Ki Tavo x Elul 5784 - Impossible Algebra

Ki Tavo and Elul in 5784 (when this commentary was written) or today (5786) : first fruits, blessings, curses, diaspora. Exploring Ki Tavo through the lens of current events in Sept 2024 / Elul 5784.(5784 commentary updated with links to more recent commentaries)

My name is Fatima. I am 9 years old. I live in the Beqaa valley in Lebanon. Today is the first day of fourth grade. In a few hours I will die when my father's pager explodes.

דברים כ״ו:א׳-ג׳

(א) וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ׃(ב) וְלָקַחְתָּ֞ מֵרֵאשִׁ֣ית ׀ כׇּל־פְּרִ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר תָּבִ֧יא מֵֽאַרְצְךָ֛ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָ֖ךְ וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ בַטֶּ֑נֶא וְהָֽלַכְתָּ֙ אֶל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִבְחַר֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן שְׁמ֖וֹ שָֽׁם׃(ג) וּבָאתָ֙ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו הִגַּ֤דְתִּי הַיּוֹם֙ לַה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ כִּי־בָ֙אתִי֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע ה׳ לַאֲבֹתֵ֖ינוּ לָ֥תֶת לָֽנוּ׃

Deuteronomy 26:1-3

(1) When you enter the land that your God ה׳ is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it,(2) you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that your God ה׳ is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where your God ה׳ will choose to establish the divine name.(3) You shall go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before your God ה׳ that I have entered the land that ה׳ swore to our fathers to assign us.”

Let us not fail to acknowledge that we are studying Parshat Ki Tavo at this moment, היום, in 5784, during Elul 5784.

Please join me as I continue to explore the urgent contemporaneous context of our study. What does it mean, today, to "enter the land"? When we "possess" we have "dispossessed" others. How does this affect us?

What are the first fruits that are harvested from dispossession, hatred, vengeance, violence?

I invite you to explore other recent Sefaria sheets I have shared that consider these topics - for example:

Devarim 5784 Virtual Inheritance - Nonfungibility. Could we reconceptualize "inheriting" / "possessing" the land through the lens of non-fungibility?

Eikev 5784 Truth or Consequences - Parshat Eikev in 5784: when we observe God's rules, what are the consequences? Are we truly required to be pitiless and to dispossess others with no regard to their humanity?

Eikev 5786 Is Moses endorsing genocide and collective punishment? How can we walk in God's ways and also violently dispossess and harm others? It's a simple question: am I to value all life and welcome the stranger, or am I to mercilessly obliterate entire groups of people?

Shoftim 5785 - Rules of war: Are Jewish lives more valuable than others' lives? Shoftim at the start of Elul 5785: are Jewish lives more valuable than others' lives? Rules of war, siege, olive trees, starvation, life.

Shoftim 5786 The cost per kill: Justice, justice shall you pursue - What is the price of a life? What is the abominable thing we are to sweep out from our midst?

דברים כ״ח:ו׳

(ו) בָּר֥וּךְ אַתָּ֖ה בְּבֹאֶ֑ךָ וּבָר֥וּךְ אַתָּ֖ה בְּצֵאתֶֽךָ׃

Deuteronomy 28:6

(6) Blessed shall you be in your comings and blessed shall you be in your goings.

דברים כ״ח:י״ט

(יט) אָר֥וּר אַתָּ֖ה בְּבֹאֶ֑ךָ וְאָר֥וּר אַתָּ֖ה בְּצֵאתֶֽךָ׃

Deuteronomy 28:19

(19) Cursed shall you be in your comings and cursed shall you be in your goings.

