A Blessing and a Curse

There is a challenge to us all found in this week’s parasha – Re’eh – it is there right from the start. Put up or shut up, says God.

“Behold, this day I set before you a blessing and a curse.” (Devarim 11:26)

We have a choice, says God – chose the right path or the wrong one. This is the reality of freedom, the idea that we constantly make decisions and that those decisions have consequences. I have been thinking a great deal about this idea in the wake of this past week’s terror attacks near Eilat.

Each and every moment of life we make decisions, and no matter how much we like to blame others for forcing us to make them – it is us in the end who acts, who does the deed. Those who snuck into Israel with the intention to kill as many as possible almost certainly blame Israel for causing their actions – but they pulled the triggers. They chose the curse.

And those who decided to respond in kind by ordering bombs dropped, those who fired across the border, those who drop their quest for a new social order, they chose too. And they also chose the curse.

This piece shook me pretty good. The ‘awful, necessary truth,’ says Larry Derfner is that Palestinian terror is completely understandable, and in the social math of the day – justified. As much as I wanted to, I could not disagree with his fundamental thesis. His words forced me to dig, to look into the deepest recesses of my soul. Could I ever be in a plce where I felt compelled to kill? Minha and Maariv were tough yesterday because I was confronting my own potential to harm, to become evil. How would I respond if in their situation – soldier or terrorist? Would I chose blessing, or curse…

I posted Derfner’s words to see what some friends thought, and each one was horrified. ‘Its never ok to target civilians’ – a common reply. When I mentioned that this is not really a piece about justification, it is a piece about understanding, understanding ourselves and through that understanding them – well, that did not fly. Part of the reason is that Derfner chose curse too – he chose to publish his words when people were too hurt to truly read them and so his message was lost. He forced people to shut down, to close off, to use words like ‘never.’

And yet, on some level they are right. Violence against civilians is never ok. And knowing that is why I could not chose to shut down my thoughts, my heart. I was taught back in grad school that violence comes in many forms. We use terms like physical violence and structural violence. Physical is the one we are all familiar with, structural is societal, it is emotional, and it is no less painful. Taking away peoples’ hope, their freedom to travel, their ability to earn a living, destroying their homes – regardless of what it may be a ‘response’ to – is also violently targeting civilians.

And so what do we do? How can we possibly move forward? Are we not simply left in a position where we must use force, where we must follow Derfner’s logic and meet violence with violence?

“Behold, this day I set before you a blessing and a curse.” (Devarim 11:26)

The Vilna Gaon says that this parasha speaks to every single moment of life. That the word ‘today’ reminds us that we make decisions in the present. And the words ‘before you’ point this decision towards the future – decisions are forward focused. We are always in the position to change the trajectory of our lives, at each and every moment there is a choice between blessing and curse – and by chosing blessing we can alter the very reality of the universe.

The message of this verse is so deep, it is about us, it speaks to our fundamental selves. We have the power to chose blessing, and so our potential for good is unlimited. The Torah teaches us that we can do anything, that we should never give up on ourselves or on our fellows. That the time to change the world, to chose blessing is right here and right now.

I pray for the day when we all are able to unleash our potential, and chose blessing.

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Rabbi Jonah Geffen

Jonah joined J Street following two years as Rabbinic Fellow at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City. For nearly ten years Jonah has dedicated himself to teaching and promoting the cause of peace as refracted and understood by the Jewish tradition. He served as Senior Coexistence Educator for Kivunim: New Directions, was a senior educator for the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution’s Rodef Shalom program, and has been a trip facilitator and leader of the Peacemakers’ Beit Midrash with Encounter. Jonah spent his freshman year of college on Young Judaea Year Course, was a Kollel Fellow at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, a summer fellow at Yeshivat Hadar, and a CLAL Rabbis Without Borders Fellow. Born and raised in Manhattan where he graduated from the Heschel and Fieldston Schools, Jonah received his BA in History and Jewish Studies from Indiana University, studied with Rabbi Dr. Marc Gopin earning an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, and received an MA in Jewish Studies and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary.

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