Parashat Ki Tavo

“Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.” This famous quote by Charles Swindoll is a central theme that is interwoven into the sophomore experience at The Leffell School, but it is also very apropos for this week’s parashah. Ki Tavo contains the largest collection of curses in the Bible. These curses are so harsh that the person reading the Torah is instructed to substitute certain words with slightly softer words. The custom is for the reader to also recite the curses as quickly and as quietly as possible. In certain communities, this section of Torah is considered so rough that youth who celebrate becoming a bar or bat mitzvah on this Shabbat do not read the curses. While we can all appreciate being reminded that there are consequences for our behaviors, this parashah can easily be called the most dreaded part of the Torah.

However, Ki Tavo also contains one of the highlights of Torah — the ceremony that our ancestors were to perform when they finally arrived in the Land of Israel. Exploration of these verses becomes the largest section of the seder on Pesach. Some communities have added this section as the official Torah reading for Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. It connects us back to our ancestors and their struggles. It teaches us that perseverance can get us over the greatest of obstacles. It reminds us that with God in our lives, there’s nothing that we can’t achieve. It commands us to celebrate that which we have.

While not explicit, there’s an idea that exists between these two sections that I believe is the bridge that connects them. We are reminded that the less fortunate in our community, as well as the stranger, should both take a central role in our community. They have to be part of our celebration. And it is our responsibility to take care of them when they fall on hard times. Failure to do so in and of itself is a curse. A community that does not take care of its own is not a community worth being part of; such a community becomes a collection of people, not a group bound by values. The Rambam (Maimonides) reflects this when explaining that if one closes the doors to their home during holiday celebrations in order to keep out those in need, one’s celebratory meals do not fulfill the commandment to celebrate.

Do I look forward to Ki Tavo? Definitely not. And also, of course I do! It’s the parashah that reminds us that we are the masters of our destiny. The world can throw problems in our direction — and all too often it does. But we can turn those into opportunity. Like our ancestors, we can celebrate our achievement, but only if we’re ready to do so with those who live around us. If we celebrate by ourselves, we will ultimately fail to have things to celebrate.

Shabbat Shalom.