[Spoken Word — warm unhurried storyteller over soft guitar] This week's parsha — פָּרָשַׁת כִּי־תָבוֹא. When you come into the land. Listen to what happens. [Chorus — sung, warm and heartfelt] כִּי־תָבוֹא אֶל־הָאָרֶץ — when you come into the land, אֲשֶׁר הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ — that הַשֵּׁם places in your hand. [Spoken Word — warm unhurried storyteller over soft guitar] Picture a farmer, early in the morning, walking the rows of his orchard. And there it is — the first fig of the season. The Mishnah in Bikkurim describes it: he ties a reed-rope around it and says — הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ בִּכּוּרִים. — let these be בִּכּוּרִים. When it ripens he lays it in a basket and goes up — up to the place הַשֵּׁם has chosen. The כֹּהֵן takes the basket, sets it before the מִזְבֵּחַ, and now the farmer must speak. Out loud — וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ — and Rashi brings from Sotah that it means a raised voice. And what does he say? A whole history in five פְּסוּקִים: אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי. My father was almost destroyed. We went down to מִצְרַיִם few in number. They worked us, they broke us, we cried out — and הַשֵּׁם heard, and took us out — בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה — with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and brought us here, to a land flowing with milk and honey. And now — הִנֵּה הֵבֵאתִי — see, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land that You gave me. [Chorus — sung, warm and heartfelt] כִּי־תָבוֹא אֶל־הָאָרֶץ — when you come into the land, אֲשֶׁר הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ — that הַשֵּׁם places in your hand. [Spoken Word — warm unhurried storyteller over soft guitar] In the third year, the house gets cleared. Every tithe goes where it belongs — the לֵוִי, the גֵּר, the orphan, the widow — and then a man stands and makes an accounting out loud: בִּעַרְתִּי הַקֹּדֶשׁ מִן־הַבַּיִת — I have cleared the holy portions out of my house, it all went where it belongs. I did not eat it in mourning, I did not forget. And then he turns the accounting into a תְּפִלָּה: הַשְׁקִיפָה מִמְּעוֹן קָדְשְׁךָ — look down from Your holy dwelling, and bless Your people. And then the parsha says a word it will not stop saying: הַיּוֹם. Today. This very day הַשֵּׁם commands you. Today — you declared Him your God. Today — He declared you His treasure, לְעַם סְגֻלָּה. And Rashi says: every single day it should be in your eyes like the day you entered the בְּרִית. [Chorus — sung, warm and heartfelt] כִּי־תָבוֹא אֶל־הָאָרֶץ — when you come into the land, אֲשֶׁר הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ — that הַשֵּׁם places in your hand. [Spoken Word — warm unhurried storyteller over soft guitar] Now מֹשֶׁה looks across the יַרְדֵּן. When you cross, he says, raise up great stones and coat them with plaster, and write on them all the words of this תּוֹרָה. Build a מִזְבֵּחַ of whole stones — no iron has touched them — and rejoice. And then, the scene the parsha is famous for: six שְׁבָטִים standing on הַר גְּרִזִים, six on הַר עֵיבָל, the לְוִיִּם in the valley between. A voice calls out across the valley — and the whole nation, every man, answers: אָמֵן. The בְּרָכוֹת are read. And then the תּוֹכָחָה — long, and hard, and honest. And in the middle of it, one pasuk explains everything: תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָבַדְתָּ אֶת־הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֶיךָ בְּשִׂמְחָה — because you did not serve הַשֵּׁם with joy, when you had everything. [Chorus — sung, warm and heartfelt] כִּי־תָבוֹא אֶל־הָאָרֶץ — when you come into the land, אֲשֶׁר הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ — that הַשֵּׁם places in your hand. [Spoken Word — warm unhurried storyteller over soft guitar] And at the end, מֹשֶׁה gathers them and points backwards. You saw it yourselves, he says. The wonders in מִצְרַיִם. Forty years in the מִדְבָּר — וָאוֹלֵךְ אֶתְכֶם אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה — and your clothes never wore out, and the shoe never wore off your foot. And Rashi says on וְלֹא־נָתַן הַשֵּׁם לָכֶם לֵב לָדַעַת — a heart to know — that it means to recognize the חֶסֶד of the מָקוֹם, and to hold fast to Him. Keep the words of this בְּרִית, מֹשֶׁה finishes — so that you succeed in everything you do. [Chorus — sung, warm and heartfelt] כִּי־תָבוֹא אֶל־הָאָרֶץ — when you come into the land, אֲשֶׁר הַשֵּׁם אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ — that הַשֵּׁם places in your hand.
