Rabbi Yonason Johnson is Director of the Maor Centre, Melbourne Australia
Parashat Re'eh opens with the verse ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה - “See I have placed before you today, blessing and curse”.
In the Laws of Teshuvah, the Rambam quotes the opening verse of Paashat Re'eh, as a source for the fundamental belief that we are granted free choice. Hashem does not compel us in our decisions. The choice between right and wrong and how we act, is entirely in our own control.
Instead of stating “I have placed before you good and evil” as it does elsewhere, the verse says “I have placed before you blessing and curse”. Along with the belief in free choice, another tenet of Torah is that there is a system of reward and punishment. Our decisions have ramifications and we must live with their consequences. Whether we merit to see blessing or curse is a destiny that we ourselves create.
Many of the commentators note that there is a transition from singular form to plural in this verse. The opening word ראה - see, is singular, whereas the word לפניכם - before you, is in plural.
The simple explanation is that even though Moshe was addressing millions of people, he was addressing each one individually. We find a similar explanation concerning the Ten Commandments, where Hashem said אנכי ה‘ אלקיך - I am Hashem Your G-d, using the singular form for “Your”. Each member of Bnei Yisrael felt as though Hashem was speaking exclusively to them.
The mystics and Baalei Derush share alternative explanations that offer deeper insights.
The Ohr Hachaim addresses this transition based on the word "I", אנכי, that comes between these two words. In the Book of Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu addresses Bnei Yisrael in the first person. As such, אנכי refers to Moshe.
The Zohar teaches that each Jew possesses within them, a spark of the soul of Moshe. With the words ראה אנכי, Moshe was addressing himself as he is present within Bnei Yisrael. Since he was addressing “himself”, the Torah uses the singular form.
The spark of Moshe within us is our Neshama, which is imbued within us from Hashem’s very Essence. This too is hinted in the verse. In addition to “before you”, the word לפניכם can also mean “into you”. The pronoun אנכי - I, refers to Hashems Essential being that is beyond any of His Names. Hashem is telling us to see the soul that He has placed within us.
The Divinity within us, is what gives us the capacity to choose right and good, in a world where the lines between good and evil are blurred and when that choice is not easy to make. Deep down in our souls, the source of our moral consciousness, we will always know what is truly right.
The Kli Yakar explains the change of form based on a well-known teaching in Tractate Kiddushin, that has been codified as Halakha by the Rambam in Hilkhot Teshuvah. The Gemara teaches that a person should see the world as though it was hanging in perfect balance between merits and sins. With one Mitzvah, we have the ability to tilt the scales to the side of merit and salvation.
The verse is teaching us that our choices do not only affect us as individuals. They have ramifications and reverberations for everyone around us and on some level, can influence the entire world for good or for bad. As individuals, we must “see” that our choice between good and evil, is also “before” others.
Tying these ideas together, we can relate the Torah’s message to current events and politics in Australia.
This week, we have once again seen our government fail in their moral choices, when they cancelled the visa of a democratically elected Israeli MK for supposedly being a threat to local peace.
s (many here on visas) to chant “death to the IDF”, burn Australian flags, wave images of terrorists, and intimidate the Jewish community.
Whilst they excuse this by saying that the situation in the Middle East is complicated, the message of our Parasha is that it is not complicated. Good and evil are binary. There is no convolution or area of grey.
Either you choose to be on the side of right or the side of evil. And every human being has G-d-given inner sense of morality that knows right from wrong and can discern between good and evil.
These decisions and policies have ramifications. Blessings and curses come from G-d, but they come through our choices. And these repercussions affect others as well, especially when made by the leaders of nations. Whilst their policies relate to matters overseas, they impact the streets of our neighborhoods. They fan the flames of domestic antisemitism and they embolden local terror-supporters and we all have to suffer the consequences.
But by emphasising that this “choice” is given to us “today”, the Torah is telling us that we should never give up hope. Every day is a new opportunity and our past bad decisions and failings do not bind and prevent us from choosing to change.
Just as the government’s bad decisions have hurt us all, a brave decision now to listen to their inner moral voice and choose to stand on the side of right, can tip the scales of humanity and usher in a reality of redemption, peace and security for all of Australia and ultimately, the entire world.