Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
March 11th 2022 -Volume
11 Issue 23 8th Adar Beis 5782
Parshat Vayikra / Zachor
I thought I had a foolproof plan. When I
first got married I knew that it was important to remember my wife’s birthday.
I’m bad with ages and dates. Numbers were never my thing, as my bank account
clearly reflects. I’m more of a word guy. Yet, my chasan teacher told me
and I understood from experiences of my similarly numerically challenged
friends that forgetting a birthday was a big no-no. It would probably mean no
supper, and hours of loving and caring reassurance and groveling for having
forgotten that most special day when Hashem decided that the most important
person in the world to you would be born. I like supper, my wife is a good cook
and groveling is another one of those things I never really got down pat. So I
was determined to come up with a way to remember her birthday each year. Truth
is it was really by accident that I stumbled upon it, but it has saved me every
year since.
See, it was not long after we got
married that I heard about this Facebook thing that sounded kind of cool it
would be a way to keep in touch and check out what’s doing with all my “kiruv”
outreach students that I was meeting and connecting with and post classes and
thoughts that I wanted to share with them. When I signed up though I was a bit
nervous about putting too much personal information out there, hearing about
all those identity theft stories going around, although really, I didn’t think
anyone would want to gain access to my negative bank accounts. But who knows?
So when they asked me what my birthday was I put my wife’s down instead. I
figure I had everything else in her name anyways so why not? Ishto- k’gufo-
our sages tell us your wife is like you.
A few months later on May 27th
I wake up in the morning to a few alerts on my phone. It was happy birthday
wishes from all of my Facebook friends. Now I know I told you that I was bad
with dates, but I knew my birthday was on Chanukah quite a few months away.
There was no latkas or snow outside. I knew I didn’t sleep that long. What was
going on? And then I remembered. It was my wife’s birthday. Cool! I quickly ran
downstairs and made her some breakfast. Actually, it was just a scrambled egg
and some toast and juice which is really the only thing I know how to make, and
I was good to go. What a romantic husband. I win! Facebook saves the day. And I
haven’t missed a birthday yet…
The problem though is I just realized
this week is that Facebook doesn’t really have a happy anniversary option.
Oops… Now for some reason it seems is that the rules are that we husbands have
to remember that date as well. Yeah… I forgot that one. Now thanks to my
surgery I’m really not even that hungry if I miss supper. So the truth is the
consequences aren’t that significant anymore. But after 28 years (I think
that’s how many it is…) my wife has become more forgiving anyways. As well I
have the next best thing to Facebook which is my mother’s Schwartz family
WhatsApp group in which she is up early in the morning everyday (just like my
Savta OB”M would do as well) wishing every one a happy birthday, anniversary or
telling us who’s yartzeit is today. Who needs Facebook when you have a Mom?
This week is not only the beginning of
our reading of the third book of the Torah but as it is the week before Purim
we are also charged with reading the special Torah portion that commands us to
remember the war we encountered with the nation of Amalek when we left Egypt
and the eternal commandment to wipe them off the face of the earth. According
to most opinions this is the only Torah reading that is a positive biblical
commandment to listen to. But it’s not just listening that is required. We are
obligated in the words of the Rambam to be filled with hate and inspiration to pick
up a sword and wipe them all out; Putin style, if you will. Now obviously a
mere reading of the Torah is not going to give you that inspiration. You have
to actually remember that battle. You have to understand what they represent
and what a danger and evil they pose to our nation. And particularly this year
when it falls out on the same week as the beginning of the Book of Vayikra we
have to understand if there is perhaps a lesson in there as well for us. (Ok,
that last one is only if you have to write a weekly E-Mail that tries to
connect everything together)
Reb Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk though
asks a pretty basic question about this mitzva, and in truth it’s a question
about life in general. How can the Torah command us to remember something?
People don’t forget things intentionally. It’s a natural human condition.
Things happen in life, a lot of things happen in life. We have a limited amount
of brain storage space. Stuff like birthdays, anniversary dates and ages of our
children get deleted, to make more room for what tourists I’m taking next week
and where I need to meet them and where I left my car keys. So how can the
Torah command us to remember and never forget something? We’re not God after all
who has an infinite memory space hard eternal hard drive.
