Parashat HaShavua - Ki Tetze
What it means to “succeed,” writes John Holt in his classic “Why Children Fail,” “only applies to two-valued tasks like solving a puzzle or winning a contest, where you have clearly either done it or not done it. This has nothing to do with most tasks and skills that we do all the time, all our lives, and get better at as we do them.” (pp. 70-71) And he adds: “There is no line with Success written on one side and Failure on the other. These words seriously distort our understanding of how we, as well as children, do things and do them better.” (p. 71)
I was struck two weeks ago when the month of Elul began - and with it our season of reflection, repentance and renewal - that in Parashat Re’eh we were presented with a choice between either blessing or curse. “Behold,” we read, “I set before you today a blessing and a curse / רְאֵ֗ה אָֽנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה” (Deut. 11:26). It is, to be sure, important to discern between good choices and bad, helpful and hurtful, and more. However, presenting these as either/or propositions, like success or failure, seems unrealistic and counterproductive. And when we undertake personal and communal reflection, it would be all too easy to quickly categorize as “successes” or “failures” any number of attributes or actions, thereby potentially stopping the process in its tracks.
Thankfully, the scholar Charles Chavel connects the word re’eh (“behold”) from two weeks ago with the appearance of that same word re’eh in Kohelet, the Book of Ecclesiastes, which we read at the very end of this season of reflection, during Sukkot. There, as a possible lens for this process, as a way forward that does not oversimplify life and its choices, we read, “On a day of good, side with the good, and on a day of bad, behold / בְּי֤וֹם טוֹבָה֙ הֱיֵ֣ה בְט֔וֹב וּבְי֥וֹם רָעָ֖ה רְאֵ֑ה” (Ec. 7:14) In other words, we will have good days and bad, and always, no matter how we might want to characterize, categorize or dismiss them or ourselves, we need to be open to seeing the good; and then, if there seems to be bad, not be quick to call it bad, but rather: “re’eh / behold.” Take notice of it, ponder it, consider it, and understand that what might seem bad need not stay that way.
As we start the school year anew and look forward to Rosh HaShanah, there is another appearance of the word “re’eh” in Kohelet that is worth noting: “There will something about which one will say, ‘behold this, it is new’ / יֵ֥שׁ דָּבָ֛ר שֶׁיֹּאמַ֥ר רְאֵה־זֶ֖ה חָדָ֣שׁ ה֑וּא.” (Ec. 1:10) Because Kohelet is most often quoted as saying “there is nothing new under the sun / וְאֵ֥ין כָּל־חָדָ֖שׁ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ (Ec. 1:9), the idea that one can behold something new - or can themselves renew - could easily be viewed cynically, dismissed as nonsense, an impossibility. But maybe, just maybe, we are instead meant to learn from the statement “behold this, it is new,” that we should see the new even in what seems old and predictable. Even in that there is something new, waiting to be found.
“Babies learning to walk and falling down as they try,” writes Holt, “or healthy six- and seven-year olds learning to ride a bike and falling off, do not think, each time they fall, ‘I failed again.’ Healthy babies or children, tackling difficult projects of their own choosing, think only when they fall down or off, ‘Oops, not yet, try again.’ Nor do they think, when finally they begin to walk or ride, ‘Oh, boy, I’m succeeding!’ They think, ‘Now I’m walking! Now I’m riding!’ The joy is in the act itself, the walking or the riding, not in some idea of success.’ (p. 69)
May we feel that joy, in the new school year and the new Jewish year, and not think in terms of oversimplified categories - of blessing or curse, success or failure - but rather, let us behold the potential for new in all that we do.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor