A Look at Parashat Re’eh

פרשת ראה

דברים Deuteronomy 11:26 to 16:17

Moses continues his extended farewell exhortation to the Israelites prior to their entry into Canaan. He recalls the forty-year trek through Sinai, the misadventures, the presentation of the laws, and exhorts his listeners with promises of rewards and warnings of dire consequences. One wonders if Moses is deliberately stalling, perhaps hoping to delay his fate or even hoping for a reprieve. One modern commentator has equated his extensive oratory as the ancient equivalent of a filibuster.

Chapter 11, Verses 26 through 32 – The blessing and the curse

“I present before you blessing and curse”. For discussion: Promise of rewards and punishments as a direct result/consequence of behavior. This is not “morality” in the true sense of the word (i.e., Do what is right simply because it is the right thing to do, regardless of any reward system).

Why the references to Mount Gerizim and to Mount Ebal (near present-day Nablus)? “… you shall pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.” Mount Gerizim, and not Jerusalem remains the sacred site of the Samaritans to the present day.

Chapter 12, Verses 1 through 7 – Command to destroy pagan worship sites

Command, clear and unambiguous, to destroy all the indigenous (i.e., pagan) worship sites, wherever they are, and to even eliminate their names. Very troubling to our modern sensitivities. Didn’t we universally condemn the Taliban in Afghanistan for destroying Buddhist statues? Later Rabbis inferred that Jews are even prohibited to refer to the gods of other cults by their proper names, but rather to use derogatory nicknames. For example, religious Jews would avoid referring to the Christian savior as Jesus (the Greek corruption of the name Joshua), preferring to use the term Yeshu (ישו).

Further, there is a prohibition against copying indigenous worshiping practices. In some quarters, even the intellectual study and Inquiry of their religions and practices were generally frowned upon if not expressly forbidden. This intellectual isolation is troubling to those of us who champion free inquiry. Even such a towering intellectual figure such as Rabbi Akiva warned that any Jew who reads the apocryphal texts (ספרים חיצונים) would lose his place in the world to come. In marked contrast, Maimonides studied secular subjects, including the writings of the Greek philosophers. He famously advised his students: “You should listen to the truth, whoever may have said it.” (Commentary on the Mishnah, Tractate Neziqin).

A central site for worship within the tribal territories (unnamed) will be designated by G-d for sacrificial offerings and tithing (for the Levites and for the needy). Note that there is no reference to Jerusalem, not here nor anywhere in the Torah. The reference to a central site may be a reaction to the alternative, and competing sacrificial sites that were primarily but not exclusively in the Northern Kingdom, such as Shiloh and Beit El.

Verses 8 through 31, Chapter 13, Verse 1 – Laws to follow free of foreign influence

Verse 8: “You shall not act as we do here, every man according to what appears proper in his eyes” (לא תעשון ככל אשר אנחנו עשים פה היום איש כל הישר בעיניו). Not clear if it refers to the fact that the people were misbehaving, or that, with the entry into the land and the establishment of a single (as yet unnamed location) sacrificial site, private alters and individual worship or sacrificial rites will not be acceptable.

While meat meant for sacrifice may be consumed anywhere, agricultural produce and firstborns of the flocks must be brought to the place designated by G-d. The prohibition against consuming blood is repeated several times.

Verses 29 to 31: Warning not to follow, or even inquire about indigenous religious practices. Perhaps the fact that such a dire warning was deemed necessary is evidence that forbidden cultic practices were relatively widespread. For discussion: Fear that knowledge would lead inevitably to imitate forbidden foreign practices. In order to establish and preserve the supremacy of the Judaic religion and practices (and the status of the Levites), even knowledge of other practices was to be suppressed.

Chapter 13, verse 1: This is the law, period, end of discussion! Do not embellish or detract from it. Need to keep the religion and its practices “pure”, without intrusion by gentile influences that would inevitably creep in. Does this fly in the face of the modern concept of free intellectual inquiry, “let the chips fall where they may”, with its inherent risks?

Verses 2 througsh 19 – Reject false prophets

A dire warning to reject false prophets that would induce you to worship foreign gods. Further, false prophecy is declared as a capital crime that must be dealt with harshly and without mercy. This severe injunction applies even to close friends or to kin. To a contemporary reader, this is a morally challenging call for vigilante justice. Further, if it becomes known that a town has followed foreign gods, that entire town should be put to the sword; even the cattle should not be spared, and the spoils should be destroyed. Perhaps the destruction of the cattle and the spoils is so there will not be a material incentive to falsely claim that a town is populated by heretics as an excuse to plunder it. Perhaps there was a concern that any remnants of the previous cult would be a draw to pilgrimage and worship.

Deuteronomy, in the time of King Josiah, possibly needed to counter creeping heathen influences brought on by the conquest of the Northern Kingdom. Also, the Torah offers scant guidelines for differentiating a true prophet from a false prophet. Of course, if a self declared “prophet” preaches to go against the word of the Torah, that would be taken as evidence that he is false.

Chapter 14, Verses 1 through 21 – Laws of kashrut

This chapter begins with Moses telling the people that they are the “children of the Lord” (להי בנים אתם). Self-mutilation (תתגדדו) when in mourning (possibly a common practice among the surrounding peoples) is forbidden to them. Here, shaving when in mourning is prohibited, a practice still observed by traditional Jews. Later, based on this section and Leviticus (chapter 19, verse 28), Rabbis interpreted the prohibition against self-mutilation to prohibit tattoos (כתבת קעקע) or body piercings. One interpretation is that self-mutilation sets the individual apart from society and that should be discouraged.