Yet interestingly enough let me take
that back… See we find that Hashem needs to be reminded of things as well. We
find by the flood Hashem remembers Noach. He remembers the Jews in Egypty.
Moshe tells Hashem to remember the merit of our forefathers and we do that as
well each time we daven and ask Hashem in the first few words V’Zocher
Chasdey avos- that He should remember the kindness of our Patriarchs. I
don’t understand. Does Hashem also have a memory problem? Should I sign Him up
for a Facebook reminder too?
The answer though Reb Menachem Mendel
explains is that there is now forgetfulness obviously up in heaven. Forgetfulness
only happens when you are constrained by time; when there is a distant past and
a present. Hashem is above all time. It’s all happening at the same time up
there. Things are only forgotten in this world where time exists and where we are
constantly moving forward. The past is gone the present is fleeting and the
future is a moment away. When one remembers than we are putting the brakes on
that train. We are transcending time and connecting our past and bringing it
into the present. We are really becoming the most God like that we can become.
In Reb Menachem Mendel’s words we are leaving the “yeish” the mortal
existence of being and we are connecting to the eternal to the “ayin”
the eternal and transcendent. When Hashem ‘remembers’ He is not scratching His
divine brow and trying to recall what happened yesterday. Rather He is enacting
a force in this world that is reconnecting it with a reality that happened in
the past. He remembers Noach and thus rebuilds the world as He did in creation.
He remembers the Jewish people and the promise He made to our forefathers and
brings that past into the present by bringing us out of Egypt and giving
humanity a new opportunity through us to reconnect to Him once again.
Amalek’s role in this world is
disconnect us from that throne of Hashem that is above all of this world. Their
name Amalek is a conjunction of two words. Am- Malak- a nation decapitated. In
fact in Vayikra we are told about the bird sacrifice whereby the Kohen decapitates
the bird offering with that same word U’malak. To fight Amalek we need
to engage in the act of remembering. We need to go beyond the constraints of
time and space and place ourselves back there on that train leaving Egypt
heading to Mt. Sinai. Imagine that enthusiasm. We had just been remembered by
Hashem after 210 years in Exile. We hade become purified in that iron cauldron
of slavery. We saw Hashem’s miracles and felt that immense love that He poured
upon us with the splitting of the sea. The entire world saw it. And then Amalek
came to destroy it.
Imagine the groom walking to his chuppa,
to his beloved after waiting and longing for her for so long. Then someone
comes and steps down in middle of that chuppah and tackles him and tries to
prevent him from getting there. You don’t forget something like that. Ever.
Well, that’s who Amalek is. That’s what he has been trying to do to our nation
since we started. He wants us to forget. To keep on driving. To not realize
that we are on a train to our Chuppah. That there is an entire audience of 70
nations that are sitting there in those aisles watching and waiting for us to
make down there, so that they can dance with us. So they as well can join in
the festivities of a Messianic era. That
is what we can never forget. That is when we need to transcend all the noise
and leap over and connect to the “ayin” to the eternal and bring the world to
it’s place. To build that home down here for the shechina to reside.
But how do we remember? How do we
transcend? The parsha of Vayikra begins with that call of Hashem to Moshe.
Rashi tells us that the reason it starts with this call is to teach us that
this was a call that was heard and went out to Moshe each time Hashem spoke to
him. It was personal. It wasn’t heard by anyone else. It was with love and
tenderness and respect, just as the angels in heaven call to one another. Yet,
this call was only when Hashem spoke to him. There are times though when Hashem
just paused. He gave Moshe time to reflect and absorb. There were hafsakos-
breaks between the words of Hashem. This is there to teach us in the words of
Rashi
“That if this space was given to Moshe
to contemplate between parsha to parsha and to one topic and another all the
more so an ordinary person requires that when learning from an ordinary
person.”
The essence of internalizing the call of
Hashem and to connecting to that eternal of the Torah is to have time to pause,
reflect and to contemplate. We need a time to remember and to put the past,
present and future all together. When we do that the voice of Hashem, as it did
in Gan Eden will become apparent in the world. We’ve brought Him down. We built
the bricks for His home. We’ve destroyed Amalek. We can bring the Torah of the
sacrifices into the world and bring that nachas ruach, that special
heavenly spirit of our offerings up to heaven in His home down here. We can be
redeemed. His voice will be heard throughout all of Creation once again.
