Ki Tavo 2025/5785

(1) When you enter the land that your God יהוה is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it,

“And it shall be when you come into the land … and you shall take of all the first fruits of the land .…” (Devarim, 26:1)
In this, that man returns the first fruits of the land to the Holy One, blessed be He, he is thereby engaging in a spiritual purification that allows himself to serve God with all his abundance. (As it says in the Shema, “you shall love Hashem your God … with all your abundance.”)

(2) you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that your God יהוה is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where your God יהוה will choose to establish the divine name.

“and you shall place it in a basket .…” (Devarim, 26:2)
B’teneh, “in a basket” is the gematria (numerical equivalent) of mah tov, “how good.” (The sum total of the letters both equal 62.)Hinted in this is “how good is something at its proper time.” The basket is said to be perforated (like a woven straw basket), to show that tocho c’varo, (see also Berachot, 27b) that its insides are like its outsides (meaning honest). This is to show that even when the intention is for the sake of Heaven, if if it appears unpleasant on the surface he will not do it, because its inner nature must be like its outside appearance. This is related to the matter of King David, when he wanted to go with Achish, king of Gat, as explained in Parshat Lech L’cha.

(3) You shall go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before your God יהוה that I have entered the land that יהוה swore to our fathers to assign us.”

“And you will go to the Cohen which will be in those days, and say to him, ‘I have told this day to God .…’ ” (Devarim, 26:3)
“Telling” or hagada in Hebrew, hints at difficult things. With this he will say difficult things before the Cohen. He hints to him that even though the Cohen works in the Holy Temple and he works in the fields, nevertheless, when this farmer reaches the Temple in Jerusalem and brings bikkurim, first-fruit offerings, then it becomes perfectly clear that any place any action that was done with Kedusha (sanctity), no matter how simple, was like the service of the Cohen.***[Ari: it feels like you were in the fields the whole time but later it'll be proven that you were in kedusha the whole time.Also there were billions of dollars needed in the Beit Hamikdash - the gold, silver, offerings, running costs - this had to come from somewhere. Like all the other bits of the body - you need all of the bits. "I'm a callous on the bottom of the foot in the dirt - I'm just a callous - it's all part of it - this is the Torah of the Moshiach"The farmer is the same as the Cohen. The guy in the market is the same as the Gadol HaDor...]M: The 'difficult things' - it's hard for me not to do all the learning - that's difficult]

(5) You*you See note at 12.7. shall then recite as follows before your God יהוה: “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation.

“And you shall answer and you shall say … ‘an Aramean sought to destroy my father …’” (Devarim, 26:5)ARAMEAN = THE MISTAKES & THAT WHICH IS HIDDEN IN THIS WORLD “Aramean” signifies the mistakes and that which is hidden in the world. This jades the mind [decreases/weakens/devalues the mind], putting him in a continual state of fear and worry. Since this is common, man’s mind is not confident and settled.[Everything is hidden from us...]This is as we find with the sons of Shmuel who erred after greed. Of this the Gemara says (Shabbat, 56a), “because they wanted to increase the salaries of their teachers and scribes.” Truly their intention was for the sake of Heaven, for basically their teachers and scribes were Tsaddikim, and they only wanted to create their livelihoods.Nonetheless it says that they erred after greed, because a man cannot guard himself from his mistakes if his intention was not God’s will. This is “my father was an Aramean about to perish.” “Father” is called thought, and by means of the mitzvah of the first fruits (where he makes this declaration) a man will merit being saved from mistakes and need only to look to God in all his actions. This is why he then immediately says (in verse 26:10), “[And now I have come with the first fruits of the land] which You have given me, Hashem” meaning that he speaks with God face to face.[Ari: we can't do an hour of hitbodedut each day because our Da'at is not Yishuv]

(5) You*you See note at 12.7. shall then recite as follows before your God יהוה: “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation.

“An Aramean sought to destroy my father …” (Devarim, 26:5)
The reason the section of the first fruits begins in this way is similar to the following passage in the Gemara (Berachot, 34a). “In the order of the prayer of the eighteen benedictions,the first three blessings are like a servant who arranges his praise before his master.In the [nine] intermediate blessings he asks for his needs.In the last three he is like one who has received a reward from his master, is dismissed, and must bow before him while leaving.” ASK GOD HOW TO USE MY WEALTHThe last three blessings are, so to speak, “returning the good.” For example, one asked God to grant him wealth. If God helped him and he profited, he must deliver everything back to God by asking God to teach him what to do with every penny, that it should not be dispensed, God forbid, in a place that is against God’s will.This is the explanation of “like one who receives a reward … he must bow.” This also has to do with the first-fruit offering. When you come into the land and you receive all the good, you must return it to God, that is, to the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, by giving the choice produce to the Cohen. In doing this you know that all is still in the hands of the Creator.Yaakov had established this whole practice, for Avraham Avinu served God in the attribute of “with all your heart,” Yitzchak Avinu with “all your soul,” and Yaakov with the attribute of “all your abundance.” This means that after receiving all the good, to return it to Him, as Yaakov said, “all that you give me I will surely tithe it to You.”

