Insights
and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
July 16th 2018 -Volume
8 Issue 34 3rd Tamuz 5778
Parshat
Korach
If I Were a Rich Man
My daughter is an “einekel”- a descendant
of the Shlah Hakadosh, that great 17th century sage Rebbi Yeshaya
HaLevi Horowitz. All my children are in fact, as my wife’s great-grandmother is
a Porush and they trace their roots back to this great Rabbi originally of
Prague who served there as a Rav and in Frankfort before moving to Israel He
made Aliya when he was 64 years old. He didn’t get a free plane ticket, no sal
klita- absorption package from the non-welcoming Turks that were ruling the
land. He traveled by boat, camel, donkey and wagon and was almost attacked by
pirates. He was robbed and even
kidnapped and ransomed after coming here. He left his children, his students
and well–paying congregation behind. He wrote his monumental work along the way
the Shney Luchot HaBrit –which became the acronym of the name Shla that he was called. He wrote
the book as a will for his children that ultimately became a seminal work of
Jewish thought, law, ethics Torah commentary and even mysticism. He is one of
only a handful of people that had the title “HaKadosh-the holy one”
added on to their name. And yet with all that being said I never mentioned that
little piece of illustrious lineage on my daughter’s “shidduch resume” that essential
life’s accomplishment CV that is sent to matchmakers when your daughter
“becomes of age” in the 21st century Orthodox Jewish world.
Now back in the day when I was dating they
didn’t have shidduch resumes. There wasn’t a shidduch crisis
either… I had to work hard to get a date, not like these young shnooks getting
off the plane from Israel that have lines of girls and lists waiting for them
because they can learn really good. Maybe the two are connected. The shidduch
resume thing and crisis, I mean. Not the learning and getting your name on a
list and somehow that making you a desirable husband material thing. But what
do I know? Anyways, when it was my
daughter’s turn I didn’t mention that she was descendant of the Shlah Truth is my
wife never mentioned when I was dating her either. It wasn’t until afterwards
that I understood why.
Now although I haven’t seen this written
anywhere (and I have searched), one of the other “family” members one time
mentioned to me that the Shlah stated in his will that he when he dies he will
go up to heaven and pray that none of his descendants will ever suffer from
that terrible challenge and test in life of…being wealthy. Now for some reason
there are those that think that having a few extra bucks or more would be a
good thing. Many of them might have wanted to date my daughter. So I left that
little nugget out of her resume. But not the saintly Shlah, he saw it as the
worst possible trial anyone could ever have. In fact in the famous prayer he
composed for parents to recite for their children, that those who visit his
grave in Tiverya, as well as thousands recite around the world on the day
before the new month of Sivan, he states
that
“Hashem
should grant each individual amongst my descendants enough for what they are
lacking in an honorable fashion.”
Now I think that when most of pray we ask Hashem
for a good livelihood, for money to “put away” to live “comfortably”
if not even a bit better. That wasn’t his prayer. His prayer was his
children should have enough to cover them for the things they are lacking. He
didn’t pray that we shouldn’t be lacking. Lacking is good. Poverty is good as
well. Just “making it’ is the best and most we should pray for our children.
He must be praying pretty hard up there for his descendants because it’s
working... I can tell you from experience. Check my bank account.
I think about his legacy this week as we read
Parshat Korach and I heard a great class from Rabbi Daniel Glatstien (Kudos to
my brother Gedalia’s WhatsApp group with the weekly amazing shiurim he
sends out) on this week’s Torah portion on the topic. See, this week we read
the portion of Korach. Korach, the quintessential baal machlokes- rabble
rouser, rebelled against Moshe and Aharon with the goal of receiving the right
to the kehuna-the priesthood. What was it that drew him to this fight,
the Shach al Hatorah asks? He explains that we are told that Korach failed
perhaps what is the greatest test of all. The nisayon of osher-
wealth. See the Talmud tells us that that Korach was one of the wealthiest
people ever.
Pesachim
(119.) Rabbi Chama says that there were three treasures that were hidden by
Yosef (from the wealth that he gathered from Egypt) Korach revealed a third,
Antoninus of Rome revealed a third and the last third is put away for the
righteous.
