Youth

Ki Tavo In a nutshell

Parshat Ki Tavo begins with Moshe instructing the Jewish people that when they enter the land of Israel, they are to be aware of the Mitzvah of Bikurim. This involves going down to one’s field, finding the first growths of any of the 7 species that the land was blessed with – Wheat, Barley, Grapes, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives, Dates and wrapping a reed around them, and preparing for what was a grand event at the Beit Hamikdash. The farmer would bring these “first fruit” and offer them to the Kohen. The journey to Jerusalem was very joyous and was carried out amidst great song and happiness. Not only were the fruit brought, but a special paragraph was recited, expressing the farmer’s gratitude to Hashem. The Bikkurin is given as a gift to the Kohen and the farmer was also grateful to be associated with spiritual people, albeit temporarily.

The Parsha continues with the declaration one makes once they have distributed or brought to the Beit Hamikdash, the various “Ma’asrot” – tithes. This too involved a declaration in the Beit Hamikdash but was enjoyed by the owner themselves.

We are given detail of the blessings and curses which were to be announced on the two famous mountains – Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival. The Levi’im would stand in the valley, with the Jewish people split between the two mountain and the Levi’im would express the list of behaviours that invoke a blessing and the list of behaviours that sadly cause the opposite.

Moshe reminds the Jewish nation that they are the chosen people and they have also chosen Hashem (perhaps due in no small part to the fact that they – or rather our ancestor Avraham – chose Hashem against the common trends at his time).

The next part of Ki Tavo (similar to Bechukotai) tells of the blessings that meet the Jewish people if they remain faithful to Hashem, His Torah and Mitzvot. It also goes to great length to describe the sadness and less than happy things that happen in the event that the Jews try to abandon Hashem, the Torah or Mitzvot. We are taught that the warnings given in Bechukotai were sadly fulfilled at the time of the destruction of the first Temple, and the second at the time of the destruction of the second Temple. Unfortunately, we have not always “got the message” and until our times we sometimes hear of sad events and although we do not know the full reason for them, it has always been our tradition to reflect on our actions and consider how we can improve them in response to tragedy (may G-d spare us).

Not all is doom and gloom, though. Moshe reminds the Jewish people of the miracles that Hashem performed for them since they left Egypt and that therefore they are to remain loyal to thew covenant which they undertook at Har Sinai, which was the purpose of the Exodus from Egypt.

We look to this Parsha as a source of inspiration – we try our best to keep the Mitzvot and look forward to bringing blessing not only on ourselves, but upon the entire world!

Word Wheel

The goal of a word wheel puzzle is to create as many words possible with the letters in the word wheel. Each word must contain at least three letters. You can only use each letter once and every word must have the letter in the centre of the wheel.

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o n f t i r s a

Use this area to write the words you have found.

Last week’s words: Here are some words you may have found from last week - you may have found more!

arm dam elm lam mad mar med ram rem dame dram lama lame made male mama mare marl mead meal meld ream alarm armed drama dream lamed lamer lemma madam medal realm armada dermal lammed marled rammed alarmed marmalade

(Answers at the bottom of page upside down)

1. I weigh nothing, but you can still see me. If you put me in a bucket, I make the bucket lighter. What am I?

3. What five-letter word becomes shorter if you add two letters to it?

2. A man is washing windows on the 25th floor of a building. He slips and falls. He has nothing to cushion his fall, and no safety equipment—but he doesn’t get hurt. How is this possible?

6. Lucky dip 5. Gross incompetence 4. A twist of fate 3. Wide awake 2. 2nd in command 1. Short back and sides Q: What do you call a bagel that can fly? A: A plane bagel!