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Ki Tavo | Living in God's Presence

In memory of Rabbi Dr. David Appelbaum and his daughter Nava hy"d.
21.09.2014
Text file

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This week, we read Parashat Ki Tavo.  The section begins with a description of the inspiring ritual of the bikkurim, or first fruits, that are presented by the grateful farmer at the Temple in Jerusalem.  In an evocative ceremony, the fruits are gently raised upon the shoulder and then put down next to the altar, as the farmer first experientially relives the odyssey of exile and redemption and then recites a formula that briefly outlines the story of his people.  In terse but charged phrases, he recalls their descent to Egypt and subsequent enslavement, their outcries to God who heard their woes and liberated them, and their eventual arrival and settlement in the land that He gave them as their eternal possession. 

 

The Parasha continues with another agricultural observance, this time concerning the tithing of the crops.  The separated tithes must be allotted to their respective recipients, whether the landless Levi or else the indigent and needy, and the landowner must then solemnly declare that he has not unlawfully withheld their distribution.  Here again, the declaration singles out the land for special mention and then concludes with a poignant prayer that God sustain His people upon it and grant them its bounty: "Look down from Your holy habitation in the heavens and bless Israel Your people as well as the land that You have given us, just as You swore to our ancestors concerning a land that flows with milk and honey!" (Devarim 26:15).

 

The next sections, all unabashedly hopeful in tone, speak of both Israel's inseparable bond with God as well as of the heavy burden of responsibility that they must shoulder as a result.  It is within that context that the assembly at Shechem is described, for after the people have traversed the Yarden they are to immediately gather there between the mounts of fertile Gerizim and foreboding Eval in order to receive the "Blessing and the Curse" (27:11-26).  There, an altar is to be built and upon the plaster that coats its uncut stones the text of the Torah is to be clearly inscribed, in order to impress upon the people that their success in the new land will be a direct result of their fidelity to God and to His teachings.  The passage concludes with a resounding round of further blessings and benefits that the people of Israel can expect to receive as their reward for fulfilling God's commands: international acclaim, bountiful crops and healthy offspring, crushing victory over their foes, and economic stability and expansion.

 

 

AN ABRUPT CHANGE OF TONE

 

But how abruptly the tone of the Parasha turns ominous!  The second half of he Parasha, a full fifty-five out of its remaining sixty-three verses, is devoted to the converse of the earlier blessings, namely to the harsh admonition known as the "Tokhecha" or Rebuke.  In progressively more frightful phrases, Israel's punishment, should they fail to uphold the dictates of the Torah, is spelled out.  Sickness, drought, famine and defeat will overtake them, for the enemy will seize their crops, lay siege to their cities, and then cruelly exile them from their land.  Israel will be violently scattered among the nations, there to serve their lifeless gods of wood and stone in pathetic vulnerability.  In interminable exile they will remain, until such a time as they initiate their incremental saga of return by considering their ways and remembering their God.

 

The overall thrust of the Parasha is thus a glaring study in contrasts – the good and the bad, the blessing and the curse, the promise of life and the scourge of death – all of it precariously pivoting around the promise of the new land.  Israel's ineluctable destiny, to be champions of God's teachings and exemplars of His righteous ways, will be realized – either through the people's judicious exercise of their own free will and consent, or else through the intimidating imposition of the corrective forces that they themselves will unleash as a consequence of their own ruinous choices.

 

 

A HARSH AND UNFORGIVING VERSE

 

As the portentous passage reaches its horrific climax, a description of famine so severe that compassionate parents will mercilessly consume their own offspring, the Torah introduces a frightful verse that aims to address the causes:

 

If you will not be careful to observe all of the words of this Torah that are written in this book, to fear this glorious and awesome name of God your Lord, then God will strike you and your descendants with plagues unimaginable, plagues great and relentless, evil and malignant sicknesses…(28:58-59).

 

Here, the text makes it abundantly clear that Israel's hardships will not be the arbitrary outcome of bad luck or caprice, but rather a direct function of failing to observe the Torah "to fear this glorious and awesome name of God your Lord".  It is the Rambam, the unrivalled 12th century sage, who eloquently redirects this otherwise threatening passage and deflects its unbearably painful implications, so that he might extract from its core a wondrous and inspiring message of hope:

 

A person's reclining, his movements and his activities when he is alone in his own house are not like his reclining, his movements and his activities when he is in the presence of a great king.  Further, a person's speech and ease of behavior when he is among the members of his own household and relatives are not like his words in the company of the king.  Therefore, one who desires to achieve wholeness and completion as a human being, who wants to truly become a man of God, must rouse himself to realize that the greatest of kings envelops him and cleaves to him constantly, one who is more awesome that any person, though he may be even David or Shelomo.  This king who is constantly close by is the intelligence that surges upon us, for it is the link between us and Him, may He be exalted.  Just as we perceive Him by that very light that He cascades upon us as the verse says "by Your light we are enlightened" (Tehillim 36:10), so by that very light does He manifest Himself upon us.  On its account, He is with us always, observing and scrutinizing – "shall a person take cover in hiding so that I will not see him?" asks God, "behold I completely pervade the heavens and the earth!" says God (Yirmiyahu 23:24).  Understand this well. (Rambam, Guide for the Perplexed, section 3, chapter 52)

 

 

RECOGNIZING GOD'S CONSTANT PRESENCE

 

