Welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. A reminder that in September we'll be gathering for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) services will take place at 7PM on Friday the 15th of September and also at 10AM on Shabbat the 16th of September. Then on Yom Kippur we will gather for Kol Nidre at 7PM on Sunday, September 24 and then again on Monday the 25th at 10AM. A break and then back for concluding services at 6:00PM with Break-Fast at nightfall. Hope to see you in Shul.
Parsha Ki Tavo
This week we read Ki Tavo (Deut. 26:1 - 29:8) and is Hebrew for "when you come". "It will be, when you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d gives you as an inheritance, and you posses it and dwell in it..."
The Torah is now giving details to what was mentioned in Exodus 23:19 and speaks to what the Jews must do to honor G-d and the land. This has to do with the "first fruits". In other words, a way to remember the gift of Israel and support the Kohen whose only job was to oversee the rituals of the tabernacle and then the temple. Also it is in Exodus 23:19 where we get the prohibition of mixing milk and meat. Go ahead and check it out...
Running From Blessings?
There is another interesting passage to share with you. You will find it in Deut. 28:2: "All of these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you harken to the voice of G-d." So what is going on here? Are we actually running away from blessings?
The great Rabbi Twerski reminds us that the Baal Shem Tov's grandson says that G-d's blessings sometimes come in a form that we see as distressful, and inasmuch as we do not know their true character, we may flee from them. The Torah assures us that the good that G-d intends for us will come upon us even if we try to avoid it.
This is also the meaning of the verse: “May goodness and loving-kindness pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalms 23:6). We pray that if, in our limited understanding, we try to avoid a concealed kindness, that it pursue and overtake us.
A Story
Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev saw a person running in the marketplace. “Where are you running to?” he asked. The man answered, “I'm running for my parnassah (livelihood).” Rabbi Levi Yitzchok said, “How do you know your livelihood is in front of you? Perhaps it is behind you and you are running away from it.”
The Lesson
Infants cry franticly when the pediatrician administers a painful injection to immunize them against dreaded disease, and they cannot possibly understand why the mother who loves and cares for them collaborates with the doctor to hurt them. The gap between our wisdom and the infinite wisdom of G-d is much greater than even that between an infant and its mother. Whereas the infant cannot be expected to accept its mother's actions as being for its welfare, we should be wise enough to know that everything that G-d does for us has an ultimate good, even if we see it as not being so.
Thank you for reading and Shabbat Shalom!
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