08 Aug RE’EH: THE BEAUTIFUL PATH OF TORAH

Parashat Re’eh begins:
“Behold, I am presenting
before you today a
blessing and a
curse.” Moshe Rabbenu
proceeds to explain to the
people that they have the
choice between two paths – the path
of mitzvah observance, which brings
blessing, and the path of disobeying the
Torah, which brings the opposite.
The Sifri makes what I believe to be a
crucially important comment about these
two paths.
It gives an analogy to a man who is
traveling and reaches a fork in the road. He
must choose between two routes. The first is
full of thorny branches at the beginning, but
clear and smooth at the end, while the other
is clear in the beginning, but full of thorns at
the end
This analogy is relevant to virtually
anything good in life. When it comes to
anything valuable which we want to
achieve, we have this choice to make – to
take the easy route, which leads to hardship,
or to struggle and work hard, and then enjoy
the great benefits that our hard work yields.
If a young person who is just starting out
takes an easy job, he might enjoy the
comfort of not having to work hard, but he
will later suffer the consequences of not
having built a career. However, if he begins
with a difficult job, which requires long
hours and probably doesn’t pay very much,
he will walk through “thorns” for a while,
but he treads along a path that ultimately
leads to success.
When a couple first gets married, they can
choose the easy way – doing whatever they
want, saying whatever they want, and
ignoring the other’s needs. But then the
marriage becomes full of “thorns.” If they
put in the hard work to be attentive, flexible,
compromising and sensitive to each other,
then they will later enjoy the unparalleled
benefits of a beautiful marriage.
Many alcoholics and drug addicts start out
happy. It’s a fun and exciting life, filled with
parties, laughter, and good times – until
they reach the “thorns,” and their lives are
in shambles.
Torah life is just the opposite. Yes, it has
its “thorns.” It can feel restrictive having to
observe Shabbat every week, to keep a
kosher kitchen, to eat only at kosher
restaurants, and to maintain the prayer
schedule. But ask anyone who has been
doing it for many years, and they’ll tell you
that they would never give it up. People
who observe Shabbat love it. They see it as

the greatest and most precious gift. Yes,
there are “thorns,” it can be complicated
and difficult – but when we get past the
“thorns,” we reach the beautiful experience
of Shabbat.

It is important not to be misled by the
“clear” and “thorny” paths that we see in
front of us. Even if the path of Torah appears
“thorny,” we need to remember that the path
is beautiful at the end – and this is the path
which we want to follow.