Re’eh
Deuteronomy 11:26 - 16:17
Précis: Moses begins by quoting God, saying “Behold (re’eh), I set
before you a blessing and a curse this day.” The blessing flows from
observance of the laws and the curses result from violations. A concern with
idolatry permeates the following verses. The parasha explains that there
will be a single site for sacrifices. A test for a false prophet and the
punishment of an idolatrous city are included. The parasha then shifts to other
subjects: a prohibition against self-mutilation, the biblical basis of the laws
of kashrut, tithing so that the needs
are met for the Levites, the
"stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.” Remission of debts, freeing of
Hebrew slaves, and the dedication of firstborn cattle are discussed, as are the
commandments for the observance of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
Deut. 14:1 “You are
the children of Adonai your God. Do not gash yourselves or shave the front of
your heads on account of the dead.”
Rabbi
Joseph Heller has taught an interesting lesson about the verses in this part of
the parasha (Distance Learning Project
8/23/03). He notes that this the prohibition from Jews “gashing” themselves has
an alternative rabbinic interpretation, based on the same Hebrew root: that Jews are not to divide themselves by
adopting different subgroups with different understandings of the law.
Verses
almost immediately following delve into the laws of kashrut. As I’ve pointed out
before, while the attributes of kosher land
and sea creatures are carefully laid out, the “kosher characteristics” of birds
is missing. Instead, we get a list of permissible birds to eat. This became an
important issue for European Jews of the 16th century, when turkey
from the New World was introduced, and rapidly became popular. Was turkey
kosher? Some authorities, citing Mishnaic sources, found it to be kosher;
others, citing Rashi and his school of thought, declared it treif (non-kosher).
Eventually, a majority of authorities came to recognize that turkey was indeed
kosher.
This story
of the great turkey debate is more than a historical footnote. It is a great
example of how Jews deal with the commandment of this verse: "Lo titgodedu" (do not divide into
rival groups).
In every
era, there have been major disagreements in practice among and between different
Jewish groups, and these disagreements run from the trivial to the fundamental.
In recent times in Israel, and in parts of other Jewish communities as well, we
see that differences become intolerable to some Jews: they demand separate
seating on airplanes and buses, they state that Reform Jews are not really Jews.
Intolerance and hatred fuels not only religious differences, but seeps into
political action as well, as some Jewish extremists find a religious basis for
their heinous attacks on gays and Arabs.
Rabbi Heller
notes, “Jews need to retain the ability to ‘talk turkey’ with those who observe
differently, so that we remain one people, more than the sum of our parts,
rather than disconnected sects.” On the other hand, with the most extreme
elements of self-proclaimed “believers” we must stand and condemn, as has the
vast majority of Israeli government and rabbinic authorities.
