he was mekarev and brought close to Hashem. His prayers
even on behalf of Sodom. On behalf of Yishmael. Sitting out in the heat of the
day after his Bris and waiting and personally serving guests. Yet, the Midrash
and our sages seem to find all of that to be pale in face of the “true” chesed
he did for his wife. Why is that so significant. I mean what was he supposed to
do with his wife? Leave her on the kitchen table? Wouldn’t anyone take care of
the burial of their wife?
Perhaps the best way to understand this idea is by
appreciating the difference between two often confused terms; tzedaka
and chesed- charity and kindness. The Maharal explains the difference in
that tzedaka- charity is taking care someone needs. It’s restoring
perhaps even a balance or sense of justice or tzedek to the world. Why
should I have and he doesn’t? Much of what Avraham does and what we are
involved in is tzedaka. Healing, fixing, stepping in to take care of a
need, filling a void where there is an absence in some way. It’s all about the
taking care of someone else. It’s what we Jews do.
Chesed on the other
hand is something else entirely. It’s an ethical moral character trait. Chesed
is about imitating the ways of Hashem. It’s something that I have to do for
myself. The difference between the two is that in a perfect world when everyone
has everything they need, there is no point in tzedaka. The world is
just. Yet, there is still a need for chesed. Because as long as I can’t
or don’t do chesed then I can’t reveal the godliness within myself.
In the case of the burial of Sarah, Rabbi Yochanan Zweig
notes that the Midrash is written on the words that ‘Avraham buried Sarah’.
That’s where Hashem sees Avraham is the true Baal Chesed and not just a Baal
Tzedaka. Everything that he did until now could’ve been considered and interpreted
as acts of charity. He was filling a need and standing up for unjust
situations. The truth is even the burial of his wife could be viewed as that. All
Jewish burial is a tremendous tzedaka. It’s the greatest need that there
is for someone to be laid to rest properly. Look at the tremendous heroic and
mind-blowing work that Zaaka has been doing collecting all of the remains of
the terror attack. But that’s tzedaka it’s not chesed.
Chesed is more than just arranging a burial. It’s not just
sending the check. Or going to the Zaka concert. It’s personal, because it’s
not about filling the need. It’s grabbing the shovel and doing it yourself. It’s
about me doing what I need to do because that’s how I can become me. It’s how I
can reveal the Hashem in myself.
Avraham was the richest person in the world. He could’ve
sent Eliezer to negotiate the purchase of the grave for his wife. He sent him
to find a wife for his son. He could’ve hired a crew from his thousands of servants
to dig a grave and bury her. He was over 100 years old. Yet the verse tells us
that Avraham himself dug that grave. He gets up at his moment of grief from mourning
his beloved wife of over a hundred years with whom he went through it all with,
in order to negotiate her gravesite. Because by Avraham this is a chesed.
It’s what he needs to do. It’s personal.
And that’s my friends is what this is really all about for
us as well. It’s the weapon in our arsenal that we need to engage in finally.
We have always been the most charitable nation in the world.
I don’t think it would be in anyway an exaggeration to say that in the past
month alone over 100 million dollars have gone out to charity from every Jew in
the world. But it’s not just now it’s always been that way. In every community
there’s a Gemach- a charity organization for every comprehensible need.
We throw money at any cause, any tragedy. We have volunteer organizations for
the living and the dead, for newborns, for brides, to people suffering from
infertility and those that need shiduchim. For prayers, for money, for
clothing and of course for food. We have Hatzala, Zaaka, Chevra Kadishas, Bikur
Cholim, Hachanasas Orchim, and Kiruv organizations. There is no one like Am
Yisrael in that regard.
But that’s all tzedaka. That’s because we want to fix all
of the problems. We don’t want anyone to suffer. We want everyone to feel as
happy and as blessed as we are. Chesed though, is a notch above that. It’s
becoming personally invested. It’s becoming emotionally invested. It’s making
their pain, my pain. It’s not just sending a check. It’s about getting off the
couch and getting over there and holding their hands, hugging them, connecting
with them. It’s about feeling. It’s about hurting. It’s about empathizing. Not
fake showing-them-we-feel -empathy, or “you’re in my thoughts and prayers”.
But real can’t-sleep-at-night, can’t-stop-crying-when-I-think-about-what-they’re-going-through
empathy. I can’t stop davening, yelling, screaming to Hashem to make it stop
already empathy. It’s feeling how Hashem must feel. It’s bringing us all
together. That’s not tzedaka. That’s me becoming me. Me becoming Hashem.
