Torah Trivia Study for Parashah 50. Ki Tavo 119.1.2

Torah Trivia Study for Parashah 50.  Ki Tavo (Questions Only)

1.)  Can you describe what Israelis are commanded to offer when entering Eretz Israel (as described within the opening of Parashah Ki Tavo?

2.)  Amidst offering the bikkurim basket, Israelis are commanded to make a declaration;  can you identify which of these phrases is the beginning of that declaration:

          a.)  “I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O LORD, have given me.”;

          b.)  “(Adonai) brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”; 

c.)  “The LORD freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents.”;

d.)  “We cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression.”; 

          e.)  “The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us.”;  or

          f.)  “My father was a fugitive Aramean.”?

3.)  Can you describe in what year, upon arriving within Eretz Israel, Israelis are to provide a special tithe for Levis, foreigners, orphans, and widows (according to Devarim 26:12):  a.)  1^st year;  b.)  2^nd year;  c.)  3^rd year;  d.)  4^th year;  e.)  5^th year;  f.)  6^th year;  g.)  7^th year;  h.)  50^th year;  and/or every year?

4.)  Can you describe what item(s) Moshe commands Israelis to place atop Mount Ebal:

a.)  The original tablets with 10 Commandments;

b.)  Moshe’s eventual remains;

          c.)  Yosef’s remains;

          d.)  Large, plastered stones upon which the mitzvot are written;

e.)  The Mishkan;

          f.)  An olive tree;

          g.)  A container of Manna;  and/or,

          h.)  Scrolls with happy thoughts;

5.)  Can you describe 1.)  which 6 tribes are to stand atop Mount Gerizim amidst the blessings for Israel;  and 2.)  which 6 tribes are to stand atop Mount Ebal amidst the curses towards Israel: 

          a.)  Reuven;

          b.)  Gad;

          c.)  Asher;

          d.)  Ephraim;

          e.)  Zevulun;

          f.)  Dan;

          g.)  Naphtali;

          h.)  Manasseh;

i.)  Shimon;

j.)  Levi;

k.)  Yudah;

l.)  Issachar;

m.)  Yosef;

n.)  Benyamin;  and/or,

o.)  Israel?    

6.)  Can you place the proceeding “12 Curses” in the appropriate sequence?

          a.)  “Cursed be he who lies with any beast.”;

          b.)  “Cursed be he who insults his father or mother.”;

          c.)  “Cursed be he who moves his fellow countryman’s landmark.”;

          d.)  “Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them.”;

          e.)  “Cursed be he who strikes down his fellow countryman in secret.”;

f.)  “Cursed be he who misdirects a blind person on his way.”;

g.)  “Cursed be anyone who makes a sculptured or molten image, abhorred by the LORD, a craftsman’s handiwork, and sets it up in secret.”;

          h.)  “Cursed be he who accepts a bribe in the case of the murder of an innocent person.”;

          i.)  “Cursed be he who subverts the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.”;

          j.)  “Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, for he has removed his father’s garment.”;

          k.)  “Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether daughter of his father or of his mother.”;  and,

          l.)  “Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law.”?

7.)  Amidst the listing of blessings for obedience, can you describe which of these blessings has a coinciding curse for disobedience?

          a.)  “Blessed shall you be in the city…” (Devarim 28:3);

          b.)  “(Blessed) shall you be in the country.” (Devarim 28:3);

          c.)  “Blessed shall be the issue of your womb,”  (Devarim 28:4);

          d.)  “(Blessed shall be) the produce of your soil,”  (Devarim 28:4);

e.)  “(Blessed shall be) the offspring of your cattle, the calving of your herd and the lambing of your flock.”  (Devarim 28:4);

          f.)  “Blessed shall be your basket…” (Devarim 28:5);

g.)  “(Blessed shall be) your kneading bowl.”  (Devarim 28:5);

          h.)  “Blessed shall you be in your comings…”  (Devarim 28:6);  and/or,

          i.)  “(Blessed) shall you be in your goings.”  (Devarim 28:6)?

