A Dose of Dat

This week Torah portion starts off with a blessing and fades into a long curse. The blessing and curse are as I see it primarily cut into two pieces, food and war. if were good we'll have rain and the fields will grow, etc, we will live in peace, without fear, 5 of us will chase 100 of them, etc. If we're bad the opposite will happen. Nothing will grow, we will be so hungry we will eat our kids, etc, we will run from fear when no one is chasing us, we will be attacked by the sword, etc. What defines good and bad? If we walk in the stautes (Chukim) and if we guard the commandments (mitzvot). If we look around today, we are very blessed with food. Our water supply has risen to normal levels. We dont seem to have any problem with that (I dont mean individual people that are starving, I mean on a national level). In terms of peace, though, we aren't doing well. We have occasions where 5 of us chase 100 of them, but we still live in fear. Even if we dont let it take us over, it is always there. We have our moments where we run from fear, yet no one is chasing us (Think of all the times people get off a bus cuz someone dark with a bag gets on, or clearing streets because of a chefetz chasud, etc) The biggest curse in terms of peace is getting kicked out of our land (i.e. disengagement). It seems we're doing one thing right and one thing wrong. So what are these statutes and commandments? Rashi says statutes is learning Torah and commandments are following it. If thats the case, on a national level, we're not doing any of it. I read somewhere recently how Israel has a very high level of volunteers. Maybe thats it. I've stood at almost every junction in this country and people have pulled over to take me places. Rarely does a lady have to take a stroller up steps without someone helping. We are constantly helping, even when its not wanted (Sri Lanka). Perhaps one is doing the actual mitzvot, praying, learning, and the other is middot. Perhaps.