Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
November 27th 2020 -Volume 11
Issue 7 11th Kislev 5781
Parshat Vayeitze
Aliyah / Yeridah- Going up / Going down
It's a word that's on a lot of
people's minds and mouths these days. I can tell you that because on a usual
year I get between one or two calls or E-Mails every month or so about moving
to Israel and particularly Karmiel. Perhaps in April-May time I get a few more
than that. But this past year I have been deluged. Since this pandemic has
begun I'm averaging probably 6 to 8 a month. During the BLM riots and looting I
received even more than that and the post-election calls have my phone ringing
off the hook. Nefesh B'Nefesh is overwhelmed from what I understand requests
for applications and information about emigration to Israel is through the holy
roof. The word Aliya is coming out of the star spangled closet. The Children
are really considering returning to our holy borders. Will they actually come
or is this just Jews making sure their passports and destination are updated to
leave, as they still continue to hang out there until the very end? Only Hashem
knows. But Aliyah, a concept that was certainly foreign to many of my brothers
and sisters in the Diaspora is certainly a course on the Shabbos table these
days right next to the chulent.
Fascinatingly enough there is
another word that I've heard a lot lately as well. It's coming from not nearly
as many people as the first word, but it has come up a few times these months
when usually it's only something I hear from Israelis. Not from those that have
already picked up their families and left it all behind. Not from those who
have tasted the fulfillment of the lifelong dream of every Jew to live in the
country of our ancestors. It may have never necessarily been their dream when
they moved here. They may have come for all types of ulterior motives- as I did-when
they made Aliyah. But it was always the dream of their neshoma. So how
come I'm finding the past few months that I'm having more and more
conversations with people that have moved here about yeridah; their
desire to return to chutz la'aretz once again. They can't deal with it
anymore; the masks, the discrimination, the closed schools, the craziness and
the politics. They just want to go back. They're ready to cash it all in.
If there's one thing the year
2020 has done to us is force all of us to reassess many of the things in our
lives. We don't look at the world the same way we used to. We think about
shopping differently; school, shul, weddings, bar mitzvas. Nothing is the same.
We are looking at our non-Jewish neighbors differently. Not just those in
America either. Although most Americans and I imagine Europeans as well always
knew that "it" could happen again, despite us having a hard
time believing it. Yet, the rising anti-semitism and anti-Israel levels that we
are all seeing in even the normative political echelons is making us question
how wrong we might have been about being sure that it was such a far danger.
We are even looking at our Jewish
neighbors as well differently. Are they wearing masks? Are they voting
"right"? Is this really where I'm meant to be? In Israel and in
America we are questioning more and more if we can count on our respective
governments and their institutions to have our best interests in mind in the
decisions or decrees they are passing. How much is politics? How much is power
and self-interests? People over there and over here are both thinking more than
ever that maybe we're in the wrong country. Maybe it's time to move. The
question is only if it's up or down; Aliyah or Yeridah?
Perhaps Parshat Vayeitzei is the
perfect parsha to examine this topic, for if Avraham was the first Oleh,
as we said, and Yitzchak was the first Sabra, Yaakov becomes the first Sabra
born in Israel to leave the country. Sure, Avraham also left but he wasn't born
here. He was just took a short break in Egypt for a while. But Yaakov who was
born and raised on the holiness of the land from a father who didn't have a
clue what outside of Israel looked like, leaves Eretz Yisrael for a few decades.
All of the years that he worked by Lavan and where he gets married and makes a
bunch of chutznik kids to bring back home with him. It's an incredible
thing to think about. All of the tribes of Israel, with the exception of
Binyamin, were Olim. Whereas our forefather Yaakov himself was what they
call a toshav chozer- a returning citizen that makes Aliyah. What's that
all about? It seems that there's something significant for the development of
the Jewish people that could only come from them being raised and experiencing
the "diaspora experience".
