Parashat Ki Tavo

August 27, 2021
19 Elul 5781
Parashat Ki Tavo
Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8

Dear Friends,

This week’s Torah portion Ki Tavo (“when you enter in”), with its blessings and curses, functions as a warning using both positive and negative lenses, to not forget and that our way of being in the world truly matters.

It is of note that at this juncture with the Israelites coming to the end of their journey across the wilderness, they are given instructions on how to behave in the land they are about to inhabit.

They are told to plant crops, orchards, and vineyards to sustain themselves upon entering the land. However, at the time when the harvest ripens, the instruction they receive is not entirely what we might expect of an agrarian community. In appreciation of the harvest, the people are not called upon to give thanks for the rain or the sun, or their own hard labor, rather they are to bring the first fruits to the Temple and recite the following:

My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt few in number and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried to Adonai, the God of our fathers, and the Adonai heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. Adonai freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and wonders. And brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O Adonai, have given me. (Deuteronomy 26:5-10)

This paragraph encapsulates the people’s journey, recalling their history, reminding them that they stand upon the shoulders of others who came before and that they are in a relationship with the Divine. One that asks that not only be food be given to the Levite, who has no land, but also to the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. They shall eat it within your gates and be satisfied. In the third year of giving portions, you shall say in God’s presence that you have followed the commandments for giving regularly to those less fortunate. You shall then ask God to bless the Israelites and the soil.

This is a solid reminder, that even if I and my family are alright, there are others who are not. Rabbi Shai Held writes about counteracting a sense of entitlement, a sense that if I am managing everyone else must be as well. Our job is to remember the journey, not only our journey but that of our families and when we do, our desire and ability to take care of those around us is amplified.

It is something we hear at our lifecycle events, that we are part of a longer chain, one that asks over and over again to not only care for ourselves, but also those around us who may be in need.

Rabbi Linda Shriner-Cahn