Re’eh
Deut. 11:26 – 16:17
By Rabbi Baht Weiss
See, I am setting before you the blessing and the curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of Adonai your God that I am giving you today; the curse of you disobey the commands of Adonai your God and turn away from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. (Deut. 11-26-28)
Later in Deuteronomy, God will reiterate these instructions:
See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil…I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you, life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, choose life, that you and your children may live, (Deut. 30:15, 19)
What does it mean to Choose a Life of Blessing? When I lived in Southwest Florida, I saw many license plates with these words, “Choose Life,” with drawings of young children. It was part of an anti-abortion campaign. As I rabbi, this always angered me, because these words were taken out of context. In the Bible, “Choose Life” did not mean be Anti-Abortion or more accurately, Anti-Choice, but rather it means to choose a life of blessings rather than curses. In other words, make good choices, because your actions have consequences. As we say when we raise our glasses to toast, ‘L’chaim, to Life!”
This is what we teach each B’nei Mitzvah student—to take responsibility for their actions. We would like to believe if we do the right thing, good things will happen and if we fail to follow instructions, perpetrators will be punished. Yet, we learn life is not always that simple. There is much we cannot control and much that we cannot explain.
We think so much of life is in our control, but we come to realize, it is not. Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl used to emphasize that our lives are determined not by what happened to us but how we interpret the events. “Is this disaster the end of my world or is it life calling me to exercise heroic strength so that I can survive and help others survive? The same circumstances can be interpreted differently by two people, leading one to despair, one to endurance.”
We can choose to have a life of integrity, righteousness, and be aware of all our blessings. Part of this is our attitude—our approach towards life. Do we see the good, cultivating gratitude or do we focus on all that ails us and all that we lack?
Moses’ words to the Jewish people are aspirational. These words attempt to create order in society to prevent chaos and disobedience. It helps us to be our best selves. It reminds us, as did the old Hebrew National commercial, that as Jews, “We answer to a Higher Authority!
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of England explains that
“What Moses is doing here is defining reality for the next generation and for all generations. He is doing so as a preface to what is about to follow in the next chapters, namely a systematic restatement of Jewish law covering all aspects of life for the new nation and the land of Israel.
“Moses does not want people to lose the big picture by being overwhelmed by details. Jewish law with its 613 commands is detailed. It aims at the sanctification of all aspects of life, from daily ritual to the very structure of society and its institutions. It aims at the sanctification of all aspects of life, from daily ritual to the very society and institutions…Despite the details, says Moses, the choice I set before you is really quite simple.”
Following all of Judaism’s laws are difficult, but being a good person is not. Choosing to make ethical decisions, obey laws, and follow instructions puts us on a path towards success.
Rabbi Sacks reminds us to take “God as our sovereign, the judge of our deeds, framer of our laws author of our liberty, defender of our destiny, object of our worship and love. If we predicate our existence on something –some One-vastly greater than ourselves, then we will be lifted higher than we could reach by ourselves.
Moses knows that as humans we seek immediate gratification. We often make choices out of our own self-interest rather than for the greater good. Deuteronomy cautions us to play the long game—that by being law obeying and choosing to do the right thing, blessings will follow. By viewing ourselves as part of something larger, we consider the community’s needs above our own.
So, while we often cannot control how life’s journey will unfold, we can control how we act as individuals. Do we do the right thing and cultivate gratitude for the blessings in our lives? We do not have a choice of what happens to us, but we always have a choice of how we act.