Special Features
for Parshat Ki Tavo
Both Sides of the Tochacha
The TOCHACHA is presented twice in the Torah - once in Parshat B'chukotai and once in this
week's sedra - KI TAVO. In each case, we generally consider the Tochacha to begin with
words like these: "And if you will not harken to G-d's Voice... then... (all kinds of
bad things will happen...)"
From this point, throughout 54 depressing (to say the least)
p'sukim, the Torah Reader lowers his voice as an expression of communal embarrassment,
while he reads - and we hear - in very graphic form, the terrible consequences of our
being unfaithful to G-d and the Torah.
Reproach in this harsh form addresses that part of us that fears G-d, fears sin, and fears
punishment. Those fears are the main motivation for one's undertaking of the path to
Repentance.
But there is a flip side to the focus on the negative. Fourteen p'sukim earlier, we read:
"And if you will listen to the Voice of G-d, your G-d, to preserve and do all of the
mitzvot..., then you will have the upper hand vis-a-vis the nations of the world and all
the blessings will come to you...because you listened to G-d."
You are blessed in the city; you are blessed in the field; etc.
This too is TOCHACHA, reproach of a kind, directed at the Jew whose motivation for T'shuva
is not just fear of punishment, but Love of G-d. T'shuva mei'Ahava, as it is called, comes
with the feeling of wanting to do what G-d wants, and being disappointed in oneself when
one strays from the path. Not (only) fear of punishment. But genuine regret for having let
G-d down (so to speak), for not showing your love of Him in all that you do.
A Tochacha filled with horrors of
Divine punishment is one thing. But a discription of G-d's promises to His people
serves to reproach the one filled with Ahavat HaShem.
MASHAL, to what is it comparable? To a child who misbehaved. The parent can say, because
of what you did you will be punished. You will be sent to your room. You will be spanked.
Etc. This is one way. Or, the parent can tell the child of the wonderful trip to the
amusement park he will miss out on. And the picnic. And most importantly, he will miss out
on the precious, close relationship with his parents. Some children are motivated to mend
their ways by fear of the spank. Others are motivated by the (hopefully temporary) loss of
good things.
So too it is with us, the people of Israel. What motivates us to repent our sins. What
puts us on the path to T'shuva. For some (and for a part in all of us) it is fear of sin
and fear of punishment. But for some it is the higher form of motivation - Ahavat HaShem -
love of G-d, that speaks so much more eloquently that the dreaded Tochacha.
One more point. This "positive form of reproach" does not begin with chapter 28.
Right at the beginning of the sedra we find the mitzva of Bikurim. It is a perfect example
of the ideal state of the Jew - mitzva- observant, in Eretz Yisrael, with a Beit
HaMikdash, with bountiful yield of the land, peace, tranquility, security... and joy in
who and what he is. What greater reproach can we have to shame us and challenge us in a
loving way to return to G-d and be privileged to all of G-d's promises.
A NICE LESSON
The mishna in Bikurim tells us that originally, if a person was able to read or recite the
Bikurim passage on his own, he did so; if unable to, because of lack of education or other
reasons, then someone (probably a kohen) would help him (by reading the passage word for
word, or something like that). The mishna then tells us that some people stopped bringing
Bikurim (because they were embarrassed to reveal their ignorance). The Sages then decreed
that everyone shall have the passage read for
them.
Similarly, the original system of Torah reading was that the person called to the Torah
would read aloud his portion. If someone did not know how to read the Torah, then someone
was on hand to read aloud and the Oleh would read silently along with him. This resulted
in people refusing the honor of an Aliya to avoid embarrassment. Inspired by the mishna
from Bikurim, the system followed in most
congregations around the world is that one person reads aloud for everyone. It is
important to know that the person called to the Torah is still required to read the
portion for which he is called; this he does quietly, as the "Baal Korei" (Baal
Kri'a) reads the Torah aloud. The person receiving the Aliya should not be looking every
which way and just standing by as the Torah is read; it is his obligation to read
(quietly) every word. Remember, he is the one saying the brachot.
