From:          "Root & Branch Association, Ltd.
Subject:       Prophecy/Commentary:  The Prophetic Reading for Shabbat
               Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17;  Prophets:  Isaiah
               11:17-55:1-5)

Prophecy/Commentary:  The Prophetic Reading for Shabbat Parashat Re'eh --
(Torah:  Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17; Prophets:  Isaiah 54:11:17-55:1-5),

by Yosef Ben Shlomo HaKohen

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen is the author of "The Universal Jew," published by
Feldheim, and serves as the editor of the Shema Yisrael web site:  "Hazon -
Our Universal Vision".

"Hazon - Our Universal Vision" is a study-program based in Jerusalem
which explores the universal vision of the Torah for Jews, humanity,
and all creation.

Each Shabbos we read a section from the Torah which is followed by a
reading from the Prophets, known as the "haftorah".

Between the Fast Day of Tisha B'Av and Rosh Hashana, the haftorah portion
of each Shabbos is from the Book of Isaiah.  The common theme of these
readings is the Divine promise of comfort and redemption.  In the portion
that is chanted on this Shabbos, we find the following proclamation:

"Ho, everyone who is thirsty, go to the water..."  [Isaiah 55:1]

  To whom is the Prophet Isaiah speaking?

According to the classical biblical commentator Radak (Rabbi David Kimche),
the Prophet Isaiah is addressing the peoples of the earth at the dawn of
the Messianic Era.

In the Messianic Era, states Radak, all peoples will recognize that G-d
alone rules over the earth and that there is no other.  They will then come
to Jerusalem to learn the social laws and teachings of Hashem (G-d) -- the
Compassionate One.

Radak explains that in this verse, the Prophet Isaiah is "calling upon them
[all peoples] to learn Torah and wisdom, which he compares to water, for
just as the world cannot exist without water, neither can it exist without
wisdom; moreover, just as the thirsty yearn for water, so does the wise
soul yearn for Torah and wisdom, as it is stated in the prophecy of
Amos:  'Behold, days are coming...when I will send a hunger into the land;
not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of
Hashem' [Amos 8:11]"

The above teaching of Radak reminds us that there are wise and sensitive
souls among the peoples of the earth who yearn for Torah -- the Divine wisdom.

This prophecy is therefore not just a prophecy of comfort for Israel; it is
a prophecy of comfort for all the peoples, as it conveys the Divine promise
that the spiritual thirst within the human soul will be "quenched" through
Torah, as it is written:

"They will neither injure nor destroy in all My sacred mountain; for the
earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as water covering the sea
bed."  [Isaiah 11:9]

Shabbat Shalom from Yerushaliyim,

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

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From: Judean Voice
To: judean-voice@juno.com
Subject: Parshat Re'eh

PARSHAT RE'EH

DOES ANYONE CARE?  (by Binyamin Zev Kahane)

In one of Yirmiyahu's few prophecies of comfort to Israel, he says the
following (30:17): "For I will restore health to thee, and I will heal
thee of thy wounds, says the Lord; because they (the gentiles) called
thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, no one cares about her!" In
other words, the gentiles taunt the Jewish People for not caring about
the ruined Temple.

How Can We Remain Idle?

On the tail-end of the verse, our sages teach us a great lesson in
Tractate Succah (41): "No one cares about her - from this it follows
that one must care!" That is, through the lamentations of Yirmiyahu
over the fact that the goyim taunt us for not caring about the
building of Zion, we learn out that we must care about it.

The sages are teaching us that we must not sit idly by and turn this
situation of non-caring into an established fact. Such behavior
constitutes a coming to terms with a Hillul Hashem of the highest
magnitude, and makes us partners to it. This is why the sages teach us
that our mission is to care, to take an interest, to make an effort to
stop the disgrace, so that Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple won't be
forsaken.

In the beginning of Parshat Re'eh, as well, we see the verse "you
shall seek out His Presence and come there (to the Temple)",
demonstrating to us once more that the Temple is something one must
care about, or seek out.  For more than any other mitzvah, it has
always been the most difficult to fulfill.  It requires a steadfast
effort. This effort is expressed by the term "caring", which expresses
the concept of a stubborn determination to accomplish the task of
building the Temple, despite the hardships.

The First Temple - They Didn't Care

The Ramban brings down a surprising explanation as to why David's
generation was punished (Shmuel 2, Chapter 24) following David's sin
of counting the people of Israel: "And I hold that the punishment
against Israel was caused by their procrastination in building the
Temple. For the ark was going from tent to tent, like something
transitory, and the tribes did not awaken to say: Let us seek out
Hashem and build Him the Temple, as it is written, 'you shall seek out
His Presence and come there'.. And behold, David was prevented by G-d
from building the Temple...and the building of the Temple was delayed
until Shlomo became king. And if the Jews wanted it enough and woke up
from the beginning, it could have been done during the times of one of
the Judges or Saul, or even David. Because if the tribes of Israel
were concerned about it, then he would not have built it, but rather
Israel would have built it.. and for this delay, Hashem poured His
wrath upon them.."

