Re'eh - Seeing

P'shat: Moses is addressing all of us on the east side of the Jordan river, and is telling us that there are two basic choices in life: one is a life of blessing, which comes from following the commandments, and the other is a life of curses, which comes from turning away from the commandments, and in particular comes from following after other gods.

But, there are a couple of strange aspects to this passage verse:

1. It Gets Tense. The verb "see" is in the singular, while the rest of the passage is addressed in the plural. So which is it? Why does Moses use poor grammar here? Did he not have access to an early version of Grammarly to check on this before he delivered his addresses?
   
2. Not this day! The second unusual aspect of this verse is the word "hayom," which could refer to that day itself, but them why even have the word there at all. If Moses meant that day way back then, he did not need to include this word at all. What does adding in Hayom do for this verse?
   
3. A little too formal. Moses is being a little formal here. Instead of using the normal pronouns "Ani / I," he uses the more formal "Anochi / I" instead. Why use this more formal form here?
   
4. Such a binary! Moses presents here choice, free will, is such stark terms. In this strong binary language. As if to say that every choice we make can easily be categorized into two kinds: choices that are or lead to blessings and choice that are or lead to curses.
   
5. What is a metaphor for? Lastly, the first word of the verse is not needed at all. Moses could have begun the verse, "I set before you today a blessing and a curse..." No "See" needed at all. So not only why is "see" in the singular, but why is there anything else at the start of the verse at all, and why the word "see"?
   1. See - it could just be an attention getting word, i.e. Now see here...
   2. Or it could be a well chosen word for a specific purpose. What does Moses want us to "see"?
   3. And what meaning of the word "see" might this be referring to. It could be the more concrete and physical - seeing with our eyes, or it could be the more abstract metaphor for using our minds, our inner eyes, and so on.

Sforno focuses on what Moses is telling us to "see."

And focuses on the extreme binary of this choice.

Sforno comments that Moses is offering a critique of the nations of the world, who in his view, tend towards the middle of the road, towards mediocrity, towards "meh." For Sforno, Moses is asking us to look at what we do every single day, and ask ourselves, "Did I do enough? Did I settle for less that I could have done? If I did something mediocre, what it a choice that I made to do it at that level? Did I make a compromise that I did not have to make?"

For Sforno, "seeing the blessing and the curse" is this intense scrutiny of our actions every day, and being willing to constantly choose the extreme of blessing, lest we fall into the middle, or worse, consciously choose the extreme of the curse.

The Kli Yakar takes a different approach. He also sees that Moses is speaking to us as individuals, but looking at something different. The Kli Yakar wants us to pause before we do something, and to visualize the entire world as a balance scale, with two bowls suspended one either side, one with the worlds righteousness and goodness, and the other with the worlds wickedness and evil. And these two bowls are perfectly balanced. Half good and half evil. And then we will see that the action we take will tip the entire world towards one side or the other. And that action will bring the world to a state of merit or not.

The Kli Yakar wants us to see that our actions matter, that they impact others far beyond our own circles, in ways that we may nor even be aware of. For the Kli Yakar, Moses wants us to see that every choice has the potential to tip the world towards the side of blessing or the side of curse.

Who are our role models? Who are the people that we look up to, who inspire us, who motivate us to choose certain pathways in life? Do we choose negative or positive examples? Meaning, do we choose someone who is the opposite of what we want to attain, the opposite of the kind of person that we aspire to be (like a criminal, or someone who has some virtue or quality taken to a negative extreme), or do we choose someone who is exemplary in the ways that we aspire to be? Someone that we can measure ourselves against as we grow, to see if we have grown in those meritorious directions?

Or HaChaim reads the opening verse here differently in his comments to this parashah. He sees in the first two words, "Look at me!" Re'eh anochi! Make me your role model! Make me the spiritual height to which you can aspire.

This is not arrogance. Moses is the most humble person on earth, and yet, for Or HaChaim, Moses is asking the people to keep Moses in their minds, not only as a teacher, a leader, but even as a role model for what they can attain in their lifetimes. Every single one of them can attain the level of righteousness of Moses. Why? Because Moses is just a human being. He was not endowed with super-human qualities, or given divine powers that no other mortal can attain. Everything Moses did was because of a choice that he made, day after day.

Or HaChaim quote the Rambam who asserts this radical view of free will. Every human being has the free will to choose to aspire to the heights of what being a human being can mean, and can also choose to lower themselves into the depths of what human beings sometimes are, but should never be. "There is no one who compels him, sentences him, or leads him towards either of these two paths. Rather, he, on his own initiative and decision, tends to the path he chooses."

We all know someone who feels trapped by their choices, by their situation, by their past, their reputation. And someone who feels that they are stuck in old ways of thinking or patterns of behavior may say that nothing that they do can make a difference.

And this is also partially true. Large societal systems limit the range of choices that people have. Chemicals that we put into our bodies (sometimes by choice, sometimes by addictive compulsion) limit our minds ability to make good choices. The stress and anxiety that sometimes surrounds us in ways that are beyond our capacity to dispose also cloud our judgment, True freedom is a privilege, and not something to be take for granted.

For whatever range of choices we have at our disposal, the Sfat Emet here offers a way to look at choices. Just as God every day makes the world anew, so too we are made anew as part of the world, and can choose either the path of blessing or the path of curse every day.

We also need to consider how the choices that we make impact the choices that others can make. Do our choices limit the ability of others to make choices for themselves? Do our choice serve to remove the barriers that some have that limit their judgment and their range of choice, and even their ability to see themselves as people who have choices to make?

Different view here. Moses is quoting God, or speaking for God (Anochi). Everything, every aspect and dimension of life all flows from the Root of the Cosmos, the Ground of All Being - God. There is nothing else. Therefore, all blessings, all curses, or things that we perceive as blessings or as curses, are all from one source, The Source. The Mei Shiloach here suggest as way of looking at the world that acknowledges that humans perceive the world in binaries: good, bad, blessing, curse, joy, sorrow. And that it is human nature to cry out to God when we experience pain, sorrow, despair, because people often times assume that trials and tribulations are coming from God for some reason, testing us, or punishing us,. And when we experience the good, we forget to ascribe that good to God, and fall intro the trap is glorifying the work of our own hands, when we so easily forget that our power and our strength all comes from the world around us: air, sun, soil, food - none of which are we responsible for ultimately.