Parsha Ki Tavo

Parsha Ki Tavo - Today’s the Day

By Dan Cohen

So many times, as my in-laws carved the chicken for dinner, their dogs sat next to the counter. Looking up at the cutting board, our family imagined the dogs saying, “Today’s the day,” hoping the chicken would magically fall to the ground. The possibility was in the air. They never lost hope.

A sense of possibility was also present in the Jewish nation in this Parsha. They’d been wandering for 40 years. They were encamped adjacent to the Jordan River, ready to cross. It’s easy to imagine them thinking, “Today’s the day,” we cross into Israel.

By this time, Moshe has offered his wisdom and his reflection of Gd's word. He described to the people what would happen when they crossed the Jordan. He explained that among our first tasks, we would gather upon two mountains while the Kohanim read us rebukes in the valley below. We would also collect huge stones from the Jordan River, cover them with lime, and write the Torah upon them.

Here are two distinct ideas about this moment in the Parsha that can help identify our personal and national purposes.

In Chapter 27, Verse 8, we read, “And you shall write upon the stones all the words of this teaching so they will be adequately understood.”

Rav Hirsch teaches that there is something universal in Moshe's command. In the Gemara in Sotah 32a, Hirsch identifies that the goal of writing and sharing the word of Hashem on the rocks was to expound on the Torah so all other nations would understand. 

He continues that our job as a nation has always been to help bring about ALL humanity's spiritual and moral salvation.  Now that the Torah has entered the land, that process began in earnest (and continues today).

Rashi adds that in the Gemara in Sotah 32, we learn that the Torah was written in the world’s 70 languages on the stones. That’s a lot of stones and a lot of languages. Ibn Ezra teaches that it was clear and legible to all. A miracle.

Hirsch also looks to Sotah 35b, which explains the expulsion of the Canaanite nation from the land. As if to preempt any territorial criticisms, Gd is making it clear that they need to go. However, Hirsch adds that there would be no reason to expel them if they pivoted to universal human laws like a singular Gd.

Perhaps what Gd is telling us is that while we may be the people of the Torah, our first actual step as a nation into our land is to commit to be a light unto all other nations.

The second big idea follows one verse later.  We read in Chapter 27, Verse 9, Moshe says, “…Pay attention and hear, O Israel: On this day you have become a nation to Gd, your Gd.”

Hirsch identifies a few key ideas. Upon our entry into the land, he says we formally adopted the mitzvot and served as keepers of the Torah.

But he points out that it’s not the entry and possession of the land that is paramount; instead, it’s our fidelity to the Torah.  Saying “on this day” illuminates a shared responsibility to the Torah and is a lifetime assignment for all of us - one day and then the next. 

This service to Hashem is the task that makes us a nation. Hirsch adds that the Torah remains our inalienable bond with Hashem wherever we are. This is the secret to our immortality as a people.

Taking these two ideas together, what can we draw? First, as a nation, we are called to show the world the light of Hashem. Second, the Torah, not the land, bonds us to Hashem.

The Stone Chumash says it plainly. When they entered the land, Moses wanted people to know that their past success and hope for the future depended on their loyalty to the Torah.  Inscribing the Torah on stones in many languages was a miracle and would spead our light. Accepting and living according to the Torah and mitzvot bound us to Him. The Alshich says these were to show us that obedience to the Torah was the only thing to preserve us in our new land.

We all know that chicken falling from the counter isn’t a miracle. But we also know the old adage that goes, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Miracles were ever present during our 40 years in the desert and were set to continue in the land. All it took was for us to bind ourselves daily as individuals and as a nation to Hashem. 

I think that’s what Hashem wants from us. We live this miracle in real time today by living here in Israel and by our choices to cling Hashem. Now we need to continue to serve as a light to the world.

B'nei Menashe Suffers First Fatality in the War Against Hamas

Gary Gideon Hanghal's resting place at Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem.

