Parashat Ki Tavo

Parashat Ki Tavo
Elul 18, 5771 ~ September 17, 2011
by Dan Cohen

A departure from Joy – making some sense of “The Rebuke”

Learning Torah and preparing these mini-drashes over the past few years has become a joy. Writing about it only adds to the true connectedness I feel to our Torah scholars and the long line of wisdom that I get to access while doing research.

Rarely, if ever, have I accentuated the negative in these writings because I am usually excited about what the parsha is revealing.

However, this week there is a giant list of curses smack dab in the midst of the sixth aliyah. They number ninety-eight and are often called the “Rebuke.”
Even while reading the torah out loud during this section, the reader is asked to lower his voice – that is how excruciating and vivid the descriptions are.

It begins at Chapter 28, Verse 15 saying, “And it will be, if you do not obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you this day, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.”

It concludes fifty-five incredible verses later. And the curses range from the horrible to the horrific.

We are told that the crops in our fields will be rendered useless due to bugs, our children sold into slavery, that we will be sent back to Egypt as slaves, and most notably, Jerusalem will be sacked, our temple destroyed, and our people reduced to the worst acts imaginable.

How are we to understand why this is here - especially at a key moment during Moshe's enduring goodbye speech to the nation?

When offered the old "I've got good news & bad news" statement, some choose good news while others choose the bad news. Moshe is laying it out - all the bad news possible - and saying to us a few things.

First, the Good news...that Hashem is with us - in the good times and not so good times.

That no matter how badly we mess up (and Moshe predicts exactly how we will ...) that we are protected and chosen. Our job is to remember that and act upon it. The famous song said, "You don't know what you've got till its gone." So we are urged to remember before its too late.

I've been reminded of this often in the past few weeks. Here in Oakland, there was an attempt to display horrific and anti-Semitic art at a children's museum. The news from the Middle East is getting more troubling by the day. Sometimes it can be overwhelming.

And yet, here we are, in Elul, with an opportunity to hit control-alt-delete on our spiritual path and find the GOOD in the world starting with our relationship to Hashem.

We get the chance to look inward at ourselves and ask how we are serving G-d and each other. As horrific as the news around us can be, remembering and rebooting on the notion that Hashem is with us can be job #1 for all of us..and a piece of good news when all else seems funky.

Second, the bad news (kinda). Among the curses, we see the extent of how bad it can get. We will be sold back into slavery. Our children will be taken from us. Hashem might even turn his back.

This is a two-part dance. In Chapter 28, Verse 66 says, "And your life will hang in suspense before you. You will be in fear night and day, and you will not believe in your life."

In the language of this rebuke, we are told that we may be doomed to live in a constant state of limbo - not sure of the path ahead or our place in the world. That we will live in constant fear and anxiety. Commonly known back east as "agita."

However, we are provided an extensive list of how bad it will get - amazingly we get clarity among the uncertainty. Many people, like me, take solace in knowing the full extent of the difficulty they are about to face. Some find the strength in that moment of knowing, and summon the courage to act. These are the "Bad News First" folks in our lives.

I would guess that for many, having a benchmark of how bad it can get creates a window in which we can make an informed decision about our actions - do we stray from Torah? If so, what is the cost?

Finally, Ruth Sohn, writing in an on-line journal of Reform Judaism linked the Rebuke to personal responsibility to ourselves and each other. She said that as Elul approaches, we are required to ask..."Where have I missed the mark? How can I best seek forgiveness and forgive? How will I know if my actions have caused hurt?"

She continued saying "But even the most honest self-reflection has its limits. That is why sometimes we need others to hold a mirror up to us so we can see ourselves clearly. It takes courage to invite another to hold before us the mirror of truth. It also takes courage to be the one to hold up the mirror of truth so a friend or partner can see himself or herself more clearly. And Jewish tradition expects us to do no less every day of the year."

Here we are, thousands of years after Moshe has left the stage. I think the Rebuke can remind us that each of us is accountable to each other, not just to Hashem, in our covenant. Moshe has left us a very clear accounting of the good news & bad news equation of what can happen if/when we forget that notion. Our job is to make an informed choice and have each other's backs.

May you have a New Year full of health, blessing and general awesomeness.