Re'eh

We have a choice to make.

8/8/20262 min read

The beginning of this weeks' portion starts with 'See'. I SEE you (this is, for some irreverent reason, the first thought I have when reading the title of this weeks' portion - or parsha - of the Torah; Re'eh, means See - and specifically we are reading from Deut. 11:26-28), is the famous quote from the first Avatar movie. I would like to think the meaning behind that quote is from one spirit to another as, I see you for who you are, good or bad, I unambiguously see you. I know you with clarity, transparency, and with love. No deception.

This is the first sentence in Re'eh: "See, I place before you today blessing and curse." Emphasis on See - look within, look further, know your fidelity, be humble. Learn from our journeys and be brave to truly See what we are being told, being asked and finding the courage to withstand it all, and using your freewill to know the difference.

The verse continues: "The blessing is that you listen to the commandments of Havayah, your God, which I command you this day." This is your freewill utilized in the inherent good of what you bring yourself to See. For "whatever your eyes See, you may look either toward the good or the evil that lies within it."1

"The curse is if you do not listen to the commandments of Havayah, your God, turning aside from the path that I command you this day to go after other God's whom you do not know." That would be the evil our eyes choose to See, not knowing the destruction the spirit would incur.

Yet, there is a choice. Ignorance usually wins in our world today. This is the evil that lies within in that you do not know. Ignorance becomes hate, which becomes power, which becomes greed; it destroys from within and destroys the microcosm of beauty. Most spirits would rather see the evil, as sheep follow the shepherd. It is easy to be of this ilk. It is the commandments that are more difficult for some to give to themselves. They are but guardrails against the evil prevalent in our midst. Commandments are but Beauty that Hashem, our Lord, has given us from Love, so that we may choose. Embrace the good with all your might, protect it.

It isn't about the dogmatic versions of the rigorous commandments. It is the simple form of loving yourself with the guideposts of commandments your spirit chooses to See. See beauty. See the blessing. And by all means, See and experience the curse, since it too is good. It is the only way to know the blessing that Hashem gives you. For it is in this light one's own darkness that one is empowered over evil, or the evil inclination. The blessing is closeness to Divinity. It is the love for one another, to See one another despite all our misgivings; and that, my friends, is the blessing. See God in all you do. See beauty for its worth. Safeguard it, for that is the commandment. Vehaya - and it shall be.

The Light of the Eyes - Rabbi Menachem Nahum of Chernobyl, translated by Arthur Green, page 735.

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