‘Even So’ Parashat Ki Tavo 5784

His name was Mauricio. He was Italian and he drove a fiery red Fiat Uno with a stick shift. We studied Electrical Engineering together at the Technion. One day while driving home in his car, we got to talking about prayer, specifically “Berich Shemei”, a prayer recited when the Torah is taken out of the ark. For whatever the reason, “Berich Shemei” is written entirely in Aramaic and certain prayer books (siddurim) include a Hebrew translation of the prayer. I told Mauricio that I read the prayer in Aramaic even though there were certain words that I did not completely understand. He replied, “I read it in Hebrew! What am I, a parrot?!” His point was well taken. If prayer means baring one’s soul to G-d, it would seem to be a good idea to understand what one is saying.

From the beginning of the month of Elul until the last day of Sukkot, an extra prayer is added to the liturgy, Psalm 27, also known as “L’David (To David)”. L’David is recited twice a day, once after the morning prayers (Shacharit) and once after the afternoon prayer (Mincha) or the evening prayer (Aravit), depending on one’s custom[1]. There is one verse in L’David that I am quite certain the vast majority of the people do not understand [Psalms 27:3]: “Should an army besiege me, my heart would have no fear; should war beset me, in this (b’zot) I will be confident.” What is this “this” in which King David is so confident? Noting that Hebrew is a gender-based language and noting that the word “b’zot” is feminine singular, the answer should be straightforward. The most immediate answer is that David has confidence in G-d. The problem with this solution is that to be grammatically correct, the word “b’zot” would have to be replaced by “bo” – “in Him”. A large majority of the medieval commentators[2] assert that the word “b’zot” is referring to the words immediately preceding and/or following the verse in question. The preceding words are [Psalms 27:2] “G-d is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? G-d is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread? When evil men assail me to devour my flesh, it is they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall.” The succeeding verse reads, “One thing I ask of G-d, only that do I seek: to live in the House of G-d all the days of my life, to gaze upon the Beauty of G-d and to frequent His temple”. These solutions are unsatisfying because it is still unclear to what “b’zot” is referring to. Is it referring to the statement (imra) that G-d is my light? Is it referring to the Divine promise of salvation (hatzala) from evil? Is it referring to the request of G-d (bakasha) to dwell in His home? While “statement”, “salvation” and “request” are all in the feminine singular, interpreting the verse thusly is not by any stretch of the imagination “straightforward”.

The best explanation I have seen so far is found in the “Da’at Mikra[3]” Tanach, which translates the word “b’zot” as “b’chol zot”, or, “even so”. The verse should be understood as follows: “Should I see my enemies rise up to do me evil, potentially with nuclear weapons, even so (b’chol zot) I still trust in G-d”. This explanation is reflected in a number of translations of the Torah, including JPS 1917, 1985 and 2023, as well as the Koren Jerusalem Bible.

This explanation can offer a novel interpretation of a verse in the Portion of Acharei-Mot [Vayikra 16:1-2]: “G-d spoke to Moshe after the deaths of the two sons of Aaron [Nadav and Avihu], who died when they drew too close to the Presence of G-d. G-d told Moshe, ‘Speak to your brother, Aaron, that he should not come at will into the Holy of Holies… Lest he die. With this (B’zot) Aaron shall enter the Holy of Holies: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering’”. Here, too, the word “B’zot” suffers from a gender mismatch and potentially a numerical mismatch, as well. If the word is referring to the bull or the ram that the Priest (Kohen) must offer, then, noting that both a bull and a ram are masculine, the Torah should have used the masculine “B’zeh”. If the word is referring to both the bull and the ram, then the Torah should have used the plural “B’eleh” – “With these”. Folding in the explanation of the Da’at Mikra sheds new light on the verse. On the happiest day of Aaron’s life, on the day that he and his sons completed their training to officiate in the Tabernacle (Mishkan), as he beamed with pride, his oldest two sons were struck down by a bolt of lightning. Aaron was devastated. The very Divine Presence that he had ushered into the corporeal world had taken away two of his beloved children. How could he ever serve G-d again? And if this is how G-d showed His love, why would Aaron even want to serve Him? G-d answers this question by telling Moshe “Even so, Aaron will enter the Holy of Holies”. With all of his pain, with all of his anger and all of his doubt, even so, he will reenter the Mishkan to lead the Jewish People in the service of G-d. He may never fully comprehend what happened or why it happened, and he will certainly never stop feeling the pain of burying his sons and the guilt for his indirect responsibility, but one day he will accept what happened. He will renew his relationship with G-d and he will reenter the Mishkan.

The Portion of Ki Tavo contains the “Admonition (Tochecha)”, verses that describe in gory detail the horrific things that will, Heaven Forbid, befall the Jewish People if we stray from G-d and His Torah. After predicting [Devarim 28:58] “There [in Egypt] you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as slaves but none will buy”, the Tochecha concludes abruptly [Devarim 28:59]: “These are the terms of the covenant that G-d commanded Moshe with the Israelites in the Land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which He made with them at Horeb (Mount Sinai)”. To which “covenant at Horeb” is the Torah referring? Most of the medieval commentators[4] assert that the Torah is referring to an earlier Admonition found at the end of the Book of Vayikra. The verse is teaching us that the second Admonition does not supersede the previous one – it complements it. I would like to propose an alternate interpretation, one that implements our explanation above. Before the Torah recaps the story of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, it tells us [Devarim 5:2-3] “G-d entered into a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers that G-d entered this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who is here today”. At Sinai, G-d gave man His Torah. Each day we conclude the Amidah prayer with the words “You have given us the Torah of Life (Torat Chaim)”. Each time we take the Torah scroll out of the ark, we say [Parables 3:18]: “It is a Tree of Life to those that hold it”. How could it be that the same G-d could dole out all of the awful things described in the Admonition? Even if the Jewish People would be deserving of punishment, would that ever make them warrant [Devarim 28:25] “G-d will cause your enemies to rout you… You shall become a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth… Your sons and daughters shall be delivered to another people while you look on… and you shall be helpless”? What could ever make Jews deserve to see parents slaughtered in front of their children? Wives raped in front of their husbands? Children burnt in their own beds? Hostages held in dark underground prison cells only to be executed in cold blood just before their rescuers arrive? Our finest youth, guns in hand, crushed under a booby-trapped building? How is it possible to reconcile so much life with so much death?

Even so. There is but one G-d and He holds both life and death in His hands. The choice is not always ours. Since October 7, many Jews, myself included, have undergone a crisis of faith. How could G-d let this happen? Of what were we guilty? Somebody stop this ride – I wanna get off! It is clear that tectonic changes are underway, changes that we will likely never fully comprehend. Our guiding light can only be that G-d gave His covenant to “us, the living”. Follow that light through the anguish, the pain, and the doubt – so much doubt – and G-d promises [Devarim 4:4]: “And you who hold fast to your G-d, are all alive today”.

Ari Sacher, Moreshet, 5784

Please daven for a Refu’a Shelema for Shlomo ben Esther, Sheindel Devorah bat Rina, Esther Sharon bat Chana Raizel, and Meir ben Drora.

[1] Curiously, Moreshet recites L’David in the evening, even though the Nusach Sephard custom is to recite it in the afternoon. Anyone interested in the reason behind this is welcome to ask me off-line.

[2] Rashi, ibn Ezra, Metzudat David and Radak.

[3] The “Da’at Mikra” is published by Mossad HaRav Kook and edited by Amos Hakham.

[4] Rashi, Bekor Shor, Hizkuni and Rashbam.