This Shabbat we study the Parshah Ki Tavo, meaning “when you come” (Deuteronomy 26:1). Moses instructs the people of Israel about what they should do when they enter the land that G-d is giving them. Our Parshah also includes the laws of the tithes given to the Levites and to the poor, and detailed instructions on how to proclaim the blessings and the curses on Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival. Moses reminds the people that they are G-d’s chosen people, and that they, in turn, have chosen G-d. The latter part of Ki Tavo consists of the Tochachah (Rebuke). After listing the blessings with which G-d will reward the people when they follow the laws of the Torah, Moses gives a long, harsh account of the bad things—illness, famine, poverty and exile—that shall befall them if they abandon G-d’s commandments. 

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Chabad.org

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In these times, when Jews and Jewish values are threatened in public spaces across the Western world, it has unfortunately spilled over into public schools. Here are some tips to help inoculate your children and supply them with the knowledge and strength they need. (For the full article “12 Tips for Jewish Public School Parents in Today’s Climate” visit Chabad.org). 

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Coordinate with Jewish clubs in or around your child’s school. Jewish youth groups will give you the vital camaraderie, support, and knowledge that you and your child are truly not alone in your struggle. If there is no such organization in your area, now is the time to speak to your local Chabad rabbi and get the ball rolling.

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Celebrate Shabbat, do mitzvahs, study Torah so that your child learns to love the Jewish identity for which they are now being attacked.  Talk to your kids about what’s going on in Israel and around the world, offer context and facts, so that when something comes up, they’ll see you as a reliable and non-judgemental source of truth.

Have a record of what’s being done. So if a staff member or fellow student is acting inappropriately or threateningly, your child should record it on their phone or otherwise document the incident in writing and share it with you. 

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Establish connections in the school. You do not want your first phone call or email to the school administration to be a complaint. Reach out as early as possible and establish a good relationship with the school leadership and officials. Consider transferring your children to a Jewish school. Neither you nor your kids will regret it.

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A word from MADA’s Director, Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Cohen: "Exposing your children to the love and kindness at MADA will reinforce Jewish values, pride and unity - and help them feel that they belong. We have many activities your child may enjoy and we always need volunteers!"

Once the promised land was settled, every household brought a sample of their first fruits to the Temple every year and thanked G-d for the land. But not until all Jews were safe and settled, each on their own plot of land.

Because that is the way the Jewish nation operates: Like brothers and sisters.

Not one of us can feel thoroughly grateful for their own welfare until everyone else is taken care of.

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Rabbi Tzvi Freeman

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Our sages teach that the words “this day” imply that the Divine commands must always be to you as something new, as if you had been commanded them now, this very day. This applies also to our actions and endeavors to hasten the redemption. They must be innovative. One is not to be content with the mere addition of more deeds from one day to the next. Our activities must be in a mode of “something truly new.” Thus will be fulfilled the prophecy of “the new heavens and the new earth” (Isaiah 66:22), that will be with the coming of Moshiach.

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Rabbi J. Immanuel Schochet

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Ted is a shoe salesman. All day he meets customers, asks their shoe size, goes to the back of the store and brings them pairs to try on. Then he trudges away with those that don’t fit and returns with yet another pile for the customer to try on. Again and again, all day long. He is so tired; he keeps stealing glances at the big clock on the wall. He wants to go home.

Robert has also been working hard all day, bringing shoes to customers and putting back the ones that don’t fit. But he doesn’t trudge; he leaps! When the clock shows closing time, he doesn’t rush out the door. He stays and sweeps up, even though it’s not part of his job.

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Ted and Robert both did the exact same thing all day. Why is one so tired, the other still bright and fresh? Ted can’t wait to go home; Robert is looking for more ways to help out. Dig a little deeper and we find out that Ted is an employee, while Robert is the owner’s son. Ah, now we can understand them both.

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There is no explicit commandment in the Torah to be joyous, yet one who fulfills the commandments begrudgingly fails to appreciate G-d’s great kindness. The Torah reading of Ki Tavo includes a section commonly referred to as “The Rebuke,” describing many terrible calamities that G-d will—Heaven forefend—bring upon us if we fail to fulfill our mission in this world: … because you did not serve the L-rd, your G-d, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when [you had an] abundance of everything. 

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This verse is usually understood to mean that the Jewish nation didn’t observe the Torah’s commandments happily, even though they lived in a time of plenty. The Holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, however, explains the verse to mean that the Jewish people would be severely punished because they didn’t serve G-d with a joyful heart. Yes, they served G-d faithfully, studying Torah and fulfilling its commandments, but as a tiresome chore—not joyously, in a fashion befitting the child of the King.

It’s time to take a closer look at ourselves. Are we a Ted, serving G-d like an employee punching the clock? Or are we a Robert, serving Him like one of His beloved children, which we indeed are?

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Moreover, who do the commandments benefit, after all? The Almighty doesn’t need our subservience; we can’t add anything at all to His magnificence. The Torah is His beneficence to us, affording us an opportunity to refine ourselves and to be embraced by His Holy Presence.

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Do we look at G-d’s commandments as responsibilities and chores? Or do we see a mitzvah as another opportunity to become closer to Him? Chassidic thought teaches that the word mitzvah comes from the root tzavta, meaning “together.” The King is giving us an opportunity to come close to him, and we shrug our shoulders. We’re tired, we’re busy, we haven’t yet sat down in a comfortable armchair to read the news. G-d can wait a bit. But those who view themselves as the King’s beloved children fulfill the commandments with joy and exuberance, expending time and energy, sparing no expense to do His will.

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From an article by Rena S. Goldzweig

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