Sidrah
Parashah of the week: Ki Tavo
“Cursed be the one who misdirects a blind person who is underway. And all the people shall say, Amen” Deuteronomy 27:18
September 11, 2025 08:00
“Cursed be the one who misdirects a blind person who is underway. And all the people shall say, Amen” Deuteronomy 27:18
September 11, 2025 08:00The list of curses and warnings in Parashat Ki Tavo includes two strange references to blindness.
The first is in the list of “cursed be”s, shouted between two mountains: “Cursed be the one who misdirects a blind person who is underway.”
Later, the concept of cursing shifts. Instead of “cursed be the one”, the speech refers to the Israelite people in the second person: should you disobey, “cursed shall you be”. It is a distressing rebuke filled with painful imagery, typically chanted in an undertone.
The reimagining of the curse referencing blindness comes in Deuteronomy 28:29: “You shall grope at noon as the blind grope in the dark; you shall not prosper in your ventures, but shall be constantly abused and robbed, with none to give help.”
Rabbi Yosei suggests that “as the blind grope in the dark” implies something specific: light is useful to those unable to see, because we live in community. As a blind man told him: “As long as I have a torch, others can see me and save me from the pits” (Talmud Megillah 24b).
Likewise, this curse is really one about community.
We each have vulnerabilities that require societal scaffolding. Even those of us who feel confident now are only ever moments away from the possibility of needing significant social help. That first “cursed be” is referring to the person who damages the fabric of society by “misdirect[ing] a blind person who is underway”.
The “cursed shall you be” section gives us the direct outcome of this: just as you misled the blind instead of helping them, so too will you be misled, abused and have nobody to give help.
I find this an extraordinary lesson. While some of the curses may feel like direct punishment from the heavens, this one is stark and simple.
Your curse will be to live in the society you created.
If we want to live in a society that functions, we must be involved in building that society. Sometimes, the curse does not require grand theological flourish; it just requires a reminder of the natural consequences.
We can be involved in the process of building community well, or in the process of tearing it down. But we will have to lie in the bed we are making.
Image: Queen Street Mall in Brisbane, Australia on International White Cane Day (photo: John Robert McPherson/Wikimedia Commons)
To get more from judaism, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.