82 Days to Elections:  Choosing a Blessing or a Curse

This shabbat, Jews around the world will begin the reading of this week’s Torah potion with Deuteronomy, 11:26-28 where Moses addresses the Jewish people about to enter the Land of Israel with the following admonition:

“See, I am setting before you today the formula of the blessing and curse.  The blessing will be intended to motivate you to heed the commandments of God, your God, that I am commanding you today; and the curse will follow if you will not heed the commandments of God, your God, but turn away from the path that I am commanding you today by following other peoples’ deities, whom you did not know.”

The reference is to adherence to the laws that God had set down in the preceding three books of the bible. Nevertheless, in thinking about this opening evocation of Moses, I pictured people walking into US voting booths on Tuesday to make their choices known regarding who will be on the ballot in November representing their party.

The parallel was not so much deciding between a blessing and a curse, although that has its transference applicability here as well, but rather who will best represent them or who will fail to represent them if elected. In a way, who will bless them by his or her actions or be as a curse as a result of........

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