8.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot:

“The LORD will put to rout before you the enemies who attack you;  they will march out against you by a single road, but flee from you by many roads.”  (Devarim 28:7);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  being routed, in many different directions, by enemies;

          b.)  having all the security walls of Israel fall down;

          c.)  being vaporised by trans-galactic alien civilisations;

          d.)  being transformed into cattle and herded by foreign nations;

e.)  consuming one’s own defecation, caused by the fear of one’s enemy, as the only source of nutrition;

          f.)  swimming endlessly into the Seas to escape the enemy;  and/or,

          g.)  perpetually mutilating one’s own flesh from fear of the enemy?

9.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot: 

“The LORD will give you abounding prosperity in the issue of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to assign to you.”  (Devarim 28:11).

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  slaughtering of one’s ox, and abduction of one’s ass and flock;

          b.)  abduction of one’s children;

          c.)  being abused whilst foreigners consume the local produce;

          d.)  produce being unproductive and eaten by locust;

          e.)  grapes of the vineyard being consumed by worms;

          f.)  olive trees yielding an absence of any olive oil;

          g.)  children being taken into captivity;

          h.)  trees and plants being overrun by crickets;

          i.)  a foreign nation devouring all the cattle and produce;

          j.)  eating one’s own children;

          k.)  the most genteel man greedily hoarding the flesh of his children for himself to consume;  and/or,

l.)  the most delicate woman greedily hoarding the afterbirth amidst her consumption of her newborn babies?

10.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot:

“The LORD will open for you (Adonai’s) bounteous store, the heavens, to provide rain for your land in season and to bless all your undertakings.”  (Devarim 28:12);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  Rivers turning into blood;

          b.)  An overwhelming flood overtaking the entirety of Eretz Israel;

          c.)  Rivers and wells being contaminated with unclean discharge;

          d.)  Frogs overtaking wells and rivers;

          e.)  Skies turning into cooper, and the Earth turning into iron;  and/or,

          f.)  Rain turning into dust, and sand falling from the Sky?

11.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot:

“The LORD will ordain blessings for you upon your barns and upon all your undertakings.  (Adonai) will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”  (Devarim 28:8);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  Being continually extorted within every enterprise;

          b.)  Being outwitted into disadvantages enterprises;

          c.)  Being discouraged into unfavourable comprises within every enterprise;

          d.)  Failing within every enterprise;  and/or,

          e.)  Floundering without any innovative enterprises?

12.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot: 

          “You will be creditor to many nations, but debtor to none.

“The LORD will make you the head, not the tail;  you will always be at the top and never at the bottom—if only you obey and faithfully observe the commandments of the LORD your God that I enjoin upon you this day,”  (Devarim 28:12 – 13);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  Miscalculating issued debt and experiencing financial ruin;

          b.)  Miscalculating accrued debt and experiencing perpetual financial enslavement;

          c.)  Becoming financially indebted to strangers;

d.)  Becoming financially insolvent because of a lack of diversity within one’s portfolio amidst turbulent economic conditions;  and/or,

          e.)  Losing all one’s material possessions through financial bankruptcy?

Torah Trivia Study for Parashah 50.  Ki Tavo 119.1.2 (with Answers)

1.)  Can you describe what Israelis are commanded to offer when entering Eretz Israel (as described within the opening of Parashah Ki Tavo?

          Answer: 

“When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish (Adonai’s) name.”  (Devarim  26:1 – 2).

2.)  Amidst offering the bikkurim basket, Israelis are commanded to make a declaration;  can you identify which of these phrases is the beginning of that declaration:

          a.)  “I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O LORD, have given me.”;

          b.)  “(Adonai) brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”; 

c.)  “The LORD freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents.”;

d.)  “We cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression.”; 

          e.)  “The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us.”;  or

          f.)  “My father was a fugitive Aramean.”?

Answer:  The answer is:  f.):  “My father was a fugitive Aramean”;  the sequence of options is actually (generally) in reverse order: 

“You shall then recite as follows before the LORD your God:  ‘My father was a fugitive Aramean.  He went down to Egypt with meagre numbers and sojourned there;  but there he became a great and very populous nation.  The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us;  they imposed heavy labor upon us.  We cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery and our oppression.  The LORD freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents.  He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil with You, O LORD, have given me.”  (Devarim 26:5 – 10).