Purim is the season when we turn the
whole world around. This year in particular when it falls in the 13th
month we have already risen beyond space and time. As our sefarim tell us that
there are only 12 astrological signs that the order of the natural world is run
by. The 13th month in a leap year is the month when we’ve transcended.
It’s a month that is a pause before the month of redemption that is Nissan to
reflect, internalize and remember. Its when we can best wipe out Amalek. It’s
our heavenly Facebook happy birthday post to remind us to start making
breakfast. Our Bride is waiting for us in the next room. Let’s make it to that
Chuppa.
Have a memorable Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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REPENTANCE AND REDEMPTION
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH
PROVERB OF THE WEEK
Guts gedenkt men, shlechts filt men..- Kindness is remembered, meanness is
felt.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE
WEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/layehudim
– It’s Adar! Time for Rabbi
Schwartzes greatest hits for Purim!! This one with Dovid Lowy singing my
geshmak Layehudim. Get on your dance shoes…
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/techelet-mordechai
– And here’s my amazing Techeles
Mordechai with the one and only Yitz Berry singing this great Purim seuda
composition of mine.
https://youtu.be/9zOrf3CY9Q0
– Brand new MBD song!
LaNetzach- Forever… in honor of Purim
https://youtu.be/CgUFzZcnWzw
– So excited.. can’t wait to hear it.. Abie Rottenbergs latest
Journeys is out! After decades he’s back…. Listen to the sampler of the most
awaited release ever right here…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
19)
A site related to Jonah the Prophet: _________
The story of the Prophet's
ingestion by a fish relates in Christianity to the story of:
A)
The resurrection
B)
Baptism
C)
The miracle of the five loaves and two fish
D)
The Sermon on the Mount
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/SHABBOS CONNECTION
OF THE WEEK
Call of Shabbos -Parshat Vayikra- The third book
of the torah that we begin this week is called Vayikra- And he called. That’s
the title. It’s Hashem calling to Moshe. Yet as we know that this centerpiece
work of the 5 books is the heart of it all. It’s the call to each and every one
of us to come close to Hashem and to bring those offerings that He is waiting
for.
There’s an incredible idea in our Parsha from the Magid
of Mezritch towards the end of the parsha the Torah describes a sacrifice that
is called the Korban Oleh V’Yoreid. It changes based on the income level of the
person bringing it. It goes up and down. A wealthy person brings a cow, middle
income birds and a poor person flour. This sacrifice the Torah tells us brought
for a sin of swearing falsely to get out of testimony. The torah says
Im nefesh ki techata-
if a soul will sin
V’shama kol ala-
and he will hear the voice of an oath
V’hu eid- and he
is a witness
Or ra’ah oh yada-
or he saw something or has knowledge of something
V’loh yagid- and
he does not testify about it
V’nasa avona- he
will bear his sin
Interestingly enough that sentence above the word V’loh-
and he doesn’t is spelled lamad vav aleph, with an extra vav in the middle. Why
is it there?
The magid reads this verse homiletically and explains He
understands this verse being an eternal question to our nation.. How can a soul
sin? How is it that a Jew that is so holy can fall and make mistakes. V’shama
kol alah- did he not hear the voice calling out to him from Sinai about the
commandments that that Hashem sends out every day that Hashem makes us take an
oath that we will abide by his Torah. We were witnesses.
The answer is v’lo yagid. The voice that was meant to be
for him lo with a vav he turned into a lo with an aleph- he didn’t hear. He
didn’t listen. Instead of being oleh- going up, he was yored- he went down.
That is why he bears a sin. He said that mitzva doesn’t apply to me. That
schmooze the Rabbi gave was talking about someone else. I’m not on that level.
Hashem isn’t talking to me.
Each Shabbos, we are told a voice goes out as well,
calling to us. Come make Shabbos. We sing lecha dodi likras kallah- come
towards the call of that bride. We need to heed that call. It’s not for other
people. In our shul on Friday nights we dance when we sing that song. There are
always those that like to sit on the side and open a chumash and learn and
review the parsha. They are missing that call. It is for them. It is for all of
us. The Torah we learn is not just about covering ground and accomplishing in
our studies. It’s about closeness. It’s about coming. It’s about uniting with
our bride. Just as it was to Moshe in this book that is the center of the
Torah. Don’t miss the call.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN
ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Aviya, Yeravam’s
punished son- 790 BC- After the incident and exhortation of Yerava’am
by Ido, he sadly does not do teshuva. He passed the point of no return.
