The Torah reading this week, Ki Tavo/“When you enter,” continues to lay out laws to be fulfilled when the Israelites enter the land toward which they have headed for forty years. It is hard to imagine a journey of this length, with its births and deaths, the multiple milestones in every life. And maybe just as hard to imagine living in an extended familial community that, despite disagreements, functions and moves from place to place together.
When they enter the land, they are to perform a ritual, using the dramatic backdrop of the two mountains surrounding the valley where they assemble, and enumerating the curses and blessings that are promised depending on the fulfillment of the mitzvot or the failure to fulfill them. There are several sections of laws, curses and blessings, some that apply to individuals based on particular actions, and others that are clearly addressed to the community and are based on an overall communal adherence (or lack thereof) to the full covenant of laws. To experience the powerful, public cataloging of these curses and blessings must have shaken the community of Israelites, as it was meant to do. For many readers, the text leaves us wondering about the power of threats and promises, and what are the most effective ways for authority to inspire respect.
With the New Year almost here, we will soon connect with similarly dramatic questions and metaphors in our High Holy Day liturgy. In this context, we will celebrate and also reflect on mistakes and challenges. We will wonder about big questions of life and death, and we will try to find the most effective ways to hold ourselves accountable. I look forward to celebrating and engaging these very real questions in community with all of you.
Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8) Torah Reading for Shabbat, September 13, 2025: Covenant of Community
September 10, 2025 by Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller • D'var Torah, Uncategorized
The Torah reading this week, Ki Tavo/“When you enter,” continues to lay out laws to be fulfilled when the Israelites enter the land toward which they have headed for forty years. It is hard to imagine a journey of this length, with its births and deaths, the multiple milestones in every life. And maybe just as hard to imagine living in an extended familial community that, despite disagreements, functions and moves from place to place together.
When they enter the land, they are to perform a ritual, using the dramatic backdrop of the two mountains surrounding the valley where they assemble, and enumerating the curses and blessings that are promised depending on the fulfillment of the mitzvot or the failure to fulfill them. There are several sections of laws, curses and blessings, some that apply to individuals based on particular actions, and others that are clearly addressed to the community and are based on an overall communal adherence (or lack thereof) to the full covenant of laws. To experience the powerful, public cataloging of these curses and blessings must have shaken the community of Israelites, as it was meant to do. For many readers, the text leaves us wondering about the power of threats and promises, and what are the most effective ways for authority to inspire respect.
With the New Year almost here, we will soon connect with similarly dramatic questions and metaphors in our High Holy Day liturgy. In this context, we will celebrate and also reflect on mistakes and challenges. We will wonder about big questions of life and death, and we will try to find the most effective ways to hold ourselves accountable. I look forward to celebrating and engaging these very real questions in community with all of you.