Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8
Upon entering the land, Israel is commanded to offer first fruits and publicly affirm the covenant. Blessings for obedience and severe warnings for betrayal are articulated with dramatic intensity. The parashah underscores that living in the land carries profound moral responsibility.
In Moses and Parashat Ki Tavo by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Ki Tavo’s strangest verb—he’emarta—hints at a mutual avowal: Israel “says” God into the world by living the commandments, and God “says” Israel into being as a holy people. This essay moves beyond proofs of “existence” to ask how God becomes audible in history, from Maimonides to a Hasidic teaching about the silent Aleph of “Anochi.”
To the 5th Global Forum on Combating Anti-Semitism
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Ki Tavo by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
While we must help to combat anti-Semitism in every way possible, we should be aware that it is not a Jewish problem. Its solution will be possible only when the world makes peace with ethical Judaism. Only when Jews will be able to convince the world of the power of Jewish ethics, and will ensure that it is taught in every classroom, church and mosque is there a chance that anti-Semitism will slowly come to an end.
From the Dean’s Desk Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are a protest against death in life and a warning of the danger of spiritual numbing. Habitual behavior and lack of responsiveness are the great enemies of life.