Insights and Inspiration
from the
Holy Land
from
from
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
"Your friend in Karmiel"
September 8th 2017 -Volume 7 Issue 44 17th
of Elul 5777
Parshat Ki Tavo
Wisdumb Lessons
I don’t like dentists. I don’t like
mechanics either. I have the same problem with both of them. See I know nothing
about the inside of a car hood. I don’t know what makes it run. I can barely
even figure out how the stereo works in most of these new cars today. But I
know that every so often my car has to go to the mechanic for a “check-up” .
They change the oil, the filters and fill up some fluids.They check out the
brakes and change some pads. It should be simple. In the States they would do
this for like 10-15 bucks if I remember correctly at Jiffy Lube or something.
Yet inevitably what happens is that they come back to you with this “Aha we
got one” kind of look and tell you “Oh you have to change your
catylictic carbulator” or “your left axle wing nut seems to be dripping
some fluids, when was the last time you had that checked or replaced?” Now
of course I have no idea what these things or if there are even such parts in a
car. That’s the way they test you to see how much they can take advantage of
you. When you tell them that you don’t know, that is their cue to tell you that
it’s supposed be changed every 100 thousand miles and whadaya know I’m at
101,000, so its time. They’re very patronizing of course, as they say listen
you don’t have to do it here now, but they can’t guarantee that my car will
live another day or two without it and they’ll give me a discount to do it now.
So of course I have no choice and I get the work done on some mysterious part
and just rack it up to my never having taken auto mechanics in school.
Same thing with the Dentist. See, I
avoid them. I avoid all doctors. My feeling is if it ain’t broke why fix it? My
wife on the other hand feels that it is very important for me to go for
“checkups”. I don’t have a high enough life-insurance policy it seems and I
guess she feels it might be worthwhile to keep me around for a bit until I pay
off some of our debts and who know maybe even put away some savings. Checkups
are essential in her mind to keeping me around. So I go in. They weigh me and
nod tskk tskk tsskk… Israeli doctors are particularly good at doing that. They
take my blood pressure and make some more funny noises and then they tell me
that I really should lose weight, exercise more, have less shwarmas and in
general to become a different person. They of course tell me, that I don’t have
to do this if I don’t want to. But if I love my family he can’t guarantee I’ll
be around if I don’t. Unfortunately I can’t just pay him some money to just fix
the problem, So I leave with some guilt and thoughts of gastrointestinal and
cardiovascular “teshuva” that lasts for about 5 minutes and just tell my wife
that the doctor said everything will be fine.
Dentists though have a special
place in my heart and mouth though. See there my wife tells me I have to go for
checkup and cleaning. Once again- my teeth are fine, they look clean to me and
after all who’s really looking at them anyways. It’s what comes out of my mouth
that people are paying attention to right? She however uses my weak point and
tells me that it’s free. See we have the platinum Kupat Cholim-that’s our
socialized medicine clinic- plan which offers a free annual checkup. And if
it’s free then I have to do it. Now this platinum Kupat Cholim thing is also a
scam. They tell you it’s free, but ultimately they find all the things that are
not covered under the plan and whadaya know that’s what needs to be fixed, but
don’t worry because we have platinum we will get a discount, which
interestingly enough is still more expensive than if I just go to a private
dentist to take care of it….See why I really hate dentists.
So anyways two weeks ago my wife
convinces me to go for my cleaning and as could be predicted they told me that
I needed a root canal on top of the one I have already. Which really was doing
fine and not troubling me at all. They also said that one of my wisdom teeth
needed to be extracted. Again I pride myself on my wisdom, and I wasn’t ready
to give it up yet. We’ve been together for quite a few decades now. And almost
like Samson, maybe the secret to my brilliance is in that tooth. So I came home
told my wife that everything was fine and since it wasn’t bothering me at all
anyways, I figured it was just another one of those dentist scam things.
Dentists in Israel don’t make as much as they do in America and they gotta get
it from where they can. But this American Oleh wasn’t going to fall for it.
The problem was I didn’t realize to
what extent they would go to. See a few days later, Friday night I was sitting
down at my Shabbos table. As I bit into the delicious healthy spelt challah my
wife makes. Healthy of course to insure I will be around for a while. Sure
enough I feel my filling come out. Just like that. Boom. Pop. I’m looking at my
wisdom tooth filling that was perfectly fine before these dentists broke it to
make sure I would come back. It’s the only explanation. It was fine until I
went in for that cleaning. Yeah…they were determined to clean me out, that’s
for sure. So with no choice I went back. I paid my dues. They yanked my wisdom
tooth. Gleefully I might say. I’m in pain. If this E-mail is dumber than usual,
now you know why. Did I mention I don’t like dentists...?
