Imprecation

The Torah says we have been
given a choice between 
blessing and cursing.
My mother told me that

nice girls don’t curse, but
damn, this world just keeps
turning me into a raging
prophet predicting doom, so
 
I scream imprecatory psalms
off the balcony and the wind
carries them into the clouds.
Maybe angels can turn them
                         into blessings.





©2023marthahurwitz

3 comments

  1. I really appreciate this post and the honesty with which the author shares their struggle between choosing blessing and cursing. It’s interesting to consider the idea that even when we feel like we’re cursing, our words may still be transformed into blessings. I’m curious, have you found any specific practices or beliefs that help you choose blessing over cursing in your daily life?

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    • Thank you for reading and your thoughtful comment. My initial response is that I have recently begun saying frequent blessings in a more formal way. Perhaps having a specific blessing for almost everything (seeing a rainbow, hearing thunder, doing something new, etc.) fosters a generalized sense of being blessed, and leaves fewer times where curses seem appropriate. The blessings I say are Jewish traditional ones, but that’s a personal choice. I also look to the original Torah verses which go on to say “chose life (and blessings) so that you and your children may live.” If our main focus is cursing, we aren’t really living. As for curses turning into blessings…I have to put more thought into that.

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