Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
July 4th 2025 -Volume 14 Issue 34 8th of Tamuz 5785
"Check out that Island", RbbC said.
It looks really cool. After a few days on a boat, I can relate to his feeling. Man was meant to walk on solid earth. Don't get me wrong. Sailing is fun and cool, but after a while it gets kind of old and you just want to get back to shore. So they parked their boat right off this incredible island. It smelled a little fishy, but that's understandable, after all it was in the middle of the ocean. There was beautiful sand with nice greens growing.
"Looks like a great place for a mangal (BBQ)" he said.
Maybe a little bonfire, a kumzitz, a little Rebbi Shimon action, some smores… What a great place to chill. So, they sat down. Made themselves comfy and then just when things started heating up a bit, it cooled down very quickly. See, they weren't really on an island, they discovered. They were one the back of a very large fish. A whale, perhaps, or one of those Star Wars space creatures. C'mon some of you have to remember that movie. All of a sudden Nemo decided that his back was getting sunburned, or maybe he just didn't like their Bar Yochais. He gave a krechtz, a flip and splash, they all ended up in the water. Thank God, they weren't that far from the boat, Rabbah Bar Bar Channa, tells us in this fascinating gemara in Bava Basra, for otherwise they would've all drowned.
It's a strange cryptic page or two of Talmud, that shares with a bunch of these incredible stories with us. You should check them out. Yet, the Gaon of Vilna and many other great commentaries look at all these stories and see in them, the secrets of the universe, the different stages of our development and even the pathway toward redemption and Mashiach. This particular story above, tells us that when Mashiach comes, the whole world and everything we thought about it will be turned on its head. The land that we thought was safe, was comfortable, was great to make bbq's pizza shops and even yeshivos, mikvas and really large beautiful shuls is really just a big fish swimming in the sea. It's not dry land. It's not a place of settlement. That's not real grass on it's back. It's just an AI manipulation. Stay close to the boat. Don't lose sight that you're in an ocean. Otherwise you may drown.
Rav Moshe Shapira (who, as faithful readers of mine have probably noticed, I 've been quoting a lot these days), writes something spectacular about this gemara. He notes that on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur there is a psalm that we recite after our Shmona Esrei with much fervor.
Li'dovid mizmor- a psalm for Dovid
La'hashem ha'aretz u'mlo'ah- To Hashem is the land and all that's in it
Tevel v'yoshvei vah- the world and all that dwell in it
Ki hu al yamim yesoda- because He founded it upon waters
V'al neharos yi'chonineha- and He established it upon rivers.
Do you know why the entire land belongs to Hashem? Because He established it upon water. It's not real. We're riding on the back of a fish. See on the third day of Creation, when the entire world was full of water, Hashem did something fantastic and miraculous. He declared that all of the water should gather into one place and dry land should be revealed. The problem though, he notes is that you can't just shtup water into a vessel that can't fit it. If the whole world was water, then where did it all go? It's not like it disappeared, and it's not like he drained out the tub and put it anywhere. So how does it gather and all fit into one place?
See, that's why I like Reb Moshe, he asks simple questions about stuff we learnt about and accepted in kindergarten, that we recite and daven all the time (this is the psalm of the day that we recite each Sunday as well and when we put back the Torah every Monday and Thursday during the week), and that we never pay attention to. He answers that the Talmud tells us that this was of course miraculous. It is the first time where we have a miracle known as
"mu'at machzik es ha'meruba"- where Hashem makes a miracle that a large amount is contained in something very small.
We find that as well, by the way, in this week's Torah portion of Chukas. Perhaps, non-coincidentally enough, it also revolves around the revelation and lesson of water. After the death of Miriam we are told that the well that Moshe had hit 40 years beforehand and that provided the over one million Jews with water for over 40 years had shut down. Before we even get to the miracle that takes place now though, just think about that miracle of the water for 40 years. It's not something we pay much attention to, but its incredible. A wandering well/rock that was the sole water source for our entire nation for 40 years. That's truly mind-blowing. And then we wake up one morning and it's gone. Obviously that is terrifying. Something's broke. What will we do? That would seem to be the obvious reaction, and it was.
