PARSHA62- 42: Parashat Re'eh

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Subject: PARSHA62- 42: Parashat Re'eh

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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The Structure and Significance of the Opening Verses
By Rav Mordechai Sabato

I. STRUCTURE OF THE PARASHA

Chapter 11 of Devarim concludes as follows:

(26) Behold, I give before you today a blessing and a
curse.

(27) The blessing - that you shall listen to the
commandments of the Lord your God which I command you
today,

(28) and the curse - if you shall not listen to the
commandments of the Lord your God, and you shall
stray from the path that I command you today, to go
after other gods that you have not known.

(29) And it shall be, when the Lord your God brings
you to the land to which you are coming, to inherit
it, then you shall give the blessing upon Mt. Gerizim
and the curse upon Mt. Eval:

(30) Are these not across the Jordan, beyond the way
where the sun sets in the land of the Canaanites that
dwell in the Arava, facing Gilgal, by the terebinths
of Moreh?

(31) For you are crossing over the Jordan to come and
inherit the land that the Lord your God has given
you, and you shall inherit it and dwell in it,

(32) and you shall observe and perform all the
statutes and all the judgments that I give before you
today.

Although these verses conclude chapter 11, they open
the parasha of Re'eh. The division of the chapters here
reflects the view that these verses are not the beginning
of a new topic, but rather the conclusion of the previous
one. (The division of the chapters was set down in the
13th century by an English bishop.) We shall therefore
first turn our attention to a clarification of the
purpose of these verses and the question of whether they
indeed conclude the previous topic, as the chapter
division would suggest, or whether they introduce a new
topic, as we would assume based on the division of weekly
parasha readings (which reflects the Babylonian annual
Torah-reading cycle).

The verses under discussion may be grouped into
three sections. The first includes verses 26-28, in which
Moshe informs the nation of the two options facing them,
a blessing or a curse, and their respective conditions.
In the second section, verses 29-30, Moshe commands the
nation to hold a ceremony after entering the land, during
which the blessing and the curse will be given upon the
mountains of Gerizim and Eval. This section also includes
an indication of the geographical location of these
mountains. In the third section, verses 31-32, Moshe
exhorts the nation to observe, in the land, the statutes
and judgments that are given before them today.

After these verses, starting at the beginning of
chapter 12, Moshe lists the statutes and judgments, with
the following introduction:

(12:1) These are the statutes and the judgments that
you shall observe to perform in the land which the
Lord your God gave to your forefathers for you as an
inheritance all the days that you live upon the
earth.

The linguistic and thematic connection between the
end of chapter 11 and the beginning of chapter 12 is
quite noticeable, and forms a chiastic parallel:

(11:31) For you are crossing over the Jordan to come
and INHERIT THE LAND THAT GOD YOUR GOD HAS GIVEN
TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL INHERIT it and dwell in it.

(11:32) AND YOU SHALL OBSERVE AND PERFORM ALL
THE STATUTES AND THE JUDGMENTS that I give before you
today.

(12:1) THESE ARE THE STATUTES AND THE
JUDGMENTS THAT YOU SHALL OBSERVE TO PERFORM
IN THE LAND WHICH GOD YOUR GOD HAS GIVEN TO
YOUR
FOREFATHERS FOR YOU AS AN INHERITANCE all the days
that you live upon the earth.

The crux of verses 31-32 of chapter 11 is the
command to observe the statutes and judgments. This
command is stated in verse 32; verse 31 describes a time
that precedes the principal clause. The crux of the first
verse of chapter 12, on the other hand, is a presentation
of the statutes and judgments, and the description of
their observance in the land is a subordinate clause that
defines the nature of these laws. For this reason Moshe
presents the principal clause first, before the
subordinate clause.

Hence, the connection between the end of chapter 11
and the beginning of chapter 12 is unquestionable. Let us
now clarify the function of the other verses, 26-30, and
their relationship with our parasha. For this purpose we
shall need to broaden our perspective and review the
framework of Moshe's speech.

We have already noted that starting from chapter 12,
Moshe lists the statutes and judgments. How far does this
list extend?

An examination of the language of the text reveals
that the sequence of statutes and judgments opening in
12:2 continues uninterrupted until 26:15. In the latter
verse, Moshe concludes the mitzva of "bi'ur ma'asrot"
(removal from the house of produce designated for
tithes), and concludes this section of laws as a whole.
At the end of this section, Moshe adds the following
verses:

(26:16) This day the Lord your God commands you to
perform these statutes and the judgments, and you
shall observe and perform them with all your heart
and with all your soul.

(17) You have declared God today to be your God and
to walk in His ways and to observe His statutes and
His commandments and His judgments, and to listen to
His voice.

(18) And God has declared you this day to be for Him
a chosen nation, as He told you, and to observe all
His commandments.

