The Clarity of Having Consequences

Parshat Ki Tavo

by Rabbi Avi Billet

With the Ashkenazic community beginning Selichot this Saturday night, with Rosh Hashana around a week and a half away, bringing with it the Day of Judgment, we are left to examine our deeds, our choices, our lives, and look at where we have brought ourselves, and where we are headed.

 At this particular juncture in history, we are also faced with the stark reality of an economic “peace” deal with a rogue terrorist nation that may become the reality of our world in the near future.

 Irrespective of one’s political views and loyalties, it is hard to imagine how an “agreement” with Iran, an avowed enemy of the United States and Israel, will be followed by that enemy, when the leadership of Iran has no track record of being honest in any effort towards fostering peace in the world.

 With so much at stake, with Israel being geographically so close to Iran, one wonders what it all means? Is this a test? Could we wake up one morning to see the landscape of the Middle East altered forever? I certainly hope not. Which is why we must do whatever we can to tell our representatives that this will not be good for the U.S. or Israel.

 Jeffrey Goldberg wrote an article for The Atlantic, dated August 27, 2015, entitled “10 Questions for President Obama About Iran.” The questions are Robert Satloff’s and the fifth question includes this: “You refused to spell out the penalties Iran would suffer for violations of the agreement… [as it might] potentially lessen the deterrent effect… [yet] as a constitutional law professor, you can appreciate that having clarity in terms of penalties for lawbreaking is a basic element of our legal system.”

 When one looks at our parsha, one can’t help be overwhelmed by the penalties declared upon the Jewish people for breaking God’s law. History has proven over and over again that God’s law is meant to triumph over man’s whim. And it has.

 To be fair, the Torah also proclaims the blessings for good behavior and for following the Torah, and it is this focus which gives a positive side to an otherwise depressing Torah portion.

 When looking at the section of the Tochacha (Rebuke), what is the most frightening sentiment in there? I suppose this question, polled to 100 people, might get close to 100 different answers. But I think that the opening statement is the scariest thought. “If you do not obey God your Lord and do not carefully keep all His commandments and decrees as I am prescribing them for you today…” (28:15)

 Forget about the rest of the sentence. It doesn’t matter. Can we imagine the Jewish people – who lived a miraculous existence in the wilderness, who were one generation removed from Revelation at Sinai (some of them may have experienced Revelation as children and were not subject to the decree of dying in the wilderness), even considering not obeying God?

 And yet we see it all the time. We are ourselves guilty often enough, of not obeying and keeping the commandments. And we excuse our behavior with the “li’l ole me” argument: Does God really care what li’l ole me does? Is my being unscrupulous really such a big deal – I’m just one little person? Is my violation really going to shake the world, I’m a nobody anyway! And besides, look how humble I am!

 The answer to these questions is irrelevant. There are plenty of instances in the Bible where one person made a difference, for good or for bad, either saving the entire nation, or causing massive destruction. Some of the good ones include Pinchas (Bamidbar 28), Yael (Shoftim 4), Yonatan (Shmuel I 14). The bad ones include Korach, Zimri (Bamidbar 28), Achan (Yehoshua 7).

 In this particular time, when Christians who support Israel often quote the verse from Bereshit 12:3, when God promises Avraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you, I will curse,” it behooves us to deserve being called the children of Abraham. And we earn this honorific by honoring our God and following His laws to the best of our abilities.

 We do not have a crystal ball to know what the future will bring. We need to do our part to communicate with our representatives, and we need to pray that God will give them the proper guidance to do what is best for the United States, for Israel, and for the world.

 And, particularly as we head into the High Holiday season, we need to not only vamp up our prayers, but we need to raise the bar on our commitment, so God can never say about us “If you do not obey God your Lord and do not carefully keep all His commandments.” We understand quite well what consequences are. Our people have suffered much since the destruction of the Temple.

 If consequences were made clear for what violations on Iran’s part would translate to, there might be a different perspective to be had. But with no consequences, Iran has nothing to lose in following its veteran ways of marching to their own drum.

 Hopefully if we do our part, the blessings of the parsha will come true, and Iran will no longer be a threat to our People across the globe, especially in Israel. Amen.