D’var Torah
KiTavo

Howard J. Warner DDS

18th of Elul 5784
September 21, 2024

Parshah Ki Tavo:
A Covenant Community Perseveres

In Deuteronomy Moses delivers his exposition challenging the people Israel to keep the Torah.  He gives a history of the Israelite people summarizing the key events and laws to those who were born in the wilderness.  This parshah is unusual in that there is overlap in “alliyah” 4 and 5 “pesukim” or sentences so that none end with negative statements.  Also, the triannual cycle has great overlap.  Ki Tavo literally means “when you enter” the land and gives two mitzvahs performed only in Eretz Israel. I am borrowing from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.  

The first theme is the joy of accepting the divinity of God by giving the “first-ripened fruits” (bikkurim) cultivated in the land.  Joy or “Simcha” is mentioned in the Tanach more often than happiness or “Ashrei”.   Joy is less self-centered and is often shared with others, including God. In Deuteronomy 26:11 it says “Then you will rejoice in all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, along with the Levites and the stranger in your midst.”  Maimonides stressed we must give our hearts, the best food and hospitality to visitors and God.

In Judaism happiness is best shared by the community and found in Torah.  In Psalms 1:1-3 we learn that “Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat where scoffers sit. But his desire is in the Torah of the Lord; on his Torah he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in all that he does he prospers.”

In the book of Devarim Moses is retelling that story to the next generation, reminding them of what God had done for their parents and some of the mistakes their parents had made. Moses is the great liberator and storyteller. 

He tells the people that when they enter, conquer, and settle the land, they must bring the first ripened fruits to the central Sanctuary, the Temple, as a way of giving thanks to God. A Mishnah in Bikkurim describes the joyous scene as people converged on Jerusalem from across the country, bringing their first-fruits to the accompaniment of music and celebration. Each person had to make a declaration, one of the best-known passages in the Torah.  Though it was originally said on Shavuot, the festival of first-fruits, in post-biblical times it became a central element of the Haggadah on Pesach Seder night:

In Deut. 26:4-10 The Priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous . . . So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the first-fruits of the soil that You, Lord, have given me.” 

Even in biblical times, every member of Israel was expected to know the story of the nation, and recite it annually, and make it part of his or her personal memory and identity. 

A second theme is related to the laws of tithing given to Levites (who have no land inheritance and serve God) and the poor.  Responsibility to those less fortunate within the community helps unify the new nation.  

Moses details how to proclaim blessings on Mount Gerizim and curses on Mount Ebal in a third theme.  Thus, Moses explains in this covenant we are God’s chosen people because we chose God.  This contract requires fidelity to the Torah.  There are differences between how nations see themselves.  In America we build monuments with principles, such as the Lincoln memorial including the texts of two great speeches, the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s second Inaugural.  Meanwhile in England the Churchill monument contains only his figure and name.  England lives by tradition while America includes ideals, which is the Jewish way. 

The latter part of the parshah includes the curses or rebukes (Tochachah) including illnesses, famine, poverty, and exile should they abandon God’s commandments, a fourth theme. There are two passages of curses in the Torah, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. The curses in Leviticus end on a note of hope. Those in Deuteronomy end in bleak despair. The Leviticus curses speak of a total abandonment of Judaism by the people. The people walk bekeri with God, variously translated as “with hostility,” “rebelliously,” or “contemptuously.” But the curses in Deuteronomy are provoked simply “because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart out of the abundance of all things.” (Deut. 28:47)

Finally, Moses tells the people that now they have the “heart to know”, “eyes to see”, and “ears to hear” so they are prepared to enter the land.  Covenant societies are not ethnic nations bound by common racial origin. They make room for outsiders – immigrants, asylum seekers, resident aliens – who assimilate the culture.  Ruth adopts Israelite ways when she says, “Your people will be my people, and your God, my God”.  The United States accepted successive waves of immigrants.  Conversion in Judaism does not follow the model of conversion to Christianity or Islam but as the acquisition of citizenship in a nation like the USA.

Here the retelling of the nation’s history becomes an obligation for every citizen of the nation. In this act, known as vidui bikkurim, “the confession made over first-fruits,” Jews were commanded to become a nation of storytellers.

Throughout Devarim comes the command to remember: “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt.” (Deut. 5:15; 15:15; 16:12; 24:18; 24:22); “Remember what Amalek did to you.” (Deut. 25:17) “Remember what God did to Miriam.” (Deut. 24:9) “Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.” (Deut. 32:7)

The vidui bikkurim is more. It is the entire history of the nation in summary form. In a few short sentences we have “the patriarchal origins in Mesopotamia, the emergence of the Hebrew nation as history rather than in mythic prehistory, slavery in Egypt and liberation, the climactic acquisition of the land of Israel, and the acknowledgement of God as lord of history.”

Jews were the first people to think in historical terms with respect to God. Jews wrote history many centuries before Herodotus and Thucydides. Yet biblical Hebrew has no word that means “history” (the closest equivalent is divrei hayamim, “chronicles”). Instead, it uses the root zachor, meaning “memory.”

There is a fundamental difference between history and memory. History is an account of events that happened. Memory is more personal. That is what the Mishnah in Pesachim means when it says, “Each person must see themselves as if they (personally) escaped Egypt.” (Mishnah Pesachim 10:5)

Throughout the book of Devarim, Moses warns the people – no less than fourteen times – not to forget. If they forget the past, they will lose their identity and sense of direction and disaster will follow. Moreover, they are commanded to hand that memory on to their children.

Our most sacred prayers, devarim she-bi-kedushah, are communal. They require a minyan. There was an argument between Maimonides and Nachmanides as to whether prayer was directed to individuals or to the community. But they both agree as to the importance and value of praying as part of a community.  We find spiritual strength in this communal dimension. 

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Oct 7th Hamas attack upon Israel this parshah is relevant.  In 720 BCE the Assyrians conquered the northern nation of Israel or Samaria.  Then in 586 BCE the Babylonians overthrew the Judean nation forcing exile.  After the Persians allowed a return to Jerusalem a new Temple was built.  When Jews rebelled against Roman rule, the result was brutal and exile to Europe and other Mid-East countries ensued.  Antisemitism became widespread ending the Jewish domicile in Iberia in the 15^th century.  Hatred culminated in the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis during World War II.

But out of this destruction Zionists returned to Eretz Israel.  During 76 years this nation has endured isolation and surrounding hatred.  Migrations of Jews from the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa have enriched Israel.  There are still over 100 unaccounted hostages held by Hamas.  Over 1200 died in the first attack while more have died since the Gazan War began and Hezbollah missiles have struck.  Despite the curses Moses enumerated, a resilient people occupy the land.   God wants us to celebrate life not death which is coveted in other religions.

Some believe that God demands faithfulness and punishes us for sins.  I believe that God has given us free will.  In this I means that there is good and evil in each person.  We must choose light over darkness.  If our community follows the good path God offers protection.  But God withholds protection (rather than give punishment) when evil dominates.  Our Jewish community is smaller but has survived because we value life, family, community, and our traditions.  The evil in others is sufficient to cause us harm.  I choose to see God through love and acceptance rather than through fear and hate.  Then I can help in a small way to heal the world and continue our traditions and community.         

Shabbat Shalom