Now Yosef seemingly got this money when all of
the world came to buy food from Egypt. Although it says he collected “all
of the money” of Egypt, the Shach notes that it only says he brought “the
money” to the house of Pharaoh. He took a fair share for the Jewish people
that he knew would ultimately be enslaved by Egypt and would be entitled to it.
One could say it was the first “pyramid scheme”. Ouch! (His joke not mine).
When we left Egypt Hashem told the Jews to take the money of Egypt, which they
dutifully obliged. However the real cache was hidden. Korach uncovered it. He
kept his fine share. How much did he keep? How rich was he…? If you are asking
that question, then you can be assured of your Jewish heritage J. We like to count OPM
(if you know that means other people’s money then you are really an MOT- member
of the tribe). The Talmud continues and tells us
(ibid)
Reb Levi says he had the load of 300 white donkeys that carried – are
you ready for this…?- the keys to the storage houses- and if that wasn’t
enough for you..- and the keys and locks were made out leather!
How’s that for rich? 300 donkeys just to carry
the leather keys? Can you imagine how much money he had?
Now the truth is that Korach was really not
entitled to that money. See the tribe of Levi never slaved in Egypt. They got
the yeshiva-guy exemption that even the Egyptians thought was a good thing. No
contemporary political insinuations intended of course… So Korach got his money
illicitly and there is really nothing worse than someone who not only has money
but didn’t earn it the good old fashioned way. So the Shach tells us that when
he saw that Aharon the brother of Moshe was being elevated by the people, as is
the Jewish law that the Kohen Gadol is meant to be given gifts in order that he
be prestigious in the eyes of the people as their representative to Hashem, he
was jealous. He was already rich. Why give this job to the poor brother
of Moshe and make him rich? He trusted his money and didn’t trust Hashem and
Moshe.
The Midrash in Megilla tells us as well that
there were two wealthy people and their wealth was their downfall. One Jewish
one and one non-Jewish one. The yid was Korach the non- Jewish one was
none other than Haman. He also had it all. Everything except of course one Jew
named Mordechai that wasn’t too impressed or awed by the wealth and power of
Haman. Haman ended up 50 Amos above ground hanging by a rope he made
himself. Korach went the other
direction. Swallowed up by the earth that he thought he possessed all of. The
common denominator between the two of them the Shach suggests is that their
wealth deluded them. They thought money
buys everything. Money is power. Money is strength. Money is happiness. Money
brings prestige and privilege when in fact all it brings is false pride. It is
the rope that can hang you and it is the earth that can swallow you up.
The Sefat Emet notes that the reason why we were
exiled from Israel the Torah warns us at the end of the tochacha- rebuke
of Moshe is
Devarim
(28:47) because you have not served Hashem with happiness and goodness of heart
when you had an abundance of everything.
The exile comes he writes is because we failed
the challenge of austerity. We were meant to be happy with the money. The money
and wealth should have driven us to appreciate Hashem, to use it for good. That
is the challenge of it. It’s not easy
though and we failed. We forgot Hashem. We
try to make more and more. We feel we need more and more. As our income grows
so does our pursuit for even more. Our expenses grow. Our “quality of life”
costs more. We can’t be happy because we can’t keep up. We can’t thank Hashem
fully and appreciate His goodness because we are busy asking Him for more. We
don’t have the happiness and goodness of heart that we are meant to and that is
why we are exiled.
It is a much harder challenge then poverty. Look
at our history. When Jews were down-trodden, when we didn’t have a dry potato
peel to put on our table, when flayshigs for dinner was something that
was special for Shabbos and even then it was chicken. Meat was a Yom Tov
delicacy. In what the Sefat Emet would call the “good old days”. We
followed the Torah. We prayed like we meant it. We used our extra time not
making an extra buck, but studying the holy books. The eras of prosperity
generally led to assimilation, an abandonment of the commandments and
traditions of our ancestors. We exchanged the habits of highly spiritual people
for the habits of the highly effective people. And at the end of the day we
lost millions in the process. Millions of precious souls exchanged for the
millions of dollars whose siren call we couldn’t ignore. And what did it get
us?
My Rebbi once noted to me that the Mishna in
Avot tells us
(2:7)
Marbeh nechasim-marbeh daagah- he who increases his possessions
increases worry.
It doesn’t say that one increases possessions and
worry. Rather all one gets with more money, more possessions is da’aga.