The Ramban is giving us a huge "chidush". We are used to thinking that
the Almighty desired from the beginning that Shlomo build the Temple.
But here we see that while He prevented David from building it, any of
the Judges preceding David could have built it. And even the Jews
during David's kingdom could have taken the initiative and done it!
But since they did not care about it all those years, they were
punished.

The Second Temple: Couldn't Care Less

Before the Second Temple was built, we read the chastisement of the
prophet Haggai. The words speak for themselves (Chapter 1): "Is this a
time for you yourselves to sit in your paneled houses, while this
House is in ruins? So now, thus said Hashem, Master of Legions: Set
your heart to consider your ways! You have sown much but bring in
little; eating without being satisfied, drinking without quenching
thirst, dressing, yet no one is warmed; and whoever earns money earns
it for a purse with a hole...Therefore, because of you, the heavens
withhold from giving dew, and the land withholds its produce..."  We
see that Haggai, too, attributes the national deterioration to the
fact that the Jews "forgot" about the Temple, preferring to sit in
their posh living rooms.

Caring About the Third Temple

And today, despite the fact that G-d has miraculously returned Jewish
sovereignty to Jerusalem, Jews have come up with a long list of
excuses why we should not rebuild the Temple. Indeed, we again run
into the sin of Jews not caring for the Temple. To our disgrace, this
lack of caring has compounded into an even greater Hillul Hashem, for
it has caused us to relinquish authority of the Temple Mount to our
enemies.

The greatest shame of all is that while the city of Jerusalem is being
built up in spectacular fashion - bridges, tunnels, fancy buildings -
no one is concerned about the fact that Jerusalem's most important
building remains in ruins. 

Relatively few care about the Temple and the Temple Mount today. In
any case, we are witness to an awakening of many religious camps and
rabbis who sense the void, and understand that the Temple Mount and
the Temple are the key to a speedy redemption.

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From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash" 
Subject:       Introduction to Parsha 46:Re'eh

                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)


            INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA

                     by Aytan Kadden


                     PARASHAT RE'EH

      Sefer  Devarim  deals  with  the   issues  that  the
Israelites  must contend with as they enter the  Promised
Land.   On  the  one  hand, they  must  understand   their
history and how they have arrived at this point.  On  the
other  hand, they must begin to conceive of their future.
This is a nation that has lived in relative isolation for
40 years.  Their existence and sustenance have been of  a
miraculous nature.  They now must deal with the realities
not  only  of  creating a new society for themselves  but
also  of living with the nations around them, as well  as
the  nations  currently inhabiting the  Land  of  Canaan.
Although  the Torah clearly instructs the nation  how  to
deal  with  the individual people of the Land of  Canaan,
the  Torah  seems much more concerned with the  spiritual
remnants of these prior inhabitants.  Beginning with  the
second  half  of  Leviticus  (also  in  smaller   sections
towards the end of Exodus) the Torah warns several  times
against  adopting the idolatrous practices of the nations
of Canaan.

     In parashat Re'eh we are warned of a situation where
not  only  do the other nations lead us astray, but  even
Jews  will  rise up and attempt to lead us  to  idolatry.
These are the portions of the false prophet, the inciter,
and  the  wayward  city (13:2-19).   We  will  focus   our
discussion on the false prophet (13:2-6).

     Our section introduces the prophet as follows:

 "If  there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer  of
 dreams,  and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and  the
 sign  or wonder comes to pass about which he spoke  to
 you  saying:  'Let us go after other gods,  which  you
 have  not  known, and let us serve them.'   You  shall
 not  listen  to  the  words of  that  prophet  or   the
 dreamer  of  that  dream: for the  Lord  your  God   is
 testing  you  to know whether you love the  Lord  your
 God  with  all  your heart and all your soul  ...  And
 that  prophet  or dreamer of dreams shall  be  put  to
 death  for  he  has spoken to turn you away  from  the
 Lord your God ..." (13:2-4,6)

      There  are  many questions that arise out   of  this
portion.   First, assuming that this is a  false  prophet
(seeing  as he calls for idolatry) how does he  have  the
power  of  to  produce  miracles?  Second,  what  is   the
meaning of the passage that God is testing us?  If God is
omniscient,  He surely knows our beliefs and should  have
no need for us to prove ourselves to Him.  Third and more
broadly, what is the entire nature of prophecy?  What  is
the  value  of  prophecy  if  there  are  false   prophets
together  with  truthful ones?  How are  we  to  decipher
between two such prophets?

