#blessingsandcurses #theblessingandthecurse #parshatreeh #thedistancebetween #poetry #distances #thedistancebetweengoodandbad
I have done a few Divrei Torah at our KI Zoom Minyan over the past week. I will post each of them here.
Going backwards, here is a poem about Parshat Re'eh, which presents the blessings and the curses to the Jewish people. In Parshat Re'eh we are given a blueprint for living. We are
provided with a way of life, with rules to be followed. Follow them and you will be blessed; deviate from them and you will be cursed. Perhaps there is more than meets the eye.
Measuring
What is the distance between the blessing and the curse?
Can it be measured in amot, in tephachim?
Between choices that have been given to use and desires that live in our hearts and minds?
Can we fly like birds between the spaces, from the good to the bad?
From the known to the unknown?
Searching for the answers and returning empty-handed
Like Noah's dove?
What is the distance between the blessing and the curse?
Is it the distance between our heads and our hearts?
Between our actions and decisions?
Is it wedged tightly between spaces in the words and the letters of the law?
Is it compacted between thoughts and deeds?
In the spaces between black and white?
What is the distance between the blessing and the curse?
Is it the measure between me and you or you and God?
Is there a universe of space between enemies and friends?
Can our thoughts and intentions be quantified in a spoonful or a cup?
Can our actions be measured on a scale?
Can our choices be measured as are the stars in the sky or the ocean's grains of sand?
What is the difference between the blessing and the curse?
Between right and wrong?
Between intention and action?
Between seeing and ignoring?
Between rule and law?
It is the distance between us and God
It is as long as a thought and as wide as a decision
It is as small as hate and as large as love
It is as colossal as our actions.
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