(15) Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the soil You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.”

“Look down from Your holy dwelling, from heaven .…” (Devarim, 26:15)
“Look down” uses the special term hashkifa, meaning to look into everyone and not just in general.Every time that God looks at man individually, then great fear wells up in the heart of man, for before God who may say, “my heart has been purified?”Only when God looks at mankind in general is man’s heart at ease, as it says (Kings 2, 4:13), “I sit among my people.”When God inspects man in general, then one evaluates his fellow man for the good, for each soul is clean in one aspect, as is known. Yet here, even though God looks at each man individually, it is also good.This is because when man brings trumot and maasrot (tithes), he is coming to God with strength, as it is said in the Midrash (Tanchuma Tisa 14), “there is no coming to God with strength like when one brings tithes.”

(17) You have affirmed*affirmed Exact nuance of Heb. he’emarta uncertain. this day that יהוה is your God, in whose ways you will walk, whose laws and commandments and rules you will observe, and whom you will obey.

“You have praised Hashem this day to be your God … God has praised you today .…” (Devarim, 26:17)
(First it must be noted that Rashi tells us that the word translated here as “praised,” he’emarta, appears nowhere else in the Torah for its meaning to be made clear. He first says it means “separated,” that we have separated God to be ours from all the strange gods. Then he shows its use in Tehilim 94:4, “all the workers of iniquity praise [yit’amru] themselves,” which is closer to the holy Isbitser’s rendering of its meaning as “exaltation.”) “Praised,” in Hebrew he’emarta, is a term denoting exaltation, that a man exalts and prides himself in God, “who is like Hashem our God?” “God has praised you today” means that God takes pride in Israel, as in “Israel in you I will adorn myself” (Yesahya, 49:3). He’emarta is also connected to boasting, as in “all the workers of iniquity praise [yit’amru] themselves,” meaning that they boast and say that they are acting with wisdom by sinning, and in opposition to them Israel prides themselves to be God for you” (Devarim, 26:17). This means that Israel is drawn after the knowledge of God just as He will conduct them and negate their knowledge against His. Corresponding to this God prides Himself, as it were, in Israel, as it is written, “to be His most beloved treasure,” (Devarim, 7:6), as He has said to you.

(1) Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying: Observe all the Instruction that I enjoin upon you this day.(2) *Construction of vv. 2–4 is uncertain. As soon as you have crossed the Jordan into the land that your God יהוה is giving you, you shall set up large stones. Coat them with plaster(3) and inscribe upon them all the words of this Teaching. When you cross over to enter the land that your God יהוה is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as יהוה, the God of your ancestors, promised you—(4) upon crossing the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, about which I charge you this day, on Mount Ebal, and coat them with plaster.(5) There, too, you shall build an altar to your God יהוה, an altar of stones. Do not wield an iron tool over them;(6) you must build the altar of your God יהוה of unhewn*unhewn Lit. “whole.” stones. You shall offer on it burnt offerings to your God יהוה,(7) and you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing before your God יהוה.(8) And on those stones you shall inscribe every word of this Teaching most distinctly.

“And Moshe and the elders commanded … and on the day you pass over … you shall set up great stones and plaster them … and you shall write on the stones a clear explanation .…” (Devarim, 27:1–8)
On this King David said (Tehilim, 147:18), “He sends His word and it melts them, He blows His wind and the waters flow.” When he saw that Israel was commanded to write Words of Torah with a clear explanation for the nations, he greatly feared that, God forbid, only among the nations would Israel be able to understand the Torah with a clear explanation. Thus when they arrived at the depth of the words, then he said, “He sends His word and it melts them, He blows His wind.” Thus it was in God’s will to improve Israel, as we have matters in Torah that one may uphold only if he first fails in them (Gittin, 43a). Therefore the Torah was written among the nations in order that they would see and understand that the way of the Torah is good. Nonetheless they could not overpower their inclination to evil, and from them Israel would learn that they need not fail. There they would see how the wicked are paid back, and on this he said, “He sends His word and it melts them,” meaning that when God sends Words of Torah to the nations it causes them to melt and become lost. “He blows His wind,” means that the water of life will flow to Israel.

(2) All these blessings shall come upon you and take effect, if you will but heed the word of your God יהוה:

“And all these blessings will come to you, and overtake you .…” (Devarim, 28:2)
You will not revert to your former self. It is the nature of man to change when God brings him profit, so therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him that the good in the soul of Israel will not, God forbid, be changed by anything.

