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. Our correct perception of any given situation is key, because if our perception is incorrect there will be a dramatic mistake in our response. Albert Einstein once said, "Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts". The more I thought about this statement the more it bothered me. It seems that it is in those times when I try to "see" things using my eyes, and "feel" things using my heart that I get myself in trouble. 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 and heart of Torah that we can see HaShem's perfect plan for our lives.  The Torah provides refuge from our subjective blind spots that tend to cloud our judgement

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 enter the month of Elul which starts at nightfall Saturday August 18th. Starting on Sunday the 19th 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 Amaris
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