(September 20, 2024) Staff Sergeant Gary Gideon Hanghal, 24, a soldier from Nof Hagalil, serving in the Kfir Brigade's Nachshon Battalion of the IDF became the first fatality from the B'nei Menashe community in the nearly one year long war that began on the 7th October when Hamas breached the border on Israel's south killing 1,200 and kidnapped over 200, including women, children and the infirmed. Hanghal was killed instantly when a fuel laden truck driven by a rogue driver rammed his outpost at Asaf Junction near Beit El. 58-year old assailant Hayil Dhaifallah was shot by the IDF troops but survived and is being treated at a hospital in Jerusalem. Lhanghal and his family made Aliya in 2020, pass the conscription age but insisted on enlisting in the IDF to serve his country, his mother recalls tearfully. "He was a sweet child, obedient hardly caused any trouble or mischief", she continued. He was the youngest of four siblings consisting of a brother and two other sisters. They are from the township of Lamka, in the erstwhile state of Manipur. Lamka has the largest B'nei

Menashe population in India. It may be recalled that the state had seen widespread conflict when the state supported and carried out an ethnic cleansing pogrom against the KukiZo tribes to which the B'nei Menashe belong. It has almost been a year and half but violence, the state of war between the KukiZo and the majority Meiteis sees no sign of abatement.

Hanghal was given a full military burial at Mt Herzl, Jerusalem, last Thursday, 12th September. 2024. The funeral was attended by over a thousand people that included B'nei Menashe from all over Israel, fellow soldiers and some officials. In addition he was given a gun salute, an honor worthy of a hero of Israel. Degel Menashe's project director, Yitzhak Thangjom and his wife attended the funeral along with friends and well-wishers to place a wreath on behalf of the Indian Jewish community and the Indian Jewish Heritage Center (IJHC). Degel Menashe's chairman, Hillel Halkin and Rafi Bhonkar, president of the IJHC, visited the family during the traditional mourning period, shiv'a, to offer their condolences.  

The moment of impact.

Hanghal is one of the 300-odd B'nei Menashe soldiers serving in the IDF, consisting of regular conscripted soldiers as well as reservists. Most of whom serve in combat units often with distinction. He was the fourth casualty the community had suffered. (Our newsletter had reported about the other three who were injured earlier. Interested readers may view articles published on October 19th & 26th, 2023, December 20th, 2023 and December 24, 2023.) It was sad loss that has permeated down to each and every one in the B'nei Menashe's close-knit community. The burial site at Mt. Herzl overlooks Sha'are Tzedek Hospital where the assailant is being treated after being shot. Ido Touthang, himself a father of four and a reserve soldier commented, "Here is a soldier who gave his life for our country is being buried at Mt. Herzl and across the road doctors are fighting to save the life of the man who murdered him. Isn't it ironic?"

Parshat Ki Teitzei

Parshat Ki Teitzei - I’m looking for a man in finance

The speed of modern social media memes is breathtaking. It's nearly impossible to know which memes are current or passé.

A sales professional, Megan Boni, saw her life change overnight. Inspired by thoughts on single women, including herself, who vent frustrations about relationships while holding unrealistic expectations of men, Boni created a song purely as a parody.

She sang, “I’m looking for a man in finance. Trust Fund. Six-Five. Blue Eyes.”

On April 30, 2024, she posted a short 19-second video with the caption, "Did I just write the song of the summer?" The catchy lyrics and upbeat tempo took only minutes to create. 

In just three weeks, her TikTok video exploded, amassing over 26 million views and igniting a wave of remixes across the platform. Here is a link to one of literally hundreds of remixes: https://youtu.be/wpIQt57vT_A?si=JyCvD1IQO6LAutjA. I chose this one because you can see Ms. Boni’s original video before the remix begins.

Our culture coined the phrase “Finance Bro” for young men working on Wall Street and elsewhere who embody an ethos where money rules everything, including friendship, family, and community. Every generation has its finance bros. In the 1990s, Michael Lewis’ Book Liar’s Poker captured this Finance Bro Culture at the Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers. 