         

3.)  Can you describe in what year, upon arriving within Eretz Israel, Israelis are to provide a special tithe for Levis, foreigners, orphans, and widows (according to Devarim 26:12):  a.)  1^st year;  b.)  2^nd year;  c.)  3^rd year;  d.)  4^th year;  e.)  5^th year;  f.)  6^th year;  g.)  7^th year;  h.)  50^th year;  and/or every year?

Answer:  The answer is:  c.)  the 3^rd year;  however, I am also in the camp with those who say every year J:

“When you have set aside a full tenth part of your yield—in the third year, the year of the tithe—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat their fill in your settlements, you shall declare before the LORD you God:  ‘I have cleared out the consecrated portion from the house;  and I have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, just as You commanded me;’”  (Devarim 26:12 – 13).

         

4.)  Can you describe what item(s) Moshe commands Israelis to place atop Mount Ebal:

a.)  The original tablets with 10 Commandments;

b.)  Moshe’s eventual remains;

          c.)  Yosef’s remains;

          d.)  Large, plastered stones upon which the mitzvot are written;

e.)  The Mishkan;

          f.)  An olive tree;

          g.)  A container of Manna;  and/or,

          h.)  Scrolls with happy thoughts;

          Answer:  The answer is:  d.)  large, plastered stones upon which the mitzvot are written:

“As soon as you have crossed the (Yordan) into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones.  Coat them with plaster and inscribe upon them all the words of this Teaching.  When you cross over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you—upon crossing the (Yordan), you shall set up these stones, about which I charge you this day, on Mount Ebal, and coat them with plaster.  There, too, you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones.  Do not wield an iron tool over them;  you must build the altar of the LORD your God of unhewn stones.  You shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God, and you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing before the LORD your God.  And on those stones you shall inscribe every word of this Teaching most distinctly.”  (Devarim 27:2 – 8).

5.)  Can you describe 1.)  which 6 tribes are to stand atop Mount Gerizim amidst the blessings for Israel;  and 2.)  which 6 tribes are to stand atop Mount Ebal amidst the curses towards Israel: 

          a.)  Reuven;

          b.)  Gad;

          c.)  Asher;

          d.)  Ephraim;

          e.)  Zevulun;

          f.)  Dan;

          g.)  Naphtali;

          h.)  Manasseh;

i.)  Shimon;

j.)  Levi;

k.)  Yudah;

l.)  Issachar;

m.)  Yosef;

n.)  Benyamin;  and/or,

o.)  Israel?    

         

          Answer:  The answer is:

1.)  The 6 tribes to stand atop Moutn Gerizim amidst the blessings for Israel are:  i.)  Shimon;  j.)  Levi;  k.)  Yudah;  l.)  Issachar;  m.)  Yosef;  and, n.)  Benyamin;

2.)  The 6 tribes to stand atop Mount Ebal amidst the curses towards Israel are:  a.)  Reuven;  b.)  Gad;  c.)  Asher;  e.)  Zevulun;  f.)  Dan;  and, g.)  Naphtali:

“After you have crossed the (Yordan), the following shall stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessing for the people is spoken:  (Shimon), Levi, (Yudah), Issachar, (Yosef), and (Benyamin).  And for the curse, the following shall stand on Mount Ebal:  (Reuven), Gad, Asher, (Zevulun), Dan, and Naphtali.”  (Devarim 27:12 – 13).

         

6.)  Can you place the proceeding “12 Curses” in the appropriate sequence?

          a.)  “Cursed be he who lies with any beast.”;

          b.)  “Cursed be he who insults his father or mother.”;

          c.)  “Cursed be he who moves his fellow countryman’s landmark.”;

          d.)  “Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them.”;

          e.)  “Cursed be he who strikes down his fellow countryman in secret.”;

f.)  “Cursed be he who misdirects a blind person on his way.”;

g.)  “Cursed be anyone who makes a sculptured or molten image, abhorred by the LORD, a craftsman’s handiwork, and sets it up in secret.”;

          h.)  “Cursed be he who accepts a bribe in the case of the murder of an innocent person.”;

          i.)  “Cursed be he who subverts the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.”;

          j.)  “Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, for he has removed his father’s garment.”;

          k.)  “Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether daughter of his father or of his mother.”;  and,

          l.)  “Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law.”?

