Shabbat Parashat Ki Tavo - 5783

Shabbat Parashat Ki Tavo - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller

Then you shall say before Hashem your God, I have eliminated the holy things from

the house and I have also given it to the Levite, to the convert, to the orphan, and to

the widow, according to the entire commandment that You commanded me. I have

not transgressed any of Your commandments and I have not forgotten. [Devarim 26:13]

Forgotten what? Typically the Torah is pretty clear about such a thing, but here it just

says, v'lo shachachti, "and I did not forget". We have many options to guess at, but that

isn't how the Torah does things. What is it saying here?

Rav Yosef Soloveitchik brings Onkelos who gives us the simplest answer, one that fits

nicely. "I have not transgressed Your commandments nor have I forgotten them." Rav

Hirsch takes it one step farther, "I have also not forgotten to do what you have not expressly

commanded but have taken for granted at the fulfilling of Your commandments that we will

perform them", in other words, he applies it to all the Torah.

Torah Temimah limits it to only one. Given that this verse comes in the middle of a discussion

about tithes, he follows Ma'aser Sheni 5:11, "I did not forget to bless You and to pronounce

Your name over the tithe." Sifrei is close to this, "To bless You over the separation of tithes"

and Rashi favors this approach. Others choose one of the various commands about giving to

widows, orphans or converts, but the result is still a matter of not forgetting one.

We could also tie this last phrase of our verse to the beginning of the next verse, "I have not

eaten of it in my intense mourning." If so, then what is not being forgotten is the command

that one not eat the tithe, rather than the positive command above to give that tithe.

Whether the verse refers to one commandment or to all, to a positive or a negative command,

what the Torah is telling us is to be diligent in performing what we were given.