A Tidbit of Torah – Ki Tavo 5784

And Moses called all of Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your very eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land; the great trials which your very eyes beheld and those great signs and wonders. Yet until this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear.”    D’varim / Deuteronomy 29:1-3

Rashi, begins his comment by citing a teaching of Rabba’s in the tractate Avodah Zara:
Rabba said: Conclude from here that a person does not understand the opinion of his teacher until after forty years, as Moshe said this to the Jewish people only after forty years of learning Torah.

Rashi then continues in his own words:
Hence, the Omnipresent was not strict with you until this day; but from now on [since that day marked 40 years for the people of Israel], God will be strict with you; and therefore: “Observe the words of this covenant…” as the Torah goes on to say a few verses later.

During those 40 years, the People of Israel were able to grow from their experiences, to undergo a process of spiritual preparation and reflection that enabled them to attain “hearts [and minds] to know.”

Coming to the end of Moshe’s three farewell discourses and noting the inconsistencies between how some of the events are first described in the Torah and recounted here by Moshe reveals that this is not a strict retelling; rather, it is a deeper reconsideration that is meant to reveal new and meaningful insights; understandings that are possible only with greater perspective.

Building upon the work of educational pioneer John Dewey, Dr. David Boud, emeritus professor of Adult Education at the University of Technology, Sydney, has suggested that there are three aspects to the nature of turning reflection into learning:
1.  Returning to experience: recalling or detailing salient events (reflecting on our Jewish observances and experiences);
2.  Connecting to feelings: using helpful feelings and removing or containing obstructive ones;
3.  Evaluating experience: reexamining experience in light of one’s aims and knowledge, and integrating this new knowledge into one’s conceptual framework.

The convergence of our reading Deuteronomy during the period leading up to the High Holy Days suggests the defining role of reflective learning in Jewish spiritual life; as a key step in the process of teshuvah as we seek to deepen our ability to see, hear, and know ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom –

Rabbi David M. Eligberg