SDT - "I have not forgotten anything" - Rambam and others say
that this means that I have not forgotten to say Brachot and acknowledge G-d's role in
everything. Although the brachot for the separation of T'ruma, etc. are Rabbinically
ordained, the reference here is considered an ASMACHTA, a text-point to attach a rabbinic
concept.
Mitzva Watch
Mitzva #611 is the commandment to follow in HaShem's ways. As this is impossible in a
literal sense, we are taught many figurative meanings of this mitzva.
Rambam and others consider this to be the mitzva of moderating our behavior between
extremes, e.g. to be neither very stingy nor excessively spendthrift. Extremes of most
personality traits are to be avoided; middle-of-the-road qualities are generally
considered praiseworthy and consistent with this mitzva.
Sefer Mitzvot Katan defines this mitzva as the Biblical command to visit the sick. We are
commanded to emulate G-d in various ways - this specific verse commands Bikur Cholim.
Rambam, on the other hand, would consider Bikur Cholim as one aspect of "Love thy
neighbor..." and/or as part of G'milat Chasadim.
[It is important to note that the Torah repeatedly reminds us that G-d's promises to the
Avot are largely conditional upon our behavior. We seem to forget this occasionally.]
A hint...
ARUR MASIG G'VUL rei'eihu... Cursed is he who encroaches on his fellow's boundary... The
final letters of the first three words of this verse spell the word REGEL, leg or foot.
This can be seen as a hint to including in this prohibition an encroachment of merely a
"footstep". How so? The Talmud says that a person who buys a house with an
entrance into one courtyard, may not open a new entrance to another courtyard, as this
will increase the number of people walking through the new courtyard, thereby encroaching
on the territory of its other residents.
SDT - In the Tochacha we read of one of G-d's "complaints" that
would result in the devastating punishments described, namely that we would not serve G-d
"with joy and goodness of heart". The Kotzke Rebbe adds a poignant twist to the
interpretation of the verse: "because we would not serve G-d, and that would
bring us joy." Not only must we serve G-d motivated by the joy of being Jewish and
subject to G-d's commands, but we must never be glad to have the yoke of Heaven removed
from upon us by circumstances, and especially by choice.
SIMCHA comes in two forms. Plain, physical joy, each person "doing his own
thing", "whatever turns him on". This is not REAL Simcha. The Simcha that
the Torah talks about, that it commands on the Festivals, when a person brings Bikurim,
when we take the Lulav & Etrog on Sukkot, - that is spiritual, religious, pure SIMCHA.
R. Yaakov Auerbach z"l found a beautiful G'matriya that conveys this idea.
IVDU ET HASHEM B'SIMCHA - serve G-d with joy = 70+2+4+6 (82) + 1+400 (401) + 26 +
2+300+40+8+5 (355) = 864.
The FULL g'matriya of SIMCHA = 360 + 80 + 418 + 6 = 864.
From L'ORA SHEL TORAH
by R. Yaakov Auerbach z"l (the inspiration of Treasures in the Sand)
Unlike the two other places where the Torah promises rain and bumper crop for our keeping
of the mitzvot, in Ji Tavo it just says that G-d will open to us His good treasure house
in the heavens (it will rain) and He will bless our work. Although it makes no specific
reference to a successful yield of the fields, R. Auerbach found an interesting
G'matriya-match. YIFTACH HASHEM L'CHA ET OTZARO MIN HASHAMAYIM = 2096. So does V'NAT'NA
HA'ARETZ Y'VULAH, V'EITZ HASADEH YITEIN PIRYO = 2096. (And he did his without help of a
computer!)
Note to people not living in
Israel:
Israel has switched back to "Winter time" and many people complain that it is
too soon to change the clocks. Summer time, they claim, is more economical and energy-
saving. Maybe. But not the issue here. People "blame" the religious
establishment for insisting that the clock be switched so early.
