Parshat Ki Tavo: The Secret of the Altar at Mt. Eval

Parshat Ki Tavo: The Secret of the Altar at Mt. Eval: "are shin, yud, and dalet, which permute to form one of God's Names, pronounced: Shakai (but spelled: shin, dalet, yud). The numerical value of "plaster" (סיד) is 314, the same as "the field" (השדה). Hence, we see that the plastered altar of stones on Mount Eval alludes to the tree of the field. As we learned in our meditation on the Torah portion of Shoftim, the tree of the field represents man. The phrase "tree of the field" equals the "pleasure and serenity of the Almighty," noam Shakai.  In our context, the word noam means the pleasure of the Torah itself, whose "ways are ways of pleasantness." This pleasantness now manifests on the mountain of the curse in this miraculous altar.

Transforming the Curse into Joy

The image of the altar of stones on Mount Eval is the culmination of our meditations on the Torah portions of  Ekev, Re'eh and Shoftim. This one"

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