One of the easiest things in life is to know what kind of person you want to be. One of the hardest is to become that person.

Most of us have little trouble naming our values. We believe in honesty, loyalty, generosity, fairness and compassion. We want to be good spouses, parents, friends and citizens. Religious people can add another layer: We know what our traditions ask of us. The problem is rarely that we have no moral vocabulary. The problem is the distance between the vocabulary and the actual lives we lead.

Parashat Ki Tavo is deeply concerned with the gap between what we say we believe and how we actually live.

Deuteronomy 26 gives us a simple example. Israelites were required to set aside part of what they had and give it to people who needed support—the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow. Only after doing this could a person stand before God and say, “I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done just as You commanded me” (Deuteronomy 26:12–15). The order matters. First you do the right thing. Then you get to say that you believe in it.

A few verses later, Moses makes the point even clearer: “Observe them faithfully with all your heart and soul” (Deuteronomy 26:16). In other words, faith is........

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