The Torah Portion Re’eh begins with God’s words as communicated by Moses. “See: I’m putting in front of you today a blessing and a curse:” (Deuteronomy 11:26)* We learn that we’ll receive God’s blessing if we listen to (and act upon) God’s commandments. We’ll be cursed if we don’t listen and allow ourselves to be led astray, especially in the direction of idolatry.
Re’eh stresses that we will thrive and be blessed if we actively demonstrate that we are obeying God’s laws. Special emphasis is placed on rituals for sacrificial offerings, not at a time or in a place of our choosing, but “…in front of YHWH, your God, in the place that He will choose to tent His name there…” (Deuteronomy 14:23)*
While we no longer offer sacrifices and most of us have no flocks, vineyards, or fields of grain, two important themes of Re’eh, centralized communal worship and eating as a sacred act resonate in modern Jewish practice.
As God promised, the Jewish people have multiplied and established communities around the world. The ancient central sites for worship are gone, but in their place, we’ve built a multitude of synagogues. Are our synagogues places “of God’s choosing?” I believe they are. God has given us the wisdom to interpret the lessons of Torah, to follow and apply God’s teaching over millennia of cultural evolution. Our T’fila (prayer), our ritual observances, our Holiday gatherings, our Torah study sessions in our synagogues make them places “of God’s choosing” where we can show that we’re worthy of God’s promised blessing.
In a sense, we even bring “offerings.” As a member of a synagogue, we’re encouraged to bring our mind, spirit, physical energy, skills, time and money to support the sacred work of the institution.
As for eating, that’s a core synagogue activity! Oneg Shabbat, Kiddush lunch, Brotherhood breakfast, classroom snacks, fall barbecue, winter latke party, spring Seder – we come together to enjoy food after we’ve recited the appropriate blessings which transform a feast or a snack into a sacred act.
“…And you shall eat there in front of YHWH, your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.” (Deuteronomy 14:26)*
We, who are blessed with plenty, are commanded in Re’eh to give to the poor.
“…I command you, saying: you shall open your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your indigent in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11)
Here, again, we may look to our synagogue to fulfill this mitzvah as we bring “offerings” to fill food pantry collection bins placed in the synagogue lobby.
The Jewish community continues to study and strive to understand all that God commanded through Moses. We see that the one central sacred place for sacrifices of Re’eh has fragmented into hundreds of synagogues with one sacred purpose, the perpetuation of the Jewish people according to God’s commandments.
When we bake challah in the synagogue on Friday morning, arrive for Torah study on Shabbat, bring our children to religious school, gather for Holiday celebrations, and come to T’fila, let’s imagine that we’re at the head of an infinitely long line of our ancestors – a line which wondrously reaches back to the banks of the Jordan where Moses speaks God’s words. It’s a blessing for us to SEE that while everything has changed, nothing has changed – like Torah, like God.
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