Torah Tidbits - What will 5786 look like when you get there? - By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
We read this week in Ki Tavo: “And when you enter (ki tavo) the land that Adonai your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it.”
Some have turned to this verse (and others) to “prove” that Israel is justified to call the West Bank “Judea and Samaria” or the retaking of Gaza, since it is a part of the land. While yes, this is our ancestral homeland and we have a historical claim to the land, I see Israel through the eyes of modern Zionism and the UN Vote resolution 181 that called for side-by-side states, a resolution that Israel has been fighting for since day one (another conversation - contact me if you want to talk about it).
The passage itself says, “when you enter the land,” yet even more importantly, it says, “you must also take possession of it and settle in it,” the latter being a key to their success. Thus, once in the land, in settling, they were to bring the first fruits as a way to show gratitude, provide a tithe for the vulnerable in their midst, and write the Torah on stones, making sure that their principles were visible for all to see as the center of national life.
While gratitude, providing, and principles were foundational components that were to guide their behaviors in the land (and still are), as we travel through the month of Elul on the cusp of a new year, it should feel like it is speaking directly to us as well, even if not quite the same.
Whether entering the land in Ki Tavo or marching toward the new year about to enter 5786, entering is the first step, but settling—choosing to live with intention, shape a home, and create a life of meaning—is the harder, even deeper work.
Elul is our invitation to do more than just “show up” to the new year. We can walk into Rosh Hashanah carrying the same old habits, resentments, distractions, or indifferent attitudes about Judaism. Or we can choose to enter with presence, ready to dwell in the year ahead with a sense of responsibility, purpose, and self-betterment.
Here is our collective question: what will we bring into the new year and what will we leave behind? Which grudges need to be released so our hearts have room to settle in peace? Which practices—acts of justice, kindness, gratitude—do we want to plant in the soil of the coming year? What will 5786 look like when we get there?
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky