The Blueprint of our History

Adapted from Parasha U’Pishra by Rabbi Moshe Grylak

Translated by Rafaella Levine

This week we read what is the least favorite parsha among many good Jews. Some people would probably prefer to miss hearing it altogether. It is called the parsha of curses.

What is a curse? What may come to mind is black magic and fairytales, but that is definitely not the intent here.  Moshe (Moses), our loving, devoted leader throughout the forty year sojourn in the desert, laid down a list of the consequences of our future behaviors. Positive consequences, of material and spiritual plenty, and warnings of the opposite, would our actions necessitate that.

Because our actions are not just our private choice. A person is connected – he is physical and spiritual combined. And as such, his behaviors – all of them – affect spiritual realms, and bring down blessings or lack of blessing to the physical realm. We do not act in a vacuum, and Moshe makes that clear in this week’s parsha. Our behavior and lifestyle carry serious weight in our joint history.

Here is a small excerpt to get the gist of the tone. The complete section is read in whispers in synagogue this Shabbos.

“Accursed will you be when you come in and accursed will you be when you go out… Hashem will attach the plague to you…and you will be a cause of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth…you will be a source of astonishment, a parable, and a conversation piece, among all the peoples where Hashem will lead you…you will grope at noontime as a blind man gropes in the darkness…You will serve your enemies…and he will put an iron yoke on your neck” (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

These curses are not born of Moshe’s anger. Perhaps he cried as he said them. They are clauses in our covenant with the Almighty – the contract signed between the Jews and their Creator and His Torah. And as with every legal contract, this covenant demanded extreme loyalty by both parties, and included the details of the fine in the event of breach of contract.

“These are the words of the covenant that Hashem commanded Moses to seal with the Children of Israel” (ibid 69).

Whatever has befallen us has been foreseen and accounted for in these unequivocal verses. We see them played out in our history, and we look to them in hope as the end of the prophecy begins to come to fruition.

Let’s look at a few facts of our history:

1. Living among the nations.

We are a cosmopolitan nation. We speak all the world’s languages. There is no country that has not met up with us since we left Israel, from China to far corners of Africa. The “wandering Jew” is an international concept.

And what does the verse foretell?

“Hashem will scatter you among all the peoples, from the end of the earth to the end of the earth” (ibid 64).

2. Anti-Semitism. Racism is one of humanity’s awful secrets, and a huge proportion of it has been directed at the world’s Jews. The greatest philosophers have tried to figure out the source and explanation of this discrimination, but its irrational element is its most noticeable aspect, especially since the excuse changes in each country! Despite numerous diagnoses, a satisfactory explanation is missing. What does the Torah say?

“You will be a source of astonishment, a parable, and a conversation piece, among all the peoples where Hashem will lead you” (ibid 37).

3. Persecution and genocide. Pogroms, Inquisition, Cantonists, Ghettos, yellow stars, Siberia, the Holocaust – the words are enough to bring up in our collective memory the black associations.

“And among those nations you will not be tranquil, there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; there Hashem will give you a trembling heart, longing of eyes, and suffering of soul. Your life will hang in the balance, and you will be frightened night and day, and you will not be sure of your livelihood. In the morning you will say, ‘Who can give back last night!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘Who can give back this morning!’ – for the fright of your heart that you will fear and the sight of your eyes that you will see” (ibid 65-67)”

4. Survival. Somehow, despite it all, we’re still around. We’ve had many enemies over the years, and we’ve made many mistakes. But the things that have wiped out world powers have not annihilated us, against all historical odds.

And again, the Torah has predicted this:

“But despite all this, while they will be in the land of their enemies, I will not have been revolted by them nor will I have rejected them to obliterate them, to annul My covenant with them – for I am Hashem, their G-d” (Leviticus 26:44).

There is no room to deny that Jewish history is unique. Absurd even. Because there are other rules governing our history, and they are laid out clearly in the Torah: its prophecies, the blessings and curses. Clearly there is a plan, a blueprint laid beneath the patterns of our wild history. And Jew worldwide and throughout all ages have been waiting and praying to finally see the culmination:

“Then Hashem, your G-d, will bring back your captivity and have mercy upon you, and he will gather you in from all the peoples to which Hashem, your G-d, has scattered you….Hashem, your G-d, will bring you to he Land that your forefathers possessed and you shall posses it….Hashem will make you abundant in all your handiwork….” (Deuteronomy 30:3-9)