(19) And to place you high above all the nations that
He has made, for honor and for praise and for glory,
that you may be a holy nation to the Lord your God as
He has spoken.

These verses may be divided into two sections: 16,
and 17-19. Verse 16 is in fact a summary of the section
of statutes and judgments, emphasizing the need for their
punctilious observance. Verses 17-18 describe the mutual
relationship between Israel and God, as expressed in
observance of God's mitzvot. For our purposes, it is
especially important that verse 16, which follows
immediately after the conclusion of the section of laws,
parallels chapter 12 verse 1, which serves as their
introduction:

(12:1) THESE ARE THE STATUTES AND THE JUDGMENTS
THAT YOU SHALL OBSERVE TO PERFORM in the land which the
Lord your God has given to you to inherit all the
days that you live upon the earth.

(26:16) This day the Lord your God commands you TO
PERFORM THESE STATUTES AND THE JUDGMENTS, AND
YOU SHALL OSBSERVE AND PERFORM them with all your heart
and with all your soul.

The word "these" in chapter 12 hints at what is to
follow. The same word in chapter 26 hints at what has
already been said. Between them we find the entire
section of statutes and judgments.

Immediately following the conclusion of this
section, in chapter 27, Moshe describes in detail the
ceremony of giving the blessing and the curse on Mt.
Gerizim and Mt. Eval:

(27:11) And Moshe commanded the nation on that day,
saying:

(12) These shall stand to bless the nation upon Mt.
Gerizim when you cross over the Jordan: Shimon, Levi,
Yehudah, Yissachar, Yosef and Binyamin.

(13) And these shall stand for the curse upon Mt.
Eval: Reuven, Gad, Asher, Zevulun, Dan and Naftali.

Thereafter, in chapter 28, Moshe specifies the
contents of the blessing and the curse. (It is
interesting to note that there are six blessings and six
curses, which would seem to parallel the number of tribes
on each mountain. Note also that the blessing and the
curse are each subdivided into three pairs of
statements.)

Now we may return to our original question, and
explain the function of verses 26-30 in chapter 12. In
verses 26-28, as we have noted, Moshe reminds the nation
of the existence of a blessing and a curse, which are
dependent on observance or lack of observance of the
mitzvot. In verses 29-30 Moshe commands the nation to
hold a ceremony of uttering the blessings and the curses
on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval. Thus we may say that chapter
27 specifies the procedure of the ceremony mentioned in
12:29-30, and that chapter 28 specifies the coof the
blessing and the curse that were mentioned in 12:26-28.

What faces us, then, is a unit of perfect symmetry,
with the section of statutes and judgments at it center:

1. Blessing and curse as a result of observance or lack
of observance of the mitzvot (11:26-28)

2. Command that the blessing and curse be uttered upon
Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval (11:29-30)

3. Exhortation to observe the statutes and the
judgments in the land (11:31-32)

4. Introduction to the statutes and judgments ("These
are the statutes and the judgments.") (12:1)

5. LIST OF STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS

4a. Conclusion of the statutes and judgments (".These
statutes and the judgments" (26:16)

3a. Significance of the observance of the statutes and
judgments (26:17-19)

2a. Specification of the ceremony of uttering the
blessing and the curse on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval (27)

1a. Specification of the blessing and the curse (28)

Our study therefore leads us to conclude that the
verses at the beginning of parashat Re'eh indeed open a
new section, and the beginning of the parasha should
hence also have been the beginning of a new chapter. This
unit continues, as we have mentioned, until the end of
chapter 28, and is perfectly symmetrical.

II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STRUCTRE

Having explored the structure of the unit, let us
turn our attention to the significance of this structure.

We noted that the unit concludes with chapter 28,
which specifies the blessing and the curse. Let us also
note that the final verse of that chapter states
explicitly the significance of the unit as a whole:

(28:69) These are the words of the covenant that God
commanded Moshe to make with the children of Israel
in the land of Moav, aside from the covenant that He
made with them at Chorev.

The text defines the unit as a whole as the elaboration
of a covenant that Moshe is commanded to make with Am
Yisrael. But we must clarify whether the expression,
"These are the words of the covenant," refers to the unit
as a whole, or whether it refers only to the chapter of
the blessings and the curses.

The key to this question is to be found in the
clause at the end of the verse: ".aside from the covenant
that He made with them at Chorev." What is the covenant
that was made with them at Chorev?

Rashi explains, "The curses contained in Torat ha-
Kohanim (Sefer Vayikra) that were said at Sinai." Rashi
refers here to the parasha of "If you will walk in My
statutes" in chapter 26 of Sefer Vayikra, which concludes
with the words "at Mt. Sinai by the hand of Moshe."
According to this view, it may be assumed that the "words
of the covenant" referred to here hint only at chapter
28, which includes the blessings and the curses.

