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Home -> 5760 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5760

“I declare today to Hashem, your G-d…” (26:3)

The parsha of Bikurim teaches us the significance of hakoras ha’tov, gratitude. We must learn to recognize the good that others do for us and remember the overriding importance of showing appreciation to our benefactors. This will serve as a vehicle for understanding the overwhelming debt of gratitude that we owe to our primary Benefactor, Hashem, without whose beneficence we would be, and have, nothing. We may fail to recognize another element of hakoras ha’tov. We know we must be grateful to Hashem for the good that He has sent our way. What about the evil about which we are…

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Home -> 5760 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5760

“The Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us… Then we cried out to Hashem, the G-d of our forefathers… And (He) saw our affliction, our travail, and our oppression.” (26:6-7)

Chazal teach us that each of the above mentioned terms refers to another form of persecution. “Onyeinu,” our affliction, refers to the disruption of family life; “Amoleinu,” our travail, refers to the children being thrown into the river; and “Lachatzeinu,” our oppression, refers to the extreme pressure the Egyptians exerted upon us. If this is the case, why are the persecutions not mentioned at the beginning of the pasuk, immediately following the phrase, “The Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us”? Why are these terms mentioned only after Hashem has listened to our pleas? In a homily delivered before Rosh Hashanah…

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Home -> 5760 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5760

“You shall be only above and you shall not be below.” (28:13)

The Kotzker Rebbe, z.l., adds a new twist to the meaning of this blessing. He explains that Hashem created a ladder upon which the neshamos, souls, from the olam ha’elyon, upper/eternal world, descend to This World into the body of a human being. It is similar to the sulam mutzav artzah, v’rosho magia shomaymah, “ladder standing (with its legs) on this earth and its head/summit reaches Heavenward” (Bereishis 28:12) that Yaakov Avinu visualized in his dream. As soon as the neshamah descends, the ladder is removed. From Heaven, the call goes out to the neshamah, “Return! Return!” The neshamah, of…

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Home -> 5760 -> Ki Savo

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Ki Savo, 5760

“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart.” (28:47)

Another year has gone by, and Rosh Hashanah is a few weeks away. Chazal delve into the reason that Parashas Ki Savo, with its ninety-eight curses, is read shortly before the New Year. We suggest that it is a wake-up call, a reminder that whatever has transpired during the course of the past year, whether it was good or bad, happened by design and for a reason. It did not just occur. Retribution and accountability – two concepts that we often tend to ignore – play important roles. We rarely understand the things that happen to us as being directly…

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Home -> 5758 -> Ki Savo

Moshe Marcovich
In Ki Savo, 5758

I have not eaten from it in my intense mourning. (26:14)

In the days of antiquity,  pagan cults commonly  based their religion upon death.  They filled  the caves of their departed relatives with stores of food and  personal objects to accompany them on their journey through death.  Jewish law vehemently forbids these rituals, refraining from providing any materials or provisions to the departed.  We fashion our coffins from  simple wood; we clothe the corpse  in plain white shrouds.  To paraphrase Horav Eli Munk,zl, “Judaism’s primary focus is upon life, that it be positive and productive.”  In no way, however, are we lax in our care for the dead.  We accord respect…

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Home -> 5758 -> Ki Savo

Moshe Marcovich
In Ki Savo, 5758

Gaze down from Your holy abode, from the heavens, and bless Your people Yisrael. (26:15)

After the individual who brings Bikurim, first fruits, recites the Vidui, confession, he asks Hashem to bless him.  Rashi explains this entreaty to mean, “We have done what You decreed upon us;  now You do what behooves You.”  This seems like an insolent way to address Hashem.    Have we ever had a circumstance in which  Hashem has not fulfilled His promise?  Another question that seems to bother the commentators concerns  the Maaser,  when the person implies that he has done  everything that Hashem has demanded of him.  If he has done everything possible, why is he saying Viddui?  We…

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Home -> 5758 -> Ki Savo

Moshe Marcovich
In Ki Savo, 5758

You shall inscribe on the stones all the words of this Torah. (27:8)

“All the words of this Torah,” according to Rabbenu Saadya Gaon, is a reference to the Taryag, 613 mitzvos.  In the Talmud Sotah 32b, Chazal contend that actually the entire Torah was written on these stones.  Furthermore, they were written in seventy languages, availing everyone the opportunity to study Torah.  Thus,  the Ramban  remarks  that the stones were either extremely  large,  or a miracle enabled the stones to contain the entire text. According to one opinion,  these words were inscribed upon  a layer of plaster that could not defend against the elements for as long as would have been possble…

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Home -> 5758 -> Ki Savo

Moshe Marcovich
In Ki Savo, 5758

These shall stand to bless the people on Har Gerizim…and these shall stand for curse. (27:12,13)

Interestingly, this parsha is filled with promises of blessing  for good behavior and punishment and curse for disobedience. Nowhere, however,  do we find the entreaty, “Please, Hashem, do not punish us for the wrong behavior we have committed. Overlook our sins.”  Horav Moshe Swift, zl, emphasizes that the concept of reward and punishment is an integral  part of Jewish doctrine.  When you do something wrong, you pay for your sin.  When you do a good deed, you are rewarded.  Every action, every activity, every word, is all taken into account recorded and compensated. Furthermore, if we note the text, Hashem…

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Home -> 5758 -> Ki Savo

Moshe Marcovich
In Ki Savo, 5758

These shall stand to bless the people on Har Gerizim…and these shall stand for curse. (27:12,13)

The tribes were divided. Some stood  by Har Gerizim to issue the blessings, while the remainder stood by Har Eival to issue the curses.  Ibn Ezra notes that  the bnei ha’geviros, sons of “main” wives, Rachel and Leah, stood for the blessings, while the bnei ha’shefachos, tribes that descended from the maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, stood for the curses.  In order to “even” the sides, Reuven and Zevulun, were to stand on Har Eival. What is unusual  about this division of tribes is the fact that Yissachar and Zevulun were separated from one another.  Moreover, Zevulun was on the side…

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Home -> 5758 -> Ki Savo

Moshe Marcovich
In Ki Savo, 5758

But Hashem did not give you a heart to know, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, until this day. (29:3)

Moshe began his final charge to Klal Yisrael  by putting the experiences of their forty years in the wilderness into perspective.  The commentators offer  a number of explanations for “hayom hazeh,”  “this day” to which Moshe is referring.  Simply, in the  forty years of miraculous survival, Klal Yisrael were exposed to the highest degree of spiritual revelation;  they were nurtured and taught by the greatest teachers.  Klal Yisrael could now fully appreciate the overwhelming debt of gratitude they owed to Hashem.  They were finally ready to really serve Him.  He could now expect more from them. Rashi suggests  another analysis. …

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