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shabbat shalom!

Re’eh

Deuteronomy 11:26-16;1

Torah Reading for Week of August 9-15, 2009

Av 19-25 5769

"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 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 G-d and embarking on a path leading to idolatry.

Ramban 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 gives us a new opportunity to change and possibly to live differenty. the parasha lays out general principles, a set of commandments to follow and perform, Inorder to "see" something it usually needs to be put in front of us. The midrash tells us that the blessings and the curses aren’t there to reward us or to put us off and punish us for the past, but rather to reinforce our actions in the future. even if we can’t reach them at this point in our lives, at least we have placed a visible goal in front of us to aspire to.

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. 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. Moses opened with the blessings and curses, but he did not tell them 'all or nothing'. So, whether you are coming from a reform, conservative orthodox or Chassidic view point the most important thing is that we continue to grow, to aspire toward the truth which the torah offers. With every action we have the potential to get reward to influence others and to even motivate ourselves to do more. May we absorb the perspectives of this parsha, and change our lives for the better.It has been set before us and now is the time for us to reach for it.

'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)

Shabbat Shalom,

Miriam

"He will give to your land the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil, And your hay out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you may eat and be filled."

Hashem has given us the freedom to make the significant choices in life, and when it comes to food, there is no better ingredient than corn. It comes in many varieties, colors, tastes, and we can find bushels in our groceries and farm markets, reminding us of the flavors of the summer.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

6 ears of fresh cooked corn, cut off cob

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1 small can green chilies chopped

½ red onion finely chopped

2 fresh diced tomatoes

2 green onions

Dressing

1 Tbs. Dijon mustard

4 tbs red wine vinegar

1 ½ teas sugar ½ ts

p salt and ½ tsp pepper

½ cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients. If you make the dressing in a blender it is easier and add the olive oil slowly. Chill salad 4-6 hours or overnight, drain and serve.

Avocado and Sweet Corn Salad

2 cups sweet corn kernels

1 avocado (pitted, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces)

1 cup tomatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 cup black beans

2 green onions (sliced)

1 handful cilantro (chopped)

creamy salsa verde dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salsa verde

1/2 cup buttermilk(can substitue 1/4 cup nondairy with

2 tbl. vinegar to make it pareve)