Continuing the Legacy of Rabbi Dovid Winiarz of blessed memory
In this week's parsha, Parshas Ki Savo, the instructions for the special declaration made when bringing the Bikkurim begin, “V’anisa v’amarta, you shall respond and say...” The pronunciation of these words in the Torah is pivotal, as placing the accent on the wrong syllable will change the meaning.
It should be read, “V’amarTA,” which means “and you shall say.” If it is read “V’aMARta,” it means, ‘and you said’ – past tense, wrong meaning.
There is another example of this important rule of pronunciation which is said incorrectly perhaps millions of times each day. In krias Shema, the first word of the second paragraph should be read, “v’ahavTA,’ meaning ‘and you shall love [Hashem.]’ If it is read ‘v’aHAVta , as it is common to teach children in the sing-song Shema used around the world, it means, ‘you used to love G-d,’ quite a different meaning indeed!
One should be careful with the pronunciation of the words. One tool to help you place emphasis on the proper syllable is to look at the trop/cantillation marks over the words in the chumash. They highlight the proper stress of the word.
Ezra the Scribe established that we read Parshas Ki Savo before Rosh HaShana so, "the year and its curses can end, and the year and its blessings can begin." At the end of listing all the curses, the Torah says why this happens to us. It's, "Because you didn't serve Hashem with joy." That means even if we keep the whole Torah we might still have calamities befall us?!
Sure, the Torah can command us in mitzvos but how can it command us how to feel? Maybe I'll give tzedaka but who says I have to enjoy it? What's the difference, anyway, if the acts are getting done?
Let's say you buy a lottery ticket and your numbers come up. You've just won 100 Million dollars. Does someone tell you to be happy? No, but you're likely ecstatic.
The truth is that there could be many pitfalls to such wealth. You might have people pretend to be your friends, you may have fights, you might become a target for scammers and criminals, and so on. Despite that, most people would be thrilled to have that money with all its potential for happiness and doing things you otherwise couldn't.
The Torah is better than a lottery. Following it has no downside. The world was created using the Torah as a blueprint so every mitzvah is a guideline for achieving the best results in life. The problem is when we don't recognize it for what it is. If we think the Torah is a list of things we do "for G-d" instead of the list of things He asks of us so we can be happy, then it's no wonder we grumble and complain.
When the Torah tells us these things happen because we didn't serve Hashem with joy, it isn't telling us how to behave. It's telling us we don't have a clue as to what we have! If we understood the nature of the Torah we would automatically be ecstatic with it, naturally and organically. If we are not thrilled, then we are simply misunderstanding what we have, and that's a sure path to ruin.
That's why we read it before Rosh HaShana - to get us to shift gears and start thinking optimistically and joyfully about coronating Hashem as our King. He is a benevolent monarch who is concerned with OUR pleasure not His own.