Beginning with verse 3 through verse 21 is a repeat of the basic laws of kashrut as laid down previously in Leviticus. In short, it is permitted to consume only animals that both chew their cud and have split hoofs. Last in the list of permitted animals is the zamer (זמר). While the rest of the list include mammals that are indigenous to the middle east, it is not known for certain what the zamer is. Some rabbinic authorities claim that it is the giraffe (While technically, the giraffe is kosher, it is unlikely that zamer means giraffe, as it is only native to southern Africa, and like the bison, would most definitely have been unknown to biblical and Talmudic era sources). Further, only fish that have fins and scales may be eaten. Shellfish are out. Only birds that are deemed “clean” (צפור טהרה – a term not defined), are permitted. A list of forbidden birds, apparently birds of prey, is given. Note that bats are included in this list of forbidden birds although we know that it is a mammal. “Winged, swarming things” are forbidden as are animals that died a natural death (i.e. not slaughtered).

No explanation is given for these prohibitions. There is no evidence to infer that these are due to health concerns. Quite possibly, they are intended to assure that the people of Israel are separate and distinct from, and live apart from the others.

In particular, note verse 21: “… You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו). – The same is also repeated twice in Exodus. Rabbis of the Talmud prohibited the eating of dairy and meat together to put a “fence” or safeguard around this prohibition. The Rabbis of the Talmud went even further by prohibiting eating dairy and poultry together to extend this “fence” around the law. Karaits reject this interpretation and the rabbinic prohibition, accepting only the literal prohibition to cook milk products and meat together (so if you are a Karait, it is still forbidden to consume a cheeseburger. Sorry, guys).

Verses 22 through 29 – Tithing

Setting aside a tenth of the yield of the fields and the firstborn of the herds to be brought to the (unnamed) place as chosen by G-d where it can be consumed. There is a note of pragmatism here. If it is too far or unwieldy to transport the stuff, it may be sold locally and the money brought to the chosen place where you can buy all sorts of goodies to consume in a feast. Every third year, the tithe shall be for the benefit of the Levites within the respective settlements. Curiously, the portion to be set aside for the priests is not mentioned here.

The practice of tithing, introduced in Numbers (במדבר) as a tax for the Levites and maintaining the Temple, here is also an instrument for charity and social welfare.

Chapter 15, Verses 1 through 11 – Cancellation of debts during the seventh year; caring for the needy

Every seventh year, debts between the Israelites are to be negated. This does not apply to debts owed by a foreigner (נכרי). This is in addition to the shmitah (שמטה) as proscribed in Exodus for the Sabbatical year. Obviously, such negation of existing debt could only hold for a considerably basic pastoral society. As soon as even the most elemental commerce begins to develop, the people needed to enact an effective workaround. Hillel the Elder (first century ACE) enacted the concept of the prosbul ( – פרוזבולfrom the Greek: “In front of the court”) which was in effect a legal fiction: loans were to be transferred to the courts as the law of remission does not apply to loans within the public domain. Israeli banks to this day require the signing of a prosbul document to effect a loan. It is also used in the United States by Hebrew Loan Societies to enact interest-free loans to the needy.

Note verse 4: ” There shall be no needy among you …”. This is understood to be a reprimand, as there should not be any needy among the people. As the Torah is not written for a fictional utopia, it acknowledges in verse 11 below that reality is that there always will be needy in the land, and so we are commanded to “open our hands” to the poor and needy.

Verses 7 through 11 implore us to be generous in helping the needy, whether your kinsman, or the other poor in the land. We are again reminded where we come from (slavery in Egypt) so we should not be too haughty or stingy when it comes to the poor among us.

Verses 12 through 18 – Freeing the Hebrew slave

A Hebrew slave (actually an indentured servant) must be set free during the Sabbatical year. Upon his release, he is not to go without the wherewithal to subsist on his own as a free man, furnished with goods to tide him over. Should he not wish to be set free, he is to have his ear drilled(!), and then will become a slave in perpetuity. The above applies to both male and female Hebrew slaves. The same matter was previously brought up in Exodus, chapter 21, verses 2 to 7. The difference is that in Exodus, the mandatory freeing of male slaves does not apply to female slaves. Also, in Exodus we learn that if he was married or had children while in bondage, they are to remain behind.

Verses 19 through 23 – Annual pilgrimage with firstborn animals

All firstborn animals, except those with blemishes or defects, are to be brought to the holy site on an annual pilgrimage and consumed there (but not the blood).

Chapter 16, Verses 1 through 17 – The three pilgrimage festivals

Establishing the three pilgrimage festivals: Passover pilgrimage (פסח) commemorates the exodus from Egypt. Seven weeks from the second day of Passover we come to Shavuot ( שבועות – Weeks), marking the beginning of the grain harvest and the first fruits, and Sukkot – (סוכות), the conclusion of the grain harvest. The pilgrimages are to a single destination as yet unnamed.

 In Talmudic times, the holidays were redefined from their agricultural roots: Shavuot now signified giving of Torah at Mount Sinai, and Sukkot commemorated the temporary dwellings during the period of the exodus and the wanderings in Sinai.

Previously, in Leviticus (chapter23, verses 42 to 43) we were commanded to live in booths for seven days to remember that we lived in booths when we were brought out of Egypt.

Both in commemoration of the festival of Shavuot and of the festival of Sukkot (verses 9 to 15), we are commanded to gather the community, inclusive of the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, to rejoice. It must be noted that we are even commanded to include in the celebrations whatever slaves we possess.

The custom was developed in post Talmudic times to observe Simchat Torah (שמחת תורה) on the seventh day of Sukkot to celebrate the annual cycle of reading the Torah. The final two chapters of Deuteronomy and the first two chapters of Genesis are read.

The three pilgrimage festivals serve to cement a central place for the sacrificial observances, with the aim of unifying the people.