Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
June 27th 2014 -Volume 4, Issue 35-29th
of Sivan 5774
Parshat Chukas
Don't Ask
One of the more frustrating
stereotypical accusations made against the Jewish people is that “They all ways
answer a question with a question”. Why would anyone say that? Do we always
answer a question that way? And even if we did is there anything wrong with it?
Oops.
Perhaps one of the reasons why we
are this way is because we have a deeply ingrained nature to find the truth and
to clarify it. The responsibility of being the nation chosen by God to preserve
and deliver that truth to mankind has to a large degree embedded itself into
our natural psyche of communication as Lukshen (noodles) to chicken soup. So we
ask and ask and ask again to clarify and to achieve the ultimate understanding
of all aspects of everything. Yet there is wisdom about asking questions the
first part of which is to understand from whence the question comes.
There is a story about Rabbi Chaim
Soloveitchik who had student from the Volozhiner Yeshiva in Lithuania who had
left the yeshiva and the path of an observant lifestyle. In those times in the
early 1900’s it was unfortunately not uncommon. It was a very turbulent time.
Judaism was under assault. There were some very precocious minds in Volozhin.
Not everyone withstood the temptations of the Haskalah, of Socialism, of
Communism, and the other "isms" that were prevalent in that era.
Many years later, Rav Chaim happened
to be in another city and this wayward student came to see him. He said to his
old Rebbi, "I have so many questions about Judaism, so many questions of
faith. Will you sit down and talk to me about them?"
Rav Chaim responded, "I'll be
glad to sit down and talk to you about your questions. I'll talk to you the
whole night. But first you must answer one of mine: When did you first develop
your questions before you smoked your first cigarette on Shabbos or after?” the
student answered that the questions had developed after his Shabbos
desecration. “If that is the case”, Rabbi Soloveitchik responded. “Than your
questions are not really questions they are excuses and answers to rationalize
your behavior. I can answer questions but for answers there are no solutions”.
Very often in the work that I do I
meet many individuals with questions. People honestly searching to discover
answers to difficulties, problems and issues that challenge them in the modern
world. I also meet quite a few individuals that have answers that are presented
in the form of questions. Most typically those questions revolve around times
of tragedy and catastrophe and of why bad things happen to good people. It is
very rare to find someone troubled with the philosophical issues of why good
things are happening to them. It seems that it is only when things go south
that many “questions” arise.
This weeks Torah portion is called
Chukas which means Laws or decrees without explanation. It describes the fascinating
purification process of the sprinkling of the ashes of the Red Heifer that was
undergone to extricate oneself from the impurity of having come in contact with
death. Although many commentators give various explanations to the symbolism
and meaning of various aspects of the process, the aspect that many point to as
the unexplainable or decree is, that the process is one that makes Tamei or
unpure the Kohain (priest) who performs it and it makes pure the one who is
being sprinkled upon. How is it possible that the same act that brings purity
should come from a process that makes the Kohen impure?
The answer
“Gezeirah Hi Milfonai Omar Hashem,
V’ain lecha Reshus Le’Harher Acharehea”- It is a decree from before me God
says, and you should not attempt to question it.
I find it significant that it is
particularly here in dealing with the issue of how one extricates oneself from
the spiritual morbidity and Tumah that accompanies one who is beset with the
tragedy of a death, that Hashem chooses to declare a Chok or decree that
is beyond the comprehension of man. Shouldn’t this be the one area where we
should have an explanation? Where the questions of how can I move beyond this
tragedy, or how can a loving God ever do this to me, be answered.
The answer my friends I believe is a
very powerful one. It is that our questions are not really questions they are
expressions of grief. They are answers to rationalize the pain and the distance
we experience upon coming in contact with tragedy. This is not a time for
questions nor is it a time for answers. It is a time for the recognition of the
truth that is ingrained in us from the moment we receive our first sweet breath
of fresh air provided for us by our loving Father in Heaven. “It is a decree
from before me”, Hashem says, that purity and connection can come out of
that which feels most distant, from that which feels so lonely. It is here more
than anywhere else where the process of healing is described and premised on
the concept of Faith. For many other Mitzvos we are encouraged to explore,
understand, question and discover answers. For the Parah Adumah the Red heifer
whose process is to relieve one from the sense of death and its accompanying
Tumah it is only through acceptance first that the healing can begin.
Yes, we are a people of questions.
It is perhaps those questions that have kept the study of Torah and the
vibrancy of its lessons so alive three thousand years after its being given.
Yet what truly makes us a people is our ability and capacity to recognize when
not to ask, rather to accept. We live in a world and in a country particularly
(at least I do…) where there are so many terrible things that happen. Innocent
children, crying families, a nation praying for the return of our boys. How?
Why? What are we supposed to do? What can we do? But sometimes questions should
not be our response. When we recognize that sometimes the areas that are most
difficult to come to grips with, are truly only the decree from the same loving
Hashem who shares with us in our pain. The process of an even greater
connection will then be an imminent result. And isn’t that something we all
hope to achieve? May Hashem have mercy on his children and continue to watch
over us and may the merit of our faith in His salvation soon bear the fruits of
our ultimate redemption.
