Ki Tavo contains the first words I was shown when I was in dire straits and in need of a new start in life. I had lost every material possession; I had lost my home; I had no work; I was in debt, and was so ill that I needed surgery. I had only two bags of clothes when I returned to my parents’ home at the age of 45, wondering what to do next. I had been on a quest for truth all my life that led me down paths I should not have taken.
When I read these words in Deut.26.6, And the Egyptians dealt ill with us,” I thought of how the world had dealt ill with me, but then whose fault was that? In Egypt, the Hebrews had forgotten their God, and I too had forgotten. But as the LORD brought His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, the LORD brought me out of the desert of New Mexico. Like the Hebrews in Egypt who cried out to GOD, I too raised my hands to the heavens and cried out for help – to a God I didn’t yet know. Within two days, help came. That was in 1989. Not long after that, I began to read the Bible. From the very beginning, I was taught two principles that have served me to this day: the first: “From everything I earn, always give to God first,” and the second: “always be available.” Both are both expressed so clearly in the first chapters of Ki Tavo. In chapter 28: 1–10, we were told to take a basket filled with our first fruits to the priest, the cohen, and recount to him the story of our people. This reminded me of a child who can hardly wait for their father to come home from work, and then excitedly tell him everything that happened to them that day. The child happily and proudly holds out a gift that he made for him at school, “Look, Daddy, just for you!”
Living these principles is a way for us to express our deep gratitude for God’s constant provision and show Him our willingness to put Him first always. Gratitude can also be expressed in moments of great trial, because that is where our greatest growth lies. Moses was reminding us that God brought us out of the wilderness, where He had provided everything for us, into a land flowing with milk and honey, and as Deut. 28:11 says: “You shall rejoice in every good thing that the LORD has given you…” and how are we to rejoice?…through giving. Aside from the regular tithes and offerings, the third-year tithe was to care for the Levite, the ger ( the stranger), the orphan, and the widow so that no one would ever go without in our communities. If everyone in the world did this, imagine what a world it would be!
It would have been easy for me to blame everyone else for my situation and to point fingers, “Look, what happened to me; it was your fault.” But here God is telling us to rejoice. Complaining and blaming are natural in us, because it’s hard to admit that our own choices got us into trouble. Like the Israelites, we all wander through our own wilderness, whether or not of our own making; however, the principles God gave us point the way out. In verse 13, again we were to promise God to take care of the Levite, the ger, the orphan and the widow and to declare out loud, “I have not transgressed your Commandments, nor have I forgotten them…I have listened to the voice of the LORD my GOD and have done according to all that You have commanded me.” How many of us can declare that?
Verse 16 tells us: “This day the LORD your GOD has commanded you to guard and do the chukkim and the mishpatim with all your hearts and souls.” Not only did the Israelites promise to do this 3500 years ago, but I also declared it to God that day in 1989, almost 35 years ago. How are we doing with that declaration we each made to GOD? Have we forgotten the Creator who brought forefathers out of Egypt, the ones who said, “We will do, and we will obey”? Have we forgotten the words in Deut. 26:18-19: “The LORD has declared you this day to be his “am-segullah”, his treasured people, as He has promised you; that you shall keep all His commandments and set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor that you may be “am-kadosh”, a people separated to the LORD your God.” Are we above all the nations today? And what does that even mean?
Do we understand that this separated nation includes the ger, like Caleb, the Kenezzite, Ruth the Moabitess and the “Gentile” prophet Obadiah, who said, “How could you enter the gate of My people, on its day of disaster, gaze in glee with the others on its misfortune, on its day of disaster, and lay hands on its wealth on its day of disaster!” Other than October 7, 2023, how many days of disaster have our people suffered? “…lay hands on its wealth?” Our wealth lies in our people. But what continuously brings such tragedy to Israel, including the ger among us? What brought such disaster to my life? And what is the remedy?