(12) יהוה will open for you that bounteous store, the heavens, to provide rain for your land in season and to bless all your undertakings. You will be creditor to many nations, but debtor to none.

“… And you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.” (Devarim, 28:12)
You will not need them to come and borrow from you. It is the way of the lender that he is saddened if no one comes to borrow from him, so the Holy One, blessed be He, promises that you will not need them.

(60) bringing back upon you all the sicknesses of Egypt that you dreaded so, and they shall cling to you.

“…Every Egyptian ailment from which you shuddered…” (Devarim 28:60).
Here Moshe hinted to Israel that every Jewish souls also trembled from the plagues that came upon Egypt. Dread came upon anyone who had even a trace of deficiency that was similar to the Egyptians. Through this sin the dread was appeased (in Heaven), and Hashem put the Egyptians in their place (to receive the plagues). As written, “I placed a man (nation) instead” (Yeshayahu 43). This explains the verse, “Only with your eyes shall you gaze and see the recompense of the wicked” (Tehilim 91:8). Meaning that you will ponder and see the recompense of the wicked, and if you discover some deficiency in yourself, the dread that grips you will straighten out the crookedness of your heart.

(22) But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear*swear Lit. “lift up my hand.” to יהוה, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth:(23) I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’

“And Avram said to the king of Sodom, I raise my hands to Hashem … that I will not take from you even a thread or a shoelace ….” (Bereshit, 14:22–23)
The question is why didn’t Avraham Avinu want to benefit from the king of Sodom, even though he had benefited from Pharaoh and Avimelech? His efforts to save Lot were in the way of a birrur (clarification) as Lot possessed a good power, since Naomi the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabite were among his offspring, and the rest was evil, for Ammon and Moav were born of him. So it was necessary to clarify in himself that at the depths all his intentions were to save these two good fledglings (Baba Kama, 38b). Whenever man must undergo a birrur he is advised to stand back and remove any connection from personal benefit from his actions. After this, God will make it clear that even in the times where he had transgressed the law was also good, for, “it is a time to do for God, they have made void Your Torah” (Tehilim, 119:126).
This is hinted at in the Gemara (Ketubot, 66a), “what a wife finds goes to her husband,” for the wife hints helping man in a place where he needs to listen to her, and then it is “a time to do.” This is akin to Adam and Chava where she was given to him so he would listen to her words. There he did not sin, and that which he desired did not come from her, only from the incitement of the snake. This is the explanation of “what a wife finds goes to her husband,” meaning when a man conducts himself not according to the judgment of the Torah, but only according to “a time to do for God,” then it is forbidden for him to receive benefit. “Rabbi Akiva said, what a wife finds is her own,” meaning that he may allow himself to receive benefit then as well. Since at the time Avraham Avinu went to rescue Lot the depth of the intention of the action was hidden from him, therefore he did not want to receive benefit.
This is the same as the matter with King David and Achish king of Gat (Shmuel 1, Ch. 30; see this whole chapter for a clearer understanding), where he did not want to benefit from the war spoils, for this was also against the judgment of the Torah. Even though he did not share their intentions, still he refused to benefit from the war spoils for his intentions were for the sake of Heaven. This is as it is said (Mishlei, 1:15), “do not go in the way with them,” meaning that even though you do not go with them, yet still, act in a way that prevents them from even thinking that you are going with them. Therefore Amalek came to him at this time, for Amalek hates Israel at the depths, and one who hates another at the depths can immediately feel when the other is lacking something, as explained in Parshat Bereshit (see p. 16, “said the snake”).
Therefore David haMelech sent away the war spoils and did not want to benefit from it. Then when they won the war against the Amalekites, it says (Shmuel 1, 30:19), “and there was nothing lacking in them, neither great nor small … David returned everything,” for such a case requires a great measure of help Heaven and careful guarding. Thus it says “there was nothing lacking,” for here were the salvations of God, and the Amalekites could not bring accusations against them, for whenever Israel makes mistakes, Amalek is there to bring accusations.
This is as it is written (Bamidbar, 21:1), “and the Canaanite heard that Israel came derech ha’atarim, by way of the spies.” “derech ha’atarim” means by way of error, for at that time the children of Israel were not yet commanded to go to the land of Israel, but regardless they went by way of the spies, like one gets lost and then eventually goes to a place where God has not permitted him to go. Therefore Amalek immediately appeared to them, for “the Canaanite” mentioned is Amalek, as Rashi explains. But truly Israel’s heart was directed to Heaven, therefore when they won them in battle Israel vowed that their cities would be banned. In other words, they did not want to receive any benefit from this instance as it happened against the judgment of the Torah, and was decreed as “a time to do for God.”