Worry, ulcers, frustrations, fears about keeping it all, anxiety about your
status, how you’re viewed, your relationships, and responsibilities.
I really
don’t envy them. Kollel guys don’t have those ulcers. They’re generally happy.
Tour Guides too, even the ones that are married to descendants of the Shla. So
maybe it’s a good thing he’s praying up there. Maybe even we should start
praying that as well. I don’t think we should pray for poverty but perhaps that
Hashem should protect us from the challenge of wealth. That we have what we
need. And for those of you readers that have that challenge, that don’t have
the Shla plugging for them upstairs. May Hashem give you the strength to
persevere. To keep doing the good that I’m sure you are doing. And the joy and
fulfillment and closeness to Hashem that your particular test doesn’t engender
naturally. I’m rooting for you. Klal Yisrael is rooting for you. And by the way
did I mention I need a sponsor for my weekly E-mail next week J.
Have a rich Shabbos
Rabbi Ephraim
Schwartz
**********************************************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Faran dareh gvirim un fetteh oremeleit.” – There are often lean rich
men and fat poor men
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q. A river which was נוקה cleaned and became a tour site:
a. Nahal
Alexander
b. Nahal Yagur
c. Nahal
Kidron
d. Nahal David
RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://youtu.be/wzjwTWxHE_o
- Awesome!
The Musical Ross family all welcome in Shabbos with a bunch of golden oldies
https://youtu.be/9TMD_DI0fPk
- Micha Gammerman a nice Boi Kallah arranged by Yitz Berry and Eli
Klein!
https://youtu.be/4wU8pCAVFdw
- The man
behind Artscroll- Upon the first Yartzeit of Reb Meir Zlotowitz Z”L and release
of book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3zKyTgfG5w – Sammy
Davis Jr. as Tevye?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MMYB6Xsc9c -If I had a
bitcoin spoof
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HAFTORA CONNECTION OF THE
WEEK
Parshat
Korach – Ok so this week it’s a bit scary the timeliness of the haftora
reading to our daily events. See in Israel this week the big news, at least for
tour guides is that it was raining. No rain in June is certainly bizzare. In
May it’s out of place fuggedabout June. Our rainy season is November to March.
Sukkos to Pesach. But this wasn’t just a rain, it was flooding in Ashkelon and
Sderot. It broke records. Weird, right? Then I open the haftorah this week and
guess what it talks about the prophet Shmuel and the unseasonal rain he brings
upon the Jewish people to show Hashem’s disapproval with their request for a
King.
Shmuel I (11:16) also
now stand and see this great thing which Hashem will do before your eyes. Is it
not the wheat cutting season today? I will call to Hashem and He will give loud
noise and rain and you shall know that your wickedness is great in the eyes of
Hashem in requesting a King. And Shmuel called out to Hashem and Hashem gave
noise and rain on that day and the people were very fearful of Hashem and
Shmuel.
Now
tell me that’s not timely and scary. Now we are not having elections yet, as
far as I know , although in this country ya’nevva know what tomorrow may bring.
So I don’t think we’re looking to get a new king here. But the message of
Shmuel is really echoing the message of the parsha, which as we know is always
the point of the haftorah. Korach riled up the people because he wanted the
Jewish people to be led more like a democracy. “We are all holy”. Why should
Moshe and Aharon rule over the rest of us. They want to be like everyone else. As
well the Jews in the times of Shaul and Shmuel wanted a King to be like every
other nation. Enough with this theocracy. Let’s divide “church” and state.
Sounds nice. But it isn’t. See their intent in both cases was to further their
own personal good. To influence the susceptible elected officials. Pay to Play.
Once Moshe or Shmuel are out of the picture, everything can go. We’ll have our
guy in the Knesset. That was a problem So Moshe had the ground swallow them up.
Shmuel scared them with some unseasonal rain. And all was good. We got the
message. Follow the law, the rabbis, the spiritual leaders, don’t work the
system. It’s raining in June in Israel, let’s hope the ground doesn’t open up
and learn the lesson now!
Shaul
(884 BC)- The Talmud tells us that Shaul was perfect without any
sin. Head and shoulders literally above all his peers. He was a fierce warrior
and a true hero of the Jewish people. Perhaps even more significantly Shaul
does not tell anyone that he is King. He is not looking for power or to rule.
