“Serve Hashem your G-d amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything is abundant!!”

"בשמחה ובטוב לבב מרב כל..."

We are are continuing our weekly Series:

Today, we are learning, how Parasha Ki Savo speaks to those who seek Recovery.

Which Mountain would you have stood on?"

For sure, if I would have been around during the time we were about to enter THE LAND, I would have hoped that I was from the tribe of Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Issachar, Yoseph or Benyamin! After all, it was members of these six tribes that got to stand on Mount Gerizim - which represented G-d's Blessings. I can't even imagine how the other tribes felt when they stood on Mount Ebal which represented G-d's Curses!

When I read this Parasha from Devarim Chapter 27 Verse 11 thru Verse 26, I could feel the overwhelming drama of hearing two million people after hearing "Accursed is the man who..." then And the ENTIRE people shall say, AMEN!"

Have you looked carefully at what these 12 sins have in common?

Let’s consider how the Parasha and the 12 Step SA Program address this issue...

Take a look at the 12 sins - the first one reveals what they all have in common - "Accursed is the man who will make a graven or molten image, an abomination of Hashem, a craftsman's handiwork and emplace it IN SECRET - בסתר"

And all of the rest of the 12 sins have a similar theme. As the Rashbam in Or HaChaim shares, these twelve subjects of the blessings and curses are acts of the sort that transgressors could DO SECRETLY! Thus the nation would proclaim that it abhorred stealthily committed sins, and acknowledged that G-d would punish those who commit them. Accordingly, the entire nation would inaugurate its occupation of The Land by declaring that there can be no contradiction between public and private morality; a nation that considers it acceptable to sin in private will inevitably see erosion in its moral integrity!

For those of us familiar with the World of the Addict, it doesn't matter what the Drug of Choice is - the addict is always doing it in secret! He/she hides their actions, tells no one and carries this issue all to themselves. Psychologists also tell us that there is actually a "charge" in keeping a secret. It becomes a way in which the addict feels he has a Power over everyone around him

As you've heard me share, as addicts, we soon make the mistake and believe that:

Isolation is I-Solution

Fortunately, G-d gives us a great piece of advice on what is the primary cause of our acting out: ARROGANCE.

Please see Chapter 28 Verse 47, where G-d makes it real clear that all our Curses are:

"...because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything was ABUNDANT!"

For those of you who are parents, perhaps you've noticed that no matter how much you shower your children with toys, clothes, trips, outings, and more - they are always expecting more and not so grateful for what they've received! Don't you sometimes just want to scream at them and say, Don't take me for granted!!

Then as we learn from Steps 6 and 7 in our Program, when we are entirely ready, we HUMBLY ask G-d to:

Remove our Defects of Character!

And when He does, it is then our obligation and opportunity to replace the void when giving up our Selfishness and Dishonesty with being in alignment with the G-dly traits of:

• Humility
• Honesty and
• Generosity

Thanks to Ki Savo, now I really understand how my abundance and freedom come when I don't take G-d for Granted!!