D’var Torah: Ki Tavo 2025/5785 כי תבוא

Rabbi Ravid Tilles, Director of Jewish Life and Learning, Schechter Parent

“How is the year going so far?” Many people have asked me this over the past four days and I have asked as well. This year, so far, has felt different from my previous eight years at the school because…it feels familiar. We have done so much work over the past number of years to establish routines, traditions, shared norms and expectations and while every year provides new opportunities for growth, this year feels like an affirmation of our continued shared commitments.

The beginning of Parshat Ki Tavo is all about affirmation and re-affirmation of our connection with God and the Holy Land of Israel. In Ki Tavo, we are taught about the annual ritual of bringing the first fruits to the Kohen and reciting the ritual that famously begins “Arami Oved Avi.” The most traditional understanding of the word “avi”, ancestor, is that it is a reference to Yakov Avinu and his challenges with his uncle Lavan. The narrative recitation continues by describing our slavery in Egypt and our eventual liberation. This annual tradition likely would change its poignancy as the generations got further and further away from Yakov and Yitziyat Mitzrayim (the exodus) but the Torah saw a value in a verbal reaffirmation of the eternal connection between God and the Jewish people. 

After this ritual is finished, two p’sukim (verses) jumped out to me this year: 

אֶת־יְהֹוָ֥ה הֶאֱמַ֖רְתָּ הַיּ֑וֹם לִהְיוֹת֩ לְךָ֨ לֵֽאלֹהִ֜ים וְלָלֶ֣כֶת בִּדְרָכָ֗יו וְלִשְׁמֹ֨ר חֻקָּ֧יו וּמִצְוֺתָ֛יו וּמִשְׁפָּטָ֖יו וְלִשְׁמֹ֥עַ בְּקֹלֽוֹ׃

וַֽיהֹוָ֞ה הֶאֱמִֽירְךָ֣ הַיּ֗וֹם לִהְי֥וֹת לוֹ֙ לְעַ֣ם סְגֻלָּ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּר־לָ֑ךְ וְלִשְׁמֹ֖ר כׇּל־מִצְוֺתָֽיו׃

You have affirmed 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. And יהוה has affirmed this day that you are, as promised, God’s treasured people who shall observe all the divine commandments, Deuteronomy 26:17-18

The poetry in the Hebrew stood out as the first verse uses the word הֶאֱמַ֖רְתָּ and then the second verse uses the word הֶאֱמִֽירְךָ֣. This is an uncommon word with a common root. The root is the אמר which means “say” but the conjugation of the word is unusual and, as you see in the translation, means “affirm.” And the unusual word being used twice in consecutive p’sukim is meant to draw our eye to the underlying message: When we reaffirm our relationship with God, God will reaffirm God’s relationship with us. 

Every year at school we embark on a very holy project of preparing our students in multiple academic disciplines, inspiring them to be active members of the Jewish community and modeling what it looks like to be in a community where everyone belongs. The start of the year is all about affirming our commitment to this project. We, the adults, convey our seriousness about this project to our students and they, in turn, reaffirm it for us. This annual ritual of “the first six weeks of school” or, in my case right now, the first week of school, sets the foundation for the rest of the year. 

We wish you and your family a very successful start to the year - one that will reaffirm our shared commitment to the wonderful project that is Schechter Boston 5786. Shanah Tovah!