As you emerge into the workforce, you will be challenged to understand your relationship to your inner Finance Bro - we all have one.  Our Yetzer Harah will always push us to seek to maximize our financial transactions with others. 

In our Parsha, we are told not to charge interest when we lend money to fellow Jews—it is a prohibition among the 613 mitzvot. We read in Chapter 23, Verse 20, as Moses says, “You shall not give interest to your brother, [whether it be] interest on money, interest on food or interest on any [other] item for which interest is [normally] taken.” This is the third time we have been given this mitzvah in the five books.

Rashi teaches that this is a warning to the borrower that he should not pay interest to the lender. Earlier in Leviticus 25:36, we read that one should not charge interest to a fellow Jew. Therefore, prohibition flows both ways.  

Moshe’s admonition about charging interest doesn’t come in a vacuum. In the verses preceding this one, our parsha, we read about how our new nation in Israel is to treat the stranger, the convert, the orphan, and the widow.  Moshe reiterates positive and negative mitzvot that teach us to honor these individuals, not exploit them. 

Rabbi Avishai Milner, writing at the Ohr Torah Stone website, adds, “Naturally, these people are prone to exploitation and unfair treatment and for this reason the Torah cautioins us to not take interest from these vulnterable persons.”

He goes on to quote Rashi, in his commentary on the same prohibition when it appeared earlier in Exodus, saying “Neshech (interest) is like the bite (neshichat) of a snake that bites one’s heel, leaving only a tiny bruise.  At first, one feels nothing, but then the venom flows and reaches the head.  Such is interest.  At first, one does not feel it, but then the interest inflates and deprives one of much money.”

Rashi offers a powerful reminder of how painful and lasting the impact of interest can be. However, Rabbi Miler adds that the parsha this week isn’t referring to charging interest to the oppressed; instead, it's about our fellow Jew, regardless of her status. 

Milner quotes Ramban, saying that there is nothing wrong with charging or paying interest. In fact, it's how the free market works. We don’t charge our fellow Jew interest because he’s our brother.

The Ramban and others speak to this prohibition as a mitzvah. We are commanded to forego the interest. This act of tzedaka, of treating our brothers with kindness, is not just a commandment but a source of inspiration and promise of something bigger. When we forego interest and treat our brothers with kindness, Gd will reward us and bless the labor of our hands.

Regarding non-Jews, Verse 21 clarifies that the opposite is also true. It reads, “You may [however,] give interest to a gentile, but to your brother, you shall not give interest, in order that the Lord, your God, shall bless you in every one of your endeavors on the land to which you are coming to possess.”

Rambam, in his Laws of Kings 6.8, as quoted in the Rebbe’s Chumash, states, “In principle, the Torah would require us to charge interest to any borrower.” It says charging interest is ethical and universally accepted. Rambam adds that failing to charge interest would violate the Torah’s prohibition against wasting money. It is only because Gd has deemed it so critical that we waive interest in transactions with our fellow Jews. 

Rav Hirsch provides additional context in three ways.  He compares the mitzvah prohibition against charging interest to a fellow Jew as similar to the Schmittah (the sabbath year for the land) and the Sabbath itself. All remind us that our possessions aren’t ours. It is Gd who is the master of all property.

He also adds that the prohibition against charging or paying interest among Jews means this mitzvah sits above our normal mitzvot related to justice. This is nothing less than an act of homage required by Gd.  Paying or charging interest is incompatible with serving Him.

Finally, he adds that this verse comes at a moment when the Jews are about to settle the land of Israel. Commerce and land management require lending to be successful. The duty not to charge interest or pay it is meant to foster a positive influence on social relations—that we are all in this together.

In an interview about what she was really looking for in a man, Ms. Boni was a bit more serious.  She said, “I’m looking for someone who understands my humor, lets me shine a little, and balances me out. 

Whether it's dating or building a society together, we are in a pitched battle with our Yetzer Harah. It wants us to disregard the humanity of others for the sake of personal gain. When building a Jewish nation, this prohibition is a decisive step to remind us that it takes all of us to complete the work, to balance each other out, and to help each other shine.