Parasha Re’eh
SAN DIEGO — Is your glass half empty, half filled, or as mine is, filled with 6 ounces of water? Yes, “the link is what you think,” and this week’s Torah reading underscores this idea with its words, “See, this day I set before you a blessing and a curse…” Couldn’t this pasuk have begun, “This day I set before you blessing and curse…”? Why begin with “See”?
Perhaps the word “See” is essential to teach us to the importance of recognizing that we have choice as to what and how we see ourselves, others, and our lives. Do we see life as half-filled or half empty? When we have alert minds and receptive hearts, our eyes are free to recognize the blessings in our lives…and the curses.
With our eyes trained on the role that Hashem plays in our lives, we are more likely to see a better path forward, making choices that lead to health and wellbeing, to living better lives. We can see with optimism or with pessimism. Re’eh tells us we can choose to live from despair or from hope. Viktor Frankl’s observation is clearly anchored in this Torah reading, when he says, “that everything can be taken from a person but one thing, to choose one’s attitude and to choose one’s own way.”
The parasha empowers us to see and to use our sight – not to lose sight – to create hope from despair, to reframe our thinking in order to see opportunity, to glean a positive message, to find light in darkness. Imagine what you add not only to your life, but to the world, in “seeing” goodness and blessings as we are taught to see in the parasha.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai emphasizes this in Pirke Avot, (2:13), when he points his disciples in the direction of “seeing” and discovering for themselves what is the good path, a generous eye, a good colleague, a good neighbor, foresight and a generous heart. What we see, we find. In the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, “In our world, everything is a mixture of good and bad. Human beings must choose which aspects they will emphasize, contemplate, and pursue…”
Further, we learn in Tamid 32a, in the Talmud, “Who is wise? One who sees the future.” When we use our mind’s eye to see and to visualize clearly, we can wisely choose to see the many blessings Hashem “set before” us in our lives daily. They are there. See them?
This Shabbat we bless the coming of the new month, Elul, with Rosh Chodesh next Thursday/Friday. This is our season of repentance, a time for us to see, to renew our vision prescription, to come to know ourselves better, and to use our positive vision to recognize who we are meant to be. Elul brings a time for us to step outside of our daily numbing mindlessness, and to carefully review our choices, good and bad, to see and recognize our wrongdoings and those things we incorrectly attached ourselves to, in order to prepare to do “t’shuvah,” repent, and to grow. Perhaps that’s what G-d is telling us in the parasha. He puts blessings and curses in front of us and teaches us the path to embrace our blessings (11:26-32).
From seeing what you eat, the laws of kashrut, to choosing to not worship “other gods,” to caring for those in need, to filling our time with what is sacred and meaningful, the parasha offers us a toolkit for happiness at a time we are assessing our past year’s behaviors. We can choose, with freewill, to do our will or we can choose, with freewill, to do His will. Each carries its own consequences. Hashem has given us the facility to do what is right as individuals and as representatives of our Jewish community.
With the right sight, we can all grow in our holiness through seeing the good that comes from strengthening our relationship with Hashem through Torah. Your blessings are in front of you…see them?
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Michael Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly d’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com