Ki THavo: Understanding

Every year, toward the end of the parsha, we read:
לָכֶם לֵב לָדַעַת, וְעֵינַיִם לִרְאוֹת וְאָזְנַיִם לִשְׁמֹעַ, עַד, הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה.ן
3 but the LORD hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

It is strange to repeat this sentence which implies past confusion and current enlightenment on an annual basis. What happened to last year's revelation and what will happen next year?

The parsha comes when the approach of Rosh Hashanna is palpable, visible and audible. As Rosh Hoshanna approaches, I consider the possibility that this may be my final year of understanding, my best year, my last year. I perceive that I understand many new things this year, things that were obscure last year ( not all for the good, not all for the bad). I hope that next years understanding will be for the better and include more wonderful and pleasurable things.

Also note the reference to the the Eitz Hadaath ( tree of knowledge), how it was appealing to the eye and eating of it was a failure of the ear to hear. The torah is a Tikun ( correction) for that trespass.

prior: reward and punishment

Ki Thetze: Lust and Marriage

This is the most passionate of parshioth. Sex, greed, war all make appearances and the corrections are prescribed. The marriages of the parsha are economic fixes for acts of passion. The captive wife has rights. She cannot be treated as a slave, sold to another man. The raped or defamed woman has the right to lifetime support by her attacker or defamer. The leverite marriage (Yibum) is a way to obtain economic support for a widow. It is all about protecting women from starvation in a (hungry) world dominated by men. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AmalekThe commandment to remember .

The commandment not to be a fool, not to be deceived (again).

To understand the anger of our ancestors, to avenge the crime, to be the redeemer of the blood ( go’al hadam),

to view a nation as evil to its seed, Amalek is the seed of evil.

Don’t be like Amalek

Don’t like Amalek.

Remember

And don’t forget

last year: passion

2008: moving

2007: consequences