This humility is certainly noteworthy however at the same time it seems to be
his flaw, as he does not ultimately fill his role. He is king for a mere two
years. He leads battles and has a troubled Kingship. But he will always remain
the first King of Israel.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
Miriam
and Tzippora- 1270 BC- If I
were to ask you where the Matriarchs are buried, so being avid readers of this
column, or in general people who have read the Torah, or visited Israel I’m
sure would all answer in Chevron. In a place called the Cave of our Patriarchs
or Matriarchs or Mearat Hamachpela purchased by Avraham Avinu. Yet if one comes
to the city of Tiverya and travels to the top of the city (about a few
blocks above Rabbi Akiva) one would find another grave and memorial for the graves
of the matriarchs as well. These are however other Matriarchs. These are Bilha
and Zilpa who were incidentally the mothers of a 1/3 of the tribes of
Israel. But the older tradition is that this is the grave site of Miriam,
Moshe’s sister, Yocheved, his mother and Tzippora his wife. Along
with them are also Elisheva the wife of Aharon and Avigayil the
wife of King David. Now this tradition at least about the “women” of Moshe goes
back to testimonies from students of the Ramban that describe being here and
visiting them about 800 years or so ago. Far before the Ari”ZL who identified
many of the graves in Israel.
The
strange thing of course though is that the Torah tells us that Miriam at least
was buried in the wilderness in Kadesh which would be in Midbar Tzin
not far from Sdei Boker where from the grave of Ben Gurion you have a
beautiful overlook. How she got here, or if they buried her temporarily and
then brought her here, I can’t tell you. I can only remind you that we do not
pray to dead people but we connect to the Tzadikim and their inspiration. It is
certainly appropriate therefor that Tiverya which is the city of “water” for
Israel should be connected with Miriam in whose merit the Jews drank water from
the miracle rock/well that traveled with them through the Midbar and is
believed to have sunk in the Kinneret. These two women, Yocheved and Miriam,
as well rescued Jewish children from being drowned in the nile as they were the
midwives Shifra and Puah. As far the connection with the other righteous women
I can’t tell you. It’s tradition!
RABBI
SCHWARTZ’S RICH MAN JOKES OF THE WEEK
Just before the class took their final math exams,
their teacher asked them the following problem to test how well they would do
in the real exam: -
"A rich man dies and leaves $240,000,000 in his Will. One-third is to go to his wife; one-fifth is to go to his son; one-sixth to his chauffeur; one eighth to his secretary; and the rest to charity. Now, what does each get?"
After a long silence in the classroom, Saul raised his hand.
"Yes, Saul," said the teacher.
"A good lawyer!" he replied.
"A rich man dies and leaves $240,000,000 in his Will. One-third is to go to his wife; one-fifth is to go to his son; one-sixth to his chauffeur; one eighth to his secretary; and the rest to charity. Now, what does each get?"
After a long silence in the classroom, Saul raised his hand.
"Yes, Saul," said the teacher.
"A good lawyer!" he replied.
A Catholic, a Protestant, a Muslim and a Jew were in a
discussion during a dinner.
Catholic: "I have a large fortune....I am going to buy Citibank!"
Protestant: "I am very wealthy and will buy General Motors!"
Muslim: "I am a fabulously rich prince.... I intend to purchase Microsoft!"
They then all wait for the Jew to speak....
The Jew stirs his coffee, places the spoon neatly on the table, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at them, and casually says, "I'm not selling”
Catholic: "I have a large fortune....I am going to buy Citibank!"
Protestant: "I am very wealthy and will buy General Motors!"
Muslim: "I am a fabulously rich prince.... I intend to purchase Microsoft!"
They then all wait for the Jew to speak....
The Jew stirs his coffee, places the spoon neatly on the table, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at them, and casually says, "I'm not selling”
Moishe started his very own business, which almost
immediately began to prosper. He was soon a very rich man. One day, his bank
manager called him and said, "Moishe, I have a query on one of your
recent checks. Could you confirm it is one of yours? For years, you've been
signing all checks with two X's but this one is signed with three X's. Is it
yours?"
Moishe replied, "Yes, it is. Since I've become so wealthy, my wife thought I ought to have a middle name."