          Answer:  The correct sequence is:   g.);  b.);  c.);  f.);  i.);  j.);  a.);  k.);  l.);  e.);  h.);  and, d.):

“Cursed be anyone who makes a sculptured or molten image, abhorred by the LORD, a craftsman’s handiwork, and sets it up in secret—And all the people shall respond, Amen.

          “Cursed be he who insults his father or mother.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

          “Cursed be he who moves his fellow countryman’s landmark.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

          “Cursed be he who misdirects a blind person on his way.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

“Cursed be he who subverts the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

“Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, for he has removed his father’s garment.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

          “Cursed be he who lies with any beast.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

“Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether daughter of his father or of his mother.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

          “Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

          “Cursed be he who strikes down his fellow countryman in secret.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

“Cursed be he who accepts a bribe in the case of the murder of an innocent person.—And all the people shall say, Amen.

“Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them.—And all the people shall say, Amen.”  (Devarim 27:15 – 26).

7.)  Amidst the listing of blessings for obedience, can you describe which of these blessings has a coinciding curse for disobedience?

          a.)  “Blessed shall you be in the city…” (Devarim 28:3);

          b.)  “(Blessed) shall you be in the country.” (Devarim 28:3);

          c.)  “Blessed shall be the issue of your womb,”  (Devarim 28:4);

          d.)  “(Blessed shall be) the produce of your soil,”  (Devarim 28:4);

e.)  “(Blessed shall be) the offspring of your cattle, the calving of your herd and the lambing of your flock.”  (Devarim 28:4);

          f.)  “Blessed shall be your basket…” (Devarim 28:5);

g.)  “(Blessed shall be) your kneading bowl.”  (Devarim 28:5);

          h.)  “Blessed shall you be in your comings…”  (Devarim 28:6);  and/or,

          i.)  “(Blessed) shall you be in your goings.”  (Devarim 28:6)?

          Answer:  The answer is i.):  “All the above”:

          “Cursed shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the country.

          “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Cursed shall be the issue of your womb and the produce of your soil, the calving of your herd and the lambing of your flock.

          “Cursed shall you be in your comings and cursed shall you be in your goings.”  (Devarim 28:16 – 19).

         

8.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot:

“The LORD will put to rout before you the enemies who attack you;  they will march out against you by a single road, but flee from you by many roads.”  (Devarim 28:7);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  being routed, in many different directions, by enemies;

          b.)  having all the security walls of Israel fall down;

          c.)  being vaporised by trans-galactic alien civilisations;

          d.)  being transformed into cattle and herded by foreign nations;

e.)  consuming one’s own defecation, caused by the fear of one’s enemy, as the only source of nutrition;

          f.)  swimming endlessly into the Seas to escape the enemy;  and/or,

          g.)  perpetually mutilating one’s own flesh from fear of the enemy?

          Answer:  The answer is:  a.)  and b.):

“The LORD will put you to rout before your enemies;  you shall march out against them by a single road, but flee from them by many roads;  and you shall become a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”  (Devarim 28:25);

“It shall shut you up in all your towns throughout your land until every mighty, towering wall in which you trust has come down.”  (Devarim 28:52).

9.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot: 

“The LORD will give you abounding prosperity in the issue of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to assign to you.”  (Devarim 28:11).

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  slaughtering of one’s ox, and abduction of one’s ass and flock;

          b.)  abduction of one’s children;

          c.)  being abused whilst foreigners consume the local produce;

          d.)  produce being unproductive and eaten by locust;

          e.)  grapes of the vineyard being consumed by worms;

          f.)  olive trees yielding an absence of any olive oil;

          g.)  children being taken into captivity;

          h.)  trees and plants being overrun by crickets;

          i.)  a foreign nation devouring all the cattle and produce;

          j.)  eating one’s own children;

          k.)  the most genteel man greedily hoarding the flesh of his children for himself to consume;  and/or,

l.)  the most delicate woman greedily hoarding the afterbirth amidst her consumption of her newborn babies?