The word Chesed is an interesting one. The first two letter ches and samech
spell “Chas” in Hebrew which means compassion. To feel. And that’s
really what we are meant to do. But even more fascinating is that if you take
the first and last letter, the ches and the daled then you have
the word chad- one. How do we become one? With the samech in the middle.
The full circle. The somech- that we support one another. We are all
connected. We are told that in the future all the righteous will form a circle
and point to Hashem in the middle and say that He is one. That is the Chad-
the One that shines from the connected circle that is the samech in the
middle. It’s all of us together as one.
Eliezer when he goes to find a spouse for Avraham’s son,
asks Hashem to do chesed with him. He wants Hashem to do more than just
take care of our needs, of Avraham’s needs, of Yitzchak’s bashert. He
wants that home to be founded on chesed of extraordinary proportions.
Eliezer had servants there with him. He could’ve given the camels to drink himself.
He was a big boy. Yet he wanted someone who wanted to do it herself. Someone
who wanted to not just offer a drink to a hungry wayfarer and take care of the
problem at hand, rather he needed someone that would look at it is as an opportunity
to do chesed. Someone that, like Avraham, would be waiting around for someone
that they could connect to in that way. Someone that would rush and offer them
and their camels, like they just won the lottery, like they were finding their
Bashert. And indeed, little did she know, that was exactly what she was doing.
Someone once said that a liberal is a conservative that
hasn’t been mugged yet. Sadly there are a lot of new conservatives or right
wingers in Israel these days that have had a wake-up call as to who our
neighbors always were. Yet they never got this before. And the truth is that
most of us never really did. This is despite the fact that all the signs were
there. There were enough people killed. There were enough attacks and missiles
that had happened in the past. But yet we never got it. We never saw this
coming. The reason is because we never
really personalized all of the tragedies, deaths and hardships that our brothers
and sisters faced until now in what we thought were isolated incidents that never
really got into our kishkas. We paid lip service but it never ripped our hearts
opened.
Today we see all these antisemitic demonstrations and
protests. People ripping down posters of babies, of old people, of families and
children of the hostages and we are in shock. How can anyone do something like
that? Are they human? What’s going through their minds? And the answer is that
it’s not personal to them. It’s someone else’s kids. It’s Jewish kids. It’s
Israeli kids. If it was their own mothers, sisters, children in Gaza that were
being held or that were massacred or having missiles thrown at them, it would
be a different story. The response to that, that Hashem is telling us is that
for us this has to be personal. It has to be our brother, our mother, our
sister and brother. Our pain. Our children that are the soldiers on the front line.
Our worry. Our tefillos. Because if
it isn’t then we are really only a little bit better than them if at all. So
that is the task that is in front of us. It’s the mission that makes us all
soldiers. That give all of us a job.
Our sages tell us Rachmana Liba Ba’ai- Hashem wants
our hearts. The term for Hashem is Rachamana- the Merciful one. If we
want mercy, we have to really feel merciful. Not just pragmatic, but emotionally
full of mercy and compassion.
We are at the period before Mashiach is coming. When Hashem
Echad- the Oneness of Hashem will be revealed to the world. For that to
happen we need to continue with what we say in Shema each day. To love Hashem, b’chol
livavcha, bichol nafshecha, u’bechol me’odecha- with ALL our heart, with ALL
our soul with ALL our possessions; with all our all. There’s no
half-heartedness anymore. There’s no un-plugging ourselves. These families who
have lost someone, who have parents, children or siblings missing, kidnapped, those
mothers and fathers and wives and children that have fathers and sons serving in
Gaza or in the front lines are never un-plugged. That’s all they’re thinking
about. That’s what we need to be doing as well.
The slogan of the moment in Israel today is B’Yachad
Ninatzeyach- together we will win. Together doesn’t mean that we are there
for one another. It means that we are yachad. We are one. If we are one,
then what happens is not merely that we will win. It means we will be
netzach- we will be eternal. For that is really what this is all about.
Becoming netzach. Becoming One.
Have unifying Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
************************
YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Es art mich vi di ketz fun mitvuch”. -
I care like a
cat cares if it's Wednesday
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
13.In the
Sataf site one can find a reconstruction of findings of the ___________ field.
Where can the
white broom (Retama) bush be found?
