Ki Tavo - August 28, 2026 / 15 Elul 5786
This week’s parsha of Ki Savo (“when you come”) describes how Moses assembles the children of Israel on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal for the blessings and curses respectively that will befall the nation if they follow the Torah or, G-d forbid, fail to do so. As we approach the Rosh Hashanah holiday which is both the New Year and the day that we are inscribed for good (or G-d forbid, otherwise) in the coming year, these passages are especially relevant.
One verse in particular stands out to me (28:13) – “and Hashem will set you as the head, and not as a tail; you will only be above and not below.” The basic meaning of the verse is that we as a nation will lead others and not be led. We will control our own destiny instead of having it be set by others. We pray for this to be but more than that we “manifest” this to be through our symbolic foods on Rosh Hashanah. It is customary in many communities to serve a sheep head because in addition to being a head, it invokes the sacrifice of Isaac and the shofar. Alas the Rebbetzin has refused to adopt this custom but maybe this will be the year… As an alternative, many use a fish head and remove the tail as a physical embodiment of this verse.
I love the message of willing this to be through our prayers and recitation of verses over symbolic foods. But I think there is another message here for our interpretation. I think our blessing in this case is also that we will be elevated to a spiritual level instead of sinking to our baser instincts. In short – we will be thinking with our heads and not our bottom halves. There is a custom amongst some Chasidim to wear a gartel (a belt) to physically separate ourselves into two - mind/heart and body. This is done during prayer for exactly the same reason. As we approach the new year – let us remember to think with our heads and be ruled by our intellect rather than our physical desires. Doing so does not only lead us to blessing but it is a blessing in itself being truly liberating and freeing our spirits from our physical constraints.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
One verse in particular stands out to me (28:13) – “and Hashem will set you as the head, and not as a tail; you will only be above and not below.” The basic meaning of the verse is that we as a nation will lead others and not be led. We will control our own destiny instead of having it be set by others. We pray for this to be but more than that we “manifest” this to be through our symbolic foods on Rosh Hashanah. It is customary in many communities to serve a sheep head because in addition to being a head, it invokes the sacrifice of Isaac and the shofar. Alas the Rebbetzin has refused to adopt this custom but maybe this will be the year… As an alternative, many use a fish head and remove the tail as a physical embodiment of this verse.
I love the message of willing this to be through our prayers and recitation of verses over symbolic foods. But I think there is another message here for our interpretation. I think our blessing in this case is also that we will be elevated to a spiritual level instead of sinking to our baser instincts. In short – we will be thinking with our heads and not our bottom halves. There is a custom amongst some Chasidim to wear a gartel (a belt) to physically separate ourselves into two - mind/heart and body. This is done during prayer for exactly the same reason. As we approach the new year – let us remember to think with our heads and be ruled by our intellect rather than our physical desires. Doing so does not only lead us to blessing but it is a blessing in itself being truly liberating and freeing our spirits from our physical constraints.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
