This week’s portion – Re’eh (literally, “see” as in “See, today I hand down to you both a blessing and a course”) – is, in a sense, a continuation of last week’s portion; these notes, therefore, may also follow suit. As you may recall, last week we introduced the notion of the “love” of God (not to be confused with the opposite notion of “for the love of God!”). We saw two different views as to how to interpret that notion: the first, according to Halacha (Leibovitz, Rambam), which is a more “objective” notion of love (and translates into following all the rules and committing all the Mitzvoth). The second, according to other interpretation, which is more a “subjective,” internal notion of the (very deep, and very strong) relationship with God.
Today I want to continue this discussion, from the more objective point of view, by looking at the actual ways in which we are to love our God. In particular, I want to point to the complete experience of the faithful person. I want to suggest that a man of faith both sees, hears, taste, smells, and touches – not his God, but rather his experience of loving God. And then there are other dimensions. In short, the love of God – according to the biblical text – is a multi-sense, multi-level process. Today I will simply point to the text of this week’s portion to demonstrate this point.
Love of God – An Experience for All Five Senses
This week’s portion begins with – and therefore is named after – the order to see (Re’eh). God is ordering us to “see” the fact that he’s handing us both a blessing and a course; the blessing, of course, for following him (and as I have explained in the past, the blessing is in the act of following him; there is no need for additional rewards – Emu’na Le’shma (a belief for its own sake)). The course, is, naturally, for the opposite case (And again – no need for classic “punishment” here; suffice it is that a person goes through his entire life in the empty and shallow way of – according to this line of thought – not having a God in their lives; that, alone, constitutes enough of a punishment).
After “to see” comes “to hear” (or “to listen” – in Hebrew, both collapse into one word in that context.) Last week, we had the classic “to hear” – Sh’ma Israel; Hear, Oh Israel. But this week, too, the verb “to hear” appears immediately after the order “to see”: “The blessing [is that] you will listen to the orders of God (Mitvoth) that I order upon you today; and the course – if you shall not listen [to the same]. (Deut. 11:26-27). The command “to hear” appears several more times this week, and in some cases in key settings (see, e.g., “Be guarded and hear everything that I order upon you today.” Deut. 12:28)
Next comes “to taste.” And this week’s portion if full of tasting requirements – both in the positive (“you may eat meat in any of your settlements,” Deut. 12:15), and in the negative (of which this week’s provides us with the most famous example: “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” Deut. 14:21). Plenty of other examples exist in this week’s portion to demonstrate how much “tasting” is involved in the loving of God.
The next sense – “to smell” – is the single exception to the five senses in that it does not directly appear in the text. Still, a quick look into the text may reveal that “smell” is all around us. Take, for example, Deut. 12:27: “You shall offer your burnt offerings, both the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and of your other sacrifices, the blood shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, and you shall eat the flesh.” Can’t you just “smell” the scene? Again, my point here is not to show that we are ordered to smell; my point is to show that the experience of a faithful person – he who truly loves God – are a multi-sense experience of belief.
Last, but not least, comes the sense of touch. Naturally, we cannot “touch” God – but we can neither see, hear, taste, or smell Him either (recall that this is not my point here). But our experience of faith – our experience of loving God – is full of “touch.” Thus, we are ordered to “tear down” all non-Jewish pillars (Deut. 12:3); to “burn down” their gods (Id.
Love of God – Beyond the Five Senses
But the five senses, it seems, are only the starting point for the experience. This week’s potion text is full of other orders that make the process of loving God – the process of faith – even more complete than that. Thus, for example, we are ordered:
“To rejoice before the Lord.” (Deut. 12:12);
“To do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord.” (Deut. 12:28)
“[As to your indigent neighbor] – you shall open your hand to him, and you shall provide him enough for his needs.” (Deut. 16:7-8).
These are all but examples – samples, really – of what is required from the person of faith. He, or she, are fortunate enough to have God in their lives; but they are also bound by a 360-degree experience, encompassing all their senses – and more – in every step on their daily lives. As the Sh’ma reads - this experience is with us when we are at home or outside, when we lie down in our bed or walk about our ways in the world.
The best summary, as usual, was given by the portion itself. When the text discusses the law of a “false prophet” – he who would try to persuade you that you should follow another God, the text concludes:
“Do not heed to the words of that prophet or that dream diviner, for the Lord your God is testing your to see whether you really love the Lord your God with all your heart and all of your soul; and you shall follow you God, and you shall see Him, and you keep his Orders (Mithvoth), and you shall listen to His voice, and you shall worship Him, and you shall stick to Him.” (Deut. 13:4-5).
Can you think of a more comprehensive experience?
Shabbat Shalom,
Doron
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