Parshas Re’eh - Shabbos Mevarchim Elul: Seeing Renewal
This week the Torah begins with a call:
ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה
At first it sounds like a choice, blessing or curse. But Moshe never actually says “choose.” He says see. Re’eh is about vision: learning to notice what’s set before us, to perceive blessing when it shines, and to recognize that even what feels like difficulty may carry hidden good.
ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה
"See, I am setting before you today blessing and curse"
At first it sounds like a choice, blessing or curse. But Moshe never actually says “choose.” He says see. Re’eh is about vision: learning to notice what’s set before us, to perceive blessing when it shines, and to recognize that even what feels like difficulty may carry hidden good.
Chazal teach that a person must bless Hashem for the good just as for the bad. I learned in Shaar Habitachon last week: on the surface we see blessing and struggle, good and bad. The Torah may even name it as a curse. And still, Bitachon insists: if it comes from Hashem, then even this carries a hidden good, whether or not we can see it.
This Shabbos is Shabbos Mevarchim Elul, the month of teshuva.
The Hayom Yom on Friday teaches that there are two ways to heal: one is to go straight to fix the wound, that is teshuva; the other is to strengthen what’s still whole until it restores the rest, that is through good deeds. Both are ways of bringing life back.
I felt it in my kitchen this week. I didn’t have time to bake fresh sourdough, so I pulled loaves from the freezer. The trick is simple: slowly thaw them, quickly rinse them, and pop them into a hot oven. Suddenly the crust comes alive, almost as if it had just been baked.
This Shabbos is Shabbos Mevarchim Elul, the month of teshuva.
The Hayom Yom on Friday teaches that there are two ways to heal: one is to go straight to fix the wound, that is teshuva; the other is to strengthen what’s still whole until it restores the rest, that is through good deeds. Both are ways of bringing life back.
I felt it in my kitchen this week. I didn’t have time to bake fresh sourdough, so I pulled loaves from the freezer. The trick is simple: slowly thaw them, quickly rinse them, and pop them into a hot oven. Suddenly the crust comes alive, almost as if it had just been baked.
That’s Elul’s work, not starting over, but warming what’s already there until it nourishes again. Renewal can come by mending what’s broken, or by strengthening the good that’s still alive.
On Shabbos the Hayom Yom adds another layer: growth is most precious when it comes from our own effort. Being carried can lift us higher, but what really lasts is when the change is built by our own hands.
Again and again the parsha speaks of המקום אשר יבחר ה׳, the place Hashem will choose.
On Shabbos the Hayom Yom adds another layer: growth is most precious when it comes from our own effort. Being carried can lift us higher, but what really lasts is when the change is built by our own hands.
Again and again the parsha speaks of המקום אשר יבחר ה׳, the place Hashem will choose.
Moshe doesn’t name it yet. It’s revealed only when the time comes. That feels like my week: caught between places, not sure whether blessing means moving forward or staying put.
Re’eh, with Bitachon, teaches me the work is the same either way: to keep my eyes open and trust that Hashem will guide me to the place that is truly mine.
Next week begins Elul, the table of contents before the book of our life is read in Tishrei, the time to soften stiff pages and mark where we’ll turn. We don’t yet know the story Hashem is writing, but we know our own pages, and we can return where we’ve strayed.
Next week begins Elul, the table of contents before the book of our life is read in Tishrei, the time to soften stiff pages and mark where we’ll turn. We don’t yet know the story Hashem is writing, but we know our own pages, and we can return where we’ve strayed.
Moshe says היום, today. The blessing isn’t waiting somewhere far off. It’s here, ready to be uncovered and renewed.
Good Shabbos
Berke
And when the work of Elul carries us forward, Re’eh closes by inviting us into the joy of the chagim:
חג הסכת תעשה לך… ושמחת בחגך… במקום אשר יבחר ה׳… והיית אך שמח… כבירכת ה׳ אלקיך אשר נתן לך
(דברים ט״ז: יג–יז)
Make for yourself the festival of Sukkos… and you shall rejoice in your festival… in the place that Hashem will choose… you shall be only joyful… each according to the blessing of Hashem your God that He has given you.
(Deuteronomy 16:13–17)
My hope is that we each find the strength to do this work, and the trust to know we don’t have to do it alone. Elul is when the King is in the field, close to us in our ordinary places. Sukkos is when that closeness turns into joy, when we gather in His shelter with the blessings He has given. And if we are all in the field with Him, and then in the Sukkah with Him, may we also choose to be there with one another; sharing the work of return, and the joy of renewal, side by side.
Berke