Hashem thus tells Moshe that as we enter the land, it's time He reveals the most important lesson of all to our nation. It is a lesson that is critical to our entrance. It was then and it is today as well. The lesson is not that Hashem just performs miracles for our nation. But that the entire world as we perceive it with our eyes is not real. We can only observe the world by what we perceive. That, I believe, is the definition of Science. If it's unobservable, if it can't be studied then it's not scientific and perhaps not real. In the real world we are limited by time and space. Yet here, Hashem wants to show us, that what's not real, in fact, is the phenomena that we believe we are observing. All of that is really just an illusion. "To Hashem is the world and everything in it". Why? Because it's established on water that doesn't fit into any space. The land we are on is miraculous. We're riding on the back of a fish.
Hashem, wants us to see, observe and internalize this idea so He tells Moshe to gather the entire nation of over a million people into the small space of the Ohel Moed. How? It doesn't fit? A miracle happens and guess what, we all fit. That's the real world. There is no time or space restrictions in the real world; in Hashem's revealed world. It's that way as well in Holy of Holies where the Ark doesn't rationally fit, and it will be that way in the Bais Ha'Mikdash when Klal Yisrael will gather there each holiday and when we stand it will be tight, but when we bow down there's plenty of room and an expansion of space. The mu'at, the little and limited will hold the immense.
It is at this juncture He wants Moshe to teach the nation that rocks don't need to be hit anymore. Take your staff with you, but don't use it. Just talk to the rock and watch the water flow out. It can happen. It even makes sense for it to happen. Because the entire earth is Hashem's. The fact that water doesn't come out of rocks is an illusion. But when we are coming into Israel it will be our job to teach that to the world. That this world has a King and His presence is meant to be felt and revealed to the entire world.
The truth is if we take a step back and look at most of our parsha which is the contains the last lessons and narratives before we enter Eretz Yisrael, we'll see that is the message Hashem wants us to understand. That the world is one of tikkun, of the revelation of Hashem and that it is "Chukas" a concept beyond our limited logic and understanding. In fact, in most cases it is the opposite of what we may think.
The parsha begins with Parah Aduma, the red heifer that is burned and that purifies us from the impurity of death. Reb Tzadok Ha'Kohen mentions the Zohar that there is a connection between the red heifer and the fixing of the sin of Adam Ha'Rishon that brought death to the world. The Baal Haturim even notes that the Red Heifer was burnt on branches of a fig tree, because the fig tree, according to one opinion, was the Tree of Life. It was from her branches that Adam took leaves to cover himself after the sin. The source of the sin thus became the beginning of it fixing it.
That idea continues with the Red Heifer atoning for that sin of Adam (aduma…) and as well the sin of the Golden calf, prior to which returned to the state of Adam by Matan Torah and then fell right back again. It is for that reason the Parah Aduma's law is that the pure become impure and the impure becomes pure. We even are metamei the Kohen that burns the ashes and then purify him again. Everything is returning to Eden. The world of purity and impurity are getting dipped in water that is living, mayim chayim and the world becomes born anew.
On an even deeper level, we find that there is personal Jewish ancestral tikkun that takes place with the parah aduma temima- the purely red heifer. We find that red or Edom, doesn't just spell Adam, but as well is the name given to Esau. Yaakov, on the other hand is referred to as an Ish "tam"- a pure person. He is described as a "yoshev ohel- one who sits in the tent". The red heifer's job is to purify someone who become tamei "in the tent". It is Yaakov and Esau. It is the two of them coming together. It is fixing the mistakes of their past. It is the impure Esau becoming pure and Yakov who was pure however he became impure in his process of trying to co-opt the blessings; in how he took the birthright. Back then Yaakov felt the need to put on the clothing of Esau to receive the blessings. He had to present himself as "democratic country, where all religions and faiths can be worship freely" to explain to the world why he deserved to inherit.. If you didn't get where I was going with this… However what we learned from that is that is that is the best case we can make then Esau will want to kill us. The world ultimately won't buy it. We will have to go into galus.