In case you're still doubting
this assertion, think for a second about the fact that Yaakov was sent out of
Eretz Yisrael by his father Yitzchak to find a wife. Why did he send him away,
out of Eretz Yisrael? Yitzchak didn't know that Esau was out to kill Yaakov. In
fact the the text tells us Yaaakov wasn't even in any danger as Esau had
already decided that he wasn't going to make any moves on Yaakov until Yitzchak
was dead (which wouldn't be for another few decades). It's not only a wife that
Yaakov seems to be sent there to find either. For if that was the sole purpose
then Eliezer or another faithful servant could have been sent there. It worked
for Yitzchak and Rivkah, didn't it? What could be so bad? No, it seems that
Yaakov was sent there because there was work that needed to be done. The work
of chutz la'aretz and perhaps even the work of Eretz Yisrael needed to
have its foundation outside of the holy land. It needed to start in galus.
I remember when I first moved to
Israel I was talking to the Rav of our city, Karmiel, Harav Avraham Margalit
and he told me that he is jealous of Olim. He was raised in Israel and
to a large degree it is part of his identity. He's an Israeli. Being one, he
takes it all for granted. Sure it's nice to be able to walk the streets our
ancestors did. To always have access to davening at our holy sites; the Kotel,
Kever Rachel, the tombs of all of our greatest sages for millennia. Even the
idea that he is fulfilling a mitzva of settling the land by his mere presence
here is just something he does. Kind of like the way most people take for
granted the fact that we actually have the ability to talk to Hashem three
times a day when we daven, or that we bentch after we eat. He's jealous of the
enthusiasm that Olim that come here have. The excitement they carry with them
just walking down the streets of Yerushalayim. Seeing signs in Hebrew, on having
a taxi cab driver without a Kippah wishing you an upcoming chag samayach
or Shabbat Shalom as you get out of their cab. There is a passion that Olim
possess that one who is born here can never have. Yet that passion only comes
from someone who hasn't been raised here.
But it's more than the passion
that those that are raised outside of Israel possess that Yaakov's exile is
about. There is a job and life experience that he needed to accomplish there
first. It is only when that job is complete; when Yaakov has gathered all the
sparks of Lavan and when he has herded all of the holy sheep that he tended to
and brought them into his flock could he return. After the work of directing
those sheep into producing generations and generations of sheep in the image of
the sticks that he placed before them and raising his only children to do so as
well. Only then could he bring all of those sparks back to Eretz Yisrael with him.
Yaakov, the man of the tent, who
had sat and learned all of his life, with the taking of the birthright and the
blessings took upon himself to fulfill the role of Esau of as well. He put on
Esau's clothes and now it was time to go to Esau's workplace. Out to the
fields, far from the Beit Midrash. It was time to get his hands dirty. As
opposed to the job of Yaakov which is to bring Hashem down through the light of
Torah from above, the job of Esau is to reveal the sparks of glory here below
and to elevate them. It's the difference between the work of Aliya-lifting up
the world that the chutznik does and yerida bringing down the
light and blessing from above in Eretz Yisrael.
When Yaakov leaves Eretz Yisrael
to embark upon this journey he has the famous dream that our Parsha begins
with. The dream is of angels 'Olim' and 'Yordim'; the angels
going up and coming down. Rashi tells us that they are the angels of Eretz
Yisrael that are going up and the angels of chutz la'aretz coming down. Why
are there two sets of angels? Why can't the Israeli angels go for a quick tour
of Switzerland, a safari in Africa, go see the statue of Liberty or see Mickey Mouse
in Disney World. Why can't they go to Lakewood, to Gateshead, to Radin or Vilna
which I'm sure would be more on their itinerary plans than the first
suggestions.
The answer is because Eretz
Yisrael angels have one job. Only one thing that they are trained and created
to do. That is to bring the bracha and light down from shamayim to this
world; to Eretz Yisrael for the Jewish people to export it to the rest of the
world. It is our most important GDP. When those Israeli angels job is over they
go back up again to heaven. They are called "olim" because
that is the conclusion of their job to bring it down and then go back up. Angels
trained like these have no place or job outside of Eretz Yisrael. Israeli
angels need to stay in Israel. There is nothing outside of here that they need
to do. Nothing that they can do.