דברים כ״ו:י׳-י״ג

(י) וְעַתָּ֗ה הִנֵּ֤ה הֵבֵ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־רֵאשִׁית֙ פְּרִ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תָּה לִּ֖י ה׳ וְהִנַּחְתּ֗וֹ לִפְנֵי֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִ֔יתָ לִפְנֵ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹקֶֽיךָ׃(יא) וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֣ בְכׇל־הַטּ֗וֹב אֲשֶׁ֧ר נָֽתַן־לְךָ֛ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ וּלְבֵיתֶ֑ךָ אַתָּה֙ וְהַלֵּוִ֔י וְהַגֵּ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ׃ {ס} (יב) כִּ֣י תְכַלֶּ֞ה לַ֠עְשֵׂ֠ר אֶת־כׇּל־מַעְשַׂ֧ר תְּבוּאָתְךָ֛ בַּשָּׁנָ֥ה הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֖ת שְׁנַ֣ת הַֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֑ר וְנָתַתָּ֣ה לַלֵּוִ֗י לַגֵּר֙ לַיָּת֣וֹם וְלָֽאַלְמָנָ֔ה וְאָכְל֥וּ בִשְׁעָרֶ֖יךָ וְשָׂבֵֽעוּ׃(יג) וְאָמַרְתָּ֡ לִפְנֵי֩ ה׳ אֱלֹקֶ֜יךָ בִּעַ֧רְתִּי הַקֹּ֣דֶשׁ מִן־הַבַּ֗יִת וְגַ֨ם נְתַתִּ֤יו לַלֵּוִי֙ וְלַגֵּר֙ לַיָּת֣וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֔ה כְּכׇל־מִצְוָתְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוִּיתָ֑נִי לֹֽא־עָבַ֥רְתִּי מִמִּצְוֺתֶ֖יךָ וְלֹ֥א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי׃

Deuteronomy 26:10-13

(10) Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, ה׳, have given me.” You shall leave it before your God ה׳ and bow low before your God ה׳.(11) And you shall enjoy, together with the [family of the] Levite and the stranger in your midst, all the bounty that your God ה׳ has bestowed upon you and your household.(12) When you have set aside in full the tenth part of your yield in the third year, the year of the tithe and have given it to the [family of the] Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat their fill in your settlements,(13) you shall declare before your God ה׳: “I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house; and I have given it to the [family of the] Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, just as You commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor neglected any of Your commandments:

A brief commentary this week, for Ki Tavo 5784.

We are not only in Parshat Ki Tavo, we are also in the middle of the month of Elul. Many Jews have already been digging deep, reflecting, taking their accounting of themselves.

There are countless opportunities for our cheshbon ha'nefesh this year; online, in a book, at any number of synagogues and Jewish centers. It's the time of year when we reflect and dig deeply.

Let's do that together, as we study Parshat Ki Tavo this week, at this time.

Don't blink.

When I say "Ki Tavo" and "Elul" together: what comes to mind?

You could think if it as a sort of Torah study combined with an ethical algebraic exercise: Ki Tavo x Elul = ?

To be more specific: Ki Tavo 5784 x Elul 5784 = ?

This is a time of pervasive violence and hatred and alienation, in so many communities, in the country where I live (USA), in Israel / Gaza / the West Bank/ Lebanon - and in so many other places in the world.

What is the outcome to our Jewish selves, collectively and individually, of the intense and unrelenting violence that is being perpetrated by the State of Israel?

The exercise of cheshbon ha'nefesh is a sort of psychospiritual algebra, it seems to me; after all, it's an "accounting". Part of the experience of the impending High Holidays is to consider the "balance sheet" of our actions during the past year.

Just yesterday, during the 11th month of Israel's inhumane bombardment of Gaza, less than two weeks after the murder of an American citizen in the West Bank by the IDF, came the truly grotesque news of the "exploding pagers sold to Hezbollah":

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/world/middleeast/israel-hezbollah-pagers-explosives.html

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-09-18/ty-article-live/lebanese-security-source-mossad-planted-explosives-in-5-000-pagers-ordered-by-hezbollah/00000192-02f1-df36-ad96-0afbea560000

As Jews, we are taught to question, to wrestle, to seek justice.

Our parsha famously contains "the blessings and the curses". Are we cursing ourselves when we cleave to violence and vengeance?

I suggest that when we allow ourselves to be pulled again and again into acceptance of violence and vengeance, we are sentencing ourselves to a new kind of diaspora: a diaspora in which we are exiled from our most fundamental values of justice.

Let us remember that bring our first fruits includes setting aside a portion of our yield for the vulnerable among us:

When we engage in vengeance are we transgressing commandments? Remembering the stranger and the vulnerable among us is a fundament of Jewish values. How do we define "the stranger" and other vulnerable ones "in our settlements"?

When we cleave to vengeance and violence, are we moving ourselves into a new diaspora in which we are wandering away from our deepest values?

At this time of the Jewish year, when many of us are engaging in an accounting of our actions and our souls, this week's Parsha can provide us with challenging and valuable prompts for the psychospiritual algebra problems we are working on in ourselves.

Ki Tavo 5784 x Elul 5784 = ?

Rabbi Anita Josefa Barzman MD Founder, micro-mishkan.net

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