Ki Tavo
R. Bachya ibn Pakuda on Parashat Ki Tavo, read on Shabbat Ki Tavo · Elul — with one of this week's three questions for the two of you.
The parsha opens with the bringing of bikkurim — the first fruits. The farmer carries the first of the harvest to the Temple and recites the journey: from Lavan's house through Egypt through the wilderness to this land, this harvest, this basket. It is the Torah's prototypical act of gratitude: don't just enjoy the gift — say where it came from, out loud, to its Source. Bachya, in Shaar HaBitachon, makes the same move structural. Hakarat hatov — recognizing the good — is the foundation of bitachon. Trust about the future is grounded in remembering what has already been given. You cannot honestly look at all the goodness already in your life and remain afraid of what comes next.
Take a minute first — name three specific gifts from this past month that you did not engineer, that simply came to us. Don't generalize. Be specific.
The full week — the passage itself with its source, the other two questions, and the closing verse of hope — lives in the app. Together Tomorrow on the App Store.