THE PLACE THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL CHOOSE

RE’E

DEUTERONOMY XI:26-XVI:17

The conquest of the Promised Land had to include the destruction of idolatry, both the places used for this purpose and those that practiced idolatry. Monotheism could not coexist with idolatry because their respective theologies are mutually exclusive. It should be noted that the Torah refers to the time when the consolidation of monotheism was indispensable, a struggle that lasted for a millennium until the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash.

The monotheistic ideal constituted a theological and intellectual revolution for the time and its acceptance had to necessarily pass through the elimination of any vestige of idolatry. It is not only a question of supplanting one idea by another, which basically belong to the same genre. The differences between these two visions of the Universe and of Humanity are diametrically opposed. While idolatry places man at the mercy of the whim of the gods, monotheism asserts that the one God, Creator of the universe, exercises his dominion through a set of rules that he revealed to humanity.

In the case of monotheism there are no whims, only Law, uncertainty and chance is replaced by causality and a set of rules that lead to coexistence in society. One  of the Mitsvot or missions that the people had to fulfill during the period of the conquest was to build the House of God, which was to be erected in the place that the Lord would appoint. There a Beit HaMikdash (Temple of Jerusalem) would be erected that would replace the Mishkan (Tabernacle) that accompanied the Hebrews during their journey through the desert.

Why does the Torah not identify the place where the Beit HaMikdash would be built, but announces that God will show it in due course? Rambam offers several reasons for this. First, so that other nations do not install a Temple on Mount Moriyah, which had already been consecrated by Avraham because there he tied his son Yitschak (Isaac) on an altar as an offering to the Lord. Second, so that the site would not be destroyed by those who lived there, knowing that it would be designated for the construction of the Beit HaMikdash. Third, so that the tribes not dispute sovereignty over that place at the time of the partition of the Promised Land into 12 sectors: one for each tribe of Israel. While the first 2 reasons refer to the peoples who inhabited the region, the third has to do with a possible weakness of the Hebrew people.

According to Rambam, the Hebrew people had 3 tasks to fulfill during the conquest: appoint a king, eliminate idolatry by destroying the descendants of Amalek and build the Beit HaMikdash. Apparently, it was necessary to anoint the king first, because around his figure the nation could be consolidated and, at the same time, order would be imposed to avoid any possible conflict between the different tribes.

It is appropriate to emphasize that the high places – the mountains – were always preferred by the worship of the gods. Even in Judaism, mountains and mountains stand out in crucial events. God commands Moses to  ascend to  the Har Nevo because from there he will  be able to see the Promised Land far and wide and there he will die. Aaron dies on the heights of Hor Hahar. The fundamental event in the history of Judaism which is the giving of the Tablets of the Law takes place on Mount Sinai. 

Why didn’t God choose this mountain for the Beit HaMikdash to be erected? The Rebbe of Kotzk replies that at Mount Sinai, God gave the Torah to the Jewish people while on Mount Moriyah man demonstrated his willingness to the supreme sacrifice. At Sinai, God delivered, at Moriya man delivered.

By designating God as Avinu Malkenu, we acknowledge that God is our father, a fact that was demonstrated in history through his direct intervention during the period of Egyptian slavery. What remains to be demonstrated is the fidelity of man to deserve the designation of being identified as a child of God, faithful to the instructions of the Torah, whose fundamental purpose is the creation of a social environment that facilitates peaceful and constructive, fraternal, and supportive coexistence among all human beings.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 17 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 38 PROHIBITIONS

