Re’eh/See! – The Secret to True Vision

This week’s parsha is named for its first word, Re’eh, which is a command that means “See!” The Alter Rebbe explains that the opening verse of the parsha, beginning with this imperative to see, contains one of our most fundamental tasks in life.

“Re’eh Anochi nosein lifneichem hayom bracha u’klala/See, I give before you today a blessing and a curse” (Deuteronomy 11:26). Simply translated, the verse means that G-d is providing the nation on that day a choice between a blessing and a curse. But through a precise examination of the Hebrew text, the Alter Rebbe reveals the verse’s mystic secret: “RE’EH/see, ANOCHI/my essence NOSEIN/I place LIFNEICHEM/within you HAYOM/today, BRACHA U’KLALA/a blessing and a curse.” See, I place my essence within you today, a blessing and a curse.

On its deeper level, the verse informs us that G-d places His level of “Anochi,” His deepest self, within us. Our task and mission is laid out in the first word of the verse, “Re’eh/See”: we are instructed to perceive this hidden truth, and to then make it revealed so that others can see it as well. It is a blessing when we do so, and it is a curse when we are unaware of our holy core.

How can we be commanded to see something if it is not visible? This question is addressed in the subsequent verses: “The blessing, that you will heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today; and the curse, if you will not heed the commandments of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 11:27-28).

What we must understand is that the mitzvos train us to see – they are a workout for our spiritual optic muscles, so to speak. If we observe them, we will be blessed with vision. If we neglect them, we will be cursed with spiritual blindness. This “blessing” and “curse” should not be conceived as reward and punishment; but rather they are the product of our choice and behavior. If we choose to train our vision through the practice of mitzvos, we will be blessed with the ability to perceive God’s Presence in everything we encounter; and if we eschew the exercises that strengthen our divine perception, we will doom ourselves to seeing only the delusive surface of reality.

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