Welcome to Voices from Zion. Together we'll explore the scriptures in their original Hebrew, wrestle with hard questions, and celebrate the beauty of what unites us. and the respect that deepens when we acknowledge what doesn't.
So welcome to the dialogue. Welcome to the wrestle. Welcome to Voices from Zion. Robbie and the rabbi.
So welcome back to Voices from Zion and What a treat we have for you today. I just love where I know we're going. talking about the fruit. I don't I don't of the Holy Land And so much of the Bible speaks of fruit. And fruit has so much to do with our own identity.
and and what God is trying to teach us. And so I'm so excited to hear what. We're going to learn today, Rabbi. Go for it.
Okay. God bless you.
So the truth is that we're still, of course, immersed in our Prophecies more current than today's newspaper is. But I'm going to focus On a very personal note. With respect to That passage That we discussed. Last time. In Ezekiel chapter 36.
focused in particular on The implications. Chapter 36, verse 8. But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they are near to come. And so I know we discussed last time, we have this tradition that this expression, they are near to come. Is Utterly extraordinary in the Bible.
There are many prophecies that we could take as describing the end times, but saying near to come.
So we have this tradition that there is no more manifest sign. the impending redemption Than when the land of Israel brings forth its fruit bountifully once more. in such stark contrast to the utter desolation that we've already noted is so vividly described by Mark Twain and all the other authors who came through this part of the world in the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century, devastation, destruction, depopulation. And all of a sudden... Blossoming once more.
And What I wanted to add. Um A completely personal note. Uh this on a personal familial level Specifically with respect to the fruit. The Holy Land. Uh stories that both pertain to the family of My maternal grandfather.
My maternal grandfather came from a little town in Central Europe. called Mikhailovtsa. which was part of the Austro Hungarian Empire before World War One and then was part of Czechoslovakia between the wars. I think it was annexed by Russia after World War Two. That part of the world where you never really were sure w what the official language was because you weren't sure who was in charge.
But even though it was a relatively Small town. In The Census Of 1930, there were some 3,386 Jews, which represented 30% of the total population.
Well, I understand. In particular, because I Had A close relationship with A first cousin of my grandfather who lived here. in Israel And We used to get together fairly frequently. Unfortunately, I really didn't have much of an opportunity.
So Explore My grandfather's memory because He passed away suddenly of a heart attack. before my fourth birthday.
So my my memories are there, but they're sketchy. But um but it's cousin told me a lot about Mikhailovtza. The town was A kind of hub for all of the surrounding farmland and most of the shopkeepers in the town itself. Were the Jews. Generally speaking, Jews weren't allowed to own land, so as a result, They Farming communities were not the Jewish ones, and the Jews were the shopkeepers who provided all the goods and services.
And Of this town. Almost no one survived. My grandfather. immigrated to the United States in 1922. He was safe from the perils of the Holocaust.
His Youngest brother. immigrated to Jerusalem. at the beginning of the nineteen thirties, And So likewise he and his family survived. There was another brother There were around half a dozen sisters. All of them with large families.
I must know I'd survived. One sister with her husband and children. was able to somehow hide and The forests For the duration of the war. And they survived. But Almost no one came back.
The first cousin of my grandfather, whom I mentioned. While He Wasn't, of course, of the immediate family. He was one of the few survivors of the more extended family. He also came from. Mikhailovtza.
Uh he exceptionally survived. even though the earth of his family did match. And Okay. He Gave me It's supposed to be years ago or so. To read a book that had been composed by the few survivors after the war.
They were The survivor would get together and Yeah. Reminisce together, and in this case, they actually put out a book. It was in as I recall, Hebrew, English and Czech.
So of course I was not able to read the Hebrew and the English. And My memory it pertains to the fruits of the Holy Land. Um One of the Authors of this Book of Remembrance. described how as a young girl on the holiday of Purim. Whereas we read in the book of Esther in chapter nine, Part of the celebration of Purim, and this is part of the celebration of Purim in the book of Esther, but also to this day, is to bring gifts of food to one another.
