INSIGHT & INSPIRATION
PARSHAS R’EIH
THE GIFT OF CHOICE. THE POWER OF SIGHT.
By Rabbi Moishe New
Our sages teach that a witness may not serve as a judge. The reason? Once one has seen an event unfold, it is impossible to approach the matter with full objectivity. Hearing testimony allows room to consider multiple perspectives, but sight penetrates far deeper. When you see something, the image imprints itself in your mind and heart. You may later revisit the scene in memory, interpreting the details, but the impression has already been etched in stone. That experience cannot be dislodged or reimagined from another angle.
This distinction between sight and hearing sheds light on the opening words of this week’s parsha, R’eih: “See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.” Why “see”? Why not simply “know” or “hear”?
Hearing builds understanding step by step. Each word adds another layer until a picture emerges. With sight, however, the whole picture is grasped instantly and powerfully. Moshe is telling the people: the reality of blessing and curse, of good and evil, is not merely an abstract lesson to be reasoned through. It is a truth you can see with the eyes of the soul.
But here lies the paradox. For free choice to be genuine, the material world must appear every bit as compelling, even irrationally so, as the hunger for G-dliness. That is why people often pursue wealth, honor, or pleasure in ways that defy logic, even at the expense of health or relationships. The “irrational” pull toward the material is meant to counterbalance the soul’s equally super-rational yearning for G-d. Only then can man’s choice be real.
And yet, the Torah calls this very struggle a “gift”: “See, I am placing before you...” The Hebrew noten implies a generous giving. For even the challenge of temptation is, in truth, a Divine gift, for through it we achieve a love and connection with G-d that is truly our own, born of effort and decision.
But this is only the initial stage in the service of G-d. Ultimately, G-d grants us the power of sight—to perceive with absolute clarity that blessing and life means closeness to Him and sin and curse are separation and shadows. To “see” this truth is to go beyond the struggle, to recognize that the concealments of the world are temporary veils void of truth, waiting for us to pierce them with light.
Indeed, in the ultimate future, says the prophet, “The glory of G-d will be revealed, and all flesh will see together”. Until then, we are called to open our eyes, to see beyond appearances, and to choose life.
