{"id":23320,"date":"2025-09-07T07:26:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T06:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/?p=23320"},"modified":"2025-09-07T07:26:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T06:26:32","slug":"parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"PARSHAT KI TAVO \u2013 LA VERA FONTE DELLA GIOIA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ki Tavo\u00a0(Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8<\/a>\u00a0)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A great deal of this week’s Torah portion outlines the devastating punishments that would befall the Jewish people if they do not follow the Torah. In the midst of the rebuke the Torah gives us a deeper insight into the cause of all the terrible punishments enumerated here; “Since you did not serve HaShem, your G-d, with joy and goodness of heart, from\u00a0rov kol<\/em>\u00a0(the abundance of everything).” (1) The simple understanding of this verse is that the Jewish people did not perform mitzvot with happiness despite the fact that they were blessed with the abundance of everything.(2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arizal explains the verse according to the Kabbala in a slightly different way. He says that the Torah is saying that we may have performed mitzvot with a certain degree of happiness, however our main joy did not derive from observing the Torah, rather from the joy of ‘rov kol<\/em>‘ which refers to all other sources of happiness.(3) Thus, G-d is telling the Jewish people that the joy of\u00a0Avodat Hashem<\/em>\u00a0(serving G-d) must be far greater than the pleasure derived from other endeavors. This is a lesson that is of great relevance to Rosh Hashanah: The main service of Rosh Hashanah is to make G-d King. A significant aspect of this is to recognize that G-d is the only source of meaning, all other ‘sources’ of pleasure are meaningless. This is also a prerequisite to the\u00a0teshuva<\/em>\u00a0(repentance) process leading up to Yom Kippur. because if a person’s desires are not purely towards serving G-d, then he will find it almost impossible to avoid sin. There will be times when his desires clash with G-d’s will and his service of G-d will inevitably suffer. Thus, any\u00a0teshuva<\/em>\u00a0he does on Yom Kippur will be tainted by his outlook on life – that G-d is not the only source of true meaning and joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that even if a person somehow avoids sinning whilst pursuing his other desires he will still face unpleasant consequences. Rav Yissochor Frand(4) tells a frightening story that illustrates this point. The Chiddushei Harim once travelled with a man on his carriage that was pulled by two horses. After a few miles, one of the horses died, causing great distress to its owner. A few miles later, the other horse also died. The owner was so distressed at the loss of his horses that meant so much to him that he sat crying for a long time until he cried so much that he died. That night, the Chiddushei Harim had a dream; in that dream he saw that the man who had died, received Olam Haba<\/em> (the next world). But what was his Olam Haba<\/em>? A lovely carriage with two beautiful horses. This story teaches us that our Olam Haba is created by what we value in Olam Hazeh<\/em> (this world) – for this man, the most important thing in his life was his horses and carriage, therefore, that was what he got for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One may ask, it does not seem to be so bad for a person to receive in\u00a0Olam Haba<\/em>\u00a0that which he cherishes so much in\u00a0Olam Hazeh<\/em>. Rav Frand answers this question. He says that when he was a young child he always wanted a slingshot with which to play with but his parents refused. Imagine if, at the time of his wedding, his parents would come to him and say, “here is the slingshot that you always wanted!” As a child, the slingshot was valuable to him, but now he has grown out of it. So too, we may strive to acquire various pleasures in\u00a0Olam Hazeh<\/em>, such as money or honor, believing that they will provide us with contentment. But when we arrive in\u00a0Olam Haba<\/em>\u00a0we will see the truth of the words of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto in Path of the Just: “everything else [apart from closeness to G-d] that people believe are good is nothing but emptiness.”(5) In the next world we will see with perfect clarity, how meaningless are those things that we put so much energy into acquiring in this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rebuke of Ki Tavo is a stark reminder that it is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives. Honor, power, money, food and any other ‘pleasure’ are all illusionary sources of meaning – making G-d King means realizing that He is the only source of true happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

By Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Ki Savo, 28:47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. See Rashi and Gur Aryeh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. This Arizal was quoted by Rav Yissochor Frand shlit”a<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Tape: Four questions for Yom Kippur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. <\/a>Path of the Just<\/a><\/em>, Ch. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEEKLY TORAH PORTION<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guiding Light<\/a>
by Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Read more of this Aish.com Article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our blogs may contain text\/quotes\/references\/links that include copyright material of Mechon-Mamre.org<\/a>, Aish.com<\/a>, Sefaria.org<\/a>, Chabad.org<\/a>, and\/or AskNoah.org<\/a>, which we use in accordance with their policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ki Tavo\u00a0(Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8\u00a0) A great deal of this week’s Torah portion outlines the devastating punishments that would befall the Jewish people if they do not follow the Torah. In the midst of the rebuke the Torah gives us a deeper insight into the cause of all the terrible punishments enumerated here; “Since you did not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":23321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parshot-of-the-rabbis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPARSHAT KI TAVO - THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY - Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PARSHAT KI TAVO - THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY - Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T06:26:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T06:26:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Scritto da\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Tempo di lettura stimato\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minuto\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/\",\"name\":\"PARSHAT KI TAVO - THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY - Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-07T06:26:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-07T06:26:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/97674967290240adaea467ecec7bd495\"},\"description\":\"It is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PARSHAT KI TAVO – THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/\",\"name\":\"Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach\",\"description\":\"Sukkat Shalom is an international community of B'nei Noach - Noahides, where you can find information about Noahism and Judaism.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/97674967290240adaea467ecec7bd495\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/author\/rabbi-yehonasan-gefen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PARSHAT KI TAVO - THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY - Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach","description":"It is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/","og_locale":"it_IT","og_type":"article","og_title":"PARSHAT KI TAVO - THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY - Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach","og_description":"It is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives.","og_url":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/","og_site_name":"Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach","article_published_time":"2025-09-07T06:26:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-07T06:26:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Scritto da":"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen","Tempo di lettura stimato":"1 minuto"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/","url":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/","name":"PARSHAT KI TAVO - THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY - Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-07T06:26:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-07T06:26:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/97674967290240adaea467ecec7bd495"},"description":"It is not enough to merely observe the mitzvot, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"it-IT","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"it-IT","@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/plaatje-1-blog-2025-09-06T104514.916.jpg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/parshat-ki-tavo-the-true-source-of-joy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PARSHAT KI TAVO – THE TRUE SOURCE OF JOY"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/","name":"Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach","description":"Sukkat Shalom \u00e8 una comunit\u00e0 internazionale di B&#039;nei Noach - Noachidi, dove puoi trovare informazioni sul No\u00e8ismo e sull'Ebraismo.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"it-IT"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/97674967290240adaea467ecec7bd495","name":"Rabbino Yehonasan Gefen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"it-IT","@id":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen"},"url":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/author\/rabbi-yehonasan-gefen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23322,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23320\/revisions\/23322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukkatshalom-bneinoach.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23320"}],"curies":[{"name":"parola chiave","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}