We break the world up into good and evil. But I think one of the points of monotheism is that it’s all from God, all interconnected in some way.
Maybe that’s the point of the enemy’s blessing of Israel in this week’s parsha, Parashat Balak. If we divide the world up into things worth pursuing and those not worth pursuing, then an enemy’s curse would definitely be among those to avoid. And yet, we end up using the words of this enemy’s curse turned blessing in our regular prayer service each morning – mah tovu ohalekha Yaakov, “How good are the tents of Jacob.” There is energy and power in the negative, and if we can somehow tap into that energy and make it our own, then we have truly made the world one.
The lesson is about not writing anything off, either in ourselves or in others. Sometimes it is precisely that moment of pain, of anger or of illness which has the most to teach us, the most power to bless us. Everything is a tool in our work in this world.
I think that part of believing in one God involves believing that these painful aspects of life are also part of God’s world, and that they too have an energy and a power that is in need of redemption. We are called not to shut them out, but to use them -- as an opportunity for growth, as an opportunity to transform them and ourselves from a curse into a blessing. May we find the strength to do this work.
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This is a beautiful thought, and a wonderful attitude. I believe there is an exception: when man chooses evil. Man can do terrible things, often in the service of terrible ideas. In those cases, it can be dangerous to accept his behavior as "G-d's will" so to speak, because it can prevent us from confronting and fighting against the behavior.
ReplyDeleteSome would extend this attitude to acts of nature as well -- to cancer, or hurricanes, or death. I think your d'var torah is a much better, more accurate, and more fulfilling way of seeing the world.