Ki Tavo 5731
Alef.
Alef.
- If we accept the working hypothesis
that Nechama says that some use to explain that the blessings in VaYikra
relate to when the Jew first took up residence in Israel, while the
second set of blessings in Devarim are connected to later periods of
Jewish history, then the following is accounted for:
- a) Devarim contains general
assurances of blessing (2, 3, 6, 12) while VaYikra does not. Since the
Jews might have experienced exile from the land, they are in need not
only of specific manifestations of a blessed life, but that their lives
in general will be more positive than the afflicted existence that they
have been subjected to while in the Diaspora.
- b) Financial success
is only mentioned in Devarim (12). As long as Jews were in their land,
they had relatively little contact with the outside world since they
were able to be self-contained. Once they lived in the Diaspora, they
established connections with outside parties as commercial partners
and those relationships may continue to the Jews’ benefit.
- c) General safety in
the land of Israel is mentioned only in VaYikra (6). Once the Jews are
invaded, occupied and exiled, they will not be able to be truly reassured
regarding their physical safety, even if HaShem explicitly Makes this
dependent upon their compliance with His Mitzvot.
- d) The connection between
living in Israel and the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned only in VaYikra
(13). Once Exile takes place the linear nature of the Redemptive Process
has been reversed, even only temporarily.
- e) Only Devarim (14)
refers to the necessity of avoiding idolatry. While this is a prohibition
at all times, once the Jews have spent time in other locales where idolatry
is the majority form of worship, the prohibition needs to be reiterated
to a greater extent.
- Beit.
- 1. Assuming that a person
has a center, a base, then going out precedes coming in, which is the
reverse order of Devarim 28:6.
- 2. RaShI: the
existential nature of existence. When one is born, he is free of sin;
so too he should be when he dies. (This is reminiscent of RaShI on Beraishit
23:1—
רש"י בראשית פרק כג פסוק א
(א) ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים - לכך נכתב שנה בכל כלל וכלל, לומר לך שכל אחד נדרש לעצמו, בת מאה כבת עשרים לחטא, מה בת עשרים לא חטאה, שהרי אינה בת עונשין, אף בת מאה בלא חטא, ובת עשרים כבת שבע ליופי:)
- Estereich: Just as there
is Divine Protection and Supervision when the Jews came into Israel,
the same should apply if, Chas VeShalom, they are exiled. Otherwise,
the possibilities for their return to the land become very slim.
- HaEmek Davar (based
upon Devarim Rabba) : When you come to engage in an activity
associated with Parnasa, and when you complete your task and leave the
activity.
- When one looks at the verses
that immediately precede v. 6:
- Blessed shalt thou be in the
city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall
be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, and
the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and
the young of thy flock. Blessed shall be thy basket and
thy kneading-trough. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in,
and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
- it would appear that HaEmek Davar,
based upon the Midrash, who deals with this-worldly endeavors in which
one engages, is closest to the simple meaning of the text.
- 3. In light of the verse
that immediately follows v. 6—“The LORD will Cause thine enemies
that rise up against thee to be smitten before thee; they shall come
out against thee one way, and shall flee
before thee seven ways”, v. 6 could be a reference to military activity.
Being blessed in such a context would mean to be victorious despite
others coming to attack and who will ultimately be repelled and have
to “go out”.
- Gimel.
- 1. a) If HaShem Swore to make
the Jews a holy nation, implying that this must happen, then how can
that be dependent upon their complying with the Commandments, which
suggests that it will not necessarily happen?
- b) Isn’t
“VeHalachta B’Derachav” a Mitzva of the Tora (see e.g., Devarim
8:6; 19:9; 26:17)? So why is it mentioned as if it is a separate concept?
- 2. Bei’ur: “Ki”
= if; on condition that
- HaEmek
Davar: “Ki” = even when, i.e., (HaShem will Cause you
to be a holy nation even when you are engaged in the types of Mitzvot
which do not appear to be acts of holiness. (According to the standard
view that “Kedusha” means separation, one could think that in order
to be holy, one must distance himself from human activity and other
human beings. According to this commentator, HaShem Assures the people
that even when they engage in Commandments between man and man, since
they will be Walking in God’s Ways since He too Acts in these ways
[see Sota 14a where God is Described as clothing the naked, visiting
the sick, etc.] they will be functioning as a truly holy people.)
- 3. See answer to 2 above.
- 4. “And immediately following
the completion of the act of serving one’s fellow man, the individual
will have a sense of connection to God and holiness as he had previously
before embarking on this action, and this will come about via Divine
Assistance and Blessing.” (A Talmudic passage that illustrates the
necessity of drawing away from Deveikut in order to serve one’s fellow
appears in Shabbat 127a:
- Rab Judah said in Rab's name:
Hospitality to wayfarers is greater than welcoming the presence of the
Shechinah, for it is written, (Beraishit 18:3] “And he [Avraham] said,
‘My Lord, if now I have found favor in Thy Sight, Pass not away, etc.’”
[HaShem had Come to “Visit” Avraham following the latter’s circumcision.
Avraham observed guests in the distance, and according to this interpretation,
he asked, as it were, the Divine Presence to Remain while he saw to
welcoming the guests. We see that HaShem Complied, as it were, when,
after the departure of the guests/angels, He Continues the Revelation
by Revealing to Avraham His Intentions vis-à-vis Sodom and Amora.]
R. Eleazar said: Come and observe how the conduct of the Holy One, Blessed
be He, is not like that of mortals. The conduct of mortals [is such
that] an inferior person cannot say to a great[er] man, “Wait for
me until I come to you”; whereas in the case of the Holy One, Blessed
be He, it is written, “And he said, ‘My Lord, if now I have found,
etc.’”)
- 5. See answer to 4 above.
- Daled.
- “And the LORD will Make thee
over-abundant for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit
of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, in the land which the LORD
Swore unto thy fathers to Give thee. “
- Ibn Ezra: The Jews will
be spared the ravages of the land should there be afflictions, problems
and difficulties.
- Sephorno: Even when
others are prospering in the land, you will prosper that much more.
(The translation appears to follow this understanding.)
- If we look at the verses immediately
preceding and following v. 11,
- And all the peoples of
the earth shall see that the Name of the LORD is called upon thee; and
they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD will Make thee over-abundant
for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle,
and in the fruit of thy land, in the land which the LORD Swore unto
thy fathers to Give thee. The LORD will Open unto thee His good
Treasure, the heaven to give the rain of thy land in its season, and
to Bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations,
but thou shalt not borrow.
- if the purpose is to impress other
nations about the supernatural relationship between HaShem and the Jewish
people, it would seem to me that such a point is more powerfully made
when there is difficulty for everyone except the Jews (during the Exodus,
according to some commentators, none of the plagues affected the Jews
which clearly made a statement), than if they were simply more successful
than others. (Yet with respect to Yitzchak, the Tora states that he
harvested 100 times what others normally did, drawing the attention
of Avimelech. The same was true regarding Yaakov, who started out with
only a few sheep and ended up quite successful, inspiring the resentment
of Lavan and his sons.) Perhaps the question is a matter of degree.
If the extra that Jews would receive was not only slightly greater,
but extremely more, then perhaps the same point could be made.
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