The Rambam explains that all too frequently we as human beings, when we feel at ease in the privacy of our own homes and with our own families, behave as if God, like the public at large, has also been held at bay by our bolted doors.  But a person who stands in the presence of respectable royalty or even awesome democratic authority conducts himself accordingly, and is especially careful not to offend his host or to embarrass himself by inappropriate behavior or speech.  But, says the Rambam, what we often fail to adequately internalize is that we ARE in the presence of a king, a king more awesome and powerful, more splendid and imposing than any temporal earthly monarch or head of state.  That king is our human intelligence, the necessary link between our corporeal reality and Absolute God.  For the Rambam, it is exclusively through the exercise of our intellect that we come to apprehend God and to cleave to Him, and it is by dint of that intellect that we are constantly in His presence.  Our behavior, conduct and speech should thus be moderated accordingly, if we truly desire to achieve the "completion" that represents our ideal aspirations.

 

Rambam then goes on to develop his thesis to its remarkable but logical conclusion:

 

Realize that when the ones who strive for perfection comprehend this, they achieve in reality presence of mind, humility, fear of God and true awe and modesty before Him.  How they act in utter privacy with their wives or in the bathhouse is no different than their outward behavior with the public at large!  Our most illustrious Sages engaged in marital intercourse with utter humility, never uncovering more than was necessary.   Haven't our Sages remarked that one who is truly modest relieves himself at night when in darkness just as he would do during the day when things are visible?  You must be aware of our Sages' admonishment not to walk with an arrogant upright posture, for "the whole world is full of His glory" (Yeshayahu 6:3).  All of these things were meant to internalize that fundamental idea that I have mentioned, namely that we are truly before God always and in His Presence we walk and behave…  

 

As Rambam explains, there really ought to be no substantial difference whatsoever between our private conduct and our public persona.  How much of our behavior is simply hollow posturing, saying the "right" thing, striving for the company of the "right" crowd, and engaging in the "right" activities for the benefit of onlookers?  What we claim to hold dear when we lecture to the adoring masses is often much more sublime than what we truly champion when we are in the less intimidating presence of our own selves.  But if it is the case that we are constantly before Almighty God, the most awesome and inspiring Being of all, then our behavior ought to be always as ideal and as consistent as is humanly possible.  Even those activities that we regard as absolutely and inviolately private in nature, if not also so mundane that perhaps one could be liberal about the details, ought to be done as if we perform them in the presence of an awesome king, FOR THAT IS TRULY THE CASE!  Sincere religious maturity demands of us not to perfunctorily perform prescribed rituals or else desist from proscribed activities, but to internalize the transformative truth that we are never, ever far from God's overwhelming embrace.

 

 

RAMBAM'S ALL-INCLUSIVE APPLICATION

 

The Rambam concludes his remarks with the following citation from our Parasha:

    

This purpose that I have indicated to you is the purpose of ALL of the mitzvot, for by the performance of all of those practical and detailed activities and by their repetition, are illustrious individuals made fit to achieve human perfection.  For then they are in awe of God and fearfully understand Who is with them, and then they perform what is appropriate.  The Exalted One has already explained that the objective of all of the mitzvah activities is the achievement of this inspiration…for the text says: "If you will not be careful to observe all of the words of this Torah that are written in this book, to fear this glorious and awesome name of God your Lord" (Devarim 28:58).  Ponder the fact that the Torah explained to you that the objective of ALL OF THE WORDS OF THIS TORAH are the same, TO FEAR THIS GLORIOUS AND AWESOME NAME OF GOD YOUR LORD…

 

Finally, the Rambam invokes our verse, understanding it to be emphasizing that the purpose of all of the Torah's words and commands is to inculcate the "fear of God" in our beings.  It should be understood of course (and elsewhere Rambam underscores this – see Hilchot Teshuva 10:5) that true and developed "fear of God", "yirat HaShem", is not the TERROR of punishment that one experiences before an all-powerful tyrant but rather the REVERENCE and kinship one feels when in the presence of a unique and irresistible being.  The difference between the two is decisive, for while we AVOID the tyrant at all costs and only appear before him quaking under coercion, we actively SEEK the presence of Him whom we revere, and desire to enjoy His presence always.

 

Thus, the Rambam has taken the painful sting out of our passage, in no wise diminishing its thunderous message but somehow enhancing it.  The Parasha of Rebuke, while couched in frightful terms that are not to be taken lightly, is transformed by the Rambam's remarkable thesis into a source of inspiration.  And as the month of Elul ushers in the season of Judgment and we prepare to coronate God and to embrace His sovereignty anew, the Rambam's message is particularly apt.  May we all merit to achieve the lofty ideal of living our lives in the constant presence of God.

 

Shabbat Shalom

 

Note: The Rambam's formulation was adopted (and somewhat modified) by the great 16th century Ashkenazic sage Rabbi Moshe Isserles, the Rema, as the opening to his glosses on the monumental Shulchan Arukh of Rabbi Yosef Karo.  The Shulchan Arukh, once adapted by the Rema to reflect Ashkenazic custom and practice, became the definitive code of law in the subsequent development of the Halakha.  It is not surprising that the Rema should have chosen just this passage from the Rambam, for it serves as a most appropriate introduction to the detailed code of Jewish observance.  That is to say that the goal of religious living as reflected in the Halakha is to achieve the very objective that the Rambam enunciated – to recognize that we live our lives in the presence of God and to act accordingly.     

   

 

 

 

 

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