"Re'eh anochi"

 My grandfather of blessed memory, Rabbi Israel Orenstein, a student of the Pachad Yitzhak told me that when he was a bochur, a young, unmarried man, preparing to get married, his father took him to the Amshinover Rebbe. He said to him the opening words of this week's Torah portion, "Re'eh anochi" in a very thick yiddish accent - my grandfather, had told me that over 65 years later he still remembered the way in which the Rebbe had pronounced the words, "Re'oi Anoichi." "See," the Rebbe then told him, "see who you are before you seek your wife." 

My grandfather took those words to heart, engaging, as the Rebbe told him, in self-examination, finding out who he was before he looked for the woman who would complete him, and be with him for many years until she succumbed to kidney failure after years and years of dialysis. 

That message is an important message, for everyone, I believe, prior to embarking on a momentous life change; look deeper, see who you are before you couple yourself or wed yourself to a decision that will have far-reaching ramifications for all of the people who will be most affected by your decision.

Shabbat shalom, and chodesh tov. 

On another note, it was on Rosh Chodesh Elul that the Jews of Rymanov, my paternal grandfather's hometown, were forcibly gathered in the town square prior to being sent to their certain death. May the above words be an aliyat neshama, and bring about an elevation of their souls, and may their memory be a blessing. Thankfully, may Moshe Barth - my grandfather, may he live and be well - who survived out of Hashem's mercy, merit many more years of joy, health, and nachas in Eretz Yisrael.