by Rabbi Ron Stern
In life there are headwinds and there are tailwinds. Social scientists tell us that when things don’t feel like they are going right we exaggerate the headwinds blowing against our efforts. When things are going well and we’re on top of the world, we tend to over-credit our success to self-created advantages and minimize things like context, environment, or the support of others.
In the second part of this week’s two-part Torah portion, Behar-Bechukotai, the Torah instructs the Israelites briefly how they’ll be rewarded for good behavior and then provides a long laundry list of curses resulting from transgression. (Leviticus 26:3-27:34) In a sense, there’s a bit of ancient perspective operating here that echoes the modern finding. Our ancestors suggest that any illness, calamity, or ruin is the direct result of their own transgressions while any blessings derive from their own virtue. If only the world worked this way! Of course, we need to remind ourselves that the factors contributing to health and success as well as failure or illness are far more complicated.
The social scientists tell us that the most effective way to keep things in perspective and balance personal agency with the mixed effects of external forces is to practice deep, introspective gratitude: what are the many blessings that make our lives possible? This also allows us to gain perspective on the forces arrayed against us (the “curses,” as the Torah might call them) and reduces the risk that we will overestimate the obstacles.
In life, there are real headwinds and real tailwinds. The periodic practice of recognizing the many complex blessings insures that we will overstate neither nor understate either.
