Ki Tavo Excerpts

כי תבוא

Shabbat Shalom

Cursed. I think this theme fits this congregation. There are blessings but let's focus on the curses....These aren't like the under-breath curses that Hymie does whenever Bernie passes. These are to the face...

Let's see what will happen if this congregation doesn't appreciate their rabbi and what he says.

(28:26) Your carcass will be food for the birds...

This is good stuff, if you would just listen to the curse. That is a curse Hymie. That includes death and then you being food for other animals.

Blessing is that you will not be the tail. You will be a head. Who wants to be a tail?

Curse- (28:44) You will be the tail. I guess Frank's section of the shul wants to be a tail. Question was answered with Mark and his wife's new move to become associate members of the congregation...

You will also take loans. That is what tails do, they take loans. Student loans...

How many people in this congregation have taken loans from the bank? A curse!...

So many great curses. I don't want to throw them all out. Let's read them out loud together. So you can all understand how we ended up in Topeka...Great job Sadie. Let's keep on reading threw it...No. The one about your store closing and getting swallowed up by WalMart is not here. But we do know that the Grunchmin family feels that. Good curse...

(28:47) '...because you did not serve H' with happiness and a good heart, when all was abundant.' Rashi- when you still had everything good. 

Do you remember when things were good here? Neither do I. But things were good for our people. 40 years ago, the people here were kind.

You didn't see the reason for the good when it was there. You all just wanted your seats in shul. We have three great members of this congregation left. And they are fighting for their high holiday seats. Because, you all took them...You give a lifetime membership. Who cares about Mark?...They're only here for the Kiddish. Do you remember when Kiddish was good? No. Because you never saw the good. Curse comes when you don't see the good. It is an absence of your ability to perceive positive...The Beis Hamikdash being destroyed is a different story.

That is where curse comes from. It starts with the inability to see good, then the Beis Hamikdash is destroyed, then you live in Topeka.

We lost a great member. The last Gabai, you all complained about. This Gabai is a curse. The sisterhood used to put out a spread. If I tell you...The mayor of our town now wants to build a park next to the shul. Curses come when you don't appreciate the good you have. When you appreciate it, you hone it. You take ownership of it. You do what you can to perpetuate it. You don't make a quilt to cover the ark...Hymie. You are right for cursing their poor display of artistic talent.