Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
April
1st 2016 -Volume 6, Issue 26 22ndAdar II 5776
Parshat Shemini/Parah
A Father’s Blessing
It’s finally here! She’s getting married. My cute little girl who
would tag along with me wherever I went, who would wait anxiously by the door
when I would come home from Kollel each night, who would wake up in the middle
of the night and raid the fridge with me while Mommy was out cold is now gonna
be someone else’s girl. OK, that little girl was gone a long time ago. Maybe from
around the time she found her first cellphone, or maybe it was when she realized
that I would get upset if she killed the other siblings that came along after
her, and that also seemed to receive some attention from their father. I get
upset at those little things once in a while, I confess. What she didn’t
realize was that each of them was a dependent tax deduction and were important
for the family finances. Or maybe it was when she stopped acting like that cute
little girl, that would smile and laugh every time I made a joke and walked
into the house, at about age 6 or so. I don’t remember when it happened, it
doesn’t matter. She grew up. She became her own person. There should be a law
against that. Some type of sin that is being violated. I miss my little girl.
And now she’s getting married. She’ll have, God willing, little girls of her
own, although I think girls prefer boys. Actually guys do also, that was until
they get their first little girl. But I digress, I’m rambling. I haven’t slept
in weeks. I keep tossing and turning. Where did time go? Where did my cute
little Shani go? Who is this young woman? Who am I?
This coming Weds, the 27th of Adar, will be the day. I
will dance and celebrate, I will pray and cry, I will tremble and probably perspire
quite a bit. I remember my wedding. It was only a few days ago. It was a
overwhelming. The Chupa felt like Yom Kippur and then we broke the glass and
remembered the destruction of the Temple- Tisha B’Av, We had a little private
room to eat alone- Sukkot. Which quickly evolved into Simchat Torah and Purim
with dancing and maybe a tad of drinking. We even had a guy that swallowed fire
in honor of Lag Ba’Omer. An entire year of holidays all rolled into one night. After
it all I felt like I as wiped as if it was the morning after Shavuot night. My
father when he got the bill afterwards said that he felt pretty “cleaned out”
kind of like Pesach. I think I can say I finally understand that feeling.
But it’s all worth it. It’s a night when a new Jewish family is
starting. A new world. The next generation. It’s what every Jewish parent hopes
and prays for. This Wednesday night…
The moment that always gets me at the wedding is right after the
Chasan places the veil over the bride; right after the Badeken. The father of
the bride then comes and gives his daughter a blessing. A hush falls over the
crowd. She’s his little girl again…for the last time. As the father recites the
ancient blessing, the same blessing he has given her each Friday night, the
same blessing he used to recite to her when he would tuck her into bed at night
after reciting the Shema…the tears start to dribble. One feels that prayer and
those whispered words soar up to the heavenly throne.
Yevarecha Hashem v’yishmerecha- May
Hashem bless you and guard over you
Ya’eir Hashem panav eleicha v’chuneka-May
Hashem shine His countenance upon you and give you grace
Yisa Hashem panav eleicha v’yaseim lecha
shalom-May Hashem turn his countenance to you and establish you with
peace
The words of this blessing are of course the blessing that the
Kohanim would bless the Jewish people with. It is the priestly blessing, the
one that the Torah commands them to bless the Jewish people with. The first
time that blessing is given…well whadya know? It’s in this week’s Torah
portion. How convenientJ.
This week’s parsha named Shemini, as it begins with
the 8th day of the miluim, was the day when the Tabernacle
was to be erected. On that day the Kohen completed his week of
dedication and induction into his service and role as the conduit of that blessing
and intermediary between Hashem and the Jewish people; the Father and His
children. It was the long awaited day. Since the sin of the Golden Calf the Jewish
people had been waiting for that place and the connection with the Almighty to
return to their midst. The moment had arrived, the Shechina was coming
back and the Torah tells us that, Aharon gets up and gives his blessing. The people
fall on their faces. They sing they praise Hashem. We are one, we are forgiven
that light is once again upon us…almost.
The blessing works for the most part. Yet tragically for two of
Aharon’s own children it doesn’t. They bring a ‘strange fire’ and they are
killed. They are killed for whatever their transgression was and the Tabernacle
and Hashem is sanctified with their deaths. At the pinnacle of our glory, that
deepest and most powerful of blessings didn’t seem to work.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the blessings this week. They are
an incredible structure. Each blessing is really two blessings. The first part
of each phrase is one of boundless goodness. The second part of each phrase is
that the blessing should not turn bad. Each one counters the other. It’s truly
amazing. The first sentence, Hashem should bless you-imagine someone gets an incredible
gift, whatever blessing you can think of that you feel you need. Hashem gives
it to you. The first thing that we wish is that He should also watch over you.
