Parshat Ki Tavo

Parshat Ki Tavo
September 19, 2008/ 19 Elul 5768

"Now if you will listen, truly listen, to the voice of God..." (Deut 28:1)

One of the stylistic features of Biblical Hebrew is that it often repeats key verbs twice in order to emphasize their importance. Traditional commentators, who operate from a paradigm in which not a single word in the Torah is without the possibility of meaning, find profound insights in many of these seemingly unnecessary repetitions.

In this week's portion, Ki Tavo, we are instructed that if we listen to God's commandments, then we will enjoy numerous blessings. This is a theme which is articulated again and again throughout the Book of Deuteronomy. However, in this instance the verb "sh'ma," "to listen," is repeated twice, making a proper translation something close to: "if you will listen, truly listen..."

The S'fat Emet, the Hasidic commentary of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter of Ger, suggests that the dual use of the verb "to listen" teaches us that while the voice of God is inside us all the time, we are often unable or unwilling to hear it. He writes:

"The living soul constantly hears the voice of the Torah, but this too is hidden from us. This is why the verse says: 'listen, listen'-- listen to that which you already are hearing." (S'fat Emet, Ki Tavo #2, trans. Rabbi Art Green)

In more down-to-earth language, I think that he means that our heart knows a lot more than our head is either willing or able to accept. Sometimes we all make choices which we know deep down are wrong, but in our head we find a way to justify them. We all have dreams that our reason ignores or tells us are impossible. We all know what it feels like to have a gut feeling about something or someone, but often we shut it down before we can truly listen to its message.

This parsha teaches us that many blessings are available to us as soon as we begin to listen to that which we are already hearing-- as soon as we open our minds to the wisdom that we already hold inside of us. This Shabbat, let's all make a point of trying to listen to what our hearts and guts are telling us-- it just might be the Voice of God.