Shabbat Shalom Weekly

Torah Portion:  Ki Tavo

For Goodness Sake
by Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt

In this week’s portion, as the Jewish people are getting ready to enter the Land of Israel, God commands them to stand on two hills, with six tribes on each hill, facing each other. The tribe of Levi then stands in the middle and recites a series of 12 blessings and curses. This must have been a very powerful experience, listening the Levites say these blessings and curses out loud, with the entire Jewish people responding “amen.”

Actually, the Torah only mentions the curses: “cursed is the one who takes a bribe; cursed is the one who perverts justice; cursed is the one who abuses his parents,” etc. The Sages explain that although the blessings are not mentioned in the text, they are the precise opposites of the curses: “blessed is the one who does not take a bribe; blessed is the one who does not pervert justice; blessed is the one who does not abuse his parents,” etc.

The wording of the blessings seems quite strange. Instead of saying, “Blessed is the one who does not abuse his parents,” why not state the blessings in the positive — i.e. “Blessed is the one who honors his parents”?

I believe the answer is as follows. All of these blessings are areas in which it is impossible for anyone else to know what a person has done. He may never have harmed his parents, but who’s to say that he was never in a situation in which he thought to do so? A bribe is a gift given in order to influence a judge in a particular way. But even if he accepted the gift, who can say if the gift made him judge in that manner? Perhaps he saw this as the proper judgment in any case.

It’s much easier to be righteous in public than it is in private. The true test of a human being’s mettle is what he does when no one is watching and no one will ever know. The good that we do in our lives that goes completely unrewarded in this world is the most precious good of all. The good that no one knows about and no one recognizes — this is the greatest good that we should seek. It is a good with no motive other than doing good for sake of good itself.

This is what God wished to emphasize to the Jewish people when they entered the Land of Israel. Do not chase public good and acclaim, rather seek and value the good that is done with a pure heart and pure motives. Blessed are those moments in our life when we make choices for no reason other than to do what is right, truthful, just or honest. They remain our most prized possessions for eternity.

 

First and Foremost
by Rabbi Zev Leff

The importance of building a strong foundation.

“You shall take of every fruit of the ground produced by the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You must place it in a basket and go to the site that God will choose.”(Deut. 26:2)

The Torah commands us to take the first fruits and bring them to the Kohen as a thanksgiving offering to God. Elsewhere we are enjoined to dedicate all our “firsts” to God – the first shearings of the wool, the first of the dough, the firstborn of man and animal, etc. Why does the Torah command us to offer the first of our produce instead of the best?

The importance of the “first” lies in the fact that it is the root and foundation of all that follows. The foundation of a building must be totally free of imperfections. A hairline crack in the foundation endangers the entire building, whereas that same crack in the fourth floor would not be significant. Similarly, with respect to everything having to do with kedusha, the beginning must be holy and pure if holiness and purity are to emanate from it. Any imperfection in the root will manifest itself a hundredfold in what grows out of it. Therefore, we dedicate all “firsts” to God to firmly establish the foundation and root of all that follows.

The Talmud (Yerushalmi – Chagiga) blames Elisha ben Avuya’s tragic departure from the path of Torah on an incident that occurred on the day of his brit. The great Sages of Jerusalem were discussing Torah at his brit with such intensity that a fire descended from the heavens and surrounded them. When Elisha’s father saw this, he announced that he would devote his son to Torah so that he would also be able to work such wonders.

His father’s distorted motivation left its mark on his brilliant son, when later in life Elisha came to distorted conclusions on the basis of various incidents he witnessed. He saw a child fall to his death while fulfilling his father’s command to send away the mother bird before taking her eggs. Since the Torah specifically promises length of days for honoring one’s parents and sending away the mother bird, he concluded there is neither justice nor a judge. (Rabbi Yaakov, however, saw that reward for mitzvos is not in this world but rather in the next.)

GOOD BEGINNINGS

And so, too, from a good beginning comes good. The Talmud (Bava Metzia 85b) relates that when Rebbe Chiya reintroduced Torah in a generation in which it had been forgotten, he began by planting flax. From the flax he made nets to capture deer. Upon the skins of those deer he wrote the Five Books of the Torah. He would then travel from town to town teaching Torah to five boys in each town. With each he learned one book of Chumash. To six older boys he taught one order of Mishnah each. Each then taught the others what he had learned, and in this way, Torah was once again established.

