黑料社

Third Haftarah of Consolation

Aug 10, 2018 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Re'eh

This third haftarah of consolation and comfort contains a beautiful promise of a society established on righteousness, and consequently free of oppression and fear and safe from ruin. Most strikingly, it critiques the worldview that sees the accumulation of wealth and material possessions as the highest value, offering an alternative vision, in which that which truly satisfies is available 鈥渨ithout money.鈥�

Behold: A Blessing and a Curse

Aug 10, 2018 By Yitzhak Lewis | Commentary | Re'eh

Earlier this year, we paid our final respects to Haim Gouri (1923鈥�2018), one of Hebrew poetry鈥檚 most prominent and persistent voices for the past seven decades. One of the central questions preoccupying Gouri鈥檚 work is the cycle whereby chosenness is transformed into the mundane, or a blessing into a curse, only to reemerge as the impossible synthesis of the two. 

Licensed to Kill (Kosher Animals)

Aug 18, 2017 By Library of the 黑料社 Theological Seminary | Commentary | Re'eh

In Deut. 12:20鈥�25, explicit permission is given for the slaughter and consumption of meat outside of the sacrificial system. The passage includes the phrase 鈥渁s I have instructed you鈥� (v. 21), and the Talmud identifies these words as the source of the various prescriptions for kosher slaughter (shehitah) (BT Hullin 28a).

To Know or Not to Know

Aug 18, 2017 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Re'eh

The centralization of cultic worship is one of the major themes in the book of Deuteronomy. However, the place of that worship, the Temple, is described as 鈥渢he place that God will choose,鈥� with no mention of where that place is to exist. This week鈥檚 parashah, parashat Re鈥檈h, introduces the theme that once in the Land of Israel, the Israelites are to worship their God in 鈥�hamakom asher yivhar Hashem鈥� (the place that God will choose). This vague phraseology, which only alludes to a specific place but does not specify where that place is, is repeated 21 times throughout the book of Deuteronomy, with 16 of those occurrences in our parashah alone.

Dwelling with God

Sep 2, 2016 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Re'eh

By Sonia Gordon Walinsky (LC ’04) and Nina Gordon

From Rosh Hodesh Elul, this shabbat, until the end of the holiday season, Psalm 27 is recited in the daily morning and evening services. It reflects a yearning for closeness with God fitting for the time of year when we seek to make teshuvah鈥攍颈迟别谤补濒濒测, returning to God.

Petition or Protest

Sep 2, 2016 By Adam Zagoria-Moffet | Commentary | Re'eh

One month from now, we turn to renew the Hebrew calendar, and our spiritual lives with it. On that day, 鈥渢he day the world is born,鈥� we read the story of Hannah (1 Sam 1:1鈥�2:10). After struggling for years to conceive, Hannah finally gives birth to a son, Shemuel, for whom she had prayed at the temple in Shiloh.

Consequences as Judgement

Aug 27, 2011 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Re'eh

Part of the problem with the theology of reward and punishment (or blessings and curses, as it is couched in the parashah this week) is that we know it to not be true. We have all seen good people live and die tragically, and others deserving punishment living long, happy lives. It is difficult, as sophisticated thinkers, to apply the reward-and-punishment idea in any satisfying way to reality as we know it.

Core and Periphery

Sep 3, 2005 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Re'eh

Megiddo, an archaeological tel in Northern Israel, is situated at the crossroads of an ancient trade route. Indeed, it was the nexus in power struggles among the Canaanites, Egyptians, Israelites, Assyrians, and Babylonians. As such, Megiddo is a site of great biblical significance, especially in the context of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat R’eih. II Kings relates how King Josiah (639-609 BCE), who was one of the figures responsible for centralizing Israelite religion, was killed by Pharaoh Necho II. Accordingly, at the core of our parashah, we read of the sweeping legislation regarding the centralization of the Israelite sacrificial cult.