Summary of the Portion:

The portion opens with a command to the people of Israel to carry out the ceremony of the blessings and the curses upon entry to the land on Mount Grizim and Mount Ebal. It goes on with Moshe commanding the people of Israel to destroy and to break all of the steles of the nations residing in the land of Canaan, lest they be used for idol worship. On the other hand, Moshe transmits the details the offerings that the people of Israel are supposed to bring to "the chosen place", referring to Jerusalem.

 

The other topics mentioned in the portion are:

• Foods that are pure and foods that are impure.

• The tithes.

• The Sabbatical year.

• How to treat the poor and the paupers.

• The release of a Hebrew slave.

• The portion closes with a repetition of the three high holidays: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot and their respective commandments.

 

Topics for Discussion in Class and in Groups

• "And you shall diligently fulfil all of these commands and laws" (11:32) – Observing the commands and laws in Israel (then and now!)

• "The places the gentiles worshipped" (12:2) – the relationship with the other nations living in the land and to their customs.

• "Only as you wish to slaughter and eat meat as G-d your Lord has blessed you" (12:15) – eating meat and being vegetarian and the differences between the two.

• False and genuine prophets and how to tell the difference between the two.

• The Sabbatical year, its significance and importance.

• The release of the slave – does slavery exist nowadays?

• "You shall not close your hand in face of your needy brother" (15 ,7) - what is the meaning of this and how do you fulfil this.

 

A Passage from the Portion – Deuteronomy 15:7-11

If there will be among you a needy person, from one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land the G-d, your Lord, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother. Rather, you shall open your hand to him, and you shall lend him sufficient for his needs, which he is lacking. Beware, lest there be in your heart an unfaithful thought, saying, "The seventh year, the year of release has approached," and you will begrudge your needy brother and not give him, and he will cry out to G-d against you, and it will be a sin to you. You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; for because of this thing the G-d, your Lord, will bless you in all your work and in all your endeavors. For there will never cease to be needy within the land. Therefore, I command you, saying, you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor one, and to your needy one in your land.

 

From the Sayings of the Sages

There are eight degrees of charity, one above the other --  one who supports and Israelite  who has become poor and gives him a gift or a loan, or partners with him, or finds him a craft to engage in, in order to support himself so that he would not be needy and would not have to borrow; And about this it is written, "and you shall support him, whether a convert or a resident so that he can live with you" (Leviticus 25:35). Support him so that he would not fall and be needy.

Less than this – one who gives charity to the poor, and he does not know to whom it was given and the poor man does not know who has supported him. In this way it is a commandment done with integrity.

And close in value to the aforementioned is – one who places money into a charity box; and a person ought not to place money in a charity box, unless he knows that the person in charge of it is trustworthy, and wise and knows how to deal with it properly.

Less than this – If the giver knows to whom he is giving the money, yet the poor man does not know its origin.

Less than this – that the poor man knows who gave him the money, yet the giver does not know the identity of the recipient.

Less than this – That he gives the money to the poor man before he asks for it.

Less than this – that he gives him as much as is appropriate for him, before he asks for it.

Less than this – that he gives him as much as is appropriate for him, after he asks for it.

Less than this – that he gives him less than appropriate, but he gives it to him wholeheartedly.

Less than this – that he gives it to him with sadness.

Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts to the Poor, Chapter 10

 

Excerpts of Modern Commentaries

The portion of the construction of the people. (613) This portion is one of the richest in the Torah, with respect to the number of commandments included in it, counting 54 out of the 613 commandments

This is almost an eleventh of the 613. Is there a connection between the ones mentioned in this portion? Is there a connecting element that unites them all? Is there a connection between a city doomed to be destroyed and the tithe called 'Ma'aser Sheni' (the second tenth)? between an instigator and the laws of the Sabbatical year concerning borrowed money? between the prohibition to make bald patches on people's heads to the three festivals?

Seemingly, it is not difficulty to decipher the uniting element that enlivens all of the separate items, to find the connecting thread between them.

We had mentioned that the previous portion (Ekev) is the portion dealing with the land, the portion of Re'eh – is that of the people, describing the formation of the people, the construction of their essence and power... as a single nation, a special nation, a formed and united one, healthy in body, spirit and comprised of people who engage in justice and goodness:

Doing what is good in the eyes heaven – and what is just in the eyes of man – as per Rabbi Akiva in Yalkut Shimoni p. 884.

(Favel Meltzer, the Portion of the Week and its 'Haftara' 1974)