Post by Rabbi Neil on Aug 14, 2020 16:34:12 GMT
Sh’ma! Listen up! Hear what I have to say! This word Sh’ma is an iconic introduction to a section of a speech given by Moses not just once but a number of times in the book of Deuteronomy. It’s made most famous in Deuteronomy 6 with the line that starts Sh’ma Yisrael, the start of one of our central prayers. As striking as these words are, their repetition sets a precedent in the narrative and even more striking is when that precedent is broken for another introductory clause. Re’eh! Look! The starting word of our sidrah this week is not Sh’ma – hear – but Re’eh – Look! Look? Why Look? In a speech, Hear or Listen makes the most sense. But at this point Moses chooses the word Re’eh – Look! Why?
To provide some possible answers to this question, we have to set this reading in context. The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell to Israel. In it he retells the story not necessarily as it happened but, rather, from his perspective. Certain details, as we saw last week, are subject to minor amendments, commandments are rephrased slightly. This is Moses’ swan song and he’s determined to make it good. So far, though, he has spent a significant length of his speech reminding the Israelites at how bad they had been, in particular reminding them of their idolatry with the Golden Calf. Moses has been looking back and now suddenly we’re catapulted into the present. Moses tells the Israelites that they have a choice between blessing and curse – blessing should the Israelites listen to God and curse if they don’t listen. Blessing if they do listen, curse if they don’t listen. Back to listening. So, it’s even more remarkable that Moses starts with See instead of Listen, since the theme of what he’s saying is to listen to God. What stands out even more about this word Re’eh is the fact that it’s written in the singular form but the rest of the verse uses the plural form. The nineteenth century commentator Chatam Sofer suggests that there is an allusion here to something also noted in Talmud – that “each individual has it in their power to affect the entire world for good or for bad.” The individual cannot be removed from the communal – every individual action is part of a collection of actions. Even private actions form part of a collective in the way they affect the person who performs them. We are not one person in private and another in public – our public life bleeds into our private life and, in particular, our private life bleeds into our public life. Who we are as an individual affects who we are as a community, whether that be local, national or even global. Chatam Sofer sees this tension between singular and plural, combined with the message of choice, as an empowering call to mitzvot – to choose life and God’s command. It’s certainly a compelling reading.
I can see the point, although it needs a little explaining as to why we have the word Re’eh – See – at this point, instead of Sh’ma – Hear. We have not one tension but two – the tension of the singular and plural as well as the choice of verb itself. To me, this is resolved only in context. Moses has been berating Israel for their past misdeeds and yet suddenly he stops and changes his tune. The people have been listening, passive. They have been receiving Moses’ report on the past. From time to time, Moses has had to call them back to attention – “Listen! This is important! Keep listening!” I don’t think it’s working. I think Moses knows that this is a stiff-necked people, that long-winded speeches reminding people of their past misdeeds isn’t going to win them over. I think Moses is losing his audience and he knows it. They’re hearing what he’s saying, but they’re not really listening. So Moses does something dramatic and he changes his speech pattern entirely.
“You!” he essentially says, almost pointing his finger verbally at every single Israelite. “You, Jew in the pew! Yes, you. Look around you. What do you see? A collection of people I’ve been complaining about for goodness knows how long. Are you part of that negativity? Was that because of you? Don’t blame them, don’t tell me that everyone else was doing it so you felt you should. You are an individual, a free-thinking autonomous human being. Are you a pack animal, do you just follow the herd, or are you a leader? A shaper of human destiny? Look at yourself right now – assess. Don’t receive from me, but look within. Assess yourself and ask the profound questions that are necessary of all of us.” That, I think, is what Moses is doing. He appeals to every individual to take a deep look at themselves. His communal message suddenly becomes immediately personal before becoming communal once again. The fate of Israel, he reminds his audience – and therefore us as well – is a fate made entirely by our own choices.
That’s certainly one reading and it’s a compelling one, particularly as Rosh Chodesh Elul starts next Friday, leading us into an extended period of reflecting on our life choices. I would like to suggest another reading of this text on top of that which I’ve expanded from the Chatam Sofer. As inheritors of a religious tradition, we exist in two spheres – the traditional and the modern - and they both speak to us, touch us, in differing ways, especially when we’re making religious choices. Even the Israelites whom Moses addresses find themselves inheritors of a received tradition not just stemming back to Sinai which they themselves witnessed but as far back as the covenant made to Abraham. Finding the balance between tradition and modernity – between the past and the present – is key to making authentic Jewish choices. And this is what Moses lays out to the Israelites and therefore also to us. “Sh’ma,” he says constantly – “listen! Listen when I talk about the past… Listen to the voice of the past. Place yourself in the past and learn its lessons. And yet, Re’eh! Look! Look around you. This isn’t the past but the ever-fleeting ultimately essential now! Look at the learning of today, look at the experiences of others. Make your religious choices not just based on everything that is in the past but on how we make that past relevant to today. Listen intently to the past but remember to look around and apply the lessons of the past to today, to now. Sh’ma first, Re’eh second. Listen to the past first, look around at the present second. Then make your choice. Move into the future having made a choice – Choose life! Don’t choose the past with it’s death, choose the future with its life of potential.”
Moses therefore shows us what it is to be Jewish and to make Jewish choices. We listen to the voices of the past and we look to the present and the future when we make a religious choice. We balance past, present and future. We are not slaves to our past, we are not beholden to a predetermined future. We can choose, but we have to first choose how to choose. That choice involves not getting too caught up in our own glorious modernity and it also means not becoming obsessed with tradition at all costs. Sh’ma first, Re’eh second. And when we make our religious choices, we do so as individuals and as a community – singular and plural. We come together as individuals to create a religious community, we bring our own experiences and our own past to help inform the community’s present and future. Hear and See, Singular and Plural.
