“I have set before you this day… a blessing and a curse.”
On this Shabbat Mevarekhim, the Shabbat when we offer a blessing for the new month ahead, the Torah reminds us that our journey in the world is not a predetermined destination, but rather an open invitation to choose our path.
We stand at the threshold of a new year — and the month of Elul is the time to ask: “Which path are we headed onto?”
Before we seek a blessing for the new month, our parasha teaches us that the blessing is not simply granted to us. It is a path we are invited to choose, a light we are invited to shine. “I have set before you this day … a blessing and a curse.”
The blessing takes on many manifestations: sometimes a look, sometimes a simple word, sometimes an extended hand, and sometimes a connecting embrace.
And one who chooses to bless finds himself blessed.
Shabbat Mevarekhim does not ask “What will you choose?” but rather “Who will you be when you choose to bless?”
