Audio Shiur:
Parshat Re'eh - Judaism and Income Inequality

How we view "our" money says a great deal about our world view...

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[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.youtube.com/v/0qZty-CLmUE&hl=en&fs=1]We're in the United States right now visiting with family. The primary motivating factor for the visit was the opportunity to celebrate Simcha's recent Bar Mitzvah with the family members who could not be with us in Israel, including most prominently Simcha's great-grandparents, who we affectionately call Safta and Grandpa.

Over Shabbat simcha read a second haftara in shul and led mussaf. He did a nice job - not perfect, but practicing would have helped some. I was struck by how impressed people were. Someone in shul commented on how unusual it was that he was doing a second haftarah. I really didn't think much of it. After all, once you know how to do it once, it's really not that hard to read a second or third haftarah, is it? Yet, people seemed surprised that we got our son to do a second one, when, as one father said to me, "I'm having a lot of trouble getting my son to do the first one."

Yesterday my in-laws hosted an open house where Simcha gave a very short dvar Torah, and on the spur of the moment I decided to share a thought from last week's parshah. The Torah tells us that,

בָּנִים אַתֶּם, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: לֹא תִתְגֹּדְדוּ, וְלֹא-תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם--לָמֵת.

Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

In simple terms, the Torah forbids us to mutilate ourselves, especially in the context of mourning. This was a common ancient practice. Yet, what is the connection between the first half of the verse - that we are "children" of God - and the second half?

The Midrash adds a well-known teaching as an additional teaching of this verse. Rambam, writing in the Book of Mitzvot (45th negative commandment) writes,

וכבר אמרו שבכלל לאו זה, גם האזהרה [על ההמנעות] מפילוג העם ומחלוקת
הרבים ואמרו: "לא תתגדדו - לא תעשו אגדות אגדות":

[Our teachers] already said that included in this prohibition is the warning
from engaging in [behavior] that would divide the nation, and public dispute,
and they said, "You shall not cut yourselves - do not divide yourselves into
distinct groups."

This, I think, clues us into the connection between the two halves of the
vers

e. As parents (and grandparents) age, one of their greatest desires is that their children remain close after they can no longer remain a uniting force. Conversely, they fear the opposite: that without parents to unite them, the family will disperse, lose contact, ultimately breaking apart. This is why the Torah connects the idea that we are "children" to God with His desire for us not to divide into distinct groups. As God's children, He wants us to focus on what we share; our common goals and aspirations; the values that unite us.

But it's not always that easy. The fear of a family falling apart is very legitimate. We all know of families who remain close due to the sheer force of a powerful personality and who bond around patriarchs, but lose touch once that parent no longer can keep everyone together. How then can a parent ensure that children remain together when they cannot count on the force of their personality to get the job done?

The answer has to be values. If parents can instill common values in their children, they while they might not be physically or even emotionally close, the values that they received and cherish from their ancestors will serve to keep them together, united in the goals and ideals that they share.

This week I've changed the format a bit, and the parshah questions are all on the first aliyah of the Parshah, and also on the Rashis on that piece, so you can do the questions out of the chumash.

Click here for Parshah Questions for Kids
Click here for Parshah Questions for Kids with Answers

In no less than five places in Chapter 12, Moshe refers to the“place which the Lord your God shall choose.” (see verses 5, 11, 14, 18 and 21):

כִּי אִם-אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-יִבְחַר ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, מִכָּל-שִׁבְטֵיכֶם, לָשׂוּם אֶת-שְׁמוֹ, שָׁם--לְשִׁכְנוֹ תִדְרְשׁוּ, וּבָאתָ שָּׁמָּה.

וְהָיָה הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר-יִבְחַר ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בּוֹ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם--שָׁמָּה

כִּי אִם-בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-יִבְחַר ה', בְּאַחַד שְׁבָטֶיךָ--שָׁם, תַּעֲלֶה עֹלֹתֶיךָ

כִּי אִם-לִפְנֵי ה' אֱלֹקיךָ תֹּאכְלֶנּוּ, בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ

כִּי-יִרְחַק מִמְּךָ הַמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה' אֱלֹקיךָ לָשׂוּם שְׁמוֹ שָׁם

The appearance of such similar language in such close proximity is striking. Clearly Moshe places great emphasis on "the place", so much so that if forms a central them in Parshat Re'eh.
What is this unnamed place that Moshe repeatedly refers to in the Torah? Midrash Sifrei (on Devarim 72:5) answers based on the rest of the verse: לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה -- “unto His habitation shall you seek.” You seek and find, and then the prophet will tell you. This is what we find with King David [who sought out the Temple Mount in Jerusalem]. And how do we know that he followed the instructions of the prophet? As it is written, '[The prophet] Gad came to David on that day and said to him, Go up, build an altar unto the LORD in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite,' the location of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem today.,
It's fascinating to me that in the tradition of the Midrash, Yerushalayim is not something that God chooses unilaterally and we accept. If He had done so, it would have been fine with us. But that's not the case. It must be a place "that we seek" together with God. It's not a one-way street. It's a partnership between God and the Jewish people. Sure, he shows us the place, but we must seek it, build it and establish it as His holy city.