This week’s parsha opens with one of those epic, profoundly moving, famous verses- (Deuteronomy 11:26)- “See, I set before you, today, blessing and curse.” The text continues to explain that the blessing will come from listening to, and, presumably, following the mitzvot. The curse from not doing so.
It’s so simple. The choice is in our hands. Today. Make the decision which direction you choose, the blessing or the curse, right, or wrong. Life is full of choices and the quality of our lives, in large part, though not completely, lies in the direction we choose, what we do with the gift of free will with which we are blessed.
Moses is clearly addressing the community gathered with him in the desert when he says, see- I set before you THIS DAY. As his voice reaches out to us across the generations, they remind us that the choice still lies before us each and every day- do we choose blessing or curse? Every day brings the opportunity to learn and change and grow. Especially as we enter the month of Elul and prepare for the High Holidays. Our past need not determine our future. THIS DAY is a reminder that every day that choice lies before us.
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week we celebrate Rosh Hodesh Elul, the beginning of the final month in the Jewish calendar. As we anticipate the coming High Holiday season, we know that teshuva is available for us. We may have regret for decisions we have made, but THIS DAY we have the opportunity to seek reconciliation, make amends, to choose to move in a different direction.
The choices we make are an inevitable reflection of our values. We build our character by the small decisions that we make each day. I sometimes think of mitzvot as exercising our moral muscles. Just as we exercise our physical muscles so that we will have the strength available when we need to move something really heavy, so we exercise our moral muscles so that we can choose the good when faced with a challenging moment. Our everyday decisions are what create those patterns of behavior that will ultimately form the basis of our character.
The Jewish mystical tradition suggests that with every mitzva we do, we create an angel, an advocate and protector on high. And when we make poor choices, a prosecutor is there to argue that we need to face the consequences. The reality is that by our actions we add or diminish spiritual energy in the world. Maimonides puts it this way in Hilchot Teshuva, the Laws of Repentance (3:4)- "Every person should view themself throughout the entire year as if they are evenly balanced between merit and sin, and the world is evenly balanced between merit and sin. If we perform one mitzvah, we can tip the balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit, bringing deliverance and salvation to ourselves and others. Conversely, if we commit one sin, we tip the balance and that of the entire world to the side of guilt, bringing destruction upon ourselves and others." Our actions, Maimonides reminds us, have consequences. The decisions we make impact the world around us.
Not to decide is to decide- our lives will run on autopilot and be driven by the demands of the moment, and we will have forfeited the opportunity to craft a life that reflects holiness and expresses our deepest values. We need to set priorities and ensure that how we are spending our time reflects the principles we articulate. The rest of your life, it has been said, depends on what you with any one moment. According to our parsha, Re’eh- look! The blessing and the curse are set before us THIS DAY. Through our actions, we can increase the quotient of blessing in our lives and in the lives of those around us. The word re’eh is in the singular, even though Moses is addressing the entire community. He is speaking to each one of us, asking us to open our eyes and see that the choice is in our hands.
Help us, Holy One, to see the possibilities of THIS DAY as a new gift, to let go of past hurts and regrets for poor decision, and embrace the blessing available to us THIS DAY, that we may be forces for good in our troubled world.
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