38 | SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022 

I

n this season, as we 
each engage in Heshbon 
HaNefesh, taking a 
personal accounting 
of our lives, let us also 
reflect on the gifts that 
we have been given. 
Chief among them are 
the Torah, the Hebrew 
language and our ability 
to synthesize meaning 
through interpretations 
and opinions.
The late Rabbi 
Jonathan Sacks wrote, 
“... in truth, this always was 
our greatest gift: the Torah 
… the voice of Heaven as it is 
heard on Earth, the word that 
lights the world.
” The powerful 

messages of the Torah are 
timeless, and one of our 
great strengths is that we 
have continued to live by 
the words of the Torah in 
ways that are traditional 
and meaningful. 
One aspect of national 
unity among the Jewish 
people is that when we read 
the Torah in public we do 
so in Hebrew. Whether 
someone provides a word-
for-word translation of 
the Hebrew as it is read, as 
in the days of Ezra the scribe, 
or in the modern era when we 
are blessed with high rates of 
literacy and printed translations, 
we continue to read in Hebrew. 

Mastery of the language unlocks 
doors to the text we might not 
have realized without being 
comfortable with Hebrew.
One example is in Ki Tavo. 
This week we read the line that 
is in every Passover Haggadah: 
arami ovayd avi , which can be 
colloquially translated as “my 
father was a lost/wandering/
fugitive Aramean.
” This is often 
translated interpretatively, 
following Rashi, as “an Aramean 
attempted to destroy my father.
” 
Yet Rashi’s interpretation is 
only one. Rashbam, Rashi’s 
grandson, suggests that arami 
refers to Avraham; Ibn Ezra 
(12th century) suggests that it is 
Yaakov; and the Or HaChaim 
(18th century) suggests that it 
refers to the evil inclination that 
all of us bear within ourselves. 
Each explanation is 
meaningful, sincere and well-
reasoned. All work within the 
context of the text itself maintain 
the focus on being grateful for all 

that we have been given. Their 
diversity allows us to recognize 
ways in which all of us can derive 
a meaningful, personal and 
thoughtful message from a text 
once we understand it. Among 
our tasks is to understand the 
tenets of our faith, both as they 
were given and as they apply to 
our lives today. Our story is and 
always has been a generational 
one, synthesizing personal 
meaning and passing that along 
to our children. 
As the cycle of the year turns 
and renews, let us reflect on 
how we have derived authentic 
and personal meaning from 
our sacred texts in the past and 
intentionally seek to internalize 
their meaning for our future as 
we show gratitude for the many 
gifts and blessings in our lives. 
L
’Shana Tova. 

Rabbi Jeremy Yoskowitz is a Jewish 

Studies instructor at Frankel Jewish 

Academy as well as a chaplain and 

ethics consultant for Beaumont Health. 

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

The Teachings 
of Torah

Rabbi 
Jeremy 
Yoskowitz

Parshat 

Ki Tavo: 

Deuteronomy 

26:1-29:8; 

Isaiah 

60:1-22.

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