This week’s Torah portion is a challenge. It is not for the faint of heart. Just mention Parashat Ki Tavo and people think: Oh, the Tokhehah. And being told you’re doing things wrong is nobody’s favorite thing — not even when God is the one letting you know. Still, while that may be a reason to avoid the Latter Prophets of the Bible, with their rebuke and rejoinders to the Children of Israel, Ki Tavo should be safe — nobody has done anything wrong yet, so what’s to worry?
But doing the wrong thing is apparently part of our nature. Indeed, by presenting the punishment for wrong-doing before the wrong-doing has even taken place, Parashat Ki Tavo goes beyond a threat to keep us in line. Rather, it seems acknowledge the done deal: we will do wrong and we willbe punished.
This “given” demands interpretation, for the moment we confront the claim that something is part of the human condition, we are left to take it up with the Creator. We can argue that the flaw is in the design, and we should not be blamed for our shortcomings. But if we also take it as a given that God’s prototype is not faulty, we must reflect anew on the human propensity to do wrong and suffer rebuke and punishment.