The angels of Chutz La'aretz,
on the other hand are there to come down and help us reveal the sparks that are
hidden down here. They protect us and accompany us as we uncover and elevate
those sparks through our sanctification of Hashem's name, through our prayers
and blessings, through our charity and tikun olam. They are the angels
that were trained to accompany the work of Esau, the angels that Yaakov who
replaced Esau needed to bring with him for all of the work he was meant to do
out here. Their job is to be yordim- to come down with Yaakov. To go
down as deep as he needed to go and from there to rise back up again. (It is
those angels that Yaakov ultimately sends back to Esau when he is coming to
attack him in next week's parsha). But you know what? Unlike the angels of
Eretz Yisrael that should never leave, the angels of Chutz La'aretz come
back home again. They make Aliyah. For ultimately all those sparks that were
raised in the fields of Esau need to be returned to shamayim by these
holy chutznik angels who have finally come home.
This Shabbos is the yartzeit of
the Bas Ayin of Tzfat, Reb Avraham of Avritch. A great lover of Israel Reb Avraham left Europe
to come here at age 65 in the year 1830. As he was passing through the town of
Zhitomir to get a blessing from the great Reb Aharon that led the community there,
he found the Rebbi lying sick in bed. When he told his dear friend that he was
off to Eretz Yisrael, Reb Aharon rejoiced. He told him that he understood that
the only way that he can be cured was if he would drink water from the Holy
Land. Since Reb Avraham was already on his way there then his thoughts are
already there certainly as well. There is a famous mystical idea from the Baal
Shem Tov that a person's location and presence is always where one's thoughts
are. If that was the case Reb Avraham was like an "Eretz
Yisraeldikeh" yid. It's as if he was already in Israel. So if he would
make a blessing on some water and drank some and shared with him, it would be
as if the Rebbi was drinking the water of Israel and he would be cured. And so
he did. And so he was cured.
The Bas Ayin brings this story to
explain that we find the anomaly that there is one time when we do find that
the angels of Eretz Yisrael do leave the holy land. At the conclusion of our
parsha as Yaakov makes his way back home he meets those original Israeli
angels. Rashi tells us that they came out to greet Yaakov, his children and his
angels who are coming back home. But how could they leave? Didn't we just say
the angels of Israel cannot go out. He answers because the Jews whose thoughts
and actions are on Aliyah are as if they are already in Israel. The holy land
has come out to greet them. They have already come home.
Fascinatingly enough after Rav
Avritch was in Tzfat for a few years it became very difficult for him. There
was too much poverty, there were too many enemies. Life was rough. After much
painful thought and reflection he was seriously considering to go back. His
family, his chasidim, his Torah was so much stronger there. Maybe this was a
mistake. Maybe he should be yored. With these thoughts going through his
mind, he headed over to Shul to daven the afternoon prayers and he heard much scurrying
and activity on the rooftops of the houses. When he asked someone what it was
he was told that it was the women quickly removing all of their household items
and food that they would store on their roofs for the summer and fall seasons,
as they had no room in their house. "Why the urgency" asked
the Bas Ayin as he looked up at the clear blue skies. There were no sign or
forecasts of any impending rains. The old Tzfat yid explained that this evening
they would be begin reciting the winter prayers of v'sein tal u'matar in
their prayers asking for rain
"Since we are sure that
our Father in Heaven will hear our prayers and will heed our request, we take
precautions so that our possessions won't be ruined when the rains come."
When Reb Avraham heard the
incredible unwavering and pure faith of the "Eretz Yisraeldikeh"
yidden, those Israeli angels that live in this country, he decided that
he could never leave. And he didn't.
Yes, it has been a year like no
other for us. Even the Israelis that live here in Eretz Yisrael who have been
locked down and shut out of so much of our country have the longing to once
again visit our holy places like we used to. But we need to know that we can
never leave. The rainy season is here and blessing and rains are already coming
down just as we have been praying for them for the past few weeks already. The
angels are bringing down the bracha. Next week you in chutz la'aretz
will catch up with us and begin those rain blessing prayers as well. You are
praying for the rain in Eretz Yisrael and for our blessings. Your thoughts are
here with us and on us. They are the thoughts of you coming here… coming home. Our
angels are all ready to come out to greet you. Welcome to Israel! Welcome back
home. This time for good.