A. In the
Mediterranean forests and on mount Hermon
B. On the
coastal plains and on mount Hermon
C. On the
coastal plains and in the desert
D. In the
desert and in the Mediterranean forests
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/rivkah
–
Parshas Chayei Sarah is never complete without my Rivkah Achoseinu song-
composed for my sister Rivky’s wedding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2a4pQM_8ng
– Dovid Lowy’s magnificent new release
Tamid on how Hashem watching over His land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srbtbDfD4uo
- Shulem Lemmer haunting and heart wrenching Kehilos
Ha’Kodesh for the communities that were destroyed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HgKB4-kQdA
- Iyal Golan AM Yisrael Chai great song
that says it all…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28gtzg6r3QQ
– Avraham Fried’s latest war song! B’Karov
Mamash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WbbVRz2UZY
–Finally
Ari Goldwags Latest Ana Hashem Aneinu beautiful…
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S PARSHA PRAYER
INSPIRATION OF THE WEEK
Praying for others Mincha – Interestingly enough we actually
have two prayers in our Parsha. The first is Eliezer asking Hashem to send him
the proper spouse for Yitzchak and fulfil his mission in a fantastic way.
Interestingly enough, the Netziv writes that this prayer that he davened was
the precursor to Mincha. It’s why he davened it instead of the regular one. Yet
Rav Zilberstien points out something fascinating about this prayer and the way
it’s described. The pasuk tells us he said
Va’yomar- and he said
Hashem the God of my master Avraham, please cause to happen to me
today, and perform loving kindness with my master, Avraham.
It’s a strange terminology. It seems that there are two things
going on. First ‘Cause to happen to me today’ and secondly ‘perform
kindness with Avraham’. What are
these two requests? So he explains incredibly that in fact Eliezer davened his
own personal request. As Rashi tells us he himself had a daughter. Not only did
he have a daughter, but his daughter was just rejected for a shidduch by none
other than Avraham. And yet here he was going to find a shidduch for the very
boy that said “no” to his daughter. Eliezer realized that his action. His
dedication to act and worry about Avraham and Yitzchak when he had the exact
same need himself was a perfect time to ask Hashem for a shidduch for his own
daughter. And thus he asks Hashem please cause to happen to me- find a shidduch
for my daughter at this same moment that you are preforming loving kindness to
Avraham.
This is what our sages tell us is that if someone needs his prayers
answered he should pray or act for someone else that has that same need.
Amazing!
Yet it is not only here where we find that concept, we find it as well
by Yitzchak’s first prayer of Mincha. The verse goes out of it’s way to tell us
where Yitzchak paused to daven for a shidduch for himself. At a place called Be’er
l’Chai Ro’i. What is so special about this place. So the midrash tells us that
this was the place where Hagar had her prayer answered for Yishmael. Once she
was thrown out she fled back there. And it was there that Yitzchak went to
bring her back to marry his father Avraham after Sarah passed away. Think about
this. Here, Yitzchak is bringing back the mother of his brother who was thrown
out, who Hashem had said to throw out. To the one that was threatening his own
birthright. Yet, Yitzchak overlooked all of that because his father needed a
shidduch, and Hagar was the only one that was fitting for that role. After all
Sarah herself had chosen her for him. And so he overlooks his own need- just as
Eliezer did- to find a shidduch for his father and bring her home to him. In
doing that he as well realizes this is the best time to daven for myself. And
he does. And just like Eliezer’s prayer he is answered right away. That is the
first Mincha ever.
Each day we daven Mincha. Do you know what the essence of our
prayer is and the power of that prayer? Our sages even tell us that it is the
most powerful of all prayers as Eliyahu was answered at that time. What makes
Mincha so powerful is precisely this idea. Unlike Shacharis which is before we
start our day or Maariv which is the end of the day after everything is over.
Mincha is smack in the middle. For us to daven Mincha we need to push aside our
own activities that we may be busy with and put Hashem first. Put our davening
first. When we do that then Hashem answers our own request immediately. During
this hectic time of war we need every merit that we can. We need to pray for
those others before our own prayers and the best time is of course during
Mincha. May Hashem then bring Menucha to us…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR
PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
The War that led to division Part II- 620 BC – As we discussed last week Amatzia goes to war against Edom.
The nation of Edom in the South of Israel had long been a thorn in our
side. Amatzia felt that with his quasi-teshuva movement this was the
time to take them out. He had initially recruited and even paid to the Kingdom
of Yisrael led by Yoash a lot of money to the tribe of Ephraim
to join them in the battle. But then at the urging and prophecy of the prophet Shemaya
he backs out- even allowing them to keep the money. Hashem had told them, that
they weren’t righteous enough to win the battle with him.
