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Re’eh: How to Stay on the Path of Blessing During Trials

"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)

As the children of Israel stand poised to cross over into the Jordan, God sets before the people two separate and distinct directions: a way of blessing if they choose to obey God’s commandments and a way of cursing if they choose to walk in disobedience to those laws. These two directions, the blessing and the curse, are to be proclaimed on two mountain tops in the Land: Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

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Ki Tavo: God’s Treasured Possession

An observant Jewish Israeli blesses a father and son at the Western Wall (Israel Tourism photo by Sasson Tiram)

The Lord promises Israel in this Parasha that if they keep His commandments, they will be "His treasured possession.” And although they have experienced many curses over the generations, in the Haftarah (prophetic portion), the prophet Isaiah tells Israel that God in His favor and mercy will one day exalt them even in the midst of much persecution and hatred against them.

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Re’eh: Choosing the Path of Blessing or of the Curse

Father and son walk together in Jerusalem

As the children of Israel stand poised to cross over into the Jordan, God sets before the people two separate and distinct directions: a way of blessing if they choose to obey God’s commandments and a way of cursing if they choose to walk in disobedience to those laws. These two directions, the blessing and the curse, are to be proclaimed on two mountain tops in the Land: Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

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Parasha Toldot (Generations): The Battle for the Blessings

pregnant woman

Although part of the the blessing upon Isaac is the promise that those who curse him will be cursed, the focus of the Parasha is on blessings, and not curses. In fact, the Hebrew word for blessed (baruch) is so significant in this Parasha that out of 106 verses, baruch appears 34 times! This word, baruch, comes from brachah (blessing), but with a small change in vowel, it becomes breicha—a wellspring of water or even a pool.

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Noach: The Sign of the Covenant

This week, we continue our study from the first book of Moses with the Biblical character of Noah—the only righteous man of his generation. The Hebrew Scriptures describe Noah as tzadik (צַדִּיק righteous) and tamim (תָּמִים pure, innocent, complete and faultless). Noah stands in contrast to the time in which he lived. Only six chapters into the Bible, the world is already described as being filled with violence and corruption to the point that God regretted ever creating mankind.

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Parasha Ki Tavo (When you Enter): Entering the Promise

An observant Jewish family (Photo: Go Israel / Noam Chen)

It must have been a relief for the children of Israel to hear that their prolonged, 40 year journey through the terrible wilderness would finally be coming to an end. They were about to cross over into the Promised Land. In fact, the word in Hebrew for a Hebrew, Ivri, comes from the root I-V-R, which means to cross over. In a spiritual sense, anyone who has crossed over into the Kingdom of God is an Ivri. For that reason, perhaps, Paul said that being a Jew is a matter of having a circumcised heart more than circumcised flesh. He wasn’t negating circumcision, of course; he was emphasizing that to cross over into the Kingdom of God, there must be an inward change. Those who worship God, worship Him in spirit and in truth.

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