פרשת כי תבוא

This summer is flying by way too soon.  It is so difficult to stop time, oh wait, its impossible to stop time.  Okay, so I guess we just need to embrace it, and live with it.  Time is of the essence right now as we are nearing the ימים נוראים, the High Holy Days.  ראש השנה is first and as a rabbi I am fully aware of its nearing each day… I have often pondered the following question: is ראש השנה meant to be a serious day of reflection and requests, or is it a day of celebration of time?  Or… perhaps it is something in the middle.  Not everything can be so readily classified, but what do you think?

Now to the meat of the post: the weekly פרשה/Portion:

From chapter 27:14 – All of chapter 28, we have a very interesting discussion.  When we crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, we were to hold this ceremony where the Levites were to proclaim some curses that we would see if we did certain bad things.  We were to say אמן/amen, after each and every single one of them.  Then משה/Moses continues to enumerate a list of blessings that we will receive for our obedience to the תורה/Torah.  But this is quickly followed up with a second set of more in depth curses that we will absorb if we are not obedient, and just a little warning, some of them are gross, okay a lot of them are gross.

What I am most interested in is the Levite ceremony.  Here is the text:

Chapter 27

¹¹ Thereupon Moses charged the people, saying: ¹² After you have crossed the Jordan, the following shall stand on Mount Gerizim when the blessing for the people is spoken: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ And for the curse, the following shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphthali. ¹⁴ The Levites shall then proclaim in a loud voice to all the people of Israel:

¹⁵ Cursed be anyone who makes a sculptured or molten image, abhorred by the Lord, a craftsman's handiwork, and sets it up in secret. — And all the people shall respond, Amen.
¹⁶ Cursed be he who insults his father or mother. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
¹⁷ Cursed be he who moves his fellow countryman's landmark. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
¹⁸ Cursed be he who misdirects a blind person on his way. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
¹⁹ Cursed be he who subverts the rights of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²⁰ Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, for he has removed his father's garment. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²¹ Cursed be he who lies with any beast. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²² Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether daughter of his father or of his mother. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²³ Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²⁴ Cursed be he who strikes down his fellow countryman in secret. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²⁵ Cursed be he who accepts a bribe in the case of the murder of an innocent person. — And all the people shall say, Amen.
²⁶ Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Teaching and observe them. — And all the people shall say, Amen.

This ceremony, this very public ceremony does not mention the good, only the bad… Why?  According to the description of the ceremony in verses 11 through 13 we find some tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim for the blessing, and others were to stand on Mount Ebal for the curses, the Levites and Kohenim were to stand in the valley between the two and orchestrate this whole ceremony.  But where are the blessings in this text?

This is a photo of the two mountains with the valley in the middle…

 

The blessings found in chapter 28 are not the ones that we are looking for.  Those were blessings that משה was expressing for general obedience and are better linked to the curses that follow them.  רש’’י/Rashi draws our attention to the תלמוד/Talmud in מסכת סוטה/Tractate Sotah, to explain the procedure:

“Six tribes ascended the summit of Mount Gerizim, six tribes ascended the summit of Mount Ebal, and the Kohenim and Levites with the ark were stationed below in the center.  The Levites turned their faces towards Mount Gerizim and began the blessing: blessed be the man that does not make a sculpture or molten idol. And these and these responded: Amen. They then turned their faces towards mount Ebal and opened with the curse: cursed be the man that makes a sculpture or molten idol, and both parties responded amen. [so they continue] until they complete the blessings and curses.”

So the question needs to be asked as to why the text was written in such a fashion.  רש’’י provided us with a very rational understanding.  But there are other ways:

The כלי יקר/Kli Yakar explains it in the following way: “Before reciting the curse, the Levites recited each verse in the form of the blessing. (רש’’י?) Nevertheless, the Torah itself only records the curses.  The blessings are not explicitly mentioned, to allude to the fact that the principal reward for the performance of Mitzvot is not seen in this world.  It will come only in the spiritual realm of the World to Come.”

I really like this idea because of the mentality it sets up.  We cannot expect to see rewards for doing things.  We cannot do good simply because we expect to be rewarded in some tangible way.  We must do good because we believe it is the right thing to do. But we need to believe that when we do bad there are real consequences and that we will need to accept those consequences.  It is okay to have a worldview where the bad are punished but the good is just maintaining the status quo, not to be praised and not to be rewarded.