To increase the camaraderie, to increase the brotherhood, gifts of food in Hebrew mishloch mano, ishlare ehu. And so On in the morning, she sets off with a basket of goodies for her teacher. And the teacher graciously welcomes her to her home. After all, you don't have classes on Purim.
So the teacher graciously welcomes her to her home and You know, this Kind of presumption of reciprocity, even though it's not required, but still. The teacher Cave. A little girl. As A Purim gift. An orange from the Holy Land.
Because after all, we're talking about the nineteen thirties and And the land of Israel has begun to blossom again. It's blossoming. It's producing fruit. The Orange Groves. Or once again Filling the countryside.
And She gets this Orange from the land of Israel. And she describes a kind of reverence, not just that she, as a little girl, felt, but that everyone, the teacher, felt, her whole family felt. An orange from the Holy Land. They wouldn't even. Touch it.
They would just sniff it until I suppose it was getting to the point where the orange was starting to get a little bit soft because it was starting to rat inside. But finally, they ate it, but they just kept it on display as long as they possibly could because. An orange from the Holy Land. was just so so special. And um Besides this I guess indirect link because this is after all Place From which And a manner of speaking My hell, my ancestors hell.
My great uncle Here in Jerusalem. Would Send A crate of oranges. The fruit of the Holy Land. to his relatives. In the United States.
That's my grandfather. Lived in New York, unfortunately, he passed away. Again, at a very young age. But his family was all there and Um Their sister, who survived, also lived in the New York area and who had a crate of oranges. to New York so people would be able to have a taste of the Holy Land.
And Well, of course, as we've shared in the past. Yeah, it's before Passover and Hey, there's no such thing as a Jewish holiday that doesn't Focus our attention on food, of course, but there's nothing liturgical about specifically eating oranges, but. the fruit of the holy land And it was like something so integral. And I myself I I first came to Jerusalem. In 1978, as an 18-year-old, Unfortunately My great uncle passed away in 1982.
So our overlap. wasn't For that many years, but it was very intense because I was studying. In Seminary In the old city of Jerusalem, and my great uncle and my great aunt. lived on a twenty minute work. Away from My dormitory.
So on Sabbath afternoons, I had some free time. Not the intense schedule of study of all the rest of the week.
So I would often, very frequently, on Sabbath afternoons, walk over to visit my great uncle and great aunt. And Of course, they would always insist that I eat with them, and they would always send back some food with me. On my way back. to the seminary. And again, The fruit of the Holy Land.
It it's It's something that I can't really adequately verbalize. Because you might think Hey, it's a piece of fruit. What's the big deal? But it was a big deal. It was a really big deal.
Maybe we didn't have the same level of reverence as that little girl in Michalovtsa before the war. That's the fruit of the Holy Land. And The prophecy Is coming true. before our eyes. You O mountains of Israel.
You will shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit. to my people Israel, for they are near to come. They are new. Can I dig into that a minute with you? Please.
I am so delighted with this description and delighted with. the joy around both that one orange for that little girl. who if there was anybody who needed to cling on to hope. Oh. I can imagine in the forest.
Surrounded by the Nazis. There was a wonderful movie made in the United States. I'm trying to remember the exact name of it, but it was about the Belinsky brothers who led a whole group of Jews. Oh, sure. Uh yeah, it was uh to show that the kind of horror that they Underwent during that time.
And I can't help it, as you're describing it, think about that movie. Um as as literally the They went and rescued people out of concentration camps and stuff like that. Yeah. The word that we you talked about that are at hand to come. You know, we had just had a discussion before we started recording.
about the the letter kuf and it begins with that letter. Absolutely. that that it has to do with this proximity. And interestingly, again, with the word hand in it. Um It's really spectacular when you think about this idea of fruit.
has to do with the From my standpoint has to do with the presence. of presence of God. Right? And when you see something blossoming. Mm-hmm.
then then you know that And if it that that letter begins with a pay and that that to me is always Indicate of to me of like here comes You know, God's presence near to hand, which is the same thing, obviously, as fruit of the Holy Land. which if you're in those situations, whether you were living out World War II in New York or you were living out World War II. in the forest I can't imagine the horror. Um that everyone in those communities was feeling. I can't imagine it.
