1 of 3 で ’ わ゙る D’var Torah Nidhe Israel Ki Tavo: “And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and dost possess it, and dwell therein;” (Deuteronomy 26:1). One of themes with which this week’s Torah portion Ki Tavo deals with is the relationship between God and the people of Israel as we read: “You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your, God, that you will walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey Him. And the Lord has affirmed this day that you are, as He promised you, His treasured people who shall observe all His commandments. (Deuteronomy 26:17-18) What does this mean? how is our relationship to God and what is God’s relationship with us. I loved William Norman Ewer’s jingle: “How odd Of God To choose The Jews” and then the Jewish response which goes as follows: “Not quite So odd – The Jews Chose God” There is no doubt that it was the Children of Israel who chose God as we can see from the words in Exodus 24:7 “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: “All that the LORD hath spoken will we do, and obey.” It was without questioning that the Israelites accepted God’s words and instructions. However as we know no relationship can be one sided, and so God would have needed to accept us as people He can as it were work with and who can and would fulfil His commandments and He would thus in return be our partner. 2 of 3 I believe that between God and the people is a mutual bond of love and udnerstanding. As the Israelites pledge themselves to be faithful to God, so does God pledges Himself to cherish the people as His treasure – for though He is the God of all humanity, He holds a special place in His affection (to speak anthropomorphically) for the descendants of those who first heard and heeded His call. The key word in this passage is the Hebrew word ‘le-ha’amir’. There are a number of translations/interpretations of this verb, for example the Jewish Publication Sociaty’s translation is “affirmed”, whilst for example Rashi from the 12th century said the word means “chosen” whilst raw Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible chose to understand this word as “recognised”, whereas the Christian translations, the King James Version has the follow translation: “Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God”. So what is the significance and how we should understand this one and only verbal use of the word ‘say” a unique form use of the verb in an unusual grammatical form. Why is it used here? Progressive Jewish thinking is that all words of the Torah and indeed the Hebrew Bible whilst were written by human beings nevertheless there is a belief that they were inspired by God. Therefore no word or sentence or idea is random and so the reason why this unusual and unique Hebrew grammatical form was used, was to express that close relationship and understanding between God and the Children of Israel. It is the mutual love and a close unbreakable partnership which is significant particularly since the Revelation at Mount Sinai. The Torah is trying to give us a positive answer through the only media available to humanity and that is language/speaking. It is essential for us to understand a language indeed feel it in order to gather the words and sentences true meaning, Language is the medium we use to describe what we wish to express. This week ‘s Torah portion deals with both prayer and faith-and indeed how appropriate as we are so close to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the time when we fill the ether with our prayers and express our love for God, Judaism and try to make peace with our friends and families. 3 of 3 Our Rabbis and teachers taught us to adhere to our Torah and our traditions and seek justice and love of God, thus enabling humanity to live in peace and harmony. May the trials and tribulations of the current period pass now quickly and let us try to realise how important we are to one another in order to create that bond of love within and without through the appreciation and love of God. Shabbat Shalom B’Shalom Rabbi Thomas .