Note, in preparation for my synagogue meditation, with reflection on the torah portion, I created the following drash to accompany the meditation.  My older son also had his bar mitzvah portion as Re’eh.  And, when I recently (last year?) saw the first word in the parsha was: See…I was moved.  A drash from last year was different….but connected again with the idea of: Seeing, which continues below…

Meditation for Re’eh for 2026

Let me share a few thoughts reflecting on the parsha for this week, in advance of our meditation before the Amidah shortly.

Re’eh, our torah portion…begins with the word: See.  That is our entry point to this parsha.

When I read: “see,” I do think of where we are going in our practice today.  We’re about to engage in meditation, which typically involves both mindfulness…attending to the details, of our breathing…and then…awareness…which comes out of that.

As I’ve been trained…when we “look,” identifying the details of a thing….that then leads us to “see,” become aware of the environment, in which those details exist.  So, in this way, looking and seeing….maps onto those 2 ideas of mindfulness, and awareness.

Altogether, as is becoming often the case, the shema prayer has come into mind.  Why?

The parsha goes on to say: “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse.”

In that sometimes controversial second paragraph, we are told that if we follow g-d’s commandments, they will provide: “rain for your land on time,” but…if you: “stray from the path, worship other gods, and serve them….rain will not fall…and you will quickly perish from the good land that Adonai is giving you.”  So, you can experience…depending on your behavior….blessings or curses.

The blessings and curses are also related to two mountains that appear in the bible:  “The peak of blessing, Mount Gerizim, is nearer the sun, moist and fruitful; the peak of curse, Mount Ebal, is lean, arid, and dry.”  If we can “see” this, we know what to do.  As the phrase has evolved over decades to have slightly different, but always similar meaning….”what you see is what you get.”  And it is true.

The shema continues, giving us instructions in the mindfulness of looking, that is designed to lead us to the seeing of awareness. It says, pointing to our tallit: “These tzitzit are for you, so that each time you see them, you will remember all of God’s commandments, and observe them, and you will not be led astray….thus each time you see them, you will remember and do all my commandments…”

So, our prayer service gives us mindfulness exercises of looking to do…so we can develop awareness…so we can see.

Let’s continue those exercises now, in meditation.

Please join me in taking good posture…