רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
Parashat R'eih
Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
As
our journey to Rosh Hashanah continues, this week is about recognition,
or hac’carah. Rabbi Elie Munk taught that “to clearly
understand the problem of free will, one must be able to see into their own
conscience,” meaning that one must have recognition and not just awareness,
which we spoke about last week. Awareness is a conscious knowing whereas
recognition is an acquaintance with, or relationship to. It is kind of
like the difference betweenלָדַעַת (la’daat)
andלְהַכִּיר (l’hacir), two
variations of “to know,” withלָדַעַת meaning
to be conscious of something andלְהַכִּיר meaning
to personally encounter it. The word this parsha gets
its name from, R’eih (רְאֵה),
meaning “to see,” is also connected with the third Chakra, hod (הוֹד), which means beauty. Hod may also be related to the word hodayah (הוֹדָיָה),
which means thanksgiving, meaning that we give thanks to the beauty we see, or hac’carah, or r’eih.
Without hac’carah it is hard to move forward.
Parashat R’eih represents a change from recalling the past to foretelling the future. Moses has been recounting the wanderings of the wilderness generation in order to remind the people who are about to enter the land that their success, just as it was with their ancestors, is also rooted in their faithfulness to God. Here, Moses taught, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse,” not yesterday, but today going forward (see Dt. 11:26). Israel often brought curses upon themselves by reaping what they sowed. It goes on to say, יְבִיאֲךָ כִּי וְהָיָה, (v’hayah ki y’viacha) “it will be that [when God] brings you into the land,” Moses teaching them that how they conduct themselves upon their arrival will have a great deal to do with what they will also experience, both for the good and the bad. Therefore in the context of Torah Israel is taught to not follow other gods, keep the kosher laws, proper employee-employer relationships, do not forget the value of offerings and do not be led astray even by a voice from your own people if against the values of Torah. Israel was being asked to recognize various things when they enter the land to prosper in the future.
Jews today are also asked to recognize the value of Torah, but how we resonate with that often depends on a person’s view of God. Rabbi Ruth Shon makes that point about moderns and the kosher laws since in Torah the keeping of kosher laws are really about community and personal devotion. R’Shon also notes that this could have not been strictly for health reasons, or why would food banned for Jews be okay for gentiles (See Dt. 14:21). In the Talmud (BT Avodah Zarah 20a) the Rabbi’s ask about sacrifices that can be sold to or given to gentiles but not eaten by a Jew, the reason being “for you are a sacred people to the Lord your God.” Here kosher laws are primarily about the values of the people more so than the healthiness of the meal, although there is that too (another conversation). For R’Shon that has not changed, meaning that for those who have hac’carah regarding kosher laws often times they will be approached as ethical, speaking to the environment and conditions of the place of preparation, living wages for the workers and the treatment of animals. Do the values of Torah speak to the deepest human convictions of right and more right? That is the question that is being asked, that is what is getting the recognition to keep or not keep Torah, but also that is what Torah has always been, a book about human ethics on a profound spiritual and/or spiritual level.
On such a profound level we further read in this parsha, וְאָכַלְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-יִבְחַר לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם, “And you will eat before the LORD your God in the place which God will dwell ” (see Dt. 14:23). In context, as noted by Rashi, this place is where the sacrifice was to be consumed, the Sfrono adding that this chosen place in the Temple also “houses the Supreme Court, Sanhedrin, from where knowledge and understanding is dispensed.” But the Jewish mystics believed that what made that place chosen was the Wonder behind the place, not the place itself (see Zohar 2:168a), perhaps reflecting an early midrash that teaches the place is where “God will choose to make the Shekinah to dwell” (Targum Yonatan on Dt. 14:23). An early Mussar commentary teaches; “‘You shall eat it in front of the Lord your God;’ this is a reference to the ‘Table’, i.e. a reference to the sacred element of the act of eating” (Shenei Luchot HaBerit). In Jewish thought the table is sacred just like an altar, which is the reason why our Shabbat tables are set to be different than the rest of the week, or why we say the kiddush as opposed to just a prayer over wine. The place where God has chosen is just not a physical location, but it is also a place we choose ourselves, because we recognize the holiness of it.
16 times just in this parsha we read “which has chosen,” יִבְחַר (yivchar), referring to a place that God has chosen, teaching us that the location where we experience our sense of God means something. Calling on the words of Zohar this is not just the place itself more than it is the presence of God that exists in each and every place. Rabbi Harold Kushner teaches that Jewish prayer is about entering into the words to connect with God as opposed to the words connect God to us. In the same way, recognizing the holiness of the moment connects us with the spiritual more so than the moments create the spiritual. This has been and continues to be a difficult time, but are there spiritual moments that surround it? Yes, we are waiting for a vaccine so life can go back to normal, missing the gathering of family and friends, feeling the pain of not seeing grandchildren, not being able to attend the funeral of family because of restrictions, or not being at another one for a friend who’s mom was like your own. We are angry with those who will not follow the rules so we suffered another shutdown, can’t get our hair cut or our nails done once again, having to stay put in our homes until who knows when. It has been 6 months of this and you know, it’s hard, it can weigh heavy on a person. But we have also found other ways to connect and get out, maybe not the best way that is most ideal to our liking, but we can and should be grateful for what we have. We make it what it is because we have hac’carah, a recognition that although things are not the way we want them we still have the opportunity to give thanks for what they are, just like hod and hodayah from above.