With all this in mind, with the new month of Elul upon us, we pray that we might have the strength to listen and to see, to hold together past and future. We pray that we might bind ourselves together as a community of individuals, choosing life and blessing for ourselves and for each other. May such be God’s will, (Amen).
To provide some possible answers to this question, we have to set this reading in context. The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell to Israel. In it he retells the story not necessarily as it happened but, rather, from his perspective. Certain details, as we saw last week, are subject to minor amendments, commandments are rephrased slightly. This is Moses’ swan song and he’s determined to make it good. So far, though, he has spent a significant length of his speech reminding the Israelites at how bad they had been, in particular reminding them of their idolatry with the Golden Calf. Moses has been looking back and now suddenly we’re catapulted into the present. Moses tells the Israelites that they have a choice between blessing and curse – blessing should the Israelites listen to God and curse if they don’t listen. Blessing if they do listen, curse if they don’t listen. Back to listening. So, it’s even more remarkable that Moses starts with See instead of Listen, since the theme of what he’s saying is to listen to God. What stands out even more about this word Re’eh is the fact that it’s written in the singular form but the rest of the verse uses the plural form. The nineteenth century commentator Chatam Sofer suggests that there is an allusion here to something also noted in Talmud – that “each individual has it in their power to affect the entire world for good or for bad.” The individual cannot be removed from the communal – every individual action is part of a collection of actions. Even private actions form part of a collective in the way they affect the person who performs them. We are not one person in private and another in public – our public life bleeds into our private life and, in particular, our private life bleeds into our public life. Who we are as an individual affects who we are as a community, whether that be local, national or even global. Chatam Sofer sees this tension between singular and plural, combined with the message of choice, as an empowering call to mitzvot – to choose life and God’s command. It’s certainly a compelling reading.
I can see the point, although it needs a little explaining as to why we have the word Re’eh – See – at this point, instead of Sh’ma – Hear. We have not one tension but two – the tension of the singular and plural as well as the choice of verb itself. To me, this is resolved only in context. Moses has been berating Israel for their past misdeeds and yet suddenly he stops and changes his tune. The people have been listening, passive. They have been receiving Moses’ report on the past. From time to time, Moses has had to call them back to attention – “Listen! This is important! Keep listening!” I don’t think it’s working. I think Moses knows that this is a stiff-necked people, that long-winded speeches reminding people of their past misdeeds isn’t going to win them over. I think Moses is losing his audience and he knows it. They’re hearing what he’s saying, but they’re not really listening. So Moses does something dramatic and he changes his speech pattern entirely.
“You!” he essentially says, almost pointing his finger verbally at every single Israelite. “You, Jew in the pew! Yes, you. Look around you. What do you see? A collection of people I’ve been complaining about for goodness knows how long. Are you part of that negativity? Was that because of you? Don’t blame them, don’t tell me that everyone else was doing it so you felt you should. You are an individual, a free-thinking autonomous human being. Are you a pack animal, do you just follow the herd, or are you a leader? A shaper of human destiny? Look at yourself right now – assess. Don’t receive from me, but look within. Assess yourself and ask the profound questions that are necessary of all of us.” That, I think, is what Moses is doing. He appeals to every individual to take a deep look at themselves. His communal message suddenly becomes immediately personal before becoming communal once again. The fate of Israel, he reminds his audience – and therefore us as well – is a fate made entirely by our own choices.
That’s certainly one reading and it’s a compelling one, particularly as Rosh Chodesh Elul starts next Friday, leading us into an extended period of reflecting on our life choices. I would like to suggest another reading of this text on top of that which I’ve expanded from the Chatam Sofer. As inheritors of a religious tradition, we exist in two spheres – the traditional and the modern - and they both speak to us, touch us, in differing ways, especially when we’re making religious choices. Even the Israelites whom Moses addresses find themselves inheritors of a received tradition not just stemming back to Sinai which they themselves witnessed but as far back as the covenant made to Abraham. Finding the balance between tradition and modernity – between the past and the present – is key to making authentic Jewish choices. And this is what Moses lays out to the Israelites and therefore also to us. “Sh’ma,” he says constantly – “listen! Listen when I talk about the past… Listen to the voice of the past. Place yourself in the past and learn its lessons. And yet, Re’eh! Look! Look around you. This isn’t the past but the ever-fleeting ultimately essential now! Look at the learning of today, look at the experiences of others. Make your religious choices not just based on everything that is in the past but on how we make that past relevant to today. Listen intently to the past but remember to look around and apply the lessons of the past to today, to now. Sh’ma first, Re’eh second. Listen to the past first, look around at the present second. Then make your choice. Move into the future having made a choice – Choose life! Don’t choose the past with it’s death, choose the future with its life of potential.”
Moses therefore shows us what it is to be Jewish and to make Jewish choices. We listen to the voices of the past and we look to the present and the future when we make a religious choice. We balance past, present and future. We are not slaves to our past, we are not beholden to a predetermined future. We can choose, but we have to first choose how to choose. That choice involves not getting too caught up in our own glorious modernity and it also means not becoming obsessed with tradition at all costs. Sh’ma first, Re’eh second. And when we make our religious choices, we do so as individuals and as a community – singular and plural. We come together as individuals to create a religious community, we bring our own experiences and our own past to help inform the community’s present and future. Hear and See, Singular and Plural.
With all this in mind, with the new month of Elul upon us, we pray that we might have the strength to listen and to see, to hold together past and future. We pray that we might bind ourselves together as a community of individuals, choosing life and blessing for ourselves and for each other. May such be God’s will, (Amen).