Walking to School (Ki Tavo 5781)

Our oldest granddaughter started kindergarten this week in Santa Monica right near where my mom walked me and my sister toward her first day of kindergarten.

As my mom walked us to school, she said, "Walking is special Not everyone is able to do it." I thought she meant some people, like my grandfather in a wheelchair, couldn't walk. Or maybe she meant you could pick flowers or climb trees or take hidden shortcuts while you walked.

Then my mom said, "Walking is holy." I didn't understand what she meant until many years later when seeing how the word "walk" is used this week in the Torah. Twice in next week's Torah portion (Ki Tavo), the text implores us to "walk on God's path" or "in God's ways." (Deut. 26:17 and 28:9).

Seriously!?! Our tradition imagines it is impossible to see or touch God -- getting too close physically would be destructive. So can there be a mitzvah to walk along God's path -- or in God's shoes -- so to speak!?!

The Rabbis of Talmud answer, "To walk in God's ways means to adopt (or emulate) divine attributes (or behaviors). As God clothes the naked, so should we clothe the naked. As God visits the sick, we should visit the sick. As God comforts mourners, we should comfort mourners." (Sotah 14a attributed to Chama bar Chanina (3rd century, Israel))

Similarly the anonymous author of Sefer Hachinuch (12th century, Spain) interprets "walking in God's ways" to mean acting with integrity and goodness leaning into kindness, righteousness, and compassion.

My colleague Rabbi Neal Loevinger explains "it’s a profoundly inward, personal mitzvah, concerned with how we take stock of our own spiritual and moral development and guide ourselves over a lifetime towards greater compassion and connection."

In other words, walking the holy path is not (exclusively) about ritual behaviors. It is about behaviors towards others. It is not about judging others. It is about acting with justice. It is not about feeling compassion. It is about acting with compassion. It is not about hoping for kindness from others. It is about acting with kindness toward others.

As we prepare for the new school year and new Jewish year, Torah brings this powerful reminder that walking is special. It can be holy. Especially when we walk with our behaviors along a path toward kindness, righteousness, and compassion.