A little old lady sits at the table across from my mother during meals at the nursing home. On her forearm is the number which the Germans, may they be erased from the earth, stamped into her flesh Auschwitz.

Remember what Amalek did to you!
mk

Like the barbaric Nazis, the wicked Haman was also from the seed of Amalek. Every day, one of the six things that we are called upon to remember is what Amalek did to us throughout our history, along with the national commandment to utterly destroy the seed of Amalek  upon the ingathering of our scattered exiles and the re-establishment of our Torah Kingdom in Eretz Yisrael. As Purim approaches, we have an additional mitzvah to remember Amalek’s murderous atrocities against us, in the extra Torah portion that we read on Parshat Zachor, and in the Haftorah of the day. There we learn that King Shaul had the opportunity to annihilate Amalek completely, as Hashem had commanded him, but his misplaced compassion allowed the line of Jew haters to continue right down to this very day.  On Purim itself, the noise we make at the mention of Haman’s name, and the foot stamping, are all part of stamping out Amalek’s memory, but, of course, it isn’t enough.

In another hour, the funeral will begin for the Fogel family, a few minutes away from my home. Feeling horrified by the savagery of the murders, and overwhelmed by the pain and anger that our whole nation is left with, it is difficult for to write about it just now. But everyone is talking about it in the media in Israel, so I will write a few words.

When the 8 yeshiva students were ruthlessly murdered two years ago, may their murders be avenged with a devastating vengeance, I wrote that the Torah describes Arabs as subhuman creatures. The INN editors changed my title to read something less radical, but the fact remains that the Yishmael of old has become an iota more civilized over the last three thousand years. As the Chofetz Chaim said, you can dress a Yishmaelite up in a suit and tie, you can send him to college, you can even grant him as degree as a professor, but he will always remain a “pere adam,” a wild beast that looks like a man. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook reiterated this understanding by explaining that in Hebrew grammar, adjectives come after the nouns they describe. We say a “bayit gadol” for a big house, or “tapuach adom” for a red apple. The thing itself comes first and then the adjective which describes it. The same with “pere adam.” First and foremost, the Yishmaelite, is a “pere,” a wild beast. Then, to describe him, the Torah adds the adjective “adam,” meaning that Yishmael is a beast that looks like a man. How clearly we were shown that yesterday with the barbaric bestial rampage of the sons of Yishmael that left a holy Jewish family screaming out to the world in a tsunami of blood. Even Shimon Peres was moved to remark that the killers bore no trace whatsoever to human beings.

Several years ago at Purim time, the holy Jewish martyr, Baruch Goldstein, of blessed memory, saved the Jews of Hevron from a planned Yishmaelite pogrom by gunning down dozens of Arabs in the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Unfortunately, the conflict with the Arabs continues, their pogroms continue, their killing continues, and the spirit of Amalek is still very much alive in their midst.

The Mufti with Hitler, may they and their memories be erased.
mk

What can the Jewish People do to uproot this monstrous evil from our Land?

Right now, I have to leave for the funeral. Maybe afterwards, I can continue. Not now. I can’t.      

I have been asked to comment about Havat Gilad. I will preface my remarks with a story that HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook would tell students to explain the painful phenomena of yeridah.

Once a shidduch was arranged, but before the meeting, the girl realized that she knew who the boy was, and she wasn’t interested in him at all. But she didn’t want to hurt his feelings by calling off the meeting, so she dressed up in soiled and wrinkled clothes and left her hair a mess, so she would appear unappealing when they met. Sure enough, the boy was repelled and decided that he didn’t want to meet her again. He thought he was rejecting her, when, in actually, it was the girl who had rejected him.

“This is what happens with people who leave the Land of Israel,” Rabbi Kook explained. “G-d, in His kindness, doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of any Jew, so he makes the person think that he is the one who rejects Eretz Yisrael, when, in fact, Eretz Yisrael really is rejecting him. G-d sets things in his path that he finds displeasing, so he feels justified in abandoning the Land. But it is really the Land that puts on an ugly countenance in order to expel him for not loving her enough.”  

The same is true for people who find all sorts of excuses for not making aliyah. When they look at Eretz Yisrael, they don’t like this and they don’t approve of that.  Because they don’t set the Land of Israel over their highest joy, G-d causes them to see only the bad. They’ll tell you that they’ve seen prostitutes in Tel Aviv, and that the government is corrupt, and that Israeli policemen shoot plastic bullets at Jewish settlers. Not wanting to hurt their feelings, G-d makes them think that they are the ones who are rejecting the Land, when, in reality, it is the Land that is rejecting them.

