The story is told about the members of a certain Shul who were all terrified of being called up for the Aliya of the Tochacha, the curses described in the 6th Aliyah of Parshat Ki Tavo. They called a special Board Meeting, and decided to hire someone to take the aliyah of the Tochecha. It wasn’t easy, but finally a willing candidate was found and hired.
Parshat Ki Tavo arrived and the Gabbai looked around for the
contracted individual to call him for shishi. But, he was nowhere to be
found in the Shul. “Perhaps he’s running late,” suggested one of the
Ba’alei Batim, “let’s wait a few minutes for him.” They sat for about a
quarter of an hour, getting more and more impatient by the minute. After
all, this was not proper. An agreement had been made. Money had
been paid. Where was he?
Right before `things got out of hand, the contracted man
entered the Shul. The Board members ran to him and demanded to know his
reason for being late. The individual calmly turned to the angry group,
and replied, “I was davening in the shul down the block. Do you really
think that a person can make a living from only one Tochacha?”
Rav Chayim ben Betzalel, the brother of the Maharal of
Prague, relates in his Sefer Ha-chayim that this “fear” of the tokhecha in
Parashat Ki-Tavo led to some serious disruptions and lack of honor for the
Torah. He describes that in some
synagogues, the Torah would remain open, in the middle of the reading, for
several hours, as no congregants were willing to come and recite the berakhot
over this aliya. The Biur Halacha
records that there were synagogues in which they actually cancelled Torah
reading on the Shabbatot during which the curses should have been read (ie
Bechukotai and Ki Tavo).
The Biur Halacha
(428) is strongly disagrees with these approaches to the Tochacha and writes:
V’Kamah Ra’ot Osin-
they are doing multiple things wrong:
First, they are not fulfilling the ancient obligation to
read the Torah on Shabbat, established by Moshe Rabbeinu himself. Second: They
are ignoring the advice given to us by Shlomo Hamelech in Mishlei (3:11), “Musar
Hashem beni al tim’as”: “My son, do not loathe the criticism, rebuke of
Hashem” Third, Their premise is mistaken. Do they actually believe that by not
hearing or seeing the words of these curses they can spare themselves and avoid
that which is laid out in those verses?! The Chofetz Chaim ends with three
powerful words: V’Aderabba, Chas V’Shalom”, unfortunately, the opposite
is more likely. If we avoid confronting the lessons of the Tochacha we are more
likely to suffer from their ill effects.
Not reading the Tochecha to avoid its impact is juvenile
behavior. It’s like when a young child plays hide and seek- by covering his own
eyes. He assumes that if he can’t see you, then you can’t see him. It’s also
what I call the Emperor’s new Clothes Syndrome: that if the truth of the matter
is left unsaid then somehow it has not really happened. We know that this is
not the case. The emperor was not wearing any clothes even before the young
child said anything.
These last 6 months have made clear that there are some
curses that no one can avoid. Some may suffer from them more than others, but
everyone is impacted. In these situations I would suggest that our best
recourse is to stand up and get the Aliyah. Standing up as an expression of
resolve and optimism. And getting the Aliyah entails firmly grasping the Atzei
Chayim (“the trees of life”) of the Torah. The more firmly we grasp the Torah,
the more capable we will be of dealing with the curses and finding the
blessings of our lives.