Have an angelic and thankful Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" Ich ruff der malach und kumt der Galach.."-
I summoned an angel and a priest
came.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
5)
Gas drilling rigs are planned in the area of:
A)
Ellah Valley
B)
The sea, opposite the southern tip of the Carmel
C)
The Dead Sea
D)
The sea, opposite Nitzanim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZeWq5WerF8 – Shwekey and Chaim Yisrael singing Malachim Caesarea
https://youtu.be/zyPSOOPKcmc
–
The
Bas Ayin story with pictures of Shul and earthquake
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
The Death of Shaul and
Yonasan- 877 BC- We
conclude the Book of Shmuel Aleph (I) this week with the long dreaded battle
and death of Shaul and Yonasan. It is a bloody ending to a book that started
with such potential and hope with the birth of Shmuel. This battle has been a
few weeks in coming and the stage has been set. Dovid is far away returning
from his battle with the Amalekites that had kidnapped his wives and those of
his soldiers in Tziklag. The Plishtim have hundreds of thousands of men
and they are swarming the foothills of Gilboa in the Jezre'el Valley.
The Jews didn't stand a chance. And although that is true for most of our wars,
but here we already know that Hashem had revealed to Shaul through the spirit
of Shmuel that they would not win. Although the Jews didn't know this yet,
Shaul certainly did and despite his best efforts to marshal the troops the Jews
were getting slaughtered and began to flee.
"He can be compared to Moses, King David, and even an angel,"
came the response.
The new community eagerly accepted the rabbi as their spiritual leader but
quickly realized he was incapable of anything. They wrote a letter to the other
community, complaining as to why they deceived them.
To which they received a reply, "We were not deceiving you. Just like
Moses — this rabbi can't speak. He knows not a word of English — like King
David. And just as an angel — a mentsh he is not."
The angel says, "Yes, but what will you do now?"
God says, "I think I’ll call it a day."
When the angel Michael came by, the woman said to him, “This is such a
wonderful place! How do I get in?” “You have to spell a word,” the
angel said. “Which word?” the woman asked. “Love.” The woman correctly
spelled “Love” and the angel welcomed her into Heaven.
About a year later, Michael the angel came to the woman and asked her to watch
the Gates of Heaven for him that day.
While the woman was guarding the Gates of Heaven, her husband arrived. “I’m
surprised to see you,” the woman said. “How have you been?”
“Oh, I’ve been doing pretty well since you died,” her husband told her. “I
married the beautiful young nurse whom you never liked; and then I won the 250
million dollar lottery. I sold the little house you and I lived in and bought a
huge mansion, a private jet, a yacht, and a summer home in the Riviera. My wife
and I traveled all around the world. We were on vacation in Cancun and I went
water skiing today. I fell and hit my head, and here I am. What a bummer!
“Now, how do I get in to this beautiful paradise? I am starving…”
“You have to spell a word,” the woman told him.
“Which word?” her husband asked.
“Czechoslovakia,” she said.
.Sam, Abbe and Moishe were waiting in line to get into Heaven. When Sam gets to the front of the line, the Angel said, "Before you can enter you must tell me the story of how you died?"
"I came
home to my apartment and I noticed the door was open, so I knew that there was
a thief inside. So I started to search for him, but I couldn’t find where the
guy was hiding. However, when I went out onto my balcony, there was this man
hanging onto my railings. I was furious and started kicking him but he held on
so I got a hammer and battered his fingers. He couldn't take that and had to
let go. He fell 20 stories but he somehow landed in some thick bushes and only
stunned himself so I ran into my kitchen, grabbed the fridge and threw it over
the balcony. My aim was perfect – it landed right on top of him, killing him
instantly. Unfortunately, all the raw anger got to me. I had a massive heart
attack and died on my balcony."
