Ki Savo – Peninim on the Torah

ארור האיש אשר יעשה פסל ומסכה... ושם בסתר

Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image… and sets it up in secret. (27:15)

Hypocrisy is a moral failing, which, upon being added to sinful behavior, makes the act even more repugnant, thus deserving of a curse. The Torah enumerates a group of sins which, as a rule, elude the attention of human courts of justice. These sins, upon which the added curse has been placed, are of a kind that remains covert due to their nature. Horav S.R. Hirsch, zl, observes that the Torah adds the word ba’seisar, in secret, in the beginning and end of the series of curses, to emphasize that it is especially the undisclosed character of these particular offenses…

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הסכת ושמע ישראל היום הנה נהיית לעם לה' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5773

Be attentive and hear, O’ Yisrael: This day you have become a people to Hashem, your G-d. (27:9)

Something seems out of place. We are standing forty years after the Revelation, forty years after Klal Yisrael’s resounding acceptance of the Torah amid a resonating declaration of Naase v’Nishma, “We will do and we will listen!” Why does the Torah say that hayom – “this day,” you became a nation? Had this not occurred forty years earlier? The Talmud Brachos 63b asks this obvious question. Chazal respond that while the Torah had actually been given forty years earlier, it is so valued and appreciated by those who study it, it is as if they had just received it today….

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ובאת אל הכהן... ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום לד' אלקיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5773

You shall come to whomever will be the Kohen… and you shall say to him, “I declare today to Hashem, your G-d.” (26:3)

The individual who brings the Bikurim makes a declaration: “I have come to the land that Hashem swore to our forefathers to give to us.” Rashi comments concerning the necessity of making a declaration which underscores our gratitude to the Almighty for giving us the land, She’eincha kafui tovah, “That you are not an ingrate.” It is a requirement for the landowner to express his gratitude. As a result of human nature, people do not want to be beholden to anyone. They look for any and every opportunity or excuse not to express their gratitude. The mitzvah of Bikurim serves…

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ולקחת מראשית פרי האדמה... אשר ד' אלקיך נתן לך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Savo, 5773

That you shall take of the first of every fruit of the ground… which Hashem, your G-d, gives you. (26:2)

The parsha of Bikurim is unique, in presenting the celebration and pomp that accompanies bringing the Bikurim to Yerushalayim. In vivid detail, Chazal relate how everyone was caught up in this mitzvah. Of course, any act of hakoras hatov, gratitude, should be publicized, so that more people will acknowledge the vital role of our benefactor, Hashem, in everything that we do. The Mishnah in Meseches Bikurim describes how the farmer would enter his field and notice a fig tree that had bloomed. He would immediately pick its first fruit and set it aside for Bikurim. The Te’einah, fig tree, is…

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ארור האיש אשר יעשה פסל ומסכה... ושם בסתר

Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image… and sets it up in secret. (27:15)

הסכת ושמע ישראל היום הנה נהיית לעם לה' אלקיך

Be attentive and hear, O’ Yisrael: This day you have become a people to Hashem, your G-d. (27:9)

ובאת אל הכהן... ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום לד' אלקיך

You shall come to whomever will be the Kohen… and you shall say to him, “I declare today to Hashem, your G-d.” (26:3)

ולקחת מראשית פרי האדמה... אשר ד' אלקיך נתן לך

That you shall take of the first of every fruit of the ground… which Hashem, your G-d, gives you. (26:2)

YEARS

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