Shabbat Shalom!.
Re’eh (Deuteronomy 11:26-16;1)
"See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse. The
blessing: that you hearken to the commandments of Hashem,
your G-d, which I command you today. And the curse: if you
do not hearken to the commandments of Hashem, your G-d,
and you stray from the path that I command you today, to
follow gods of others, that you did not know." (11, 26-27)
This week's Parsha, Parshat Re'eh, continues Moses' farewell speech to
the Children of Israel. It begins with Moshe telling the people “RE’EH”,
look here, I place before you today a blessing and a curse. What is implied here is, that man has a choice to do good (blessing) or to do bad (curse). This is what we know as “free will”. Moshe warns the nation against copying ways of the other nations, abandoning the word of God and embarking on a path leading to idolatry.
Ramban (Nachmanidies) explains that Moshe is placing before the Jewish people a stark choice between two life-paths: the path of allegiance to the Torah, and clinging to its ways, and the path of turning aside from the Torah to follow the dictates of one's own heart. The vastly different end-points of the paths are clearly foretold: blessing or curse.
The choice is in our hands every day. It is an on-going process. People may have chosen the wrong type of life style because of various conditions in their lives. This does not mean, however, that they must continue in that way. Every day the choice is ours to change your ways and live a different type of life.
As we continure the Parsha, the details of the Mitzvos that set us apart from all other nations are reiterated including that of Kashrus; Tithes; the Shmitah - sabbatical year; the laws regarding lending and the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) when we are obligated to bring sacrifices to Jerusalem In To Be a Jew, Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin suggests that the dietary laws are designed as a call to holiness. The ability to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, pure and defiled, the sacred and the profane, is very important in Judaism. Imposing rules on what you can and cannot eat ingrains that kind of self control.
Moses continues to describe the catastrophes and horrors which will inevitably result from deviation from the teachings of God:
'And God will get exceedingly angry with that land, to bring upon it all the curses written in this book ... And behold when all these things befall you, the blessing and the curse which I placed before you ...' (Deut. 29:26 and 30:1)
the text concludes with these immortal words:
'See I have placed before you today life and good, and death and evil ... I call upon heaven and earth to witness against you, life and death I have placed in front of you, the blessing and the curse - choose life in order that you and your children can live! (Deut. 30:19)
In Talmud Tractate Kedoshim 40A, the rabbis say that a person should “see” “Re’eh” the world as if it is half good and half bad. One should see the world as half meritorious and half lacking. He should see that he as individuals we can make a difference by doing mitzvot and tilting the entire world toward good. We should remember that our actions do have consequences. With every action we have the potential to get reward and to influence those around us. When Moses says that he presents us with a blessing and a curse, it is our choice to choose. As we begin the new month of Elul let us work on “seeing “what is truly important in life. Let us continue to be motivated to study Torah and appreciate its depth and wisdom so that we may "see" the truth which lies within its words.
Shabbat shalom,
Miriam
Hashem has given us the freedom to make the significant choices in life. The gift of Shabbos is when we have the "time and energy" to devote to these big questions. For the past few months I have had the honor of spending shabbos with close friends who I had not been in contact with for many years. Rosanne is an
example of someone who not only does mitzvot which affect so many people, but also showed me a fantastic way to use left- over challah . Thankyou for your continued friendship.
Rosanne's Left-over Challah French Toast
Challah cut into 1 - 1 ½ inch slabs (little stale works best). Dip first in milk then dip heavily into mixed raw eggs. Put on a hot Teflon grill with a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle some cinnamon and splenda or sugar and fry. When nice and brown, turn over. Pour any left
over egg on this side and Repeat cin + and sugar.
Make a fruit/nut mixture. I like fresh blueberries,
strawberries and mango and chopped pecan nuts. Mix
in some splenda or sugar. Put between 2 pieces of
challah. You can use syrup over it or I like a mixture
of smashed cherries and sugar free jelly. this is not
very fattening – it sure sounds like it should be but
with the fresh fruit, splenda and fiber it gives you
sustenance from all the food groups and vegetarians
really like it.
Chicken Pot Pie
1 pound leftover chicken cubed (i use white and dark meat
but whatever you prefer)
1 onion sauteed in oil or margarine
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 cups white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup non-dairy
2 sheets of puff pastry rolled to fit pan
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
In a saucepan, add carrots, peas, and celery. Add wine and broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
In the saucepan over medium heat, saute onions in oil until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, chicken and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and non-dairy. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place the chicken mixture in bottom puff pastry sheet. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top sheet, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Shabbat Shalom!.