One of the interesting thing I
noticed and was thinking about as they were pulling my tooth is that they kept
referring to it as the shein bina. That’s the word in Hebrew for wisdom
tooth. For some reason this bothered me. See, the word for wisdom in Hebrew is chochma.
A scholar- something I was before they stole my tooth – is a talmid chacham.
The word bina- though means understanding. A shein bina is an
understanding tooth. Ani lo meivin- means I don’t understand. And a maven
in Hebrew, Yiddish and even English is someone who understands things or is an
expert on thing. There’s a difference between the two. In fact in Torah
etymology each word has its own particular nuances and chochma and bina
are two very different things.
There is another word as well for
this intellectual information that word is da’as which can be translated
as knowledge. These three terms can be found in the first of our personal
prayers that we recite in our daily amida prayer.
“You grant man knowledge and teach mankind wisdom, Grace us
from You wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Blessed are You Hashem the
grantor of knowledge.”
Incidentally if you didn’t put it
together these three things are in fact the acronym which Chabad stands for CH’ohchma,
Bina Daas. So where better then to Chabad to understand what they are all
about. Chochma in the great works of the Baal Hatanya, he explains is is a
spark, it is the first flash of an idea. For example, sometimes one is
struggling over a problem and they get a flash of inspiration, a
"Eureka" if you will. The Gaon of Vilna explains it as the Divine
wisdom that comes directly from Hashem. In fact the letters of chochma
also spell when rearranged the words koach ma- the potentiality of what
is. It is the building blocks of what comes only from above.
Bina on the other hand is the next
step. It comes from the word boneh to build. It is taking that wisdom,
that information that one has received and contemplating and understanding the way he personally
relates to it. It is therefore constantly changing as generations come and go.
The two chochma and bina are referred to in the Zohar as the two
friends that never part from one another. The Talmud tells us that women were
granted an extra sense of bina over men. chochma –wisdom that initial
spark is the man’s part. It’s that momentary flash that he brings to the table.
The woman takes that idea and develops it, nurtures it. When it comes to creating life, she does so
for 9 months. Men can’t be pregnant. Bina is not our thing. We’re programmed to
bring the quick solution and to move on to the next project or idea. Maybe that’s
why in Israel it’s called the Bina tooth. Here in Israel, where the Talmud
tells us that the air one breathes is full of wisdom, as soon as it gets in our
mouths we begin the process of bina understanding it and taking it apart
and constructing it and making it better. In America they’re still a step
behind and they are just plain old dumb American airspace and it only becomes
wisdom once they start biting into it or sinking their teeth in it. I know your
groaning now but I warned you this E-Mail was gonna be dumber than usual…L.
Finally
knowledge is the incorporation or internalization of that wisdom and knowledge
and truly becoming one with it. The biblical term as we all know for intimacy
is man “knowing” his wife. That is the prayer we say each morning Hashem is the
one that gives us the ability to achieve knowledge. We do this through chochma
we receive and bina process of extrapolating and nurturing it and ultimately
we transform it all and internalize into knowledge. This is truly the function
of the entire world the prophet Isaiah describes the Messianic era as when the
whole world will full of knowledge like a water covering the sea. That’s what
we are here in this world to try to achieve.
This week’s
Torah portion interestingly enough is really describes this process of chochma
and bina and daas perfectly throughout the entire portion. The parsha
begins with Hashem telling us that we will come to the land. The place where we
are meant to shine out that light and knowledge from. We will harvest we will
plant. Just like everyone else does wherever else they go. Our crops grow we
have that wisdom. That inspiration. But then something changes. We take our
first fruits and bring them to the temple. To the Kohen. Before Hashem. We make
a public declaration. We preform Bina. We recount our history and announce that
Hashem is the source of all of our blessing. Now and forever. We then
internalize the Torah tells us by recognizing that this covenant that we share
this bond this information places upon us the ultimate obligations to fulfill
the commandments. He commands us- gives us the knowledge. We follow His ways.
We become to him His treasured nation making us above all nations to be
dedicated to Him with praise and splendor. Like a bride and a groom, a chasan
and Kalla bound together with that loving intimate knowledge.
This idea
continues in the next command as well where Moshe commands the Jewish people
together with the elders and the Kohanim and Levis that when they come to
Israel the first act they do is going to be to go to these two mountains and
enter into the covenant, the marriage with all the blessings and responsibilities
and the pitfall and curses if we do not fulfill our mandate. The Elders are there
because they ae the source of the chochma, the Kohanim represent the
Bina the development of that knowledge, the Levi’im are the ones that will sing
and teach and facilitate the internalization of it all. We are one. We answer Amen. The world will come to its fulfillment.
