Shalom JTF Reader,
It is Wednesday once again and time I start my video study thread. I cannot believe we are only 2 weeks away from Rosh Hashanah and the 13th anniversary of 9/11 is tomorrow. Time is moving fast and things are getting tight.
The Torah portion first deals with the commandment of the 'first fruit' and moves into more serious topics such as tithing the Levites... Then come the second set of Curses against the Jewish people should we stray from the Torah... These curses have mostly come to pass, but they still are chilling to read.
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2504/jewish/Ki-Tavo-in-a-Nutshell.htmMoses instructs the people of Israel: When you enter the land that G‑d is giving to you as your eternal heritage, and you settle it and cultivate it, bring the first-ripened fruits (bikkurim) of your orchard to the Holy Temple, and declare your gratitude for all that G‑d has done for you.
Our Parshah also includes the laws of the 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 the Parshah of Re’eh. Moses reminds the people that they are G‑d’s chosen people, and that they, in turn, have chosen G‑d.
The latter part of Ki Tavo consists of the Tochachah (“Rebuke”). After listing the blessings with which G‑d will reward the people when they follow the laws of the Torah, Moses gives a long, harsh account of the bad things—illness, famine, poverty and exile—that shall befall them if they abandon G‑d’s commandments.
Moses concludes by telling the people 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.”
As is my custom I will start the videos with the latest upload from Rabbi Richman of the Temple Institute...