In five weeks we will enter a new place, a New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and our hac’carah of the past year will shape our hopes for the new one. Our response to how we want to handle life will be based on our deepest values, which we chose to act upon, because as the words of R’Munk said, people will “be able to see into their own conscience” in order to recognize the best way to respond. As we enter this new year let our hac’carah, our recognition be more mindful of the world around us, the needs of others both known and stranger, and of course ourselves, recognizing that we are able to aspire for more out of next year than the one we are about to leave.
Parashat R’eih represents a change from recalling the past to foretelling the future. Moses has been recounting the wanderings of the wilderness generation in order to remind the people who are about to enter the land that their success, just as it was with their ancestors, is also rooted in their faithfulness to God. Here, Moses taught, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse,” not yesterday, but today going forward (see Dt. 11:26). Israel often brought curses upon themselves by reaping what they sowed. It goes on to say, יְבִיאֲךָ כִּי וְהָיָה, (v’hayah ki y’viacha) “it will be that [when God] brings you into the land,” Moses teaching them that how they conduct themselves upon their arrival will have a great deal to do with what they will also experience, both for the good and the bad. Therefore in the context of Torah Israel is taught to not follow other gods, keep the kosher laws, proper employee-employer relationships, do not forget the value of offerings and do not be led astray even by a voice from your own people if against the values of Torah. Israel was being asked to recognize various things when they enter the land to prosper in the future.
Jews today are also asked to recognize the value of Torah, but how we resonate with that often depends on a person’s view of God. Rabbi Ruth Shon makes that point about moderns and the kosher laws since in Torah the keeping of kosher laws are really about community and personal devotion. R’Shon also notes that this could have not been strictly for health reasons, or why would food banned for Jews be okay for gentiles (See Dt. 14:21). In the Talmud (BT Avodah Zarah 20a) the Rabbi’s ask about sacrifices that can be sold to or given to gentiles but not eaten by a Jew, the reason being “for you are a sacred people to the Lord your God.” Here kosher laws are primarily about the values of the people more so than the healthiness of the meal, although there is that too (another conversation). For R’Shon that has not changed, meaning that for those who have hac’carah regarding kosher laws often times they will be approached as ethical, speaking to the environment and conditions of the place of preparation, living wages for the workers and the treatment of animals. Do the values of Torah speak to the deepest human convictions of right and more right? That is the question that is being asked, that is what is getting the recognition to keep or not keep Torah, but also that is what Torah has always been, a book about human ethics on a profound spiritual and/or spiritual level.
On such a profound level we further read in this parsha, וְאָכַלְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-יִבְחַר לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם, “And you will eat before the LORD your God in the place which God will dwell ” (see Dt. 14:23). In context, as noted by Rashi, this place is where the sacrifice was to be consumed, the Sfrono adding that this chosen place in the Temple also “houses the Supreme Court, Sanhedrin, from where knowledge and understanding is dispensed.” But the Jewish mystics believed that what made that place chosen was the Wonder behind the place, not the place itself (see Zohar 2:168a), perhaps reflecting an early midrash that teaches the place is where “God will choose to make the Shekinah to dwell” (Targum Yonatan on Dt. 14:23). An early Mussar commentary teaches; “‘You shall eat it in front of the Lord your God;’ this is a reference to the ‘Table’, i.e. a reference to the sacred element of the act of eating” (Shenei Luchot HaBerit). In Jewish thought the table is sacred just like an altar, which is the reason why our Shabbat tables are set to be different than the rest of the week, or why we say the kiddush as opposed to just a prayer over wine. The place where God has chosen is just not a physical location, but it is also a place we choose ourselves, because we recognize the holiness of it.
16 times just in this parsha we read “which has chosen,” יִבְחַר (yivchar), referring to a place that God has chosen, teaching us that the location where we experience our sense of God means something. Calling on the words of Zohar this is not just the place itself more than it is the presence of God that exists in each and every place. Rabbi Harold Kushner teaches that Jewish prayer is about entering into the words to connect with God as opposed to the words connect God to us. In the same way, recognizing the holiness of the moment connects us with the spiritual more so than the moments create the spiritual. This has been and continues to be a difficult time, but are there spiritual moments that surround it? Yes, we are waiting for a vaccine so life can go back to normal, missing the gathering of family and friends, feeling the pain of not seeing grandchildren, not being able to attend the funeral of family because of restrictions, or not being at another one for a friend who’s mom was like your own. We are angry with those who will not follow the rules so we suffered another shutdown, can’t get our hair cut or our nails done once again, having to stay put in our homes until who knows when. It has been 6 months of this and you know, it’s hard, it can weigh heavy on a person. But we have also found other ways to connect and get out, maybe not the best way that is most ideal to our liking, but we can and should be grateful for what we have. We make it what it is because we have hac’carah, a recognition that although things are not the way we want them we still have the opportunity to give thanks for what they are, just like hod and hodayah from above.
In five weeks we will enter a new place, a New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and our hac’carah of the past year will shape our hopes for the new one. Our response to how we want to handle life will be based on our deepest values, which we chose to act upon, because as the words of R’Munk said, people will “be able to see into their own conscience” in order to recognize the best way to respond. As we enter this new year let our hac’carah, our recognition be more mindful of the world around us, the needs of others both known and stranger, and of course ourselves, recognizing that we are able to aspire for more out of next year than the one we are about to leave.
Shabbat Shalom
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