Yaakov has to go to Lavan. Isn't it interesting that the red heifer is pasul and can't be purified as long as it has lavan- white hairs on it? When he's done with that galus though and is approaching his return to Eretz Yisrael, he sends messengers to Esau. He's trying to bribe him. He's ready to go to war with him. Yet ulitimatly and perhaps most tragically he bends the knee to him. He's still going about this wrong. Chazal take him to task for hiding his daughter Dina from him. I don't think they're recommending intermarriage here, but what they are saying is that Yaakov, you've got this all wrong. Our job is to uplift Esau. To burn up that red heifer by bringing him under the shade of Hashem. To tell Esau straight out what his role is and ours and not be afraid. It's to be Yisrael and not Yaakov when we return. It's to struggle with angel of Esau and tame him and have him bless us. It's to make the impure pure.
Our job, as our parsha continues to tell us after the mitzva of parah aduma, is to speak to the rock. To speak to the domeim- the inanimate object. To speak to Edom and watch the mayim chayim, the holy water pour out of him as well. Watch him not only say, as a certain red-headed Edomite leader recently did, "I love you God", but this time to say "I love Hashem, the God of Israel; the King of the world." That Esau recognizes that the world is different than he perceived.
We no longer have to hit the rock to bring out the water. When we come into the land of Israel, if we come in with the right mindset and understanding of the point of us being brought there, then the entire world will come to us. Our enemies will fall without as having to do anything. They will be destroyed, as they are in the end of our parsha, as the hostage-taking-Amaleki king of Arad's entire army did, when we didn't lose one soldier and all we had to do was make a neder to Hashem. We had to speak and declare the purpose of why we are coming. To bring offerings to Hashem, to create a House of prayer for all nations. We had to declare their cities to be Chorrma; Divinely Jewish annexed properties as cities of Hashem, rather than occupied territories to be returned in any future peace negotiations.
It's what happens at the end of the parsha, when the Emorites who wanted to October 7th us hid in the mountains to ambush us and Hashem "beepered" them all. He smashed the mountains into one another. He fought our battle… as He's fighting them today. We didn't have to do anything but sing the song of the well. We realized that we're just riding on the back of a fish. That the entire world is Hashem's. That His glory fills the entire world. That we can all fit in between the two poles of the Aron as we crossed the Jordan river into the Holy Land (another place where that miracle of the large fitting into the impossibly small takes place).
We understand that our job coming to the land of Israel is to reveal that reality to the world. To create a Messianic world, as the prophet Yeshaya tells us, where the knowledge of Hashem will be like water covering the seas. The River to the Sea, is what the world is screaming for. It's our job to reveal that.
Moshe sends messengers to Edom after that water lesson. Just as Yaakov once sent messengers to Esau. But this time perhaps to fix that mistake. He sends them from Kadesh. He sends them from this holy place where he saw the miracle of the many being held by the few. He tells them we should enter derech ha'melech- with the path of the King. We'll go together, it's time for Mashiach. We don't need to drink the water of a well. Hashem is providing all the water and its time to reveal that to the world. Esau, though, isn't ready. He comes back with a sword, with a threat. Rav Charlap, understands Esau's response happens because he had heard that Moshe hit the rock. He didn't talk to it. He heard that we Jews are still trying to bring out the water with sthicks and tricks. We're still making July 4th BBQ's on the back of a fish and don't realize that we needs to get back to the boat.
The verse then tells us that rather than Moshe responding to the Edom, it says
Va'yomru Bnai Yisrael- the Jewish people responded to Edom.
They told him that we would buy food, it would be profitable for him, this is good for the US as well. We will stand up for your interests. We put on the clothes of Esau. We fell back. We thought it would work. It didn't. Rashi tells us that Aharon dies after this because of this mistake. We tried being friends with Esau. That's not our job. Our job is to lead him. Our job is to continue to tell him, as Moshe did, that we are here to go in the path of our King. We are coming to Israel to knock down that mosque. To destroy all idolatry. To be the first born and to create a home and place, where you Esau will connect to Hashem.
The Ohr Ha'Chayim Ha'Kadosh though, ends on a prophetic note on this last story of Esau. He tells us that this is a foretelling of the end of days. Edom, Esau, is the last exile. We will be "captives" to him. We will be hostages. In the end of day Aharon will be gathered into our nation. We will have the spirit of Aharon within us. We will love one another. We will be priests to the world. It is with that power that we can win the battle against Amalek that comes right after this story. That we can see miraculous victories. That we can sing the song of the well. That we can finally bring the geula that we are so thirstily waiting for. To walk together once again with Hashem in Gan Eden. To herald in an era when we the small nation, will hold and carry the many nations of the world in the House of Hashem. The month of Tamuz is the one month that is named after an ancient form of idolatry, it is this month that we are told when the fast of 17th of Tamuz will be turned upside down to a holiday. May this be the year when we see that prophecy fulfilled.
