Dvar Torah - Re'eh 5784

The parsha this week begins with (Devarim 11:26): “See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. ראה אנכי נתן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה”. Rashi says the Torah is referring to the future when the Jews would gather at the two mountains Har Eval and Har Gerizim in the land of Israel (see Devarim 27:11-26). However, the grammar of this pasuk is difficult. The subject verb ראה  (see) is in the singular, but the pasuk immediately switches to the plural לפניכם  (before you). Why would the Torah change from the singular to the plural right in the middle of the opening sentence? 

The Kli Yakar explains that the Torah speaks about the tremendous responsibilities incumbent on every individual. The gemara in Kiddushin (40b) says that each person should look at the world as if there is an equal balance of merits and sins, so that if he does just one mitzvah, he would tilt the balance of his own personal judgment and the judgment of the entire world to the positive. Therefore, each individual (singular) should see (ראה) that his own individual actions will impact the entire world (plural - לפניכם). This interaction of the individual and the community is essential to the concept that all Jews are “bound up” to each other (כל ישראל עריבים זה בזה). Indeed, the Talmud (Sotah 37b) expressly states that the Jews became עריבים  (bound up) to each other when they pronounced the blessings and curses at Har Eval and Har Gerizim, as cited by the first Rashi in the parsha. Therefore, every action that we take as individuals has an impact on the Jewish people as a whole. Conversely, the actions of other Jews also have an impact on us. 

We learn from here that we all have a responsibility not only for ourselves, but for all our fellow Jews. One can’t simply stay in his or her own individual domain, learn Torah and do mitzvos and think that one has satisfied his Torah obligations. On the contrary, one would be ignoring the fact that the actions of others impact everyone. I remember growing up in Detroit when Rabbi Moshe Grushkin, A”H once told me that he had a conversation with a Jewish communal leader who was not observant. The leader complained to Rabbi Grushkin: “What does it matter to you that I don’t keep kosher? Why do you keep bothering me about it?” Rabbi Grushkin told the leader that it does matter to him. If a Jew is not keeping kosher, then it has an impact on all the Jewish people, including Rabbi Grushkin.

As we head into Elul and the time of year when we focus more on self-reflection and spiritual growth, we should also reflect on our responsibility to our fellow Jews. What more can we do to help other Jews discover the beauty of Torah and the holiness of a Jewish home? We should strive to be a positive influence on others, and in that merit we will see a year of beracha for all the Jews, both in Israel and throughout the world.