The Rashbam accords with Rashi's interpretation,
adding "and Sinai is Chorev". In other words, the
mountain of Chorev mentioned here is just another name
for the mountain of Sinai mentioned in parashat
Bechukkotai.

But the very need to add this identification points
to the difficulty entailed in the explanation of Rashi
and the Rashbam, for if the Torah wanted to hint in
Devarim 28:69 to parashat Bechukkotai, it should have
used the same name that was used there: Mt. Sinai.

A study of the appearance of the expression, "the
covenant that He made with them at Chorev," may shed
light on its meaning. In parashat Vaetchanan (Devarim
chapter 5), in the introduction to the description of the
revelation at Sinai and the transmission of the Ten
Commandments, we learn:

(5:1) And Moshe called to all of Israel and said to
them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments
that I declare for your ears today, and you shall
study them and observe them to perform them.

(2) The Lord our God MADE A COVENANT WITH US AT
CHOREV.

(3) It was not with our forefathers that GOD MADE
THIS COVENANT, but rather with us - we who are here
today, all of us alive.

(4) Face to face God spoke with you at the mountain
from within the fire.

(5) I stood between God and you at that time, to tell
you the words of God, for you were fearful of the
fire and did not ascend the mountain, saying.

The context demonstrates clearly that the revelation
at Sinai and the transmission of the Ten Commandments are
the "words of the covenant" that God made with Am
Yisrael. The concluding verse of chapter 28, then, should
be seen in light of the above verse in chapter 5:

(5:2) The Lord our God MADE A COVENANT WITH US AT
CHOREV.

(28:69) These are the words of THE COVENANT that God
commanded MOSHE TO MAKE WITH THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL in the land of Moav, ASIDE FROM THE COVENANT THAT HE
MADE WITH THEM AT CHOREV.

The covenant that Moshe makes with the nation in the
plains of Moav is "aside from" (i.e., in addition to) the
covenant that he made with them at Chorev. The covenant
of Chorev concerns the Ten Commandments, which Israel
heard from God. The covenant of the plains of Moav
concerns the collection of statutes and judgments that
Israel heard from Moshe. These two covenants complement
one another and represent together the eternal connection
that was formed between God and His nation.

It is interesting that Moshe opens his speech in
chapter 5 with the command to hear "the statutes and the
judgments that I declare for your ears today," and that
immediately thereafter he mentions the covenant of Chorev
that God made with Israel. Moshe hereby wishes to convey
to Israel that the collection of statutes and judgments
that they are destined to hear from him now, at the
plains of Moav, and which will form a covenant, do not
stand alone; rather, they complement the covenant of
Chorev where Israel heard the Ten Commandments from God.

The covenant of Chorev represents the basis. Without
entering into a discussion of how much the nation heard
directly from God, the Torah draws a clear and emphatic
distinction between the Ten Commandments, which were
heard from God, and the statutes and judgments which they
heard from Moshe. The nation heard from God the Ten
Commandments, which serve as a basis for the entire
Torah. As Rashi (Shemot 24:12) explains, "All 613 mitzvot
are included in the Ten Commandments." The covenant of
the plains of Moav completes the structure, for there Am
Yisrael heard from Moshe the entire collection of
statutes that complement the Ten Commandments.

This complement, the covenant of the plains of Moav,
has two aspects to it. On one hand, it is a complement in
the literal sense - adding the statutes and the
judgments. On the other hand, it completes the covenant
of Chorev - the revelation at Sinai - in the sense that
it adds the dimension of the blessing and the curse.
(Regarding the earlier blessing and the curse in parashat
Bechukkotai, note that the Rashbam (Vayikra 26:46) and
others view them as dependent on the mitzvot in parashat
Behar only.) The Torah hereby means to establish that the
statutes and judgments, by their very nature, involve a
blessing and a curse. Their observance brings blessing;
their lack of observance leads to a curse.

This principle brings us back to the significance of
the structure that we explored above. The Torah opens the
section of statutes by noting the fact that there is a
blessing and a curse that accompany the mitzvot. Their
content is elaborated and specified in chapter 28, as we
have stated. We must therefore ask why Moshe sees a need
to mention the blessing and the curse right at the start,
if he means to elaborate upon them in detail only at the
end of his speech. Logic would seem to dictate that they
be mentioned only after listing the mitzvot, for the
blessing and the curse are the RESULT of their
observance.

We are forced to conclude that even before the
mitzvot are listed, a person has to know that the mitzvot
entail a blessing and a curse. This fact precedes the
details of the mitzvot themselves. It is a fundamental
principle that Moshe feels a need to stipulate at the
very start of the main part of his speech, before
discussing the mitzvot.

