Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker
“Adonai will strike you with an unknown illness, fever, and inflammation…” (Deut 28:22). This is just one curse in a huge list that we find in this week’s parashah, Ki Tavo. Right now, it’s hard not to feel as if we’ve all been cursed a little, but I’ve never been a fan of taking these curses literally.
If you do well – God will bless you. If you don’t – curses galore! For some reason that notion makes a lot of people uncomfortable. At the same time it points to an important truth about life. What is the Torah teaching us? There are consequences to our actions.
This time that we’re living through has shattered our norms and reminded us that there is only so much in life that we can control. Even so, our actions have consequences, meaning we do have an impact. Our words have an impact, our actions have an impact. The actions we could have taken, but did not – have an impact, too. We strive to have a positive impact. We hope we did.
The month of Elul is not only a time for reflection; it’s a time to take responsibility. Only by taking responsibility, acknowledging our successes, our missteps, and our shortcomings – claiming them – can we begin the process of teshuva, repentance.
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