Have a safe and miraculous Shabbos and a redemptive Chodesh Tamuz!
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
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YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" In a groyseh taiych chapt men groyse fish.- In a big river you catch big fish "
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
24. The "prophet" Muhammad's collected sayings, which have become a source of religious ruling in Islam,
are called ______
What is the set of ceremonies performed during the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) linked to?
A. God's revelation to the Prophet
B. Stories about Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael
C. Events in places the prophet passed through on his way between Mecca and Madinah
D. Traditions instituted by the first Caliphs
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S COOL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJcRKU2bNl0&list=RDdJcRKU2bNl0&start_radio=1 – Yishai Ribbos latest song with Shmuel… If you like Yishai this is a classic – Kol Paam Meichadash- Each time anew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0SHSTDrOOU&list=RDl0SHSTDrOOU&start_radio=1 - This Shai Viner wunderkid has a beautiful song "Child of God" although his accent could use some work…😊
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7IirtGPWbU&list=RDh7IirtGPWbU&start_radio=1 – Gorgeous Baruch Levine Chuppa Medleys…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aki-Ji9BjNk&list=RDAki-Ji9BjNk&start_radio=1 – a beautiful heartful Im Ishkocheich medley by Mendy Goldberg!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
586/422? BC -The missing years- As we have arrived at the 9th of Av of the year of the destruction, I want to pause and share with you perhaps one of the confusing details of the chronology of Jewish history. It's not something that I have a personal opinion on. It's way above my pay grade. But I've never been much of a dates guy anyways. It's the stories that I find much more meaningful. I think most people are that way. But anyways here's the conundrum.
According to the Seder Olam and Chazal the year of the destruction of the Temple was in the year 3338 from creation which would make it 422 BCE. The way to remember that by the way, I shared with my shul two weeks ago is that 338 is gematria Shelach, the parsha of sending spies into the land and the parsha that declares that there will be an eternal day of mourning of Tisha B'av. Cool! As well since we know and it is historically agreed upon that the destruction of the second Temple took place in the year 70 CE and our tradition based on the prophecy of Daniel was that there would be 70 years of Exile and the second temple would be for 420 year which all together equals 490 years (70 shemitta years) then the year 420 BC would be about right for the destruction of the first Temple. That view is the opinion of the Saadia Gaon, The Maharal, Reb Yakov Emden and the Chazon Ish. We got with tradition everything else is bubbeh maysehs.
The secular approach which dates the destruction at the year 586 BC which is about 165 years earlier is based on many factors as well. And it has supporters that stand no less than the Baal Ha'Meor and Rav Moredchai Breuer that suggest that Chazal weren't meant to be taken literally and there was more philosophy behind their dating then historical accuracy. The problem that gets raised and that is the crux of the secular dating system is that there is a counting of at least ten Persian Kings that supposedly reigned during the short period of time that would Chazal give. As well there seems to be much historical evidence that the Persian empire was more in the range of 206 years rather than the 52 that the shorter Chazal timeline would give them.
Rav Shimon Schwab, who was probably the most recent and final word on this debate has two articles on the subject. In the first he seems to go with the secular view and expressed reasons why Chazal obscured the historical view in order to hide the date of the coming of Mashiach. If you think about what's going on now this is pretty relevant. For according to our counting from creation we are in the year 5785 which is 215 years away from the year 6000, which tradition has it is the end of time as we know it. According to the secular counting of a longer bayis sheni period then we subtract 165 years to that then boys and girls we have now entered the final yovel 50-year jubilee before the "End". Later on he recanted on that position and felt that Chazal wouldn't do that, yet who knows…
For the purposes of this column we'll maintain the secular counting until Bayis Sheni, but who looks at years anyways… right… Hopefully, by next week Mashiach will already be here and he'll clear it all up for us.!
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S BEST ISLAND JOKES OF THE WEEK
Berel, Yankel, and Ephraim were stranded on a deserted island. One day Al found an old jar in the sand. When the jar was opened, a genie came out and said to them, "You have freed me from my jar. For the rest of your time on this island, I am obligated to grant each of you one wish per year. But no wishing anyone, including yourself, off the island."
