Ki Tavo literally means 'When you come.'
It's a story of a relationship with God –
about the Jewish people
coming into that relationship
and what it really looks like
to 'come' to the Land,
a place we can build that relationship.
The parsha begins with Moses telling
the Israelites to offer a portion
of the first fruits of the trees
that they pick each year to God
once they are settled in the Land.
They are told to each make a basket,
bring it to the Temple, give it to the priest
who holds it up, and declare:
"We went down to Egypt
and they afflicted us,
and we cried to God,
who brought us out of Egypt, to this place,
and now we bring the first fruits."
Each of the Israelites is supposed to bring a tenth
of their food to the Temple,
each of them saying to God,
'We have done our part, and brought this,
now you look down and bless us and the land.'
We give to God. God gives to us.
It's about being mutual.
Then Moses tells the Israelites two things
to do as they enter the land:
First, set up huge stones,
and write the whole Torah on them.
These stones are set up right after the
Israelites cross the Jordan
into the Land.
And, afterward, they are coated with plaster.
It's like embedding the Land itself with Torah.
Then the Israelites stand
on top of two mountains:
Grizim, the mountain of blessing,
and Eival, the mountain of curses.
Six tribes stand on each mountain
with the Levites standing
in the middle and saying,
Cursed be the one who makes an idol
and the people all say,
Amen!
Cursed be the one
who denigrates his father or mother!
Amen!
Cursed be the one
who does not uphold the Torah!
Amen!
And more.
And then the blessings are given.
If the Israelites listen to God:
Blessed are you in the city and in the field.
The fruit of your womb,
the fruit of your soil,
the fruit of your livestock
will be blessed.
Blessed is your basket.
God will give blessing in your barns,
and everything else that you do.
All your enemies will fear you.
All of this will happen
only if the Israelites will do God's word,
if they will hold their part of the commitment.
And if the Israelites don't listen:
You will be cursed in the city,
cursed in the field.
Cursed is your basket,
Your enemies will chase you
in all directions.
For most of us,
talking about cursing and blessing,
punishment and reward, is strange, foreign,
and often a turn-off.
It is like some judge or policeman
standing over us telling us what to do,
and it makes us feel far away
and disconnected from the Torah.
But maybe we could look
at it a little differently?
More like a marriage.
Two sides coming together
to express their commitment for each other–
what they will give,
and what they expect to receive–
in good times, and in not-so-good times.
Traditional parts
of a Jewish wedding ceremony
are the ketuba (or the official contract),
and the giving of the ring,
symbols that express
the husband and wife's
commitment to each other when times
are good and happy, and, if they're not,
what they are still responsible
to provide for each other.
You could think of it as the husband and wife
blessing each other:
I bless you in the city and in the field,
I bless your basket, I'll bring the first fruits–
And if you don't hold your side,
that city, that field, that basket –
that's where you'll see what's missing.
The Torah calls these blessings and curses
a covenant between
the Israelites and God.
In other words, an agreement
between two sides about how they want
to express their love for each other.
This is the ideal, intimate relationship
for people to have with God, with the Torah,
with each other, and with the Land.
It's like when we plant
something in the ground,
plant it in good soil, water it right:
then the fruit will be good and sweet.
If we don't, the fruit
doesn't show us its love.
Finally the Torah tells us what this good soil,
this fertile ground is.
Joy.
If we don't make our commitments with joy,
live our committed life joyously,
the marriage is going to be rocky.
But when we find a way to truly commit,
to make a connection to God, with joy,
then we have the possibility
of an eternal relationship.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Animation: Jeanne Stern
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
G-dcast Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written and narrated by Leah Hartman and Rav Raz Hartman
Recording by Yellow Submarine