It's all good; Hear the Blessings - Ki Tavo 5786

Every time we read this week’s Parsha, a troubling question comes up.  Why all the curses?  It’s very difficult to read, and in fact the Ba’al Kore - the Torah reader in the Synagogue - lowers his voice for this section and reads it faster than the rest.  The answer in Chassidic teachings is complicated, multi-faceted and probably difficult for many to comprehend.  The gist of it is that there are revealed blessings, and then there are blessings that are too lofty spiritually to be revealed.  

It is written that no bad comes from G-d.  Some misinterpret that to mean that anything bad is not from G-d but from some other force.  This idea is inconsistent with the Torah view of the unity of Hashem.  Everything was created and is controlled by Hashem, including forces of evil.  So the only other interpretation is that what appears to be bad is really not bad.  As I said, this is something that is very difficult to comprehend, and I am not going to try to explain it on a logical level, because it is too big a subject for this article.

Let me just suggest a few things to consider.  Hashem has seven names in the Torah, each representing a different attribute - a different manifestation of Hashem;s effect in the world.  The name that we don’t pronounce, known as the ineffable name made up of the four letters yud and hei and vav an hei, is known as “Havaye.”  That name refers to Hashem’s mercy.  The name we pronounce as Elokim refers to Hashem’s judgment.  So naturally, punishment in the Torah is generally attributed to Elokim.  It is fascinating to see that throughout the Parsha of the curses, the name used is Havaye.  This is showing us that the “curses” are actually coming from a merciful G-d.

It is often more difficult for a parent to discipline their child than to look the other way when they are behaving badly.  But allowing the child to do whatever they want is not helping them, and correcting them is sometimes the only way to get them to learn how to grow into decent, contributing members of society.  Proper discipline and consequences are not designed to hurt but to warn and correct, and to sustain a person for the long term.  Our people have suffered all these curses over the generations, but other great nations have faded into the garbage heap of history, and we are still here.  Hashem is not cursing us.  He is providing a warning that reminds us to follow His path, with all the blessings it brings.

I said before that the recognition that the words of this Parsha are really blessings is not easy, but our great mystics actually experienced them this way.  There is a famous story about the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Shneur Zalman, known as the “Alter Rebbe,” and his son and successor, Rabbi Dovber.  The Alter Rebbe would read the Torah himself in the Synagogue.  One year, he was out of town for Parshat Ki Tavo and someone else read the Torah that week.  The young future Rebbe Dovber, not yet Bar Mitzvah, was so deeply affected by the curses that he became ill, and it was questionable whether he would be able to fast on Yom Kippur, a few weeks later.  People asked him why he was affected so deeply, had he not heard this Parsha before?  He answered:  “When my father reads this Parsha there are no curses heard.”

Perhaps more important than the meaning of the curses is how we respond to it.  Throughout our history, when we have faced adversity, even in the face of the most horrific suffering, we have maintained our faith in Hashem.  Instead of getting stuck on “why me?” we have picked ourselves up and acknowledged Hashem’s enduring love and His sustaining us through it all.  

Last week, former hostage Eliya Cohen married Ziv Abud.  He was abducted by the Hamas butchers just as he was about to propose to her and held hostage for 505 days.  Under the Chuppah, before he broke the glass, he spoke in what was to me one of the most moving speeches I have ever heard.  This was a true kiddush Hashem - public sanctification of Hashem’s name.

Elya thanked Hashem for bringing him to the Chuppah that he had prayed for all the time.  He spoke to Hashem and promised that if he ever made it to that day, he would publicly say Shema Yisrael with the guests.  He said (paraphrasing): “My beloved Father in Heaven, only You know the horrors I lived through. You were with me the whole time, You starved with me, You were with me in the cold and through all the pain.  Father, I love you.”  And then he invited everyone to join him in a rousing rendition of Shema Yisrael.  You can find the video online, for example here.

This week a good friend of mine had a difficult and frightening surgery.  I visited him afterwards, and he told me that leading up to the surgery, besides prayer and Tzedakah, he accepted resolutions to strengthen his observance.  We talked about the power of using the challenge as a springboard for growth, and it was very impressive to see how he put it into practice.  

There is a lot of negativity that we want to see the end of in the world.  Hashem loves us always, but we request that the blessings be the kind that we can see and clearly identify as such.  On the day of judgment, Rosh Hashanah, when the entire world is judged and the events of the year are determined, Hashem can instantaneously transform the negative to "revealed good.”  That’s why it is customary in the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah to strengthen our connection to Hashem and do all we can to bring goodness to the world.  We pay special attention to our actions and increase our Mitzvah observance.  We pay more attention to our prayers and do it more consistently.  We increase our Tzedakah, and generally enhance our acts of charity and kindness to others.  And we turn to Hashem and ask that He bring us a good and sweet year, a year when we can celebrate true peace, harmony and abundance, and above all, the redemption of the entire world.