From Rabbi Dahlia Bernstein Friday, August 6, 2021
Dear CBO family,
"I lift my eyes to the heavens and ask, where will my help come from? My help is from God, creator of Heaven and Earth." -Psalm 121
It strikes me in this Psalm that when the speaker is feeling scared he went searching with his eyes. As if what we witness will clear everything up and help us make sense out of the senseless. Why not close our eyes and listen or use our other senses? There is something about sight that brings us closer to the source of life. Our Torah portion, Re'eh, conveys a similar message. The name means, "look" or "see."
See, this day I set before you blessing and curse. רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃
We're given a path forward, a next step to find blessing. But what is it that we must look at? Is there something magical with healing properties that heals through sight? Maybe it is like the opposite of the Greek mythical monster, Medusa, who kills you when you look into its eyes. Inquiring minds want to know what to look at for blessings, rather than curses, because today the curses feel a little top heavy.
If we look at one of the earliest uses of "see" in the Torah it comes from Bereishit when God tells Avraham to go to a land which God will show him. Ironically, Avram is blind to what place it will be. That is why we call it "blind faith." "Even though you cannot see the land, you must trust that you will be ok." Life experience tells us that trusting without seeing is so hard. We want proof with our own eyes that we will be ok. . Perhaps Re'eh is here to tell us that while not all things are observable, there are things that we can see that can give us support. I can see the name of a loved one calling me so I don't need to go through this alone. We can see the challah that we bake with our own hands linking us to generations of Jews who have weathered so many storms. Re'eh tells us, you cannot see everything, but don't forget that there are still plenty of sights that can give you guidance.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Bernstein
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