Our Parsha is called ‘Re’eh’ which means ‘see’.
The Parsha begins ‘See, I am placing before you blessing…’. The ‘I’ in the verse is Hashem.
Do you feel blessed?
You may be surprised to hear this. Not everyone feels that they are blessed.
The words of the Torah ‘SEE I place before you blessing’ are an invitation and a ‘coaching’ instruction to open your eyes and make an effort to truly ‘see’ and appreciate the blessings that G-d has given you in your personal life.
So often, all it takes for us to feel happier and more contentment is to open our eyes and ‘see’ and appreciate the blessings of G-d.
In our family, my wife Nechama has started a tradition of going around the table during family meals and asking every participant to give thanks to Hashem for something specific.
I urge you to try it. What you will notice immediately is that it does not always come automatically. Some people struggle with trying to articulate what they thank Hashem for. Verbally articulating personal thanks to Hashem for something specific is a great way to upgrade your feelings of blessedness and gratitude to the Almighty.
When you know that you will be called upon to describe your appreciation to Hashem, you start paying more attention and ‘seeing’ the blessings.
Perhaps the meditation below can help.
A statistic I once read has stayed in my consciousness as it sounded quite frightening.
A survey taken in the USA showed that 59% of Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.
Having a home is one of the primal needs of a person. Being displaced from one’s home and ‘out in the street’ is a real fear for those who cannot pay their rent.
I know this because people contact me for help from our community Tzedakah fund when they need urgent help. I sense fear in their voice when they describe their fear of being evicted by a landlord who has lost his patience with their inability to pay their rent on time. Being able to have a consistent roof over one’s head is uppermost in the list of human needs.
Come to think of it there is something much scarier which we don’t often think about which we don’t need a survey for. We all know it from observing life around us.
Health and life itself.
We have all heard of cases when someone who was young and healthy suddenly was not.
100% of humans are just one microbial infection, one blood clot, or one malignant cell away from dying. All it takes is for one thing to go wrong and G-d forbid….
That is a pretty scary thought that we don’t often like to think about.
So let us NOT think about it. Or rather let us now dwell on it.
To constantly focus on the things that do not go right is to ignore the myriad things that do go right.
Yes, it’s scary to contemplate homelessness and it’s tragic to those who suffer from it. We need to remain sensitive and compassionate and help those who need it. However, let us think about the fact that you and I are NOT homeless. How thankful we must be that we DO have a home. We ought to give thanks for the blessings that we have.
It’s the same thing with life and health.
The fact is that if you are reading this, you are alive.
This means that your body, with all of its myriad components, is working.
Let us praise Hashem for our physical health. For every breath. For the blood that flows through our veins unimpeded. For the trillions of healthy cells that do their job devotedly.
Let us praise the Master of the Universe for the symmetry in creation.
For all the blessings.
There is no reason to have ‘bad news’ dominate our psyche.
Good news abounds. It just doesn’t make good headlines like crises do.
So next time you are asked, ‘what would you like to thank Hashem for’, think of the trillions of things that are going right in your very own body.
Breath by breath.
Heartbeat by heartbeat.
Our internal digestive system is a huge miracle. There are 100 trillion microbial cells in our gut. Every time we go go the bathroom, we have to be thankful that they are all speaking to each other and cooperating.
The intricate design and cooperation required for opening our eyes in the morning is beyond miraculous.
Think of all the blessings that surround us all that we take for granted.
Make a good resolution to open your eyes and SEE the good that abounds from G-d.
I guarantee you that if you make an effort to notice and ‘count’ your blessings you will feel buoyant, uplifted and full of thanks to Hashem for His blessing.
This Shabbat is also called ‘Shabbat Mevarchim’ - ‘A Shabbat in which we bless’.
What do we bless?
The upcoming month. On Thursday and Friday will be Rosh Chodesh. The ‘head of the month’.
On the Shabbat before the Rosh Chodesh first day of the new month, we proclaim what day the new month will begin and pray and bless the month to be a month of ‘life and peace, jubilation and joy, salvation and comfort, AMEN’.
Shabbat Mevarchim comes before every month. Yet, when it comes to this month, there is a special ‘vibe’ and ‘energy’ that fills the air.
The month of Elul will begin.
This means we are one month away from Rosh Hashana.
Preparations for the new year begin during this upcoming month.
Elul is a month of accounting for the past year.
It’s a month of preparation for the coming year.
Preparing for the future responsibly requires honest appraisal of what transpired in the past.
In every successful business, the owner looks for ‘best practices’ and tries to strengthen them. As well as looking for things that have failed and discontinuing them.
One of the things that can be transformative in our lives and is a ‘best practice’, is being more mindful of the blessings in our lives.
The Alter Rebbe in describing the Divine energies that are beamed down to our world in preparation of Rosh Hashana, starting from Rosh Chodesh Elul, describes an analogy involving a king.
Before a king enters his city, its inhabitants go out to greet him and receive him in the field. At that time, anyone who so desires is granted permission [and can] approach him and greet him. He receives them all pleasantly, and shows a smiling countenance to all . . .
During the month of Elul, G-d is analogous to the king in the field. Hashem gives us the gift of being ‘approachable’ before the awesome High Holidays.
The Kabbalists taught that the month of Elul is a month of intense spiritual opportunity where G-d is radiantly accessible to each and every one of us. Just the way we are. Each of us can and should approach Him and put in our ‘pre-Rosh-Hashana’ requests for a Good and Sweet Year!
And may G-d bless you to have many more good things to SEE and to give gratitude for.
Shabbat Shalom
Chodesh Tov
Shana Tova
Rabbi Yosef Kantor