"Observe, it is I (Hashem) who gives you the blessings and curses in your life." The Rebbe of Ishzbitz said that the Torah is telling us that we need to see that everything is from Hashem, not just our troubles that make us turn to Hashem and say, "What have you done to me?!?" but also the good in our life. Because sometimes when a person receives good it's as if the eyes that could see before were suddenly blind and he thinks to himself, "This great thing I did by the strength of my own hand." Therefore the Torah says, "See! It is I that gives blessing and curse." Because to be truly aware of how Hashem relates to us, we need to find Hashem in the goodness of our life as well the difficulties. By thanking him for His kindness this will change the perception of the whole of your life. (Mei Shiloach on the parashah) People used to criticize the Baal Shem Tov for giving more than a fifth of his earnings for tzedakah, "It goes against what it says in the Talmud: 'Don't throw away your money.'" The Baal Shem said that this rule depends on how one sees. "The advice given there is speaking of people who are tight-fisted with their money and feel they are wasting it by giving it away. Those are the people who should limit their giving to a fifth. But a person who has the character of generosity and kindness can open himself without limit since he does so for the sake of Heaven." (Keter Baal Shem Tov)
The splitting of the Torah into blessings and curses comes because a person doesn't devote all of himself to Hashem. His Torah is mixed with worldly concerns. But if he will gather everything to himself in the way of blessing then the aspect of curse will fall away. This is called listening to the blessing in one's life. (Keter Baal Shem Tov)
The pasuk says, "See, I (anochi)�" The Rebbe MiSlonem says that on one hand the "I" can represent selfishness that can bring about a person's downfall. But it can also mean a person's greatest strength. Because by seeing the exalted source of his soul, his true anochi, he will be able to draw back from sin.
Re'eh
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
The True Vision Of The Imagination Is Guided By Faith
"A prophet or a person who has visions in a dream may arise among you and give you a sign or a wonder. The sign or wonder may come to pass and he will say, "Follow after me to worship other gods unknown to you and serve them." Do not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer�He is trying to make you leave the path that Gd your Lrd commanded you to walk�" (Devarim 13:2-6).
Rashi on these pasukim is bothered by the fact that the Torah says that a false prophet actually makes signs and wonders. His answer comes from the midrash, that "Hashem is testing you to know whether you really love the Lrd" (quoting the Sifrei).
Rebbe Nachman says that only a person who truly believes that Hashem created the world merits real imagination which is the source of prophesy. But, the one who attributes the cause of events to nature will have a corrupted spirit which in turn will influence his imagination, and he will be a source of false prophesy.
The greatest rectification of imagination in the world came at Mt. Sinai through Moshe Rabbeinu. The Torah became a source of freedom liberating us from the poisonous effect of Adam's sin that confused mortal desire and truth. When man ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he made his own natural concerns paramount and this brought with it the covering over of real miracle and wonder which comes only from Hashem. The Torah revealed again, within this "reality" of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that Hashem indeed created this world.
As Rashi says on the pasuk in Bereshit, "�the sixth day. And Hashem completed the Heavens and the earth." This refers to the sixth of Sivan on which the Torah was given. Because before the giving of the Torah the awareness of Hashem had been lost and the whole world was hanging in the balance. Without an awareness of how Hashem sustains everything,the world teetered on the brink of destruction. But when the Torah was received by Klal Yisrael there was a renewal of the world in the deepest sense. Because Torah is the acceptance of the revelation that Hashem brings the world into being from nothing and that He alone rules the world constantly with miracles.
And the Torah begins by telling us that Hashem created everything: "Bereshit, Gd created the Heavens and earth." And Rashi says that the Torah takes the trouble to tell us this because there will be a time when the Jews will reconquer the Land for Hashem's holiness. But there will be those who will come along and accuse the Jews of stealing what belongs to them. Because even though the Land did originally reflect the holiness of Hashem's rulership through miracles, this was lost and others were able to occupy it.
Those who accuse Yisrael of being thieves represent the outer forces of intellect that claim that the world is not governed directly by Hashem but by other forces. But through faith in the Torah we are able to see that Gd created the world and that the Land is for Yisrael. Because living in the Land means living through faith and keeping the mitzvot, constantly returning to Hashem. And this is impossible if we do not believe that Hashem created the world and that He renews it constantly.
Belief that Hashem renews the world is something that one cannot reach through intellect. And this is why the nonbelievers deny the Creator. They think that because their intellect can only detect that the world is governed by natural forces that therefore there is no Creator and no miracles, Gd forbid. This is what brings about the false imagination which is the source of a perverse spirit and misdirected prophesy or dream. But the real prophesy comes from those who have faith in the Creator. They can see the holiness of the Land and someday this will be true for all the whole world.
In choosing our leaders we need to seek out someone who has true faith in the Creator and whose imagination springs from the spirit of Torah. When all the souls that are searching will gather themselves around real faith, this will bring about the renewal of the world in the future through the ingathering of kindness (chasadim), as it says in Tehillim 89, "The world is built through kindness." And it also says in Tehillim, "To tell of Your kindness in the morning and Your faith at night." "Faith at nighttime" refers to dreaming because it is through dream or prophesy at night that we will come to see the kindness of daytime. Because through the vision of the true prophet will come the renewal in the future when the world will be run through wonders, when only Hashem's providence will rule and not the illusion of nature.
And this is the renewal of the Land. Because the true nature of the Land is that it is constantly under Hashem's providence as it says in Devarim 11, "Always, the eyes of Hashem your Gd are upon it, from the head of the year to the last." Because now we have the aspect of what it says in Tehillim about the song of nature: "The Heavens tell the glory of Hashem and the firmament displays His handiwork." But in the future we will sing the song of Hashem's providence as we do just before accepting the Shabbat on Friday night, "Sing to Hashem a new song, because He does wonders." (Lekutei Moharan, teninah, 8:7-8).
Appearing In Full Sight
"Three times each year, all your males shall be seen in the presence of Gd your Lrd in the Temple. Each person shall bring his gift, depending on the blessing that Gd your Lrd grants you" (Devarim 16:15-17). This refers to the "ra'eah" offering, literally the korban of being seen by Hashem in the Temple during the festivals. But someone who is himself incapable of seeing because he is completely blind or even blind in one eye is not obligated in this mitzvah.
The explanation of this exemption is that the person who does not look to Hashem is, in a sense, not seen by Him. This is similar to what it says in VaYikra 26:24, "If you are indifferent to Me then I will be indifferent to you." This does not mean that we can always see Hashem at all times in everything He does and thus this festive korban is fulfilled through even a modest offering. Nevertheless, there must be some attempt on our part to see because it is not fitting for the glory of the king to be revealed unless someone is there, waiting to receive Him.
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there are fifty five commandments in parashat Re'eh. These include:
At A Glance