RE’EH_DEUTERONOMY XI,26 – XVI,17

Re’eh, “look”, says the Torah, I place in front of you Berachah ukelalah, “a blessing and a curse”. In this way, we are made to know that the choice is ours, that the result of our actions can be anticipated, and that the consequences of these are not arbitrary.  If we comply with the Mitzvot, we obtain the Berachah, and in the opposite case, we suffer the Kelalah. In future chapters, this warning will be repeated, and we will read in the text, “… I gave you a choice between life and death, between blessing and curse, Uvacharta bachayim, and I exhorted you to choose life…”.

On a visit by Israel’s late president Zalman Shazar to the United States, he appeared before a meeting of the New York Board of Rabbis, where he quoted the text in question. Shazar questioned the fact that by instructing Uvachartah bachayim, the Torah contradicted the hypothesis of Bechirah chofshit, which is free will. The ability of choice would have been apparent if our text merely pointed out the anticipated consequences of our behavior and allowed everyone to choose their own path. 

Shazar then continued with an analysis of the great moral ills that afflict our society and concluded by pointing out that disinterest and apathy cause dehumanization, stifling any possibility of advancement and progress. Insensitivity to the suffering of others is morally indefensible, and apathy is even more pernicious to society than the lack of concern for the pain of others. Incomprehension and indifference produce greater anguish than the petty attitude of not offering aid or a concrete helping hand.

The Torah is attentive to this human fault and the quoted text orders the reflection about the Berachah and the Kelalah. We must meditate on what the results are when living according to the Mitsvot as opposed to a behavior that does not take them into account. The Torah commands us to meditate on our responsibilities and consequently, we make do with behavior that is characterized by inertia and the absence of action. The conclusion of any reflection, according to Shazar, must necessarily lead to Uvachartah bachayim. Because we all want a harmonious and conflict-free society, which is impossible to achieve in an environment where theft reigns. Because we all support, (nowadays it seems that not all of us) in principle, the unity, and solidity of the family nucleus and we know the tragedy that irresponsible fatherhood entails. Because we all feel that work is necessary, but, at the same time, we know that the spirit also requires attention. 

Our essential weakness is that we do not devote enough attention to the analysis of our daily behavior that permits us to anticipate with joy and optimism what our actions will reap in the future. The desirable and advisable result of any study would be an orderly life, under a regime of human law and order, which should invariably lead us to Uvachartah bachayim (this principle, unfortunately, is presently being questioned by some members of our society).

The Bechirah chofshit, which is free will, however, is fundamental to our tradition, because otherwise, we could not contemplate the total structure of Sechar ve’onesh, the reward for good deeds and punishment for crimes which is part of our religious thinking. The possibility of free choice is a prerequisite for being able to then request and demand that responsibility be taken for the consequences of actions.

Harav Yosef Dov Haleví Soloveitchik, the teacher of teachers, questions the response of our ancestors when they were offered the Torah, which is the Law. According to the biblical text, the response at the foot of Mount Sinai was Na’aseh venishma, which our expositors interpret as a manifestation of the willingness of our ancestors to obey and fulfill the precepts, even before knowing the details of its content. Indeed, the generation of that time did not exercise their Bechirah chofshit, since they did not make a previous evaluation and a weighted judgment in relation to the commitment they were assuming.

Soloveitchik proposes the existence of two types of will. The first is called Ratson elyon, which means higher will. This expression of our will is not based on an intellectual process and does not resort to reasoning. The Ratson Elyon responds to certain impulses of our spirituality and reveals the authentic identity of the human being. The internal debate consisting of a logical evaluation of the different possibilities belongs to the world of the Ratson Tachton, the inferior will. This is the will that we use in our work and in the many arguments, we make every day.

It is interesting to note that the great resolutions of life are not the result of an intellectual activity that painstakingly examines the credits and debits that our actions imply. Generally, decisions of greater consequence, such as marriage and profession, are not necessarily preceded by a thorough examination of options. Chance and first impressions play an important role. Faith, for example, is rather the result of an existential leap and a consequence of a strong irresistible feeling and does not signal the culmination of a process of reasoning.

Our forefather Avraham did not arrive at his conception of the Divinity because he examined with a fine telescope the orbit of the planets or proceeded to count the stars of the firmament. As he contemplated the vastness of the cosmos, Avraham felt, in the depths of his being, the Divine presence. It is an emotional conviction and a spiritual truth that the patriarch recognized at that time. The moment of discovery or scientific discovery is given, on numerous occasions, as a kind of internal light that for no apparent reason reaches the intellect, explaining the phenomenon that was previously unintelligible. (There are also those who rightly point out that only researchers and those who work hard for a long time in solving certain problems are the ones who suddenly receive this spontaneous illumination).

The hypothesis that we point out involves certain risks or dangers because it affirms that intuitions and feelings govern the most complex processes of our lives. The probability of pressing a key of some computer that can unleash a world atomic conflagration, according to our considerations, perhaps depends on this Ratson Elyon, a will that is beyond the control of our intellect. The exercise of the Ratson Elyon comes to be the result of involuntary sensations and uncontrollable impulses, apparently, unverifiable.

The Ratson Tachton probably also has the function of a kind of control over the Ratson Elyon. Discovery and invention are the results of that indefinable inner light that is the Ratson Elyon. But then the Ratson Tachton comes into the function to verify the theories and give a stamp of approval to the suggested conclusions.

The rapid acceptance of the Torah represented by the Na’aseh of our ancestors was followed by the Nishma that demands study and research on the consequences of the leap of faith they gave initially. Perhaps it can be deduced from our reflection that the Na’aseh, alone is insufficient and can lead to superstition, unless followed by the Nishma, the pondering and reflection on the Laws received.

