A Tale of Two Mountains – Parashat Ki Tavo
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of doubt; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us." (Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities")
They stood bewildered. Fearful, lacking certainty in front of the land. Moses commanded them the mitzvah of first fruits. Taught them to be thankful. They would bring the best fruits of the promised land to the high priest accompanied by a blessing. "Greater is one who speaks with the first fruits than one who brings them. For the one who brings performs one commandment, while the one who speaks performs two: brings and gives thanks". They learned a new language. They repeated the words. They transformed a fruit into a tale and a blessing into consciousness.
He sought to teach them blessing and rebuke. He instructed them to ascend two mountains. Six tribes on each mountain. Half would stand on the mountain of blessing – Gerizim, and half on the mountain of curse – Ebal. The Levites, the divine voice and authority, would remain in between, in the valley below. The Levites would bless with their faces toward Gerizim, and all the people would answer Amen. They would curse with their faces toward Ebal, and all would answer Amen again.
This is the third covenant between God and His people, this time it will be in the promised land. No longer the covenant of awe and fear at the foot of Mount Sinai. No longer the covenant of memory and commandment before Moses in the plains of Horeb. This is a covenant founded on daily choice between blessing and curse. This time the people ascend the mountains and the divinity remains below in the valley. The divinity here is no longer a sublime and momentary peak like a passing lightning storm in the desert, but an ongoing daily routine of life in their land. It is present in the heart of every social, economic, and moral order. It is part of the sanctity of life, prosperity, inner peace, mutual responsibility, and justice. This is a human divinity, conscious and connected to the land that was promised to the people as a space for making continuous moral choices. The choice of the theory of morals is the secret of the connection between the chosen people and the land promised to them. Without it, they have no right of existence in it. It is both the right and the obligation. The blessing or the curse.
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A “chosen nation” not in the sense of being an elevated nation, but because they knew how to realize the right of choice. "The Torah went among all nations", tell us our sages, "it came to Esau and was rejected, to Ishmael and was not accepted, to Ammon and Moab and was refused, until it came to Israel. They said in unison: 'We will obey and listen'". They chose the path of the divine morals.
A “promised land” not in the sense of security but in the sense of the promise it carries within it. "Look down from your holy dwelling", Moses requests of the people. A home is a mirror of those dwelling in it, a window to their soul. The land is a reflection of the people living within it and will also determine their worldviews and believes. If they live with each other in transparency, truth, and honesty, the land will be "of milk and honey", blessed. If they ignore, deny, or abuse each other, it will become "consuming its inhabitants", cursed.
The daily choice is the divinity, the essence of the connection between the people and the land. It is a right that carries within it heavy responsibility. It is an foundation of every daily action touching all areas and every moment of life, large and small. It is a way of life with all its achievements, difficulties, and upheavals. It is compassionate and loving, and also strict and demanding. Forgiving and uncompromising. Composed and exhusted from ups and downs. It is the effort and satisfaction of reaching the peak and the pain and difficulty of falling down the slope. It is all the time and everywhere.
They stood on the mountaintops. They were required to choose between first fruits (“bikurim”) and blessings dedicated to generosity and compassion, and firstborns (“bechorim”) sacrificed in vain in a cursed moment of stubbornness and hardness of heart. To choose between wealth and flourishing versus wickedness and drought. Between a blessed place built on the foundations of morality, faith, and openness, or the fraudulent and cursed realm of criminal acts done of deception. They listened to the Levites deep within them.
Elul came again. They remembered the founding fathers that chose the land for them and chose to renew in it the ancient language. One day they discovered in it the word "dream". Then they understood that he chose them to dream.
Written by Ran Oron is an Israeli architect who has lived in NY for over 20 years.