Why was it necessary for Rebbe Chiya to plant the flax and make the nets? Couldn’t he have bought these? The answer is that every new beginning is the construction of a foundation. Only if every step is taken with holy and pure intentions will the result be holy and pure.

The same principle answers a question asked with respect to Chanukah: Why was a miracle necessary to insure that the menorah not be lit with impure oil? The law is that impure oil may be used for a mitzvah incumbent on the community.

[The answer is that] Chanukah was a rededication of the Temple and the Menorah. As such it was a new beginning, and only pure oil was fitting. Only when the holiness has been firmly established can impure oil be used for its maintenance.

The special significance that the Sages attach to the education of young children lies in the fact that we are setting the foundations of their Torah. Similarly, the blessings and curses uttered upon our entrance into the Land of Israel, at Mount Eival and Mount Grizim, emphasize the fact that our first encounter with Israel must set the foundation for our future settlement of the land. That required an intense awareness of our duties and responsibilities.

NEW YEAR

During the Ten Days of Repentance from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, it is customary to be extra stringent in one’s observance of mitzvot. Thus, even one who is not usually strict about eating kosher bread baked by a non-Jew (pas palter) should nevertheless be strict during that period. At first glance this practice seems difficult to understand, for it applies even to a person who intends to eat pas palter the rest of the year. Are we trying to fool God into thinking we are more pious than we actually are in order to secure a favorable judgment?

The significance of this conduct lies in the fact that Rosh Hashanah is not just the beginning of the year, but reishis hashana – the foundation and root of the year. Each of these ten days must be treated as firsts, dedicated to God in purity and holiness. Hence the extra stringencies, the more intense prayer and learning, are not merely for show. They are designed to lay the foundation for the entire year. Even if the building of the coming year is not constructed of such quality materials, the foundation will give it strength.

Thus did [King Solomon], the wisest of men say, tov acharis davar me’resihiso (Ecclesiastes 7:8), which is usually translated as “The end of the matter is greater than the beginning,” but can also be understood, “A good end emanates from the beginning.”

Tripping Them Up
by Nesanel Yoel Safran

From this week’s Torah portion:

We all know that it’s wrong to stick out our foot and purposely trip someone as he’s walking — especially if the person can’t see where he’s going. This week’s Torah portion teaches us about another type of ‘tripping’ which is just as wrong, but very easy to overlook. That is tripping people up by misleading or giving them bad advice even when it seems like we might gain by doing so.

In our story, a boy faces the choice of advising someone to do what would be best for that person — or for himself.

Josh was carefully threading the thin nylon line through the thin wire loops of his fishing pole when he noticed his bunkmate, Bruce, all tangled up in his fishing line like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. Josh could barely hold himself back from laughing. “Bruce, it looks like you caught yourself before you had a chance to catch any fish!”

“That’s the problem,” Bruce sighed. “I’ve never been fishing before and I have absolutely no idea of what to do. You look like you’ve been doing it all your life. Do you think you could maybe help me get started?”

It was true — ever since Josh could remember, his dad had taken him out on fishing trips on lakes just like this one. That’s why he figured he was a shoe-in to win the camp’s biggest fish contest. “Really, you’ve never done it even once?” Josh asked.

“Nope,” shrugged Bruce. “The closest I had ever come to fishing before today was trying to scoop tuna out of a can. How do you turn this thing on anyways?” he asked shaking the fishing pole. “And aren’t we supposed to tie worms onto it or something?”

Josh took the Bruce’s pole and within moments had it untangled, threaded and baited. “There you go, and good luck,” he said, turning back to his own serious business of winning the contest and its prize of a big gift certificate from the camp store.

He had expected Bruce to take off right away, but instead he hung around watching and questioning him about his every move. “Now tell me, where’s the best place to catch fish?”

“In the water, I’d suppose,” answered Josh, beginning to get annoyed.

“No,” laughed Bruce. “I mean is there a trick to it? You know, from which side of the boat or anything like that?”

