 |  | Parshat Ki Tavo beautifully illustrates how Jewish ritual and Jewish values will work hand in hand once Eretz Yisrael has been settled. The best example of how religious and social obligations function as a cooperative unit is found in the laws of Ma’aser (tithing). The farmer, who has faithfully worked to see the fruits of his or her labor come into being, must first render a tenth of the produce unto the Kohen, the Levi and the poor before he or she can enjoy its bounty. The Torah tells us that the farmer must make confession or Vidui, over the produce, declaring, “I have acted according to everything You have commanded me” (Devarim 26:14). However, the Hebrew word for “everything,” is written, “k’chol,” which literally means, “like everything.” Thus, the verse, should read, “I have acted according to like everything You have commanded me.” Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik notes that this means the farmer did almost everything God has commanded. Thus, it seems that the farmer’s confession is more an admission of error than a proclamation of piety. Yet, right after the farmer makes this “admission,” he or she states the following: “Gaze down from Your holy abode from the heavens and bless Your people Israel, and the ground that You gave us, as You swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Devarim 26:15). If the farmer acknowledges the fact that he or she was not perfect in fulfilling God’s commandment, why ask God to examine the people and then bless them?
To help answer this question, we should turn to the words of the Izbitcher Rebbe, who, in his work, the Mei HaShiloach, writes that when God gazes down on us, when God observes us, He looks into our souls deeply, “peering into each person individually and not upon the community as a whole. For wherever God is observing the individual as a person alone, that person’s heart is filled with tremendous fear. For who can face God and assert, ‘I have purified my heart?’” However, the Izbitcher notes, “It’s only when God examines us as a whole community that we can be at ease…For when God is watching the community as a whole, one person covers for the faults of another, one proves the other can be justified, for each makes his or her neighbor better, because every soul is as a pristine single element.” Therefore, the farmer is not asking God to look at his or her faults, shortcomings or errors. Rather, the farmer is asking God to look at the Jewish community as a whole and see how each member strengthens the other in order to create a society of justice, compassion and righteousness. Although the farmer tried to do “everything” that God commanded, he or she was aware that an error might have occurred in the process. Therefore, the farmer asks God to look at the collective efforts of the community with favor, and bless them all, as a pristine, “single element,” whose combined contributions glorify His Name.
This Shabbat, may we all feel the strength and love of our community making each and every one of us better. In this spirit, may we ask God to look down upon us from His “holy abode” and bless us for our collective efforts in making our community the best it can be.
Shabbat Shalom!
- Rabbi Dan
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