Tag: Ki Tavo
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The Commandment of Joy
There is a kind of seriousness we sometimes mistake for holiness. We approach our religious lives, especially as the High Holy Days draw near, with a sense of profound obligation, of weighty duty. There is a time for solemnity, of course. Yet, our tradition is wary of a service that becomes so heavy it crushes…
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Ki Tavo: The First Fruits of Our Lives
A couple of years ago, a friend of ours planted a small garden on her balcony. It was nothing fancy—just a few herbs, a tomato plant, and some strawberries. But when that first tomato ripened, it was like magic. She held it up to the sun, marvelling at its bright red skin, and the weight…
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Parashat Ki Tavo: Past, present and future
In Ki Tavo the Israelites are commanded to bring their first fruits as an offering: “When you come into the land that the Eternal your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the…
