Re'eh, רְאֵה  "See!"  Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17

See! You Can Change The Universe!

A Poetic Reflection On Parashah Re’eh*

See, this day 

The God of Israel said

I set before you 

blessing and curse

I set before you

a land existing

in two universes

For the land you will enter

is a bridge between universes

a universe of blessing

and a universe of cursing

In the land into which you enter

you can exchange

one universe for the other

at any time

For this land is My land

and what takes place in this land

is the holy foundation

of My creation

The one universe is called Gerizim

and the other is called Ebal

In the universe of Gerizim in all you do

I will guide you

All you do

I will do together with you

hand in hand

In the universe of Ebal

you will only rely on yourself

and you will not follow

My guidance

In the universe of Ebal

you will become lost from Me

Then your neighbour

will become a foreigner

The good you do

will be turned to evil

as when your father, Adam

exchanged the universe of Gerizim

for the universe of Ebal

in this land

In the universe of Ebal

you will conquer with cursing

and will eat what is cursed

Then you will build a city

where righteousness calls to you

from every street and every corner

from the face of every stranger

passing by

But you will neither hear it nor see it

unless you remember

that your adversary in your human conflict

is your partner

and every soul is your neighbour

and you remember Me

and long for My guidance once again

as your father Abraham did

when he exchanged the universe of Ebal

for the universe of Gerizim

when he trusted me

with the life of his son

in this land

Then when your soul

cannot endure to be without Me

I will take ahold of your hand

and I will teach you kindness

and how to give charity to the poor

The evil you do

will be turned to good

All your learning will be wisely applied

And you will build a village of faith

and a city of eternal life

And we will walk together on its streets

and rest together there

according to our agreement

in the halls of celebration and love   

at the time of song   

When you have turned

the universe of cursing

into the universe of blessing

in this land

*Being a meditation on a Torah class on parashah Re'eh, delivered by Rabbi Baitelman of ChaBaD Richmond, B.C., based on the series, Torah Studies, by Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Neither Rabbi Baitelman nor the JLI have reviewed or approved of the content of this post.