Victor Frankl wrote; “Hope is finding a meaning to our existence, in actualizing great values in our lives, in staving and often struggling for worthy goals”
Life is represented in the dynamics of a personal commitment. Hope moves, and reconstructs our very lives and valiantly strives to secure a better and more optimistic future.
This idea is enunciated in this week’s Parsha, Reeh. The opening sentence in a most emphatic term speaks about our goals in life and what we need to pursue to reach the essence of life.
“SEE”, says G-D,” I present to you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing will come if you hearken to the commandments of Hashem”
The Hebrew word “SEE”, means much more than merely seeing with our eyes. It is instructing us to ascertain what we really want to see when we are looking at something. Our perception will greatly depend upon what we bring to the situation that is being observed. Indeed the Blessing which results in listening to the word of G-D is a result of how we see things and how motivated we are to accomplish our goals and dreams.
Chazal are quick to point out the opening sentence of the Parsha begins with the singular word “REEH” and ends with the plural word “L’efnachem”. This teaches us the importance of the individual Jew but even more greatly is our need to unify ourselves into a cohesive Jewish People bringing about a Covenantal Community that speaks in one language- the language of Torah and Morality.
The more I look around the world the more hatred and enmity I see and the more accepting such inhumanity is being tolerated
I say to the world REEH, SEE, what is happening. Give voice to such a world of debauchery. We as Jews need to reevaluate our stance in life and to see and perceive the wrong that exists and to choose wisely the way we act to others.
Yes, Hashem has set before us “the Blessing and the curse”. Even though the world seems to be accepting the curse, we must muster all our strength and energy and choose the blessing.
אני לדודי ודודי לי
The Rav, Rabbi Soloveitchik z’tl in his masterpiece, Kol Dodi Dofek, calls to action a needed response to the many threats being brought against the Jewish People. He reminds us that history reveals to us that we were sleeping in the face of tragedy. Now Hashem is banging once again on the door of his beloved and we must not be caught napping.
Our call more than ever is awake - stop sleeping on Yahadut and Humanity. Awake to our responsibilities to each other and to a Torah way of life and more to the plight in the survival for the State of Israel. The Rav teaches us that we must be aware of the evil that exists and to be inspired to greater acts of personal and collective obligations that we all have as a Jewish People, in promulgating a life of Yiddishkeit and Humaneness.
We are living in critical times.
A Geography teacher once asked her class “What is the shape of the earth?’ A youngster replied “My father says it’s in about the worst shape it’s ever been.”
I can hear our children and grandchildren calling out to us “What are you doing with our world?”
Well, we had better come up with the right answers or our future will suffer greatly.
REEH, begin to SEE and perceive how we can develop a greater and more blessed world in human relations. Yiddishkeit is determined by the life we live not just the creed it professes. Torah needs to be our steering wheel to guide us through our peaks and valleys of life.
Permit me to conclude with an interesting story ; The Baal Shem Tov was once walking with his disciples when they came to a pond. Across the body of water was stretched a rope on which a man was balancing himself as he crossed from one end of the pond to the other. The Baal Shem Tov, entranced by the tightrope artist, lingered behind to watch the performance. Because his pupils did not think that their saintly teacher should waste time, they chided him for paying attention to such a frivolous feat. The Baal Shem Tov explained, “As I watched that tightrope walker, it occurred to me that he had to train his feet before he could perform that difficult FEAT. Oh, if only people could learn to train their SOULS as well as that man had trained his FEET, what a wonderful world this would be.”
It is through the power of religion that the human soul can be shaped and fashioned. Religion is not an escape from life, but life itself. Religion is not something you have, but something that has you.
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