Ki Tavo 5784

A husband was awakened by his wife's concern that she heard a burglar downstairs. He slowly got up, went grumpily downstairs, and found himself staring into the barrel of a gun. The burglar ordered him to hand overall household valuables, then started to leave. The husband stopped him. "Before you go," he said, "I'd like you to come upstairs and meet my wife. She's been expecting you for over 30 years.”

Our Torah reading for this Shabbat is complete with not only the hopes but also the fears that many of us experience in our lives.  And although we hope to live lives that are filled with happiness, fulfillment and success, our fears can be numerous.  One of the most difficult fears as we get closer to retirement or in our retirement years is wondering if the funds that we have saved will be enough to carry us through our living days. How often do we read of individuals who have had to go back to work because they went through their savings? Or even worse, the market crashed and their portfolio was not balanced to withstand the downturns in the market.  One fear could be that we will not live to see our dreams fulfilled. Another fear is that our end of life will not be a happy or healthy one. We might not be able to share our last minutes saying to our loved ones that we love and appreciate them. We pray that only the blessings will hover over our children and grandchildren.

Imagine these curses that are being described in the Torah for this Shabbat: “Hashem will strike you with consumption, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew; they shall hound you until you perish.” (Deut. 28:22). “Hashem will make the rain of your land dust, and sand shall drop on you from the sky, until you are wiped out.” (Deut. 28:24). “Hashem will strike you with madness, blindness, and dismay.” (Deut. 28:28). “If you build a house, you shall not live in it. If you plant a vineyard, you shall not harvest it…” (Deut.28:29-30).

And, for those of us who are experiencing arthritis and all those other wonderful things with our joints: “Hashem will afflict you at the knees and thighs with a severe inflammation, from which you shall never recover—from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.” (Deut. 28:35). So now I no longer have to ask what the source of my hip pain is from my orthopedic surgeon. The Torah has spelled it out for me.

At times, I am troubled by the theology of blessings and curses, especially when I learn of some of the challenges faced by some in our community, from illness to untimely deaths. I cannot use the Torah’s theology to find a reason. I simply cannot and choose not to. Rather, I place the challenges to be a part of the ongoing Creation. It is not Hashem that creates these curses. It is a result of being human, how we have chosen to live in this world, and the blessing and curses that evolve from those choices.

Fears and concerns, says the Torah, are rather healthy, and should always be a part of our lives to promote our own self confidence in the ability to help others. It’s okay to be worried, but it is not okay to become cursed by the fear.

It has been determined by case studies that 92% of the things we worry about never happen. Can you remember the things that troubled you ten years ago...or even six weeks ago? So we are left with 8% of our worries that might be legitimate causes for concern.

There are formulas in the Jewish tradition to aid the worried. There are prayers to be said before travel which lately more and more people are beginning to recite before their plane takes off, prayers to be said before one closes their eyes at night such as the Shema which instills within us a belief and faith in God, and the Adon Olam which stresses that we trust that God will watch over and protect us, both when we wake and when we sleep. Once I accept that I can trust my soul in the palm of God’s hand, then the prayer provides me with a way to mollify my fears. It allows me to somewhat allay my fears and live life without being afraid of each step and place I go. We should not live life in a fearful debilitating state of mind.

These prayers have no guarantee. For those with true fears that create panic and anxiety with the projection of the fear of death, they offer a limited assurance as to how to overcome fears. But for the everyday worrier, these prayers offer some comfort and self-confidence.

As we reflect upon both the curses and the blessings found in the Torah for this Shabbat, let us be mindful, that life is filled with both. As the rabbis teach, the offering of a beracha, a blessing both when there is good and where there are challenges in life, provides us with the confidence that life is filled with an Amen. Amen and Emunah both reflect our faith in God and in life in general. At times we question it, especially when life challenges us.

Perhaps that is precisely why each blessing and curse stated in the reading ends with everyone saying the word: Amen.

Am Yisrael Chai

Bring them home now!

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi K