Parshat Re’eh – August 22, 2025 / 28 Av 5785

There is an elephant in the Jewish room. Now, I could stand up here this evening and pick out a verse or two from this week’s Torah portion and talk about how it relates to something in our lives. Perhaps, I could make a couple of humorous parallels between something in my own life and something in the Torah portion. I have done that before. I could talk about the meaning of the period of the Omer, the pilgrimage festivals of our tradition; those are mentioned in this week’s parsha. I could do nothing to stir the pot in any way. I could play it very safely this evening. But, like I said before, there is an elephant in the Jewish room. When breath from the weight of an issue makes it difficult to fill our lungs, we can’t ignore it for the sake of convenience. We can’t publicly disregard something because it might be easier to do so. That’s just not the Jewish way to go. 

We have recently heard the divisive news that Israel’s security cabinet has voted to extend and expand Israeli control over the Gaza strip-the action has already begun. This has been met with a lot of condemnation from countries, parties, organizations, and individuals. The Union for Reform Judaism, which our congregation is a member of, even released its own statement that ends with a call for Israel to end the war in Gaza immediately, bring the hostages home, and to create a coalition with Arab nations to rebuild Gaza. This is one perspective, and certainly a worthwhile one. There also exist those who see this issue completely differently. Some see the entire situation as it exists in Israel and Gaza as a case of what we might call the “Din Rodef,” which translates to the “Law of the Pursuer.” There is a Jewish argument that the actions of Israel reflect a prolonged instance of self-defense. Our great sage Maimonides says: “Every Jew is obligated to save a pursued person from his pursuer, even if this means killing the pursuer.” We all know what happened on October 7th, 2023, and I think we also know of the existential threat to national survival that Israel constantly lives with. We all want the hostages home. We all want stability. The “how” is the elephant.

Enter this week’s Torah portion, Parsha Re’eh. R’eh means “see.” Re’eh anochi notein lifneichem hayom b’racha uk’lala- See I present before you today a blessing and a curse.” The parsha tells us that upon crossing the Jordan River and entering the promised land, the Israelites are to utterly destroy all the nations that existed there prior. The people of Israel are to obliterate their idolatrous gods. They must smash their altars and their pillars. They must burn their sacred texts. If this language sounds severe and extreme, you are correct. It is, I believe, very important to remember that the Torah was built upon the creation of a people. The Jews were not to be swayed into idolatry and other religious practice by any neighbors. Perhaps the Jewish people were too fresh and fragile to resist…think of the Golden Calf incident. The Torah tells us that we must rid ourselves of any outside threats in order to remain Jewish. Fast forward to today: Is Jewish nationhood still this tenuous? Does Israel overcorrect when provoked? The question that is being posed globally, whether we agree with it vehemently, or disagree with it fundamentally, is right now, in this very moment in history, “who is the rodef- who is the pursuer?” God has placed before us a blessing and a curse. Which is which?

As Jews, we are commanded to be an ohr l’goyim, a light unto the nations. We strive to be a nation of justice, of laws, of morality. We are told to be Holy for the Lord our God is Holy; to be a nation of priests. Our aspirations are lofty and worthwhile. I ask: how can we feel holy if we are currently viewed by much of the world as the pursuers. Did we change from the victims to the victimizers, as so many claim? When did this happen? Did it happen? Is the government of Israel acting immorally? Aren’t we always vilified by the world? Is this entire conversation just the inevitable and unfair result of the smothering Israel obsession of a largely antisemitically bent world? If we can’t ask ourselves and one another as fellow Jews these questions, even if they make us uncomfortable, I can assure you that others will answer them for us. History tells us that not only will the world answer these questions for us, but they will also act in accordance with their own answers to Jewish questions. None of this is fair to us, especially as Jews in America. Being Jewish has never been rife with fair treatment. It’s about holy responsibility to the right and the good, even through struggle and difficulty; perhaps especially so. 

One of the issues we have is seemingly found in the first word and the name of this week’s Parsha: “Re’eh- SEE.” God has set before us a blessing and a curse, but it has become difficult to see the blessing and the curse clearly. Which is the way of the blessing, and which is the way of the curse? When every periodical, news channel, piece of information that exists in our globalized world tells us something disparate, how can we clearly “SEE” what is actually happening? Without seeing, how can we convert that lack of sight into usable knowledge? We hear of Israeli protests against the government in Israel. We hear of grassroots movements by Gazans to combat Hamas leadership. It’s hard to see through the opaque landscape of this issue. No matter our political views, our stances on left vs. right or red vs. blue, I feel safe in assuming that everyone here believes in the Jewish aspiration to do the right thing, to do the holy thing. I believe everyone here agrees that we have the right to exist safely as well, without fear of imminent attack constantly looming. How do we get there? Do we ever actually arrive at a place in time where Jews feel completely safe in Israel? We know the actions of the State of Israel impact Jews all over the world. If we ourselves criticize, or hear criticisms, let us always be mindful of famous activist and refusenik Natan Sharansky’s three D’s- Demonization, Delegitimization, and Double standards. These are dangerous. 

I understand that I have posed so many more questions than answers this evening. What I do know is that if Jewish history has taught us anything, it has told us that we will endure through the latest test of our peoplehood. I can also tell you that whatever does happen, we do not take pride in war, even if we technically win. Golda Meir, the 4th Prime Minister of the State of Israel said in the wake of the Yom Kippur war of 1973: “We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel.” So, perhaps we simply need to continue the conversations, and do so with open hearts and minds. Again, if we do not discuss these issues, bad actors will make Jewish decisions for us. May we be blessed to agree and to disagree, to talk and to listen. If we need to, may we engage in Makhloket l’shem Shamayim…disagreement and discourse for the sake of heaven. This is our way, and has been since time immemorial. We are always pursuers of some nature…let us be pursuers and supporters of responsible, ethical, and sustainable peace. How to get there? The question remains, but is certainly not going to be answered through silence and single-mindedness. Adonai, give us eyes to see and minds to know. Our souls are already taken care of.