Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: Yehuda Baruch ben Sarah, Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon".

Ki Tavo

Deuteronomy 26:1 -- 29:8

Ki Tavo, (כִּי-תָבוֹא‎—Hebrew for "when you enter," the second and third words, and the first distinctive words, in the parashah) is the 50th weekly Torah portion ( פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the Book of Deuteronomy.

This week's portion includes: Bringing to the Temple as an offering the first fruits of the Seven Species special to the Land of Israel, Declaration of tithes, the Almighty designating the Jewish people as His treasured people (Deut. 26:16 -19), the command to set up in the Jordan River and then on Mount Ebal large stones which had the Torah written upon them in 70 languages, the command to have a public ratification of the acceptance of the Law from Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

The Torah then sets forth the blessings for following the Law and the curses for not following it, and concludes with Moshe's final discourse. Verse 28:46 tells us the importance of serving the Almighty with "joy and a good heart." The last verse of the portion instructs us "You shall fulfill the words of this covenant and do them so that you will succeed in all that you do!"

"And He brought us to this place and He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Deuteronomy 26:9).

Rashi, the great commentator, explains that "this place" refers to the Bait Hamikdosh, the Temple in Jerusalem. The question arises:

Why isn't the order the other way around?

Since the Israelites entered the Land of Israel much before they built the Temple, the land should be mentioned first!

The Bait Hamikdash was a spiritual benefit and the Land of Israel was a physical benefit. When we express our gratitude to the Almighty we should do so in the order of importance of the things for which we are grateful. Therefore, we thank Him for our spiritual blessings before our material ones.

This, too, should be our order of priorities in our thinking and behavior. Our spiritual needs should be uppermost in our minds. This will have practical ramifications should there be a conflict between our spiritual and material well-being.

Life is fragile -- Handle with prayer. If you aren't happy with what you have,
you won't be happy with what you get.

Shabbat Shalom!

R. Tank

Online Learning

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Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is a Jewish Chaplain actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

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