Parsha for Kids: Re'eh 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Re’eh 2023.
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Season 5 Episode 4:
Hello! My name is Chana and this is Parsha for Kids. The parsha of the week is Re’eh. Re’eh means “see” or “behold.”
The parsha begins with this word because Moshe tells the people, “See, I set before you a blessing and a curse.” He was referring to the blessings and curses that would be stated at Mount Gerizim and Mount Eval. The Levites would face Mount Gerizim and bless the Jews, then turn to face Mount Eval and utter the curses that would take effect if Bnei Yisrael did not follow God’s laws. The tribes themselves be divided up and standing atop the two mountains.
These blessings and curses had to do with Bnei Yisrael’s fealty and loyalty to God. So long as they obeyed God and followed His laws, they would be rewarded with blessings. But if they disobeyed God and worshiped idols, they would experience curses in the form of plagues, hunger, and eventually even exile from the land of Israel.
God made clear that it was very important that Bnei Yisrael destroy the idols that belonged to the seven Canaanite nations. It was essential that Bnei Yisrael tear down their altars, smash their monuments, burn their asherim with fire, cut down the graven images of their gods and destroy the false gods’ names from that place.
Why is God so insistent on the destruction of all idolatry? There are several reasons.
First is that God is Truth. And since God actually exists and revealed Himself at Mount Sinai, worshipping idols would be a way of promoting falsehood. God’s chosen nation should not fall prey to worshipping or believing in falsehood. An example that might resonate nowadays has to do with the Internet. Sometimes on the Internet you see a pop-up that tells you to click here because you’ve won a million dollars, or asks you for your contact information so that they can send you a prize. These are scams and they are not harmless. They harm the people who believe in them and follow through, sending over their contact information.
And that brings us to our second point. Idolatry is far from harmless. In fact, idolatry is harmful. Since idols do not speak, given that they are made out of mute substances like wood or gold, humans speak for them. And this allows humans to act in a corrupt fashion, claiming whatever is expedient. They can claim that their idol said they should go to war because they or their king and queen want to fight, even though that might just get their soldiers killed. They can claim their idol wants all the poor and hardworking individuals in their country to offer human sacrifices or to offer food to their priests, just so that they can benefit. A system that works off of idolatry is really a system that rewards whatever human beings want to put in the mouth of their idols. And that can lead to people abusing other people, and those that are mighty taking advantage of those that are weaker.
To be a Jew means to do the right thing, even when it is not convenient, and even when it is difficult. It would not be enjoyable to be a person who did not believe in idols and in fact actively destroyed them when all the surrounding people DID. But being a Jew means doing the right thing, not the easy thing. And that means getting comfortable with being the divergent thinker, the unusual one in the pack.
TRANSITION
Moshe then taught that it was essential to have a central place of worship. When the Beit Hamikdash was built in King Shlomo’s time, the law became that Bnei Yisrael were only allowed to bring their sacrifices there. This promoted unity. Everyone, no matter how rich or poor, how learned or simple, had to offer their sacrifices at the same location. No one could claim an advantage over anyone else.
Additionally, by saying that everyone had to come to the Beit Hamikdash, God made sure that Bnei Yisrael would be Oleh Regel, making pilgrimages to the Temple during the Shalosh Regalim- Pesach, Passover, Shavuot, the feast of weeks, and Sukkot, the festival of booths. All of these individuals would travel together on a journey meant to rejuvenate their spirit and remind them to connect to God- similar to how Avraham had originally been told to travel, Lech Lecha, Go for yourself. And then everyone together would take in the incredible spectacle of the beauty of the Beit Hamikdash, the splendor of the Kohanim and the melodious song of all the Levites, their voices uplifted.
It would have been more convenient if every Israelite had been permitted to bring sacrifices in their own backyard. But convenience is not the same as what is important. It is more convenient to buy a fast food meal than to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal. But people across America engage in the tradition of roasting a turkey and putting together a meal of sweet mashed potatoes, green bean casseroles and more because that effort matters to them. The effort and the importance of that effort are more significant than convenience. Such was and is the case when it comes to worshiping God together as a nation, and bringing our sacrifices only to one location.
TRANSITION
Moshe reminded the nation of the laws governing food consumption. As Jews, we are forbidden to eat the blood of animals. We are also forbidden to eat animals unless they have split hooves, chew their cud and have been killed in a particular way called shechitah. Thus, if a kosher animal such as a cow happened to die of an illness or of old age, we cannot eat its meat. It is called a neveilah and it was not slaughtered properly.
As we discussed in a previous parsha, and again in this week’s parsha, kosher fish must have fins and scales, and kosher birds are listed in the Torah and do not include birds of prey.
TRANSITION
Moshe reminded the nation not to add to or subtract from the laws of the Torah.
He then spoke about a false prophet. As we know, in the time of the Torah, a true Navi, or prophet, communed with God. Moshe was on such a high level that he spoke to God face to face. Other prophets engaged with God via visions, trances, dreams and riddles.
Moshe warned that if a prophet or a dreamer of a dream arose among Bnei Yisrael and seemed to have proved that he was real by performing a sign or wonder, or predicting the future, after which that future comes true, there is still a way to know he is a false leader.