The portion
concludes with Moshe reassuring and asserting the essence of it all
Devarim ( 29:1) You have seen all
that Hashem has done before your wise in the land of Egypt… the great signs and
miracles which your eyes have seen..
And Hashem has not given you a heart
to ‘know’ and eyes to see and ears to hear until this very day…
And you have come to this land and
Sichon the king of Cheshbon and Og the King of Bashan came out to us and we
smote them. And we have taken their land and it was given to us as an
inheritance to Reuvein, Gad and half the tribe of Menashe.
And you shall guard this covenant and
you shall preform it in order that you will taskilu- be successful in all that you do.
I translated
the word taskilu above as succesful as Rashi and the Unkelus do. However the
the word in fact comes from the same root as sechel- intelligence and in fact
the Seforno concludes this portion explaining
“In order that you will achieve to direct
all of your actions for the eternal life and for the present life”
Life, wisdom,
understanding, meaning all of those things that we seek to achieve in holiness
can only be acquired if we open our eyes, we focus our hearts and we
internalize this most amazing of ideas. Now that’s something to sink your teeth
into. Ouch!
Have a simchadike Shabbos,
Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz
*******************************************
RABBI SCHWARTZ’S
FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK
“Az es kumt tsonvaitik fargest men kopvaitik.”. When a toothache
comes, you forget your headache.
RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
https://youtu.be/w9FB8R1mdjw – Bill Cosby on Dentists… Classic and still funny after all these
years..
https://youtu.be/6-6UkU8nWZw – Aseh
LMaan Shemecha Yitzchak Fuchs
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
answer below at end of Email
Q. A site where “Free Masons” have
been known to convene (gather):
a. The Hulda stairs
b. The Nicanor cave
c. Zedekiah’s cave
d. The Tombs of the Kings
a. The Hulda stairs
b. The Nicanor cave
c. Zedekiah’s cave
d. The Tombs of the Kings
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ILLUMINATING RASHI OF THE
WEEK
Ki Tavo- There are some verses and chapters in the Torah that are
difficult to read. Not because the words are hard or the translation but rather
because when the Torah talks tough it gets scary. Particularly this is true
when it comes to the exhortations and “curses” that Moshe tells us if we do not
follow the words of the Torah. After thousands of years in exile we have seen
these prophecies fulfilled tragically enough to us from the destructions of the
Temples to modern times. Yet the Rashis on these verses can be particularly
upbeat. Even on the most frightening of predictions Rashi seems to find an
upside to it. He sees in the gloom and doom the rays of light and hope.
One of those predictions that seems
particularly harsh
Devarim
(28:63) Vhaya Ka’asher Sas- And it will be as Hashem rejoiced-to
do good to you and to multiply you, Kein Yasis- so too Hashem will
rejoice- on you to make you perish and destroy you.
Wow! It’s one thing to say that Hashem must
destroy us, but that he will be happy that we will be destroyed! As happy as
when he does good for us? How can that be? The Shomer Emunim notes that Hashem
is not even happy when His enemies- like the Egyptians were drowning in the Red
Sea and he prohibited the angels from singing His praise. So Rashi kicks in by
pointing out that the word that Hashem will rejoice- Yasis actually
means He will make rejoice- this is different than Onkelos’s translation
incidentally- And Rashi therefore understands the verse as saying
He
will make your enemies rejoice over you to make you perish.
In fact in older prints of Rashi mentioned in
the mikraot Gedolot addition it adds
That
Hashem Himself does not rejoice. We learn from here that Hashem does not
rejoice upon the downfall of the wicked, as it does not say yasus- He will rejoice, rather yasis that
he will make others rejoice. However in the goodness to the righteous Hashem
Himself rejoices as it says sas- as
Hashem rejoices.
The Shomer Emunim himself explains the verse
according to Unkelos intepertation in that Hashem rejoices when He destroys us
as much as when He does good for us because He understands that the pains and tribulations
and suffering that we undergo are only there to remove any evil and to purify
and allow us to rise to even greater heights thus insuring our eternality.
Perhaps that can help explain Rashi as well,
as the suffering that we have that the nations of the world are rejoicing over
our downfall is part of the process of us redeeming ourselves and atoning for
our sins.
Regardless, once again Rashi takes a verse
that is too troubling to read and turns into into a tool to appreciate how
close Hashem is to us even in our most challenging times.
