The very first word in our parshah, "Re'eh" ("See" - Devarim 11:26), calls out loudly for explanation. One would have expected the parshah to start one word later with "I place before you this day a blessing and a curse", or perhaps with "Behold, I place before you this day a blessing and a curse." Why does the parshah start with the word "Re'eh", "See"?

 

The word "Re'eh" connotes approaching something as stark reality - actually visualizing the concept rather than dealing with it in the abstract. By seeing something, one relates to it on a totally different level, as it becomes dramatized and is perceived palpably through one's senses; it becomes very real. This is why the Torah repeatedly uses this same word (in various permutations) to depict the experience at Sinai, describing its supersensory character and exceptional impact, for a wholly new level of perception and reality were at hand.     

 

And this is how Moshe Rabbeinu wanted B'nei Yisroel to approach the Beracha U'Klallah, the Blessing and Curse, which were being introduced at the start of our parshah. It was not enough for the people to intellectually understand what was being presented; rather, they needed to internalize it all and approach it as glaring and impending reality. (Although commentators explain on a p'shat/simple interpretive level that the Beracha U'Klallah refer to the Berachos and K'lallos to be recited on Har Gerizim and Har Eval, as introduced in the next section of Parshas Re'eh [11:29], Medrash Tanchuma [Re'eh 4], cited by the Ba'al Ha-Turim, explains that the Torah here refers to the comprehensive obligation to keep the Torah, as embodied by the Tochachah, the Torah's Grand Reproof [Vayikra 26:3-46]; the Seforno and the Or Ha-Chaim also understand the parshah here to be dealing with the broader picture of living a Torah life.)

 

We find that Sefer Devarim features the word "Re'eh" yet again at the conclusion of its exhortation to keep the Torah, where we read, "Re'eh/See that I have placed before you today life and good, death and evil." (Devarim/Parshas Nitzavim 30:15) Parshas Re'eh is the beginning of this especially intense exhortation, and it concludes in Parshas Nitzavim, again with the word "Re'eh", connoting dramatic and palpable reality.   

 

Why does the Torah specifically here become so emphatic and present its message with such vivid animation?   

 

It is important for us to realize and approach Torah life not merely as a culture, a set of rituals or a lifestyle, but rather as the most important and the only thing we have; it is our existence and our very essence, and our lives literally depend on it. Following the Dvar (Word of) Hashem is not optional, is not done casually or when convenient, and is not a mindless routine - on the contrary, it is the exclusive focus of who we are and is our very reason for being here.

 

This is the attitude that Moshe was instilling in B'nei Yisroel as the pinnacle of his exhortation, and it rings eternally and speaks equally to us.

 

And this is perhaps why Parshas Re'eh is always read immediately before Rosh Chodesh Elul, and Parshas Nitzavim, which commences, "You are all standing today before Hashem your God... to enter into the covenant of Hashem" (ibid. 29:9) and whose concluding section starts with "Re'eh/See that I have placed before you today life and good, death and evil" (ibid. 30:15) and which states "life and death have I placed before you, blessing and curse, and you shall choose life..." (ibid. v. 19), is always read immediately before Rosh Hashanah - for even though the weekly parshiyos must fit into a specific cycle which compels this arrangement, these parshiyos' messages of Teshuvah and of standing before Hashem, evoking a vision of imminently come face to face with the Ribono shel Olam in intense days of judgment and mercy, are rivetingly presented to us at precisely these times, corresponding to the period we are entering.

 

May we begin Elul with a very palpable sense of our holy mission, and may we internalize the dramatic and penetrating message of the shofar and all that it invokes as we prepare to stand before Hashem.