This past Shabbat, we studied Parashat Re’eh, the Torah portion known as Re’eh, which means literally, “See!” Moses is speaking to the Israelites on the precipice of the Promised Land, and he presents them with one of the most stark choices in all of biblical tradition: “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day…” (Deuteronomy 11:26-27).
For some, this brief passage encapsulates everything that is wrong with religion: the depiction of a God, meting out reward and punishment, tied to our actions here on earth, as though everyone who does good deeds, good comes to them, and everyone who does bad deeds, bad comes to them. Our experience of human history seems to belie this simplistic approach.
And yet what we focused on as a community when examining this text was how central choice and free will are to Jewish tradition and wisdom. The entire concept of being presented with mitzvot—sacred obligations—is premised on the notion that we can—people do—ignore them. They choose not to engage with them. Our choices matter. Our actions have consequences.
This should empower us, not overwhelm us. It lets us know how precious our existence is. We have impact on this world. Like water eroding rocks over the generations, our actions in this vast universe make an impression, however small we sometimes feel.
And, we sometimes make choices that are not good for us or for those around us. To help impress upon us the importance of the choices we make, Moses instructs the Israelites, when they enter the Promised Land, to ascend one mountain (Mount Gerizim) and chant the blessings flowing from good choices, holy choices, and then ascend another, neighboring mountain (Mount Ebal) and chant the “curses” flowing from poor choices, indecent choices.
We recognized, in our conversation, that sometimes, we don’t need a ritual to get us up that wrong mountain; we get there on our own. Our own choices lead us to find ourselves up a wrong mountain having made choices that hurt ourselves or others. The High Holiday season that is almost upon us is meant to give us the space to recognize that we may be up that mountain, and that should give us the perspective to see (re’eh) where it is we need to go. Our choices matter, and we learn from them.
Click here to explore the source sheet we used for our study session.