Then there is the viewpoint of בית שמואל אחרון/Beit Shmuel Acharon: Whoever sins in public, there is hope that he will turn around and repent his deeds.  But whoever sins in secret there is no hope.

I can live with this one because we all know that when we miss the mark in private we are a little more okay with it because nobody saw it.  The curses that were enumerated in the chapter seem to allude to the types of sins that we would commit in private, and not in public and so the curses are being used as a deterrent and a motivation to repentance. 

This jives well with the אבני אזל who explained:

“The worst sin of all is to make a graven or molten image, an idol, and offense to Hashem and set it up not for all to see but in secret… To hide the idol beneath a veil of pretty speeches and high sounding ideals such as “culture” and “civilization.”  For this reason the Torah deals so harshly with one who sets up his idol in secret.”

Okay so we have all of these different concepts, none seems to exclude the others.  But I still have one issue to resolve and that is the saying the word אמן/Amen after each curse.  When we say אמן what are we saying?  There are actually some disputes about this, but we understand it in the way that the Septuagint understood it.  The word אמן means “Let it be so…”  In other words, “I agree with that statement and you are saying it on my behalf.”  We answer אמן when we want to be included in something somebody else said.  We also answer אמן whenever we hear a blessing to show we are agreeing.  Recently our daughter Ayelet has taken to saying אמן whenever we say a blessing in our house.  It is beautiful, and it makes us so happy.  This concept of curses and our daughter saying אמן has led me to ponder the issue of what we are teaching our children through our own behavior.  I am sure that we all can agree that we have taught them good and bad… But imagine for just one second if we all constantly thought that what we were doing would be a lesson (positive or negative) learned by our children and the children of others.  What would the impact be?  Would it be a blessing or a curse?

Your Turn…

צא ולומד – Go and Learn

פרשת כי תצא

I would like to begin this week with some introductory questions… These are intended to stimulate your mind, and get you thinking.  Just make a mental note of your answers:

• What are some of the things that you frequently lose?
• How do you get those items back?
• What if you find someone else’s lost object?
  • What do you do with it and why?

Now, let’s examine some text from the weekly פרשה/portion:

Chapter 22 1 If you see your fellow's ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow. 2 If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to him. 3 You shall do the same with his ass; you shall do the same with his garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent. 4 If you see your fellow's ass or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it; you must help him raise it. 5 A woman must not put on man's apparel, nor shall a man wear woman's clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord your God. 6 If, along the road, you chance upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother together with her young. 7 Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life. 8 When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it. 9 You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed, else the crop — from the seed you have sown — and the yield of the vineyard may not be used. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together. 11 You shall not wear cloth combining wool and linen. 12 You shall make tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.