"That
sounds interesting to me," said the Angel and let Sam in.
He then asks
Abbe for his story.
"It's
been a very unusual day for me. I live on the 21st floor and every morning I do
exercises on my balcony. Unfortunately, this morning I slipped on the wet floor
and fell over the edge. Luckily, I managed to grab the railing of the balcony
below mine. All of a sudden, a man burst out onto the balcony and just for a
moment I thought I was saved. But he was a madman and started beating me. I
somehow held on but when he started hammering at my hands, I had to let go. But
I got lucky and fell into the bushes below, winded but OK. But my luck ran out
when a fridge fell on me. Now I'm here."
Once again, the Angel lets Abbe in. Moishe came to the front of the line "Picture this," says Moishe, "I'm hiding inside a refrigerator..."
"Okay," the man says, “I never ate a piece
of non-kosher food in my 90 years. Nothing.”
"That's
wonderful," says the
angel, "that's worth three points!"
"Three
points?" he says. "Well,
I attended synagogue all my life and always gave as much tzedakah as I
could."
"Terrific!" says the angel, "that's
certainly worth a point."
"One
point? Oy. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and volunteered
at the Jewish senior’s home."
"Fantastic,
that's good for two more points," he says.
"TWO
POINTS!!" the man cries.
"The way you guys grade, there’s no way my Selma got in here.”
“Selma who?” asks the angel.
“My wife,
Selma Rothenstein. You know, Selma and I were married for 60 years and I never
raised my voice at her, not even once."
“Oh, thaaat
Selma,” the angel
nods. “You put up with her for 60 years?! Come right in!”
Rivkah Epstein
was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with
a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication.
She got back to her car and found that she had locked her keys in the car.
She didn't know
what to do, so she called home and told the baby sitter what had happened. The
baby sitter told her that the fever was getting worse. She said, "You
need to get back here immediately with that medication. Do whatever you have
to, to get in your car."
The woman
looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger on the ground. She tried to
use it to open her car door but exasperated, admitted, "I don't know
how to use this."
So Rivkah bowed
her head and asked God to send her some help. Within five minutes an old rusty
car pulled up, with a greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull
rag on his head. The woman thought, "God, this is what you sent to help
me?"
The man got out
of his car and asked her if he could help. She said, "Yes, my daughter
is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my
car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my
car?"
He said, "Sure".
He walked over to the car, and in less than a minute the car was opened. In
tears she said, "Thank you so much! You are an angel!"
The man
replied, "I ain’t no angel lady. I just got out of prison today. For
car theft, actually.”
Rivkah looked
heavenward and cried out loud, "Oh, Thank you God! I’m sorry I
questioned you. Not only did you answer my prayers and send me help, you even
sent me a professional!"
It was tax time
in Chelm, and two of its leading citizens were having a discussion.
"I don't
understand this business with taxes," said the first man. "Surely the Czar has
enough money of his own. He even has his own royal mint, where he can make as
many rubles as he likes. So why does he bother with my ruble?"
"Don't be
silly," said the
second. "Let me tell you a parable. It is said that every time a Jew
performs a mitzvah, God creates an angel. So why not ask God why he needs one
more angel in addition to the millions of angels he has already created? Can't
God make as many angels as he likes? Of course he can! But why doesn't he?
Because God prefers your angel.
"Well the
same thing is true with taxes. Of course the Czar can make as many rubles as he
likes. But you don't understand -- he prefers your ruble."
Answer is B – Personally I don't recall ever seeing or noticing the Gas rig in the sea outside of the beach of Dor Nachsholim. I do kind of remember protests going on there about a year ago about them being placed there and the environmental concerns Zichron Yaakov and some of other cities in area had about it. But you can't fight 10's of billions of dollars in estimated future profits and enough gas to provide Israel for the next 40 years from the 500 million cubic meters of gas interests that lie under the Sea. All of this is all taking place not far from Chaifa in the Southern Carmel about an hour or so from home which is certainly far enough from me. So another one right and the score now stands at 4 for Rabbi Schwartz and 1 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.
