As we near the end of Deuteronomy, we will see this week a
feature of royal documents and covenants. This parasha, known as the parasha of
“tochecha,” or “rebuke,” ends with a long list of curses. This is a typical way that kings would seal a
covenantal document, asking the gods to curse anyone who disobeyed the laws
within.
The Israelites are instructed on a number of rituals related
to crossing over into the new land. This includes the ritual of bringing the
first fruits to the Temple, of setting up stones inscribed with this “Torah”
(probably the book of Deuteronomy,) and the ritual of declaring blessings and
curses on two mountains. The text spells out the blessings and curses that seem
to be a part of this ritual. But then, the majority of Chapter 28 (more than 50
verses in total,) lays on even more curses – terrible, graphic things that will
happen to the Israelites if they break God’s covenant.
For me, the most interesting verses in this whole section
are 28:47-48, which read, “Because you would not serve the Eternal your God in
joy and gladness over the abundance of everything, you shall have to serve –in
hunger and thirst, naked and lacking everything—the enemies whom the Eternal will
let loose against you. He will put an iron yoke upon your neck until He has
wiped you out.”
The reason God gives for bringing horrific plagues and
curses upon us is that we did not serve God in joy and gladness over all that
we have. Ultimately, this piece is about our lack of gratitude for what we
already have – for the blessings we enjoy in each and every moment.
I don’t believe that the curses are meant to be taken
literally – that men and women will literally be eating the flesh of their own
children (probably the worst curse in the list). I think Deuteronomy is
describing what happens to human beings when we are unable to experience and
express gratitude for the blessings in our lives in the present moment. What
happens when we get stuck in disappointment about the past, or in worry about
the future, is that our minds and our hearts spiral into horrible negative
thoughts; our spirits become empty; life becomes meaningless – cursed.
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