פרק כב א לֹֽא־תִרְאֶה אֶת־שׁוֹר אָחִיךָ אוֹ אֶת־שֵׂיוֹ נִדָּחִים וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ מֵהֶם הָשֵׁב תְּשִׁיבֵם לְאָחִֽיךָ ב וְאִם־לֹא קָרוֹב אָחִיךָ אֵלֶיךָ וְלֹא יְדַעְתּוֹ וַֽאֲסַפְתּוֹ אֶל־תּוֹךְ בֵּיתֶךָ וְהָיָה עִמְּךָ עַד דְּרֹשׁ אָחִיךָ אֹתוֹ וַֽהֲשֵֽׁבֹתוֹ לֽוֹ ג וְכֵן תַּֽעֲשֶׂה לַֽחֲמֹרוֹ וְכֵן תַּֽעֲשֶׂה לְשִׂמְלָתוֹ וְכֵן תַּֽעֲשֶׂה לְכָל־אֲבֵדַת אָחִיךָ אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאבַד מִמֶּנּוּ וּמְצָאתָהּ לֹא תוּכַל לְהִתְעַלֵּֽם: ס ד לֹֽא־תִרְאֶה אֶת־חֲמוֹר אָחִיךָ אוֹ שׁוֹרוֹ נֹֽפְלִים בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ מֵהֶם הָקֵם תָּקִים עִמּֽוֹ: ס ה לֹא־יִֽהְיֶה כְלִי־גֶבֶר עַל־אִשָּׁה וְלֹֽא־יִלְבַּשׁ גֶּבֶר שִׂמְלַת אִשָּׁה כִּי תֽוֹעֲבַת יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כָּל־עֹשֵׂה אֵֽלֶּה: פ ו כִּי יִקָּרֵא קַן־צִפּוֹר | לְפָנֶיךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּכָל־עֵץ | אוֹ עַל־הָאָרֶץ אֶפְרֹחִים אוֹ בֵיצִים וְהָאֵם רֹבֶצֶת עַל־הָאֶפְרֹחִים אוֹ עַל־הַבֵּיצִים לֹֽא־תִקַּח הָאֵם עַל־הַבָּנִֽים ז שַׁלֵּחַ תְּשַׁלַּח אֶת־הָאֵם וְאֶת־הַבָּנִים תִּֽקַּֽח־לָךְ לְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ וְהַֽאֲרַכְתָּ יָמִֽים: ס ח כִּי תִבְנֶה בַּיִת חָדָשׁ וְעָשִׂיתָ מַֽעֲקֶה לְגַגֶּךָ וְלֹֽא־תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ כִּֽי־יִפֹּל הַנֹּפֵל מִמֶּֽנּוּ ט לֹֽא־תִזְרַע כַּרְמְךָ כִּלְאָיִם פֶּן־תִּקְדַּשׁ הַֽמְלֵאָה הַזֶּרַע אֲשֶׁר תִּזְרָע וּתְבוּאַת הַכָּֽרֶם: ס י לֹא־תַֽחֲרֹשׁ בְּשׁוֹר־וּבַֽחֲמֹר יַחְדָּֽ יא לֹא תִלְבַּשׁ שַֽׁעַטְנֵז צֶמֶר וּפִשְׁתִּים יַחְדָּֽו: ס יב גְּדִלִים תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּךְ עַל־אַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת כְּסֽוּתְךָ אֲשֶׁר תְּכַסֶּה־בָּֽהּ

I would like to ask some more questions again, and this time why not consider sharing some of your answers in the response section at the end of this post:

• What are we responsible to do according to this?
  • Is any of this a little much?
• Are you able to categorize all of these laws or at least most of them?
• What types of objects are considered being lost in the first verse, the one that is in the bold print?
  • Is there anything else that could be included?

 

The תורה/Torah does not exist in a vacuum and needs to be examined through various lenses.  One way we do this is through looking at commentaries that our ancestors wrote.  Here are the thoughts of Rabbi Mordekhai Hacohen as found in Al Hatorah, Devarim.

(t' cf ohrcs) lhjtk ocha, cav ovn ,nkg,vu ohjsb uha ,t ut lhjt rua ,t vtr, tk

You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep gone astray and hide yourself from seeing them, you shall surely return them to your brother (Deuteronomy 22:1)

vnf ,jt kg apbv ,sctc 'vru, vrhvzv if iunn ,sctc ot .hbzuen van hcr rnut

hgaupku hk vn rnt, tka /ovn ,nkg,vu ohjsb ohjt vtr, tk v,gn urnt /vnfu

/vcua,k orrugku orhgvk cujv kyun lhkg "ocha, cav" tkt'ukkv ktrah

Rabbi Moses of Koznitz states: "If in the case of losing money the Torah warned thus, how much more so does this apply to losing souls. You shall not see brothers gone astray and hide yourself from them. You should not say, 'Why should I care about these sinners of Israel', but 'you shall surely return them'--you are obliged to arouse them and appeal to them to repent."

 

So now that brings me to the major discussion that I would like to have here in cyberspace with all of you.  I have three questions for you to comment on:

1. How does the rabbi interpret the lost objects?
2. it fair to be responsible to help others find their souls?
3. Do we need to help them not lose them in the first place?

צא ולומד – Go and Learn…

פרשת שופטים

Well it is interesting that in our little poll at the top of the page we have not received a single vote for יום כיפור, but the day is still young.  This week we have entered the month of אלול, the month immediately preceding the High Holy Days.  We will not be celebrating ראש חודש/Rosh Chodesh for next month in the regular way, it will not be a regular day it will be ראש השנה/Rosh Hashanah.  We will not celebrate the day with הלל/Hallel, and the typical fixings, we will be celebrating the day with שופר and with all sorts of other unique traditions.  The שופר commenced its daily sounding this morning to wake us out of our slumber, and to help us to embrace the reality that we have fallen short and that we have been reluctant to change.  The שופר is the sound that says “hey… change… its not too late… you can do it… God is waiting for you to change, to be closer to Him…”  If you listen closely to the sounds of the שופר you will hear it saying those very words to you.

