END the CURSE!

24 Menachem Av 5784 
Week of Parashat Re'eh

"See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse.  The blessing:  that you hearken to the commandments of Hashem, your God, that I command you today.  And the curse:  if you do not hearken to the commandments of Hashem, your God, and you stray from the path that I command you today, to follow gods of others, that you did not know."  (Devarim 11.26-29)

Stone Commentary:  "He [Moshe] begins his recitation by putting the commandments into perspective, saying that the choice of whether or not to accept the Torah in its totality is nothing less than the choice between blessing and curse."

Nothing proves this in miniature more than what happened on the last day we rejoiced with our Holy Torah as a nation - Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah,  October 7, 2023.  Besides it being the annual holiday, it was the holy weekly Shabbat as well.  Some like to call it the "Black Sabbath."  I refuse to call it that.  It was only "black" for those who blackened it with their own sinful behavior.  

Face it.  Those who suffered the most were the most to blame.  The people at the Nova Festival weren't innocent kids just having fun.  Instead of rejoicing with the Torah, they were desecrating it in a hundred different ways. 

We like to say it was a failure of the "concept," or it was overconfidence in technology, or some kind of conspiracy and it might have been all those things, but it succeeded only because we as a people failed to keep the Torah.  

And what of the towns and villages and kibbutzim?

"...If Hashem will not guard the city, in vain is the watchman vigilant."  (Tehillim 127.1)

How true this is, as proven by how many warnings were given by those entrusted with guarding the cities and yet the warnings were in vain.  We know that the places where the Shabbat was guarded were spared.  Those places where Shabbat and Torah were disrespected and disregarded due to their replacement with false gods of ideology suffered the consequences.  They nurtured their own enemies and freely opened their gates to them.

"If in one of your cities that Hashem, your God, gives you in which to dwell, you hear, saying 'Lawless men have emerged from your midst, and they have caused the dwellers of their city to go astray, saying, 'Let us go and worship the gods of others, that you have not known' - you shall seek out and investigate, and inquire well, and behold! it is true, the word is correct, this abomination was committed in your midst.  You shall smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword; lay it waste and everything that is in it, and its animals, with the edge of the sword.  You shall gather together all its booty to the midst of its open square, and you shall burn in fire completely the city and all its booty to Hashem your God, and it shall be an eternal heap, it shall not be rebuilt.  No part of the banned property may adhere to your hand, so that Hashem will turn back from His burning wrath; and He will give you mercy and be merciful to you and multiply you, as He swore to your forefathers, when you hearken to the voice of Hashem, your God, to observe all His commandments that I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of Hashem your God."  (Devarim 13.13-19)

Stone Commentary:  "...the Torah discusses a city so spiritually corrupt that all or most of its citizens were persuaded to worship idols.  The entire city is declared a Wayward City...; the guilty parties are executed by the sword and the city and all its property - even that of the non-sinners - is destroyed.  Finally, the city must remain a desolate heap, never to be rebuilt.  But, if less than a majority of its people succumb to this sedition, they are treated as individual idolaters and are subject to stoning, the regular death penalty for idolatry, provided they were properly warned and their sin was witnessed."

Where is the mercy?  As we were told in the beginning.  This was to be a coordinated attack across the entire country; however, God's mercy confined it to a small area, as a warning.  Some reports said that the Festival attracted the attention of Hamas.  They could see it from the fence where they broke through.  It was quite a public display of chillul Hashem.  

The most important questions now are: have any lessons been learned?  have any hearts been turned??  will we ever stop protesting our innocence and finally take responsibility???

END THE CURSE NOW!!!