"In that case," said Berel, "I wish for 365 sefarim, so that I can learn one per day for a year." Instantly, 365 books appeared.
"I wish for 365 cans of beer," said Yankel, "so that I can drink one per day for a year." Instantly, 365 cans of beer appeared.
"I wish for 365 cigarettes," said Ephraim, "so that I can smoke one per day for a year." Instantly, 365 cigarettes appeared, and the genie disappeared back into the jar.
A year later, the genie came back out of the jar to grant Berel, Yankel, and Ephraim another wish.
"I wish for 365 more books," said Berel. Instantly, 365 more books appeared.
"I wish for 365 more cans of beer," said Yankel. Instantly, 365 more cans of beer appeared.
Ephraim looked sternly at the genie and said, "I wish for a lighter."
I was stranded on an island with nothing but dark red grass, dark red sand, dark red trees everything was dark red.
"AHHH!" I yelled "I've been marooned!"
A Dutch, English and Chinese man survive a boat accident and wash up on an island. They need food, water and supplies to survive the night. The Dutch guys says that he will gather the food, the English man will get water and the Chinese man is send for supplies.
When the Dutch and the English man come back with food and water the Chinese man is nowhere to be found. They wait a bit till they can't wait longer and start preparing the food.The Dutch and English guy start eating and out of nowhere the Chinese guy jumps out the bushes and shouts: " SUPPLIES!! ".
Did you hear that Elon Musk is planning to buy the entire island of Madagascar?
He’s planning to rename it Madaelectriccar
Abe and Esther are flying to Australia for a two-week vacation to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Suddenly, over the public address system, the Captain announces,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am afraid I have some very bad news. Our engines have ceased functioning and we will attempt an emergency landing. Luckily, I see an uncharted island below us and we should be able to land on the beach. However, the odds are that we may never be rescued and will have to live on the island for the rest of our lives!”
Thanks to the skill of the flight crew, the plane lands safely on the island. An hour later Abe turns to his wife and asks,
“Esther, did we pay our $5,000 Shul pledge check yet?”
“No, sweetheart,” she responds.
Abe, still shaken from the crash landing, then asks,
“Esther, did we pay our School tuition dues yet?”
"Oh, no! I’m sorry. I forgot to send the check,” she says.
“One last thing, Esther. Did you remember to send checks for the Vaad Ha'Bayit house dues in Israel this month?” he asks.
“Oh, forgive me, Abie,” begged Esther. “I didn’t send that one, either.”
Abe grabs her and gives her the biggest kiss in 40 years. Esther pulls away and asks him,
“What was that for?”
Abe answers, “They’ll find us!”
If I was stranded on a desert island I would take along a deck of cards. Because everyone knows after about 20 minutes of playing solitaire someone will come up behind you and tell you you're doing something wrong.
(OK not everyone will get this one…) The cast of Friends got shipwrecked on an deserted island...
Monica, Joey and Chandler were left behind because in real life David is a Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow.
What happens when you claim an island by pishing on it? Urination (did I really just include that… oyyy…)
A shipwrecked mariner has spent several years on a deserted island, completely alone.
Then one morning he was thrilled to see a ship offshore and a smaller vessel pulling out towards him. When the boat grounded on the beach, the officer in charge handed the marooned sailor a bundle of newspapers and told him: “The captain said to read through these and let us know if you still want to be rescued.”
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The answer to this week”s question is B- I got a 50/50 on this one and frankly I'm even surprised I got that right. I knew the first part surprisingly enough is called Hadith… I remember that because it's similar to the word das- in hebRew which is law or religion. The second part though, I actually originally was thinking that it was a Avraham Yishmael akeida bubbeh mayseh that they distorted. But I remembered that was what their holiday or id al tabcha- sacrifice holiday was all about, so I thought it was a trick and I went with Muhammeds stops along the way, after-all it said pilgramege so I thought it wasa referring to stuff they did along the way. But I guess I was wrong. So the correct answer was the akeida story. So the score is now Rabbi Schwartz 15.5 Ministry of Tourism 8.5 on this exam so far, which should me back in passing range.
