PARASHAT KI TAVO

Saturday 21st September 2024                                 18th Elul 5784

PARASHAT KI TAVO

Deut. 26:1-29:9 (29:8 in TaNaCH); Isaiah 60:1-22; Matt 4:13-24 (Rev. 21:10-27)

This week's Torah reading contains explicit details of both the rewards for following the Almighty’s word and the calamitous repercussions for going against it. The Torah commits over fifty verses to detailing the depths to which we will fall and the nearly unimaginable suffering we will endure as a result of this failing; financial and societal ruin, horrible diseases, starvation to the point of cannibalism of one’s own children – need I go into further detail?

The Torah makes a remarkable statement – why did all these horrible things befall the Jewish people? “Because you did not serve your God, with ‘simcha – joy’ even though you had an abundance of everything.”

This is actually quite astounding. Nowhere in the Torah are we commanded to serve God with joy! Likewise, there is no positive commandment to be happy. So, what exactly is this failure – of not serving with joy – that it would lead to such horrific consequences? The key to understanding this is the last part of the verse – “even though you had an abundance of everything.”

It is part of the human condition to focus on the problems we are having, and this sometimes obscures that which is good in our lives. A simple example of this is how we view certain bodily pains. Even though it may be, in the grand scheme of things, a rather minor pain, it tends to color our mood and outlook and even our interactions with others. We often do the same things with business and/or family issues, and sometimes with actual stupidities and things we have no control over, like when our favored sports team loses and it puts us in a bad mood.

In addition, we also have an innate motivation not to internalize all the good in our lives because it means we owe something to someone.

No one likes the feeling of owing. King Solomon, known as “the wisest of all men,” wrote: “A borrower is a servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). The feeling of being in debt to someone is painful to the point of almost feeling that your very identity is lost.

For this reason, a common reaction to receiving a kindness from someone is over analyzing what the benefactor has to gain by his action. This is done in order to lessen the feeling of obligation to him.

This is also why most people give a very lukewarm response when asked how they are doing. You will very seldom hear someone answer “GREAT!” or “never better!” Being happy comes with responsibilities that many of us don’t want to own up to. First, if we internalize how lucky we are then it leaves us with very few excuses for not achieving and growing. This type of personal responsibility can be daunting; if we set the bar low enough then we are relieved of the responsibility of success and the disappointment of true failure.

Second, if we are happy and satisfied with life, then we need to be filled with appreciation – and this equates to a debt of gratitude towards whomever helped us; a parent, spouse, teacher, mentor, kind stranger, or any combination thereof. It is simply easier to justify a lack of obligation to others if one is simply unhappy.

We seldom focus on everything that is amazing in our lives and we usually only appreciate things once they are gone. The clearest example of this is the fact that most people do not really appreciate a lifetime of good health until they experience a medical crisis. The same can be said for many other elements in our lives such as relationships, security, finances, etc.

Almost paradoxically, the only way for God to correct this issue is by going to the opposite extreme; by causing such pain that we begin to recognize our lack of appreciation for how amazing our lives truly were before all the calamities befell us. This invaluable lesson is then burned into our psyche allowing us to appreciate all that we have for the rest of our lives.

Thus, quite incredibly, the Almighty in his infinite kindness gives mankind suffering in order to provide perspective on how to properly internalize all the good in our lives. The key for avoidance of pain is for us to stay focused on all that is positive in our lives and to be appreciative. In this way we will “own up” to being happy and the responsibilities that come with that, and mindfully enjoy all the wonderful gifts in our lives.

Therefore, we must make the decision to choose happiness for ourselves. If the general Israeli population can somehow manage to do this given all the almost inconceivable difficulties in their lives, then we too can focus on the abundance that the Almighty has bestowed on us and live happier and more fulfilled lives.