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The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Friday the 25th of Sivan 5782 and June 24, 2022
Back "Home"?
The plane landed safely at Newark Liberty International Airport at 3: 25 A.M.
It always amazes me how people are in such a rush to get to passport control.
People ran as they breezed past me to show their passports to a disinterested border control agent.
The border-control agent looked bored and not too happy to be working at four in the morning.
My attempts at "Good Morning" and "thank you so much for keeping America safe" were met with blank stares and complete disinterest.
When he asked me how much money in a foreign currency I was bringing back, I looked at the thirteen shekels in my pocket and answered, "About $3.75."
A slight half-smile formed on his face as he pounded the seal of the United States onto my passport and wordlessly handed it back to me.
I always get a slight tingle in my entire body as I see and hear the stamp thump as the inkpad hits the paper.
I see before me millions of Jews who desperately wanted and waited to have this stamp, signifying their legal entry into the United States sealed into their passports.
Every time I hear the reverberation of the metal stamper as it makes contact with the passport, I think how, for millions of Jews – especially between 1880-1920, when over two million Jews arrived on these shores- the sound of that stamp meant freedom.
As the border agent stamped their document, they knew that life in Czarist Russia was thankfully over.
They did not know the sound of stamper would continue to reverberate for many years as those Jews who came here were saved from the clutches of Hitler's henchman.
When I hear that sound, I silently thank Hashem for being alive, as my maternal grandparents were among those two million Jews who came to this land between 1880 and 1920.
I retrieve my luggage, head outside, and wait for my ride back to Passaic.
As I sit on the bench in the passenger pick-up area, I take in the sounds and smells of the airport.
The gas fumes from the cars are quite uncomfortable, as is the general uncleanliness of the area.
As I sit on the bench in my state of three-quarters slumber, I realize something is between me and the metal bench.
I discover a half-consumed plastic bottle containing a reddish liquid.
I also realize that something mushy and soft is on the bench.
I quickly discard the remains of a hotdog together with the red liquid in the nearby trash canister.
Welcome to Newark International Airport, I say to no one in particular.
I adjust my sitting position to the edge of the seat, which precludes any physical contact between myself and the back of the bench.
Yet, more disturbing than the inconsideration of the person who sat here before me is the realization that I am no longer in Eretz Yisroel.
This pains me the most.
As I sit on the edge of my un-sanitized bench in Newark Airport, I have time to contemplate and process where I was and where I am.
Eretz Yisroel is our land.
Hashem promised it to Avraham Avinu.
The first Rashi in Chumash tells us that Eretz Yisroel is the Jewish Land given to us by Hashem.
I don't know when and what the Mashiach times will look like- after all, the Rambam famously said, "No one knows what will be until it will be."
However, I know Eretz Yisroel's sanctity is everlasting, ever-present, palpable, and real -TODAY!
If you have any doubts about this, go to Eretz Yisroel today and attempt to buy a simple product such as a tomato.
You have entered Hashem's land, and a halachik analysis with passionate opinions surrounds your decision to buy or not to buy this tomato.
Here in Chul ("Chul" means outside of the land, it also means mundane and profane), you may go to your local bodega and buy any tomato you want.
The tomato in Israel is sanctified.
The tomato in Passaic is just a tomato.
The tomato in Israel represents Hashem's love of His land and His people's loyalty to the sanctity of His land.
The tomato in Passaic represents the following dry, mundane facts,
· Calories: 18.
· Water: 95%
· Protein: 0.9 grams.
· Carbs: 3.9 grams.
· Sugar: 2.6 grams.
· Fiber: 1.2 grams.
· Fat: 0.2 grams.
The tomato in Eretz Yisroel represents your connection to Hashem.
And for the loss of that tomato, I am sad.
In the interim, until I can return to His Land, I say to everyone, Shalom Aleichem, I am back.
While we wait to return, let's make the most of it.
“If Not Now, Then When?”- Hillel
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rav
Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ
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