Moishe replied, "Yes, it is. Since I've become so wealthy, my wife thought I ought to have a middle name."
A poor Jew finds a wallet with $700 in it. At his shul,
he reads a notice stating that a wealthy Jew has lost his wallet and is
offering a $50 reward to anyone who returns it. Quickly he locates the owner
and gives him the wallet.
The rich man counts the money and says, "I see you have already taken your reward."
The poor man responds, "What are you talking about?"
The wealthy Jew continues, "This wallet had $750 in it when I lost it."
The two men begin arguing, and eventually they come before the Rabbi.
Both men present their case. The poor man first, then the wealthy man who concludes by saying, "Rabbi, I trust you believe me."
The Rabbi says, "Of course." The rich man smiles, and the poor man is devastated. Then the Rabbi takes the wallet out of the wealthy man's hands and gives it to the poor man who found it.
"What are you doing?" the rich man yells angrily.
The Rabbi responds, "You are, of course, an honest man, and if you say that your missing wallet had $750 in it, I'm sure it did. But if the man who found this wallet is a liar and a thief, he wouldn't have returned it at all. Which means that this wallet must belong to somebody else. If that man steps forward, he'll get the money. Otherwise, it stays with the man who found it."
"What about my money?" the rich man asks.
"Well, we'll just have to wait until somebody finds a wallet with $750 in it!"
The rich man counts the money and says, "I see you have already taken your reward."
The poor man responds, "What are you talking about?"
The wealthy Jew continues, "This wallet had $750 in it when I lost it."
The two men begin arguing, and eventually they come before the Rabbi.
Both men present their case. The poor man first, then the wealthy man who concludes by saying, "Rabbi, I trust you believe me."
The Rabbi says, "Of course." The rich man smiles, and the poor man is devastated. Then the Rabbi takes the wallet out of the wealthy man's hands and gives it to the poor man who found it.
"What are you doing?" the rich man yells angrily.
The Rabbi responds, "You are, of course, an honest man, and if you say that your missing wallet had $750 in it, I'm sure it did. But if the man who found this wallet is a liar and a thief, he wouldn't have returned it at all. Which means that this wallet must belong to somebody else. If that man steps forward, he'll get the money. Otherwise, it stays with the man who found it."
"What about my money?" the rich man asks.
"Well, we'll just have to wait until somebody finds a wallet with $750 in it!"
Izzy and Howie were brothers who had lived and worked in the
Bronx all their lives. Unfortunately, nothing good could be said about them -
they ran a crooked business, they womanized, they lied and they cheated the
poor. But they were also very, very wealthy.
When Izzy died, Howie went to Rabbi Bloom and said, "I will donate to the shul one hundred thousand dollars if you will say at the funeral that my brother Izzy was a mensch."
The Rabbi thought long and hard but eventually agreed.
At the funeral, the Rabbi told everyone present of Izzy’s wrong doings. He didn’t hold anything back. He let everyone know that this was not someone they should be emulating. He then closed his book and concluded with the sentence "But, compared to his brother Howie, Izzy was a mensch!"
When Izzy died, Howie went to Rabbi Bloom and said, "I will donate to the shul one hundred thousand dollars if you will say at the funeral that my brother Izzy was a mensch."
The Rabbi thought long and hard but eventually agreed.
At the funeral, the Rabbi told everyone present of Izzy’s wrong doings. He didn’t hold anything back. He let everyone know that this was not someone they should be emulating. He then closed his book and concluded with the sentence "But, compared to his brother Howie, Izzy was a mensch!"
************
Answer is A– I got this one right as well! Not that I have taken
tourists to Nachal Alexander, this small stream on the coast line at the top of
the West Bank and Northern coastline. As it gets its water from Nachal Shechem
and much of the West Bank it became very polluted over time. In 1996 they began
cleaning it up and in 2003 it won the Australian River Prize for the most
cleaned up river. The one thing that is nice to bring people to see there are
the soft shelled turtles which are an endangered species that are being
preserved there as well. That is if you like turtles. By the way the other
answers. Kidron is one of the most polluted nachals. David is probably
one of the most hiked and we get lots of our water from there. Both of those
are in the Dead Sea area. Yagur is near Har HaCarmel not too far from Alexander,
but not polluted from what I know.
