Parshat Re’eh
Two people can experience exactly the same moment and walk away with completely different stories.
One sees an obstacle.
Another sees an opportunity.
One sees a burden.
Another sees a blessing.
The circumstances may be the same.
What changes is the way they see them.
We know that the choices we make shape our lives.
But this week’s parashah begins one step earlier.
Before Moses speaks about the choices ahead, he begins with a single word:
“See.”
“See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.”
What we see matters.
How we see it matters more.
Perhaps there is something profound in beginning there.
Because before we decide what to do with what life places before us, we first have to see what we’re looking at.
What happens to us matters.
But so does the meaning we give it.
The way we see a circumstance can change the way we experience it.
A burden can still be heavy while also carrying purpose.
A challenge can still be difficult while opening possibilities we couldn’t see before.
We don’t always get to choose what life places before us.
But we are never entirely powerless in how we meet it.
Perhaps that’s why Moses begins with Re’eh.
Before asking us to choose wisely, he invites us to see more deeply.
Sometimes the greatest change in our lives isn’t a change in our circumstances.
It’s a change in the way we see them.
As Shabbat approaches, may we be blessed with the wisdom to see beyond the moment, the clarity to recognize possibility within challenge, and the courage to choose the path that leads toward blessing.
Shabbat Shalom!