Um yet something like an orange from the Holy Land. That memory, in other words, this happened before the war, you know, but that memory. That was no accident that that was special to that little girl. I don't think so at all. And she did survive.
And she made her way to the land of Israel afterward.
so she was able to partake of the fruits of the Holy Lamb. That was one very rare story with a happy ending. you know in addition you you note Mm-hmm. Completely. Um the Expression in the Hebrew that I rendered as they are near to come.
Qui que revous la vaux. Kervu from the same route as Karov, Karov. Drawing near. You know The Hebrew word It would be almost a travesty to translate into the. usual English word because of the connotations associated with it.
They're bringing an offering to God. but is conventionally translated as sacrifice. It's called bunch. I think it's a travesty translated as sacrifice altogether. Because sacrifice, of course, currently is the connotation that I'm sacrificing something, I'm giving something up.
And Corban. Means I'm bringing something close. Shortening the distance, so to speak, between myself and God. And of course, inevitably, you talk about fruit. And What of course comes to mind is Deuteronomy chapter 26.
What do you do with the first fruits? of the Holy Land. Only of the Holy Land. Not of anywhere else. The first fruits of the Holy Land.
You bring to the Holy Temple. You set them before the priest. and you make a declaration of your gratitude to God. for having brought you there. Especially the fruit?
And this declaration is a declaration that goes back. Really, to the roots of The history of Israel. Indeed. This is maybe another story, but That declaration that is made When you bring the first fruits to the Holy Temple. Again, the first fruits of the Holy Land.
to the holy temple. Unfortunately, we don't have the Holy Temple today, so. We aren't able to engage in this practice yet, but we're looking forward to its restoration. But the declaration. The declaration that we make provides The core.
The retelling of the story of Bandage In Egypt. and redemption from Egypt. At the Passover Seder. Every Passover.
So it's also about Coming close, isn't it? Wow, I, you know, I hate that I'm so ignorant. But I'm so glad I Yeah. Blessed God who did this today. I have never heard that description of sacrifice.
Uh uh You know, I've heard lectures on Corbett, you know, and all that, but I've never heard that delineated so beautifully. Um That that is actually mind-blowing. when you understand how horribly Translated into English, that word is. Right. And it's just a travesty.
Sacrifice I would go so far as to say it's the antithesis. in its connotation. of what Korban signifies. I'm not giving up. I'm quite close.
Oh, I'm at I I'm going to love to study that concept. Oh my word. Because That has so many implications. It's it's so It's amazing. Um Yeah, that word is so totally misunderstood in our culture, it's unbelievable.
You know, I don't know if I should go here, but. Um people Often ask What so you're looking forward to The rebuilding of the Holy Temple? Yes, we pray for that at least thrice daily. All the time. Not just the rebuilding of the temple.
Yes, the restoration of the temple service. What? Restoration of the devil? Yes. It's They're in God's word.
God describes it. In The five books of Moses. But more than that, just consider. the culmination of The ultimate ingathering. And when I say ultimate ingathering, I mean not just of Israel.
In Isaiah chapter 56. In Versus Six Through eight. Also The children of the stranger That join themselves to the Lord to serve him to love the name of the Lord to be his servants. Everyone that keeps the Sabbath. and does not profane it.
All that take hold of my covenant. Even them I will bring to my holy mountain. and make them rejoice in my house of prayer. That's holy temple. Their offerings will be favored upon my altar.
They're bringing offering. They're bringing Corban. Even though that's not the actual word that's used in the text here, but that's the that's what it means. They bring offerings upon my altar. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Thus Says The Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel. Yet, I will gather others to him. Besides those of him that are already gathered. Because it's not just about gathering Israel, it's about gathering everyone. Where everyone comes to the Holy Temple.
And Bears offerings. And of course, I appreciate very well, people recoil. At the very thought of this. But um I feel compelled to ask. Why don't you claim?