The same applies to verses 29-30 of chapter 12,
which mention the giving of the blessing and the curse on
Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval. Here, too, we may ask why Moshe
mentions this here with no further elaboration, if he
intends to stall the details of the ceremony in chapter
27.

Again, our answer follows the logic of the previous
one. But first we must explain the reason for the
ceremony itself: Why must the blessing and the curse be
given on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval?

Here, too, the Torah seems to hint at the
significance of the ceremony through the style that it
adopts. What does the Torah mean by the instruction that
the blessing and the curse be given on these mountains?
Are a blessing and a curse not abstract concepts - how
are they to be "given on" a certain place?

Rashi explains that you shall place those who bless
on Mt. Gerizim, etc. The Ramban comments, "This is not
correct according to the literal text, for he had not yet
given the command concerning those who are to bless." In
addition to the Ramban's difficulty, we may add a further
question: quite simply, if the text meant to refer to
"those who are to bless," then Moshe should have stated
this explicitly, rather than referring to them in such an
oblique manner (i.e., "you shall place the blessing on
Mt. Gerizim..."). The Ibn Ezra comments, "And you shall
give the blessing - verbally, as in the verse, 'And you
shall place them upon the head of the goat' (Vayikra
16:21)," and he concurs with the explanation of the
Ramban. To the view of Ramban and the Ibn Ezra, the
declaration of the blessing and the curses atop the
mountains is what the Torah refers to in the command that
they be "given" or "placed" on the mountain. Proof of
this literary style is brought by the Ibn Ezra from
Vayikra (16:21-22):

And Aharon shall place both his hands upon the head
of the living goat, and he shall confess upon it all
the sins of the children of Israel and all their
iniquities, all their wrongdoings, and he shall place
them upon the head of the goat and send it by the
hand of a man who walks slowly, to the wilderness.
And the goat shall bear upon itself all of their
sins, to a barren land, and he shall cast the goat
into the wilderness.

Although the Ibn Ezra and the Ramban fail to explain
why the term "placing" is used here, it appears that the
example as brought by the Ibn Ezra explains the Torah's
intention. In the verses in Vayikra it is clear from the
context that the Torah perceives the sins of the children
of Israel as being placed, physically, upon the goat, for
the text declares that "the goat bears upon itself all of
their sins, to a barren land." The confession recited
over the goat causes, according to the Torah, a tangible
"placing" of the sins upon it.

Likewise, we may conclude in our parasha that the
declaration of the blessings and the curses upon the
mountains of Gerizim and Eval causes a physical "placing"
of them upon these mountains. In other words, the
ceremony gives expression to the fact that the blessings
and the curses fall upon the mountains and become part of
them. The significance of this fact seems to be that from
that moment onwards, the blessing and the curse arise
from the land itself; the mountains are simply symbolic
of the land. The ceremony expresses the faith that the
land itself has special properties. It embraces with love
those who fulfill the mitzvot, and expels those who
transgress. This is what the text means by the words, "So
that the land will not vomit you out in your defiling of
it as it vomited the nation that was there before you"
(Vayikra 18:28).

This may also explain the text's emphasis on the
geographical location of these mountains, "Are they not
across the Jordan. by the terebinths of Moreh?" This
place, "by the terebinths of Moreh," was the first place
of encampment by Avraham, father of the nation, when he
arrived in the land, and it was there that he built his
first altar to God: "And Avram passed in the land up to
the place of Shekhem, up to Elon Moreh. and he built
there an altar to God" (Bereishit 12:6-7). It is
therefore fitting that it is here in this place, a sort
of portal to the land, that Israel will place the
blessing and the curse. They thereby declare, as it were,
"This is the gateway to God - let the righteous enter
it."

In light of the above, it is not difficult to
explain why Moshe mentions this at the beginning of the
parasha, although his elaboration comes only much later,
in parashat Ki Tavo. Moshe wishes to emphasize at the
very start not only that the observance of mitzvot
entails a blessing and a curse, but also that the
blessing and the curse are part of the conditions of the
land itself, part of its specialness. The facts that,
firstly, the blessing and curse exist and, secondly, that
they apply to the land from the moment and place of entry
into it, are fundamental facts that the nation must know
even before the statutes and judgments are enumerated.
Thereafter Moshe indeed lists all of these laws, and only
at the end does he come back to the ceremony of giving
the blessing and the curse upon the mountains, concluding
with the same subject with which he opened - the blessing
and the curse. Moshe thereby completes the covenant that
God commanded him to make with the nation in the plains
of Moav. This is in addition to the covenant He made with
them at Chorev. Now, after both of these covenants are
firmly set down, the nation is ready to realize the
mission that is the crux of its purpose - entry into the
land and its habitation.

And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they
inherited the work of the peoples, in order that they
would observe His statutes and preserve His
teachings, Halleluya. (Tehillim 105:44)

(Translated by Kaeren Fish)

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
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