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Ki Tavo begins with instruction that combines expressions of our people’s most sacred and enduring connections. In a ritual that the Sfat Emet places in a time frame immediately prior to Rosh Hashannah, our ancestors brought offerings of first fruits from the waning year’s final harvest. This offering was accompanied by significant declarations of shared faith, destiny and responsibility.

 

The first declaration is found in Deuteronomy 26:3. As the offering is presented, the following was to be said: “I acknowledge this day before the Eternal your God that I have entered the land that the Eternal swore to our fathers to assign us.” The second declaration, made upon the acceptance of the offering by the Kohen, is a capsule version of the Jewish historical experience up to the moment. Starting at Deuteronomy 26:5, and beginning with the words, “My father was a wandering Aramean,” six verses trace the historical and spiritual journey of our people from Abraham’s departure from Ur to entry into the land of Israel. The third and final declaration combines actions with words. A portion of the bounty of the season was to be set aside and shared generously with “the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that they might eat their fill in your settlements” (Deuteronomy 26:12). This generosity is confirmed with a declaration (Deuteronomy 26:13) that places it in the context of a sacred responsibility.

 

As Rosh Hashannah 5767 approaches, we might consider how important it is for us to make similar declarations that affirm our own recognition of the sacred bonds of faith, of history and of community, which define us as Jews. This is particularly important in light of the difficult circumstances that we have endured in the last months of this waning Jewish year of 5766. Terror and war, the destruction of homes and human lives, the extraordinary sacrifices of Israelis on behalf the entire Jewish people call on Jews everywhere to declare yet again, at this pre-Rosh Hashannah season, that no matter where we live, each Jew is entered into a lasting relationship with the land, the people and the State of Israel. The challenges of the past year make it all the more important that we acknowledge our personal stake in the sacred drama that is Jewish history—a saga that continues to unfold in our own day and in which each of us must play a part. Finally, the persistent needs of our people, in Israel and around the world, remind us that we are no less responsible for the vulnerable and the lonely among us today than were our ancestors who faithfully observed the instructions with which Parshat Ki Tavo begins.

 

In these weeks leading up to Rosh Hashannah, it is how we conclude the current year and meet the challenges that it has brought our people that will help determine what the future will bring. May it be a future that brings the fulfillment of the prayer offered by our ancestors when they had met their responsibilities at this season so many generations ago, “Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the soil You have given us, a land flowing with mild and honey, as you swore to our forbearers” (Deuteronomy 26:15). May we meet the timeless obligations of this season so that ancient prayers may be fulfilled in our day.

Rabbi Jack A. Luxemburg is Rabbi of Temple Beth Ami in Rockville, Maryland. He is also a member of the UJC Rabbinic Cabinet Executive Committee.

UJC Rabbinic Cabinet Chair: Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg
Vice Chairs: Rabbi Jonathan Schnitzer, Rabbi Steven Foster
President: Bennett F. Miller, D.Min.
Honorary Chair: Rabbi Matthew Simon
Vice President, Jewish Renaissance and Renewal: Dr. Eric Levine
Mekor Chaim Editor & Coordinator: Avi S. Olitzky
Senior Consultant, Rabbinic Cabinet: Rabbi Gerald Weider