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Parashat Ki Tavo 111111 lil n11w1 Yeshivat Har Etzion - Israel Koschitzky VBM Parsha Digest, Year Ill, Parashat Ki Tavo 5781 Selected and Adapted by Rabbi Dov Karoll Quote from the Rosh Yeshiva According to Deva rim 28:47, God decrees punishment, "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with happiness, with gladness and with abundance of everything." On the simplest level, this means that if one does not serve God while life is good, one will have to face circumstances which are less pleasant. However, we may read it another way: all the calamities which come upon us are because we serve God joylessly. We cannot find true happiness in our lives unless we can enjoy our observance of mitzvot and a Torah lifestyle. If, on the other hand, a spiritual journey begins joyfully, at the end of it one will reach faith and fear of Heaven as well. -Harav Yehuda Amital zt"I from : https://etzion.org.il/en/holidays/studies-repentance/righteousness-yours-o-lord-while-shame-ours Parashat Ki Tavo Reward and Punishment Based on a Sicha by Harav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"I Based on: https://etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/torah/sefer-devarim/parashat-ki-tavo/reward-and-punishment I. INTRODUCTION: THE TWO TOKHACHOT At the end of Vayikra and near the end of Deva rim, we find the tokhachot - long rebukes that warn the Jews of their fate if they transgress the Torah . The tokhecha in Parashat Bechukotai is uttered by God, while the one in Ki Tavo is uttered by Moshe. There are many differences between the 2, and the gemara compares them at length (see Bava Batra 88b). II. THE PREDICTED OUTCOME While the gemara compares the 2 tokhachot in a quantitative sense, this observation holds true when we examine the contents of the 2 tokhachot as well. The dissonance is manifest in 2 ways: a) in the conclusions of the tokhachot, and b) in the severity and scope. Moshe concludes all the terrible curses: "And God will return you to Egypt in ships, along the path that I told you, 'You will not see again;' and you will be sold there as slaves to your enemies, but there will be no buyers." (28:68) You will return to Egypt - the place I forbade you from returning to, and that I promised you that you will never return to! Egypt is not only a geographical area; it represents a state of being. Returning to Egypt means a reversal of the Exodus and of the giving of the Torah, devolving back to, at best, a national existence devoid of any spiritual life. In contrast, the tokhacha in Bechukotai, although it too speaks of terrible horrors, ends on a positive note, telling of Bnei Yisrael returning to God, and God returning to Bnei Yisrael. God promises us that we will repent (see Vay. 26:39-40). God also promises us that He will remember His covenant with the Patriarchs (see 26:42-45). While Moshe's tokhecha ends with the virtual breakdown of the unique relationship between Bnei Yisrael and God, God's tokhacha concludes with a reaffirmation of this relationship - both from the people's side and from God's. Ill. IDOLATRY AS BOTH SIN AND PUNISHMENT The second difference between the 2 tokhachot is in their severity. In Ki Tavo, the tokhacha reads: "And God will spread you out unto all the nations ... and there you will worship other gods of wood and stone, whom neither you nor you fathers knew." (28:64) Idol worship, the worst of all sins, is the cause of the curses in Bechukotai as well. However, in Moshe's tokhacha, it is not only the cause; it is the punishment itself. What is idol worship? It is turning away completely from God, forsaking the King of Kings for wood and stone! In Tehillim (73:28), King David says, "And I, nearness to God is good for me" - "goodness" depends on how close you are to God. The curse that Bnei Yisrael will turn to idol worship represents the complete separation of Bnei Yisrael from God - the worst possible thing in the world, worse than the curse that you will eat your own children! On the other hand, Moshe's blessing promises: "God will make you a holy nation" (28:9), and lbn Ezra says that this refers to keeping the mitzvot. Again, not only is the keeping of the mitzvot the cause for the blessings, but it is also the ultimate blessing itself. IV. MESSAGE OF ACTION In our times, unfortunately, we see so many of our brothers in Kial Yisrael who are completely disconnected from anything Jewish. We witness entire communities completely divorced from Judaism, worshipping the modern equivalent of wood and stone! However, when we look in Parashat Va'etchanan, we find a mini-tokhacha given by Moshe Rabbeinu whose content is similar to the one in Ki Tavo: "And you will worship, there, gods the work of man, wood and stone, who do not see, do not smell, do not eat and do not hear" (4:28). However, as opposed to Ki Tavo, this parasha ends: "And you will seek God from where you are and you will find Him ... And [He] will not forget the covenant with your forefathers" (4:29-31). Thus, even within the tokhecha of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Torah guarantees an ultimate return on the part of Bnei Yisrael as well as from the side of God. It is based on this promise of redemption that we, as bnei Torah who are privileged to be brought up with a Torah education, and to be exposed to Torah personalities in the world of the Beit Midrash, are charged with the responsibility - both towards God and towards our fellow members of Kial Yisrael - to try to bring closer these people who have become distanced from Judaism. We must all feel, and teach others to feel, that closeness to God, keeping His mitzvot, is the ultimate good, and that distance from God, obliviousness to His word, is the ultimate evil. (Originally delivered on leil Shabbat, Parashat Ki Tavo 5755 [1995]. Summarized by Rav Menachem Linzer) Parashat Ki Tavo The Covenant of Moav By Rav Yair Kahn Based on: https:/ /etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/torah/sefer-devarim/parashat-ki-tavo/ki-tavo-covenant-moav I. Chorev and Moav The section of berakhot and kelalot - the list of blessings Yisrael will receive if they abide by the Torah and the curses they will receive if they do not, found in chapter 28 - concludes with the verse, "These are the terms of the covenant that Hashem commanded to Moshe to make with Bnei Yisrael in the land of Moav, aside from the covenant which he made with them at Chorev" (28:69). This verse connects the covenant of Chorev (Sinai), documented in Parashat Bechukotai (Vayikra 26), with the parallel section found in our paras ha . Our study of the covenant of Moav will therefore begin with a brief review of the Sinai covenant. In Parashat Bechukotai, the calamities follow a clear progression. The Torah begins with disasters that are not life threatening and continues with worse disasters that cause a loss of life. Later, the Torah describes an invasion of hostile forces, which not only brings death, but also compromises Yisrael's sovereignty. The Torah ends with the destruction of the Mikdash and exile from the Land of Israel. In contrast, there seems to be no progression in Parashat Ki Tavo. In fact, there seems to be no order at all. Consider verse 36, where, after warning of various calamities, Moshe mentions exile. Following the pattern of Bechukotai, the section should end here; in Parashat Ki Tavo the list of calamities continues, and they have nothing to do with difficulties Yisrael will face in exile. The subsequent verses deal with agricultural disasters that will occur in Eretz Yisrael, apparently before the exile (see vv. 38-40). Did Moshe merely record a random list of calamities, lacking rhyme and reason? Moreover, the section is repetitive. We have already noted the mention of exile in verse 36. Consider the following verse that appears at the end of the section: "And Hashem shall scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which you and your ancestors have not known" (28:64) . Similarly, Moshe mentions that a foreign nation will eat the produce of the land in verse 33: "The fruit of your land and all your labors shall be eaten by a nation which you do not know and you shall be only oppressed and crushed all the days:' This same exact idea is repeated later in the section: "A nation of fierce countenance that shall not regard the elderly, nor show favor to the young. He shall eat the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your land, until you are destroyed" (28:50-51 ). Instead of the structured development found in the Bechukotai section, the section in Parashat Ki Tavo seems to be characterized by repetition and confusion. 2 II. The Berakha Section Before trying to make sense out of the kelala section, let us take a closer look at the berakha section. The section begins as follows: If you shall hearken diligently to the voice of Hashem your God, to observe to do all His mitzvot which I command you this day, then Hashem your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth.
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