I TORAH PORTION.I'

Microcosm

Continued from preceding page

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Then We'll Celebrate Shabbat

Please join us with family and friends on August 24, at 6:15 p.m.
for our Prospective New Member_Shabbat Picnic.
You supply the food and papergoods, we'll supply the beverages,
wine, good company and a wonderful atmosphere for the
celebration of Shabbat.
Then join us at 7:45 p.m. for Shabbat Services and learn more
about Temple Emanu-El. Come worship with us tonight and
see how nice our family oriented Temple can be.
Maccabi athletes and Host families are welcome and encouraged
to come.

Also plan on attending our Prospective Member Open
House on Sunday, August 26, from 9 a.m. to noon - Join
us for Coffee, Bagels and a look at our Temple

Temple Emanu-El

14450 W. 10 Mile Rd. • Oak Park, Michigan 48237 • (313) 967-4020

Rabbi Lane B. Steinger • Rabbi L. David Feder • Rabbi Emeritus Milton Rosenbaum
Cantor Emeritus Norman Rose • Dorothy Dressler, Educ. Dir. • Ellen Goldman, Temple Mgr.

CONGREGATION B'NAI MOSHE
OF WEST BLOOMFIELD

Rabbi Allan Meyerowitz

the friendly,
caring synagogue
invites you to join
its member families.
Participate in
exciting activities
for all ages.

.

Cantor Louis Klein

Enjoy Progressive - Conservative Services
Reduced dues for young people.

For membership information call: Dr. Marc Borovoy - 788-0951,
Jay Welford - 788-1563 or the synagogue office - 788-0600

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42

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 1990

352-9350

for blessing too great and the
threat of the curse too
ominous? Is there really a
choice here?
One is reminded of the
midrash concerning the
children of Israel at Mount
Sinai. It states that it was on-
ly after God actually lifted
the mountain and suspended
it above the Israelites' heads,
threatening to drop it on
them if they rejected the
Torah, that they accepted it
"freely." One must ask if this
choice between blessing and
curse is being presented as if
to a child's mentality. One
might be tempted to view God
here as a power-wielding
autocrat. However, we can
also consider God as a loving
parent skillfully guiding the
children of Israel, morally
adolescent as they were at
that time in their
development.
Although the portions of
Bechukota and Nitzavim do
present more vivid character-
izations of the consequences
of the blessing and the curse,
Re'eh presents this very idea
with its own special literary
character and purpose.
First, in Re'eh Moses ex-
plains the idea of the choice
by utilizing a concrete peda-
gogical device. He evokes the
imagery of Mount Gerizim
and Mount Ebal, both on the
other side of the Jordan (in a
land he will never enter) as
symbols, respective, of the
blessing and the curse. Mount
Gerizim is in the valley of
Shechem, covered with
greenery and fruit; Mount
Ebal is on the north and bar-
ren as it is bleak.
Moses tells the people to
keep the image of these two
mountains in mind. When
they look at Mount Gerizim,
they are to think of the bless-
ing. And when they see
Mount Ebal, they will be
reminded of the curse. These
symbols would serve as strik-
ing reminders to the
Israelites long after Moses'
passing.
Perhaps the second function
of this opening statement of
God's sovereignty is that it
establishes a dramatic and
formal introduction to the
specific laws that follow in the
remainder of the sedra, and
indeed, in most of the Book of
Deuteronomy.
Much of Re'eh is concerned
with the centralization of
sacrificial worship. The
Israelites are told that all
their private altars were to be
destroyed, and they are warn-
ed not to follow the ritual
practices of their (pagan)
neighbors. A central sanc-
tuary would be created for
them in a place that God
would name. This idea of a

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centralized system of worship
also helped to solidify the
unification of the Israelite
nation.
What is striking, however,
about the verses following the
call for a central sanctuary is
the radical adherence that is
called for and the extreme
caution that surrounds this
adherence. The Israelites are
warned that when they enter
a nation which they are about
to invade and occupy not to be
"lured into their ways" or to
even make inquiries into
their modes of worship lest
they be tempted to stray. The
portion specifically calls upon
the Israelites to ignore any
models they may encounter of
alternate styles of ritual in-

Re'eh:
Deuteronomy
11:26-16:17,
Isaiah 54:11-55:5.

eluding human sacrifice. It
underscores, in vivid terms,
the distinctiveness of the
Jewish ritual of sacrifice.

The text continues in a
similar vein and cautions one
to be wary of prophets and vi-
sionaries who suggest turn-
ing to other gods. In these
cases, the prophet is at once
deemed an imposter and is to
be immeditely put to death.
One is even instructed to kill,
outright, one's own im-
mediate relative for simply
suggesting that other gods be
served. Here the text is quite
graphic, "thy hand shall be
first - upon him with stones,
that he die; because he hath
sought to draw thee away
from the Lord thy God." It is
interesting to note here that
the text makes no distinction
for the punishment given
males or females for these
offenses.
The closing chapters of
Re'eh are strikingly different
in tone and content from that
which precedes them. We find
the custom of the remission of
debts every seven years.
There is also mentioned the
need to care for the poor. Take
note of the sincerity in the
language of the text, "If there
be among you a needy person
. . . thou shalt not harden thy
heart nor shut thy hand from
the needy kinsman." We are
told that slaves are to be
released in the seventh year
of their service.
In regard to the release of
slaves, the text states that if
a slave chooses to remain
with his master after six
years, a ceremony of driving
an awl through his earlobe in-
to the door must be perform-
ed. After doing so the text