Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah begins by instructing a ritual of gratitude to be performed when the Children of Israel cultivate the land: the celebrant should put the first-ripened fruits (bikurim) of their orchard into a basket and bring it to the place where Hashem “chooses” to “make the Holy Name rest.” The celebrant then offers these first fruits, making a declaration of having come out of slavery in Egypt and into the “land flowing with milk and honey.” The celebrant then “rejoices” with one’s family as well as with the “stranger.” The parshah continues with the laws of tithes given to the Levites and the poor, along with detailed instructions on how to proclaim the blessings and curses on Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival, as discussed at the beginning of Parshat Re’eh. The latter part of Ki Tavo consists of a long, harsh account of the curses—illness, famine, poverty and exile—that shall befall them if they abandon the Torah. It concludes with Moses’ words that “only today,” forty years after their birth as a people, have they attained “a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהֹ–וָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ׃ When you enter the land that Hashem your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it... - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 26:1-2 Parshat Ki Tavo
Before drawing water for the baking of matzah in preparation for Pesakh, Rabbi Moshe of Kobryn said to those standing around him, “The king teaches his soldiers all manner of military maneuvers. But, when they are in the thick of the fight, they throw all they have learned overboard and simply shoot. In respect to the drawing of water for the baking of matzah, there are many mysteries to be learned, but when it comes to the action itself, all I know is the doing of the moment; the doing is, itself, is the Supreme Mystery.”
All of our common experiences are, at their root, completely ineffable and inexplicable, yet we take their reality for granted because they are so common. Like the flavor of food, for example, or music – can you explain the experience of listening to music? Can we even know what music is? Of course not – music is a mystery. Flavor is a mystery. And yet, if someone says, “mmmmm” we understand they’re enjoying food, because we know the experience. If we see someone dancing to a rhythm, we know they are hearing music. We can’t really explain it, but because we know the experience, we can recognize the outward signs of the experience in someone else. כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֤ה הַחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ יְכַסֶּה־אֶ֔רֶץ וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל לְאֻמִּ֑ים וְעָלַ֙יִךְ֙ יִזְרַ֣ח יְה–וָ֔ה וּכְבוֹד֖וֹ עָלַ֥יִךְ יֵרָאֶֽה׃ For behold! Darkness shall cover the earth, and thick clouds the peoples; but upon you the Divine will shine, And Its Presence be seen upon you. - Isaiah 60:2, Haftora Ki Tavo What does this mean? It sounds like a contradiction – if “darkness covers the earth,” how can the Divine “shine” and Its “Presence” be seen? But that’s the point – you cannot “see” the Divine any more than you can “see” the flavor of food, or “smell” the sound of music. The dimension of the sacred is, nevertheless, not an uncommon experience; we know the outward signs of it, just like we recognize the savoring of food or dancing to music. What are the outward signs? הַמַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ – knowing one’s place… (Pirkei Avot, 6:6) In Pirkei Avot, there is a list of qualities one needs to acquire wisdom, and among them is הַמַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ – knowing one’s place. It may sound like a negative thing, like being passive and not speaking up for yourself. But the word for knowing, מַּכִּיר makir, also means “friend” or “acquaintance” – so the “knowing” is like the knowing of a friend, of someone with whom you are well acquainted. The word for “one’s place” – מְקוֹמוֹ m’komo – is a form of מָקוֹם Makom, which is also a Divine Name! So, to be הַמַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ hamakir et m’komo means to “make friends” with this place that you are actually in, right now, and thereby connect with the Divine Presence that shines beneath the surface of this moment. Even deeper: מְקוֹמוֹ m’komo is possessive: “one’s place” – and the “Place” is God! In other words, this is a becoming acquainted with one’s own Divine Essence; this is meditation. When we witness someone with this depth of Presence, we can recognize it – we can sense an inner light, a friendly