Blessings and Curses/Week 14

 Dear Friends,


Today we read the Biblical portion Balak which deals with the Prophet Balaam being asked to curse the Jewish people. In the end, Balaam blesses the Jewish people.

I want to discuss the fine line between blessings and curses and how or whether it is possible to ascertain whether something is a blessing or a curse.

In the Biblical portion we are reading, there is a discussion about the Jewish people being a people who dwells alone.  In the midst of the antisemitism in today's world, the discussion is very relevant. Are the Jewish people supported or alone in the midst of the challenges we are facing in the Middle East and around the world?  How do we know whether people will support the Jewish people or whether the Jewish people will ultimately be on our own to face adversity?  There is this fine line where one wonders whether there will be support or whether there will be ongoing aloneness.  I do not have a crystal ball but hope that there will be communal support and caring for all who dwell in this world.  This won't just happen so that we must be vigilant in standing up to support each other and all those who support us.

I want to talk about blessings and curses in the midst of my own personal experience of grief as it is now 14 weeks.  By the way, those who know my affinity for the White Sox and not the Cubs, will be surprised by the following.  My favorite Chicago baseball player was Ernie Banks, known as Mr. Cub, who wore the number 14.  I remember when I met him and I still have his autograph where he wrote "to Bruce the best, Ernie Banks."

He used to talk about the friendly confines of Wrigley Field and how on a beautiful day, he would say "let's play two" as a reference to playing two games that dayl in beautiful Wrigley Field.  He also would make up rhymes like, "the Cubs will be fine, in 1969" or "the Cubs will be great in 1968"  (you get the idea).

Well Sue wasn't "Mr. Cub" but she was Ms. Sunshine and Joy and if it was up to her, every day she would play at least two if not more games if she could.  Her middle name could have been Positivity.   And the rhyme I would send to her as I look to the heavens to talk with her is  "as I look above, I hope you know I am filled with love."  She loved life, loved people, and was always willing to give the benefit of the doubt as many of you reading this already know..

So what does this have to do with blessings and curses?  

The curse is that at times in the midst of grief many times I feel as if I am dwelling alone.

And then the blessings occur, where people reach out and embrace me with kindness and love.

In the midst of being alone, I continue to be overwhelmed as I wrote last time, by the kindness that people are showing me and the embrace of so many.

And yet, in the midst of all of this, at times, the "aloneness" is staggering.

So, as I read this portion about Balaam's blessing of the Jewish people, I hope that those reading this will continue to bless me with compassion and caring.  I also hope and pray that Sue's memory will continue to bless us all with the realization that we should all play two every day as long as we play them with joy, kindness, and love.  And I hope that in the outside world that kindness will be shown to the Jewish people so that we do not have to dwell alone.

Thanks for listening again.  

Shabbat Shalom, Sabbath Peace,

Rabbi Bruce Aft

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