Amatzia wins and then he does something which our sages tell us was
brutal. He takes 10,000 Edomites and chucks em off a cliff and kills
those prisoners of War. This seems not only to be a violation of Geneva
convention laws, but Hashem’s as well, fascinatingly enough. We won. Take
the win and leave. As a result of that Amatzia steps over the line and
begins to get more arrogant. Hashem wants to send him a message and he does so
via the tribe of Ephraim who felt scorned being told that they weren’t
worthy to fight. So they went out and terrorized the Jewish nation from Shomron
all the way down to Beit Choron which is near the modern city of Modi’in.
They pillaged and showed who the boss is.
The temperature has risen between these two
Jewish kingdoms. The prophets are cautioning Amatzia to tone down and
take the proper message that he needs to reflect and look in himself for the
reason this is happening. Yet, he doesn’t. He instead blames this on the
prophet for having advised him to send away the tribe of Ephraim and not
allow them to join him in battle. He then does something crazy. He sets up a worship
of the Se’ir god. The god of Edom. He does this to show his
rejection of the God of the prophet- Hashem. This is a big mistake. His doom is
foretold. Yet, he continues in his obstinancy and challenges Yoash, the king
of the North to a faceoff and war. This will not end well…
I find this story fascinating and perhaps even relevant
on so many levels. But to focus on one. Edom is Rome, is the west,
is America. They have a god. It’s called democracy. It’s called proportionality,
it’s a value system perhaps that is not from Hashem. When we feel we need to
look to them and worship their “gods” rather than listen to our own prophets,
there is no greater Chilul Hashem. What do you think?
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FUNNY
GAZA MEMES/ JOKES OF THE WEEK
If you keep saying FREE
PALESTINE, be careful. We Jews will come and take it. We love free stuff!
Beware tearing down hostage
posters won’t free Palestine, but it might end your occupation
The Pro-Palestinian
arguments I’ve heard lately sound much better in the original German
Does a humanitarian
pause mean that the hostages get to come home for a Shabbat? Asking for 240
friends…
Only in Israel can a 19
year old kid drive an 80 ton tank and yet still be considered a “young driver”
on his parents private Toyata.
Seen at a Jewish
wedding- “From the Liver to the Tea the Smorgasbord will be Free
Military Terms
Dictionary
English Hebrew Hamas
Rocket Launch Site Atar Shigur School
Weapons Cache machsan neshek hospital
Headquarters mifkada Kindergarten
Operations Room cheder Mivtzaim Residential buildig
Exchange each hostage
for 100 Pro- Hamas US college student. Good For Israel, Good for USA,
educational for students…
The Islamic Jihad asked
Israel if they could buy an Iron dome to defend Gaza from the missiles that
they shoot on themselves by mistake.
I heard the sirens and
ran into the shelter and locked the door. All of a sudden I hear loud booms on
the door… It seems my wife wanted to come in as well.
The Prime Minister and
members of his staff from the Knesset went for a tour to see the situation of
various State institutions. Their first stop was at the local school. They see
that the walls were falling apart, the books were old and outdated and the roof
was leaking. The principal cried to the PM that they needed money for the basic
renovations. Yet, the PM sadly told him that right now it was a difficult
situation for the country and there was no money in the budget for this.
Their next stop was to
the local university. There as well the President of the University showed how
lack the security was and outdated, how the computers were old and failing and
how the yards and landscaping was all over run. Again the Prime Minister sadly told
him that there was no extra funds to allocate to them as the budget for the country
was very tight.
Finally their last stop
was to the local prison. There the warden gave them a tour and showed them the
shabby matresses and smelly bed sheets, the leaky broken air conditioning system and how the Television
and entertainment center was always on the blink. Immediately the Prime
Minister said that he would take care of the problem and within a few minutes
he informed them that repair men were on the way and new beds, sheets and even
hi screen TVs were coming as well. When asked by his staff member who was
shocked how this could happen. Bibi eloquently explained
“School we finished
already, College I don’t think we’ll ever be going to, but prison on the other
hand….”
The answer to this week”s question is C – Got this one right! The first part was pretty easy. It’s not like I’ve guided at Sataf a lot. In fact I think I’ve only been to this national park maybe once with tourists. It’s right near Yerushalyim and it’s specialness is the recreated ancient agricultural irrigation fields from thousands of years ago. So the answer is an irrigation field as opposed to a rain field. This has terraces and little cisterns. The second part of the question I got correct. As you know agriculture isn’t my strong point. But I knew that the rotem which is actually called a Retama in English is in the midbar. We find that Eliyahu Hanavi took shade in it’s small bush when he ran away. That being the case then by process of elimination I went with C which is the Mediterranean coastline which is more similar to the desert as opposed to a forest. So got it right and the new score being Rabbi Schwartz at 9.5 point and the MOT having 3.5 point on this latest Ministry of Tourism exam.