          Answer:  The answer is:  m.)  “All the above”:

“Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it, your ass shall be seized in front of you, and it shall not be returned to you;  your flock shall be delivered to your enemies, with none to help you.”  (Devarim 28:31);

“Your sons and daughters shall be delivered to another people, while you look on;  and your eyes shall strain for them constantly, but you shall be helpless.”  (Devarim 28:32);

“A people you do not know shall eat up the produce of your soil and all your gains;  you shall be abused and downtrodden continually,”  (Devarim 28:33);

“Though you take much seed out to the field, you shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it.”  (Devarim 28:38);

“Though you plant vineyards and till them, you shall have no wine to drink or store, for the worm shall devour them.”  (Devarim 28:39);

“Though you have olive trees throughout your territory, you shall have no oil for anointment, for your olives shall drop off.”  (Devarim 28:40);

“Though you beget sons and daughters, they shall not remain with you, for they shall go into captivity.”  (Devarim 28:41);

          “The cricket shall take over all the trees and produce of your land.”  (Devarim 28:42);

“It shall devour the offspring of your cattle and the produce of your soil, until you have been wiped out, leaving you nothing of new grain, wine, or oil, of the calving of your herds and the lambing of your flocks, until it has brought you to ruin.”  (Devarim 28:51);

“(You) shall eat your own issue, the flesh of your sons and daughters that the LORD your God has assigned to you, because of the desperate straits to which your enemy shall reduce you.”  (Devarim 28:53);

“He who is most tender and fastidious among you shall be too mean to his brother and the wife of his bosom and the children he has spared to share with any of them the flesh of the children that he eats, because he has nothing else left as a result of the desperate straits to which your enemy shall reduce you in all your towns.”  (Devarim 28:54 – 55);

“And she who is most tender and dainty among you, so tender and dainty that she would never venture to set a foot on the ground, shall begrudge the husband of her bosom, and her son and her daughter, the afterbirth that issues from between her legs and the babies she bears;  she shall eat them secretly, because of utter want, in the desperate straits to which your enemy shall reduce you in your towns.”  (Devarim 28:56 – 57).

10.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot:

“The LORD will open for you (Adonai’s) bounteous store, the heavens, to provide rain for your land in season and to bless all your undertakings.”  (Devarim 28:12);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  Rivers turning into blood;

          b.)  An overwhelming flood overtaking the entirety of Eretz Israel;

          c.)  Rivers and wells being contaminated with unclean discharge;

          d.)  Frogs overtaking wells and rivers;

          e.)  Skies turning into cooper, and the Earth turning into iron;  and/or,

          f.)  Rain turning into dust, and sand falling from the Sky?

          Answer:  The answer is:  e.)  and f.):

          “The skies above your head shall be copper and the earth under you iron.”  (Devarim 28:23);

“The LORD will make the rain of your land dust, and sand shall drop on you from the sky, until you are wiped out.”  (Devarim 28:24).

11.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot:

“The LORD will ordain blessings for you upon your barns and upon all your undertakings.  (Adonai) will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”  (Devarim 28:8);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  Being continually extorted within every enterprise;

          b.)  Being outwitted into disadvantages enterprises;

          c.)  Being discouraged into unfavourable comprises within every enterprise;

          d.)  Failing within every enterprise;  and/or,

          e.)  Floundering without any innovative enterprises?

          Answer:  The answer is:  d.):

“The LORD will let loose against you calamity, panic, and frustration in all the enterprises you undertake, so that you shall soon be utterly wiped out because of your evildoing in forsaking Me.”  (Devarim 28:20).

         

12.)  Amidst the proceeding blessing for obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot: 

          “You will be creditor to many nations, but debtor to none.

“The LORD will make you the head, not the tail;  you will always be at the top and never at the bottom—if only you obey and faithfully observe the commandments of the LORD your God that I enjoin upon you this day,”  (Devarim 28:12 – 13);

Can you identify which of these phrases is/are an actual, subsequent curse(s) for disobedience towards Adonai’s mitzvot, described within Parashah Ki Tavo:

          a.)  Miscalculating issued debt and experiencing financial ruin;

          b.)  Miscalculating accrued debt and experiencing perpetual financial enslavement;

          c.)  Becoming financially indebted to strangers;

d.)  Becoming financially insolvent because of a lack of diversity within one’s portfolio amidst turbulent economic conditions;  and/or,

          e.)  Losing all one’s material possessions through financial bankruptcy?

