Study Desk

"Suppose a man marries a woman and consummates the marriage but later finds her displeasing, because he has found her offensive in some respect. He writes her a divorce document, gives it to her and sends her away from his house.

but the second husband dislikes her and writes her a get, gives it to her and sends her away from his house; or the second husband whom she married dies.

but the maximum number is forty. He is not to exceed this; if he goes over this limit and beats him more than this, your brother will be humiliated before your eyes.

But the Egyptians treated us badly; they oppressed us and imposed harsh slavery on us.

but are to build the altar of Adonai your God of uncut stones; and you are to offer burnt offerings on it to Adonai your God.

"But if you refuse to pay attention to what Adonai your God says, and do not observe and obey all his mitzvot and regulations which I am giving you today, then all the following curses will be yours in abundance:

You will get engaged to a woman, but another man will marry her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not use its fruit.

Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you won't eat any of its meat. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force as you watch, and you won't get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you.

Your sons and daughters will be handed over to another people; you will watch for them longingly all day but not see them; and there will be nothing you can do about it.

"You will carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, because locusts will devour it.

You will plant vineyards and dress them but neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will fall off unripe.

You will father sons and daughters, but they won't belong to you, because they will go into captivity.

He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head and you the tail.

Not only that, but Adonai will bring upon you all the sicknesses and plagues that are not written in this book of the Torah — until you are destroyed.

Finally, Adonai will bring you back in ships to Egypt, the place of which I said to you, ‘You will never ever see it again'; and there you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you." These are the words of the covenant which Adonai ordered Moshe to make with the people of Isra'el in the land of Mo'av, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horev.

Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and obey them; so that you can make everything you do prosper. Haftarah Ki Tavo: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 60:1–22 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Ki Tavo: Mattityahu (Matthew) 13:1–23; Luke 21:1–4; Acts 28:17–31; Romans 11:1–15 [In regular years read with Parashah 52, in leap years read separately] "Today you are standing, all of you, before Adonai your God — your heads, your tribes, your leaders and your officers — all the men of Isra'el, along with your little ones, your wives and your foreigners here with you in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water. The purpose is that you should enter into the covenant of Adonai your God and into his oath which Adonai your God is making with you today, (LY: ii) so that he can establish you today for himself as a people, and so that for you he will be God — as he said to you and as he swore to your ancestors, to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya‘akov. "But I am not making this covenant and this oath only with you. Rather, I am making it both with him who is standing here with us today before Adonai our God and also with him who is not here with us today. (LY: iii) For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came directly through the nations you passed through; and you saw their detestable things and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold that they had with them. So let there not be among you a man, woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away today from Adonai our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there not be among you a root bearing such bitter poison and wormwood. If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, ‘I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although "dry," [sinful,] will be added to the "watered" [righteous].' But Adonai will not forgive him. Rather, the anger and jealousy of Adonai will blaze up against that person. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. Adonai will blot out his name from under heaven. Adonai will single him out from all the tribes of Isra'el to experience what is bad in all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the Torah. "When the next generation, your children who will grow up after you, and the foreigner who arrives from a distant land, see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which Adonai has made it sick, and that the whole land has become burning sulfur and salt, that it isn't being sown or bearing crops or even producing grass — like the overthrow of S'dom, ‘Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, which Adonai overthrew in his furious anger — then all the nations will ask, ‘Why did Adonai do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?' People will answer, ‘It's because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai , the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods, prostrating themselves before them, gods they had not known and which he had not assigned them. For this reason, the anger of Adonai blazed up against this land and brought upon it every curse written in this book; and Adonai , in anger, fury and incensed with indignation, uprooted them from their land and threw them out into another land — as it is today.' "Things which are hidden belong to Adonai our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.

"But I am not making this covenant and this oath only with you.

But Adonai will not forgive him. Rather, the anger and jealousy of Adonai will blaze up against that person. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. Adonai will blot out his name from under heaven.

"Things which are hidden belong to Adonai our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.