Monday, August 23, 2010

Ki Tavo

BIG IDEA:  The future depends on understanding and acknowledging the past.  We understand who we are as Jews today by understanding what our history was.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK:

  • What is our history as Jews?
  • How do we know that history?
  • How does that history impact the way we understand our community today?
  • How does our history affect the way in which we understand the broader community in which we live?

Near the beginning of this week's parasha there is a passage that probably sounds familiar:
ה  וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט; וַיְהִי-שָׁם, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב.5 And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God: 'A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
ו  וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים, וַיְעַנּוּנוּ; וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ, עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה.6 And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage.
ז  וַנִּצְעַק, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ; וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָה אֶת-קֹלֵנוּ, וַיַּרְא אֶת-עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת-עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת-לַחֲצֵנוּ.7 And we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression.
ח  וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְהוָה, מִמִּצְרַיִם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה, וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל--וּבְאֹתוֹת, וּבְמֹפְתִים.8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders.
Where have you seen this passage?  (If you are not sure, go to this link at JewishFreeware and read beginning on page 30)

Why do you think reciting this passage is part of this particular event?  (I'm not saying what event - you should have found the answer from the link above)

There is a new children's book, Ruth and The Green Book and a new play, by the same author, entitled The Green Book.

  • What is The Green Book?
  • What is the connection between the book and the play?
  • What is the Jewish connection?
  • What do you think a young African-American in America might learn from reading this story?
  • What do you think a young person who is not African-American might learn?
  • What connection can you make between The Green Book and the Haggadah?

BIG IDEA:  It is often a bigger challenge to behave correctly in secret than in public.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK:
  • What are some reasons to behave correctly in public, when there are other people watching and listening?
  • Are the reasons the same when you are in private?  Explain your answer.
  • Which is more of a challenge - public behavior or private?  Why?
Read the following passage:
טו  אָרוּר הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה פֶסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה, מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי חָרָשׁ--וְשָׂם בַּסָּתֶר; וְעָנוּ כָל-הָעָם וְאָמְרוּ, אָמֵן.  {ס}15 Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination before ADONAI, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say: Amen. {S}
טז  אָרוּר, מַקְלֶה אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}16 Cursed is the person who dishonours his father or his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יז  אָרוּר, מַסִּיג גְּבוּל רֵעֵהוּ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}17 Cursed is the person who moves his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יח  אָרוּר, מַשְׁגֶּה עִוֵּר בַּדָּרֶךְ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}18 Cursed is the person who misleads the blind. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יט  אָרוּר, מַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט גֵּר-יָתוֹם--וְאַלְמָנָה; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.19 Cursed is the person who perverts the justice due to the stranger, orphan, and widow. And all the people shall say: Amen.
כ  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֵשֶׁת אָבִיו--כִּי גִלָּה, כְּנַף אָבִיו; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}20 Cursed is the person who lies with his father's wife; because he has uncovered his father's skirt. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כא  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-כָּל-בְּהֵמָה; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}21 Cursed is the person who lies with any animal. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כב  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֲחֹתוֹ--בַּת-אָבִיו, אוֹ בַת-אִמּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}22 Cursed is the person who lies with his sister, either the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כג  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-חֹתַנְתּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}23 Cursed is the person who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כד  אָרוּר, מַכֵּה רֵעֵהוּ בַּסָּתֶר; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}24 Cursed is the person who hits his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כה  אָרוּר לֹקֵחַ שֹׁחַד, לְהַכּוֹת נֶפֶשׁ דָּם נָקִי; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {ס}25 Cursed is the person who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כו  אָרוּר, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָקִים אֶת-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה-הַזֹּאת--לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.  {פ}26 Cursed is the person who doesn't accept the words of this law to obey them. And all the people shall say: Amen.' {P}
According to the commentaries, all these things are things done in private.  Therefore, there are no witnesses to report the behavior.

  • Why do you think the text specifically mentions these things?
  • Are you more likely to behave publicly or privately?  Explain why.
  • You might say that what you do in private is nobody else's business.  Besides being done in private, with no witnesses, they have something else in common.  Can you figure out what it is?  If you can, you may want to leave a comment on the blog.
Samson Raphael Hirsch, an important Jewish thinker, believed that this particular passage had another, perhaps deeper meaning:
"All blessing is denied to him who outwardly plays the pious man devoted to God but in secret denies the exclusive existence of One God and His rule; who outwardly is respectful to his parents but inwardly considers himself vastly superior to them; who in the eyes of men preserves the reputation of an honest man but, where it is unobserved, does not hesitate to injure the rights of his neighbor to his own advantage; who is full of enthusiasm for the welfare of his neighbors, in the presence of clever and intelligent people, but pushes short-sighted and blind people into misfortune; who grovels before the powerful but denies the weak and helpless their rights; pretends to be a highly respectable member of society, to wallow in sexual licentiousness in intimate privacy (verses 20-23); who does not dig a dagger into his neighbor but, under the cloak of conversation, murders his happiness, his peace, and his honor; who enjoys the highest confidence in his community but misuses it in secret corruption; finally, also one who, even if he lives correctly and dutifully for himself, still looks with indifference on the abandonment of the duties of the Torah in his immediate and wider circles."  (p 1519, The Torah, A Modern Commentary, W. Gunther Plaut)

  • What is Hirsch talking about?
  • How is this important?