Ep. 42 // Re'eh ... Sound and Sight

We learn in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 26A) that a person who has seen a crime committed cannot serve as a judge in the case. Why? When someone has seen a person commit a capital crime, they cannot possibly exonerate them. Judges are supposed to look for innocence, and if a person has seen another commit a crime with their own eyes, having impartiality isn’t possible.

Our sages recognize that sight is a very powerful sense, and we start this week’s parsha with it.

Behold, today I set before you a blessing and a curse - רְאֵ֗ה אָֽנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה

The first word in this parsha, and the name of the parsha, Re’eh, means to see, coming from Lirot / לראות. But here, Re’eh is translated most commonly as “behold.”

Why does “sight” imply understanding? When someone explains a concept to us, if we say “Ah, I see” we understand. We can also communicate our understanding with another sense, “Ah, I hear you.”

Judaism is a religion that primarily relates to sound. Our Avot, Avraham (Abraham), Yitzchak (Isaac), and Yaakov (Jacob) heard the voice of G-d and didn’t see it, Moshe heard G-d at the burning bush but didn’t see G-d, B’nei Yisrael heard the voice of G-d at Har Sinai, Mount Sinai. Even at Sinai B’nei Yisrael awoke to the SOUNDS of thunder, lightning, and a great horn blast. (Yes they saw a great cloud / the mountain ablaze, but the most important thing here is the sound — the sound of the voice of G-d delivering the first 2 of the Aseret HaDibrot, the Ten Commandments. G-d is not an entity that can be comprehended, let alone seen. And though our ancestors did see symbols / representations of G-d, the most affecting situations are found with sound.

Judaism is rare in that our “revelation” that “proves” G-d is real, happened for all the nation to hear. We all heard G-d’s voice at Har Sinai, we all had the privilege of experiencing the sound for ourselves. Much like “seeing” someone commit a crime makes you unable to say they are innocent, “hearing” the existence of G-d and the existence of our covenant with him makes us unable to deny G-d’s existence.

Throughout the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, the verb Lishmoa / לשמוע can be found in some form 92 times. But weren’t we just talking about sight? Re’eh right?

Yes! Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, pointed out that though the command is “See / behold before you,” the words that follow it only speak of hearing.

I will now roughly paraphrase -

See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. You will get the blessing if you LISTEN - תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ- and heed my laws, you will get the curse if you DON’T LISTEN - אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙.

So, SEE these 2 options that will happen if you don’t LISTEN!

The Shema, found in 3 places in the Torah and that has now become a centerpiece in Jewish belief, also focuses on sound. Shema - of course coming from Lishmoa, to hear, proclaims the basic Jewish principle - monotheism.

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱלֹקינוּ ה' אֶחָֽד - Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One.

It’s not REEH oh Israel, or SEE O Israel, it’s HEAR O Israel.

Cont’d…

For full text, email me at shirajkaplan@gmail.com or join my email list here.

opening theme: reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shira-kaplan/support