Parashat Re’eh (Devarim 11:26-156:17) begins with Moshe’s instructions to the people that when the people get to the land of Israel, they are to recite blessings on Mount Gerizim and curses on Mount Eval, 11:26-30. These verses form a bookend with the corresponding verses 27:11-13, later in the book of Devarim. The large intervening section consists of laws that are the laws of the covenant of the book of Devarim.
Prior to the large list of laws, there are two verses, 11:31,32, which conclude chapter 11. 11:31 records that the people will inherit the land, using the words la-reshet and ve-rishtem, and the same words appear in the end of parashat Ekev, 11:23, which form a mini-bookend around the instructions to recite the blessing and the curses and 11:24,25.
The next verse, 11:32, is the final verse from the exhortation part of Moshe’s speech to the Jewish people that began in 5:1, as after 11:32, Moshe continues with his speech but focuses on telling the Jewish people various laws. As the summary sentence of the speech, Moshe tells the people to shamor (remember) and do the hukim and mishpatim, see our discussion, “The definition of the word shamor in Moshe’s speeches in the book of Devarim - To remember.” (Note that according to the division of the reading of the Torah on Monday and Thursday morning and Shabbat afternoon, 11:32 is the opening verse to the law section of Moshe’s speech.)
12:1 marks a transition in Moshe’s speech that instead of focusing on exhorting the people to follow the laws, Moshe informs the people of many laws, and this part of his speech continues until 27:10. The connections between the laws in this large section is sometimes based on the content of the laws and sometimes a literary connection based on similar words and sounds. For a similar discussion on the connection of the laws in parashat Mishpatim, see our discussion “The order and connection of the laws in parashat Mishpatim” on parashat Ki Teitzei, see our discussion “The order and connections of the laws of parashat Ki Teitzei” and on parashat Shoftim, see our discussion, "The order and connections of the laws of parashat Shoftim."
The first law recorded in 12:1-3 is that the Jewish people were to destroy the places of idolatry in the land of Israel when they would come to the land of Israel. This law connects with the warning not to worship idolatry in the land of Israel in the previous chapter, 11:16. Also, 12:1 has the phrase, tishmerun la-asot, which appears in 11:32, and the words hukim and mishpatim which also appear in 11:32. In addition, 12:1 has the word li-rishta and 12:2 has the word yorshim, which appear in 11:31. These literary connections connect this new section of laws with the end of Moshe’s speech from 5:29 to 11:32.
The next set of laws is 12:4-14, the law of the chosen place(s?), which is in contrast to the need to destroy the idolatrous places of worship that existed in the land of Israel prior to the Jews coming into the land, 12:4. The next set of laws, 12:15-28, relate to the implication of the law of the chosen place.
The next set of laws is 12:29-31 again relate to idolatry and these verses are linked to the opening laws of chapter 12, 12:1-3. These two small sections form a type of bookend around the laws of the chosen place.
13:1 records an introductory section to a set of three laws all of which relate to idolatry in some form, and this connects to the laws of idolatry at the end of chapter 12, see Ibn Ezra on 13:2. The first three cases in chapter 13, 13:2-6, 13:7-12 and 13:13-18, all begin with the work, ki, and build upon each other. Note the word ki appears numerous times in the parasha: 11:29, 31, 12:5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 20 (twice), 21, 23, 25, 28, 29 and 12:31 (twice). In the ensuing chapters in the parasha, the water ki appears in 14:2, 7, 8, 21, 24 (twice), 27, 29; 15:2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 (twice), 18, 21; 16:1, 3, 6, 12.
The first case in chapter 13 is the wayward prophet who tells people to worship idolatry, the second case is a person who also gets people to worship idolatry but the person was never considered a prophet and the third case is when the whole city decides to worship idolatry. Chapter 13 ends with a concluding sentence, 13:19, which with 13:1 frames the intervening laws in the chapter. Also 13:19 refers to do what is right, yashar, and this same word appears in 12:8,25,28.
14:1, the following verse, refers to the Jewish people as G-d's son, and records two laws, one a prohibition to gash one’s self and two, a prohibition to remove hair on the head to make one’s self bald. Ibn Ezra (on 14:1, in some versions on 13:18) suggests that this reference to sons connects with chapter 13 where sons are referred to three times, 13:7(2) and 13:14, and then in 14:1 the idea is that one cannot mourn for these relatives since they committed idolatry. My guess is that 14:1 is connected with 12:31, which notes that some of the inhabitants of the land of Israel would burn their sons and daughters as part of their religious worship (the worship of Molech). In contrast, 14:1 records that because the Jewish people are G-d’s sons, they cannot damage their bodies. These verses, 12:31 and 14:1, are the immediate verses surrounding chapter 13.
The two laws in 14:1 relate to each other since they involve a person damaging their body, and the following verse, 14:2, explains the law in the second half of 14:1.14:2 explains that the people are not to remove their hairs on their head as part of mourning, the law in the second half of 14:1, since they are a kadosh nation, and this corresponds to the rationale for this law by the priests in Vayikra 21:6,7.
The next set of laws, 14:3-21, record laws relating to eating, which relate to the laws of eating that were discussed in chapter 12. For example, 12:15,22 refer to eating the deer and the gazelle and these animals are referred to in 14:5. The last verse in this section on eating, 14:21 also refers to the Jewish people as a kadosh nation, and this phrase in 14:2,21 frame the laws relating to eating. Furthermore, the theme of kedusha relates both to the laws of eating, 14:3-12, and to not plucking out one’s hair in mourning, 14:1. Similarly in the book of Vayikra these laws are part of the large sections relating to kedusha, Vayikra 11:44-47; 20:25, 21:1-22:33.
