LOOK and SEE

    Children look at certain aspects of life in a very unique and special way. A father was carrying his three year old into a dark room. Suddenly he felt the tiny arms of the child tightened around his neck. "Turn off the dark, Daddy",he whispered. Not, 'Turn on the light, but rather, turn off the dark.'

   All too often as I assess the the world around us, I am urged to scream out, "Please turn off the dark that our society finds itself in today." We need to concentrate on eliminating the negativity, the darkness, that seems to envelope us.

   With this thought in mind, I would like to share an interesting thought on this week Torah reading, Parshat Re'eh.

   The Torah's opening verse states :

ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה

"See", Hashem says, "I present before you a Blessing and a curse."

    What an interesting way to get our attention, and to encourage everyone to focus on the essence of life, ראה, "Look". Why, I ask, did the Torah use such an expression?Would it not have been better to use a word like דע 'Know' and then continue with the rest of the sentence? What does the word "Look and See" come to teach us?

    'Seeing' something has greater affect upon us then merely hearing about something. When we see we identify with that particular object or person that we are looking at. In fact, it may even be that through our seeing, we become one with that object or person. 

    I remember the incident when Avraham was taking Yitzchak to the Akedah on Mt Moriah. In addition to traveling with Yitzchak, he took along Yishmael  and Eliezer. As they approached the Mountain, the Midrash states that, Avraham asked the two attendants "Do you see what I see?" They replied, "We see just a mountain." He, then, posed the same question to Yitzchak. His reply was "I see הר נאה ומשובח, a glorious mountain", recognizing  G-D's presence.

   Indeed, two or more people can look at the same thing and see something entirely different. We can look at the same reality and one will see life and the other destruction. One will see a challenge to grow and live, the other will see despair. 

   In truth, every aspect of our lives is dependent on what we see and what we bring to the experience. It is for this reason the Torah uses the word ראה, 'See'- 'Look'. For it all depends on what we want to see, and how we view life.

   I remember reading an interesting story of the shoe salesman who was sent to Africa to sell shoes. He comes back with  the report, "There is no use trying to sell shoes here. No one wears shoes." Another salesman reports back and says, "What a market we have here. All we have to do is teach the people to wear shoes."

   So is life. Some are blessed with the ability to see opportunity and beauty in life. They grab hold of those opportunities and find life to truly be a Bracha for themselves and for those around them.

  As we approach the solemn month of Elul and hear the blowing of the Shofar, we are reminded that life gives us opportunities and blessings all the time, if we choose to 'See' them.

    George Bernard Shaw wrote, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I can't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them".

  Indeed the directive ראה, 'See'- 'Look',  applies to every endeavor we undertake, especially in our spiritual growth. We must open our eyes to see the wonders of the world and to live lives with faith and with optimism. 

    This is the month of, לדוד הי אורי וישעי, when we have the opportunity to see our Blessings, giving us enough reasons for song and celebration.

   ראה אנכי נותן, the choice is ours, let us choose Blessing.

                                                          שבת שלום