SPONSORED BY CANTOR ALAN SOKOLOFF AND YITZHAK SOKOLOFF FOR
THE YAHRTZEIT OF OUR FATHER HYMAN SOKOLOFF Z”L
In Parshat Ki Tavo, Devarim 28:6 the blessing states:
“Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go
out”.
Nechama Leibowitz asks if the order should be reversed. In
Tehillim 121:8 it says: “The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming
in from this time forth and for evermore.” Usually people leave their home and
then come back.
Rabbi Amselm Astruc in Midreshei HaTorah explains:
Moshe was blessing the people with regard to their entry
into the Promised Land, assuring them of the guidance of Divine Providence, and
that they would be blessed in their coming into the Land. They would also be
blessed in their going out- even when they sinned and forfeited the Land for
their sin, they would not be forsaken by providence but he chastised as a
father his son, for their own good. God would save them from destruction even
in exile and not break His covenant with them. This was the idea also embodied
in the words (Vayikra 26:44) “And yet for all that, when they are in the land
of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them…”
As tourists, visitors and students from around the world
enter the
month of Elul, we bless them with a successful trip (Blessed shall you be when
you come in). When they return home to their families we will wish them success
(Blessed shall you be when you go out) and we hope and pray to see them back
again soon in our true home, Yerushalayim.
