By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — Human nature leads us to believe what we think is correct in our own eyes – “hayashar be-einav.” This week’s psychologically insightful portion however, tells us that what we would be wiser to do is to follow what is correct in the eyes of Hashem, “hayashar be-einei Hashem,” which we read three times in the Torah. Are we to trust our own easily deceived eyes, or His perspective? Parasha Re’eh makes the answer quite clear.
False prophets, we learn this week, use their magic tricks to persuade us to believe in other gods. If we are tempted to be led astray, then, these false prophets are deceiving us. The same goes, the Torah teaches us, for our friends or relatives who may try to persuade us to follow other gods and for whom we may have pity. The Torah tells us, “Our eyes should not have pity on him.” This week’s Torah reading helps us recognize not to believe everything we think or see, but rather to rely on Hashem’s wisdom and His Torah.
Is your glass half empty, half filled, or as mine is, filled with 6 ounces of water and the rest, air? 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”?
Further, why is Re’eh written in the singular even though Moshe was speaking to all present? Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra teaches us that Moshe was speaking to every individual, upon whom it is incumbent as individuals to absorb his message. But interestingly the phrase ends with lifneichem “before you all fall,” in the plural. This prompts us to recognize that we all decide whether to commit our hearts, minds and souls to growing our b’rit, our “covenenant” with Hashem. Moshe offers us a series of unfolding spiritual truths. We find in Torah a common emphasis on “hearing” over “seeing.” Remember, we have Shema Yisrael, not Re’eh Yisrael. When we use our eyes, the parasha tells us, we “heed the command of the Lord” to avoid the curse and obtain the blessing. We are cautioned not to do what is “right in our eyes,” acting selfishly, to do what is “right in the eyes of the Lord.” It seems that what we “see” is all important.
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 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…” And in the words of Helen Keller, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.”
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 on Thursday and Friday, August 17th and 18th. This is our time for cheshbon hanefesh, a sacred task involving an “accounting of the soul.” 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, to prepare to do t’shuvah, repent, and to grow.
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 during the upcoming High Holidays. We can choose, with free will, to do our will or we can choose, with free will, 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. Rabbi Simhah Bunim of Pshischa taught, learning to revere God “is a cardinal principle in improving oneself . . . a realization that the entire world is filled with His glory and that every single creature contains a spark of the Divine.”
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. We can surely practice hakarat hatov and recognize the positive despite whatever else may seem to be going wrong. Your blessings are in front of you…see them? As we face Elul, it’s a time to ask ourselves how we’ve done following our own ways, and how it would be different, better, following cheerfully, His ways.
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com