Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend
in Karmiel"
February 19th 2021 -Volume 11 Issue 19 7th
Adar 5781
True Evil- True Joy
Nuuu… Are you guys getting ready for Purim 2021? Do you have all your Corona
themed shalach manot ready yet? Do you have those little plastic syringes to
fill up with some whiskey "shots" for the real vaccine many of us
parents have been imbibing in? Maybe you picked up a third ear or a horn to
place on your forehead and have "Been Vaxxed" T-Shirts made up
already. On the bright side though this year all of those wealthy people that
run away for Purim to Miami because they can't deal with constant overflow of
dancing yeshiva guys collecting, will be able to spend Purim at home this year.
Although I imagine the phones will be ringing off the hook as it seems that the
plan this year is for them to be tele-collecting instead. What a joy… At least
for the yeshiva guys it will be easier dealing with the rejection and cold
calls with a bottle next to them. But the truth is I think we will all miss
them this year. And hopefully this will lead to us maybe even appreciating them
more next year…
It's going to be a strange Purim though, perhaps even the strangest of all
of the holidays we have gone through over this year. See, all of the other holidays are pretty
much family oriented. They take place in our home and with our immediate
family. Sure there were some that couldn't be with their usual extended family
for the Seder, for Sukkos, for Chanukah parties but at the end of the day those
holidays aren't as much about community. Purim on the other hand is primarily
about being together and bonding with our neighbors and friends; celebrating,
reveling, drinking, sharing, giving, entertaining and bringing simcha to
others. My family has heard all my jokes already. I don't like to drink alone.
I love giving Shalach manos and entertaining so many people, seeing everyone's
costumes, dancing with random people in the street in middle of traffic. It's
my one time a year to be a Breslaver. For everyone to be Breslav.
Now I know that real Breslavers can do this by their own, on their own,
without anyone else. I've seen plenty of lone Breslavers laughing hysterically
to themselves and dancing randomly when they thought no one else was looking; usually
somewhere around the hills of Meron or the kever of the Rashbi. But for the
rest of us we need other people to do that with. Maybe this year's Purim is
about finding that inner Breslaver that can rejoice all alone as well. We need
that extra simcha this year more than other years. Perhaps it's finally time to
do it different than we've done it before.
With that in mind I decided to do something to get ready for Purim that I've
never done. Something I really don't like doing at all. In fact, it's really
quite the opposite of a Purim preparation. It's something that I do or at least
consider to when I need to start getting into the Tisha B'Av mourning mode. But
this year I believe I had new insight into the ancient wisdom of our sages that
established that we read the Parsha of the mitzva to remember the evil of
Amalek the Shabbos before Purim. I never really understood how recalling the
hatred we have for our enemies is meant to translate and be the segue to the
happiness of Purim. But I figure that they know what they're talking about. So I
decided to give it a shot and that is how I found myself last week spending a few hours watching a
six-part documentary on the most recent Amalek of our times, titled True
Evil; the Making of a Nazi. What I wouldn't do for this E-Mail inspiration
for you…Yeah… I agree with you… It's really getting time to get this Rabbi out
of the house and tour-guiding again…Things are getting desperate.
What intrigued me the most about this series, which examined 6 of the top
Nazis Officers under Hitler YM'Sh (Goering, Goebbels, Eichmann, Himmler, Speer
and Van Braun YM'Sh- may their names be obliterated), was the premise that it
was based on. They were trying to understand the answer to two questions: How
did the Nazis end up doing what they did? How did it happen that educated,
civilized people were transformed into twisted monsters capable of unimaginable
cruelty? These very questions trouble anyone visitor to Yad Vashem. It's the
reason why the State of Israel brings heads of State there even before they
bring them to the Kotel. It's probably as well the agenda of why so many-not
me- feel that it is important to teach the world about the Holocaust to take
college students on March of the Living. For if we understand how it happened
then perhaps we can somehow make sure that it never happens again. As if what
is at play here is some type of psychological conditioning that can be overcome
with education and awareness. And in truth, what they are really saying is …. it's
as if Hashem had nothing to do with it…
Now I don't want you to get me wrong here. I found the series fascinating,
enlightening, horrifying, devastating and quite frankly frightening. To watch
and see how each of these seemingly civilized individuals were able to put into
place the Nazi machine that took a nation…actually a few nations…actually an
entire world to a place where they either committed or ignored the atrocities
that were being committed is mind-blowing. To see and understand their slow
infectious process they developed to overcome their past humiliations and
disgrace a sense of false racial superiority. Watching the footage of how they
instituted a cancel-culture and control of all media that would only broadcast
the messages they felt were "politically correct" was eerily
very relevant. The demonization of those that differ and the legitimation of
violence, of burning and destroying out of anger and rage as a means of
achieving their political and social restructuring couldn't be more 2020. It
was baffling to hear them speak about the moral rectitude of their positions.
