Parshah Summary – P’shat
Parshat Re’eh, which means “see,” opens with Moses’ stark teaching to the Children of Israel: blessing and curse are set before you; choose blessing! He then reminds them of the ceremony they must perform when they enter the land, that the litany of blessings promised to them if they follow the Torah should be proclaimed publicly on Mount Gerizim, and the curses for not following the Torah on Mount Ebal. Instructions are then given for establishing a Temple in “the place that Hashem will choose,” and that the Temple should be the only place that offerings are brought. And while it is permitted to slaughter animals anywhere for meat, the blood (which is poured upon the altar when animals are offered in the Temple), may not be eaten.
The people are then warned against false prophets, and the identifying signs for kosher animals and fish, along with the list of non-kosher birds (first given in Leviticus 11), are repeated. Moses then reminds the Israelites that they must tithe a tenth of their produce, and that this tithe must be eaten in Jerusalem, or else exchanged for money with which food is purchased and eaten there. In certain years this tithe is instead given to the poor. (Today the practice is to self-tithe a tenth of our livelihood for the poor.) Firstborn cattle and sheep, however, are to be offered in the Temple, and eaten only by the the kohanim (priests). Moses then reviews the mitzvah of tzedakah, charity, which is the obligation to lift up anyone in the community who becomes needy with a gift or a loan. Furthermore, on the Sabbatical year (occurring seven years), all loans are forgiven, and all indentured servants are set free after six years of service. The parshah concludes with the laws of the three pilgrimage festivals – Pesakh (Passover), Shavuot and Sukkot – when everyone is to make the journey to Jerusalem and bring their offerings.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃ אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהֹ–וָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃ וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהֹ–וָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לָלֶ֗כֶת אַחֲרֵ֛י אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יְדַעְתֶּֽם׃ See – I place before you today blessing and curse! Blessing, if you listen to the commandments of Hashem your God that I command you today; and curse, if you do not listen the commandments of Hashem your God, but turn away from the path that I command you today and go after other gods, whom you have not known… - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:26, Parshat Re’eh
A story about the Baal Shem Tov: As Yom Kippur drew to a close, the time came say the blessing over the new moon. To say this prayer, it is necessary to actually see the moon in the sky. But, on this particular evening, the sky was overcast and the moon was not to be seen. The Baal Shem Tov had the sense that a great calamity was coming to the Jewish people, but that he could avert the calamity, if only he could say the blessing on the new moon. He concentrated all his powers on parting the clouds so that the moon would shine through, but to no avail. Eventually he lost hope, and went into his room, grief stricken about the evils that were to come. Meanwhile, the other hasidim who knew nothing of what the Baal Shem was going through, began to sing and dance in ecstasy, so happy they were that their master had successfully led them through the Day of Atonement. As their ecstasy grew, the throng made their way into the Baal Shem’s room, and they drew him into the dance. His spirits were lifted as he began to move and sing with his hasidim. Just at that moment, a hasid ran excitedly into the house to report that new lunar crescent has just appeared in the sky, and that the blessing could now be intoned.
One of the great Hasidic insights is that joy is not merely a symptom of the Path, it is the very foundation of it. Without joy, all of our other potentials will be fleeting, or even remain un-actualized altogether. This is why the ninth sefirah of Yesod on the Tree of Life, which means “foundation” and represents joy, is the point of connection between the upper sefirot (spiritual potentials) and Malkhut, the world of time in which our lives unfold. עִבְדוּ אֶת יה–וה בְּשמְחָה בּאוּ לְפָנָיו בִּרְנָנָה: Serve the Divine with joy; come before the Presence with joyous song… Psalm 100:2 But, and this is crucial to understand: this foundational Joy is not a negation of grief or sorrow; it is a way of relating with grief and sorrow. In this sense, (spiritual) joy is not an ordinary emotion; it is a quality of the consciousness that becomes aware of ordinary emotions. It is within our power to access this quality at any moment, even and especially in dark moments. This is the deeper meaning of the story: it is not merely that the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov cheered him up; it is that they brought him into an acceptance of the bitter and the sweet; this is the transformation from an attitude of grasping and resistance to life, into the Dance of Life. And, only when the Baal Shem Tov accepted things as they are, did things change for the better, and the moon revealed itself. רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה See, I set before you today blessing and curse… Blessing and curse are ever the potentials before us. They are set before us הַיּוֹם hayom – “today” – meaning, right now. They are not merely consequences that we’ll have to deal with later; they are inherent within this moment. But how do we choose blessing? אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְה–וָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃ Blessing, if you listen to the commandments (mitzvot) of Hashem, your Divinity, that I command you today… The ordinary understanding is that the mitzvot are the various religious rules to follow. But on a deeper level, “listen” means to be aware of הַיּוֹם hayom – “today” – meaning, be present with this moment as it appears – that is the “commandment.” In this deep listening, in this being present with the reality of the moment, there can be the realization of blessing – that is, the joy inherent within the awareness that accepts both the בְּרָכָה וּקְלָלָֽה brakhah uklalah, the blessing and curse, the sweet and the bitter, meaning: things we want and things we don’t want. And through the window of this fundamental blessing of being present, other spiritual qualities can manifest as well, represented by the five sefirot above Yesod: Hesed (lovingkindness), Gevurah (strength), Tiferet (beauty, harmony, peace), Netzakh (commitment, persistence, not giving up), and Hod (humility, gratitude). All of these qualities are dependent on the foundation (Yesod) of joy: וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵי֮ יְה–וָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ אַתֶּ֗ם וּבְנֵיכֶם֙ וּבְנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם... And you shall rejoice before Hashem your Divinity with your sons and your daughters... Deuteronomy 12:11-12 This is the power of meditation: to help us awaken the joy of spacious inner freedom inherent within our deepest being, not just for ourselves, but so that we may lift up one another, and draw one another into the Dance of Life.
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