![]() ![]() There is a part of a verse in Ki Tavo that the rabbis share a teaching on in the Talmud that beautifully captures this balance: ![]() The simultaneous focus on the individual and the communal in this parashah encapsulates the balancing act that is asked of us as individual members of the Jewish people. There is a shift in the grammar towards the end of Deuteronomy chapter 28 to a plural form, for example: ׳עליכם׳-“alikhem”-“upon you” found twice in the plural form and ׳אתכם׳-“etkhem”-“you” found four times in the plural form in Deuteronomy 28:63. While the Levites are addressing “all the people of Israel” who are standing by tribe on these two mountains, emphasizing a collective experience, the grammar found initially in the curses and blessings listed in Deuteronomy 27 and much of Deuteronomy 28 is in the singular, emphasizing individual consequence: with ׳ארור׳-“arur”-“cursed” and ׳ברוך׳-“barukh”-“blessed” repeated throughout in the singular form. The Levites shall then proclaim in a loud voice to all the people of Israel” the curses and the blessings. And for the curse…” six tribes “…shall stand on Mount Eival. In Ki Tavo, in Deuteronomy 27:12-14, Moshe instructs the people of Israel that after crossing the Jordan, six tribes “shall stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessing for the people is spoken. So why do we do this? Why not only confess to our individual sins of the year, perhaps at the end of the silent Amidah, when we can reflect on our own actions and where we want to do better personally in the coming year? Is it not enough to go through the process of teshuvah, of repentance and return, going around to each of the people we have personally harmed during the course of the year, apologizing, pledging to do better next year, and perhaps thinking of casting away these personal sins with a variety of customs for the season, such as tashlikh? Perhaps we can gain some insight as to what is going on with the communal public proclamation of sins, that each individual may or may not be personally guilty of, by looking to this week’s parashah, Ki Tavo. I imagine that many people can relate to some, but not all, of the sins we confess to on the High Holidays. While I can certainly acknowledge that there are sins on the list that I am guilty of in any given year, there are typically a number of sins that I confess to while praying in community during the High Holidays that I have not committed. I have often wondered at this part of the prayers. Jewish Accountability - Individual and CommunalĮvery High Holiday season, Jewish communities around the world gather together and publicly recite confessions of a variety of sins. ![]()
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