This week we will read פרשת שופטים, a פרשה that deals with justice in this world and the need for us to be champions for justice.  The famous words צדק צדק תרדף – Justice Justice You shall pursue are found in this week’s פרשה. And I would like to offer some ways in which these beautiful words relate to the season we are embarking upon:

1. Justice, Justice, You shall pursue: The doubling of the word justice has been a cause of question for our commentators for generations.  Nothing in the תורה is extraneous, and so the second mention of the word must come to tell us something.  When God wanted to stop אברהם/Abraham from sacrificing יצחק/Isaac the angel of God said: Avraham, Avraham… When God wanted to grab משה/Moses’ attention and get him to agree to be His partner in the Exodus from Egypt, He said: Moses, Moses… Why the doubling there, and why doubling here?  Well the doubling there is for another discussion, but the doubling here is the subject of much commentary throughout the ages.  The great Biblical commentator רש’’י says that it means that we are to go after the words of a good court, perhaps he was expounding the the second צדק was there to show us that we need good courts and not just mediocre.  Not to disagree with רש’'י, but I have always liked the interpretation of Rabbi Yaakov Yitzhak of Przysucha who said: This means that one must pursue justice with justice. The means by which you seek to attain justice must be righteous also. Do not allow yourself to be guided by the Godless principle that “the end justifies the means.”  This means that we need to do good by means of good, and not allow ourselves to be fooled into believing that simply because in the end the whole thing helped people, we are excused for having done injustices in the world.
2. Justice, Justice, You shall pursue: According to מדרש תנאים דברים ט’’ז and מדרש זוטא שיר השירים פרק א (and yes these are very obscure sources but the lesson is incredible) this is what it means.  The מדרשים here are questioning the term תרדף, which means to pursue.  The concept of pursuing is not commonly commanded.  So why in connection with justice is it commanded to pursue it? The answer is that it is possible for a person to only give צדקה/charity when a person comes and asks for it.  From where do we know that we are commanded to seek out avenues to give צדקה? From the verse in question, we must pursue it.  We must make opportunities happen in which we can give money.  We do not wait for it to happen to us we make it happen.
3. Justice, Justice, You shall pursue: we have to accept repentance as part of justice.  In a just world and society people have the capacity to improve and change.  Justice means a guilty person being able to be forgiven when they have changed and atoned for their sins. The justice systems of our world and the justice system of the תורה are built on the basic concept of correcting the wrongs of the world and making a better world for tomorrow.  Two theories of justice are restorative justice and retributive justice.  Restorative is the idea that we must get back to good, that the victim must be appeased and all losses accounted for, and the perpetrator must be the one to actually do the restoring.  Whereas in retributive justice we are more concerned with the concept of punishment for the breach of law.  The תורה actually sees both sides of this divide and we find time and again that both are present in the Jewish legal system.  As we are now in the month of אלול and preparing for the High Holy Days, we must see that both of these are part of our lives and part of our tradition.  We must work to remedy our faults and to restore that which we damaged.  But I believe at the root of the restorative system is the basic belief in forgiveness and in the idea of change.  The word תשובה means to return, and this means that we are able to return to where we were before we missed the mark.  I would like to share the רמב’’ם’s (Maimonidies) laws of repentance for all of us to think about over the next month or so:

רמב''ם הלכות תשובה פרק ב

1. What is true repentance? If the repentant individual has the opportunity and the ability to sin and refrains because the individual has repented rather than because the individual is afraid or because that person lacks the capacity to sin, then that is true and complete repentance. For example, were a man to have sinned sexually with a woman, and after a period of time, having repented, he is alone with her in the same context where previously he had sinned and still desiring her, physically able to sin again, he does not, such a person has truly repented. King Solomon alluded to such a case when he wrote, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12: 1). However, were a person to repent in old age at a time when the repetition of the sin would be physically impossible, even such a deficient act of penitence would be efficacious. Such a per­son would indeed be considered having done teshuvah. Were a person to have been a sinner all her life and yet repent on the day of her death, and to have died while still repenting, all her sins would be forgiven. This is suggested by the verse "Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain" (Ecclesiastes 12:2). From this we learn that if one remembered the Creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and repented before death, that person would be forgiven.

