When Seeing Is Believing: Re'eh

When Seeing Is Believing

D’var Torah for Parashat Re’eh

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

There are some movies that you enjoy watching again and again, even if you’ve seen them many times before.  You can anticipate lines, even quote them; you look forward to certain scenes and are delighted to realize they still have the power to move you, to make you cry or laugh.

For Sally and me, one of our favorite movies of this kind is the 1995 version of Sabrina.  The story is of a developing romance between the beautiful, smart and star-struck Sabrina and the successful, cold-hearted businessman Linus Larrabee (“the only living heart donor in the world”).  As Sabrina tries to awaken Linus to the beauty of life around him, she admonishes him for always chasing after material possessions.  “More isn’t always better, Linus,” she tells him.  “Sometimes it’s just more.”

I thought of this line as I read this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh (“Behold,” Deuteronomy 11:26—16:17).   The portion develops one of the major themes of Deuteronomy, blessings and curses—consequences of the choices we make in life.   Early on, Moses directs the Israelites to centralize their ritual in one place, “which Adonai your God will choose from all your tribes to set His name there”.  It is to this place that the people must bring all their sacrifices, not forgetting, of course, to feed the hungry, the homeless and the dispossessed.  “And there you shall eat before Adonai your God, and you shall rejoice in all your endeavors, you and your household, as Adonai, your God, has blessed you” (Deut. 12:7).

The idea that sacrifices appease the gods and make them more inclined to “bless” people with health and wealth is as ancient as humanity itself.  It is at the core of every cult and religious practice.   The Torah’s great innovation, however, is in its teaching that there is a direct connection between the sacred ritual of sacrifice (offering nourishment, as it were, to God) and the secular act of feeding the hungry.  In the Torah’s worldview, the two are not separate and distinct acts, but rather extensions of one sacred truth.

There is, of course, a sound sociological basis for this mitzvah.  Taking care of the needy is good not only for those on the receiving end; it’s good for the entire community.   Misery and need contribute to division and discord and ultimately lead to the collapse of the community.  However, when poverty is eliminated, when hunger is eradicated, society as a whole is stable and everybody is happy.

But there is a deeper and more personal truth behind the Torah’s instruction.  First, by teaching us to view feeding the hungry as a mitzvah, a sacred commandment, the Torah reminds us of the common fate that we all share.  We are all human, rich and poor alike.  All our power, all our riches and assets are but lent to us, momentary possessions that we cannot take with us at the end of our road.  This essential equality before God is one of the greatest gifts that the Torah gives us. 

And more:  Parashat Re’eh teaches us to understand our gifts as more than the result of appeasing the gods.  The wealth and health we view as blessings don’t come to us merely because we offered more sheep or fatter bulls.  We have moral responsibilities not only to ourselves and not even only to God but also to the world around us, of which we are a part, from which we take and to which we contribute.

Re’eh: See and behold!  We are parts of a larger cosmic whole.  Our happiness is bound with how well we fulfill the role we have been assigned.  Sometimes we make the mistake of believing that the more we have, the more blessed we are.  But, as Sabrina teaches Linus Larrabee, more is sometimes just more.  The real blessing is not in what or how much we accumulate, but rather in how we share; not only in how much we take, but also in how much we give back. 

Re’eh teaches us that sacrifices aren’t a way of appeasing angry gods, but rather a way of showing gratitude to Life.  It is “in that place,” at that moment when we have fulfilled our obligations to God and to the many people who have helped us shape our life that we find ourselves blessed.  When we repay our debt, when we give back to life even a small portion of what it has given us, that’s when our eyes are opened and we become aware of the many blessings in our life. 

© 2013 by Boaz D. Heilman