Parashat Ki Tavo/Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8
This week's commentary was written by Dr. Ofra A. Backenroth, Associate Dean, The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, JTS.
Ki Tavo: "When you enter the land that God is giving you" (Deut. 26:1).
This week's Torah parashah is concerned with the Israelites' entrance into the Promised Land. The parashah emphasizes that the Israelites should obey God's commandments faithfully, with all their heart and soul. Since the Covenant between God and Israel establishes mutually binding obligations for both God and the Israelites, God's commitments are also reaffirmed: the promise to make Israel a holy people. We find a long description detailing the ceremonies that the Israelites should perform once they enter the Land as a way to reaffirm the Covenant (27:1–14, 28:1–14), and curses (27:15–26, 28:15–53) that befall those who do not observe the laws.
According to tradition, vocal recitation of the Torah dates back to the time of Moses, who, according to the Rabbis, would read the Torah publicly on Shabbat, at festivals, and the beginning of the month. The Talmud says that it was Ezra the Scribe who established the practice of reading the Torah on Shabbat, a practice that continues to this day.
However, the Torah is not simply recited, it is chanted by the reader according to the cantillation ("trope") marks that guide the singing of the sacred texts during public worship. To make it more complicated, these cantillation marks do not appear on the scroll. They are only printed in the text, and the reader needs to prepare the chanting before the performance. In Hebrew, the term for the cantillation marks is ta'am, which means sense. And indeed the pauses, pitch, and dynamics with which the text is recited help to highlight the meaning of that text. The style of cantillation varies according to different Jewish traditions, and there are different melodies connected to the cantillation marks for different sections of the Bible. Hence, the Torah and the haftarah sections use the same markings, but are sung with different notes.
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