We always read Re’eh the Shabbat before Rosh Hodesh Elul.
This is hinted at in the name of the Parasha
ראה-
The ר is for ראה See
The א is for אלול Elul
The ה is for הגיע has come
The month of Elul is here. It’s the time when the Sepharadim start selichot and Ashkenazim start blowing the shofar. Regardless, it’s a wake up time. Whether you’re waking up to say selichot (as it says in the Selichot: בן אדם מה לך נרדם- Man why are you sleeping), or waking up from the sound of shofar, it’s a month of introspection and work.
As we’ve been studying Bitachon, it’s interesting to note that the Hovot HaLevavot says that there is one area that we don’t rely on Hashem for: bechira-freedom of choice.
G-d says clearly that man has freedom of choice. Rambam has a whole discourse on it. We are in charge of making choices. Yes, we have Bitachon that the things we try to do should happen. But to choose to grow, to learn, to change, that’s up to us.
In other words:
הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים.
Everything is in the hands of G-d except fear of Hashem.
This is the the message of Parashat Re’eh, and Rambam brings this week’s parasha as a source for this concept:
רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה
The blessings and the curses I put in front of you today.
The choice is ours.
Choose to do well and you will get blessings. The opposite is true as well. It’s up to us.
The Gaon M’Vilna says a beautiful thought on this. There are 3 reasons why people don’t have Bitachon.
Some say: Look at what’s going on around me. Look at the people around me. How can I change ?
Others say: My past is terrible. Look what I did. How can I change?
Or else people might think they can’t do it alone. Their yetzer hara is too strong.
The Vilna Gaon says the answers to all of these issues are found in this week’s parasha: Firstly,
ראה /See is written in singular form, whereas the word לפניהם in front of you is written in the plural form. G-d is saying: “I’m talking to you. You as an individual. You alone can choose, and everything around you is just excuses. We can’t look at what is going on around us. In the words of Stephan Covey, l’havdil, we have to be proactive not reactive. That’s his habit number one. We have to know we are in control and we are responsible for our choices. There are no excuses. Covey, in his bestselling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, quotes Victor Frankel, a Holocaust survivor who said that the Nazis took everything except his reactions to things. The way he viewed things was in his control.
Wherever you are, I’m talking to you.
Secondly, regarding your past- you might think it’s too late. Maybe you could have changed at 13. But now? At 33, 83? Isn’t it too late? No, says the Gaon. Look at the words of the pasuk:
רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם
היום- Today
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Yesterday is not important. It’s not about what you did yesterday or how old you are. Every person is empowered to choose.
We see this from the the worst of idol worshippers, Menashe. When he was taken by the enemy and tortured in bubbling cauldron, Menashe called out to every idol he knew and didn’t get answered. Then he remembered his father once told him to call out to G-d. He called out to G-d and G-d responded.
So forget about your past.
Finally, if you think that you can’t do it alone, that your yetzer hara is too strong,
to that we say: ראה אנכי
I- אנכי
Hashem says, I am here to help you. If you make that first move, I’m here to help.
This is the one area in which Bitachon doesn’t play a role. Nothing is stopping you from choosing to grow. No one stops you from wanting. That’s the first step in changing. You have to want to change. You have to want to learn more, to go to class. You have to want to start doing ABC, or stop doing XYZ. You can choose whatever you want. The doing you can’t control.
But אין דבר עומד לפני רצון
Nothing stands in the way of will power.
BeH we will all change for the better this coming year.