Shabbat Greetings
This week’s portion, Re’eh (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17) is, like the rest of Deuteronomy, one long soliloquy by Moses as his final act before he dies. It opens with, See, this day I set before you blessing and curse. That first word, the imperative re’eh, is curious language. It literally means, “see,” from the common Hebrew verb, lir’ot, but of course you cannot actually command a person to see. “Look!” or “Behold!” are appropriate imperatives. But “see” is not.
Rabbi Ovadiah Seforno, the 16th century physician and commentator from Italy, reads this as a suggestion regarding the importance of discernment: Pay good attention so that you will not be like most people who relate to everything half-heartedly, always trying to find middle ground. You cannot merely look, says Seforno. Rather, you must see. Moses is telling the Israelites, you have a choice, and it is a choice of extremes: blessing and curse. This is serious. Your discernment is essential. Don’t just have a glance at the future; read the trends now. Understand the consequences of your actions. Take corrective steps now if necessary.
If we were to dream about our future right now, what would we see? If we pause for a moment to think seriously now about the blessings and curses which face us, what might our trend lines indicate? Do we see a future in which people care about their neighbors, in which we understand that the only way we can successfully navigate the challenges that face our society is by working together for the common good?
Do we accept that it is our responsibility, to ensure that the needy people around us have food and shelter? As our text teaches us, Rather, you must open your hand and lend whatever is sufficient to meet the need (15:8). Do we see a world in which democracy continues to flourish and guarantee freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, of movement, of belief – for Americans and people around the world?
Do we see a future where all people have enough to eat? Where resources are equitably distributed? Where our wise use of God’s Creation leads not to environmental destruction, but rather to sustainability in holy partnership? Do we see a world in which discrimination of all types is a thing of the past? In which nobody will feel targeted for their religion, their race, their gender? In which the anti-Semites have returned, cowering, to their holes of hatred?
Can we discern that the future will feature shared truths, or will we all be in our own individual “fact” bubbles, in which the only actual truth is the one that I alone perceive? Or will we acknowledge and maintain the reality that sometimes there are un-debatable truths, which cannot be obscured with spin?
Do we see a future in which the digital tools we have created with our God-given ingenuity are used only for the betterment of humanity, and not to harm? When we stand here, before all of you, before God, and most importantly before our children and our neighbors’ children, can we see a future for all children in which all their dreams lead to peace? We can create that future by seeing, and not merely looking.
SHABBAT SHALOM