Have a Shabbos that is
full of joy and a Chodesh that brings us only rejoicing
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ROSH CHODESH QUOTES OF THE WEEK
May it be Your will, HaShem, my God and the God
of my forefathers, to fill the flaw of the moon that there be no diminution in
it. May the light of the moon be like the light of the sun and like the light
of the seven days of creation, as it was before it was diminished, as
it is said: ‘The two great luminaries.’ And may there be fulfilled
upon us the verse that is written: They shall seek HaShem, their God, and
David, their king. Amen-Kiddush Levana- the
prayer for the sanctification of the new moon.
The Rosh Chodesh sin offering is brought as an
atonement to for Hashem for minimizing the moon as it says a he goat sin
offering for Hashem-
Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish- 4th century Talmudic sage (ponder that
amazing statement…)
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE
WEEK
(answer below at end of Email)
The Chalcholite area of Ein Gedi has
a) a closed building surrounding a spring
that served as a temple to their water god
b) a small fortress that served as a
factory to produce their spices
c) an area that has two rooms and an open
courtyard and a circular structure in the middle
d) a building where copper ritual prayer paraphernalia
were found
*************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
Words of strength and faith from Rachel Frenkel mother of one
of the boys
Return
again by Reb Shlomo Carlebach in prayer of our three sons return
Bring back our boys song beautiful and
heartwrenching
Please keep in mind in your
prayers, in whatever charity or good deeds you do or whatever Torah you learn
the names of our three sons
1. Yaakov
Naftali ben Rachel Devorah
2. Gilad
Michael ben Bat Galim
3. Eyal
ben Iris Teshurah
as well
as all our brave soliders who are out there in the trenches looking for them. May
Hashem see them returned quickly to us.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL GEMATRIA OF THE WEEK
The
Portion begins with the word Zos Chukat HaTorah these are the laws of the
Torah. It then continues with the mitzah of the Red Heifer. The Kotzker Rebbe
notes that the Gematria of the word Zos- This is 408. Interestingly enough in
the month before Rosh Hashana when we recite the Psalm of L'David Hashem Ori we
also say B'Zos Ani Botay'ach- In this I believe? He suggests that the this is
what three things Tzom/fast= 136 Kol/voice= 136 and Mamon/money=136 those three
words are found in many machzors above the list of three things that can alter ones heavenly
decree that may not have been so good Teshuva/repentance, Tefila/prayer and
Tzedaka/charity 3x 136=408 or Zos.
Similarly King David says that those are the three things he has faith in and
our parsha as ell beings that the 408 of Zos or these three things which
fulfill the commandments between man and God and his fellow man as well as
between man and himself (which is the reflective nature of prayer).
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL PLACES IN ISRAEL OF THE
WEEK
Madrasa/Beit Tzaida-
If you like water and have little kids this is the place to come. One of the
most beautiful national parks in Israel this
which is a continuation of Nachal Daliyot that flows from Gamla down to
the East side of the Kinneret, is a great and easy 45 minute to an hour hike
all through knee high water. The park does have an entrance fee however along
with it comes changing rooms, bathrooms and theres evena kiosk where you can
buy ice cream afterwards. Madrassa is part of a larger park which is called
beit Tzaida which is the largest fresh water park in Israel (7000 dunams),
which was an ancient canaani and Israel city through the periods of the 2nd
Temple and the Jewish revolt. But it’s a great place to really see the
beautiful nature this country has to offer and its lots of fun!
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S JEWISH JOKES OF THE WEEK
Two five year-olds are playing in a sandbox. One
is Jewish, the other is Catholic. The Catholic boy says to the Jewish boy,
"Our priest knows more than your rabbi!" To which the Jewish boy
replies, "Of course he does, you tell him everything."
*************************************************
Once there was a maggid, an itinerant preacher, who traveled
from town to town in a horse drawn cart with no companion other than his
faithful driver. This maggid was very wise and learned and would always end his
sermon by fielding questions. People would ask him questions involving obscure
and profound talmudic reasoning, but no matter how difficult the question, the
maggid's agile mind always produced a learned answer equal to the question. One
day the maggid's driver said to him, "I have traveled with you for many
years, heard you preach and heard you field every imaginable question, and
though I haven't your learning or wisdom, I think that I could deliver a sermon
and field the questions as well as you. It has long been my dream to stand up
there and preach like you. The next town we are going to is one we've never
been to before. If we traded clothes, no one would no that I wasn't the
preacher and you the driver. Just this once, let me try."The maggid agreed
and when the driver preached he did indeed preach an excellent sermon. When it
came time for the questions the driver found himself fielding every kind of
question. That is, until a young boy asked a question that he had never heard
before. It was such a profound and complicated question that the driver had no
idea how to even begin to answer."Well," said the driver turned
maggid, "I can't believe anyone would ask such a question. That question
is so simple that even my driver can answer it." "Driver!" he
yelled out. "You heard the question. Now come up here and answer it!"
Answer is C:
I Love Ein Gedi. It’s
the perfect place to tour easy hike, gazelles, cute hedgehogs running around and
even some king David Tanach and of course the waterfalls. The Chalocholite
temple though is the part of Ein Gedi though no real tourists ever go to. It’s
a few hour hike that is not fun all the way to the top to see the thousands of
year old group of rocks in a circle which was some type of temple a long time
ago with two rooms a nd a courtyard. Hooray! Stick to the bottom its a lot more
fun…
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