  • Deuteronomy 12:2 Destroy the places of idolatrous service.
  • Deuteronomy 12:4 Do not erase sacred writings, write God’s Name to Him, or destroy places of devotion that bear His Name.
  • Deuteronomy 12:5-6 Bring all the offerings and freewill offerings promised at the first pilgrimage festival that occurs after the promise is made.
  • Deuteronomy 12:13 Do not sacrifice outside the Temple.
  • Deuteronomy 12:13 Sacrifice all offerings in the Temple and nowhere outside that enclosure.
  • Deuteronomy 12:15 Redeem consecrated animals for offerings that have acquired strikeouts.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the second tithe of grain outside of Jerusalem.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not consume the second tithe of wine outside of Jerusalem.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not consume the second tithe of oil outside of Jerusalem.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not consume an unblemished firstborn animal outside of Jerusalem.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the flesh of a sin offering or guilt offering outside the Temple.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Do not eat the flesh of a burnt offering.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17Do not eat the flesh of an offering of lesser holiness before its blood is splattered on the Altar.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17 Kohanim should not eat the first fruits before they are placed in the Temple Court
  • Deuteronomy 12:19 Do not fail to give the Leviyim their corresponding gifts, especially at the time of the feast.
  • Deuteronomy 12:21 Ritually sacrifice the animal before eating its flesh.
  • Deuteronomy 12:23 Do not eat a limb of a living animal.
  • Deuteronomy 12:26 Bring the offering of an animal to be offered in the Temple, even from the diaspora.
  • Deuteronomy 13:1 Do not add to the mitsvot of the Torah.
  • Deuteronomy 13:1 Do not subtract from any of the mitsvot of the Torah.
  • Deuteronomy 13:4 Do not listen to anyone who prophesies in the name of an idol.
  • Deuteronomy 13:9 Have no affection for him who incites idolatrous worship.
  • Deuteronomy 13:9 Do not diminish our hatred for those who incite idolatrous worship.
  • Deuteronomy 13:10 Do not rescue from death those who incite idolatrous worship.
  • Deuteronomy 13:9 One who has been badly influenced must not speak in favor of one who incites idolatrous worship.
  • Deuteronomy 13:9 One who has been badly influenced must not fail to criticize those who incite idolatrous worship.
  • Deuteronomy 13:12 Do not incite a Jew to idolatrous worship.
  • Deuteronomy 13:15 Thoroughly examine the witnesses.
  • Deuteronomy 13:17 Burn the city that has gone astray and worships idols, along with all that it contains.
  • Deuteronomy 13:17 Do not rebuild to its former condition the city that has gone astray and worshipped idols.
  • Deuteronomy 13:17 Derive no benefit from the wealth of the city that has gone astray and worshipped idols.
  • Deuteronomy 14:1 Do not slash yourself as do those who worship idols.
  • Deuteronomy 14:1 Do not uproot hair from the head out of sorrow caused by a dead person.
  • Deuteronomy 14:3 Do not eat the offerings of sacred animals that were disqualified.
  • Deuteronomy 14:11 Examine the signs of the bird to see if it is kosher.
  • Deuteronomy 14:19 Do not eat non-kosher locusts or winged insects.
  • Deuteronomy 14:21 Do not eat the flesh of any domestic animal or wild animal that died on its own.
  • Deuteronomy 14:22 The Second Tithe.
  • Deuteronomy 14:28 Tithing for the Poor in the Third Year instead of the Second Tithe.
  • Deuteronomy 15:2 Not demanding payment for a debt on which you spent the Sabbatical Year.
  • Deuteronomy 15:3 Collecting full payment on a loan from a non-Jew.
  • Deuteronomy 15:3 Forgiving debts in the Sabbatical Year.
  • Deuteronomy 15:7 Do not fail to support a poor person and give him what he needs.
  • Deuteronomy 15:8 Give charity.
  • Deuteronomy 15:9 Do not stop lending to the poor because the Sabbatical Year will cancel the debt.
  • Deuteronomy 15:13 Do not allow the Hebrew slave to go free empty-handed.
  • Deuteronomy 15:13 Give the Hebrew slave as a gift of indemnity when he goes free.
  • Deuteronomy 15:19 Do not make work the animal that has been consecrated as an offering.
  • Deuteronomy 15:19 Do not shave the animal that has been consecrated as an offering.
  • Deuteronomy 16:3 Do not eat chaméts after noon on the day before Passover.
  • Deuteronomy 16:4 Leave no meat from the offering of the feast, sacrificed on the 14th of Nisan until the third day.
  • Deuteronomy 16:5 Do not offer the Passover sacrifice on a private altar.
  • Deuteronomy 16:14 Rejoice in the Pilgrimage Festivities.
  • Deuteronomy 16:16 Appearing at the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, on Pilgrimage Festivities.
  • Deuteronomy 16:16 Do not go up to Jerusalem and show up at the Beit HaMikdash for a Pilgrimage Feast without an animal offering.
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