Dvar Torah Parashat Re'eh
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Dedicated in Honor of Our New Grandson, Avraham By Albert and Grace Esses and Family ______________________________________________________ Parashat Re'eh Just Look and See!
This week’s parasha opens with the passuk, “Re’eh anochi noten lefnehem hayom beracha u’kelala.” According to Hashem’s instructions, Moshe said to Bnei Yisrael, “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.” The parasha continues: “The blessing is that you observe the commandments of Hashem your G-d, that I commanded you today. And the curse if you do not follow the commandments of Hashem your G-d and if you stray from the path that I commanded you today and follow other gods [idols] that are foreign to you and that you do not know.”
Why does the Torah begin this parasha with the word “Re’eh,” which means “see” or “look?”
Hashem is telling us very plainly: Just open your eyes and look! The path is straight in front of you and it’s so obvious! Follow the Torah and Hashem’s commandments, and you will see so many blessings with your children and your family that will carry you throughout your entire life. The blessings and curses are not simply promised for Olam Habah. Rather, they are here for us to enjoy today in this world!
The Malbim comments on this verse, saying that if you just look and observe, then you can actually see that the people who follow the Torah’s commandments have a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. They have a sense of spiritual growth and physical enjoyment in this world.
The blessings are there for all of us to see and enjoy in the here and now.
Although most of us can see in a physical sense, we may be blind spiritually. Rabbi Twersky gives an example: Why would an intelligent person continue to smoke cigarettes, knowing as we do now all the negative effects of smoking? The answer is that we see only what we want to see, and we are blind to what we don’t want to see.
The Best Mussar
Another commentary on the words, “Re’eh anochi” is Moshe Rabeinu telling Bnei Yisrael to look at him and what he experienced. Moshe is the best person to give mussar to Bnei Yisrael because he has personal experience in these areas. For eighty days Moshe was in the heavens, so he saw what olam haba—the World to Come looks like. He knows the value of mitzvot and severity of aveirot. In addition, Moshe grew up in Pharoah’s palace, and he was also very wealthy from having the leftover sapphires of the luchot. He was the perfect messenger to tell Bnei Yisrael that the rewards in the World to Come will be more enjoyable than any amount of physical wealth in this world.
Opening our Hands
Rabbi Frand expounds on the concept of tzedakah—charity in this week’s parasha. First, the Torah tells us (Devarim 15:7), “If there be a pauper among you, one of your brethren, in one of your gateways in your land that God your Lord has given you, do not harden your heart nor close your hand tight against your impoverished brother.” This is clearly telling us to give charity to the poor person. Then the Torah continues, “For you shall surely open your hand to him and provide him with the necessities he is missing.” This seems to call for a higher level of charity not covered by the first commandment.
There was once a Jew in Vilna who took a great interest in local history. During his research, he would often go out to the old cemetery and read the inscriptions on the tombstones. He was able to gather a surprising amount of information in this fashion.
One day, he came across two adjacent graves. According to the inscriptions, the two men were brothers, both great Torah scholars, both extraordinary philanthropists. Strangely, the two tombstones shared an inscription from Eishet Chayil, the last chapter of Mishlei (31:20). The inscription began on one tombstone with “she extended her palm--kappah to the poor” and was completed on the other with “and she stretched out her hand--yadeha to the pauper.”
The man was puzzled. First of all, he had never seen an inscription shared by two tombstones. Second, inscriptions from Eishet Chayil were used almost exclusively for women. There was obviously a story behind all this, and by all appearances, an interesting story. The man sought out one of the oldest men in the Vilna community and asked him about the inscription. The old man indeed had a story to tell.
These two brothers were Torah scholars of the highest order, and they were also wealthy and extremely generous in their charities. They were much respected and admired in the community. Suddenly, their fortunes took a turn for the worse. Some of their businesses failed. Their investments stagnated. People began to wonder and whisper. Why would such a thing happen to such sterling people?
The Rabbinical Court of Vilna also heard the stories and took the matter under advisement. “How can this be,” declared one of the judges, “that two such exemplary Torah scholars should be going bankrupt? It is a desecration to the name of Hashem! We have to do something about it.”
They decided to get to the root of the issue and summon the brothers to court and interrogate them about everything they’ve done for the past few years knowing they would answer the court’s questions truthfully.
The Rabbinical Court questioned the brothers for hours and discovered only one instance of wrongdoing. The Halachah demands (K’subot 50a) that a person should not give away more than a fifth of his wealth to charity, but the brothers often exceeded this limit. Their only crime was that they gave too much charity!
What was to be done about this? The Rabbinical Court decided that the brothers could not be trusted to stay within the prescribed limits. Therefore, they themselves took control of the finances and decreed that anyone approaching the brothers for charitable donations should come to the Rabbinical Court’s appointed administrator of the brothers’ accounts.
The poor appeared on the doorstep of the brothers, and they duly directed them to the court-appointed administrator of their accounts.
