“Look, I place before you today, blessing and curse.” (Devarim 11:26)

In recent weeks, there has been a stress on hearing. Moses’s been giving a lot of rebuke to the Israelites, we’ve just read two parshas which featured the shema, and the month we are ending, Av, has a special spiritual quality of listening. But suddenly, the Torah tells us to look, specifically regarding blessing and curse. 

The Kotzker Rebbe said that Hashem gives blessing but it all depends on if you decide to see it. It’s not the biggest newsflash that one person can decide to see good in their life and have gratitude while another person can see the very same things and view them as curses, feeling angry or depressed. If choosing to see blessing were all that this parsha was trying to tell us, I don’t think many of the mitzvahs it gives would be necessary. Let’s look at a few.

Several mitzvahs emphasize being in the land of Israel. Before, the Israelites could make sacrifices virtually anywhere. The patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov made altars all over their travels. But when Hashem commands, “Only in the place that Hashem chooses within one of your tribes, there are you to offer up your sacrifices…” (Devarim 12:14) This restricts service of Hashem (the sacrifices) to the Temple in Jerusalem (or temporarily the Mishkan). The tithes and first fruits must also be brought to the Temple. A special tithe that the Jews get to eat themselves still must be enjoyed in Jerusalem (Devarim 14:24-26). And the parsha ends with the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Pesach, Shavuos, Sukkos) which require journeying to Israel. 

Clearly, it’s not enough to simply look for blessing, you have to go outside your comfort zone and seek it out. Praying at home is one thing. Being part of a community, praying with a minyan, hearing inspirational words from leaders is completely different. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch once said “When I stand before God, I will be asked many questions. But one of them will be, ‘Samson, did you see My Alps?'” Watching an 8K video of the Alps doesn’t compare to actually going there. So too when it comes to looking for blessing, you have to go to where it is found and whenever possible, surround yourself with it. It’s only in the land of Israel that certain blessings can even be seen, such as being able to take a whole year off work and getting your debts cancelled, aka Shmittah (Devarim 15:1).

But it’s not enough to only see the good. Some things are inherently detrimental to a positive outlook. So the Torah specifically outlines distractions that must be avoided if not eradicated. It prohibits excessive mourning especially when it goes to the extent of self harm (Devarim 14:1). Loss is an inevitable part of life and the Torah has profound mourning rituals, but there’s a limit before it is time to move on and focus on blessings again. The Israelites are instructed to destroy the altars of idol worship from the previous inhabitants. False prophets trying to lead Jews away from Hashem are to be put to death and so are “missionaries” trying to do the same. Since the Jewish people’s relationship with Hashem parallels a marriage, this would be akin to being married but spending time looking at pornography. Not only is it a bad way to strengthen the relationship, the visuals leave a lasting impact. They’re powerful. Sex sells. So in a similar way, if you want to see blessing, you’ll want to keep away from unholy elements, especially with what you look at. 

“If there should be someone destitute in your midst among one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land that Hashem, your God is giving you; do not harden your heart and do not close your hand against your destitute brother. Rather, you must surely open your hand generously to him…” (Devarim 15:7-8)

Seeing blessing in your life isn’t as simple as surrounding yourself with the good while staying away from the unpleasant. When it comes to poverty, most of us would prefer to not see the problem. In fact, many governments go out of their way to sweep the problem under the rug. Benches with extra armrests so people can’t sleep, spiked railings, gated fencing blocking off covered areas or simply putting them on buses and shipping them elsewhere, aka “homeless dumping.” But the Torah not only tells us NOT to look away, it commands us to act. Because deep down, we all know we should be dealing with the problem. We just doubt that we can ever solve it. Is “opening your hand” enabling them? Are they just down on their luck or do they have mental problems and you can’t help them? If you help one, are more just going to seek you out? So it is easier to harden your heart and pretend not to see it.

Yet, the Torah seems quite aware of the feeling of futility because it says, “For there will never cease to be destitute people in your land. Therefore, I command you, saying ‘You must open your hand to your brother, whether poor or destitute in your land.” (Devarim 15:11) However, just a few verses earlier, it seems to have contradicted itself when it said, “End it [poverty], so that there will be no one destitute among you when Hashem will surely bless you in the land…” (Devarim 15:4). It would be one thing for the Torah to say, “Okay so there’s poor people and there will always be poor people, so give them some spare change, maybe buy them food, donate your old clothes. Just don’t be a jerk to them.” But that’s not what it is saying. It is insisting you give to the poor as if you were ending poverty. Make the social change. Build a community effort. Don’t rest until it is eradicated. EVEN THOUGH it is impossible. 

From this mitzvah of tzedaka, we get what seeing blessing (and really Re’eh) is really about. Bringing blessing into the world is a mission, a lifelong one. You have to make it a vision, you have to see it. You also have to stay away from distractions. But when it comes to seeing others who don’t have blessing, who even make you doubt your own blessings, that’s when you have to get to work and be the blessing. It’s not enough to see blessings around you. People must see you as the blessing. That endeavor never stops. That’s what it means to be a light unto the nations.