This week’s parasha, portion, Re’eh, presents a seemingly very easy choice in life. Moses tells the people, still waiting to cross over the Jordan River, “See, this day, I set before you blessing and curse. Blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced.” Sounds pretty easy to me…this I can do and that I cannot do, period. What’s so difficult about that? Really? Hmmm….let’s see. Moses continues to show the people what problems might get in their way…in Chapter 12 verse 29, “When the Lord your God has cut down before you the nations that you are about to enter and dispossess and you have dispossessed them and settled in their land. Beware of being lured into their ways after they have been wiped out before you!! Do not inquire about their gods, saying, “How did these nations worship their gods? I too will follow those practices…” And then, another challenge just a couple of verses later at the beginning of Chapter 13, “Be careful to observe only that which I enjoin upon you; neither add to it nor take away from it…if there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner and he gives you a sign or a portent, saying, “Let us worship and follow another god”….”do not heed the words of that prophet or dream-diviner.” “For the Lord your God is testing to see whether you really love the Lord our God with all your heart and soul.” So, we will be tested when we cross the Jordan, it’s not going to be as easy as it seemed to be. We will, and still do, have choices AND we will, and still do, also have challenges. Moses knows this and God knows this too. But, if we stay loyal and choose the path that we’ve been shown, things should be ok. And they are… The portion continues with a series of reviews of previous commandments and rules to follow. The rules of kashrut, what we can and cannot eat, are repeated with the re-statement of one of the most notable phrases, Chapter 14 verse 21, “you shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” The separation of eating milk and meat together is again stressed as part of the over-all rules of the animals that we can and cannot eat. The parasha concludes with a review of the 3 most important festivals, Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot. It concludes with this beautiful statement…”Three times a year-on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths-all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place that he will choose. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. But each with his own gift,
according to the blessing that the Lord your God has bestowed upon you.” Re’eh is a classic part of D’varim. It is a continuation of Moses’ review of previous important events and laws that the generation that left Egypt experienced but that this generation, waiting to cross into the ‘Promised Land’, did not live through but now represent the generation that will take over the land and will be responsible for bringing the mitzvot into their lives and into the land. We will continue to talk about the challenges that Moses presents in this parasha on Shabbat morning. In addition, this Shabbat we will announce the new month which will begin in about one week or so….it will be a very special month and will open up lots of new study possibilities. Have a wonderful week, stay safe, wear your masks in public and please join us on Zoom on Friday night and on Shabbat morning…
.early Shabbat Shalom!! Rabbi Ralph