Deuteronomy - Cycle One - 1126-1617 - Re'eh

The portion Re’eh takes us from sight to choice to action; from discernment before choice, to the choice itself, and then to responsibility. When I speak of discernment I mean it to include the many intricate vibrations of divine consciousness as well as heaven and earth, light and dark, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, joy and despair. Our choice (hopefully) is one of light. We take responsibility for this choice by carefully watching that which we bring to our bodies and breathe out to the universe.

First, in Re’eh we are given a visual. When we, the Israelites, arrive at the Promised Land we are to declare the blessing on the peak of Mt Gerizim and the curse on Mt Ebal. While the blessing (and Mt Gerizim) is closer to the Promised Land, and to divine consciousness, the curse (and Mt Ebal) is about a thousand feet higher. What does this mean? Well, now we can really see this darkness and light that God talks about in Torah. Think of the priestly blessing in Naso, the anger in BeChuko‐thai. But we need to be careful. Set on mountain tops, darkness and light can now see us. Yes, the blessing and the curse can be seen but they can see and embrace all that is below (as if with eyes) as well. Next, while the blessing is more intimate with consciousness, the curse has great height and attraction, a reach to the unknown, to ecstatic places where we might get lost. Finally, by giving both light and darkness a manifestation on this earth, they have equal importance and vibration. From a distance, you could say that the interweaving of both creates a tapestry with one magnificent sheen that (in human minds) can’t be disentangled. All threads glow with equal luminosity. They are all necessary. But by bringing them to us and manifesting them on mountains, we are now able to see the divine from the earthly plane and draw distinctions that could otherwise not be drawn. There are millions of fibers and connections in divine consciousness. Here they are simplified to just the blessing and the curse. Here and now we can see. This is the gift of discernment.

There are more references to discernment in Re’eh. First, described with great detail, there are the sites of idol worship and those dedicated to God. The former must be destroyed. The latter must be strengthened. In 12‐8 we learn that we can eat our sacrifices only at the sites of offering when before, we could eat them anywhere (see Leviticus). Eating at the place of worship discerns it from other places and creates a bond of humanity, of divine sparks, raises the vibration, and keeps it far from the pretense of spirituality, from the replacements of light, the ego and the place of idol worship. Later we will also see that it does the same for each of us, individually. We want to discern sacrificial animals from nonsacrificial and kosher from non‐kosher. We want to discern ourselves. We must not eat the blood of animals (see Acharey Moth) and encompass their life force. Good thing too. That blood has certainly pumped through their bodies and, like all blood, has picked up all kinds of entanglements. We must not follow idolatrous prophets or missionaries. And we must stay away from idolatrous practices, those that confuse our ego‐bodies with the light of God. We want to obliterate all fear and doubt within ourselves, stay clean so we can reflect the divine and consolidate those sparks within us to a place of pulsing radiance.

We never want to forget that there is a darkness that can find and see us (see Korach, BeChoko‐thai) if we don’t know who we are, who we bless, who blesses us, who we praise and why.

And that bring us to an acceptance of ourselves. In Re’eh God chooses two things. He chooses sacrificial sites (at a glance I found 9 references) and he chooses the Israelites as His own special nation (exact center of Re’eh, 14‐1). We, as humans, are equated to the sacrificial sites through the act of God’s choice. But wait, you might think, God has chosen sites before. However, if you look in other portions (Pinchas, Chukath, Korach, and Kedoshim) choice of site is not in the lines. Because it is here, there’s clearly more than the lines alone. There’s the idea that as God’s chosen nation, we are each a sacrifice and a place of sacrifice. We can each gift our light to divine consciousness. This is important. Taking this farther, there are all kinds of rules of sacrifice (see Leviticus) that could now be interpreted as steps towards surrender, inner peace and the breath and core of God rather than steps towards some strange primal outdated behavior. Finally, if we choose to let the light from Mt Gerizim find and see us, whoever we are, from wherever we come, then we have chosen light and it has chosen us.

Now, it’s time to take responsibility. We want to watch what we eat and bring in as well as what we give, for example in terms of tithes and money. We want to watch the coming in and going out, our breath, the expansion and contraction. The objective here is to be mindful. We are given the gift of discernment and sight. We make our choice as to how we are to blend with the divine…and now we must create and embrace all within that same high vibration. We want to be mindful of the remission year and of the poor. And we want to be discerning even during this eternal process.

The observances of Shavuot, Passover and Sukkoth each pose examples of how we can encompass discernment, choice and action in a given situation. But I’ll save those for another time. For now, may we all find the distance to see God as one, as the blessing and the curse, as the exquisite tapestry of a light and darkness that itself shines beyond any mountain we can imagine. May we all find the intimacy with the earthly plane to enable our ability to discern. May we choose light. May we accept our choice. May we know and love ourselves and in surrendering ourselves to the divine may we know and love even more. May we be the eternal manifestation of the blessing of divine consciousness. May we kiss God with hands full of prayer.