Was Bambi Jewish? | Ki Savo 5784
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
I like getting the bad news out of the way first. No one likes negative news, but at least, if it’s shared first, you still have something good to look forward to.
People don't like hearing negativity, but they often don't like sharing it either. I've noticed that when it comes to bad news—whether it's a layoff, a health issue, or a breakup—it usually takes the person delivering it some time to really open up. They might start with something bad and gradually reveal worse and worse details as if they need to ease themselves into sharing the hardest part.
“You’re performance has been weaker lately,” is a good intro to the far harsher formal probation.
I think a lot about cushioning tough news when reading this parsha.
Ki Savo includes the tochacha, the rebuke, of Moshe to the Jewish People. As opposed to the earlier tochacha of Parshas Bechukosai, which Ramban writes focuses on the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash, the focus of the rebuke of Ki Savo is on the final exile. We always read this tochacha before Rosh Hashana to end the year with curses, שֶׁתִּכְלֶה הַשָּׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, in the hope that just as the year is ending so should the exile.
A closer examination of the rebuke, however, highlights how strangely it is structured.
Firstly, unlike the tochacha in Bechukosei, the tochacha in Ki Savo does not include any parting words of comfort. The earlier tochacha of Bechukosai ends with the comforting words that God will remember his covenant with our Forefathers. Not so in our parsha. It ends with curses but no comfort.
שאלת ממני למה לא נכתבת נחמה בקללות של והיה כי תבא אל הארץ כמו בקללות של אם בחקתי
שו”ת רדב”ז ח”ב ס’ תשס”ט
Why doesn’t the tochacha of Ki Savo end with any words of comfort?
Secondly, after a long list of curses, the final curse seems to end on a strange note.
אָרוּר אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָקִים אֶת־דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה־הַזֹּאת לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם וְאָמַר כׇּל־הָעָם אָמֵן׃
Cursed be whoever will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them.—And all the people shall say, Amen.
What is this final curse about? Simply put, as explained by Rashi, it is a catch-all—a general curse for not fulfilling the words of the Torah. The Ramban, however, offers a very different explanation: The final curse refers to the importance of doing hagbah—showing the Sefer Torah to the rest of the congregation.
וְאָמְרוּ עַל דֶּרֶךְ אַגָּדָה, זֶה הַחַזָּן שֶׁאֵינוֹ מֵקִים סִפְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה לְהַעֲמִידָן כְּתִקְנָן שֶׁלֹּא יִפְּלוּ. וְלִי נִרְאֶה עַל הַחַזָּן שֶׁאֵינוֹ מֵקִים סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה עַל הַצִּבּוּר לְהַרְאוֹת פְּנֵי כְּתִיבָתוֹ לַכֹּל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁמְּפֹרָשׁ בְּמַסֶּכֶת סוֹפְרִים (יד יד), שֶׁמַּגְבִּיהִין אוֹתוֹ וּמַרְאֶה פְּנֵי כְּתִיבָתוֹ לָעָם הָעוֹמְדִים לִימִינוֹ וְלִשְׂמֹאלוֹ, וּמַחְזִירוֹ לְפָנָיו וּלְאַחֲרָיו, שֶׁמִּצְוָה לַכֹּל, אֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים, לִרְאוֹת הַכָּתוּב וְלִכְרֹעַ וְלוֹמַר, וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂם מֹשֶׁה וְגוֹ' (דברים ד':מ"ד), וְכֵן נוֹהֲגִין
Granted this is obviously a more aggadic approach to the final curse, as Ramban himself acknowledges, but it is quite a bizarre ending. Why would all the painful curses and suffering end on such a note? The final curse is for those who don’t perform hagbah properly?! Really? I struggle with hagbah as much as the next out-of-shape Jew, but why should the final curse of the tochacha serve as an allusion to neglecting this mitzvah?!
To understand this let’s explore the Jewish roots of the most iconic Disney characters.
Read the rest on Substack, and listen to the full shiur above!