Ki Tavo: What Are We Really Afraid Of?

In this week’s Torah reading, Ki Tavo, we have what’s called the Tochecha, the curses or the rebukes; essentially, the terrible things that will happen if the Israelites, once settled in the Promised Land, don’t follow God’s commandments. Since they’re supposed to be read quickly and in an undertone, I’m not going to enumerate any of them here, but they’re things you probably wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

Luckily, the reading also includes the blessings that the people will receive if they do follow the commandments. Moses tells the people that half of the tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim, where the blessings would be spoken, and the other half would stand on Mount Ebal and for the curses. The Levites would then would call out the list of actions and behaviors that would cause a person to be cursed if they engaged in them; worshipping idols, engaging in inappropriate sexual relationships, insulting one’s parents. And the people would reply, Amen.

Then interestingly, it appears to be Moses himself who tells the people how they will be blessed if they follow the Instruction (Torah) that is being given to them. Then, it’s Moses, not a Levite or a Kohen or a tribal leader, who continues with the consequences for failure to observe the commandments.

The way the Torah reading is arranged, the Levites first pronounce the things that will bring curse. Then the people are blessed, and finally, told what terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things will happen if they don’t obey.

But rather than look at these curses as a sign of Divine punishment for going astray, can we imagine that they’re the collective fears in general of the people living at that time? Things that they’re worried will happen because of their actions? Or, that they’ve already happened? Is it possible that by blaming these curses on “sin” that our ancient ancestors could make sense of the tragic and traumatic things that happen in the world and in their lives?

How can we look at these “curses” through our modern lenses?

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Sermons

Rosh Hashanah 5785-After October 7
Rosh Hashanah 5785-After October 7

After September 1st, when six Israeli hostages were found having recently been murdered by Hamas, just about every Facebook post and email I saw began with, “There are no words…” Including mine. Then each poster or sender went on for about 200-500 words. It’s like Dr....

Hukkat: Our Flowing Wells
Hukkat: Our Flowing Wells

In this week’s Torah portion, Hukat, we begin by learning about the red heifer, whose ashes would be mixed with water and sprinkled on a person who had been made ritually impure by reason of a corpse, in order to purify them. It’s good information, because as soon as...

Moses & Yitro At The Mountain
Moses & Yitro At The Mountain

Yitro, this week’s Torah reading, is famous for containing the Aseret haDibrot, commonly translated as “The Ten Commandments.” There’s no question that a law code is necessary for a community to be cohesive, to have a set of principles to guide them, and to create a...

Latest Midrash HaZak

Chukat: The Red Heifer and Our Stuff, Rabbi Andra Greenwald
Chukat: The Red Heifer and Our Stuff, Rabbi Andra Greenwald

Photo Credit: Rennett Stowe on Flickr Chukat: The Red Heifer and Our Stuff Rabbi Andra Greenwald Is it sacrilegious to feel that some pieces of the Torah just don’t make sense? In parshat Chukat, the Law of the Red Heifer presents us with one of the statutes for which...

Devarim: The Power of Retelling, Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman
Devarim: The Power of Retelling, Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman

Image from Medfield, MA public library, wallaceshealy-com-OPvCP3-clipart The Power of Retelling Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak to a university class about being one of the first generation of women and queer rabbis. At these kinds of...

Mattot: What Words Can Create, Ilene Winn-Lederer
Mattot: What Words Can Create, Ilene Winn-Lederer

Illustration ©2009-Ilene Winn-Lederer Mattot: What Words Can Create Ilene Winn-Lederer Although I grew up with a strong Jewish identity, I did not experience a traditional Jewish education and came to Torah in my late teens through influential involvement with a...

Latest Personal Blogs

Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem
Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem

This past week, I participated in a Ritualwell class with Alden Solovy on "Writing From One Word of Torah." I distilled 3 stream-of-consciousness prompts on the word "Baruch/Berekh," the root of which can mean "blessing' and "knee, into this poem. Blessing my bended...

The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives
The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives

Photo: publicdomainpictures.net The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives An email from My Jewish Learning about “A Woman of Valor” prompted me to pivot the next evening’s planned adult learning session to looking at these 22 verses from Mishlei, the Book of Proverbs. These verses...

Live Long and Prosper?
Live Long and Prosper?

By Oklahoma Heritage Association, Gaylord-Pickens Museum - Author, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25656727 Live Long and Prosper? January 5, 2022 began the third year of the seven and a half-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of...

Pin It on Pinterest