How many of our people understand what it means to be GOD’s chosen, treasured people? We can stand here declaring “I am proud to be a Jew”, yet how many can name more than four of His Ten Commandments, let alone live them? There was no written Tanach at that time, no New Testament, no Koran. In Deut. 27:8 God told us: “Write upon the stones all the words of this TORAH very clearly.” And Moses and the Levites said, “Keep silent and listen, O Israel; this day you have become a people of the LORD your GOD. You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your GOD and DO His Mitzvot and Chukkim...” Then Moses divided the twelve tribes into two groups: one to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, and the other on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curse.
Deut. 27:15 – 26 spell out the curses that we would experience if we do not carry out our part of the covenant we made with our GOD. Each curse ends with “And all the people shall answer and say: Amen.” A covenant is a two-way contract between us and our GOD. He is not our sugar daddy who needs a reward before giving his gifts to his sugar mommy. He is not a god who needs to be appeased with heartless sacrifices. He is a loving Father whose deepest desire is a relationship with His people, whom He tries to protect from the evil that falls upon them when they are rebellious, wittingly or unwittingly. Was I rebellious when my parents warned me about what to do or what not to do? Of course I was, wittingly or unwittingly.
In chapter 28:1-13, we read beautiful blessings: “…And it shall come to pass if you shall diligently heed the voice of the LORD your GOD, to observe and do all His commandments …” and HE repeats, “that the LORD your GOD will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” Verse 7 states, “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck down before you; they shall come against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways.” Isn’t this what is happening to Israel today, but not at the level it would if all our people would unite and, in one unified voice, declare, “All you said, we will do”? I wonder what that will take. We can expect some interesting days ahead! And then, in verses 14-68, it picks up once again with the curses that sickened my soul to read. It looks like a concentric circle, with a small circle of blessings in the centre – powerful, beautiful light – surrounded by the large circle of curses – darkness, anxiety, and fear. God is giving us a choice of which circle we live in.
Verse 69 ends chapter 28, reminding us again that “These are the words of the Covenant, that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the Covenant which he made with them in Horeb (Sinai).” In Chapter 29: 1-3 Moses reminds Israel again: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles; but the LORD has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day. ..” Until this day…which day? The day of our teshuva, of our return…
Then Moses reminds us that we destroyed two powerful kings, Sihon of Heshbon and Og of Bashan; we took their land, and gave it to Reuben and Gad, and later half of Manasseh, who it looks like didn’t trust God enough to cross into the land that GOD had given the Israelites with their families. Moses compared their request to remain on this side of the Jordan to the sin of the unfaithful scouts at Kadesh-Barnea that had condemned that first generation to die in the wilderness (Numbers 32:6-15). God gave them what they wanted, but they were the first ones to later be attacked by their enemies because they lay outside the borders of the Promised Land. Only God has all knowledge, which is why it is so important for us to follow His simple directives without adding to or taking anything away from them, as we are doing once again today.
Moses ends this parashah by repeating this command: “Keep therefore the words of this Covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.”
Last week, our beloved rabbi, may he rest in peace, reminded us that we are in the Yamim Norayim, the Awesome days that fall before the Feasts of Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth. As we approach the coming Moedim, let us pray that God would open our hearts to discern, our eyes to see, and our ears to hear, so that we can do our best to keep the Words that He gave us on Mount Sinai. We do have the capacity to obey them, but He never said it would be easy.
Today, when I face a challenge that I know is beyond me to solve, I cry out to Him, and He hears me, and He answers me. We are all on our personal journeys through this wilderness. Some will travel with a deep trust and full commitment, as Moses had; others will be like Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, who with ½ trust, partially fulfilled their commitment by fighting alongside the others but who left their families and livestock behind; and others will be like the ten scouts, who lived in fear and had no faith. God meets us wherever we are, whether we believe in Him or not. But the issue is not about what I believe; it is about where I choose to live…on Mount Ebal with the curses or Mount Gerizim with the blessings? It is about committing myself fully to saying, “Hineni, I will do, and I will obey.”
Shabbat Shalom
Peggy Pardo