The fact is, that from a religious
perspective, there are benefits and drawbacks on either side of the issue. Slichot and the
deadline for Sh'ma, Shabbat in and out, davening starting times - all cancel each other
out for determining what's best for the (religious) Jews. Even if there would be a
distinct advantage to staying on Summertime or to turning the clock back early, religious
considerations should not be a determining factor in what is good or otherwise for the
whole country and population. (Perhaps if it can be demonstrated that there is less
Chillul Shabbat with an earlier Shabbat-out time, this would be a significant factor.)
Convenience of one's davening schedule
should not impose something on the country that leads to resentment against the Dati and
Charedi community. How much more so, when it really is a "six of one, half dozen of
the other" issue. No matter what happens to the clock, the religious Jew calculates
his Halachic times and works it out.
Another point - We are now only 6 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Savings Time (etc. for
the rest of the wolrd that is still on Summer time. Adjust your frame of reference so that
you don't mistakenly call someone in Israel an hour too early in the morning. Or something
like that.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
AW is the prize for the best PPP solutions, the best solution to the Radio Riddle on Torah
Tidbits Audio, Thursdays 10:08-11:00pm, on Arutz-7, 98.7FM, the source of a dvar Torah in
Torah Tidbits and a different one on the radio show; some of the songs from the AW will be
played (are being played, were played - depends upon when you
are reading this) on TTA.
This week's Album of the Week: Carlebach - 30 years, The best of Shlomo Carlebach
8 classic Carlebach songs plus two medleys. These are not other people singing songs that
Reb Shlomo composed and made famous - this is Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z"l himself
singing his own works. Some of the orchestration is new, but the voice and guitar (and
whistling) are the genuine, original article. This album is vol. 1 and can be a wonderful
trip "down memory lane" for you and a great introduction to the father and
master of Chassidic music for your children and other young ones who actually say,
"Shlomo Who?" With this album, you can show them.
After Ashrei and Chatzi-Kaddish, there is a long passage that serves as an introduction to
Slichot each time we say it.
Our prayers are made up of different types of passages. Some are taken straight from
Tanach. Whole chapters of T'hilim, for example, are commonly found in our davening.
Sometimes, a passage is the composition of the Sages, the Men of the Great Assembly (as
well as other Sages throughout the generations). SHOMEI'A T'FILA is a third type - mostly
a collection of many p'sukim from different places in Tanach, brought together because of
common theme or themes. In addition to the straight quotations, there are parts of this
prayer that are composed by the Sages to connect some of the p'sukim.
One of Shlomo Carlebach's famous
"oldies" comes from this opening passage of Slichot - HA'N'SHAMA LACH. We
declare to G-d that our soul comes from Him and is His, as well as our bodies being His
handiwork. We ask Him to have pity on the fruit of His labor, so to speak. Throughout
Slichot, we remind ourselves (and G-d) that we do not necessarily have the merit to be
saved, to be accepted as penitents. But we ask for forgiveness from Him for His own sake.
TTT (Torah Tidbits Typos)
Thank you to the many, many people who pointed out the glaring typo in the title of the
Front Page Tidbit of last week's TT. Thanks too to Shmuel M. for the latest of a long line
of acronyms - TTT.
Your feedback is valuable to us. And I do not refer to pointing out tyypos or speling
misteaks. I'm talking about your experiences with using a Dvar Torah from TT, using the
ParshaPix to teach a child, criticisms (constructive, I hope), a feature of TT you
particularly like, or don't. We'd appreciate knowing who reads TT in your family. Do the
PPPs drive you nuts? How do you feel about Treasures in the Sand? Are inserts helpful or
bothersome to you? Do you agree or disagree with the "editorial" kind of D.T.
Etc. Etc.
On another note, several prizes will be sent out soon for the best PPP solutions over the
past many weeks, since we started with the Album of the Week, sponsored by Noam
Productions. Please be patient.
Torah Tidbits Dedications
Torah Tidbits Dedications on the occasion of a Yahrzeit or in honor of a birth, Bar or Bat
Mitzva, engagement, wedding, anniversary, birthday, graduation, someone's starting the
army or Sherut Leumi can be inserted in TT. Call us.
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