Be Kind

 This letter was forwarded to me by someone special....

My Torah portion is Re’eh, the Hebrew word for “see.” In this Torah reading Moses gathers the Israelites and declares: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.”

 Moshe then goes on to instruct the Children of Israel in the plains of Moab, for this is where they waited before entering the Promised Land. As you know from today’s reading there are specific commandments to obey. The Children of Israel were told to destroy all idols of the land they would inhabit, they were told the laws of Kashrut to follow in their new land, and they were given specific guidelines for other commandments as well.

If the Children of Israel followed the laws, it would be a blessing; likewise, if they did not follow the laws, it would be a curse.

How can something be a blessing and a curse?

This phrase confused me for a while until I realized its significance to my own life. I was just three years old when I lost my dad. I was too young at the time to grasp the intensity of what happened, but the more I grew and matured, I internalized more and more the devastation of the loss of my father. This was a curse. I lived each day in sadness, wishing he could come back.

The essence of the phrase; “It is a blessing and a curse” suggests that man has free will; he has the ability to choose his path through life. I can relate to that because I had to make a choice; Should I stay angry for the rest of my life and take what happened as a curse? Would it be possible for me to accept that he is not here anymore and try to see a blessing from the curse?

Here is where you all come in. I am sure most of you read that story that went around the internet about a young autistic boy named Jack who would watch some of his schoolmates playing baseball every week. One day one of the teams was short a player. Desperate to finish the game, the captain looked up, saw Jack, and asked him to play. Jack hurried in and played in the outfield until the 9th inning. When his side was up, the teams were tied with two outs. It was Jack’s turn to bat.

The rules of the game suddenly and magically changed. The pitcher, previously intent on winning this game, purposely threw a slow, underhanded pitch right down the middle. Jack swung and hit the ball to third base.

As Jack ran to first base, the third basemen overthrew the ball past the first baseman’s head.

“Run to second!” cheered his team.

Jack ran, and as he was coming home, the first baseman threw the ball to the pitcher…who intentionally missed the ball. Jack won the game for the team and both sides went wild.

Jack had a special community around him, all intent on performing mitzvot for him. Their eyes were open, " Re’eh… they could see.

I, too, have a special community all around me.  I have all of my friends and family and people who I don’t even know who, like Jack’s teammates, are intent on keeping me in the game. And so, I do understand how something can be a blessing and a curse.

I know my dad can see me today and every day, "Re’eh", and I know how touched he would be by the mitzvot you have unselfishly done for me. Thank you.

Everyone gets the opportunity every day to make something a blessing or a curse. If you ate one or two of the Sunkist jellies, that was likely a blessing. But if you ate more than you can count, it’ll definitely be a curse.

I leave you with this challenge: When life presents you with something that could be a blessing or a curse, try your hardest to make it a blessing. Keep your eyes open…."Re’eh"! 

I try to do this, my shortcoming in the ability to recognize persons in need of a mitzvot.