Texts of the Kabalah suggest that only in God do the Ratson Elyon and Ratson Tachton unite in total harmony. Whereas, in man, on many occasions, these two wills are in conflict. It depends, perhaps, on our goals in life. The Ratson Tachton is pragmatic, satisfied even with mediocre achievements, and seeks immediate utility. It is limited to the visual and current perception of things. Glory belongs to the Ratson Elyon, which response to a vision, to causes that have eternal value, and to noble purposes.

MITSVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARASHAH

CONTAINS 17 POSITIVE MITZVOT AND 38 PROHIBITIONS

1. Deuteronomy 12:2 Destroying Idolatrous Service Places
2. Deuteronomy 12:4 Do not blot out sacred writings, the written Name of God, or destroy places of devotion bearing His Name
3. Deuteronomy 12:5-6 Bring all the promised offerings and voluntary offerings at the first pilgrimage festival that happens after the promise is made
4. Deuteronomy 12:13 Do not sacrifice outside the Temple
5. Deuteronomy 12:13 Sacrificing all offerings in the Temple and not anywhere outside it
6. Deuteronomy 12:15 Redeeming Consecrated Animals for Offerings That Have Acquired Tachas
7. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the second tithe of grains outside of Jerusalem
8. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not consume the second tithe of wine outside Jerusalem
9. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not consume the second tithe of oil outside Jerusalem
10. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not consume an unblemished firstborn animal outside of Jerusalem
11. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the flesh of a sin offering or guilt offering outside the Temple
12. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the flesh of a burnt offering
13. Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the flesh of an offering of lesser holiness before its blood is splattered on the Altar
14. Deuteronomy 12:17 The Kohanim should not eat the first fruits before they are placed in the Temple Courtyard
15. Deuteronomy 12:19 Do not fail to give the Leviyim their corresponding gifts, especially at the time of the feast
16. Deuteronomy 12:21 Ritually slaughtering the animal before eating its flesh
17. Deuteronomy 12:23 Do not eat a member of a living animal
18. Deuteronomy 12:26 Bring the offering of an animal to be offered in the Temple, even from the diaspora
19. Deuteronomy 13:1 Do not add to the Mitsvot of the Torah
20. Deuteronomy 13:1 Do not subtract from any of the Mitsvot of the Torah
21. Deuteronomy 13:4 Do not listen to one who prophesizes in the name of an idol
22. Deuteronomy 13:9 Have no affection for those who incite idolatrous cult
23. Deuteronomy 13:9 Do not diminish hatred for those who incite idolatrous cult
24. Deuteronomy 13:10 Do not rescue from death those who incite idolatrous worship
25. Deuteronomy 13:9 One who has been badly influenced should not speak on behalf of those who incite idolatrous cult
26. Deuteronomy 13:9 One who has been badly influenced should not fail to criticize those who incite idolatrous cult
27. Deuteronomy 13:12 Do not incite a Jew to idolatrous worship
28. Deuteronomy 13:15 Thoroughly Examine witnesses
29. Deuteronomy 13:17 Burn the city that has been deviant and worships idols, along with all that it contains
30. Deuteronomy 13:17 Do not rebuild to its former condition the city that has deviated and adored idols
31. Deuteronomy 13:17 Do not derive any benefit from the wealth of the city that has deviated and adored idols
32. Deuteronomy 14:1 Do not give yourself gashes as those who worship idols do
33. Deuteronomy 14:1 Do not uproot the hair from your head out of sadness caused by a dead person
34. Deuteronomy 14:3 Do not eat the offerings of sacred animals that were disqualified
35. Deuteronomy 14:11 Examine the bird’s signs to see if it is kasher
36. Deuteronomy 14:19 Do not eat lobsters that are not kasher or insects with wings
37. Deuteronomy 14:21 Do not eat the flesh of any pet or wild animal that died by itself
38. Deuteronomy 14:22 The Second Tithe
39. Deuteronomy 14:28 The Tithe for the Poor in the Third Year instead of the Second Tithe
40. Deuteronomy 15:2 Not to demand payment for a debt after the Sabbatical Year
41. Deuteronomy 15:3 Collect the full payment of a loan from a non-Jew
42. Deuteronomy 15:3 Forgive debts in the Sabbatical Year
43. Deuteronomy 15:7 Do not stop supporting a poor man and giving him what he needs
44. Deuteronomy 15:8 Giving Charity
45. Deuteronomy 15:9 Do not stop lending to the poor because the Sabbatical will cancel the debt
46. Deuteronomy 15:13 Not allowing the Hebrew slave to go free empty-handed
47. Deuteronomy 15:13 Give a gift of compensation to the Hebrew slave when he goes free
48. Deuteronomy 15:19 Do not do work with the animal that has been consecrated as an offering 
49. Deuteronomy 15:19 Do not shave the animal that has been consecrated as an offering
50. Deuteronomy 16:3 Do not eat chamets after noon on the day before Pesach
51. Deuteronomy 16:4 Leaving no flesh from the offering of the feast, sacrificed on the 14th of Nisan until the third day
52. Deuteronomy 16:5 Do not offer the sacrifice of Pesach on a private altar
53. Deuteronomy 16:14 Rejoice in the Feasts of Pilgrimage
54. Deuteronomy 16:16 Appear at the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, on the Pilgrimage Festivities
55. Deuteronomy 16:16 Do not go up to Jerusalem and show up at the Beit HaMikdash for a Pilgrimage Feast without an animal offering