Man’s Search for Meaning
Parshas Ki Savo
Posted
on September 16, 2024 (5784) By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha | Level: Beginner
This week’s portion discusses the entry into the land of
Israel and the responsibilities that are intrinsically tied with its
inheritance. There are countless blessings mentioned that follow a Torah
lifestyle and unfortunately myriad curses when those values are abandoned.
But after the litany of blessing and curses, Moshe tells the nation, “you have seen
everything that Hashem did before your eyes in the land of Egypt
to Pharaoh and all his servants and to all the land. Your eyes beheld the great
signs and wonders, but Hashem did not give you a
heart to comprehend, eyes to see, or ears to hear until this day” (Deuteronomy
29:2-3). Moshe was obviously referring to the day that
the Jews received a Torah comprehension of events. But it defies logic. After
all, what does one need to understand about wonders? Water turning to blood,
supernatural invasions of wild animals, locusts, and fire-filled hail need no
rocket scientist to fathom G-d’s power. Surely the splitting of the sea is as
amazing an event that will marvel one’s eyes and stir the senses of any people.
What then does Moshe mean
when he tells the nation that Hashem “did
not give you a heart to comprehend, eyes to see, or ears to hear until this
day” ?
Rav Noach Weinberg, dean of Aish HaTorah Institutions, tells
the story of the young man who came to him in search of spiritual meaning.
The young man entered the portals of Yeshiva Aish HaTorah
for a few days and then decided to leave the yeshiva in his quest for spiritual
meaning across the Land of Israel. The student stopped at synagogues in Meah
Shearim, visited the holy sites in Tiberias and Tzefat, and after two weeks of
spiritual-hunting returned to Jerusalem and headed straight back to the
Yeshiva.
“Rabbi Weinberg,” he exclaimed. “I spent two weeks in
travelling the length and breadth of Israel in search of spirituality, and I
want you to know that I found absolutely nothing!”
Rabbi Weinberg just nodded. “You say you traveled the
entire country and did not find any spirituality?”
“Yes sir,” came the resounding reply. “None whatsoever!”
“Let me ask you,” continued the Rabbi, “how did you find
the Bafoofsticks?”
“Bafoofsticks?” countered the student. What’s a
Bafoofstick?”
“That’s not the point,” responded the rabbi, “I just want
to know how you feel about them.”
“About what?
“The Bafoofsticks”
The young man looked at the rabbi as if he had lost his
mind. He tried to be as respectful as he could under the circumstances.
“Rabbi!” he exclaimed in frustration, “I’d love to tell you how the
Bafoofsticks were. I’d even spend the whole day discussing Bafoofsticks with
you, but frankly I have no idea what in the world is a Bafoofstick!” Rabbi
Weinberg smiled. He had accomplished his objective. “Tell me,” he said softly.
“And you know what spirituality is?”
Moshe explains to the nation that it is possible to be mired in
miracles and still not comprehend the greatness that surrounds you. One can
experience miraculous revelations but unless he focuses his heart and mind he
will continue to lead his life uninspired as before.
In fact, even blessings need to be realized. In offering
blessing the Torah tells us, “the blessings will be upon you and they will
reach you” (Deuteronomy 28:2). If blessings are upon us of course they reach
you! Why the redundancy? Once again, the Torah teaches us that it is possible
to be surrounded by blessing and not realize it. There are people who are
surrounded by health, wealth, and great fortune, but their lives are permeated
in misery. They have the blessing, but it has not reached them.
We need more than physical or even spiritual blessing. We
need more than experiencing miraculous events. It is not enough to see miracles
or receive the best of fortune. We must bring them into our lives and into our
souls. Then we will be truly blessed.
Good Shabbos © 1999
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky
Thank You to Mr. Daniel Retter and family for your words of support and
encouragement.
Good Shabbos
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky
Parshas Ki Savo
Posted
on August 24, 2026 (5786) By Rabbi Yochanan Zweig | Series: Rabbi Zweig on the Parsha | Level: Intermediate Beginner
“Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with
happiness and goodness of heart, when you had everything in abundance”(28:47)
The Torah attributes all of the horrific curses which will
befall Bnei Yisroel to not serving Hashem with
happiness. The complaint is not that we will not serve Hashem, rather,
although we will serve Him, the stress is upon the fact that it will not be
done with happiness.
Citing the Zohar, the Ramban teaches that the admonition in
this week’s parsha refers to the period of the second Beis Hamikdash through its destruction and the
subsequent exile.1
The Talmud states that the
second Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of “sinas
chinam” – “baseless hatred”.2 This
would appear to contradict the reason offered by the Torah, that the
destruction was precipitated by Bnei Yisroel’s not serving Hashem with happiness. How do we reconcile this
contradiction?
