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From the Rabbi:
As we first look at the opening line of Parshat Re'eh, it looks to be echoing the tired Deuteronomic theme of reward and punishment. (Deut 11:26)
רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃
See, I give before you today a blessing and a curse.
If we read this passage with our pediatric Hebrew School glasses, we get the same old sense of carrot and stick. "Do what I tell you and you'll get the blessing, deviate from my instructions and you'll get the curse". Religious indoctrination 101.
The Torah sounds like this an awful lot, and especially as we're entering Elul and the approach to the High Holidays, it's very easy to get in to that kind of thinking. We ask ourselves, "how have I done this year? What grade will I get and then what can I expect for the coming year based on my actions? Better cram for the test!" This kind of thinking certainly has it's place, and if it helps you to adjust your attitude and actions to be in alignment with God's Commandments, Baruch Hashem, get yourself straight and earn that A!
For some of us however, this kind of reading feels problematic on several levels, and for thousands of people, it's precisely that kind of reading that lands people "off the Derech". Remarkable because that phrase, "off the Derech" comes straight from this Parsha, as part of the "curse"! (11:28) And the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away from the path (Derech) that I enjoin upon you this day...
What terrible irony! But perhaps the problem isn't the people or the Derech. Perhaps it's the pediatric Hebrew-School reading which makes the path seem too narrow. Through the centuries many, MANY commentators, philosophers and mystics have endeavored to read the passages differently and find a deeper interpretation which doesn't carry so much tone of rejection. A more compassionate and gentle 'tone of voice' is possible.
Let me list 3 objections that have been raised that continue to bother me about the simple reward and punishment reading. 1) Practical - If we look at the world, we don't see this kind of swift Karmic justice. We see a world replete with righteous people suffering and the wicked prospering. The easiest response to this is to place Divine justice in the hereafter. That brings us to number 2)Theodicy - If God is all good and all powerful, why is there so much suffering? With our Hebrew School glasses on we say that all the suffering is man-made and those who make others suffer will indeed get what they deserve. But that doesn't resolve the all good problem. Is it really a benevolent project to create a world full of vices just to punish us for slipping on the moral banana-peels God Himself created? Yeah, we shouldn't have listened to the Snake, but who made him? And even if we are to take responsibility for all the suffering in the world and look to God as the just and righteous judge, 3) Is that really the relationship we want with Hashem? Always being on trial, begging for amnesty and praising the rectitude of the court? Isn't there perhaps something more intimate possible with Hashem than standing before a Judge?
SO... let's graduate from Hebrew School and widen the Derech a little. When we think in terms of Blessing and Curse being pronounced upon us by Hashem we're standing firmly and exclusively in the "to me" phase we spoke about in Shul last Shabbos. What happens if we take the elevator up a few floors?
Remember that Anochi isn't the same as Ani. Ani means me and not you. Anochi is the "Universal I", the Divine Self which is Hashem has planted deep within each of us and speaks to us from within. Keeping in mind also what we discussed last week about experiencing God in the Present moment, lets see if we can put on "as me" goggles, or maybe "with me" goggles. So let's rearrange the translation a little.
רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃
אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃
וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לָלֶ֗כֶת אַחֲרֵ֛י אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יְדַעְתֶּֽם׃ {ס}
"I"(Anochi) give you Today. [You can] See a Blessing and a Curse.
The Blessing is that you can hear the instructions of Hashem as YOUR GOD in which ANOCHI invites you to participate in the present moment".
The curse IF you don't listen to the instructions of Hashem as YOUR GOD, then you go "off the Derech" Which ANOCHI invites you upon in the Present - and instead choose a relationship to God as judge and 'Other' whom you don't know".
WOW! Being off the Derech means not allowing God to speak from within you and instead choosing ONLY the 'to me' which we all instinctively reject because the 'by me', 'through me' and 'as me' is real within us. If we're told "the Derech" is only "to me", no wonder we get off off it. The meaning here is quite the opposite. "The Derech" is listening to God speaking from Within, and when you deny that, you're off. Most people I know who identify as "off the Derech" are exactly the opposite. Straying from the superficial practice of halacha (walking) in order to find God Within (the Derech).
The Truth is that all of us spend part of our time 'Off the Derech", feeling alienated from Hashem within us. That's also given to us by Hashem, and sometimes the pediatric reading is helpful in those moments. So we stay in bounds of halacha but we still experience life as containing a curse. That's off the Derech too! Hashem gives us that option knowing that it's too much for us to hear ANOCHI speak inside us all the time. So, the Derech has shoulders. But you know what? When you're walking, one foot is always "off the Derech". One foot in the air knowing we can progress to hear ANOCHI a little closer. And one foot is present in the moment, allowing ANOCHI to give us the blessing of Today.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shlomo
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