Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
from the
Holy Land
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
June 27th 2013 -Volume 3, Issue 35–19th
of Tamuz 5773
Parshas Pinchas
A
Few Good Men
The year was 1947. Rabbi Berel Wein was a young Yeshiva
student in Chicago. The school was all spruced up and everyone was dressed in
their finest clothing. They were having a special guest. It was none other than
the legendary Rav of Ponovezh, Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman. The Rav had escaped
Europe in middle of WWII miraculously, with his diplomatic status. His family and
community that were meant to join him, though tragically, never made it out. Yet
he had begun to rebuild once again in the British mandated Palestine. He had a
dream of renewing the classic Lithuanian style houses of Torah in Israel and he
was not sleeping. His visit to the States was to be inspired by the revitalization
of the burgeoning Torah community in the States, the "Shearit Ha'pleita-the
remnant that had survived" and to raise the funds necessary to actualize
his vision in the Holy Land. But as much as he himself was inspired, he gave
even more inspiration to the individuals and institutions that he visited.
Rabbi Wein recalls the
lecture that he heard from the Rav and he repeats it often until today. He can
still see that tall, handsome saintly visage before him and his prophetic words
that were embedded within his heart. The Rav had given an intense Talmiduc
lecture to the students, after which he closed his Talmud and spoke to them in
Yiddish, his mama-lashon..
"Tayereh kinder- Dear
sweet young men. Know that today in Palestine...Eretz Yisrael there sits in British
prisons..in Akko…in Jerusalem…,young Jewish fighters…soldiers…members of the
Lechi…the Hagana…the Irgun. They are a handful. Maybe seven, maybe ten. Some of
them are facing the death penalty in their struggle for a Jewish State, others
have lost friends, relatives, brothers and sisters in the battle to achieve
independence for the Jewish people and our homeland.
Ich zug Dir kinder- I
promise and guarantee you. These 7-10 soldiers will eventually succeed and chase
the British out of our country. They will win and establish a Jewish country.
There will be a State of Israel. And I tell you something else my children and
it is important that you listen closely. If I had 7-10 students with the same
dedication, determination, self-sacrifice and sheer iron will as they these
young men and women have… than we would have a Torah State in Israel as well.
We would have the Jewish State that would merit Mashiach… that our ancestors
have longed for and that our Father in Heaven is truly waiting to return to…But
I don't have such students…We don't have them…yet. It is up to you my dear
kinder to become those solidiers. It is up to us to change the world."
A few months after that
lecture, the impossible happened. As the Rav predicted, on Novemeber 29th
of that year the UN voted to recognize a Jewish State and a few bitter and
bloody months later, the State of Israel was born. With blood and fire Judea
was redeemed. Sadly, 65 years later that ultimate redemption still costs us too
much blood, too much fire and too many tears. The Torah State is not here yet.
We yet await the ultimate redemption. We are still looking for those few good
men.
This
week's Torah portion is aptly named after the figure in the Torah that more
than anyone else achieves the impossible through his selfless dedication and
sacrifice; Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon Ha'Kohen. While all of the Jewish
people stood by the sidelines and watched as Zimri the leader of the tribe of
Shimon instigated a licentious rebellion against Moshe with the princess of
midyan Kozbi, Pinchas took up his spear and put an end to the Divine plague
that was running rampant quelling the wrath of Hashem. 24,000 people died that
day. Moshe, the high priest Elazar and all of the other leaders were frozen in
shock and horror at the travesty that was taking place. After all the years in
the wilderness, the recent battles Hashem had won for our nation. How could
they fall back, so fast, so tragically lose their way, literally days before
their entry to the land? Was there any hope?
Yet,
Pinchas saw that hope. He knew that we needed a wakeup call. Hashem was sending
a message with his plague and the message was for someone to stand up to the
plate and take the necessary swing to get us back on track. Pinchas was a descendant
of Aharon the High Priest, who 40 years before, saw the nation on the foothills
of Sinai worshiping the golden calf just days after achieving that Divine revelation
and mandate. Even after being told by Hashem how precious we are to him and how
much we were meant to achieve as a nation of priests, a holy nation, we still
managed to fall of the wagon and back to our former idolatrous ways. Aharon and
the tribe of Levi took up their spears following Moshe's call of "He
who is for God after to me" and restored the spirit of Hashem once
again to the people.
Pinchas,
heeding that lesson as well, realized that once again the battle was not over. Perhaps
it will always need to be renewed until the eventual redemption. Yet, he put
his life on the line even when there seemed to be no hope, even when even all
the other great leaders seemed to have been paralyzed and shell shocked by the
overwhelming gravity of the situation. Pinchas's zeal and love for the Jewish
people and for the honor of Hashem and his belief and certainty that the relationship
will be healed and can be redeemed drove
him to do what needed to be done. And he succeeded. The impossible had
happened. The rift was healed. The nation was saved and the Jewish State would
be born. A Torah State. We would enter the land and Hashem would be with us.
Our
sages tell us the soul of Pinchas is the same soul of the prophet Eliyahu. Just
as Pinchas took up his sword on behalf of Hashem, the Jewish people and our special
relationship, so too did Eliyahu do so repeatedly. Perhaps most significant is
the fact that Eliyahu who went up to the heavens in a fiery chariot is meant to
be the one prophet who will herald in the eventual redemption of the Jewish
people. It is Eliyahu who tradition tells us attends every Bris and every
Pesach Seder. Those two symbols of the eternal bond of our nation and Hashem,
Eliyahu/ Pinchas become the one who witnesses. It is they the eternal loyal soldiers that
forever bring that merit before the Almighty. For it is their knowledge and faith that the
bonds between us will never be severed. We can overcome all the challenges and
battles, physical and spiritual, from enemies from without and even more
significantly from within, we just need a few good men to carry that banner. To
believe in us and to be willing to put themselves on the line- the front line
for those beliefs.
We
have come once again to that time of year, sadly enough, when we must confront
our exile…our mourning.. the destruction of our Temple and the lack of the
presence of Hashem in our midst. We are in the three weeks that lead up to
Tish'ah B'Av. For many it seems hopeless. It's been close to 2000 years since
we have seen our Father in His palace- our Beit Ha'Mikdash. So many generations
so much greater than us have come and gone and yet we still remain bereft. Yet
the end is approaching. Like Pinchas, like the Rav of Ponevezh we must be able
to believe in the possibility of the impossible. We have seen many miracles
happen. We will see many more to come. We just need to become the soldiers that
Hashem needs to heal the rift, to restore the peace and love for Hashem and one
another. May we soon merit to the final words
in our book of Prophets
Behold
I will send to you Eliyahu Ha'Navi before the great and awesome day of Hashem and
he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of
the children to their fathers…
Have a Shabbos filled with
blessing and peace,
Rabbi
Ephraim Schwartz
************************************
**********************************************
(answer below)
The tourniquet should never
be applied to the neck?
(a) Thigh
(b) Arm
(c) Leg
(d) Neck
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RABBI SCHWARTZES QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I know for certain that there is no life on other planets for if there was the Ponovozher Rav would have certainly gone there to raise money for his Yeshiva” – Reb Yoel Teitelbaum-the Satmar Rebbe Z"TL
*****************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ YOUTUBE LINK OF THE WEEK
RARE FOOTAGE OF THE PONEVEZHER RAV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHpw3-b3ors
************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-
Tayelet
Louie/ Louis Promenade-Haifa-This promenade in the heart of the city of Haifa is one of
the most beautiful outlook points over the Bahai Gardens and the Haifa coast
and port. It’s a wonderful place for a picnic in the park there for visitors to
Haifa and the history of the location is commemorated by a monument that was
built in 1898 to Kaiser Willhelm II and his wife Augusta Vicotria who came to
visit his German citizens who had moved to Haifa and built the German quarter there. (eventually
these germans were expelled by the British as being enemies after WWI and
during WWII the rest were expelled 34% being card carrying Nazi's). Alongside
the monument is a canon that commemorates the British conquest of Haifa which
was only conquered after General Allenby's navy was able to quell the Turkish
cannons that were shooting from atop this hill. The Promenade dedicated in 1992
was named after Louis Goldschmidt who was killed in a car accident by his
parents, Olim from South Africa, who were the contractors for the Bahai
gardens.
Answer is D- This was pretty much a
give-away question, I hope for most… Athough occasionally you do get a tourist
here and there that you might want to strangle (not me of course) but it's
pretty obvious that it is not a good idea to tie something around the neck that
would stop blood flow to the head..But yes we did have to take a basic first
aide course to become a licensed tour guide.
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