Opening our Eyes to the Good (Shabbat Re'eh)

A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other. 

One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred and fear.

The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?” The grandfather quietly replies, the one you feed.

“Look! I put before you this day a blessing and a curse.” (Deut. 11:26).

These are the first words of Torah we read as the month of Elul begins. This instruction sets the tone for the month-long period of introspection, of inner looking we begin tonight, leading up to the High Holy Days. Re’eh, the first word of the portion, and its namesake comes from the verb to see, discern, or consider. 

It is a command: look! pay attention!

But what are we supposed to be paying attention to?

The Meor Eynayim, an 18th century Ukranian rabbi, and student of the Baal Shem Tov — the founder of the Hasidic movement — teaches: before God created the world, the Holy One’s light and presence was visible as far as the eye could see. There was no room for anything but God. 

In order to make room for Creation, God had to contract Godself, concentrate God’s holy light, hide it in the humblest of places, filling even them with holiness.

The problem was that holiness became hard to see. After God created the world, and gave us space to act according to our own will, good and evil got mixed into everything in the world.

We see this now with the impact of climate change, wildfires in raging out West, continued political unrest, and the spread of the Delta variant. Though we are in a much different place than we were last year, we are heartbroken and afraid. Divine light, the Source of All Blessing, at times feels altogether absent. 

It is precisely because of this that Torah says to us this week:

Re’eh / “Look! I put before you this day a blessing and a curse.” (Deut. 11:26).

Really look! Pay attention to your life, to the world around you. Remember good and bad are mixed up in everything. Nothing in creation is just bad or just good. Every moment, every thing, contains the potential to be a source of blessing, or a source of curse.

The Me’or Eynayim concludes, when the Torah says re’eh, it means pay attention to the blessings in your life, to the potential for good, in everything, even though it is mixed in with the bad.

The goal isn’t to get rid of, to ignore what’s bad or challenging – there is much to be concerned about these days. Rather, it’s to look with clear eyes and choose the blessing God has set before us.

If we do this, we feed the good wolf, so to speak — nourish the joy, peace, love, and compassion that are always within and around us, even at the times they may be hardest to see.

As we enter Elul, this month of self-examination notice where and when you feed the bad wolf and think about how, even now, you can begin to feed and nourish the good wolf. As you do, may you find your capacity to pay attention, to discern, to notice the blessings in your life strengthens until you can again see kindness, love, and holiness shimmering in even the humblest of places.

May it be so.