![]() ![]() Communal calamity would be the price for individual destructive decisions. Blessings would be earned and experienced by the group. From that moment onward, the entire community of Israel became culpable for even the private misdeeds of other people (BT Sanhedrin 43b)! We are commanded to recognize our interconnectedness. But as the nation prepared to cross the Jordan River, something changed. If a person sinned in private, only the individual who misbehaved was held accountable. In a very provocative remark, the Talmud suggests that prior to entering into the Land of Israel, the nation as a whole was held accountable only for the public misdeeds of individuals. Maimonides suggests that hearing the blessings and curses in Parashat Ki Tavo, which come when the Israelites are about to enter into the Land of Israel before the original conquest, constituted the fulfillment of an actual mitzvah! ( K elal shelishi in Sefer Hamitzvot) This is a startling assertion, transforming the blessings and curses from a series of promises and threats to the level of commandment. However, Maimonides shares a tradition that conceptualizes the blessings and curses in a completely novel way. Most often, when we read the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy we experience them as promises of reward for loyalty to the Covenant and threats of violent consequences for rejecting God. But I still believe there is more behind Ezra’s insistence on reading the blessings and curses in public as our communities move into Rosh Hashanah.Ī curious geonic (7–10th century) tradition referenced by Maimonides provides deeper insight into Ezra’s decree. Indeed, this is a lovely framing for the end of one year and the beginning of another. Then we can begin the new year with a clean slate, fresh for our new ways of being in the world, without any negative baggage. The Talmud-in the name of Abaye-suggests a more optimistic answer to our question: “So that the year may end along with its curses.” As we finish the year, we read all of the curses-putting them behind us, as if to say, so should our troubles be behind us. I think there is something to this, but I believe there is a richer and more meaningful connection between the blessings and curses and Rosh Hashanah. Using the liturgy to confront the darkness that is promised if we do not choose well may keep us on the right path. Our behavior and choices really do have consequences in the world. If we make poor choices-well, less good things await us. ![]() If we make good choices, good things will happen. On the most visceral level, reading the blessings and curses at a time when we are focused on imagining new and nobler versions of ourselves and our communities highlights the stark consequences of our choices. Presumably, these communities would have had to take out a second Torah scroll and read the curses in addition to the parashah of the week on the Sabbaths before Rosh Hashanah and Shavuot.Īt any rate, Ezra’s mandate presents us with a question: Why did Ezra believe it was critical that the Jewish people read the blessings and curses before Rosh Hashanah? Asked differently, in what ways might hearing this section of the Torah be important for our spiritual work during this season? However, for the Jews of the Land of Israel, who in ancient times completed the Torah in three years, Ezra’s decree must have been quite jarring. Parashat Ki Tavo in Deuteronomy-where Moshe again offers the blessings and curses to the Israelites before they enter into the Land-also naturally falls before Rosh Hashanah in the calendar. In our present-day communities, where we finish the Torah every year, the section of Leviticus that includes the curses naturally falls before Shavuot. Why insist that we read them publicly as we ready ourselves to celebrate these joyous holidays? Reading these graphic and threatening chapters, which detail the good that will come if we are faithful to God and the suffering that will be wrought if we forsake our relationship with God, is difficult at any time. Here’s a puzzle for us to think about as we consider the spiritual work that we need to engage in over the remaining days until Yom Kippur: The Talmud tells us-in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar-that Ezra the Scribe decreed that, for all time, the Jewish people would read the blessings and curses in Leviticus (Parashat Behukkotai) prior to the holiday of Shavuot and those of Deuteronomy (Parashat Ki Tavo) before Rosh Hashanah (BT Megillah 31b). Your browser does not support the audio element. ![]()
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