They were the righteous ones. They were leading the world to a better tomorrow.
They were obliterating the evil and protecting the masses from the dangers and
threats we posed to the world. As I said it was terrifyingly too familiar on so
many different fronts.
Yet despite its relevance and many fascinating new insights I learned from
this series, particularly about each of these individual Final solution
devisors and implementers personal lives, from their early childhoods to their
insecurities, their proclivities and the psychological profiles that allowed
them to lose their souls and commit these crimes, I still felt that the producers
of this series missed the boat. Their theories don't explain the millions of
Germans, Ukrainians, Poles and frankly most of the world that were both active
and passive partners in the Holocaust.
There is an oft quoted line that I hate, about the how the victims of the
Shoah went like "sheep to the slaughter". It makes it sound as if
that explains the millions that were murdered as mindless followers. But what
about the millions that went to slaughter those sheep or that stood on the
sidelines watching and jeering, or that pretended that they didn't know about
what was going on, or didn't want to know. Were they also sheep? Were they also
psychologically "messed up", traumatized, brainwashed as Goering, Goebbels
and Himmler. Did the whole world have bad childhoods that led to them doing and
allowing this to happen? I don't think so… And as politically incorrect as it
may be to say so neither is that the Torah viewpoint we have passed down to us from
our sages throughout the generations.
This week before Purim we are obligated to read Parshat Zachor. We have been
reading it for over 3000 years now. The obligation, being a biblical one,
historically precedes the holiday of Purim by a good 1000 or so years. The
reason we need to read it is because it's lesson and message are an eternal
one. It is a lesson that started the moment we left Egypt and continues until
today in the International Criminal Court (ICC) that seeks to destroy us. The
message is that there is an eternal battle and enemy of the Jewish people. Esau
sonei es Yaakov- Esau hates Yaakov.
This hatred that we are told that they have for us has nothing to do with their
childhood or Mommy issues. It has nothing to do with settlements. It has
nothing to do with money, with politics, with Jewish control or parasitism. It
doesn't make a difference if we are religious or not, or if we build museums,
create " Anti-Semitism awareness programs". It won't change if we
have our own country our own State and our own army. They don't care if we find
the cure to cancer, Covid, or help people in Africa, Haiti or in Gaza. It's not
why we are doing those things and we know that they will hate us anyway and they
will try to destroy us.
There always is Amalek. There always was and will be that antisemitism-
which is really a polite word for what we have suffered and been subjected to. I
say this because in 2020 we think of antisemitism as someone calling us dirty
Jew, someone desecrating a synagogue or writing graffiti on our mailbox. Amalek-antisemitism
and hatred that exists always and that we need to wrap our brain around each
year when we read this parsha is the one that wants to kill us all; men women
and children. It is Nazi hatred. It is real True Evil. It's the one that that
sees in every Jew-no matter how distant- a holy spirit of the true God, that as
well needs to be eradicated.
To a certain degree the hatred Amalek has for us is much like a form of
Corona. It is a disease.A pandemic that can sweep the world, that really has no
explanation besides Hashem. Like Amalek, which the Torah tells us first targets
attacks the nechashalim- the high-risk, weaker elements the disease
ultimately targets everyone. There is no cure for it. Occasionally there may be
a herd-immunity that might make it dormant for a bit, but ultimately it will
mutate. The pandemic will bring rage. It will make people behave inexplicably. It
will make the very air they breathe toxic to them. It is an evil that can wipe
out any humanity they possess. Yet, as it comes from Hashem. We know there is a
Divine purpose in it. It is there to bring us, and through us the entire world,
to the ultimate Redemption and Revelation.
