Guided Jewish Kabbalah Meditation
Torah of Awakening:
Parshat Ki Tavo
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah begins by instructing a ritual of gratitude to be performed by Israelite farmers who when they enter the Land, settle it and cultivate it: the celebrant should put the first-ripened fruits (bikkurim) of their orchard into a basket and bring it to the place where the Divine “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 the “stranger.” The parshah continues with the laws of tithes given to the Levites and to the poor, and detailed instructions on how to proclaim the blessings and the curses on Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival—as discussed in 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
Two disciples came to Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, with a question: “We are troubled by the teaching of our sages, that one must bless for the evil one experiences as well as the good (Mishna, Berachot, 9:5). How are we to understand this?”
The Maggid replied, “Go to the beit midrash (house of study). There you will find Reb Zusha smoking his pipe. He will give you the answer.” So they went and found Reb Zusha and put the question to him. Zusha just laughed and said, “I think you’ve come to the wrong man. I have never experienced suffering in my life.” But the two knew that Zusha’s life had been a web of need and anguish! Then they understood – Reb Zusha received all that happened to him with a spirit of gratitude. When we hear a teaching like this, we might think it’s telling us to play act. Suffering happens, but we should pretend that it’s “all good” – we should just put on a happy face. But the teaching is much deeper than that, as hinted in the opening words of the parshah: וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהֹ–וָ֣ה אֱלֹ–הֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ׃ וְלָקַחְתָּ֞ מֵרֵאשִׁ֣ית כׇּל־פְּרִ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֗ה... When you come into the land that Hashem your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil... - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 26:1-2 Parshat Ki Tavo It goes on to describe the farmer’s ritual of gratitude for the goodness of the land, in which the fruit is brought in a basket to the place which will eventually become the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. But on a deeper level, “coming into the land” is a hint – it means coming into the place you already are, coming into the full Presence of whatever is present. We can see this in the first three words: וְהָיָה כִּֽי־תָבוֹא... – It will BE when you come in... Meaning, coming in to the mode of Being. And notice וְהָיָה֙ v’hayah is the Divine Name with the letters in a slightly different order, hinting that we connect with the Divine Presence, יה/וה Hashem, through וְהָיָה v’hayah – through coming into the mode of Being – this is meditation. 4 Our lives consist of both Doing and Being, but we tend to identify with the Doing mode. Doing means “going out” – like last week’s parshah, Ki Tetzei, which means “when you go out.” It’s about reaching toward a goal we imagine in the future. This is how we create and accomplish things, which is wonderful and necessary. But if it is not balanced by the mode of Being, if there is total identification with thought and with Doing, then there is no arrival, no appreciation, no “coming in” – like this week’s parshah, Ki Tavo, which means “when you come in.” וְלָקַחְתָּ֞ מֵרֵאשִׁ֣ית כׇּל־פְּרִ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֗ה... You shall take from the first fruits of the earth… There is a “fruit” that we are reaping right now. That “fruit” is the fullness of this moment; it is the “fruit” of all that has come before. But what is our first fruit? It is, first of all, our relationship with this moment. The moment is complex; it often contains both goodness and suffering. We may have many stories and judgments about it. But before stories and judgments of the mind, there is simply this consciousness, meeting this moment as it is. When we “come into” ourselves, when we return from the journeys of thought into the reality of the present, there is the possibility of realizing: we have the choice to hold this moment in the “basket” of gratitude. This is not a denial of suffering. In fact, it is often thanks to our suffering that we are awakened to those things that truly matter, to the blessings we are constantly receiving but usually taking for granted. How do we do it? וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ... – When you come into the land… In other words, come into this place that you already are, by connecting your awareness with the אָ֔רֶץ aretz – this earth upon which we live, this body through which we live, and with whatever else happens to be present – this is meditation. In this way we can connect with the Divine Presence that infuses all things: וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ בַטֶּ֑נֶא וְהָֽלַכְתָּ֙ אֶל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִבְחַר֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן שְׁמ֖וֹ שָֽׁם׃… …put it in a basket and go to The Place (HaMakom) where Hashem, your own Divinity, chooses to rest the Divine Name of “Being”... We connect with the Divine Presence by coming to הַמָּקוֹם HaMakom, “The Place,” which is itself one of the Divine Names. Let go of imagined “fruits” in the future; bring your focus to the “fruits” that are present, conscious of HaMakom, the Divine Presence we access through this Place. Then, the choice appears: we too can receive this moment into the “basket” of gratitude; this is the sefirah of Hod. Then, you will be able to say as the ancient farmer said: וַיּוֹצִאֵ֤נוּ יְהֹ–וָה֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֣ בְכׇל־הַטּ֗וֹב... Hashem brought us out of Egypt – rejoice with all the goodness... Hashem brought us out of Egypt – meaning, we are brought out of the contracted bundle of mind-identified ego through Presence and Gratitude. And then you will rejoice with all the goodness – in other words, the fundamental condition for happiness is not “getting” in the future, but appreciating what is already here; when we allow ourselves the space to arrive into this moment and appreciate this gift of Being, we truly can know that this moment is good, and rejoice in That. In this month of return, may we re-turn evermore into the space of Gratitude; may we trust enough to let go and connect with HaMakom the eternal Presence of Being that infuses every moment. This is the sefirah of Hod – the eighth sefirah on the Tree of Life. Hod, which means “splendor” or “magnificence,” shares its root with Hodayah, meaning “gratitude,” and also humility. This is also the root of Yehud, Jew, hinting that the essence of Judaism is relating to this moment as a Divine gift. In the midst of our lives which tend to be focused on pushing toward the future in a momentum of relentless Becoming, Hod comes to remind us of Being, of patience, of recognizing this miracle, and saying “thank you.”
Read past teachings on Ki Tavo HERE
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