Perashat Ki Tabo 5778

Perashat Ki Tabo 5778

We all like to feel like we've got life figured out. We know basically where we are going and how to get there. We know how to get all the sweet blessings that life has to offer. It's just a matter of bridging the gap between where we are and the fulfillment of our dreams. 
 
But sometimes nothing could be further from the truth. 
 
"All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of Hashem your G-d." (Debarim 3:3) 

Overtake. That's a funny word in this context.
We are talking about the most beautiful blessings imaginable, a veritable laundry list of success, happiness, children, peace and prosperity! And yet these blessings need to overtake you?! You only need to overtake something that is running away from you! Why in the world are we running from blessings? Why would these blessings need to overtake us?
 
The truth of the matter is, contrary to what we THINK we are doing, much of the time we are running, as fast as we can, AWAY from the biggest blessings our lives contain. We are just blissfully unaware.  
 
The times we don't go on a second date with someone. The times we push our careers in a certain direction when all signs are pointing the other way. The times we are so eager to sell a stock or product, only to discover after the sale that holding on to it would have made us far wealthier.  
 
That's running away from blessings.  
 
Some of our mistakes in directional judgement are even worse. Picture the times we choose to bury ourselves in our phones while our greatest blessings are right in front of us eager, to connect. "Daaaaddy," they call "loooook at me!", followed inevitably by, "You're not looking!". How hard did we pray for that child or spouse to enter into our lives? How we begged Hashem to be able to have someone to smile and laugh with, cuddle and hold. And that blessing arrived, gift wrapped in the love of our Father in heaven. Now that it's finally here, we inexplicably run from it, swiping ever down the eternal Instagram or Facebook feed.
 
And we're not looking. 
 
Hashem promises, if you will listen to my Missvot and do the right thing, I will ensure that the Beraha you seek overtakes you! Whether or not you are running away from it, I will cause it to seek you out, to run even faster than you and catch you, so that you will finally have your heart's desires. I will make your phone battery die, so that the most beautiful moments in your life have you present and completely aware. I will ensure that the painting you are so desperately trying to get rid of will have no buyers, so that you get the benefit of its rise in value in another month or year. I will make sure that that the shiny new job you think you want doesn't materialize, so that the promotion you've been waiting for actually arrives at your doorstep. I will make sure you serendipitously bump into that man or woman to whom you said no, so you can give what was the love of your life another chance.  
 
Hashem is shouting, "STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM THE BLESSINGS I'M TRYING TO SEND TO YOU!"  And we can't hear Him. So we run. 
That is the power of the end of this pasuk. "All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of Hashem your G-d."  
Sometimes our biggest challenge is to stop trying so hard to manipulate the world to do our will, to take a deep breath, and in the quiet sound of that breath, and in the peaceful silence that follows, we finally hear His whisper. 
 
"Have faith. Let go. I've got you." 
 
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo Farhi