It's not because we're all vegetarian, visited.
So maybe there is an ideal of vegetarianism, but that's not really germane here. No, we don't mind. Excuse me. Slaughtering an animal, of course, doing it in the most painless way possible, which is precisely the manner of slaughter that is prescribed by. The Torah.
We don't mind slaughtering an animal. When there is A clear benefit. I'm not going to express it simply in terms of greed that I get my stake. I'll also slaughter an animal in order to give a poor person a steak. But I need to see it.
In terms of utilitarianism. I got to know what benefit is going to accrue to this. But offering Something to God? As a burnt offering, and no one's gonna get any benefit? Oh, what a waste.
Oh my god. That means that when there's a utilitarian benefit, that's fine. It's a way of showing my devotion to God. Then it's a waste? Where are my priorities?
In so many ways. Utilitarianism certainly taken to an extreme, Really is. The Mother of All Evils. We need to bear in mind that we're not utilitarians. We are children of God.
You're not Home to our father. And this may sound repulsive to you. I'm interested in your take on it. But um I'm a hunter and I've you know, processed animals. dear and different animals in my life and Um So, as we began to, I became more interested in Judaism and study, you know, Passover Seders and that, I said, you know, I want to, and some Christians you may know, they do Passover Seders, and I intended some, and I was fascinated by all that.
And the more I became intrigued with it, I went. To a number of my friends, and I said, Let's do a Passover Seder. The way that it's outlined in the book of Exodus. Let's take a lamb. And Mm.
and do it without breaking any of the bones, which could be done. And and you know and roast it just like it says to be roasted and do our best to try to have the meal. And Of course, we did that. And for me, it was spectacular because I'm the one that literally held the knife. And To think that Abraham held that knife to his son, having known exactly, because unless you've slaughtered animals, you don't understand, unless you've.
slaughtered a lamb you don't understand that that lamb will bleat and scream. And all this stuff when it's out in the field. But when you put it in a position to slaughter it, it goes quiet. It's almost It's almost creepy. And then we would be praying, and we'd be laying our hands on this animal as it gave its life up.
It literally gave up its life. It's sacrificing for your health, your benefit, whatever you want to talk about. Whenever you eat it, It's giving up its life. I suppose it was in closeness. I have to think through all that you've been teaching.
But it was a very holy moment, a very sacred moment for all of us from our perspective, as we experienced the death of this lamb in that fashion, and of course we ate it. Um During our setter. You know? trying to do everything right as possible, even to the point of processing that land without breaking any of its bones. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm. Fascinatingly. experienced exactly what you just described, that when I tried to ex Explain that to more people. They would not come.
Mm-hmm. If their lamb had to die in order to, they would come if we bought a lamb from Australia that was processed and all that, but if they took part in this being done in a holy way, making sure the blood got out of it and all the things that you would do to try to make it as. kosher as possible Which I know it wouldn't be kosher because you guys would never use a lamb in a seder, and I get it, and I understand that. I just find it all very fascinating that you're exactly right. People would be repulsed by that, but nothing could be further from.
Those animals are giving up their lives for God. Mm. then they know it somehow. That's my opinion.
Okay. Mm. Again, it's an act of consecration. I can't. Support What you did because we don't have the Holy Temple and There are Um very prescribed rules.
with respect to how to go about um Partaking of the past school offering. I'm not going to go into all those details, but you're not asking for me for my opinion, so I'm not going to offer it. But what I will emphasize, of course, is. When you see life through the prism of consecration rather than utilitarianism. That everything is different.
And also, of course, the value of a life. That is Um I don't want to get... Too far afield here, but um I'm sure you're aware that There there are So many discussions nowadays with respect to moral dilemmas, the so-called trolley car problem. That um You are Standing at a railway switch, and a trolley car is coming down the tracks. careening out of control.
And If you don't do anything, then it's going to careen into a group of people and kill them all. And you can flip the switch. And then it'll go on to a different track. And kill one person. Should you do that?
