Re'Eih - See For Yourself or See Yourself!

Re'Eih - See For Yourself or See Yourself!

AV 29/30, 5776  September 2/3, 2016

From this week’s Torah Portion - “See, I put before you today blessing and curse.”   The blessing will go to those who keep the Torah and its Mitzvahs, and the curse, will directly affect those who do NOT adhere to the Torah and the Mitzvahs!

We witness what might seem very simplistic; The words “See” & “listen” seem almost interchangeable, or are they? The word see is used “SEE”, and not what one might have thought, the word, “LISTEN”, as in, “Listen, I’ll explain to you………”.   So, why is it written and was used the word, “SEE”, which in Hebrew is the name of this Portion, “RE’EIH”?!? 

The answer is rather simple; just ask my mom, or yours! As the ancient scholars and scholastic Rabbis believed, SEEING IS BELIEVING!   When a person hears something, he/she may not always believe it, or perhaps he/she did not fully hear, listen clearly and/or comprehend completely!   Seeing is an absolute, and a person that actually sees something accepts it as fact and is able to confirm it.  We are challenged to see the physically unseeable and to deal with abstractions of thought and policy and make them real.

The words and were chosen very carefully!  With the true act of SEEING, we have absolute, a sincere focus, and are able to have full comprehension!  We, as humans are allowed to experience this for ourselves, and NOT be passive and just hear, but to be a participant in our own lives’!    “I have put this blessing before you”.  It is on US to fully experience it!?

I believe this is allowing us to have growth and opportunity from within, and gives us the option to choose – that is a true gift indeed.  The choice is the gift!  “I put this before YOU..”.  As a person, you have decisions; you have an ability to make a choice to help determine your own future and destiny; be it good, bad, or indifferent.

It is therefore presented to ALL of us, a very awesome opportunity!  Is your perception that you have a great opportunity to grow both from your inner and deep soul, so your life may be full of blessings, or maybe you have another vision?  WE ALL HAVE THE SAME OFFER AND INVITATION! It is a choice in the manner we walk, in the way we treat others, how we act with and without people around us….

Your life should be one full of many possible, beautiful opportunities, and choices, and this should be seen as a true gift, as it has given us the opportunity to maintain such a positive attitude that will yield blessing/mitzvahs!  Don’t be so overwhelmed by the road blocks (may be viewed as a curse), and don’t allow ALL the challenges to impede your growth! Life does have definite hiccups, but SEE it as just that, and it too, will help with your GROWTH; focus on each and every day, and yes, the challenges should be LOOKED at with a laser focus and hopefully can be overcome!  Keep a very acute focus, and you'll SEE your own choice of growth spiritually inside and out!

So Re’eih is as much a state of mind and contemplation as it is one of actual eyesight.

REMEMBER, YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL INSIDE and OUT, and that can be SEEN!