See and we will be seen

The month of Elul is upon us. It’s a time to prepare ourselves for the high holidays and the new year, when we hope we’ll all be showered with abundant blessings.

The Torah portion this week is Parshas Re’eh, which continues Moses’s farewell address to the Jewish people. It begins with him urging us to re’eh (see) that G-d gives us a choice between a life of blessings or curses.

“Who is wise?” asks Pirkei Avot. “One who can see what will be,” is the response. The key word perhaps is to “see”. What and how do we envision?

Many understand the results of their behaviour conceptually. Consider a smoker, who sees the warnings of potential dangers from smoking clearly posted on the packet, yet smokes anyway.

To “see” means to envision. Positive visualisation has indeed become a common psychological practice.

In the kashrut laws enumerated in our parsha is a bird called ra’ah (the kite). It’s known for its extraordinary eyesight for catching prey. In the Talmud, its vison is described thus: while “it stands in Babylon it sees a carcass in Israel”. Considering the geographic distance, that’s quite impressive.

Yet it isn’t considered a kosher bird. One rationale could be that it chooses to see only corpses, the negative aspects of Israel.

Much of the media we’re familiar with is negatively biased in its reporting of Israel. The same could be said for ourselves in some of our interactions with others. What do we choose to focus on, their good traits or their faults?

Will my life be affirmed or afflicted? Do I see opportunity or opposition? What will the result be, blessings or curses?

It very much depends on the lens we choose to view our world through. Use that optimistic lens, and tremendous blessings await!

Elul’s elevated spiritual nature gives us the opportunity to connect to G-d unlike any other time in the year. We begin blowing the shofar as a wake-up call to focus on what’s important. We increase the quality and quantity of our prayers, and we’re more charitable. We reflect on the year gone by, on our physical and spiritual goals, and are more mindful of our thoughts and actions, with an emphasis on our relationships and friendships.

Let’s “see” the blessings, and merit that they be showered upon us all in abundance!