aliveness, a peaceful presence. We may not be able to conceptualize it or explain it – הַחֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ יְכַסֶּה־אֶ֔רֶץ darkness shall cover the earth – but nevertheless, there is recognition. And, from this quality of making friends with the present moment, there naturally arises the next quality mentioned in the mishna: הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקו –Being happy with one’s portion… It is a fundamental quality of Presence to appreciate what you’ve got. And what have we got? Only This: וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ׃ When you enter the land that Hashem your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it… The pasuk is talking about the Children of Israel entering the Promised Land, but on a deeper level, it describes entering into This Land. And this is the perpetual potential ever before us: to settle into This moment, to know that This is ours – this is our heritage, Now. But to be truly שָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקו samayakh b’helko – happy with our portion – we must realize what we are on the deepest level: וְעָלַ֙יִךְ֙ יִזְרַ֣ח יְהוָ֔ה וּכְבוֹד֖וֹ עָלַ֥יִךְ יֵרָאֶֽה: And upon you the Divine will shine, And Its Presence be seen upon you… This Presence, this Light, is what we are – it is the awareness that befriends this moment and expresses Itself as Radiance and Peace upon the one who realizes. And yet, even though we are this Light, it is easily concealed; we must make the effort to realize this Light by coming to this moment as a friend, by being הַמַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ hamakir et m’komo even with our own חֹשֶׁךְ hoshekh, with our own darkness, with our own negativity. Because it is through Presence with the darkness – with the fear, with the anger, with the resentments, with the irritability – that we can reclaim the consciousness that has temporarily taken its form and transmute it back into Light. When that happens, it can then be said: ק֥וּמִי א֖וֹרִי כִּ֣י בָ֣א אוֹרֵ֑ךְ וּכְב֥וֹד יְה–וָ֖ה עָלַ֥יִךְ זָרָֽח: Arise, shine, for your light has dawned; The Presence of the Divine has shone upon you! - Isaiah 60:1, Haftora Ki Tavo
Read past teachings on Ki Tavo HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below:
0 Comments
Parshah Summary – P’shat
Parshat Ki Tetzei contains seventy-four of the Torah’s 613 mitzvot. Included among them are the inheritance rights of the firstborn, the law of the rebellious son, burial and dignity of the dead, returning a lost object, sending away the mother bird before taking her eggs, the duty to erect a safety fence around the roof of one’s home, and the various forms of kilayim (forbidden plant and animal hybrids). Also recounted are the laws of having a special place outside the camp for going to the bathroom and covering up one’s waste with earth, the prohibition against turning in an escaped slave, the duty to pay a worker on time and to allow anyone working for you—human or animal— time to eat, the prohibition against charging interest on a loan, the laws of adultery and divorce, and the procedures for yibum (levirate marriage), which is the practice of a man marrying the wife of his deceased childless brother in order to give her children on his brother’s behalf, and halitzah – the ritual of “removing of the shoe” – in the case that the brother-in-law does not wish to marry her. The parshah concludes with the obligation to remember “what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt.”
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֑יךָ וּנְתָנ֞וֹ יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ בְּיָדֶ֖ךָ וְשָׁבִ֥יתָ שִׁבְיֽוֹ׃ When you out to battle against your enemies, and Hashem your God puts them in your hand, and you capture their captivity… - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:10, Parshat Ki Tetzei
There’s a story of Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasov, that once he travelled through many villages trying to collect funds so that he could liberate the poor Jews who were incarcerated in the Ukrainian debtor’s prison. Day after day, he went from door to door pleading the case of those poor souls rotting away in the dungeon, but no one would contribute anything. After weeks of failure, feeling dejected and frustrated, he gave up and set out to return home, regretting having wasted all that time he could have spent learning and praying. But just as he approached his house, a woman ran up to him in a panic: “Rabbi, my husband was caught stealing a piece of clothing and was viciously beaten by the police and thrown in jail!”
