Part of Ki Tavo, which we read tomorrow, is rather cringeworthy. There are curses. Lots of curses. In the theological framework of the Bible, people will experience these curses if they don’t follow the word of God. One of them reads as follows: וְהָיִיתָ מְמַשֵּׁשׁ בַּצָּהֳרַיִם, כַּאֲשֶׁר יְמַשֵּׁשׁ הַעִוֵּר בָּאֲפֵלָה You are going to feel around in the middle of the day, like someone who is blind in the darkness. (Devarim 28:29)
The curse doesn’t exactly make sense, because what difference does it make to someone who can’t see anything what time of day it is? Isn’t the experience of a fully blind person the same whether it’s dark or light? The Talmud tells a story from Rabbi Yossi in response to asking these questions: Once he was walking at night in total and complete darkness. He saw a person who was blind walking with a torch in their hand. He said to them, “why do you have the torch?” He replied to Rabbi Yossi, “When the torch is in my hand, people can see me and save me from any pits, thorns or thistles.”
The power in this person’s story is that they know the light doesn’t directly affect their experience of the world, but it has a powerful impact on the way that others see them and their surroundings. The light they hold helps others see them. They need others to safely make their way.
The curse then in this week’s parsha makes a lot more sense. The curse is that we could feel that we are lost and wandering without anyone to see us. We would be moving in the darkness without a torch, without others to notice us and our experience in the world. We could feel like we are on a journey alone.
In Elul, as we evaluate how we live our lives and with whom we surround ourselves, I pray that we always have people to notice us. I pray that we always have a torch to hold, allowing others to see us and keep us from falling into the pits of life. And most of all, when there are times that we feel in the dark, I hope there are people around us that illuminate our world, helping us find our path.
