​Parashat Ki Tavo 5786, 2026: "The Power of Speech"

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Vidui ma’aser (the Declaration Concerning Tithes) is a mitzvah that appears in our parasha:

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 Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
The Rambam (1135-1204) formulates this 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 [declaration] 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 and brackets)
 
In sum, according to the Rambam, vidui ma’aser is simultaneously an act of hakaret hatov for what Hashem has done for us, and a review of the separation and distribution of the tithes we have completed.
 
The anonymous author of the Sefer HaChinuch (13th century) gives new meaning to the phrase, “Then you shall say before Hashem, your God:”

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, underlining and emendations my own)
 
While this analysis of the singular import of human speech is intriguing, it is unclear how it contributes to a better understanding of vidui ma’aser. Fortunately, our author builds upon this notion, and elucidates why the spoken act of “Then you shall say before Hashem, your God” must take place:

Now, inasmuch as the manner of tithes and t’rumah is a great [important] 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. The Rambam 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].” Therefore, he underscores the singular import of human speech so we may understand the crucial role of oral testimony in guarding the integrity of the tithes.
 
The Sefer HaChinuch’s discussion of the extraordinary significance of human speech is reminiscent of Onkelos’ translation/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 sum, for Onkelos, the distinctive marker that separates humankind from the rest of Creation is our ability to communicate through intelligently conceived speech.
 
In my view, the analyses of Onkelos and the Sefer HaChinuch are particularly apropos for the month of Elul and the upcoming period of the Yamim Noraim. This idea is strongly supported in the “Al Chet” tefilah of Yom Kippur as it contains no less than nine statements that focus upon the abuse of the power of speech:
​
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)
 
I believe the above declarations teach us that with the great power of speech comes the even greater responsibility to use this gift wisely. On measure, it can either be used for mitzvot such as vidui ma’aser, and as a vehicle of authentic communication with others, or for the array of verbal sins that we find in the Al Chet.
 
Elul is ultimately the time when we make life-defining choices. With Hashem’s help, may we use the power of speech to serve Him and build a better world for Klal Yisrael and all humankind. As Shlomo HaMelech taught us so long ago: “mavet v’chaim b’yad lashon — death and life are in ‘the hand’ of the tongue.” (Sefer Mishle 18:21).
 
Shabbat Shalom and kativah v’chatimah tovah.
 
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