Deuteronomy R'eih

R’eih
Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17

I. Summary

A. R'eih = "see" (an imperative form to get the Israelites' attention).

B. Moses tells Israelites that they will be blessed by God if they obey God but cursed by God if they disobey God. Moses names separate mountains in Promised Land (Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal) as places for God’s blessing and curse, respectively. (11:26–32)

C. Moses describes laws about worship in a central place … 1) destroying idols and places of worship of other gods, 2) worshiping God, bringing sacrifices and tithing at single location to be selected by God and 3) slaughtering and eating meat being acceptable (but for “partaking of” animal blood) anywhere. (12:1-28)

D. Moses warns Israelites against 1) adopting worship practices of conquered peoples and 2) either adding to or taking away from what God has told Israelites to do. (12:29-13:1)

E. Moses warns Israelites about false prophets with basis for distinguishing true from false prophets being loyalty to God rather than accuracy of predictions. Moses tells Israelites that they are to kill 1) false prophets, 2) relatives or close friends who urge the worship of other gods and 3) entire communities (“as a holocaust to the Eternal”) that worship other gods. (13:2-19)

F. Moses describes ritual practices required by God in order to attain purity, i.e. 1) no self-mutilation, 2) dietary rules, 3) laws about tithing, 4) providing for Levites, 5) debt remission every seventh year, 5) the release and treatment of Hebrew slaves, 6) consecrating all male animal firstlings as sacrifices to God and 7) the correct sacrifices to be offered at the central sanctuary during the pilgrim celebrations—Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot. (14:1-16:17)

II. Commentary (Plaut, various websites, Jewish Study Bible and prior Hevreh discussions)

A. R'eih – Could refer to “seeing” the good in someone (v. merely as a word to stress importance of words following). Also, word is singular despite Moses addressing all Israelites … suggests that Moses being heard by each Israelite individually as if it were a personal one-on-one conversation.

B. Significance of free will and choice - Free will and personal responsibility are cited in the opening verse (“I set before you blessing and curse …”). Creates tensions within personal accountability, i.e. right v. wrong choice as well as choice for good of individual v. group.

C. Flexibility of Reformed Judaism v. inflexibility of Torah - “Be careful to observe only that which I enjoin upon you: neither add to it nor take away from it”. (Deuteronomy 13:1). Nevertheless, Reform Judaism has both “added to” and “taken away from” our heritage with an authority we granted ourselves as evidenced by various pronouncements from the Central Conference of American Rabbis (The Pittsburgh Platform in 1885, The Columbus Platform in 1937 and Reform Judaism—A Centenary Perspective in 1976). Yet, our process of challenging the mitzvot as we receive them is highly authentic, even Talmudic.

D. True v. false prophets - Prophets present consequences of various alternatives and are validated by their loyalty to God… not accuracy of predictions (Deut. 13:2-6). Later (Deut. 18:22), true prophets are distinguished from false prophets by accuracy of their predictions. Note, however, 1) one cannot determine accuracy of prophesy at time of prophesy and 2) true prophets are sometimes inaccurate.

E. Pilgrim festivals - Decentralized to homes and local synagogues after destruction of 2nd Temple (by Romans in 70 C.E.). Festivals are 1) Pesach - recognizes the Israelites leaving the slavery in Egypt, 2) Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) originally celebrating first harvest but later recognizing when God revealed the divine law at Sinai, and 3) Sukkot (Feast of Booths) celebrating first harvest with construction of “sukkot” (frail booth) reminding post-Israelite Jews of their deprivation in wilderness and God’s providential care … (last day = Simchat Torah when Torah cycle ends).

F. Movement away from centralized worship – Original purpose of centralizing Israelite worship in ancient times was to create a unified national and spiritual identity … one that was strong enough to survive the onslaughts of powerful enemies. Centralization of worship was important at time of tribal autonomy and was reinforced by centralization in Deuteronomic times (“You must bring everything that I command you to the site where Adonai your God will choose to establish God's name” ... Deuteronomy 12:5-11); however, centralization of worship was first challenged when kingdom split (928 B.C.E.). Worship started to decentralize during rabbinic period (200 B.C.E.) and was fully decentralized (with prayer replacing sacrifice) when 2nd Temple destroyed in 70 C.E.

G. Inherent qualities of land and Zionism - When God orders that the curse shall be placed upon Mount Ebal, the commandment is not about where the tribes of Israel are to stand; instead, it teaches that the hill itself will absorb the words of condemnation (analogous to the scapegoat ritual in Leviticus). Are we to learn from this teaching that certain locations on earth are inherently favored by God and others are inherently despised? Contra, many early Zionists dismissed the notion that the Middle East was the proper place to establish a thriving Jewish homeland at all … the location of the land itself is relatively unimportant as compared to the values upon which a Jewish state should be built.


(Revised 8/13/09)