The next set of laws, 14:22-29 record the laws of ma'aser (tithes), and these laws refer to eating, 14:23,26,29, and to the law of the chosen place(s?)14:23, which relate the laws of ma’aser to the laws of chapter 12. These two concepts, eating and the chosen place, are mentioned in 12:5,7,11,14,15,18,20,21. Even more explicitly, 12:6,11,17, refer to bringing ma’aser to the chosen place or not eating ma’aser by the local city gates. Furthermore, 14:27,29 refer to remembering the Levi and the Levi is also referred to in 12:12,18,19.
Tigay (1996, p. 453) notes that starting from 14:22 through 16:17, the laws all relate to a certain number of years or times during the year. The word shanah, year, appears in 14:22 (twice), 14:28, 15:1, 15:9 (twice), 15:12 (twice), 15:18, 15:20 (twice), and 16:16.
The following set of laws is the law to abolish loans after seven years, 15:1-6. The Torah makes a literary connection between the laws of ma'aser and law of annulling loans, as 14:28 records the phrase, miktseh shalosh shanim, and 15:1 records the phrase, miketz sheva shanim. Ibn Ezra (on 15:1) also notes that the law of abolishing loans helps the poor and the law of ma'aser (sheni) is also to help the poor.
The next set of laws, 15:7-11 records the laws of lending to the poor. These laws are connected to 15:1-6 since the Torah (15:9) is concerned that a person may not lend to the poor because of the law of annulling debts in 15:1-6. Furthermore, the same word evyon, the poor, is used in both sections, 15:4,9,11. Also, 15:9 refers to a person who does not want to lend as bli-yaal and this relatively rare word, is also in 13:14.
Afterwards, 15:12-18 records the laws that slaves must be given a gift, severance pay, when they are freed, and this also relates to helping the poor. In addition, both in the previous section, 15:9, and this section, 15:18, there is reference to the eye of the person who is supposed to give the money, eincha. Also, both 15:10 and 15:18 refer to G-d blessing the person who gives the money either to the poor or to the newly freed slave. Finally, both 15:1 and 15:12 refer to the seventh year, and these references to the seventh year by the law of abolishing loans and giving money to the poor might be considered a type of envelope to the law of lending to the poor.
The next set of law is the law of the bekhor, the firstborn animal, 15:19-23. This law connects with the law of giving gifts to the freed slave, the previous law, because 15:15 records that a person should give money to the slave since a person should remember that the Jewish people were once slaves in Egypt and G-d freed them, and the law of bekhor, is to remember the exodus from Egypt, Shemot 13:14,15, see our discussions on Shemot 11:5; 12:29, “The deaths of the firstborn Egyptians in the tenth plague.” The laws of chapter 12 are also relevant to the laws of bekhor, since if the animal is not blemished, then it is to be brought as a sacrifice to the chosen place, 15:20. Finally, the laws of ma'aser and bekhor are referred together in 12:6,17, and the two sections, 14:22-29 and 15:19-23 can be viewed as a bookend around 15:1-18. Accordingly, 14:22-15:23 form one unit. The outer envelope is the laws of ma’aser, 14:22-29, and bekhor, 15:19-23, who both relate to laws of chapter 12. The inner units are the three laws of charity, with main focus being the middle law to lend to the poor. Thus, in 14:22-15:23 there is a chiasmus structure of ABXBA.
The next set of laws, 16:1-8, records laws of the holidays of Pesach and Matzot. 16:2,6,7 refer to the chosen place, which is also mentioned by the law of bekhor, 15:20, and as noted above, numerous times in chapter 12. The word shaar, gate, also appears by the laws of bekhor and the korban pesach, 15:22 and 16:5. Also, the word zevach appears by both laws, 15:21 and 16:2,5,6. In addition, as noted above, the law of bekhor is due to the Exodus from Egypt, and hence relates to holidays of Pesach and Matzot. Probably for that reasons, the laws are recorded together also in Shemot 34:18-20. Tigay (1996, p. 453) also notes that in the laws of bekhor, 15:21 refers to the animal being lame, piseach, and this is the same sound of the pesach sacrifice in 16:1,2,5,6. See Ibn Ezra on 16:1 (or in some versions on 15:22) for other connections.
The next set of laws are the laws of two other festivals, Shavuot, 16:9-12, and the laws of Sukkot, 16:13-15, who are described in very similar manner of celebrating, 16:11 and 16:14. These laws also connect to the law of chosen place, 16:11,15, and they refer to helping the Levites, the orphans and the widows, like by the laws of ma'aser, 14:27,29, and 16:11,14. Also, they both have the word, shaarecha, your gates, 16:11,14, which connects both with the laws of the firstborn animal, 15:22, and the korban pesach, 16:5. In addition, the number seven is referred to by the end of the laws of the holiday of Matzot, 16:8, and this number is referred to twice both by the law of Shavuot, 16:9 (twice), and by the holiday of Sukkot, 16:13 and 16:15.
The final two verses in parashat Re'eh, 16:16,17, are concluding verses to the festivals discussed in the chapter, and refer to the three holidays mentioned in the chapter 16, chag ha-Matzot, chag Shavuot and chag Sukkot. The final verse, 16:17, also refers to G-d’s blessings, berakah, which also appears by the holiday of Shavuot, 16:10, and by the holiday of Sukkot, 16:15.
Bibliography:
Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1996, The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
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