In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, we read of the great blessings the Jewish people will receive if they listen to God, and the terrible curses the Jewish people will suffer if they do not listen.
The Jerusalem Talmud states (Megillah 3:7):
“When reading the section of the curses in the Torah, One does not interrupt curses with an aliyah (and a blessing)…Rabbi Levi said, this is because the Holy One said that it is not nice that My children be cursed and I be praised. Rabbi Yose ben Rebbe Abun said, not because of that reason but because one who stands up to read in the Torah needs to start with something good and conclude with something good. Levi bar Paṭi asked Rav Ḥuna: these curses which we read as one, should one recite a benediction before and after? He said to him, nothing needs a benediction before and after except the curses in Leviticus and the curses in Deuteronomy. Rabbi Jonathan the scribe of Gufta came down here; he saw Bar Abuna reading the Song of the Well and recite a benediction before and after. He said to him, does one do this? He answered, ‘All songs need a benediction before and after.’”
In ancient times not all those called up for an aliyah said a blessing before and after their section, rather one blessing was made at the beginning of the Torah service and one at the end. But here the Talmud states an exception, curses certainly require a blessing before and after as do songs in the Torah. This seems strange. I understand the idea of blessing the songs in the Torah, but the curses? If anything that would be precisely the place to leave them out. We are in fact quite hesitant to read the curses and so we read them in an undertone. What is it about curses and songs which require a blessing?
The Mishna in Brachot (9:5) states:
“One is obligated to recite a blessing for the bad that befalls them just as they recite a blessing for the good that befalls them, as it is stated: ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might’ (Deuteronomy 6:5)…B’chol Miodecha, ‘With all your might,’ means with every measure that God metes out to you; whether it is good or troublesome, one should thank God.”
Perhaps what the Jerusalem Talmud above is articulating is the same idea which we find in the Mishna in Brachot, just as we must bless God on the good and the bad, so too there is a greater need to bless God when we read about the extremes of good and bad in the Torah, the songs and the curses, than when we read other sections.
In theory we should bless and thank God for every breath, as the Talmud in Brachot says, “If only one could pray all day long.” In reality most of us are busy going about our lives, we do not appreciate every moment, not every second are we aware of the grand beauty, wonder and perplexity of existence. But when extreme things happen, good or bad, we suddenly become aware. The world takes on a different feeling, the everyday becomes highlighted, the sun through the leaves becomes more significant, our loved ones more precious and our life more profound and more fragile. It is at precisely these moments that the human being reaches out toward the Divine for purpose, for meaning, for some foundation amid the grandeur and perplexity of life.
This Saturday night we will begin selichot, another step in the slow march to the Days of Awe and Divine proximity. Perhaps, appropriately for this week, this parsha is teaching us that in all things, good, bad, or seemingly normal, there, if we pay attention, God is to be found.