          Answer:  The answer is:  c.):

“The stranger in your midst shall rise above you higher and higher, while you sink lower and lower:  he shall be your creditor, but you shall not be his;  he shall be the head and you the tail.”  (Devarim 28:43 – 44);

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Discussion Questions:

What are the implications regarding other nations amidst the designation of Israel as Adonai’s chosen nation?

Amidst the notion of Israel lending to many nations, there is the consideration of Israel having interaction with many nations;  which prompts the consideration of Israelis, at least for some duration, living within other nations, voluntarily and even advantageously (beyond the specific context of being cast-out because of disobedience to Adonai’s commands);  thus, are there any specific guidelines regarding the behaviour that Israelis are to maintain within foreign nations (that necessarily differ from living within Eretz Israel)?

Is there any intentionality with both the altar and the curses being established atop Mount Ebal?

What is the reasoning behind the specific 12 curses that are recited atop Mount Ebal;  is there any specific significance within these curses (and the coinciding mitzvot of these curses)?  Are these 12 specifically intended to address violations that have a tendency of being comparatively hidden?  How do these compare with the “10 Commandments”?

Do the blessings and the curses intrinsically influence Israelis to pursue the temporal experiences that are described within the blessings?  Do temporal experiences similar to those described within the curses necessarily signify some form of past disobedience and/or uncleanliness on the part of those who maintain such experiences?  What are the ethical inferences that are made from observing either form of experience amidst other individuals (and amidst ourselves);  and how does this influence the manner in which we interact with each other?  Is there any limitation in discerning the righteousness of an individual simply by observing the temporal experience of such an individual?  What is the propensity and history of individuals working diligently to maintain the appearance of blessings, whilst causing severe transgressions towards other individuals (and disobedience from the mitzvot)?  What teachings of compassion, benevolence, and forgiveness are provided to balance the tendency to judge and isolate with the responsibility to heal and love?

How are the numbers of livestock and crops able to increase, in a sustainable manner, with presumably the same area of land for Eretz Israel?

119.1.2

ושלום אהבא , Family and Friends.

שלום.नमस्ते.สมาธ.Pax.سلام.Peace.SatNam.صلح.Kwey.Amani.Barış.ειρήνη.Pace.Paz.Paix.Fred.Frieden.Vrede.Siochana.мир.امن.和平.平和.평화.Aloha....

This is our Torah Trivia study for Parashah Ki Tavo.  Within this, we deal with the promise of prosperity amidst obedience to Adonai’s mitzvot, and the prospect of dismal futility amidst disobedience to Adonai’s mitzvot;  and some of the descriptions are rather gruesome.

The featured Torah Trivia question for this Parashah is (paraphrasing):  “Can you describe the opening phrase within the declaration to be made when offering the bikkurim basket (of the first fruits of Eretz Israel)?”

And the featured Hebrew term for this Parashah is, indeed:  “בכורים,” (“bikkurim,” meaning, “best of your crops”), as this previously appears within Parashah Vayikra (Vayikra 2:14).

,ושלום אהבא

Peter

שלום.नमस्ते.สมาธ.Pax.سلام.Peace.SatNam.صلح.Kwey.Amani.Barış.ειρήνη.Pace.Paz.Paix.Fred.Frieden.Vrede.Siochana.мир.امن.和平.平和.평화.Aloha....

Shalom (Hebrew). Namaste (Sanskrit). Samadhi (Thai/Pali). Pax (Latin). Salaam (Arabic). Peace (English). Sat Nam (Punjabi). Solh (Persian). Kwey (Lakotah). Amani (Swahili). Barish (Turkish). Erieni (Greek). Pache (Italiano). Paz (Espanol). Paix (Francais). Fred (Scandinavian). Frieden (Deutsch). Siochana (Irish). Mir (Russian). Amin (Urdu). Heping (Mandarin). Heiwa (Japanese). Pyeonghwa (Korean). Aloha (Hawai’ian). Peace (Common Symbol). Peace (Common Sign). Peace (General American Sign Language). Peace (American Braille).

ૐ.אמן

(Om. Amein)