"And on those stones you shall inscribe every word of this Teaching..." (Devarim/Deuteronomy 27:8)
Ki Tavo translates to "when you enter," and instructs the Israelites as to what's supposed to happen when they enter the land which will become Israel: they're supposed to make a first fruits offering and recite the story of the exodus from Egypt. There's a reiteration of blessings for remaining faithful and curses for failing to do so.
The most intriguing part of this parsha, for me, is a little detail about who stands where when the blessings and curses are reiterated after the people enter the land. The tribes of Reuben (Leah), Gad (Zilpah), Asher (Zilpah), Zebulun (Leah), Dan (Bilhah), and Naftali (Bilhah) are to stand on Mount Ebal when the curses are spoken, and the tribes of Simeon (Leah), Levi (Leah), Judah (Leah), Issachar (Leah), Joseph/Ephraim/Manasseh (Rachel), and Benjamin (Rachel) are to stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessings are spoken. Why the two mountains? Why the splitting of tribes into those attending to blessings and those attending to curses? Does it have to do with status? Is that why all the tribes descended from the enslaved women Bilhah and Zilpah are among the curse tribes?
Join us at 9:00 am this Saturday for coffee, donuts, and what's always a lively discussion.
Other lenses
Want to know what other Jewish thinkers are saying about this parsha?
Wikipedia has an incredible treasure trove of geekery about the weekly portion, laying out everything from the number of Hebrew letters in the parsha to summaries of classical commentaries. Prepare to go down a very deep rabbithole.
Sefaria is an amazing free resource--an ever-growing library of Jewish texts in both Hebrew and English. In addition to the Hebrew text and translation, it provides the text of most of the classical commentaries (not all of which have been translated... yet). The parsha is one of the first links on the main page.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, does a podcast called Ten Minutes of Torah--perfect for when you're time-constrained. The Union for Reform Judaism has a whole page of resources for the parsha, ranging from beginner's guides to pieces on the contemporary relevance of the portion. The Women of Reform Judaism site has a glorious archive of the entire text of The Torah: A Women's Commentary divided up by parsha.
My Jewish Learning has a summary of the portion, the parsha itself and the haftorah, and commentary.
For a Reconstructionist take, visit Reconstructing Judaism's weekly learning page.
T'ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, has a weekly d'var that looks at the parsha as a starting point for contemporary political issues.
The World Union for Progressive Judaism has a parsha commentary archive.
Keshet's Torah Queeries page provides commentary from an LGBTQ perspective (search on the portion name).
The Jewish Theological Society (the Conservative Branch seminary) provides weekly commentary at JTS Torah Online.
Yeshivat Maharat, the first Orthodox yeshiva to ordain women, has a collection of Divrei Torah written by women and organized by parsha, on its site.
Limmud, a 35-year-old grassroots Jewish learning event that started in the UK and has become an international phenomenon, maintains an archive of commentaries.
Liberal Judaism's Thought for the Week provides concise but thoughtful analysis of the portion.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi Emeritus of England, engages in profound commentary on the weekly portion in Covenant & Conversation.
InterfaithFamily puts out an animated Torahlog including contemporary reactions, poetry, folk music, and Jewish scholarship on the parsha.
The Jewish Renewal movement's site maintains an archive of commentary. Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, the Velveteen Rabbi--an author and Jewish Renewal rabbi--does commentary on her site.
The #parshachat hashtag on Twitter marks a constantly-running social media conversation on the parsha.
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