Ki Tavo
September 8, 2012 – Elul 21, 5772
Torah Portion of the Week
This week’s portion includes: Bringing to the Temple as an offering the first fruits of the Seven Species special to the Land of Israel, Declaration of tithes, the Almighty designating the Jewish people as His treasured people (Deut. 26:16 -19), the command to set up in the Jordan River and then on Mount Ebal large stones which had the Torah written upon them in 70 languages, the command to have a public ratification of the acceptance of the Law from Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal; the Torah then sets forth the blessings for following the Law and the curses for not following it, and concludes with Moshe’s final discourse. Verse 28:46 tells us the importance of serving the Almighty with “joy and a good heart.” The last verse of the portion instructs us “You shall fulfill the words of this covenant and do them so that you will succeed in all that you do!”
Torah Lesson of the Week
In this week’s Torah portion, the Almighty lists the many blessings that one receives for fulfilling the mitzvot, the commandments. Unlike other religions which promise reward in the World to Come, the Torah only speaks of this world rewards — blessings of food in your storehouse, peace from your enemies, healthy offspring.
The Torah goes further than listing the blessings, it states, “And it will come to you all of these blessings and they will reach you, when you listen to the voice of the Almighty, your God” (Deut. 28:2). If the Torah says “and it will come to you,” why does it add the seemingly extra words “and they will reach you”?
A person does not always realize what is truly good for him or her and mistakenly runs away from the blessing. Therefore, the Torah guarantees that the blessing will pursue the person and reach him even though he is trying to escape from it. Only after he receives the blessing will he become aware of what is really good for him.
This idea will save a person much suffering. When things happen that seem to be a negative occurrence, be patient before you make a final judgment. As one event leads to another you will frequently see before your eyes that what you thought was negative in the end turned out to be clearly positive! Be aware of occasions when this already happened to you in the past and then you will be able to internalize this awareness for the future!
**FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE WILL BE FEATURING A PREVIEW OF A NEW BOOK IN WHICH RABBI BEN HAIM ANSWERS QUESTIONS ASKED BY COMMUNITY MEMBERS.**
“Can you explain the difference between creation theories such as “Darwin” and “Big Bang” versus the Torah explanation?”
Regarding the Darwin Theory which is based on the assumption that humans were first made of liquid then turned into a worm which transformed into an ape which evolved into human form. This theory is contrary to our Torah which states in ”Sefer Bereshit”:’ Va’Yivra ElOkim Et Ha’Adam B’ Tzalmo” “ So G-d created man in His image” Humans are different than animals and possess a soul which is a spark of the Almighty. We read also in Sefer Bereshit: “Va’YiPach B’Apov Et Nishmat Chaiim” meaning: And He blew into his nostrils the soul of life”
In the Midrash regarding “Olamot” (worlds), it is written: “Boreh Olamot U’Mecharivan” meaning that the Almighty “built worlds and destroyed them”. A great European Rabbi by the name of Rabbi Lifshitz has written a book of interpretation on Mishnayot. This book is called “Tiferet Yisrael”. In this book he writes that prior to our existing world which started more than 5770 years ago, Hashem built other worlds that were destroyed.
This creation and destruction process was repeated 4 times. Therefore, all the fossils and mummified remains found, belong to the previous worlds which were destroyed. Another opinion is that these fossils and mummies belong to era of the “Mabul”-the great flood at the time of Noah. I agree with “Rabbi Lifschitz’s” opinion. As you know the more times passes the more significant the differences between Man and animals become. Man is constantly evolving towards advanced development and completion whereas animals have not developed any civilized or spiritual development. This is good proof that the “Darwin Theory” is not correct.
New Time for Friday Night Minyan
From this week the minyan at Mr. & Mrs. Danny Zar’s house ( 6B Blue Sea Lane–off East Shore Rd) will be at 6.45pm and will be 15 minutes earlier every week till further notice .Everyone is invited to attend.
*Download the Shalom Week print version with extra content and Persian Translation