      The  Talmud  in  Sanhedrin (90a) records   a  debate
regarding the nature of the prophet in these verses:

 "It  was  taught: R. Yossi Ha-Gelili said:  The  Torah
 understood the full intent of idolatry, therefore  the
 Torah  afforded  it the power that even  if  it  could
 make  the  sun stand still in the sky, one should  not
 listen to it.
 It  was  taught:  R. Akiva said: God forbid  that  the
 Lord  should  make the sun stand still  on  behalf  of
 those  who  transgress His will.  Rather this  portion
 is   dealing  with  those  who  are  originally    true
 prophets and then change to false prophets."

      In this passage it is clear that the earliest sages
were  disturbed by our first question.  How can  a  false
prophet  possess  miraculous powers?  R. Yossi  Ha-gelili
contends  that  there is no problem; God  after  all  can
bestow  powers on whomever He wishes.  R. Akiva, however,
is  very  bothered by the ethical problems  presented  by
that possibility.  Therefore, he concludes that the signs
mentioned  in this portion were performed at a time  when
this  individual  was  a true prophet.   Then,  after   he
soured  and  became a false prophet,  he  relied  on  his
previous  miracles  as  signs  that  the  people    should
continue  to  trust him.  For R. Akiva it is  unthinkable
that  God  should bestow such powers to a  fake.   It  is
worthwhile  to  point  out that R. Akiva  is  willing  to
completely  change the simple meaning of the text  (where
it  is clear that the sign is used as a proof towards the
prophecy of idolatry) in order to retain the sanctity  of
the role of the prophet and the miracle.

      The  medieval commentators to the Torah quote   this
talmudic passage and many of them take sides with  either
Sage.   The Rashbam states unequivocally that the prophet
is  a  false one who knows how to predict events  through
"the  impure spirit, idols" and other ancient  idolatrous
practices.  The Chizkuni, meanwhile, quotes the  position
of  R.  Akiva  that this was indeed at one  time  a  true
prophet  who has gone bad.  It seems as if the  Ibn  Ezra
attempts  to  find  a middle ground by  noting  that  the
wonder or miracle presented by the prophet need not be of
miraculous  nature.  The Ibn Ezra provides other  sources
where the words used here, "ot" and "mofet," are used  to
denote a sign.  Other prophets had performed certain non-
miraculous  actions  to  prove  the  validity  of    their
prophecies.  Through this interpretation we would not  be
forced to discuss the power of the idolater.

       Whichever  way  one  chooses  to   understand  this
prophet,  one  would still be bothered  as  to  why  this
prophet  is given a voice.  As the Chizkuni puts  it,  if
God knew that this prophet would ultimately sour, why did
He  reveal Himself to him originally?  The text tells  us
that  this  was  in  order to test  the  people  and   the
resiliency  of  their love of God.  How  is  this  to   be
understood?   There is a wide discussion  on  this  topic
amongst  the medieval commentators.  Maimonides,  in  his
Guide  to  the Perplexed (3:24), notes that  a  prevalent
belief  at  that time was that the test is  in  order  to
provide the tested with ample reward upon completion.  He
rejects this view quoting a verse which implies that  God
would not "play games" with someone.  What, therefore, is
the meaning of the test?  Many commentators have followed
the lead of the Sa'adia Gaon who asserts that the test is
to exhibit the faithfulness of the Jewish people in front
of  the  other religions.  With this interpretation,  the
phrase "the Lord your God is testing you to know" in  our
context  does  not reflect God's knowledge  but  that  of
other nations: God tests you so that it will be known how
much  you  love God.  In a similar vein many (Maimonides,
Radak, Chizkuni) have interpreted the test of the binding
of  Isaac as the setting of a standard of devotion to God
from  which  subsequent generations could learn.   So  it
seems that this prophet is not sent to trip us up, rather
he  is sent to build us up in the eyes of the world.   As
the Ramban notes in the story of the binding of Isaac, in
the  Scripture we find that it is the righteous  who  are
tested, for God knows not to test the evil.

      Having dealt with our first two questions, we  must
consider  the third one.  What is the general concept  of
prophecy?   What are the methods for determining  a  true
prophet?    Is   preaching   for   idolatry    the    only
disqualification?