Josh tensed up. There was indeed a trick to it. His dad had taught him how to look at the boat shadow on the water and figure out where the most and biggest fish were sure to be. But that was going to be his private secret to winning the contest. And besides, having the annoying kid next to him all day asking him questions wouldn’t leave him a moment’s peace.

Instead of telling him, Josh decided to just make something up. Bruce would never know the difference anyway, would he?

“Best place? Well, you should just go over to the front of the boat, so you get first crack at the fish before anyone else does.”

“Gee, thanks for the tip, man,” smiled Bruce, hurrying off to follow his ‘expert advice.’

Josh had settled in and cast his line — but in the real best place — when he began to feel uneasy. Maybe it really wasn’t right to have misled the kid like that. Okay, I don’t have to give away my secret, but to purposely tell him where the fish were least likely to be is not really cool.

He tried to push those thoughts out of his mind, but they just wouldn’t go. The fish must have felt his tension too, because he hadn’t gotten anything close to a bite.

After a few more minutes Josh reeled in his line and got up to go tell Bruce the truth. After all, he had relied on him for good advice, not bad. He walked over to the front of the boat and saw Bruce leaning over the railing like he was sick or something. As he got closer he saw that he wasn’t sick, but pulling hard on his line. Had it gotten it stuck under the boat?

“Hey Bruce, I got a confession to make…” he started to say, when he noticed his line jerking in a way that could only mean one thing — he had caught a fish, and a big one too!

Josh ran over and grabbed onto the struggling kid’s pole to help him reel it in. “Wow, what a whopper!” he said amazed, as the shining, flopping, and HUGE Big-Mouth Bass emerged from the water.

They rushed to weigh it and then set it free. Josh had fished enough to know the kid had just put the contest in the bag.

“Beginner’s luck,” said Bruce, smiling from ear to ear. “Thanks to your expert advice!” he added brightly.

Josh’s face turned white. He knew the real truth, that Bruce didn’t catch that fish because of his good advice — but in spite of his misleading advice. Suddenly Josh got the strong feeling that Bruce’s miraculous winning catch was a message to him, straight from heaven, that he should really try to help people who ask his advice and that he’d never find good for himself by withholding good from others.

“You know what,” Josh said, “come to think of it, you might do best to come over and do your fishing right next to me now. I’ll teach you a few fishing tricks I know and … just maybe I’ll catch some of your ‘luck’ too.”

Discussion Questions

Ages 3-5

Q. How did Josh feel at first about giving Bruce advice?
A. He felt that it was okay to tell him to do things he knew really wasn’t best for him.

Q. How did he feel differently in the end?
A. He felt like it had really been wrong to mislead him, and that he should only give people true advice from now on.

Ages 6-9

Q. What lesson did Josh discover on that fishing trip?
A. He learned that when people turn to us for help or advice, we shouldn’t deceive them by advising them in a way we know isn’t in their best interest; rather, we should make an extra effort to help them whenever we reasonably can.

Q. Do you think a person can get ahead by misleading others?
A. Even if it seems as if he is at first, in the end it is bound to backfire. God wants us to be honest with and help others. When we do, He will see to it that we ultimately gain from it and vice-versa.

Ages 10 and Up

Q. Had Josh actually done anything wrong by giving Bruce the advice he did, if after all, Bruce had caught a big fish anyway?
A. Maybe Josh hadn’t ended up hurting Bruce, but he had ultimately weakened his own character by acting dishonestly. Every act of good we do, and positive ethical choice we make, helps to build and perfect our character, and negative choices do the opposite.

Q. Must we give someone advice that we feel will be good for him – but bad for us?
A. A person is allowed to protect his own interests. For instance, an inventor needn’t give away his secret formula to a competitor just because he asks. However, deliberately misleading others is unacceptable, and more often than we think we can help others with good advice and lose nothing in the process. God wants us to help others and has many ways to make sure we won’t lose out by doing so.

Quote of the Week

“Who is wise? One who learns from every person.” – Ethics of the Fathers 4:1

 

Joke of the Week

When Shuli returned from the grocery store, her little Moishie pulled out the box of animal crackers he had begged for, and then he spread the animal-shaped crackers all over the kitchen counter.

“What are you doing, Moishie?” Shuli asked.

“The box says you can’t eat them if the seal is broken,” Moishie explained. “So I’m looking for the seal.”