2. What is repentance? It is that the sinner should leave sin and turn from (evil) thought and conclude never do that sin again, as it says, "Let the wicked leave that way and so on" (Isaiah 55:7). The individual will then be remorseful for transgressing, as it says, "After I repented, I had remorse" (Jeremiah 31: 18). The One that knows the secret things will attest that the indi­vidual will never again return to that particular sin, as it says, "We will not call the work of our hands our God" (Hosea 14:4). All these matters that the penitent has already decided in the heart should be confessed with the lips.

3. However, whoever confesses merely with words but has not decided to stop sinning is like one who immerses oneself in a ritual bath still holding a [contaminating] reptile. The immer­sion will not be effective until the person who "confesses and forsakes sin shall gain compassion" (Proverbs 28: 13). The peni­tent should confess one's sin in detail, as it says, "011, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold" (Exodus 32:31).

4. One of the ways of repentance is for the penitent to cry out weeping and in supplication continually before God and give tzedakah charity according to one's ability, keeping far from the context in which the person has sinned. The person should change one's name as if to say, "I am a different person. I am not the one who did those things." That person should endeavor to change all of one's ways in order to do good and go the proper way. That person may even go into exile, since exile atones for guilt. It causes one to humble oneself, to become meek and humble of spirit.

5. It is extremely praiseworthy to confess publicly and to make known one's sins to all, to reveal one's transgressions be­tween oneself and others and say to all, "Indeed, I have sinned against so-and-so and I did thus and such. Today, I have repented and shown remorse. Whoever arrogantly hides one's sins and will not make them known will not achieve full repentance, as it says, "The one who hides one's sins will not succeed" (Prov­erbs 38:13). To what do these words refer? To those transgres­sions between person and person. However, with regard to trans­gressions between persons and God, one need not publicize them. It would indeed be arrogant to reveal them. Rather let such a person repent before God and detail the sins before God. A simple undetailed public confession is sufficient. Such sim­plicity is better than not revealing the transgression, as it says, "Happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is hidden" (Psalm 32: 1).

6. Although it is always good to repent and to cry out [to God], it is even better to do so on the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. At that time, such acts are instantly accepted, as it says, "Seek Adonai where God may be found" (Isaiah 55:6).

7. Yom Kippur is a time of teshuvah for all, for individu­als and for communities. It is also a time of forgiveness and compassion for Israel. Therefore, all [Jews] are obligated to re­pent and confess on Yom Kippur. The obligation of confession on Yom Kippur begins on Erev Yom Kippur before the person eats [the final meal] in order to preclude the possibility of chok­ing and prevent the person from confessing. However, even though one has confessed prior to eating, the individual must confess again on Erev Yom Kippur during the Evening Service and confess again during the Morning Service, and again dur­ing the Afternoon Service and yet again during Neilah [closing] Service. The individual worshiper should confess after reciting theAmidah. The Shaliach Tzeebor confesses in the midst of the Amidah after the fourth benediction.

8. The essence of the customary Jewish confession is con­tained in the words "But we have sinned." The transgressions for which one has confessed on one Yom Kippur may be con­fessed on the next, even if one has remained steadfast in one's teshuvah, as it says, "I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me" (Psalm 51:5).

9. Teshuvah and Yom Kippur bring atonement only for transgression between individuals and God. Such is the case for one who ate something forbidden or engaged in forbidden sexual relations and similar matters. However, in transgressions between individuals, such as in the case of one who injured one's neighbor or who cursed one's neighbor or who robbed that person and similar matters, one is not forgiven until one restores [whatever is necessary] to the injured party and gains that person's favor once again. For example, if one paid back the money owed to another, that person would still have to gain that person's favor by asking for forgiveness. Even were one to pro­voke another with words alone, such a person would still have to appease the other, entreating forgiveness. If the other were not willing to forgive, then the one [asking for forgiveness] should bring three individuals to shout, to entreat, and to re­quest the other person to indeed forgive. If that person (the in­jured party) remains adamant and is unwilling to forgive, then the person asking for forgiveness should bring a second and a third group of people. If the person still refuses, then the per­son asking for forgiveness should leave and go on his or her way. The one who would not forgive is now the sinner! If, however, the affronted party were the other individual's teacher, then the student must come and go even a thousand times until forgiven.

