Ki Tavo כִּי-תָבוֹא - When You Enter In
Torah Portion:
Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8
Deuteronomy 26:12–15
26:12 When you have finished tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates and be filled. 13 You shall say before Hashem your Elohim, “I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandment which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to Hashem, my Elohim’s voice. I have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Today’s Meditation:
Today is about giving to the Levite, the fatherless, and the widow. This is so important to Hashem. Yes, we do not have a Temple, so we cannot bring our tithe to support it. But we can still help others. Look around you today and see who Hashem has put in your life that needs support. Is it someone in your family who has not been able to make ends meet? Is it someone at the grocery store? I love it when people “pay it forward” and treat someone to something nice or needed after they were recently helped. Take careful notice of what is going on around you with people, and take action when needed. This blesses Hashem and will ultimately bless you.
Today’s Challenge:
Verse 15 says, “Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel.” I was thinking today that Hashem does have a “Holy habitation in heaven”. Many Bible verses describe the true Holy Temple being in heaven. It seems this would be the place where His emanation would go forth to the universes and eternity. Can you even imagine what this looks like? I challenge you today to pray and study about the Holy Temple in heaven. Some believe this Temple will descend to the earth in the Olam Haba, and this is where His glory will shine for all to see.
