Priorities. Obligations. An order of business. First things, first. What we must do to be free and secure.
Our sedra of Ki Tavo begins with the statement, "And it shall be when you come into the Land that Hashem has given to you as an inheritance, and you will possess it...."
The Ba'al Haturim connects this opening pasuk with the closing verse of last week's sedra of Ki Tetze, on the mitzva to wipe out Amalek. He says these two verses follow one another to teach us that immediately upon entry to Israel we were to obliterate Amalek. Only then could we expect to live safely and peacefully in our Land.
During their 40 years in the desert, Bnai Yisrael were taught many laws and commandments, all of which were to be fully instituted once we set foot in Israel. Yet, the very first thing we were required to do was wipe out these evil suicide-bombers called Amalek. For until and unless we could live securely, we could not create the spiritual and social environment in which the Jewish People could flourish.
Rabbi Simon Dolgin adds another insight: The Jewish experience in the Diaspora has almost invariably ended in trauma and tragedy. In virtually every place we resided, we encountered pogrom, Inquisition, expulsion or Holocaust. Arriving finally at the door of our own nation, we had to know that those dark days were past, that no longer would we be victims, but rather free and confident citizens, able to forge our own destiny with no fear.
Therefore we were told, "Wipe out Amalek. Eradicate this evil menace. Then get busy with nation-building."
Ki Tetze and Ki Tavo are a matching set of "keys." Yes, we have to "go out" of the Diaspora and return to Eretz Yisrael. But we have to know "going in" that our transition back to one People with one Land will only be fully effected when we wipe out our cruel enemies. It was true then; it is equally true now.
I was recently told that Arnold Schwarzenneger commented on the nature of terrorism. He said: "After making the Terminator movies, I can honestly say I know what it is like to face an enemy who is not human, who lives to kill, who does not even have the most basic, animal-like sense of
self-preservation. These are evil beings who must be terminated, before they terminate us."
?Aahnold?, you got my vote.
Our sedra of Ki Tavo begins with the statement, "And it shall be when you come into the Land that Hashem has given to you as an inheritance, and you will possess it...."
The Ba'al Haturim connects this opening pasuk with the closing verse of last week's sedra of Ki Tetze, on the mitzva to wipe out Amalek. He says these two verses follow one another to teach us that immediately upon entry to Israel we were to obliterate Amalek. Only then could we expect to live safely and peacefully in our Land.
During their 40 years in the desert, Bnai Yisrael were taught many laws and commandments, all of which were to be fully instituted once we set foot in Israel. Yet, the very first thing we were required to do was wipe out these evil suicide-bombers called Amalek. For until and unless we could live securely, we could not create the spiritual and social environment in which the Jewish People could flourish.
Rabbi Simon Dolgin adds another insight: The Jewish experience in the Diaspora has almost invariably ended in trauma and tragedy. In virtually every place we resided, we encountered pogrom, Inquisition, expulsion or Holocaust. Arriving finally at the door of our own nation, we had to know that those dark days were past, that no longer would we be victims, but rather free and confident citizens, able to forge our own destiny with no fear.
Therefore we were told, "Wipe out Amalek. Eradicate this evil menace. Then get busy with nation-building."
Ki Tetze and Ki Tavo are a matching set of "keys." Yes, we have to "go out" of the Diaspora and return to Eretz Yisrael. But we have to know "going in" that our transition back to one People with one Land will only be fully effected when we wipe out our cruel enemies. It was true then; it is equally true now.
I was recently told that Arnold Schwarzenneger commented on the nature of terrorism. He said: "After making the Terminator movies, I can honestly say I know what it is like to face an enemy who is not human, who lives to kill, who does not even have the most basic, animal-like sense of
self-preservation. These are evil beings who must be terminated, before they terminate us."
?Aahnold?, you got my vote.