He appoints officers to prevent Jews from crossing over to the Bais Ha
Mikdash in Jerusalem and the nation truly becomes divided as Yerva’am’s
temples which were dedicated to Hashem introduce a spirit of alternate worship
that will lead to centuries of idolatry in the Kingdom of Israel. Yeravam’s
son Aviya was opposed to this institution and refused to comply, despite
that sign of righteousness even Aviya did not oppose Yervaam’s
temples and golden calves that he had erected and for that he was as
well going to be punished for the sins of his father.
The Nave tells us that Aviya became ill and Yerava’am
realizing this was a punishment for his actions came up with a plan to try to
get a bracha from his rebbi and prophet Achiya Ha’Shiloni. He knew that Achiya
was upset with him for his new institutions and probably wouldn’t see him, so
he sent his wife disguised as a regular woman to get a bracha. He had her bring
bread and biscuits and honey to the Navi. This is perhaps where the custom
comes from that one should give a “pidyon’ a little something to a rebbi when
asking for a blessing.
Hashem though wasn’t playing that game and reveals Yeravam’s
plan to Achiya and when his wife comes in he recognizes her and greets
her despite the fact we are told that he could barely see because of his old
age. Achiya then launches into a terrible curse and prophecy whereas all
of Yerava’ams children will be killed and the very son that she came to
pray for will die as soon as she returns home. The house of Yeravam will
fall and the dogs and birds will eat their flesh. Only Aviya will merit
burial and be mourned. All of Israel will be punished though and handed over to
enemies for following in the ways of Yeravam. Ouch!
This is really the first prophecy we have since Shlomo
of what will continue to be a theme for the next few hundred years of this
divided kingdom period. Ultimately this is the beginning of the end for the 10
tribes.
The wife of Yeravam returns home to Tirtza where
Yeravam had established his kingdom after the debacle with Ido at Beit
El when he moved it from Shechem. The actual site of biblical Tirtza is
about 11 KM north of Shechem in a place called Tel el Fararh that has
been excavated in the 1950’s near the arab village of Ein Bidan. When
the wife enters the city, as prophesized Aviya dies. And this is the
beginning of the end of Yeravam’s 22 year kingdom.
A few months ago while exploring the lower Galil along the
Sanhedrin trail I visited the ancient city of Chirbat Roma, an
archeological site near the arab village that retained the name Rummat el
Heib and Rummana. There I was surprised to find a tomb which had the
name of Aviya ben Yeravam there as well as Binyamin the son of Yaakov.
Upon researching it a bit, it seems that there are sources that suggest that Aviya
had the spark of Mashiach Ben Yosef in him coming from the tribe of Yeravam
which was Ephraim. We are told Mashiach sits at the gates of Rome and
this was the Rome of Eretz Yisrael. I don’t know too many people that
come visit this grave, but being there and knowing this story certainly gave me
a new appreciation of the lost opportunities of the era that he lived in. And
it made me long for the day when we would all come together again.
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE MEMORY JOKES OF THE WEEK
So a 1024MB Memory Card walks into a bar...The Memory
Card spots a piano, sits down at it and starts playing some incredible music. After
a number of songs, mostly original, the Memory Card gets up and the bar goes
wild with cheers and applause. The bar owner was incredibly impressed and runs
up to the Memory Card and says, "Buddy, you were INCREDIBLE! If you
come back tomorrow, I'll split the night's till with you!"
"No can do..." says the Memory Card. "I'm limited to one gig!"
Shaindy was making a breakfast of fried eggs for
her husband Yankel. Suddenly, Yankel burst into the kitchen. ‘Careful,’
he said,
‘CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my
gosh! You’re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We
need more butter. Oh my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They’re
going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me
when you’re cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST
your mind? Don’t forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them.
Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!’
Shaindy stared at him. “What in the world is
wrong with you? You think I don’t know how to fry a couple of eggs?”