Without hesitation, the rabbi turned around and went to intercede with the judge. After much effort, he was able to get the prisoner released. When he went to fetch the prisoner from jail, he sternly warned him: “Remember that beating they gave you and don’t you ever do anything like that ever again!” “Why not?” replied the thief, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” Upon hearing his words, the rabbi resolved to return to his task of raising money to ransom prisoners, and eventually was highly successful in liberating many. There is a debt to be paid for our spiritual freedom as well. We too must not give up “raising the funds” as we move from one situation to the next, bringing our consciousness fully to each moment, to each situation, to each feeling, to each reaction, to each thought. What is this moment like? What does this situation feel like? Is there an emotional quality right now? What thoughts are arising? Again and again, we might get caught; we might get absorbed and coopted by whatever is arising in our experience, but don’t give up! The real danger is never failure. The real danger is allowing our failures to develop into the belief that inner freedom is impossible. The Torah describes going out into battle: כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה... וְשָׁבִ֥יתָ שִׁבְיֽוֹ׃ – When you go out to battle…and you capture their captivity... It’s a strange construction – capture their captivity – but this is how it is: the phenomena of our experience have a certain gravity; they tend to draw us in, to “capture” us. But if you don’t give up, if you keep at it, you will eventually “capture” their captivating power. After all, you are far more vast than any impulse, than any experience. You are the open space within which this experience, now, unfolds. But isn’t this too difficult? Is it not superhuman to access this Truth? כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה עַל־אֹֽיְבֶ֑יךָ – When you go out to battle against your enemies… Life is, in a sense, like a battle ground. If you want spiritual freedom, you have to be one pointed and relentless, like a warrior. And yet: אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ בְּיָדֶ֖ךָ וּנְתָנ֞וֹ יְהֹוָ֧ה – Hashem your Divinity gives them into your hand… In other words, we don’t accomplish our victory by ourselves; the victory is a gift placed in our hands by the Divine; it is not something we win through effort, but through Grace. And this is the paradox – on one hand, you’ve got to have unshakable will and effort, and on the other, relaxed surrender. But in truth, this is not a contradiction, because the unconscious impulse is to struggle, to fight with Reality. If we want to conquer that “enemy” of unconscious struggle, we must surrender to the Truth of this moment, and that requires intention and will. We must remember that more important than whatever it is we’re doing, is this One Thing: אַחַ֤ת שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְה–וָה֮ אֹותָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ... Only One Thing I ask of the Divine, this is what I seek… שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭ה–וָה... – to dwell in the House of the Divine… That is, to dwell in the heart of this moment, surrendering to the Truth of what is, as the freedom and openness of the awareness that we are. כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י – All the days of my life… Meaning: every moment of life, being rooted in our Essential Life – not our thoughts, which come and go; not our feelings, which come and go; not our bodies, which are constantly changing, but in our Awake-ness, the field within which all of these are received and embraced. What happens if we embrace all of this, right now? If we say Yes to the fullness of this moment, right now, who are we then? What are we then? Don’t try to answer with your mind; instead, feel the answer as the Awake-ness that hears these words, day by day, moment by moment.
Read past teachings on Ki Tetzei HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with the instruction to appoint judges and law enforcement officers in every city. “Justice, justice shall you pursue,” Moses tells them. Crimes must be thoroughly investigated and a minimum of two credible witnesses is required for conviction. Furthermore, the Torah must be alive: in every generation, the law must be interpreted and applied in new ways. Moses then reviews laws governing the appointment and behavior of a king, along with the laws of the “cities of refuge” for the inadvertent murderer. Also set forth are the rules of war: the exemption from battle for one who has just built a home, planted a vineyard, married, or is “afraid and soft-hearted;” the requirement to offer terms of peace before attacking a city; and the prohibition against needlessly destroying something of value, such as the law that forbids cutting down fruit trees when laying siege – “For a human being is a tree of the field.” The parshah concludes with the law of the eglah arufah—the special procedure to be followed when a person is killed by an unknown murderer and the body is found in a field—which underscores the responsibility of the community and its leaders not only for what they do, but also for what they might have prevented from being done…
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ לִשְׁבָטֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁפְט֥וּ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם מִשְׁפַּט־צֶֽדֶק׃ Judges and officers you shall place in all your gates that Hashem your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with fairness... - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:26, Parshat Re’eh
Once there was a rabbi who wanted to build a yeshivah – an institution for Jewish learning. After many years of planning and raising funds, his vision was finally realized – the new Torah school was built in the beautiful country side, on the bank of a river. Many young people came to live and to learn, and the rabbi was gratified to see his goal and passion manifested. On days with good weather, he would often go outside with students to the river’s edge and daven minkhah – pray the afternoon prayer.
