 |  | Parshat Re’eh begins with Moshe’s exhortation to the people: “See! This day I set before you all blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God…and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God” (Devarim 11:26-28). Many commentators want to understand the Torah’s peculiar use of grammar in the verse, “See! This day I set before you all…” The Hebrew word “re’eh” or “see” is in the singular, but the Hebrew word “lifnechem,” or “before you all” is in the plural. Why the switch? Who is Moshe speaking to? One person or the entire nation? According to the Kli Yakar, based on Chazal, the fact that the word “see” is singular while “before you all” is plural comes to teach us, “A person must always view things as if the entire world is half righteous and half wicked. If a person performs a single mitzvah, he tips himself and the entire world to the side of merit. Therefore, Moshe spoke to every individual, ‘See,’ that he should see in his thoughts that every single action affects all of them.”
The words of the Kli Yakar teach us an essential aspect of Judaism: The actions of one person has an impact on us all. If we believe that performing even one mitzvah, no matter how small, can not only positively impact our families and community but the whole world, then we should approach every mitzvah opportunity as a chance to spiritually turn the world to the side of righteousness. And, of course, the opposite is true as well, God forbid. But here’s the thing, it all starts with the actions of one person! All of us can help repair a damaged world through the mitzvot we perform, and because we do not know the value of a mitzvah, we must view every chance to do one as equally important, and leap at the occasion. God shows us, as individuals, that we can choose blessing or curse, and our individual choices may be the very thing to tilt our world one way or the other.
This Shabbat, may we all feel empowered and inspired by this message: the actions of one impacts the many. While this is a great gift, it is also a great responsibility. May we take our responsibility to make good, moral, Torah-based decisions in our individual lives seriously, feeling as if the weight of the world rests upon our choices. May we recognize the power we have to help make this world a better place, and may we always remember that which the Baal Shem Tov says, “When one performs a mitzvah, it is as if that person completes us all.”
Shabbat Shalom!
- Rabbi Dan
| 
