Parashat Re'eh — See (behold)
רְאֵה
Re'eh (רְאֵה) means "see (behold)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
Torah Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 Read →
Haftarah Isaiah 54:11-55:5 Read →
B'rit Chadashah Matthew 7:13-29 Read →
B'rit Chadashah 2 John 1:1-13 Read →
What Happens in Re'eh
See — re'eh — I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of YHVH your God, and the curse, if you will not — two words to be staged on the mountains Gerizim and Eival. Then the portion's great organizing command: the place. Destroy all the places where the nations served their gods — altars broken, Asherim burned, their name blotted out. You shall not do so to YHVH your God: but to the place which YHVH your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come — offerings, tithes, vows, firstborn, and rejoicing before YHVH, you and your households. The wilderness's improvisation ends: not every man whatever is right in his own eyes. Ordinary meat may be eaten in all your gates — only do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life — but the holy things go to the place of the Name. And a fence against curiosity: do not even inquire how these nations served their gods, for every abomination which He hates they have done.
The tests of loyalty follow. If a prophet arises and gives you a sign, and the sign comes to pass, and he says, let us go after other gods — you shall not listen: for YHVH your God is testing you, to know whether you love YHVH your God with all your heart. Signs are not self-certifying; loyalty is the test of prophecy. Even the closest voice — brother, son, the wife of your bosom, the friend as your own soul — enticing in secret, must not be pitied or concealed. You are children of YHVH your God, a holy people; the clean and unclean foods are restated for the table of a set-apart nation.
Then generosity is written into the calendar. The yearly tithe is eaten before YHVH in the place of the Name — with a provision for distance: turn it into money, and rejoice, you and your household — and the third-year tithe stays in your gates for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Every seventh year is the shemitah, the release of debts. And the Torah legislates against the calculating heart: beware lest a base thought say, the seventh year is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother... you shall surely open your hand to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give, because for this thing YHVH your God shall bless you. The freed servant leaves furnished liberally. The portion closes with the three pilgrimage feasts — Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot's seven days of pure joy — three times a year all your males shall appear before YHVH in the place He chooses, and they shall not appear empty: every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of YHVH your God.
Main Themes
Blessing and curse — the choice set before you The place where YHVH puts His name Testing prophets by loyalty, not just signs Open your hand wide to your brother Rejoicing commanded at the appointed feasts
Key Events
· The blessing and curse announced
· The central sanctuary commanded
· The false prophet and the enticer
· Clean and unclean foods restated
· Tithes, the shemitah release, and open-handed giving
· The three pilgrimage feasts
Key People
Moshe The children of Yisrael
Key Verses
Deuteronomy 11:26 Read →
“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:”
Deuteronomy 15:8 Read →
“but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks.”
Deuteronomy 16:16 Read →
“Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty.”
All 54 Torah portions → · Open the Torah Portion tool in Hebrew Explorer