He should make sure you don’t lose it. It should be eternal, it should never be
distorted. V’yishmerecha. The second sentence- Hashem should shine his
countenance upon you. You should be filled with that heavenly light. The radiance
of the Divine presence should bring light to the entire world around you. The
danger of having that incredible glow of holiness and light, like that glow of
the bride and the groom on their wedding day, is that you might come to think
that the glow is all about you. It’s your personality, your inspiration, your
charisma. You’ve forgotten the source of that light, and you become disdainful
of those that don’t possess it. V’yichuneka- the Kohen blesses you. You
should always have grace. You should always utilize that light to find favor with
all and bring favor and grace to each other. You should remember that your
light is a matnat chinam- it is a free gift that comes from Hashem. That
is the light that you should never lose. It’s the protection of the blessing.
The final blessing is perhaps most fascinating. Aharon blesses the
Jewish people that Hashem should turn His face towards them always. That no
matter what they do He should be able to find favor for us. In Israel we have a
word for that, it’s called protektzia. He’s got our back and advocating
on our behalf despite our failings. The Midrash tells us that the angels in
heaven complained when they heard this blessing. They asked doesn’t it say in
Your torah that a judge is not permitted to find unwarranted favor for a
defendant. Lo Tisa Panim and do not take bribes? So how can you find
favor for them? Hashem responds
“What can I do for this people? They are special.
I gave them a mitzva that they should bless me when they eat and they become
satiated. Yet, they are careful in their mitzvos and they bless me after they
eat k’zayit or a beitza even the size of an olive or an egg.”
The Chatam Sofer explains this strange response of Hashem. Hashem
is not merely saying that the Jews are extra strict about making their
blessings. For in truth is one is not satisfied one should not make the
blessing. Rather, he explains is that the Jewish people are satisfied with
their lot. The k’zayit that they eat, they recognize comes from Hashem.
It is all that they need to feel a sense of satisfaction that they have received
something special from their Father in Heaven. So if they are satisfied with
what I have given them, how can I in turn not be satisfied with them?
Nadav and Avihu, the two children of Aharon, did not merit this
blessing. They wanted more. While the people fell on their faces and sang the
praise of Hashem, the verse tells us that they looked and saw God and they ate
and they drank. They were holy people whom Hashem Himself when He consoles
Aharon testifies that they were motivated for a higher connection and that they
were the kedoshim, the martyrs. But they did not merit the blessing of
peace that would protect that special extra favor that the Jewish people would
always have. For peace, true inner peace, true harmony, a true home where the
Divine presence will always rest only can come when one isn’t looking elsewhere
for their fulfillment; not looking at someone else’s place and portion. When
one looks at the beauty and gift that Hashem has given him and the blessings
and love that he or she has and appreciates how special that is, then one can
achieve and protect that bracha that they have been given. They can have
a house of shalom. A place where the shechina will always reside.
I don’t have words of wisdom to share with my daughter on this
special day. I certainly don’t have any insight in how this whole marriage
thing actually works. I’m still figuring it out. The best tip I can say is
marry someone like your mother-because she pretty much knows how to make this
thing work. Or better yet be someone like her. Also a good plate of chulent
helps when your husband is not in a great mood. At least it does for me. Even a
k’zayit’s worth No, I don’t really have any wisdom. But I do have a
blessing.
Yivarachecha Hashem
vyishmerecha,
Yaer Hashem panav
eleicha v’chuneka
Yisa Hashem panav
eleicha-V’yasem lecha shalom
I love you,
Daddy
Have as happy of a Shabbos as I am having,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S VIDEO OF THEWEEK
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/mi-van-siach
–New Chupa song composed in honor of my daughters
wedding this week
https://soundcloud.com/ephraim-schwartz/asher-bara
– And another song I
composed Asher Bara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mByRlZtDIQ
– And finally a hilarious explanation
on the difference between Men and Women’s brains… MUST WATCH!!
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF
THE WEEK
“Ven di kinder zaynen yung dertseyln di eltern
zeyere khokhmes; ven di eltern zaynen alt dertseyln di kinder zeyere
narishkaytn.”- “When
children are young, their parents tell over about how smart they are; when
parents are old, their children talk about how crazy they are.”
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S JEWISH PERSONALITY AND HIS
QUOTES IN HONOR OF THE YARTZEIT OF THE WEEK
“‘I follow the Torah! Treating people as human
beings created in the Divine Image, keeping the laws of Shabbos or keeping
Kosher. It is all one Torah, inseparable.”.
“‘Human’ is a very great thing. To be human is
to be Godly. To internalize the Torah is to become Godly. Godliness touches
everyone in it’s path”-
When people would say they are only ‘human’ to him.
“Almost every child who is struggling with
their religion is seeking attention they could not get at home from their parents.”
Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg 27th of Adar this Wednesday
(1910 – 2012) - Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, died at 101 years of age.
Volumes could – and probably will – be written on his many unique qualities. In
Poland, the place of his birth, on his own initiative he arose at 4 am every
morning to tie his elderly grandfather’s shoes, enabling him to go to morning
prayers at sunrise, and would then ask to join him at those prayers. His
grandfather predicted that this boy will grow to be one of the greatest leaders
of the Jewish people. He was then 5 years old.
He immigrated to the
U.S. at the age of nine and notwithstanding the complete void in Jewish
education and the spirit of mass assimilation at that time, the young Chaim
Pinchus became a Torah scholar. He attended public school until age 14, when he
left home to study in a Yeshiva in rural Connecticut. At age 16 he was tested
and celebrated the completion of an in-depth study of the entire Talmud, an
accomplishment usually found in a select few advanced and elderly scholars. By
the age of 19 he was tested on all of Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law.
At his wedding
ceremony he was presented with a Semicha, Rabbinic ordination, signed by the
most renowned Rabbis of Europe and America. And still, he was able to relate to
his peers; he became an all American teenager. Old timers would call him Lefty
Scheinberg for decades for his proficient ability to play shortstop. But beyond
his down to earth mannerisms, there was a very deep fire burning. An almost
unexplainable yearning to help restore Judaism and Torah to its prominence and
majesty.
He returned to Europe
after his marriage to continue his studies in the famed Mir Yeshiva where he
soon became know as the most diligent student in Mir. The great dean of the Mir
Yeshivah, Rabbi Lazer Yudel Finkel, would say, “I have two very diligent
students, Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz and Reb Chaim Scheinberg.” During that period
he visited and spent time with the saintly Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisroel Meir
Kagan, who went on to become his guiding light in life.
He considered every
moment precious, until his very last moments. Eventually he opened his own
Torah institution which went on to become one of the most prestigious yeshivot
in the world. To describe his Torah knowledge could only understate the case –
he taught generations of scholars, and spread Torah to many thousands of
students.
That being said, the
80,000 people who attended his funeral did not do so simply for his Torah
knowledge. Those who met him sensed something unique. His schedule was grueling: up at 4 am to study and pray, receive
hundreds of visitors all day and night until I would finally close the doors
around 12 or 1 in the morning. On one Saturday night while he was in Monsey by his student Rabbi Yaakov
Haber he recalled how hundreds of visitors arrived soon after Shabbat ended
with questions and requests for blessings. There must have been at least 200
visitors that Saturday night, and thousands during the preceding week. But the
Rabbi was not jaded, not detached, and not neutral. A person told him a tragic
story and he cried. Five minutes later someone shared a simcha and he was
happy. Someone gave him charity money to distribute and he took it. Someone
asked for money and he gave it. He certainly wasn’t an actor, and had no
pretenses; the Rabbi was virtually selfless.
He lived for others
and fully identified with the person he was with. When someone spoke to him he
felt his pain or his joy. When people spoke, he truly listened. He often taught
that when someone is speaking to us we should listen with all of our mind and
heart. We should not be waiting for a chance to speak or even be formulating a
response in our minds. When someone speaks we should be selfless and just
listen. He lived for others. It wasn’t about him. It was about finding the good
in others, and enabling them to become greater.
Another lesson he
taught was that we should always try to find one special thing about every
person we meet. After doing so, that trait becomes their ‘signature’, enabling
us to always think well of them, be concerned for them, and build them up.
To be in his presence
was in itself an experience. Totally unpretentious, he would tuck in a child’s
shirt, tell him to tie his shoelaces, caress the cheek of a troubled father.
There was literally an aura of peace, of tranquility, surrounding him. His
faith and trust in God was so complete it actually transcended his own personal
space to effect a change in anyone who approached him.
Students of his would
return to Jerusalem after many years of being away and Rav Scheinberg would
remember their stellar qualities (‘You still have that amazing memory?’ ‘You
never lost your smile!’). He did this for many thousands of students. He taught
us many times that we can make another person’s day – and sometimes their life
– different with a well- placed, albeit simple compliment. We have the power to
make people great.
He was a great mensch
and much more. He bonded with every single person he met. Some people are
impressive from afar, but the more you get to know them, the more blemishes
appear and the more ordinary they seem. Not so with truly great people. The
closer you are to them, the more you see greatness that you never noticed
before. Tens of thousands saw in Rav Scheinberg an example of Torah
personified. That is why the tens of
thousands attended. That is the legacy that we are meant to live up to.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF
THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q. Standing stones in a cultic context from
the First Temple period were found in:
A.
