Blessings in Disguise

This week we read the Parasha Re'eh, and the third haftorah of comfort. Re'eh means to see, to view, to look, to perceive, to observe, to notice, and to understand. All of the meanings of Re'eh deal with sight. According to Kabbalah, there are two aspects to sight. The first is that we see what we want to see and the second is that we see objectively.

The world is a confusing place beloved. How many times when we are standing in the middle of a situation do we view it as a curse? It is only when we take a step back and look at things through the lens of Torah that we can see HaShem's perfect plan for our life. As they say in Hebrew, "Smile it is all for the good".

There is a famous verse in this week's parsha. It is in Chapter 11 Verse 26. The verse says "I set before you a Blessing and a Curse."The Torah comes to teach us that both reward and punishment, blessing and curse, serve one purpose. That purpose is to motivate change within us to achieve the absolute best that we can be.

This Shabbat we announce the month of Elul which starts at nightfall Tuesday August 30th. Starting on Wednesday the 31st we hear the blowing of the shofar each morning. This month is a time to turn our gaze inward to look past the surface, to see what is drawing us near to HaShem, and what is pulling us away from Him.
May you be blessed on your journey into the month of Elul beloved, according to the teaching by Rabbi Akiva Tatz below, Elul is the place to be~Elisheva
http://www.simpletoremember.com/media/a/elul-the-place-to-be/

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if the trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry out when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if the trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home
It's not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if the trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise
C. Story

Yesterday is gone
And tomorrow is new
Everything that's gone undone
Now its time for me to do
Look forward to a brighter day
And a great expected end
It's a new day and a new beginning

Behold He'll do a new thing
Much more than the eye has ever seen
Behold He'll do it, He'll do it in me, in you

Your futures now at hand
Time to get in the fight
Work while it is day
So you can rest throughout the night
A blessing now receive
And a reward in the end
It's a new day and a new beginning

Begin again, Start all over again
I see my future, I see my blessing,
I see my promise, my reward
Yesterday's gone, tomorrow is new,
Today is the gift I have
So I will start,
Start all over again
K. Bond