August 28, 2024
Look.
See.
Notice.
Observe.
This is what is asked of us in this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh.
The text begins with this very word, re’eh, a command form of the verb lirot, to see.
This first verse of the parsha reads:
“See, this day I set before you blessing and curse . . . “
So often in Torah, when we are asked to focus and pay attention, we encounter a different command: Shema! Listen, hear!
It is interesting to consider why in this verse we are asked to see, rather than listen.
Perhaps this has to do with where we are in the calendar cycle. Next week, we will step into the month of Elul, the preparatory month that precedes Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.
Rabbi Alan Lew, z”l reminds us that Parashat Re’eh is whispering to us, Look! Look at your life! Where have you been? Is where you’ve been getting you to where you want to go? Look! It’s time to figure it out!
Yes, It is time to look. Look back, look within.
Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler teaches that more than a command, “Re’eh!” is an invitation to look in the mirror. And what better time on the Jewish calendar than right now than to do exactly that.
She says:
“To behold with honesty and integrity how one appraises oneself; how one’s ego gets in the way of spiritual growth and how it enables it.”
It is upon us to use our own powers of perception and observation to take an authentic look in the mirror and notice how we get in our own way; how we block the flow of blessing.
Rabbi Smokler continues:
“The self is a tool AND an impediment; an enabler of open connection AND a prod toward haughty isolation; a blessing AND a curse (bracha v’klalah) all at once. So keep it before your eyes; be vigilant about it; and keep it in check.”
We can learn from our young people along with our Rabbis.
I share another teaching, from one of my bar mitzvah students who delivered a drasha on Parashat Re’eh in 2017.
Regarding Blessing and Curse, he says:
“A blessing is anything that makes you happy and makes others happy. It’s also anything that makes you feel open.
A curse is anything that closes your heart and makes you feel constricted and trapped.”
Indeed. Blessing is openness, a flow that brings joy. A curse is the opposite–that which closes things down, impedes the flow.
Blessing and curse. Both are placed before us.
Re’eh. We are invited to step in front of the mirror. The time is now. May we have the courage to look, notice.
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