Choice
The T.V. show The Good Place imagines an afterlife where after a person dies, they are sent to either the Good Place or the Bad Place. Their destination is determined by the sum total of points they earned or lost for each action on Earth. For example, donating blood adds 911.72 points and under tipping loses you 6.83 points. The problem, our protagonists discover, is that in our hyper connected industrial world today, it is near impossible to do anything without earning negative points.
In contrast, Moses presents a much simpler point system in R’eih. The Israelites are told to choose between blessing and curse. That’s it. Blessing requires following God’s laws while curse is the opposite.
Some choices today can still be boiled down to what is right and what is wrong, and others feel impossible to choose correctly. In a world full of choice, how do you determine what choice to make?
May this be a week of blessings for all of us.
– Rabbi Avi Fine