Yankel calmly replied, “I just wanted to show
you what it feels like when I’m driving.”
If alcohol can damage
your short term memory……Imagine the damage alcohol can do
What did the forgetful
skydiver say when he jumped out of the plane. Aw chute!
An
old couple was realizing they were losing their memory. They decided they would
go to a doctor to see about the problem The doctor said “Well, there isn’t
very much I can do, but you could try one thing.”
“What’s that?” They said
“You could try writing everything down, so if you ever forgot something, you
would have a reference.”
The old couple took this into consideration,
though the old man was skeptical.One day, the couple was sitting on their front
porch. The old man said to his wife, “You know, I feel like some ice cream.
I’m going to go get some.”
“Get me some too.” The woman said. “Vanilla with chocolate
sprinkles.”
The man headed in, but the old woman called him before he could fully enter the
house and said “Wait, don’t you think you should do what our doctor said and
write this down?”
“Bah, I’ll be fine!” he said
15 minutes later the man returned to his wife with a plate of salad and eggs.
“Ugh!” the woman said. “I can’t believe this! I told you to write
this down but you refused!”
“What did I forget?” He said
The woman, angrily, yelled to his face“You forgot the toast!”
Berel comes to the doctor lamenting that he is
forgetting things. “Yesterday I even forgot where I live, doctor, I got
lost. And the day before, I came home from the synagogue and I forgot that I
even went there. And a day before, I want to play golf and I forgot about that
too…“Oy doctor, what should I do?” the man cried.
“Pay me now,” the doctor said.
“Ahhhh...um....hmmm” he took a second,
“Hmmmm...hold on let me think ermmmm.....it’s....daisy? No that’s not
it....it’s petunia? No..no, let me remember....”
“Well is it like....Tulip?” I suggested?
“No, no. That’s not it...some type of flower I think”
“Is it rose?” I asked,
“Yes, Rose! That’s it!” He exclaimed. Then he leaned his head towards
the doorway and called my aunt....“Hey Rose! What’s the name of those new
memory pills?”
Harold a nice young Jewish Doctor can't find a
job in a Hospital in the US, so he opens his own clinic and puts a sign outside
reading 'GET TREATMENT FOR $20 - IF NOT CURED GET BACK $100.'An American lawyer
thinks this is a great opportunity to earn $100 and goes to the clinic.
Lawyer: "I have lost my sense of
taste."
Lawyer: "Ugh. this is kerosene."
Harold "Congrats, your sense of taste is
restored. Give me my $20."
The annoyed lawyer goes back after a few days to
try to recover his money. Lawyer: "I have lost my memory. I can’t remember
anything."
Harold: "Nurse, bring medicine from box no.
14 and put 3 drops in his mouth."
Lawyer (annoyed): "This is kerosene. You
gave this to me last time for restoring my taste."
Harold:: "Congrats. You got your memory
back. Give me $20."
The fuming lawyer pays him, then comes back a
week later determined to get back $100.
Lawyer: "My eyesight has become very
weak I cannot see at all."
Harold:: "Well, I don't have any
medicine for that, so take this $100."
Lawyer (staring at the note): "But this
is $20, not $100!”
Harold: "Congrats, your eyesight is
restored. Give me $20"
Answer
is A – Chrisitanity is really
quite an unoriginal and uncreative religion, as are most alternate baloney
forms of worship. It’s hard to make it up as your going along. Yet, really
Judaism which is the only one that makes any sense and which every other one
copies is the only possesors of the emes- the truth. So they steal from us.
Christianity in particular will try to source any of their false prophets in
Judaism. The make them gilgulim or precarnations. So when it comes to Yonah our
holy prophet who sailed off from the port of Yaffo to hide from Hashem and not
fulfill his mission to go to Ninveh and was thus swallowed by a large fish. Yoshka
claims to also be swallowed by the earth and “born again”. Yonah was three days
and Yoshka was three days. Isn’t that convenient when you make a bubbeh mayseh
to do it right…. In our course we had to cover way to much of the stuff. I
thought I had deleted most of it from my memory. But it seems I still got it
getting this one right again so the score is now Schwartz 16 and 3 for
MOT (Ministry of Tourism) on this exam.
