Here's the scene: It's close to forty years since the Israelites left their experience of slavery in Egypt. Since then, they've experienced life in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula at various encampments. Every day - except Shabbat - they've been provided their day's supply of food, in the form of the Manna. The reason the Manna doesn't fall on Shabbat is: it's Shabbat! Instead they receive a double portion of it Friday morning. Of course they've witnessed up close the giving of the Ten Commandments, they've heard the Divine voice to the point of being terrified and telling their leader that he "needs to go and listen to what God wants of them; they'll even trust him to do it! But hearing 'God's voice' themselves frightens them out of their souls."
Over the past forty years they've come to witness these and many other similar miraculous experiences. Now they're almost at the end of their journey. Moses, their devoted leader, knows that his time is almost up. He won't be crossing the Jordan River with the rest of the people. He knows that the future is uncertain. He's very concerned about his people's ability to remember just how much the Divine Existence makes it possible for everything else in the world to exist. Such awareness, he knows, would help them to use the gift of their lives to serve God and avoid the mistakes that can destroy a person.
In his final days, Moses gathers the people and delivers three speeches in which he tries to inspire them to remain loyal to God: to love Him with "all their heart, with all their soul and with all their might." (Deut. 6:5)
In Re'eh Moses "ups the ante" by pointing out that the decision whether or not follow God's Law is one which bears consequences. (Perhaps in realizing just how "serious" this is, each Israelite will take the concept of following the Law to heart and make the effort to put it into practice.) He starts to spell out in greater detail the various elements of the Law:
· They are to destroy any evidence of pagan practice in the land they are about to occupy
· They are to have a central shrine where the sacrificial service will take place. Performing such rites anywhere else is strictly forbidden
· Any meat used for personal consumption has to undergo preparation to make sure that all blood is removed so that it won't be consumed by the person eating it.
· Any practice of idol worship is to be investigated and destroyed. Idolatry is a capital offense.
· They should see themselves literally as God's children and act accordingly
- restrict their diet only to permissible animals
- tithe their harvests and bring that tithe to the central shrine to consume it there
· Take care of those individuals who are less fortunate in a variety of ways: forgiving debts; being generous in practicing charity
· Treat the Hebrew bondsman with generosity when their term of service is over
· Sanctify their firstborn males
The parsha concludes with a synopsis of the three Pilgrimage Festivals: Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.
We can ask ourselves to what degree are we conscious of God's Presence and find opportunities through Moses' words to be of service to the Divine?
This week we experienced the loss of three wonderful individuals:
Judy Sherman, wife of Fred and sister to Les and Lilo Cooper. Many people in our community knew what a warm and caring person Judy was. She and Fred were loving companions throughout the course of their lives.
Sam Rosenbloom passed away this last Wednesday. He was married to Annabel for over 60 years. Sam was a soft-spoken, incredibly bright person; truly devoted to Annabel and their two sons Eliot and Ray. For some years now, I've missed Sam and Annabel's presence every Shabbat morning.
Bob Pratt married to Marie passed on Thursday. Bob and our custodian, Matt Pellerito were brother's-in-law. (Marie is Matt's sister.) Bob would help out whenever he could. He always had a good word to share and was a deeply religious practicing Catholic. He enjoyed being able to help our congregation and donated any salary he earned right back to the synagogue. He would modestly state that since he was living off Social Security, he really didn't need more supplemental income!
Despite the sadness of this last news, I do hope you will be able to "recharge your batteries" and find comfort in all that you do.
Best wishes for a Shabbat filled with peace..
b'shalom
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