The Torah attests to the fact that we were unhappy, even
though we had everything. This is mirrored by the contemporary phenomena which
finds a high percentage of depressed and disenchanted people to be those who
enjoy success and high social standing. Why do people who
apparently have everything that life has to offer, still exhibit a lack of
happiness?
A person can only be truly happy if he appreciates what Hashem has given him. However, if a person is
egocentric, considering himself deserved of all that he has, he will not be
content by that which is already his; rather, he will be focused on those
things which are not yet his, but to which he feels entitled. If a person goes
through life with the attitude that everyone owes him, he will constantly be
miserable, never satisfied with what he has. Furthermore, since he feels he is
entitled to everything that he desires, a person who has something he desires
becomes an immediate threat to him. He begins loathing that person for no
reason other than the perception he maintains that that person is withholding
from him an object which should rightfully be his. It is this type of loathing
that the Talmud defines as baseless hatred.
Consequently, baseless hatred can be traced back at its
inception to our lack of appreciation for what Hashem has
done and continues to do for us. Therefore, sinas chinam is not a different
reason than the reason offered by the Torah as to what precipitated the
destruction of the Temple; it is a manifestation of being unhappy when serving Hashem.
1.28:42 2.Yoma 9b
Gratitude, Jewish Style
Parshas Ki Savo
Posted
on August 30, 2023 (5783) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner
The gnawing cold of the winter has faded from the farmer’s
memory. He watches the warm spring sun awaken the slumbering fields. He watches
the young shoots sprout and bloom and the tiny buds ripen into fruit bursting
with the juices of life. And his own heart also fills to bursting with the
joyous surge of new vitality, the aura of irrepressible hope and promise, the
sense of being blessed with gifts from the secret treasure houses of the earth.
At this transcendent time of the year, the Torah instructs him to share his
innermost feelings with his Creator through the performance of the mitzvah of bikurim. He is to take the first
fruits of the land, bring them to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and declare his
joyous gratitude to the Master of the Universe, the Source of all goodness in
the world.
This joyous declaration of gratitude, however, begins in a
very puzzling way. It recalls the litany of tragedy and misfortune that
characterizes Jewish history. It recalls the duplicitous Lavan’s attempt to
destroy our forefather Jacob and the descent of Jacob and his family to Egypt.
It recalls the enslavement of the fledgling Jewish nation by the cruel
Egyptians and the suffering inflicted upon them until they cried out in anguish
to G-d. It recalls that G-d heard the voices of the
oppressed Jewish people, and with a great display of wonders and miracles, He
liberated them from their Egyptian bondage and brought them to a land of milk
and honey. What is the connection of all these memories to the simple act of
thanking G-d for the first fruits of the harvest?
The answer to this question reveals one of the central
elements in the character of the Jewish people. The Jewish farmer who has been
blessed with a new harvest does not see himself as an independent individual
living in the enclosed world of his own life experiences. He sees himself in
the broader historical context of the Jewish people and their developing
relationship with G-d. In his mind, the harvest in a small field
in a remote corner of the Galilee is directly connected with cosmic events that
took place hundred or even thousands of years earlier. He sees himself as part
of that continuum and the blessing he has been granted as an extension of the
kindness G-d has shown the Jewish people in taking them
from slavery to freedom, from misery to joy. Therefore, his expressions of
gratitude must also extend to events that happened in distant times and distant
places, because in reality, they all part of one continuous pattern of divine
benevolence to the Jewish people.
There is also a powerful symbolism in the parallel drawn
between Jewish history and the annual harvest. As we celebrate the passing of
the cold and dark winter and the rejuvenation of the land, we are bidden to
view our history from a similar perspective. We are shown that the cold, dark
winters of our people’s past also led to a springtime of rejuvenation and
growth, and we must strengthen our faith in G-d and
believe that our present suffering is not without purpose and not without end.
Finally, the recollection of the tragedies of our past
gives added depth and meaning to our expressions of gratitude.
Let us for a moment imagine two young men who purchase cars
at the same time. One of these young men is from a poor family. He had to
struggle to make a career for himself, and he worked hard for everything he was
able to accomplish. Now, after saving and scrimping, he finally has accumulated
enough money to buy a brand-new car. The other young man is a pampered child of
rich parents. His father handed him his American Express card on the way to
lunch and told him to go get himself a car. Which of these young men will
derive greater pleasure from his new car? The answer is obvious.
Here, too, stands the Jewish farmer. He recalls the
hardships and the struggles of his ancestors that brought him to this cherished
plot of land in Israel, and therefore, each fruit that he plucks from the
ground is immeasurably sweeter because of the memories. In this frame of
mind, his expressions of gratitude to G-d go far
beyond the fruits in his basket. They encompass all the unending benevolence
and providence that are manifest in this incredibly precious little bundle of
fruit.
Text Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.
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