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Choose Blessing
By Anita Feigenbaum
This week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, begins with Moses saying:
“See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.”
Meaning: Life is full of choices, and those choices shape our destiny.
When I think about choices, I remember one that, at least at the time, wasn’t mine at all.
I grew up in Detroit, and when I was going into fourth grade, the public schools were starting a busing program. My father did not want us to be bused downtown, so he pulled my sister and me out of public
school. He thought he was enrolling us in a nice Jewish community school.
Well… small detail… he accidentally enrolled us in Akiva Hebrew Day School — a modern Orthodox day school. I don’t think he fully realized what that meant.
My sister, going into seventh grade, joined NCSY right away. And me? I basically followed her everywhere — not out of deep religious conviction… just because she was my cool older sister. Before I knew it, I was living an Orthodox life — keeping kosher, celebrating Shabbat, going to Camp Stone, joining B’nai Akiva.
But here’s the thing: while I was living that lifestyle, I hadn’t yet made it my own. I was observant because it was the air I was breathing, not because I had consciously chosen it.
That real choice came in 12th grade when I spent the year in Israel at Machon Gold seminary. There, in the heart of Jerusalem, learning Torah and living the values I had grown up with, I realized: This is mine. This is my life. This is my choice. That’s when I became a true chozeret b'teshuvah — a returnee.
Moses’ words in Re’eh remind us: Sometimes our first steps are made for us — by our parents, our siblings, even by accident. But at some point, each of us must take ownership. That’s the moment that shapes our spiritual destiny.
So, choose blessing. And if you’re not sure where to start, just follow your big sister. Apparently, it works.
Shabbat shalom,
Anita
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