Parashat Ki Tavo 5785, 2025: "Choose Life!"

Rabbi David Etengoff

ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
One of the many mitzvot that is found in our parasha is vidui ma’aser (the Declaration of Tithing):

When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give [them] to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that they can eat to satiety in your cities. Then you shall say before Hashem, your God, “I have removed the holy [portion] from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, according to all Your commandment that You commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten [them].” (Sefer Devarim 26:12-13, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
The Rambam (1135-1204) formulates our mitzvah in this manner:

The 131st mitzvah that we are commanded is to make a proclamation of the kindness God has bestowed upon us; and that we have separated the obligatory ma’asrot and terumot (types of tithes). We must verbally affirm our separation from them just as we have physically removed them from our premises. This is called vidui ma’aser. The source of this commandment is God’s statement, “And you must declare before Hashem, your God: ‘I have removed all the sacred portions from my house; I have given the appropriate ones to the Levite and to the orphan and widow....’” (Sefer HaMitzvot, 131, translation, Rabbi Reuven Bell, with my emendations)
 
In sum, according to the Rambam, vidui ma’aser is simultaneously hakaret hatov to the Almighty for His beneficence, and a review of the separation, and distribution, of the various tithes we have performed.
 
In his analysis of our mitzvah, the Sefer HaChinuch explains the underlying rationale of the phrase, “Then you shall say before the Hashem, your God,” in a novel manner:
At the root of the precept lies the point that the unique characteristic of man and the great element of his glory is the power of speech; in this he is superior to all [other] species of creatures. For as regards the other functions, other animals also behave as he does. For this reason, there are a great many people who are more fearful of desecrating their speech, which is the great element of distinction in them, than of sinning in action. (Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 607, translation, Charles Wengrov, with my emendations)
 
While the singular import of human speech is a crucial idea, it is somewhat unclear how this concept contributes to our understanding of vidui ma’aser. Fortunately, the Sefer HaChinuch elaborates upon his previous statement:

Now, inasmuch as the manner of tithes and t’rumah is a great thing… it was out of His kindness toward us, in order that we should not sin about them, to adjure us about them to separate them, and then not to have benefit from them through any action; and that we should attest about ourselves, with our mouth, at the Sanctuary that we were not deceitful about them and did not detain anything of them—all this in order that we should be most careful in the matter.
 
Fascinatingly, the explanations of both the Rambam and the Sefer HaChinuch focus upon Hashem’s kindness in conjunction with the obligation of verbal attestation of tithes. Maimonides interprets “the kindness God has bestowed upon us” in reference to the bounty of the fields. In contrast, the Sefer HaChinuch stresses Hashem’s kindness toward us, “in order that we should not sin about them, [the tithes].” As such, he underscores the uniqueness of human speech to enable us to understand the crucial role of oral testimony in guarding the integrity of the tithes, which is the essential purpose and fulfillment of this mitzvah.
 
The Sefer HaChinuch’s discussion of the extraordinary significance of human speech is reminiscent of Onkelos’ explication of, “He [God] breathed into his [Adams’s] nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul,” (Sefer Bereishit 2:7) wherein he renders the expression, “and man became a living soul,” as “and man became a speaking being” (v’havat b’adam l’ruach m’mal’lah). In other words, for Onkelos, the distinctive marker that separates humankind from the rest of Creation is our ability to communicate through intelligently conceived speech.

I believe the emphasis placed upon the power of speech by both Onkelos and the Sefer HaChinuch is particularly apropos for the month of Elul and the upcoming period of the Yamim Noraim. My suggestion is strongly supported by the “Al Chet” of Yom Kippur, wherein nine of its 44 statements focus upon abusing the power of speech:
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For the sin that we have sinned before You with the utterance of the lips.
For the sin that we have sinned before You through speech.
For the sin that we have sinned before You through insincere confession.
For the sin that we have sinned before You through foolish speech.
For the sin that we have sinned before You through impure lips.
For the sin that we have sinned before You through evil talk.
For the sin that we have sinned before You with the idle chatter of our lips.
For the sin that we have sinned before You by gossip mongering.
For the sin that we have sinned before You through vain oath-taking.
(Translation, the Artscroll Machzor)
 
The Al Chet informs us of the great obligation to harness the power of speech in a wise and discerning manner. Our option is clear: We can either use it for mitzvot like vidui ma’aser, and as a vehicle of meaningful communication with others, or chas v’shalom, for the nine sins cited herein. Elul is preeminently the time when we make choices. As Shlomo HaMelech said so long ago: “mavet v’chaim b’yad lashon—death and life are on the tip of the tongue.” (Sefer Mishle 18:21) With Hashem’s help, may we choose life, v’chane yihi ratzon.
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Shabbat Shalom and kativah v’chatimah tovah.
 
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