There is a fascinating sefer that I have connected to very much this past
year called the Eim Ha'Banim Semeicha written by Reb Yissachar Shlomo
Teichtel during the years of the Holocaust. {My connection with the sefer
began when I discovered that my great-grandfather and namesake Reb Ephraim
Ebert personally met with him and received his sefer before fleeing with his
family during the war years and ultimately moving to Israel.} Reb Teichtal
began his life as a vocal anti-zionist before the war who viewed the movement to
establish a secular Zionist State in Israel before the coming of Mashiach as an
aberration of Hashem's will. Over the years of the war though, he made a full
180 degree turn to the degree that he saw the failure to return to Israel and the
relaticve comfort the Jews had in Galus away from our homeland as being the Divine
cause of all of the calamities we have ever suffered. Eim Habanim Semeicha is
his description of this transformation and the sources that he finds for these
ideas.
In his sefer he reads into the text of this eternal mitzva to remember
Amalek, the true reason he sees why Hashem infects the world with this sickness
and hatred; what Hashem wants from us. He writes this under Nazi occupation. He
writes this having lost all that he had. He writes this as he grapples with the
same questions that the documentary I watched posed. Why? How? Yet unlike their
conclusions and profiles he looks at our parsha and finds a different answer
and message.
He writes how Hashem has told us that throughout the generations as the
Jewish people are in exile there will be an Amalek that rises up- b'derech
b'tzayschem mi'mitzrayim- as we on the way to leaving the constraints that
prevent us from serving Hashem. It is in fact telling that the biblical attacks
of Amalek always come on the cusp of us entering Eretz Yisrael and leaving an
exile. As we leave Egypt, before entering the land of Israel, as the kingship
of Israel is being set up, prior to the kingship of Dovid taking reign and before
the Jews return for the second commonwealth to build the 2nd Temple.
They come to prevent the impending revelation.
Their attack is on the weak, the tired, the nation that has suffered so
much, for so long. We are weary. We are ayeif v'yageya… They attack us
without any fear of Hashem. They attack us because they feel that by destroying
us they would destroy Hashem's presence on this world. We hold that key and
that mandate. Without us, Hashem would have no place in this world. And they
are right about that last point. We are Hashem's people. He needs and wants us.
There is no King without a nation. And thus the Torah tells us that it is for
this reason that they will ultimately fail.
However, the Torah admonishes us, to remember that
It will be when Hashem will finally allow us to rest from all of the
enemies that surround us, all of our troubles, all of that hatred to
finally abate.
B'aretz asher Hashem elokecha nosein lecha nachala l'yirishta- that
there is a land that we are meant to inherit; a place where we are meant to
reveal His Name from.
"Don't let it go up in your heart to remain here in exile, rather
strengthen yourselves to return to your forefather's inheritance and through
this
Timcheh es zecher Amalek- We must wipe out Amalek.
However, if you remain there in their lands, it will not only be that
Amalek and their hatred will not be wiped out, but rather we will eventually strengthen them. We will put our
energy into building their lands, rather than the land of our forefathers.
The entire reason Hashem is telling us to remember this is so that their
lands and their ways will be disgusting to us and we will return to the place
where we are meant to be; where our forefathers were promised we would be.
The Torah repeats the words Lo tishkach- you shall not forget,
because Hashem knows how weak we are. How when things get easy, we look to make
amends and put the past behind us and move forward with them. We forget very
quickly the terrible things that happened and we are easily pacified and
appreciative of the kindness, the endearment and the livelihood opportunities
they provide us with. Particularly if we become very successful and flourish.
And we forget our homeland and our inheritance. It for this reason the Torah
repeats that we should never forget. For it is for this reason that Hashem has brought
this hatred and all its troubles upon you…"
End Quote. Ad kan Leshono…
Do you know why we have to read Parshat Zachor before Purim. Do you know why
the secret of us achieving the true happiness we are meant to experience on
this special holiday that heralded our return to Eretz Yisrael, requires a trip
down our horrific memory lane first? Because the truest and realest of
happiness comes when we realize how special and how important we are. How
Hashem has programmed into creation that there are enemies that identify in
even the Jew that is the farthest from Judaism, that spark of Hashem that is
revealed and that can never be extinguished.
Sure we can be happy getting dressed
up, singing, dancing, drinking and reveling, but that's just surface happiness.
That's just a temporary vaccine that eliminates the symptoms of a long and
excruciating galus. Real happiness is when we can even be alone- when we can be
in bidud, we can be Auschwitz and we can still sing ashreinu ma tov
chelkeynu- how fortunate we are and how fortunate is our lot. We can look at
the face of those haters that Hashem has placed in the world and recognize that
they are there because we are on the cusp of redemption. We will obliterate
them from under the heavens because we are as Eternal as our Creator.
