Seeing and Hearing
What is the Jewish mission?
To live in covenant (brit) with God: To live with God, to work with God, and to bring God’s light into the world. When God created the world, He deliberately drew back some of the light. Our task is to bring it back.
The greatest challenge to living with God is obvious: God is invisible, hidden. We cannot see Him.
The Torah’s answer is found in one extraordinary word: Shema.
Shema is often translated as “hear” or “listen,” but neither comes close. It means to listen attentively, understand, internalize, recognize the truth, and live accordingly. It is a uniquely Hebrew concept. Through genuine shema, we gather the countless “sound bites” of life—Torah, history, experience, and creation itself—and slowly come to the realization that God is real, indeed more real than we are.
That makes the opening of this week’s parsha surprising.
Moshe doesn’t say, “Shema.” He says, “Re’eh—See! I place before you today a blessing and a curse.”
What does he mean, “See”?
He is describing the culmination of shema. When you have listened deeply enough, studied carefully enough, experienced life honestly enough, and reflected long enough, something changes. You no longer merely hear the truth—you begin to see it.
Not with your eyes, but with clarity.
We have traveled a long road through Jewish history. We have seen exile and return, blessing and curse. By now, we should be able to see what Moshe wanted us to see: when we live our covenant with God, we flourish; when we abandon it, we lose our way.
The journey begins with Shema (hear). The destination is Re’eh (See). We have heard for thousands of years. Perhaps now it is time to see—and to reconnect with the covenant.
