Ki Tavo Commentary

A word and its opposite may be one and the same.

Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

Through rituals, blessings, and warnings the Children of Israel strengthen their connections to history, land, and God.

Moses instructs the Israelites regarding the first fruit offering; Moses then lists the blessings for keeping the commandments and the punishments for disobeying them.

By viewing the troubles and joys of our lives as part of a continuum we can uncover blessings even in the most challenging curses.

The activities for which people are cursed by God directly are those committed in secret.

The two extended warnings for breaking the covenant reflect the changing relationship between the people of Israel and God.

Our religious and spiritual experiences of serving God should be joyful and uplifting.

The ritual of the first fruits provides an example of the tension surrounding forgetting and remembering crises and miracles in our history.

Law is essential to Judaism, establishing an external set of moral guidelines.