We have not forgotten since the beginning of our leaving from Egypt that
Amalek will always be present. The Holocaust led to the mass return of Klal
Yisrael to our land after 2000 years of longing, just as the Torah said it would
happen when Amalek is defeated; as we "rest from our enemies that
surround us". Purim 2021, after of year of training and Corona
boot-camp of self-reflection and spending time away from our usual communities,
we are prepared to finally express that inner joy of our specialness for a
different type of Purim. A Purim where we can feel that happiness even alone.
For we possess the knowledge that we are never alone. We each are always
connected to Hashem. Amalek taught and continues to teach us that. And as what will
hopefully be the last Corona holiday we need to celebrate comes upon us- we've
pretty much done them all by now- may we merit to sing and dance and celebrate
and rejoice how lucky, special and loved and how close we are to finally
sharing that happiness with the rest of the world together in the land of our
Fathers redeemed.
Have joyous Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
This week's
Insights and Inspiration has been sponsored by my dear friends and tourists
Josi and Delly Parnas from Antwerp in honor of the engagement of their daughter
Michal to Michael Reh of Antwerp. Mazel Tov!!! I'm so excited for you and for
Michal. May the young couple be a source of tremendous yiddisheh nachas to you
and to all of Klal Yisrael as they build a bayis ne'eman b'yisrael. They have
incredible role models to look up to and I'm sure they will share that special
light that you guys possess with the entire world!
Mazel Tov!
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RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
" Az der soineh falt, tor men zikh nit fraien, ober men
haibt im nit oif." When your enemy falls, don’t rejoice; but don’t
pick him up either.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
17)
Herod the Great built a fort in Jerusalem in honor of:
A)
Herod Agripa (Agripas)
B)
Augustus
C)
Pompey (Pompeius)
D)
Mark Anthony (Marcus Antonius)
https://youtu.be/zGz_eVHddfo – Benny Friedman's latest release "A Yid"
https://youtu.be/uP35iBYjVes - ZUSHA sings this Dov Shurin
classic Mishenichnas Adar
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/techelet-mordechai - Getting closer to Purim I give you my next Purim Composition Techelet Mordechai- This one arranged and sung by the one and only Yitz Berry… Get off your feet and start dancing!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S PARSHA/ ERETZ YISRAEL CONNECTION OF THE WEEK
Beyond Space - Parshat Teruma– This week's Parsha which is full of all of the measurements and plans for the Mishkan/tabernacle and its vessels was made for architects. Or not. See if one starts to crunch the numbers which at first glance seems rather tedious and complicated and quite frankly boring compared to the rest of the Torah until now which is full of exciting stories and even fascinating mitzvos in last week's parsha, we start to see that a lot of the numbers just don't add up or seem too realistic. Take the Aron where the tablet were placed. If you crunch the numbers our sages note that the Ark with their 10 Amma poles would not fit in the space alloted for it in the holy of Holies. As well the Keruvim with their extend wings also take up too much space. And in fact our sages tell us that it only worked miraculously. They didn't take up space in the physical world.
As we move further along with the construction we find that the central pole that would hold the whole thing together was one single pole that needed to miraculously bend around the corners. The curtains that covered the Mishkan were between 28 Ammah and 31 ammah if we figure an ammah is about a foot and a half, we're talking about skins of animals that were 40 to feet large! Even the beams for the Mishkan were about 15 feet tall and a few feet wide! Who designed this thing?! The magical central beam was 70 ammos more than 100 feet long. Can you imagine that they shlepped that all the way from Egypt! And we thought that Herod had crazy construction ideas. Well it seems that he was certainly right about designing the Temple in a beyond comprehension kind of way. Why was all this miraculous wonder necessary?
The answer our sages tell us in a similar way that this Mishkan was just the blueprints for what would eventually be the Temple in Eretz Yisrael and in the temple itself in Jerusalem there would be all types of extra-spatial miracles that would take place. The entire nation of millions of people would gather in Jerusalem multiple times a year and they would all fit on the temple mount. They would stand pressed together which in itself just wouldn't work based on the space and yet when they would bow down there would be enough room for everyone. Each year the Jews would come and would experience this. Each year they would realize they would taste an existence that was not bound by physical space. We would know Hashem. We would experience something other-worldly. We would know we are divine.
We are told that Eretz Yisrael as well has that miracle to it. It is called Eretz Hatzvi-the land of the deer. Just as deer skin stretches and stretches as you pull it, so to the land will grow and grow to absorb more and more of its people. It will spread all over the world. When one comes to Eretz Yisrael most people are amazed at what a tiny country it is. At the same time there is a sense of awe at how much there is here. How everything is here. It is a land that encompasses the entire world and its glory will spread to the entire world. This tiny little piece of land is the center of the Universe. It is the most fought over. It has made more headlines. It's the most recognized. It has brought more light than anywhere else for as the Mishkan it is the physical resting place where Hashem's shechina is and will be revealed. And there is never enough room for that.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S
AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK
The
Ark is coming home…almost - 872 BC- I always get a kick when the parsha
coincides with a topic I'm covering in this column that is currently covering
the Navi era. It's like there is a divine hand that works through this weekly
E-Mail. It's obvious in honor of all you guys that make it down this far in the
E-Mail. Hashem likes it when you do… and so do I!
Well this week
we have finally arrived at the moment when the Aron begins its final journey
back to Jerusalem. It has been over twenty years since the Aron which was
captured by the Plishtim was returned to the Jews. After the devestation it
wreaked upon them and even upon the Jews of Beit Shemesh when it was
brought back there on wagons sent by the Plishtim, the Jews had moved it to Kiryat
Ye'arim, today's Telshe Stone where it languished in the house of Avinadav
waiting to return home. With Dovid building his city in Jeursalem and taking
care of the Philistine threat the time had finally arrived. In honor of the
occasion the Navi tells us that Dovid ordained 30,000 men to join him. If the
Ark was going to return, it wouls be symbolic of the Torah returning to Yisrael
it would herald in an era of peace and the light of Hashem to the world. For
that there would need to be Rabbis and Teachers and thus Dovid prepared the
nation.
Now there is a
fascinating nuance as to where this Ark is described as being. On the one hand
were told that it was in Kiryat Yearim or as it is referred to here as
being called Ba'alah. On the other hand, it described Dovid going to a
place called Givah to get the Aron. So where is it. There are some
commentaries that suggest they are close to one another and this is not the Giva
that is mentioned previously in the portion of Binyamin where Shaul
lived. On the other hands there are those that suggest that it is the same and
in fact perhaps there were even two arks that were being returned; one with the
complete tablets and one with the broken ones. Archeologists have fun with this
question as well. But regardless it seems that this big party did not go the
way that Dovid had planned.
It seems that
Dovid had made in error in halacha. He had ordered that the children of
Avinadav, named Uzza and Achiyo to place the Ark on a wagon and transport it
that way. This was a no-no as the Ark first of all needs to be carried on the
shoulders of only those from the Levite family of Kehat. Not good. Again
different commentaries and midrashim suggest what Dovid's mistake was and what
he did or said to deserve the error to come forth from him. Some say that Dovid
assumed it was only when the ark was in the wilderness it needed to be
transported that way, some suggest that this was the other ark with the broken
tablets, and others suggest that Dovid thought that it would be a big Kiddush
Hashem to transport it on the miraculous wagons it was returned on by the
Philistines. But he was wrong.
The navi tells
us that upon arriving at the Goren of Nachon the wagon slipped and Uzza
reached to grab it with his bare hands, not a smart thing to do, and he was
killed. This happens right in front of Dovid and his men's festivities of
singing and dancing. Imagine the scene of a Hachnasat Sefer Torah with a huge
party and then the Torah falls and the person grabbing it dies. Now multiply
that by a million and you can start to appreciate the trauma of the event.
When this
happens Dovid names the area Peretz Uzza and leaves the Aron by the
house of Oved Edom Hagitti while he introspects and decides how to be worthy to
bring the Aron to Yerushalayim and atone for his mistake. It sits there
for three months and next week, the Shabbos of Purim god-willing we will learn
the verses of the singing and celebrating and wild dancing that Dovid does when
it comes home. As I said isn't it great when things work out in that timely
way…
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S TERRIBLE
ANTI-SEMITE JOKES OF THE WEEK
Rabbi Altmann and his secretary were sitting in a coffeehouse in Berlin in 1935.
"Herr Altmann," said his
secretary, "I notice you're reading Der Stürmer! I can't understand
why. A Nazi libel sheet! Are you some kind of masochist, or, God forbid, a
self-hating Jew?"
"On the contrary, Frau Epstein. When I used to read the Jewish papers, all I learned about were pogroms, riots in Palestine, and assimilation in America. But now that I read Der Stürmer, I see so much more: that the Jews control all the banks, that we dominate in the arts, and that we're on the verge of taking over the entire world. You know – it makes me feel a whole lot better!"
