Parshat Ki Tavo - Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

"And when you have arrived ["ki-tavo"] to the Land that the Lord your God has given you..." Thus opens one of the last, and most exciting Portions of the Week. Hello everyone, my name is Doron and this blog will try to provide a glimpse -- a rational, textual glimpse -- into each week's Portion of the Week according to the Jewish calendar. This week we stand several short weeks prior to the High Holidays, a wonderful period culminating with Simchat-Torah -- a unique holiday marking the end of the complete cycle of the Portions of the Week.

And so, these last five portions can be seen as somewhat of a summary -- a philosophical summary, if you will -- of the relationships between the Children of Israel, the Chosen People (a term we shall address shortly) and their Lord God.

Other than some very familiar textual hints [Deut. 26:5-8, for example, is included in the Passover Hagadah; Deut. 26:16 & 28:1 are variations on a theme of the "Shmah Israel" prayer; Deut. 27:15-16 verses are variations on a theme of the Second and Fourth Commandments, etc.], the Ki Tavo Portion includes two key verses spoken by Moses to his People:

Deut. 26:17-18:

"(17) 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. (18) And the Lord has affirmed* this day that you are, as He promised you, His treasured people who shall observe all His commandments.”

Before we dive into the very deep meaning of these short verses, a word about the translation: I added an astrix (*) near the translation [provided here by JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, 2d ed. 1999] of the word “affirmed,” as the Hebrew original – "Hae-ae-mar-tah" – is so unique, it can easily be labeled untranslatable. And while the English translation here does succinctly mention in a footnote that “exact nuance of Hebrew uncertain,” the truth of the matter is that here is the only place where this word – appearing twice, one right after the other – ever appears in the entire twenty-four books of the Tanakh. I will not enter the great debate of the exact meaning of the word, or the multiple translational options available here; I will mention, however, that “you have chosen to declare” seems to me more appropriate than the “you have affirmed” used here. Note that the term is used both for “you,” the member of the Chosen People, and for “the Lord” himself. This, too, should provide us with an interpretational clue.

Back to the text. The late Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, one of the greatest Jewish philosophers of our times and an ardent follower of the Rambam (Maimonides), poses the great question: What is the relation between the first part of this section – about the People who chose to have the Lord as their God, and the second part – about the Lord who chose this People to be His? What is the relation between the People’s declaration and God’s declaration? Is this a relation of cause and effect (that is, because the People of Israel have chosen God, He has chosen them back)? Or a reverse cause and effect (that is, because God has chosen the People of Israel, they have chosen him back)? Or maybe these are merely parallel, co-incidental occurrences? (look! The People of Israel have chosen the Lord, and, by mere chance, He has decided to choose them as well!).

Loyal to his method, Leibowitz repudiates each of these possibilities. Yet he puzzles over these two short verses. Why is the text so explicit about these two parties to the transaction? How deep is the connection between the People’s choice to have God as the Lord, and God’s choice to have the Jews as his People?

His answer is quite surprising. According to Leibowitz, these two verses represent but one idea. They are actually two sides of one equation. And that equation, in turn, represents the fulcrum on which both Leibowitz and the Rambam build their very impressive philosophical structure: That the essence of the Jewish belief in God is the observance and keeping of the Miztvot – the Torah’s laws and commandments as delivered by God.

This is, of course, a very controversial conclusion, especially in a time and place where keeping the Mitzvot is far from being at the forefront of the leading Jewish movements.

Still, let us look at these verses again, this time through the Leibowitzian prizm: Part one deals with the People of Israel. They have chosen to declare that they accept the Lord as their God. But how would they accept Him as their Lord? And here is the thrust: by “walk[ing] in His ways”; by “observ[ing] His laws and commandments and rules,”; and by “obey[ing] Him.”

And God? What about Him? He, too, has chosen to declare that the Jews are His “treasured People” [“Ah-m S-gulah,” a beautiful Hebrew term], but in what way? In that they “shall observe all His commandments.”

So it is only in that way that we, the Jewish People are unique: In the sense that we have been chosen to observe all the Jewish laws, and that we have accepted our obligation to do so. In that, and in that alone, we are superior – in the eyes of God – to all other people. This is the simpler explanation of the next verse, which reads: “and that He will set you, in fame and renown and glory, high above all the nation that he has made; and that you shall be, as He promised, a holy people to the Lord your God.” Here, the “fame and glory” are not of the “American Idol” kind, but rather of the religious kind: the heavenly fame and glory that comes from the personal knowledge that you are a part of the People – the “holy people” – that observes God’s laws.

And therein lies the two most important lessons of this Week’s Portion: First, if you as a Jewish person do not observe God’s laws, don’t be so sure He will keep His end of the bargain towards you. Second, and most importantly, there is nothing inherent in us, the Jewish People, as being superior to other people. The only thing in which we may be superior is by obeying God’s laws. If we do that, and only to the extent we do that, then God – and no one else – shall consider us to be the Chosen (or superior) People. This should contrast many a notion widespread in Jewish circles that we are inherently unique, or superior to other nations just by virtue of being Jewish. That is not the case. We are only unique in the option we are given to observe God’s laws; and we are only unique to Him if we do so. And that is key in understanding our place in the world.

Shabat Shalom.