“We’ve been to him already,” they protested, “and he is not nearly as generous as you’ve always been. We’ll never feed our children on what the administrator gives us.” The brothers’ hearts melted, but what could they do? They didn’t have control of their money. So they began to give away the silver in their cabinets to the poor. Eventually, this trove was also depleted, and they were left with one silver spoon between them.
The next day, when a beggar approached each of the brothers, they broke the last spoon in half. One took the spoon part and gave it to a beggar, and the other took the handle and gave it to a beggar.
This wonderful act of charity was memorialized on their tombstones, relying on wordplay. The beginning of the verse, “She extended her palm (kappah) to the poor” – kappah also meaning “her spoon” – appeared on the first tombstone. The completion of the verse, “And she stretched out her hand (yadeha) to the pauper” – yadeha also meaning “her handle” – appeared on the other. This is an example of “opening the hand” of the highest order.
Positive First
“But this shall you not eat from among those that bring up their cud or have completely separated split hooves: the camel, the hare, and the hyrax, for they bring up their cud, but their hooves are not split — they are unclean to you; and the pig, for it has a split hoof, but not the cud — it is unclean to you (14:7-8).” The Torah’s listing of kosher and nonkosher animals, which seems somewhat technical, contains many lessons beyond the mere details of what we may and may not eat.
Rabbi Frand points out that this verse teaches us a lesson in how to view, and relate to, other people. The point of the verses listing the animals that have only one kosher sign is to teach us that they are not kosher. It would seem appropriate, then, to list the sign that causes them to be nonkosher first. Yet we see that the Torah lists them as the camel, the rabbit, and the hyrax, which chew their cud but do not have split hooves, and the pig, which has split hooves, but does not chew its cud. Why does the Torah list the kosher signs of these animals first if the nonexistent signs are what we really need to label these animals nonkosher?
Rabbi Frand explains that the Torah is trying to teach us that even when something is not kosher, we should find a way to mention something praiseworthy about it first. Even something as taref as chazir—pig deserves to have its positive trait pointed out.
If the Torah does so for nonkosher animals, how much more do we have to learn to have this consideration regarding people’s feelings? Bosses, employees, children, students, coworkers, and neighbors will invariably have some negative traits. It might be our job, from time to time, to deliver a negative message.
Michael Kaplan shares a beautiful true story illustrating the power of speaking positively to someone before sharing the negative. During President Truman’s presidency he announced he will be hosting a weekly radio address to go over the agenda and accomplishments of the week. This address would be Friday nights at 8pm, when most American families would be home from work. Many Jewish Americans found themselves conflicted whether they should be a part of such an important part of American culture because of the Shabbat. There was one Jewish lady who did not want to miss out on the president’s speech, so she wrote a very respectful letter that highlighted the strengths of the president and thanked him for what he accomplished. In a very humble and respectful manner she brought up the scheduling conflict. She mailed the letter, but expected no response.
A week later she received a letter bearing the seal of the White House. It stated that the president received her request and it was under review. She was shocked. Thousands of letters are sent to the White House daily, and most are reviewed by the presidential staff, not the president himself! Three weeks later the president announced he was switching the weekly addresses to a different day. One unassuming woman was able to make such a widespread change with the power of her words. Hashem is teaching us in this week’s parasha that even when we have to deliver a negative message to others — to tell them that they are “nonkosher” in some way — we should always find a way to point out their positive attributes or qualities first. That is the way of Hashem.
Turning Around
Rabbi Biderman shares in the Torah Wellsprings that the Chasam Sofer zt'l teaches that when one does teshuvah, it is a grave sin for him to be sad. Take note of the many times the word simcha—happiness is written in this week’s parasha. Seven times! This is because this week's parashah is always read on either Rosh Chodesh Elul or on Shabbat Mevorchim Elul. It is a time for teshuvah—repentance, and teshuvah begins with happiness.
There are two paths for teshuvah. There is the immediate path, when one changes his ways promptly. There is also the path of gradual growth. The general path of teshuvah is gradual, but there are times when one has to make a major change, and Elul is such a time. It can be compared to the two ways to stop a car. One is to press on the brakes, and the other way is to pull the emergency brake. When one presses on the brakes, the tires are still turning, but when one presses the emergency brake, the car stops abruptly. Elul is a time to make an abrupt change and to improve one's way. May we always follow Hashem’s ways and His commandments which are only good for us in this world and will benefit us in the world to come. Shabbat Shalom! RRabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey Discussion Point:
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This book is a compilation of Divre Torah from the weekly parasha classes from Rabbi Sananes’ teachings over the last 10 years along with my own experiences in those classes which has stimulated my Torah growth. I’ve included many pertinent stories and life lessons to grow from at your Shabbat table. There’s also questions and discussion points at the end of each Parasha to stimulate a Torah conversation at your Shabbat table for the whole family to participate in. Also, included is a holidays section at the end of the book to use for all of our special holidays and Yomiim Toviim. Now available in all Jewish bookstores and Amazon! Scan the barcode on the right to purchase from Amazon. |
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