Rabbi Aharon Roth- the Shomer Eminim (1894-1947) – Amongst the Todos Aharon and Toldos
Avrahm Yitzchak Yerushalmi Jews he is known as the “Alter Rebbe” as he was the
founder of the current chasidut. He was born in Hungary and studied by the
great Rebbes of Bluzhov, Vishnitz and ultimately Satmar. He was known for his
devotion and dedication to living at the highest spiritual lifestyle. In 1925
he moved to Palestine to Jerusalem and founded in Meah Shearim his yeshiva. He
wrote his seminal work called Shome Emunim on the importance of reciting Amen.
He moved back to Europe in 1929 leaving his chasidim behind. In 1940 he
returned to Israel and he died in 1947 while in middle of grinding his flour
for Matzos for Pesach.
.
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TYPES OF JEWS IN ISRAEL OF
THE WEEK
Yordim –I know this column is for Jews in Israel and by
definition yordim- the term used for Jews that have emigrated from Israel to
the diaspora aren’t in Israel, but lo and behold it seems that you can run but
can’t get away as many of these Jews are here whether for visits or to get some
good shwarma and chumus that of course you can’t get anywhere else. According
to estimates there are close to a million Israelis and their families living
outside of Israel, most in North America. There is a long history of Jews
leaving Israel voluntarily. The first two Aliyot in the late 1800’s and early
1900’s saw from 50-80% return to their places of origin unable to make it here.
After the establishment of the State it certainly dropped and the Aliya rate
has always been significantly more than the yerida rate. The primary
reasons why Jews leave the land their ancestors have dreamt of living in
interestingly enough is not because of security or even political reasons.
Rather the main reasons have been for the quality of life, employment
opportunities or because of a spouse that they met from another question.
Maimonides, who himself was not able to live in Israel as he was the doctor for
Salaadin in Egypt and wasn’t allowed to leave, writes that the only time it is
permitted to leave Israel is to find a wife, or make a living or to study Torah
and even then he says one should return to Israel as soon as he accomplishes
that goal. It is interesting, as an Oleh to Israel to talk to many of these yordim
and they speak about Israel with a tremendous amount of fondness. Many of
them long for Israel, perhaps even more so than their Diaspora counterparts.
This is despite them finding much success and even developing mini- “Israeli
communities” in the cities they live. The main cities where these Israeli can
be found are in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Although there’s not too many
shopping malls that yo can got to where you won’t find some Israelis selling
Dead Sea products or some other chatchkes. Although those sales people Israelis
certainly plan on returning and are usually just taking a hiatus after the army
service and to make a few bucks.
Whereas once in Israel yordim were
looked upon with scorn today that sentiment has changed and many people
appreciate that many of these yordim are our biggest advocates in the
Diaspora. Even more interesting, I can share with you from personal experience,
is that many of these yordim that are secular and while they were in
Israel had no interest in anything Torah or Jewish oriented, yet when they find
themselves in America, without the luxury of their Jewish Identity being
defined by living in Israel, for the first time begin to incorporate more and
more observance and tradition into their lives. As I said a Jew can run but
never to far…
RABBI SCHWARTZ'S JEWISH JOKES OF THE WEEK
Q: What does the dentist of the year get? A: A
little plaque
Q: What
did the dentist say to the computer? A: This won't hurt a byte
Q: What did the dentist see at the North Pole?
A: A molar bear Q:
What did the dentist say to the golfer? A:
"You have a hole in one. "
Q: Why did the king go to the dentist? A: To
get a new crown!
Q: Why did the deer need braces? A: He had
buck teeth
Q: At
what time do most people go to the dentist? A: At tooth-hurty (2:30).
Q: Did
you hear about the Buddhist who refused a Novocain injection during root canal
treatment? A: He wanted to transcend dental medication!
**************
Answer
is C– Who would have thought that you could find Freemasons that
ancient Masonic lodges had anything to do with Israel. But the truth is that
this medieval workers fraternity has its bases in the building of Solomon’s
Temple and his “Mason” Hiram and much of their secretive and mysterious rituals
revolve around that.. It is there for most appropriate in fact that there
should be an annual ceremony in the cave of Tzidkiya which was a quarry from
the times of the kings of Israel although more likely than not it wasn’t used
for Solomon’s Temple but rather from the 2nd Temple and Herod’s
period. It got its name from the Midrash that described Zedekiya fleeing from
the Babylonian assault during the destruction of the first Temple and the
Midrash tells us that he had a cave that led to a tunnel that went all the way
to Yericho and when he came out they found him and blinded him and took him
back to Babylonian as a captive.
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