Turn It Again: Torah Wisdom for Today
In Pirkei Avot, a book of maxims in the Mishnah, an ancient rabbi, Ben Bag-Bag said about Torah study, “Hafokh bah, va’Hafokh vah, d’khola bah.” Turn it over and over, for everything is in it. For two thousand years, that’s what Jews have done. Here is another turning.
Parshat Ki Tavo 2024
Walking Through the Valley
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil“ is
one of the most memorable lines of Psalm 23 and of the entire Bible. What is fascinating is how later linguistic insights completely change the meaning of this beloved poem as an accompaniment to death to a companion for making life choices.
It all hinges on the word tzalmavet.
The authors of the King James Bible had a mandate to render the Bible into poetic, accurate English free from political and religious biases. They largely achieved that, creating the most enduring and influential translation of the Bible. Yet they were constrained by their knowledge of Hebrew. When they encountered the phrase gei tzalmavet, they thought the word was a compound of tzel, shadow, and mavet, death. As a consequence, countless generations understood that walking through the valley of the shadow of death was an apt psalm to describe the process of moving through the grief of loss.
Later scholarly opinion, however, understands that tzalmavet refers to deep darkness or profound peril.
Why does this matter?
All of a sudden, we find ourselves walking through a valley of profound darkness and peril.
Most of us will face moments where we need to confront the choices we make; are we choosing to walk a path of blessing or curse? Where are we headed? The process of teshuvah that we undertake during this month of Elul is meant to help us subject our lives to the strong light of introspection, a brilliance so illuminating that it can pierce and lift even the darkest gloom.
In this week’s Torah reading, Ki Tavo, this metaphor is turned into a powerful fact of ritual and geography. Six tribes stood on Mount Gerizim to pronounce blessings, while six tribes stood on Mount Ebal to declare curses. The Levites stood in the valley between the mountains and recited the commandments, with the people responding “Amen” after each blessing and curse, affirming their commitment to the covenant with God.
It was a moment of high drama, almost like a family intervention, but on a national scale. For while we hope that we are choosing blessings, most of us cling to a few shadowy curses as well. The stark call and response from the mountainsides must have shaken the Levites and all who heard. We can do better.
The 23rd Psalm will always be about death; the image of the shadow of death is too powerful, beautiful, and stirring to ever change that. But the psalm offers us more than that; it reminds us that even if we are walking through thick, impenetrable gloom, we can maintain faith that it will pass. Additionally, as we engage in the process of teshuvah, we can recommit ourselves to tilt our hearts and ears to the mountain of blessing.