One day, while they were all outside praying, he noticed that the building across the river (which seemed to have been abandoned) was being renovated and readied for something. Day after day he watched as workers came refurbished the old building, and he could see that there seemed to be a woman in charge of the enterprise, because she was there every day, busily involved with whatever was going on. Eventually the building seemed to open for business, because he saw men coming and going at all hours of the day and night. He wondered, what could be going on over there? Then he found out – the new business was a brothel, and the women he had seen was the head of the brothel. He was so upset – his Torah school was right across from a brothel! How terrible! He feared that his boys would be tempted into going over there; he was angry that his holy place was being contaminated with such sinfulness; and he was filled with scorn for that woman who was responsible. Nevertheless, he refused to change his practice of bringing the students out to daven by the river. It was Spring, and the weather had just turned pleasant. One time, while they were all praying, he noticed that the woman was also outside by the river. He glared at her, and he saw her looking back at him. He was filled with rage and cursed her in his heart. This became a pattern – every day during those pleasant months, the rabbi and the students would go outside to daven, and every day he would see the women. He would try to ignore her, but he was driven by his anger to look at her, and every time he did, he saw her looking back at him. Soon after, it happened that the rabbi had a heart attack and died. When he came to Olam HaBa, the “World to Come,” he was told that he would not be able to enter right away, but would have to spend some time in Gehinnom (Jewish Hell) to cleanse himself from the spiritual impurities caused by all his anger and cursing of the brothel owner. So, he descended into Gehinnom. After what felt like an eternity of torment he was finally cleansed, and was then allowed to claim his helek la’olam haba, his “Share in the World to Come.” He was ushered into Paradise – a beautiful, peaceful place of lush gardens, in which the Divine Presence was palpably felt – and led to a small, modest dwelling, which was to be his heavenly home. It wasn’t much, but he accepted it with gratitude. As he approached his dwelling, he looked around and noticed that there was an immense palace next door. “Wow” he thought, “That must be the abode of some great tzaddik (saint).” “Actually,” said his angelic escort, “That’s the house of the brothel owner who used to be the object of your curses; she happened to die the same day you did.” “What!” shouted the rabbi, “There must be some mistake! I mean, I realize I wasn’t perfect, I shouldn’t have gotten so mad at her and been so negative, but I was studying Torah all day long, while she was running a brothel!” “Actually,” said the angel, “She studied much more Torah than you did.” “Really? How could that be?” “All those days that you stared at her from across the river, you seethed with anger and thought, ‘What a horrible person she is – building that brothel and seducing others into sin as well!’But when she stared back at you, she was thinking, ‘What a sweet holy soul that is! Look at what a great mitzvah he has done, building that yeshivah and nourishing so many with the holiness of Torah!’ Her holy thoughts of blessing toward you infiltrated the rest of her life, until she was constantly blessing you in her heart. Whereas in your case, your destructive thoughts of anger and cursing infiltrated the rest of your life, so even when you were studying Torah externally, internally you were filled with scorn.” To live an awakened life doesn’t mean to do external practices only. It means: totally accept what comes to you with love, even and especially when it’s not what you want. Don’t judge others; be thankful that you can give your gifts to the world, and don’t worry about what other people are doing. The great sage Hillel taught: אַל תָּדִין אֶת חֲבֵרְךָ עַד שֶׁתַּגִּיעַ לִמְקוֹמוֹ... Do not judge others until you have reached their place… In other words, don’t ever judge others, because we can never “reach the place” of someone else; everyone has their own experience, and we don’t know if we would act differently if we were in their shoes. But if we’re not conscious of our own minds, we can end up doing just the opposite – begrudging what comes to us, and blaming others or blaming the world for our perceived misfortune. Like the story, we might seem to be doing the right thing externally, but in our minds, we are creating the opposite. What is the remedy? שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכָל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ... Judges and officers you shall place in all your gates… The Torah is talking about how to govern a society. But on the level of consciousness, this is a teaching about how to use our minds and “guard” the “gates” of thought. The key is, rather than judging others, we need to be “judges” of our own minds. Not in a negative and judgmental way, but in a conscious and intelligent way, discerning which thoughts are useless and will only create a personal hell, and which thoughts are conducive to bringing about heaven on earth. In fact, at the deepest level, “Heaven” is not something we have to create with positive thinking, but is rather the awareness itself that watches the mind, that watches the fullness of whatever arises. We can access this “heaven” right now. May the intelligence of our essence, this consciousness that we are, help us to discern the movement ofour minds, and choose the kinds of thoughts that will be blessings for ourselves and help us be blessings for others, as Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi taught… אֵיזוֹהִי דֶרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה שֶׁיָּבֹר לוֹ הָאָדָם, כֹּל שֶׁהִיא תִפְאֶרֶת לְעוֹשֶׂיהָ וְתִפְאֶרֶת לוֹ מִן הָאָדָם... What is the proper path that a person should choose for oneself? That which is beautiful and harmonious for oneself, and also causes others to experience that beauty and harmony as well.” - Pirkei Avot 2:1
Read past teachings on Shoftim HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: |
Archives
October 2024
|
RSS Feed