Every Sunday morning, my phone presents me with a report. It tells me how many hours I spent looking at the screen during the previous week. It records how often I picked up the device, which applications received most of my attention, and whether my usage increased or decreased. The report is precise. It is personal. It is difficult to dispute. And with one small movement of the finger, I can make it disappear. I do not have to argue with the numbers. I do not have to explain myself. I do not even have to deny that the information is accurate. I simply swipe the report away and continue with my day.

That small moment captures something essential about the opening word of Parashat Re’eh.– “See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.” Moses does not begin by asking the Israelites to believe, understand, or agree. He asks them to look. See what is before you. See where your choices are leading. See the life taking shape through the things you do repeatedly.

The Torah appears to assume that seeing carries moral weight. Once something becomes visible, we may still ignore it. We may postpone our response. We may find elaborate reasons for continuing as before. But we can no longer say that we did not know.

We live in an age of extraordinary self-knowledge. Our phones measure our attention. Our watches track our sleep and physical activity. Medical portals display patterns in our........

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