Parsha Ki Tavo is a parsha of declarations. It opens with the instructions
for bringing the offering of the first fruits and includes the famous (a large
part of the text of the Haggadah) declaration made at that time:
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. The
Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon
us. We cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our plea
and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. The Lord freed us from
Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs
and portents. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing
with milk and honey. Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which
You, O Lord, have given me (Deuteronomy 26:5-10).
The second section of the parsha is the instructions for a far less well-known
declaration, one to be made by a farmer after he has completed all of the
required tithes - a process that covers a three year period. After all of
the tithes have been distributed, you shall declare before the Lord your God:
I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house; and I have given
it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, just as You
commanded me; I have neither transgressed nor neglected any of Your
commandments: I have not eaten of it while in mourning, I have not cleared out
any of it while I was unclean, and I have not deposited any of it with the
dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done just as You commanded me. 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 (26:13-15).
I found this particular declaration requirement to be fascinating. A religious
farmer will make certain that all the tithes are covered, so why must there be
a spoken declaration. Not only that, the declaration is strangely detailed,
referring to the different types of tithes and affirming that it was all done
properly. To me, this declaration rang of what the modern era likes to refer to
as “mindfulness,” and it is a way of being that is absolutely necessary for the
best fulfilment of Jewish law.
After a decade or two of farming, one could easily imagine a farmer falling
into a more blasé routine with providing the tithes, far less meticulous than
in his first years of fulfilling the mitzvah. Here the Torah provides something
better than a checklist. A checklist can be run over in one’s head, “did it,
did it, yup, and that...” leaving an easy opportunity for a detail to be missed
or a leniency to be forgiven. But the declaration must be stated out loud.
Stating something out loud is like passing something through a lie detector
test. As one reads through the statement, a soft second voice within affirms
whether each part of the task was truly completed.
In these last weeks of the old year, as we approach Rosh Hashana, the inclusion
of this requirement to speak past deeds out loud as an affirmation of the
proper completion seems particularly pertinent. The declaration at the end of
the tithing period is a great lesson in the importance of the act of making a cheshbon
hanefesh - an accounting of the soul. Imagine the great strides we might
make if we took such an accounting of our “everyday mitzvot!”
Much as I may need it, I am not going to announce a commitment to a daily cheshbon
hanefesh. (Cause that might not be very honest of me!) However, just being
aware of this passage in the parsha reinforces for me how beautifully Hashem
prepared to help each of us on our journey of spiritual growth.
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