Parasha Ki Tavo (9-3-17): Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8

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This week’s Torah portion covers Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8.

* The eternal lament of my goy cohosts: “I should have been more prepared.” I’m amazed when they simply show up sober.

* The Puritans who came to America saw themselves as following in the footsteps of the Israelites.

* 26: “When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it…Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.”

In this ritual, there’s the recapitulation of suffering at the hands of the goyim and then rejoicing that Jews have their own state. Any group can do this. They can remember their suffering at the hands of outsiders, and then rejoin at their autonomy. All victimologies contain a nationalism and all nationalisms contain the capacity for genocide.