Tel Arad
- Hanemerim shrine
- Timna
- Tel Be’er Sheva
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL RASHI OF THE WEEK
The Laws of Kosher are all about what you can
put in your mouth right? Wrong. It’s about what Hashem decided is healthy for
us right? Wrong. Take a look at Rashi in this week’s Torah portion and the
lessons he teach are that these are much more about the sensitivity of the
Jewish soul rather than our stomachs. If it was about health he wouldn’t let
non-Jews eat non-kosher either. He loves them too.
One of the non-kosher birds is called the Chasida-
I believe it is a stork. You can’t eat them What Rashi notes is that it has a
strange name. Chasida, as you guessed is a Chasid a righteous person.
You can’t eat Chasid’s either. {Aside extra bonus joke for those that actually
read this part of the E-Mail- The Satmar Rebbe said that Yerushalmi kids are so
cute you could just eat them up. And then when they grow up you wish you had… And
here’s one more my mother was fond of telling me; what’s the difference between
a Vulture and a Jewish kid? A vulture
waits until your dead until it eats your heart out J} Why such a nice name
for a seemingly bad bird? Rashi explains that it was called a Chasid because it
does kindness- and shares its food with its friends. OK then if it’s a good bird
then why can’t I eat it. And why is Rashi telling us this- he must be coming in
that statement to tell us that there is something wrong about this Chasida.
The Chidushei HaRim of Ger explains that Rashi is telling us the problem with
it. “It does kindness with its friends. If someone only does kindness with
those that are their friends then that’s a problem. Sharing ones food should
not be determined based on whom I consider my friends. Rather it is meant to be
with those who need it. One’s friends may call him a Chasid but at the end of
the day you’re trayf. You’re tamei-impure if that’s your outlook. See I
told you it’s not just about food.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S COOL HISTORICAL EVENT THAT
HAPPENED ON THIS DATE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK-
The Naharyim Masacare– 22nd
Adar 1997- They were a group of girls from Beit Shemesh, 7th and
8th grade girls. They were visiting the famous Island of Peace. It
is a small inland between Jordan and Israel that was established in the 1930’s
with the building of the Ruttnberdg water Power plant that had provided electricity
for much of the country by which Israel-actually Palestine and Jordan would
share the power and resources that this plant would provide. It’s a nice place,
a historic place, a place that is pretty and it was a safe place. Israel was at
peace with Jordan. Yet it was there on this date that 7 girls were shot and
killed by a deranged Jordanian guard who opened up fire on them. The aftermath
of this horrible tragedy is that he was arrested and sentenced to life in jail.
But what makes this story so unique amongst all of the too-many tragedies that
are people have suffered, is that King Hussein himself came into Israel to
apologize and pay a shiva call to the parents of the girls and even got
down on his hands and knees to beg forgiveness from them. This is certainly
something that has never happened before. He received much backlash and over
the past few years there have been people in Jordan that have written petitions
to get this murderer out of jail early. I hope that never happens. He should
rot there forever. There are memorials there for these girls. May their
memories be blessed and their families comforted.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S FUNNY TIPS FOR A YOUNG GROOM-
OF THE WEEK
Every man should remember that a happy
marriage is a matter of give and take; the husband gives and the wife takes.
If you ever discover that your credit card was
stolen think before you decided to report it … may be the thief is spending
less than your wife.
“Man who sinks into woman’s arms;—Soon has his
arms in woman’s sink”.- Confucius
Don’t marry for money; you can borrow it
cheaper. – Scottish Proverb
The most effective way to remember your
wedding anniversary is to forget once.
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it. Whenever
you’re right, shut up. – Ogden Nash
My wife says I never listen, or something like
that.......................
A woman worries about her future until she
finds a husband, but a man never worries about the future until he takes a
wife.
Marriage is an institution in which a man
loses his bachelor's degree and the woman gets her master's.
Early in your marriage you will find it
difficult to get the last word in any discussion. With time, though, you will
learn how to always get the last two words in every discussion; just make sure
the words are: 'Yes dear.'
And my favorite…
To be happy with a man, you must understand
him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman, you must love her a
lot and not try to understand her at all.
:**************
Answer is A – Jews worshiped idols throughout our early history. We found
lots of them. They fill the musuems of Israel. We should destroy them. It’s a
mitzva. I know this would upset a lot of people, particularly archeologists.
But they upset God more. They remain a testimony of our unfaithfulness to our
Lord. Imagine a bad husband that repented for being unfaithful to his wife and
kept around pictures of his old girlfriend. Not a good idea. Anyways the answer
here is Tel Arad where they found a mini temple that seemd to be made illegally
for the people that didn’t want to shlep to Jerusalem during the first Temple
period. They found these stand up shaved rocks that were idols and an altar
that was taken apart and buried. It seems that this was from the period of
Hezkiah who ordred all altars destroye. They took it apart but buried it
nicely, figuring that they could probably use it again after he was gone. Seems
like we Jews never learn…sigh
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