Parshat Ki Tavo

I read very little on this week's parsha.  What I did read, I found bland.  But I particularly enjoyed the week's parsha, Ki Tavo, itself.  As the Jewish people are on the verge of entering the land of Israel, we are forewarned of the impact of our actions on our lives -- it seems like common sense but is rarely internalized even today.  The parsha contains a list of blessings God will shower upon us if we follow in His ways, followed by a list of curses should we fail to do so.  One particular blessing and curse pair jumped out to me.

And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God....  The Lord will open upon thee...to bless all the work of they hand; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not [need to] borrow.  (Deuteronomy 28:2, 12)

But it shall come to pass, if thou will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statues which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee....  [A stranger] shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not [be able to] lend to him.  (Deuteronomy 28:15, 44)

What jumps off the page for me is not the simple wording but the philosophical impact they have for our religious mindset.  Too often, we get absorbed into a mindset of studying Torah that we forget to live Torah.  I have often been critical of the "Kollel lifestyle" that places study of Torah at the forefront of one's life to the extent that families struggle to get by due to lack of income sources.  But I can completely understand how someone can become so absorbed in Torah that they forget it includes more than study.  It is addicting!  Studying Torah makes me and so many others happy in ways that aren't even explainable.  But when I read this week's Torah portion I felt a call to return to a true Torah way of living.  A call to hearken to God's commandments through my work "in the city and in the field," "when I come in and when I go out."  The blessings and the curses didn't pertain to our study of Torah; they pertained to our ability to live our day-to-day lives as farmers, merchants, bakers, weavers, potters, and builders as people who had lives guided by God.  A life guided by God isn't reflected in most people primarily through their study of God, but just as much (if not more so) seen by acting in ways that reflect God's holiness.

Another way in which these verses have meaning for me pertains to our status as lenders or borrowers.  If we hearken unto God we will have abundant crops and the ability to lend to many nations.  If we do not hearken, however, we will be forced to borrow from others.  The ideal is for the work of our hown hand to sustain us and others.   There are those who believe the opposite to be true in the Messianic age, but I find just the opposite attested to here as Moses speaks to the Jewish people this week.  We need to work for what we earn - but must recognize that God is the ultimate source of everything we have.  We must be grateful to Him and see His blessings in our life.  But we cannot expect the blessings to come without putting fourth our own efforts as well.