If that prophet were to say, ‘Let us go after other gods which you have not known and worship them” or if he were otherwise to contradict the laws of the Torah, then no matter how impressive he seems, he is false. He is not someone to be trusted or listened to and Bnei Yisrael should make sure not to follow his counsel.
TRANSITION
It is clear that idolatry is considered to be an illness. It is a disease and it is not benign. This means that if your brother, son, daughter, wife or best friend secretly try to convince you to worship idols, you must not listen. But even more than that, you must not have pity on them or shield them. Instead, you must condemn them and you yourself must make certain they are punished, which includes receiving the death penalty.
This seems harsh. But if you look at idolatry as a poison, which is how Moshe saw it, it makes more sense. If someone who claims to love you is offering you poison, then something is very wrong. And that person must be stopped before they offer their poison to others, ruining those people’s lives or ultimately causing a situation in which those other people die or blacken their souls.
Of course, as Jews we believe in teshuva, repentance and return. Thus, if someone was able to see the error of their ways, return to God, disavow all idolatrous beliefs and stop worshipping or trying to persuade others to worship idols, that would be different. But if someone is convinced idolatry is the way forward, this is considered a radical destructive ideology, akin to poison. Such a person must be stopped at all costs.
TRANSITION
Idolatry is like a cancer, in that it may begin in one location but metastasize and spread to other locations. Moshe therefore discusses the case of the Ir HaNidachas, or Ir HaNidachat, a city where every inhabitant within is devoted to idol worship and repudiating God. Our Sages argue that such a city never existed. But if it had existed, we are told that we would need to destroy it, removing it like one would remove a tumor from an otherwise healthy individual. Idolatry is so potent, and so false, and carries so much capacity for evil, that it must be eradicated no matter the cost.
A city like an Ir HaNidachas seems similar to the cities we learned about in Sefer Bereshit of Sodom and Gomorrrah. They were so corrupt that there was no way to save them, and the same seems to apply to an Ir HaNidachat. When an entire city takes on a creed and a culture that is not only false but actively evil- allowing for corruption, believing whoever is stronger must be right, and murder in the form of human sacrifice- it must be stopped.
TRANSITION
Moshe reminded the nation of their agricultural obligations. They needed to give maaser, setting aside 1/10 of their field and its crops to give to God. The Jews also needed to remember to set aside portions of food and grain for the Levite. Remember that the Levites did not have their own portions of land, which meant they could not plow their own fields and plant their own crops. Instead, they were scattered throughout the nation, having forty eight cities that were within many different tribes’ territories. They served as scholars, connecting Bnei Yisrael to God. To thank them for their dedication and service, the Jews had a responsibility to share their crops, food and drink with the Levites and ensure they did not go hungry.
Moshe reminded the Jews of the importance of shemitah, letting the land of Israel rest during the seventh year. Shemitah was a time when the land would lie fallow and every Jew would release their fellow Jews from their financial debts and obligations.
TRANSITION
Moshe then taught a really important mitzvah, which we know as Tzedaka. Tzedaka comes from the word Tzedek, Righteousness or Justice. Nowadays we commonly translate it as “charity” but that doesn’t fully capture the meaning of the word. Charity is often understood as something a person volunteers to do. Tzedaka, in contrast, is something we are obligated to do. It is justice tempered by compassion. Righteousness demands that we make sure that each person has what they need and does not go hungry. To that end, God asserts that one of HIs blessings, if everyone keeps His laws, is that people will not need to ask for money from one another.
But if a Jewish person was poor and he went around beseeching his Jewish brethren for food, drink or money, it is important that we help him. Moshe specifically declares that we should not be “hard hearted” against this person. Instead, we should open our hand to him, giving him what he needs.
There is a remarkable pasuk that says that there will neve stop being needy or poor people within the land. And this is important to understand, because here is what we should take from this. If we are given money, we are given that money by God. And specifically, we are given money to do something GOOD with that money. We are given that money to help others and to share it with others because God wants us to be the conduit of that blessing. Giving money to others helps us to refine ourselves and our own character. It reminds us that money does not really belong to us but is a gift from God. And it also helps us learn how to be generous.
Even nowadays, we see examples of people acting charitably and we admire them. Taylor Swift, arguably one of the most famous female music artists alive today, recently gave each of her truck drivers a $100,000 bonus. These truck drivers are the ones who convey all of her equipment and show materials to each concert venue. Additionally, Swift has been donating money to food banks at each stop along her concert tour. Swift is giving the message that yes, she has been fortunate to earn a lot of money, but she is happy to share it and to show her appreciation to others, especially her truck drivers, while doing so. We can learn from Swift’s example in our own lives as well.
Our parsha concludes with a review of the three major festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, and their practices.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week!
Idolatry is terrible. It is false, but even worse, it gives human beings power they should not have which enables them to cause other human beings pain. It is evil, and because it is evil, it must be eradicated.
Once we have a central place of worship, like the Beit Hamikdash, that is meant to be our focus. Importance is more significant than convenience.
We should not trust false prophets or listen to what they say. We should trust in God, true prophets (who would tell us to follow the Torah), and what our own ears heard at Mount Sinai.
Tzedaka is a huge mitzvah we should make sure to keep. Tzedaka is a way of acknowledging that any money we have comes from God, and that it is our job to care for others and not to only focus on ourselves.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids@gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos