Making Sense of the Sedra: Ma’ayan Shira Jackson
Seeing the light
Have you ever felt completely lost? Sometimes, you could just be having a bad day but other times that feeling continues for longer. Life feels overwhelming, like you’re walking through a fog and you can’t see a solution to your situation. Contained within the list of curses in this week’s parsha Ki Tavo is an incredible insight which can help: “You shall grope at noon as the blind grope in the dark (Deut 28:29).”
In Megilla 24b, Rabbi Yosei admits that he’d struggled to understand this passage his whole life. He asks what difference it would make to a blind man if it is dark? He can’t see, regardless of whether it’s dark or light.
Then something happened that made him finally understand. He once went for a walk in the middle of the night when it was pitch black outside and he saw a man coming towards him. As he approached, he realised that the man was blind, and yet he was carrying a lantern. He couldn’t contain himself, and he asked the man: “It is clear to me that you’re blind. What is the point in carrying a lantern if you can’t see anyway?” The man explained: “The lantern isn’t to help me to see, it’s to help you to see me.”
Finally, Rabbi Yosei understood the meaning of the passage above. It’s only a curse if the blind person is left to grope in the dark with nobody to see him struggling, because if nobody sees him, nobody can help him. The solution, of course, is to switch on the light.
We all have areas in which we are ‘blind’ even when it’s ‘noon’ around us; it can feel like everyone else can see but we’re left groping for the answers. Likewise, we all have areas in which we have perfect vision, yet others find challenging. Everybody will struggle at some point in their life and feel blinded, as if they can’t see their way. Once one has emerged from that struggle, however, suddenly one has clarity to see what helped them through.
The message of this passage is twofold. Firstly, if you’re the ‘blind’ person, switch on the light so that others know you’re struggling and can help you. Secondly, if you were once ‘blind’ and have now regained your vision, use that painful experience to help someone who is currently going through something similar. Throughout our lives we’ll have periods of darkness and light, often concurrently; the key to navigating them is to share our light, so that we all receive the support we need and provide the support we can.
It’s incredible to think how the light that just one person can bring to the world can touch so many lives; the news that Her Majesty the Queen had died was felt by countless people all around the world. If we follow her example and focus on sharing our light whenever we can, we will ensure that nobody need feel alone in the dark.
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