10. It is forbidden for a person to be cruel and unwilling to be appeased; rather one should be easy to appease and hard to provoke. When the sinner asks to be forgiven, it should be done with a whole heart and with a willing soul. Even if one has provoked and sinned against another a number of times, the individual should not be vengeful or carry a grudge. This is the way of the descendents of Israel whose heart is proper. It is dif­ferent for idolaters, these uncircumcised of heart, who hold a grudge forever. Thus Scripture describes the Gibeonites who, because they were unwilling to forgive or become appeased, were " ... not [part] of the children of Israel" (2 Samuel 21:2).

11. The one who sins against a person who dies before one can ask forgiveness should bring a minyan [ten individuals] to that person's grave and say in their presence, "I have sinned against Adonai the God of Israel and against this person. I did thus and so." If the individual were obligated to pay money to the deceased, that person should pay that money to that person's heirs. If the individual does not know who the heirs are, the individual should leave that money with the court and confess.

There are lessons to be learned from each and everyone of these 11 laws.  The most important is the realization that we indeed are not to be judged by that which we did wrong.  We are not to believe that we will never be better.  We are not to believe that we have to live with the guilt of wrong doings of the past forever.  And even more important we have to realize that all of these statements in a society filled with justice ring true for those around us as well.

So here is what I would like you to discuss for this week:  Which of the three interpretations of צדק צדק תרדף do you agree with the most and why?  And what are some the concepts that you will take from the רמב’’ם with you this year into the High Holidays.

 

צא ולומד Go and Learn

Parshat Re’eh

This week around the world we will read the words of פרשת ראה. The פרשה begins in the following way: ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה. See I place before you today a blessing a curse… It is hard to study these words this week when all we see is the וקללה… the curse. Just this week Israel has been attacked in the North, in the South and in the West. Just this week we have been reminded that there are people in this world who will stop at nothing to destroy this precious world. Then there was Tuesday in Connecticut in a beer distribution facility. An employee was asked to resign or be fired, he chose to resign and then proceeded to kill eight people along with himself, and injure two others. It feels as if we are living in an age of being cursed, without being blessed.

But I do not believe that to be the case. We live in an age where the human capability to inflict harm on other people is far too great. We live in an age where far too many people in our world are being denied the basic human right of security and safety. We are living in an age where humans are constantly intervening with the blessings that God has given us, and thus we have the appearance of being cursed, when in fact humans are negating the blessings that we so desire.

Lets look at the opening words of the פרשה a little more closely:

Deuteronomy 11:26 - 16:17

This translation was taken from the JPS Tanakh

26 See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: 27 blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you this day; 28 and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced. 29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and possess, you shall pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. — 30 Both are on the other side of the Jordan, beyond the west road that is in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah — near Gilgal, by the terebinths of Moreh.
31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you. When you have occupied it and are settled in it, 32 take care to observe all the laws and rules that I have set before you this day.

Chapter 12

1 These are the laws and rules that you must carefully observe in the land that the Lord, God of your fathers, is giving you to possess, as long as you live on earth.
2 You must destroy all the sites at which the nations you are to dispossess worshiped their gods, whether on lofty mountains and on hills or under any luxuriant tree. 3 Tear down their altars, smash their pillars, put their sacred posts to the fire, and cut down the images of their gods, obliterating their name from that site.

What does this leave us with? An argument can be made that we need to uproot and obliterate the evil in our midst, and that we all need to become warriors for goodness and decency. An argument can be made that we as humans need to overcome our obsessions with violence and our desire wealth and all things that other people have. This argument means that we are experiencing curses, and that might be the case… But are the two mutually exclusive? Can we only experience either the blessing or the curse? Or, is it possible to be living in an age where we experience both? Do we see the curses and the blessings? Sadly, all too often, people only see the curse and ignore the blessing staring them in the face. Sadly we are blind to the many blessings that exist in our world. This is in part due to our magnification of the curses, but it has much more to do with our unwillingness to simply count the blessings for what they are… BLESSINGS. This week I would like to ask you to please list in the comment area the blessings that you see in your life and in the world today. We will then have at our disposal a constant reminder of all of the ברכות/Blessings, in our world today.

Count your blessings, and destroy that which helps to make curses thrive today…