Parshas Ki Savo includes the second tochachah, the dire, terrifying prophecy of the suffering to be endured by Klal Yisroel if we do not remain faithful to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The suffering which is therein prophesied is so great that the Talmud in Maseches Megillah entertains the possibility that the portion of kerias hatorah should not be translated lest people become disheartened. The custom is to read these pesukim in an undertone as though their mere utterance is overwhelming. How then does one living at a time of tochachah sustain himself?
The tochachah implicitly provides the answer by beginning the parshah of Ki Savo with the twin mitzvos of Havaas Bikurim and Mikra Bikurim [i.e., bringing annually the first fruits of one's crop in Eretz Yisroel and presenting it to the Kohein in the Beis Hamikdash; at that time making a declaration of thanksgiving known as Mikra Bikurim.] The text for Mikra Bikurim is most suggestive:
"Arami oved avi vayered mitzrayma...vayareu osanu hamitzrim...vayotzienu Hashem mimitsrayim...vayevienu el hamakom hazeh (26:5-9)."
It provides a synopsis of Jewish history beginning with the near genocide we suffered at the hands of Lavan and Pharoh, and culminating with the conquest of Eretz Yisroel. What this highly compressed history suggests is that ultimately our suffering is not simply punitive but redemptive. On the one hand, our sins precipitated galus Mitzrayim (1), on the other hand, galus Mitzrayim did not simply punish. Rather, Klal Yisroel was forged in the crucible of Egypt (2). Suffering, albeit precipitated by our sins, facilitates the correction of those flaws thereby advancing the geulah.
It is this linear relationship between suffering and redemption sustains one at a time of tochachah.
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