      The Torah continues in Sefer Devarim to discuss how
the  nation  must set up a just society in  the  land  of
Israel.  One of the institutions included in this  vision
of  society is that of the prophet (18:15-22).  The Torah
describes how just as the people asked Moses to be  their
emissary  to  God at Sinai and beyond, so too  God  would
appoint for them a prophet to bring God's message to  the
people.   In  this  context,  the  Torah  reiterates   our
question:

 "And if you say in your hearts: 'How will we know  the
 thing that God has not spoken?'"  (18:21)

     The Torah responds immediately:

 "That which the prophet has spoken in the name of  the
 Lord  and this thing shall not come to pass,  this  is
 the  thing  which God has not spoken, the prophet  has
 spoken it spitefully, you need not fear him."

     From  a  simple reading of the text, it  would   seem
that  each prophet must provide a sign to prove  himself.
Only then wowe decide whether to follow him as we saw  in
parashat  Re'eh: if he were to preach idolatry regardless
of  how dazzling the miracle was, this prophet is  to  be
killed, otherwise we would heed the prophet.  Yet,  there
seems  to  be  a discussion amongst various  commentators
about  how  crucial this miracle is in  establishing  the
prophet.

      In  Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Yesodei   Ha-
Torah (chapter 8) he states that the miracles Moses  (the
paradigmatic prophet) performed were not to establish his
prophecy,  rather they were needed at those times.   (For
example, he had to split the sea to escape and drown  the
Egyptians.)   He goes on to say that anyone who  believes
based on signs has false beliefs.  He explains that Moses
held the people's faith as a prophet only because of  the
prophetic vision that they witnessed and even shared with
him at Sinai.  If the Rambam does not place any value  in
signs  and  wonders  of the prophet,  how  then  does   he
understand our verse?  He explains that we do not believe
the  prophet because of signs, rather Moses has commanded
us  that if the prophet should provide a sign that  comes
to  pass,  then we must heed his word.  Just as we  trust
two  witnesses in court since that is the law, eventhough
they  could  be  lying, so too we trust the  prophet  who
provides a sign since this is the law.  The Rambam strips
the  signs of prophet of any deeper significance than the
fulfillment  of  a  Mosaic  law.   The  Ramban,   however,
following the simple understanding of this verse  demands
that  any prophet seeking validity must provide  a  sign.
The  Sa'adia  Gaon,  meanwhile,  escapes  the  debate   by
providing  this verse with a new interpretation:  if  the
prophet seeks to permit something forbidden, this is  the
false prophet.  Based on this idea, many have noted  that
only  a  prophet who has proven himself to  be  a  worthy
individual  may temporarily suspend a Torah  law  (except
for  idolatry).  An unproven prophet who does this is not
to  be heeded.  This teaches us how to distinguish a true
from a false prophet, but what is the role of a prophet?

      In the description of the prophet in Devarim 18  we
find  an  interesting term.  Moshe tells the people  that
future  prophets  will be "like me."  Many  have   offered
interpretations  to  this.  The  Ramban  writes  that   to
appreciate this term we must understand the circumstances
under  which Moses was appointed prophet.  After  hearing
the  first two of the ten commandments from the voice  of
God,  the people turned to Moses and said that they could
not survive further divine contact and that he should act
as  their middleman.  According to the Ramban, we  should
note  that Moses was selected as a prophet by the  people
specifically   because  he  was  already  respected    and
accepted  as a leader by them.  So too, any prophet  that
will  speak to the people should be one from amongst  the
people, someone whom they already know and respect.

      Tanakh  relates  various stories dealing   with  the
issue  of false prophecy.  One of the most famous stories
tells  of  the debates between Jeremiah and Hananiah  ben
Azur.  Jeremiah had predicted the downfall of Judea while
Hananiah prophesied the immediate salvation of Judea.  In
that  discussion  (Jeremiah  28)  Jeremiah  provides    an
interesting  measuring stick: the prophet who  prophesies
good,  this  prophet is true only if his  words  come  to
pass.  Therefore, there need never occur doom in order to
validate the prophet of doom (see the story of Jonah  and
the  city of Ninveh).  Such a prophecy may be seen  as  a
rebuke  and  a call to repentance.  The one who  predicts
peace, however, the one who does not rebuke the people of
teach them to improve their ways, his prophecy must  come
true to be considered a true prophet.

      In the days when prophecy and idolatry were common,
one  can  imagine that the temptation to follow a prophet
was great.  The ability to predict the future, to produce
wonders could certainly lure many spiritual souls astray.
The  Torah  is  very careful to place down very  specific
laws.   Anyone attempting to lead the people to  idolatry
should  not  be  heeded.  There are no  compromises  with
idolatry.  The Torah further teaches us the role  of  the
prophet.   He is not only a liaison, but also  a  teacher
like Moshe.  Lastly, as Jeremiah teaches, he is also  one
who must rebuke the nation and seek out their betterment,
not  just  reassure them while they walk away  from  God;
rather, they were needed at those times.

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
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