Parsha Ki Tavo: It'll drive you crazy

Some of the curses in the tokhacha are meant to hit so close to home. Verses 28:29-33 describe how some things we might take for granted could easily be unequivocally stripped from us.
The most poetically chilling is verse 30 in which a betrothed woman, a new house and a new vineyard will all be enjoyed by someone else. These recall the three individuals (other than the coward) who are recalled from the battlefield before going out to fight “lest another man enjoy” the beginning fruits of these new projects before the one meant to benefit has a chance to see them through their fruition.
As a result of these terrible losses, the Torah says, “You will go insane from what you will have to witness.”
Some of the commentaries express tremendous creativity in their attempt to explain what the insanity will be or where it will come from.
Ibn Ezra says the “insanity” will come from the Egyptian boils coming upon the people in verse 27. The Sha”kh says the “overabundant joy” will come from all the happy occasions one will have shared with others. Whether he is being serious or speaking tongue-in-cheek is open to anyone’s interpretation.
The Netziv is a little more practical in his explanation as he says “You’ll be dumbstruck over how much damage so few instigators can cause you. The overwhelming feeling will cause you to lose your reason.”
In essence, these commentaries look at the afflictions which precede this statement of insanity and attach a direct connection – cause and effect.
One can also look at this statement with a contemporary eye and, when looked at by itself, out of the context of the verses surrounding it, a significantly modern lesson can be taken away.
The translation of the verse I provided before is from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s “Living Torah.” However, it can also be translated, “You will go crazy on account of the things you see.”
Israeli motivational speaker Rabbi Avner Kavas suggested that we live in a world in which the sights we see can literally drive a person crazy.