Parashat Re’eh covers a wide-ranging set of laws and rules
for the Israelites once they enter the land. First, the people are commanded to
pronounce words of blessing and of curses from the top of two mountains when
they cross over the Jordan river into the land. Then we have laws that reflect main
principles of Deuteronomy – strict monotheism and the centralization of worship
in one location where God will cause God’s name to dwell.
We are told to destroy all sites where idolators used to
worship (those idolators whom we have already conquered and dispossessed). According
to Deuteronomy, our people up until now have worshiped God at various places.
When they enter the Land they are only allowed to worship God at one central
location where God will choose to “establish His name.” Because many people
will live a significant distance away from this place, the laws about
slaughtering for meat are being amended. You no longer have to bring every
domestic animal you want to eat to the sanctuary first for slaughter. But you
must not eat the blood – pour it out on the ground like water. Because “the
blood is the life.”
We are warned to protect ourselves from seduction into
worshiping other gods by false prophets, dream-interpreters, and even our own
family members. God is testing our loyalty through them. They must be put to
death. If a town has turned away from God, we need to kill all the inhabitants
and destroy the town.
Along the same theme of setting ourselves apart from other
peoples, we then have laws of mourning and of kashrut. We are told not to follow
the ways of the other peoples, because we are a consecrated people “am kadosh.”
The next section of laws deals more with how we are to treat
the poor in our midst. Every seventh year all debts are remitted. We are
commanded to help our needy kinsman by giving and loaning to him readily.
Included here are laws of indentured servitude and slavery. A postscript tells
us to sacrifice all male firstlings. But if it has a defect, you do not
sacrifice it but eat it in your settlement – but remember again to pour out the
blood first.
Lastly, we have the laws of the Passover sacrifice, of
Shavuot and Sukkot, the three pilgrimage festivals, and we are commanded to
rejoice!
Lots of food for thought here: What overarching connecting
themes do we detect through this wide-ranging parashah? How do we make sense of
this intense crackdown on idolatry, idolatrous worship sites, and on the
impulse to worship God wherever one is moved to do so? How do we respond to the
commandment to rejoice? Is it possible to rejoice on command?
Looking forward to a rich discussion with you tomorrow!
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