Ki Teitzei
Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
As we come to the second half of the book of Deuteronomy, Parshat Ki Teitzei contains a record of individual, familial, and communal laws and mitzvot. In the passage that pertains to individual vows, we read: “Guard what comes forth through your lips” (Deut. 23:24). In order to ensure that the letter of a commandment is followed, our rabbis often generalize about all the occasions to which the law could apply. Thus, guarding what comes through our lips applies to all kinds of speech. Knowing the difficulty of fulfilling such a mitzvah, our sages devised an intense regimen of daily study, prayers, and blessings that limit opportunities for idle time and casual conversation. By busying ourselves with words of Torah, praying three times a day, and always being on the lookout for an opportunity to say a blessing, we increase the likelihood that our minds remain steeped in spiritual matters and focused on the holy, at the same time decreasing the likelihood that we will indulge in lashon ha-ra (wicked tongue) such as gossip and derogatory speech.
A mitzvah is an act connected to or flowing from our inner Divine Source. The very act of performing a mitzvah connects or re-connects us to that Source. With this understanding, the words we utter become a mitzvah when they flow from that inner Divine Heart of compassion, inclusiveness, and love. When we speak in this way, our very being becomes a connector between the Transcendent and the Manifest; we are the links between Heaven and Earth. The mitzvah of saying blessings over our food is a good case in point. I learned about this in my pre-teen years in France. I asked my rabbi why we had to say the blessing over the fruits of the trees before biting into an apple, and he explained that the blessing is not for ourselves, but for the apple. In the moment of consuming an apple, he said, we are fulfilling its life-purpose. This apple was created to sustain and nourish us, and as we eat it, we complete its lifecycle. The words of blessings we utter before biting into it are, therefore, said on behalf of the apple, which doesn’t have a mouth and cannot praise and thank its Creator for the blessing of its life now made whole. It is our responsibility to say words of blessing in order to redeem the life of that apple, connecting Earth to Heaven, remembering the Many as infinite expressions of the One.
As we approach the High Holy Days, it is good to search our hearts and assess the many ways we have failed to “guard what comes forth through [our] lips.” We bring to awareness the times when we’ve missed the mark and become disconnected from Source, from knowing the Divine in all of Its creations. This disconnect has manifested in us through hurtful speech, deception, unfair judgment, and scorn of self and others. But rather than fighting ourselves to change ourselves (which never works), our tradition advises us to practice the mitzvah of Shmirat Halashon/Right Speech instead. While Right Speech includes abstaining from gossip, lies, and slander, most importantly it is about engaging wholeheartedly in the practice of blessing. This simple and beautiful practice serves to support our living more consciously and with greater intentionality. We often joke that in Judaism there is a blessing for everything, but kidding aside, there is power in saying “Blessed One, You are That which manifests as…” in the face of all our experiences. So, bless the apple, bless the roof over your head or the warmth of deep friendship. Bless the light and the darkness, the love and the fear. Bless every precious moment of awareness, l’shem Yichud, for the sake of Unification, for the sake of Connection, for making Heaven and Earth One.