The Fruit We Raise, The Story We Give to Them: Ki Tavo

This week’s parsha feels very personal.

Exactly Three years ago, as Meital (my daughter) entered the IDF, I wrote about Ki Tavo, the story of the Bikkurim, and what it felt like as a mother to offer my own “first fruit” to the larger story of our people.

Today, exactly three years later, on the same Parsha, she finishes her service as an officer. I find myself returning to those same verses but standing in a very different place. It’s strange how the same Torah can speak to us differently as our own story unfolds.

I’ve made a reel about it which I share here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcjBGYUp5HR/?igsi=MXNiOGhjMXlvanZv

But I also wanted to share two pieces for anyone who wants to go a little deeper:

📖 The piece I wrote three years ago: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ki-tavo-and-enlistment-to-the-idf-a-mothers-perspective/

📖 And a second piece I wrote for the Az Nashir Haggadah, exploring the Bikkurim declaration:https://www.tanyawhite.org/_files/ugd/ce9fd2_65787a0e5da34e558efee9ce606059d3.pdf

Sometimes we read the Torah. And sometimes, unexpectedly, we discover that we are living it.

Shabbat Shalom ❤️