SEDRA RE’EH—2010 How many miracles have you seen today??
Throughout our prayers and liturgy we are constantly being asked to “remember”.
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”-
“A remembrance of the work of Creation”-
“Commemorating the Exodus from Egypt”.
And so it goes on challenging us to use our memory.
We have just completed the ‘three weeks’ of mourning and the one day of mourning and remembrance- Tisha B’ Av. All the time we are looking back and remembering.
This week’s Sedra again asks us “to remember”.
“That you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt – all the days of your life” (16:3).
Words of this ‘remembrance’ and a sign of that which was seen by all, are spoken by us daily, morning and evening and seen on our doorposts every day- the Shema and the mezuzah.
Ramban in his commentary on Sedra Bo ( Shemos 13:16) sees our remembrance as a daily collective and individual pursuit.
“Through recalling and acknowledging the great manifest miracles of the Exodus a person ultimately acknowledges the hidden miracles of everyday life, which are the foundation of the entire Torah”.
Ramban’s conclusion is that no person has a share in the Torah of Moses our Teacher unless he believes that all our affairs and experiences are miracles. Observation of the Commandments will bring man success while transgression brings him punishment and destruction. Our Sedra this week addresses these two concepts via the blessing and the curse, “See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse”. (11:26)
The hidden miracles are the vehicles of this reward and punishment and can be more clearly recognised as affecting the community when all the members of the community are identically affected by it. This allusion to hidden miracles appears in our Sedra as predictions of the Torah through the blessings and curses.
Ramban’s premise is that the foundation of faith which the ‘remembrance’ mitzvos impart can be derived from all mitzvos. Through mitzvos a person is constantly acknowledging his G-d.
The ultimate objective of all the commandments, is according to Ramban, “that we should believe in our G-d and acknowledge to Him that He created us”.
According to Ramban the fundamentals of faith are first and foremost that, G-d exists; He gave us the Torah; oversees the affairs of man and dispenses reward and punishment. Every mitzvah performance big or small brings these beliefs to the forefront of our consciousness for we are “acknowledging G-d “.
Ramban in Ha Emunah V’HaBitachanon (Ch 1) discusses Emunah (Faith) and Bitachan (Trust) and maintains that the latter is dependent on the former, but that the former is not dependent on the latter.
It is not enough for us to say“ I have faith”. We must feel that Hashem the Creator is aware of us and is involved in our regular daily life to the extent that it should control the conduct of our personal and business affairs. In so doing we can bring some peace and tranquillity to our lives.
The ‘Nishmas’ prayer reminds us “You redeemed us from Egypt, O Hashem our G-d, and liberated us from the house of bondage. In famine You nourished us, and in plenty You sustained us. From the sword you saved us, from plagues You let us escape and from severe and enduring diseases You spared us. Until now Your mercy has helped us and Your kindness has not forsaken us. Do not abandon us Hashem our G-d, forever.”
None of us have fantastic memories but from wakening to sleeping we see first hand around us Yad Hashem, the constant miracles and works of G-d.
Surely we should not ‘abandon’ Hashem and try to remember His goodness everyday.
How good is your memory??? We pass off as normal happenings, events in our lives and therefore treat them as ordinary, and forget them. Sometimes we remember events as extraordinary and see Yad Hashem in them.
I am trying my best to remember the events where Hashem intervened, how good is your memory????
How many miracles have you seen today??
Wishing you all a memorable Shabbat TTFN.
( Part of a regular Thursday shiur at Young Israel of North Netanya Synagogue)
