Parshas Re'eh deals with three
severe tests of faith, a false prophet, seduction, and an apostate city. In the
case of the "false prophet" the person is in fact a prophet who
performs a miracle. He uses this to tell people to abandon Hashem and his Torah
in favor of idolatry. With seduction an attempt to turn somebody to idolatry is
made by a close relative or friend. In the case of the apostate city a person
faces strong social pressure to accept idolatry because everybody else is doing
it.
Concerning the false prophet the
Chumash explicitly says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is testing you to see if you
love him with all your heart and all your soul. The idea is that if somebody
does not love Hashem and dedicate their life to His service, they will use this
miracle as an excuse to abandon the religion, or at least find the arguments of
the false prophet convincing. One can extend the idea of love of G-d countering
idolatry to seduction and social pressure. The test of the false prophet may be
the most difficult because it suggests that the Torah is not true, ,חס ושלום and that the G-d of
Today we have no prophet who can
say to the nation of Israel ,
"Thus speaks Hashem". However it is possible to hear the whispers of
the voice of G-d in the recesses of our hearts, in depth of perception of the
Tanach, and in our relationship with our surroundings. Nevertheless our
conscience can be in error, our understanding of scripture faulty, and at times
bad things happen to good people. This test is the subject of Psalm 73. It
describes the doubts that arise when the vain and wicked succeed and in
contrast hard work and purity of heart seem to be pointless. The Psalmist does
not achieve peace until he enters into the sanctuary of the Almighty. There he
sees that the malevolent will eventually slip and fall to destruction. He then
desires the counsel from Above and his body and heart yearn for G-d.
After describing the test of the
false prophet, the Chumash exhorts one to walk with G-d, fear Him, keep his
mitzvahs, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him (Devarim 13:5). These
are the the actions that will allow us to stand on tests of the faith. Walking
with G-d suggests traveling a common path. This means common goals. These are
the testimonies, included in the message of the Jewish holidays. For example
Pesach advocates human freedom, Shavuos represents subservience to principle,
Yom Kippur is forgiveness. The conclusion of the path is an ethical world at
peace based on truth.
Fearing G-d basically means
believing that there is a force of retribution in this world. Part of this is
seeing the hand of G-d in the downfall of the wicked and the punishments of
those that trespass on His will. More broadly it is the concept of reward and
punishment based on a person's actions and character.
Keeping the mitzvahs would be
fulfilling the 613 mitzvahs. More generally it means living according to the
precepts of the Tanach. This presupposes listening to His voice. This voice of
G-d is to be found in a number of places. It is most explicit in the Five Books
of Moses. It is found as well in other religious texts. It is also to be found
in the humanities and the sciences in that we should be at peace with our
fellow man and live in harmony with nature. As it says in Ethics of our Fathers
(3:12), "One, who is pleasing to the creation, is pleasing to G-d. But one
who is not pleasing to the creation, is not pleasing to G-d". The voice of
G-d is also to be found in man's soul and at times can be accessed through
quiet meditation.
Serving G-d often refers to
tefilah (תפילה). Prayer is often understood as requests
we make from G-d. It does include that, but it is more precisely self judgment.
Specifically were are called on to understand the words of the liturgy and
strive to internalize them and live according to them. This service also
includes all efforts to fulfill the mitzvahs whether they are in attitude,
mentality, word, or deed.
Clinging to Hashem can be learned
from clinging to a friend. So to speak we are asked to be a friend of the
truth, a friend of benevolence, a friend of morality, and a friend of religion.
This includes sharing common interests which can take various forms. For
example being a member of a synagogue, enjoying religious music, art and
literature, financial support and personal involvement with religious causes,
and a personal relationship with the Almighty. It comes out that if one is
engrossed in religion they will develop deep roots that are watered by the
rivers of the faith and when the storm comes it will not move him from his
place.
To view on YouTube click:
Shalom Aleichem at 8:10
Link to Wikipedia article with
Hebrew/English lyrics with transliteration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalom_Aleichem_(liturgy)
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