Ilustration Credit: Noa Kelner

When a person brings מַעֲשֵׂר (ma’aser, a tithe) of their produce to Yerushalayim, they make a declaration called וִדּוּי מַעֲשֵׂר (vidui ma’aser). It includes this statement:

Here’s the next part of vidui ma’aser:

“Hashkifah” is a neat word! It comes from the שֹׁרֶשׁ (shoresh, root) ש.ק.פ, and it also appears in other places in the Torah (and was also featured in Devash for Parashat Vayera). How does “hashkifah” in our pasuk connect to the other places it comes up?

R. Huna bar Aha said in the name of R. Alexandra: Come and see the power of those who keep mitzvot. Because all the places that “hashkafah” appears in the Torah are curses, but this time it’s part of the language of blessing.

רִבִּי הוּנָא בַּר אָחָא בְשֵׁם רִבִּי אֲלֶכְסַנְדְּרָא בּוֹא וּרְאֵה כַּמָּה גָדוֹל כּוֹחָן שֶׁלְּעוֹשֵׂי מִצְוֹת שֶׁכָּל הַשְׁקָפָה שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה אֲרוּרָה וְזֶה בִלְשׁוֹן בְּרָכָה.

Hazal compare “hashkifah” in our parashah to other places this shoresh appears in the Torah. For example:

In this example from Lekh Lekha, “vayashkifu” describes the people who were looking down on Sedom, preparing to destroy it. According to Hazal, that’s how this shoresh is normally used: to tell us that something bad is going to happen.

But in our parashah, “hashkifah” introduces God’s blessing! Hazal explain that, in Ki Tavo, we’re talking about the mitzvah of giving מַעֲשֵׂר (ma’aser, a tithe) to poor people. This mitzvah is so powerful that it can even turn a normally negative word into a source of blessing! So when we're giving tzedakah, God will look down upon us in a positive way.

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