Parashat Re'eh

Dedicated in honor of our daughter, Sharon Elo and Danny Erani

on their engagement by Elliot and Lisa Elo ___________________________________________________________________

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 B’nei 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.

Just Try It!

This theory also applies to us as Jews, because although it’s so clear how wonderful and special a true Torah life would be, many people will, unfortunately, choose not to see it. From the outside, it may look hard or burdensome, but when you’re in it and when it’s a part of your life, you can see how wonderful it really is.

I once heard an interesting analogy: A person may be able to carry one or maybe even two of those five-gallon bottles of water at a time, but it will probably be very heavy and difficult for him. But if he were to dive into a swimming pool, then no matter how enormous the load of water, he’d be able to handle it with ease. Not only would it be easy for him, it would be enjoyable. In the same way, a truly observant Jew enjoys a Torah life: it’s not difficult or burdensome in the least, because the spirituality and endless rewards of that life lift us up as the water in the pool would. It’s simply the most enjoyable and pleasurable life that one can have.

“The blessing is that you observe the commandments of Hashem (11:27).” According to the plain meaning, this phrase teaches us that the believing person who keeps the mitzvot feels content. He accepts everything that happens to him as the will of Hashem and is blessed with peace of mind, as opposed to the person who does not keep mitzvot, who becomes frustrated and disgruntled whenever things do not turn out the way he would like them to. Furthermore, the very fact that we are serving Hashem and keeping mitzvot instead of leading an animalistic existence pursuing vanities is a blessing in and of itself, even without the expectation of any other reward.

Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh says that apart from the reward that Hashem gives us for listening to his commandments and learning Torah, the sweetness and the inner joy that a person gets from learning Torah is in itself the greatest reward.

We say every morning in birkot hashachar, “Vhaarev na Hashem et divre toratecha—Please Hashem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouth and in the mouths of Your people, the House of Israel. May we, and our offspring, and our offspring’s offspring (and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel) – all of us—know Your Name and study Your Torah for its own sake. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who teaches Torah to His People, Israel.”

An End in Itself, or a Means to an End?

The Ramban presents another teaching on the blessing and the curse. All berachot are not a reward for good deeds. Rather, they are a means to an end, prerequisites for the performance of mitzvot and the fulfillment of Hashem’s will. The berachot in our lives, like good health, family, or prosperity, are given to us in order to enable us to obey Hashem’s commandments.

It’s not the other way around, where one might say, “I’ll pray and I’ll do the mitzvot so that Hashem will bless me and reward me with health, wealth, etc.” On the contrary, Hashem gives us peace and free time so that we may use it to pray properly and study the Torah. He gives us money so that we may give tzedaka to the needy.

Therefore, there is no excuse for straying from the ways of Hashem. The Torah says, “Do not stray from the path that I commanded you today, to follow other gods [idols] that you did not know.” The Torah is warning us not to get consumed by the outside culture of today, which is identical to idolatry, because it will eventually lead to our downfall, has veshalom.

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 a 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?

A Midrash 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? 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. This Midrash is teaching us 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. May we always follow in 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!

Rabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey

Discussion Point:

How many times can you think of when you set out to do something but then the plans you made were changed because somehow you got involved with something else that you never expected and that you wouldn’t have done on your own if not for Hashem guiding you on that path which in the end you were glad that He did?

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Le’ilui Nishmat…

Eliyahu Ben Rachel

Rabbi Shimon Chay Ben Yaasher

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Avraham Ben Mazal

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Rahamim Ben Mazal

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Ovadia Ben Esther

Rav Haim Ben Rivka

Moshe Ben Mazal

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Yitzchak Ben Adele

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Chanah Bat Esther

Yaakov Ben Rachel

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Moshe Ben Garaz

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Saadia Ben Miriam

Eliyah Ben Latifa Simhon

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Uri Ben Rahel

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Shalom Ben Zahra

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Shalom Ben Zahra

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Refuah Shelemah…

Rachel Bat Devorah

Anyone interested in dedicating this Divre Torah Le'ilui Nishmat or Refuah Shelemah or In Honor of someone, can email me at jrahmey@rahmeyfinancial.com. Checks can be made out to “A Life of Torah” for $101 and mailed to 2387 Ocean Ave Suite 1G, Brooklyn, NY 11229 (please put in the memo “Divre Torah”). Anyone interested in past parshiot please go to the website ParashaPerspective.org