Police violence at Havat Gilad
a

It was the same with the Spies who saw giants in the Land, became frightened, and declared that they weren’t making aliyah because not everything was to their liking. Unlike Joshua and Calev who saw the good, the Spies focused on the bad. So they died in the wilderness, while Joshua and Calev entered the Land with all those who loved the Land more than their personal comfort, their positions, and their egos (Mesillat Yeshurim, Ch.19).

This week, we begin the Book of Vayikra, which records the order of the sacrifices. The Torah portion begins, "Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When a person from you will bring an offering to Hashem...." The expression "from you" teaches us that the sacrifice must come from ourselves - we ourselves must be ready to sacrifice in serving Hashem, even to sacrifice our lives if need be. How much more so to be willing to give up a little comfort from our all too comfortable lives.

Shabbat shalom!

I got a little bored hanging around the nursing home today, so to break the monotony, I tried a few simple levitation tricks. Nothing fancy – just levitating a Purim hat above my head. I know you aren’t supposed to use Kabbalah to do tricks, but I figured it would entertain the old timers and bring a smile to their faces.

ten seconds and counting....
mk

Lift off!
mk

We've got a beautiful launch!
mk

You know what Mom’s old age home reminds me of? You guessed it – the Diaspora. Actually, the word Diaspora is a pseudo sophisticated Greek term to make the exile seem less of a curse. But that’s what life in golus is – a curse. Only there are a lot of people who think that the exile is a wonderful place for Jews. In a way, that’s a form of dementia. They think that the exile is the best place in the world to be Jewish, just like some people in the nursing home think it’s a 5-star hotel.

They think it's a 5 star hotel.

There are many types of dementia. One of the worst is Alzheimer’s Disease. A person with Alzheimer’s forgets things. Just the way a lot of people in the exile forget that it’s an exile. They forget Jerusalem and that they really belong in Eretz Yisrael. In fact, the Diaspora is one big old age home. But, to be fair, there is a difference. The people in Mom’s nursing home are always saying that they want to go home. You don’t hear the residents of the exile saying that. They’re content being right where they are. They actually think it’s their home!  To me, it’s tragic. When I think about my poor brothers locked up in exile, like the tough cases in the nursing home, it brings tears to my eyes.

One other similarity. The people in Mom’s old age home aren’t going anywhere. They’re just living out their lives. They eat, sleep, and enjoy a little entertainment and TV, but they aren’t getting any better. Just like life in the exile. People eat, sleep, watch TV, but they aren’t going anywhere. They’re just hanging around. It’s a little like the exercise bicycle on the ward. The pedals go around, but the bicycle doesn’t take you anywhere.

Not going anywhere
mk

I’m Tzvi Fishman, INN blogger, in a nursing home in Jerusalem, signing off.

Today at the nursing home, the ladies made paper cut-out dolls. I told them that the little figures represented the sons of the wicked Haman, and that we were going to hang them up in honor of the upcoming Purim holiday, just as Mordechai did in Shushan.

You can learn a lot hanging around a nursing home. One of them is humility. How often we forget, in the years of our prime and power, that everything is a gift from G-d. Everything! Our ability to eat, to drink, to walk, to think, to go to the bathroom - it’s all by the grace of G-d. As we say in the blessing of thanks that we recite after leaving the lavatory:

“Blessed are thou … King of the universe, who formed man in wisdom, and created in him a system of ducts and tubes. It is well known before Your glorious throne that if but one of these be opened, or if one of those be closed, it would be impossible to exist in Your presence, even for a single hour. Blessed are You … who heals all creatures and does wonders.”

We shouldn’t take things for granted and think we’re such great hot shots. Time passes fast, my friends, and it won’t be long till your back to wearing diapers.

And think about what a big deal people make about going to fancy restaurants, ordering the finest meals, and complaining in loud arrogant voices when the steak arrives too well done, when before you know it, you’ll be eating meals like this:

So, a little humbleness my friends. The next time you think you have all the answers, remember where you’re headed….

This afternoon at the nursing home, groups of kids dressed in Purim costumes came by to bring a little Rosh Chodesh joy to the elderly.

Surprise visitors!

Of course I joined in.

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Is this person a visitor or a nursing home resident?
mk

Chodesh tov v'samaoch!