Ki Tavo Begins with the Laws Concerning the First Fruits. the Text Tells the Israelites That Once They Have Conquered the Land A

Shabbat September 21, 2019, Ki Tavo Torah Reading, Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 Ki Tavo begins with the laws concerning the first fruits. The text tells the Israelites that once they have conquered the land and settled in it, they will be required to bring the first fruits of their harvest to a specific place (understood to be the Temple in Jerusalem) as a sacrifice. Rashi explains that the “first fruits” requirement does not refer to all produce, but to seven specific species, the ones identified in Deuteronomy 8:8 as those for which the land is praised: wheat and barley, vines and figs and pomegranates, olives and honey. The bringing of the first fruits requires a specific declaration be made by each individual farmer providing the sacrifice. The whole text of the declaration is included in the parasha. It is a text that will be familiar to many because it is also included in the Passover Haggadah. It begins Arami oved Avi, which is often translated as “My father was a wandering Aramean.” The word oved (spelled aleph reish dalet) is a confusing one, and subject to different translations: perish, vanish, be lost, cause to destroy, kill. Etz Hayim translates it as “My father was a fugitive Aramean.” Rashi took it to mean “An Aramean tried to destroy my father” and said it referred to Laban’s pursuit of Jacob. Modern biblical scholar Robert Alter translates it as “My father was an Aramaean about to perish” and explains that that could mean either Abraham, who came from Mesopotamia, or Jacob, who spent 20 years there after fleeing from Esau. He adds “the surprising use of ‘Aramean’ as an epithet for a patriarch may reflect the antiquity of the recited formula, since the Arameans later figured chiefly as enemies.” Perhaps Rashi and other classical commentators who interpret the sentence to mean something that was done to a patriarch by Arameans were loath to view one of our patriarchs as an Aramean. And, of course, classical commentators did not consider the possibility that parts of the text may have been written before Arameans got a bad rap. Still, it seems that however one translates “oved” the meaning of the verse is “my father was [some sort of] Aramean.” Rashbam (one of Rashi’s grandsons) rejects his grandfather’s explanation and sees it as meaning “My father was an Aramean on the point of perishing” and referring to Abraham, who was from Aram. Next Passover perhaps it would be good to add a fifth question: just what is meant by Arami oved Avi? From the first fruits, we move on to the requirement to tithe, to donate 10 percent of the produce to the landless Levites and widows, orphans, strangers, and others in need. The Israelites are instructed to declare that they have fulfilled the laws of tithing and then to look at the Land they were given and appreciate the gift. The declaration is called “The Tithe Confession” and various commentators have considered why it is necessary not only to give but also to state out loud that one has given. Abravanel, a medieval Portuguese commentator, suggests that the declaration serves as incentive to give to the widows and others in need in one’s own community. Giving to the priestly class, through pilgrimage and sacrifice, had a cachet borne of the pomp and the allure of travel and celebration of a festival, he opines. Giving to the needy near home was much less glamorous, so Abravanel suggests that the need to make the Tithe Confession would motivate people to do that part, too, since they would be unwilling to make a false declaration. Chapter 27 begins with a commandment that, after crossing into the Land, the people should erect two monumental stones covered with plaster and on them should write kol divrei hatorah hazot – all the words of this Torah. Robert Alter says that the most plausible explanation of what is meant by hatorah hazot is the preceding list of laws covered in Chapters 12- 26, although it could also mean the whole book of Deuteronomy. Biblical scholar Jeffrey Tigay says that some stele from the biblical period were large enough that all of Deuteronomy could have been written on two of them. Ki Tavo also contains Moses’ retelling of blessings and curses awaiting the Israelite people – blessings if they diligently follow the law as given and curses if they do not. The list of blessings is prefaced by a doubling of the verb shin-mem-ayin, to listen or harken: im shamoa tishma. This is translated often as “If you diligently listen” or “If you surely harken” you will be blessed. Rashi explained the doubling by saying that it means once one begins to listen to the word of G-d it becomes easier, that the hard part is starting. So it means, in his interpretation “If you listen you will continue to listen.” The Rambam said, in the same vein, “The more man is drawn after paths of wisdom and justice, the more he longs for them and desires them.” The curses are traditionally chanted sotto voce and very quickly. They make for horrific reading. One curse is that the people, starving, will kill and eat their own children. Modern scholarship suggests that cannibalism is much more common in folklore than in reality. Although cannibalism in severe deprivation has happened, eating children is a horror meme in many cultures’ myths rather than an observed phenomenon. Typically, in famine parents starve to death even when their children predecease them naturally, rather than consume their children’s flesh. Still, the myth persists. Jonathan Swift took the idea to satiric heights (or depths) in his essay “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public.” Haftarah Isaiah 60:1-22 This week’s haftarah is the penultimate of the Seven Haftarot of Consolation. Once again we turn to Isaiah. This one has a tone of triumph at least as much as consolation. It begins koomi oori ki vo orech - Arise, shine, for your light has come! Images of radiant light continue, along with poetic descriptions of a triumphant future for the people. The prophet tells of a time when all nations shall honor the people of Israel, when the government will be one of peace and righteousness. Images of light and darkness may be references to Zorastrianism, the religion of Babylonia. The last line of the haftarah is puzzling. It says, of this triumphal future, “I G-d will speed it in due time.” Will it happen speedily or in good time? The Talmud resolves the apparent contradiction by saying that G-d will hasten redemption if the people are deserving and let it happen later – in due time – if they are not. .

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