BLESSINGS AND CURSES

In the fifth book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, in Parasha Ki Tavo, Moses declares to his people that they must follow God. If they do, they will be blessed. If they do not, they will be cursed.

It begins with 12 verses of the Levite tribe issuing curses. This is followed by ten and a half verses of Moses reciting the blessings. It culminates in 53 verses of curses with a total of 98 curses. The blessings are all that a person and family would require to live a full, peaceful, and harmonious life on earth. The curses list just about every horror and misery imaginable.

The blessings are bestowed upon those who live their lives according to Torah standards, which encompass spiritual values and practices. The mandate is to follow God’s commandments and not wander. This narrow path is unified by the edict that we should be Holy as God is Holy. (See my blog “You will be Holy for I am Holy” May 21, 2020) There are no side trails in this directive. The blessings themselves are that we will be safe, prosperous, fruitful, and satisfied.

There is no promise of fine clothing, lavish banquets, extensive estates, herds of cattle, personal airplanes, etc. But we will be free of worry from illnesses, enemies, and beasts.

A spiritually oriented life is deemed to be the optimal one. It precludes attending to the demands of the emotions; that anger, hatred, or fear mandate how we live our lives. Living by heavenly standards means not adhering to the attractions of the senses; which promote a desire to accumulate ever-widening comfort, wealth, and power.  

The result of following God’s commandments is having the contentment and certainty described by the blessings. The specifics include that their enemies will be routed, their undertakings successful, abounding prosperity, and rain in the proper season. Torah blessedness is a state of satisfied fundamental needs. If you have food, shelter, family, and safety, what more do you require in this world?

That is quite a question. An incredible variety and depth of resources are available in this world. The human brain is brimming with potential. Dextrous hands and upright posture serve the latter to mold the former. We are meant to harness, tame, and utilize this wondrous planet. Introducing spiritual values adds an important guiding dimension.

But this essay is about the numbers. Why so few blessings and so many curses? This numerical difference highlights a fundamental pattern of life. 

Not only are the number of curses far greater than the blessings, but the pathways to deserving these punishments are also much more numerous. Consider all the potential desires of the mind and the theoretical distractions of the world. It amounts to a seemingly infinite number of  possibilities whereby one may go wrong.

Add into this calculation the countless ways we can manipulate the environment for our comfort, convenience, and profit. It becomes more complicated with innumerable opportunities to go astray. History shows that avarice, greed, and envy become operating principles. This has led to human suffering. Sticking to the straighter and easier spiritual path suggested in the Torah is simple.

The fundamental revelation stemming from many curses and few blessings is that there are multiple ways to be unsuccessful, but a narrow path to success. In general, for most of our endeavors in life, there is an optimal approach to bring success. Such a path must be mindfully followed without wandering. Whether it is a relationship, business, or avocation, thriving depends upon focused attention to the goal and the process. 

Allowing oneself to be distracted inhibits proper growth and development. There seems to be no end to the number of these distractions.

This principle is most crucial when applied to physical well being.

All human beings have the same physiology, anatomy, and biochemistry. Destructive habits and exposures harm us all the same way. Living a lifestyle of disease-prevention and vitality-promotion requires the same habits and actions for everybody. Illness is unconcerned with religious, color, cultural, or gender differences. 

Cigarette and other drug use, sedentary lifestyle, lack of stretching, dietary deficiency, high fat intake, and a stressful environment are causing bodily harm long before symptoms appear. The list of destructive things we can do to ourselves is long, corresponding to the large tally of the curses.

There are many ideas of what encompasses a healthy lifestyle. I have identified numerous necessities. Weight control, diet restrictions, and exercise routines are frequently seen. Sometimes, the list may seem long. Blood pressure and cholesterol control, nutritional supplements, and minimization of environmental and ingestible pollutants and toxins should be goals for all of us. It takes a lot of work to meet the demands of attaining and maintaining the body’s vigor and vitality. We need to reduce stress, stretch, and practice daily meditation to optimize our resistance to illness. It’s not easy to pursue taking care of ourselves when there are so many distractions in life. Everyone should experience restorative sleep, actively prevent intercurrent medical problems, and enhance the microflora organ.

Surely, it takes significant thought, time, and effort to best assure a healthy life. Prioritizing wellness is not easy. It is, indeed, a narrow path of mindfulness which punishes those who wander. 

Wandering is easy because it precludes thoughtful understanding or planning, involves reduced effort, and grants immediate gratification. It is fueled by desire and fear, compounded by a virtually innumerable array of attractive distractions, and rewarded by fame and fortune. Yet these alternate pathways through life do not promote good health. 

The corollary to the limited options available to deserve the blessings is the short list of desirable lifestyle practices that fortify the body’s resistance to disease and injury. Just as there are a multitude of wrong spiritual paths that lead to horrific curses, there are an overwhelming number of negative influences that promote eventual bodily dysfunction.

We can and should pursue material goals. The challenge is to resist those forces that pull us to make these goals pathologically important in our lives. Instead, coupling these human endeavors with a meditative focus that engages our spiritual nature creates the best of the heavenly and earthly worlds. This bridging of these worldly and celestial powers creates a completeness lacking in either.

Similarly, we can and should enjoy the pleasures that life has to offer. Again, we are challenged to moderate. Mindfully focusing on habits that enhance health – including awareness and avoidance of activities that impair health – will help guide toward a balance. We don’t get to do everything we want to do. Like the curses, there are too many wrong turns that ultimately result in bodily harm. 

Rules govern the best ways to successful spiritual and physical well being. There are relatively few that apply to the soul and to the body. The number of diversions that undermine growth of the soul and wellness of the body are too many to count. 

It is difficult to adhere to a lifestyle that prioritizes health and excludes destructive practices. Many of those practices are fun. And the harm is not often seen for many years. The seeds of chronic illness and elder maladies can be sown early in life. These problems manifest long before old age. We are never too young to prevent illness. 

Few ways to live a healthy life. Many ways to risk developing infirmities.