And Before you answer that question. to consider the The second Version Okay, you're not standing on a switch, you're standing on a bridge overlooking the tracks. And there is no switch. The trolley is coming down the track. And it's going to careen into those people and kill them.
But standing next to you is A portly gentleman. If you throw them off the bridge. Trolley will hit him and kill him. But that'll stop. It's advanced and it'll save the group of people.
So you should do that. And then, of course, we can continue this progression. Up to Your A hospital director, and you have Five patients. who are all deathly ill in need of transplants. Two need kidneys, one needs a heart.
One needs Uh a liver Uh uh yeah, we can Speaking about lung transplants. And A healthy strapping young man walks into the hospital. Should you kill him to harvest his organs? And your people become progressively more and more uncomfortable with these questions. In our tradition, From the first question.
You're at the which You don't touch that switch. You are not God. And you don't play God. And if someone were to ask, but wait, I could save that whole group of people by killing one, no. The best mathematical analogy for those who aren't math phobes.
Is the mathematical concept of infinity? How much is five times infinity? Infinity, the same infinity. Even life is an infinity. We're not utilitarians.
Consecration. Every life is consecrated. Every life is holy. The moment that one Vers into Utilitarianism. Everything gets A price tag.
And nothing is sacred. Yeah. Don't go there.
Okay. That's beautiful. Absolutely. So, as usually, we got a little bit far afield here thanks to your brilliant probing questions and We we ended up I think a different place than any of us had anticipated. Mm-hmm.
Well, I, for one, will never forget this conversation. I look forward to the study of The idea of Sacrifice offering in new lights and new understandings and. Um The the beauty of Drawing near to God in just any time that you're obedient, it's a mitzvah kind of thing, obviously, right? Absolutely. And I suppose that this is actually a great Send off for our next installment.
Because if we talk we were talking about prophecies more current than today's newspapers with respect to renewal of the Holy Land, then we're poised to start talking next time about prophecies more current than today's newspapers with respect to Jerusalem. Yes. Absolutely. Much for us to think about over our Thanksgiving holiday for us in America as. Drawing near to God.
is critical to the whole aspect of Thanksgiving. Um Da-da-da-da-da. It's just like Yeah. Thanksgiving without your family, you know, you'd They're telling you thank you from 40 miles away is a lot different than telling you thank you when they're sitting there. in your home, you know, sharing a meal together and all those kind of things.
And so Um A lot to consider. Thank you so much, Rabbi. I cannot even begin to tell you how you have blessed my day. Likewise. I just feel compelled to stress.
But What day is Thanksgiving Day? There's only one possible answer. Every day. Amen. Every day is Thanksgiving Day.
When we get up in the morning, you know the first thing we say is? I thank you. The living and Established forever king. Because you restored your my soul to me. How great is your faithfulness?
After all, I messed up yesterday. And you still accepted my soul and pledge, and you still give it back to me today. Wow.
So that's connected to the prayer that they said right before they went to bed: into thy hands I commit my spirit. Absolutely. Absolutely. Before going to bed. There's a whole Liturgy that, of course, includes in it, as we discussed earlier, Psalm thirty-one, verse six.
Into your hand I consign my spirit. You have redeemed me, God. the true living God. And then of course Correspondingly. the give thanks button.
Even if I didn't deserve it. Is there a psalm or somewhere that for what you say, first thing in the morning? No, the truth of the matter is that because we say that immediately upon rising in the morning, we don't consider ourselves yet purified actually. speak the verses of the Bible.
So we just say thank you. But it's a very passionate thank you. That's awesome, man. That is cost. That's so awesome.
I love it. Uh well Shalom from the Bachelor Bell, North Carolina. Shalom from the Bible City from Jerusalem. We are so honored that you would join us today on Voices from Zion, Robbie and the Rabbi. For more information about Rabbi Haim, go to his website, zionbiblestudies.org.
That's zionbiblestudies.org. or visit me, Robbie Dilmore. At the Christian Cargai website. That's ChristianCargai.com. Once again, Shalom from Jerusalem, the Holy City, God's City.