After the assassination of
Tsar Alexander II of Russia, a government official in Ukraine menacingly
addressed the local rabbi, "I suppose you know in full detail who was
behind it."
"Ach," the rabbi replied,
"I have no idea, but the government's conclusion will be the same as
always: they will blame the Jews and the chimneysweeps."
"Why the chimneysweeps?" asked the befuddled official.
"Why the Jews?" responded the rabbi.
Yitsy and Henya, a young orthodox couple, were expecting their first baby. Suddenly, Henya’s water broke on Shabbos and they had no choice but to call for a taxi to take them to the hospital’s maternity ward. Because Yitsy wanted to try and minimise the Shabbos violation, he told the dispatcher that he must send them only a non-Jewish driver.The taxi quickly arrived, but when Yitsy and Henya were getting in, they overheard the dispatcher on the two-way radio ask the driver, “Have you picked up the anti-semites yet?”
So Hitler YM''Sh was being driven by limousine driver for a ride in the Baarian countryside when all of a sudden a pig ran out from one of the farms and was run over by their car. The driver in shock requested permission from Hitler to go into the farm and apologize. Hitler agreed but on the condition that he hurried up as they had to get on the road already. After a good 20 minutes or so with driver not returning, Hitler went to go see what was taking so long. Much to his surprise he saw everyone there singing, dancing and drinking as they paraded the driver around on their shoulders.
"Votts goink on here" Hitler demanded to know.
"I'm not sure" said the
driver " all I know is that I told them that I am Hitler's driver and I
ran over the pig by mistake and they started dancing…."
So the story goes that Ignace Padereski the post-war president of Poland was talking to President Wilson discussing his countries problems and demands.
"If the United States does not help
and fund our rebuilding then", warned Paderweski, "then my people
will be so angry that many of them will go out and massacre Jews."
"And if your demands are met what will
happen?" asked
Wilson
"Why, my people will be so happy that
many of them will go out and massacre Jews!"
.Soon after Hitler rose to power Germany was deluged with anti-Hitler joke. Purple with rage Der Fuhrer demanded that whoever was responsible for the non-Arayan humor be brought before him personally. With a few days the Gestapo captured an outstanding Jewish comedia who was known for his biting humor and he was brought to Hitler's bunker.
"What's your name Jew?" Snapped Hitler
"Karl Mittleman" replied
the Jew
Hitler repeated a joke about himself and
asked if Mittleman wrote it.
"Yes", confessed Mittleman
Hitler than recounted several others and
each time Mittleman acknowledged his authorship.
Der Fuhrer eyes glazing stalked around the
room in a frenzy and screamed "How dare any Jew be so impudent? Don't
you know that I am the leader of the third Reich of millions of Germans
destined to last a thousand years!!"
"Now hold on" said
Mittleman "don’t blame me for that one. I never even heard that joke
before.."
Yankel
the peddler of sea food was shouting his wares from his stall in Berlin
"Fish
for Sale, Fresh Fish! Nice fat fish as fat as Goering.."
A
Gestapo officer heard this raucous chant and dragged the peddler to a year in
the concentration camp. After serving his term the Jew returned to his business
and again loudly announcing his merchandise in the same sing-song voice
"Fish
for Sale, Fresh Fish! Nice fat fish as large as…"
As
fat as what ? snarled the voice of the same Gestapo officer who had sneaked up
behind him.
"…as
fat as last year" finished off Yankel.
During
the early part of the Hitler Regime prior to the Final Solution German Jews
were teaching their children to conform outwardly at least to Nazi customs for
the sake of survival.
Yankel
was teaching his son how to conduct himself when eating in a restaurant.
"When
saying a blessing"
he reminded the young boy "the correct form of saying a blessing is to
thank God and the the Furherer"
But
suppose the Furher dies" queried the young boy
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Answer is D –This is a pretty basic question. It's really about understanding the Temple Mount 101 which of course Herod created as a big platform. On one end there was the temple and on the northern west corner of the Temple Mount. This would look over the Beit Hamikdash and where the clothing of the Kohen Gadol were stored during his period. It was also the last stronghold of the Jews at the time of it's destruction. It's of course called Antonia after the patron Mark Antony who was buddies with Herod. Anyone that has any knowledge of the Temple mount should know that and especially a tour guide. Although I don't think I ever mentioned it to any tourists but there you go. So I got this one right and the score now stands at 14 for Rabbi Schwartz and 3 for the Ministry of Tourism on this exam.
