Re’eh: free will and your environment, charity and loans, utopia

This week Jews around the world study Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17, “Re’eh”, meaning “See” from the opening verse: “See, I give you today a blessing and a curse”.  The grammatical form is the imperative, connoting “You need to see”.  The verb is also in the singular, implying that each man must open his own eyes and realize his situation: that he is responsible for his own personal choices.

In Re’eh, Moses continues his farewell address to the Jewish nation, emphasizing that each man has a choice to make between blessing and curse, life and death.  Moses commands that the Jews rid the Holy Land of idols, and reveals that in the future they will pick a place to build a Temple to God (12:5).  Jerusalem is never mentioned in the first five books of the Bible simply because it was not chosen as this place yet.  Moses teaches the laws of a false prophet (13:2), and when someone tempts others to idolatry (13:7).  There is also the famous case of a city that turns to idolatry and must be razed (13:13).

This section of the Bible also gives the signs of Kosher animals, fish, and birds (14:3), and the commandment to bring a tithe to the chosen place (14:22).  Moses explains the concept of releasing loans and slaves with the sabbatical year (15).  Finally this section describes how the Jews will make pilgrimages three times a year to the Temple (16).

Scorched Earth

“You shall utterly destroy from all the places where the nations, that you shall possess, worshiped their gods, upon the lofty mountains and upon the hills, and under every lush tree.  And you shall tear down their altars, smash their monuments, burn their asherim with fire, cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name from that place.” (12:2-3)

The Holy Land is a special place.  It was not good enough for the Jews to go in and make their own temple to God.  That would make it just one among many holy places.  You can’t set up a Temple to the One God when down the street the pagans are performing child sacrifices and tending their grove of ashera.  God instructed us to uproot the idolatrous influences from Israel, even changing the names of places that had been associated with idols.

This commandment is given just after Moses instructs the Jews that each man needs to see the reality that he has a choice in life between blessings and curses.  The ancient Jews held a ceremony (described in Ki Tavo Deuteronomy 27:11-16) where half the people stood on Mount Grizim and half on Mount Eval, and recited the blessings and curses.  But what is the connection between your life choices and annihilating idols from the Holy Land?

Even though we have free will and make our own choices, we are in large part the product of our environment and culture.  When we see people regularly engaging in activities we are influenced by this and start to think those activities are normal and acceptable.  If the ancient Jews had seen idols and men engaged in idolatry, eventually they would have accepted this and been lured to follow.

Indeed, this tragedy eventually happened since our ancestors were not totally successful in eliminated idols from the promised land.  To the ancients, idolatry was not stupid and superstitious.  Today we don’t appreciate how easy it was in the past to get sucked into such a cult.  But back then they had entire cultures and belief structures built around idols and pagan rituals.  They even had access to supernatural powers to “prove” their cult was correct.  When everyone you knew believed in idols, it was easy to go along with it.

This fact clues us in that our choices are not entirely our own, but we make choices in the context of our environment.  One of my own rabbis told us that he was a very religious soul, and if he had been born in Haiti he would have become a fervent believer in the power of voodoo.  He told us this to remind us that our society of origin plays a huge role in how we view the world.

Remember, the Bible did not command the Jews to annihilate the idol worshipers, but to utterly destroy the idols themselves.   (The notable exceptions being Amalek and Midian, where the Jews were commanded to wipe out those nations to the last man for physically attacking us).  The inhabitants of the promised land who had engaged in idolatry were given a choice: abandon it and remain in Israel if they accept the Noahide laws, which includes a prohibition on idolatry.  Or leave the Holy Land and continue their idolatry somewhere else.

Moses teaches the Jews that the current inhabitants of Israel won’t be able to make a meaningful choice if their idols and altars still exist.  This is a deep psychological insight, and humans today are basically the same as we were 3600 years ago.  Many people still engage in the same sort of magical thinking that allowed idolatry to thrive.  Men cannot truly break free from their prior mistakes if they are still steeped in that framework.  Only be destroying the idols can the former idolaters be presented with a valid chance to choose between abandoning idolatry completely or leaving the holy land.

The command to eliminate anything to do with idols reminds us that when we need to do something special, we should focus completely on that.  This is especially true for spiritual pursuits, but also applies to our health, financial, and educational ventures.  This commandment reminds us that we are the product of our environment.  We are told by the Bible to choose blessing, good, and life.  Sounds great.

The problem is that in modern society, most men are given the definitions of these concepts them by outside narratives.  The media,  schools, politicians, public interest groups, and opinion makers have their own definitions of good and evil that may not be helpful or healthy for young men.  In modern public schools boys are taught to act like girls, and many medicated if they act like boys.  Men are told that to be a real man means putting a woman in charge of your life.

This narrative is so pervasive that it takes a real effort to realize it even exists…

The first step is to realize that your own free will is exercised in a context.  For most of us this context is modern secular society, which has it’s own agenda that conflicts with your personal best interest.  When you begin to realize that you are being fed definitions and shoved into a certain framework, you can think about how to make your own definitions and build your own framework for life.  Many men never open their eyes, and assume they are making free will decisions, when all of their decisions are based on someone else’s paradigm.

Brothers, wives, friends

If your brother, the son of your mother, tempts you in secret or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your embrace, or your friend, who is as your own soul saying, “Let us go and worship other gods, which neither you, nor your forefathers have known.” (13:7)

This is a famous “mesit“, or tempter.  In Jewish law, when a man is on trial, even for murder, the judges are commanded to look for exculpating evidence and argue for his innocence (Numbers 35:24–25).  This is the origin of the modern concept of innocent until proven guilty.  Only by the mesit does this  law change based on “You shall not desire him, and you shall not hearken to him; neither shall you pity him, have mercy upon him, nor shield him” (13:9).  Of course, the court still needs reliable eyewitness testimony, hearsay is not admissible in Jewish courts. 

Part of the reason behind this extremely harsh treatment of the tempter to idolatry is that idolatry undermines the foundations of Jewish society.  Entire Jewish cities could be wiped off the map if most of the inhabitants gave in to temptation (13:13-19).  This accentuates Moses’ earlier point that your free will decisions are made in context of your culture.  A culture that tolerates people who proselytize for idolatry will get more idolatry.  Each man makes his own choice in life, but when many other men are making a bad choice, that becomes more acceptable for him.

The verse 13:7 points out an interesting aspect of ancient culture.  A man’s brothers, children, wives, and close friends were considered equally influential on his choices.  The wife is third on the list, after brothers and children.  Part of this may be due to the historical reality that men were usually out of the house, in the fields and markets, which were primarily male spaces.

Children are also listed before the wife.  This is especially odd as in Jewish law a man and wife are considered one unit, one body for certain areas of law.  Jewish wisdom teaches that women have a profound effect on the spiritual achievements of men, and that their heavenly reward is even greater than that of the men, when they send their men out to learn and worship.  We see this amazing female power in the opposite direction as well, such as Jezebel, who influenced king Ahab to idolatry, and the foreign wives of King Solomon.

We can speculate that Moses is reminding the men that they should not allow their wives to be the sole source of their ideas about life.  A man needs to have brothers and close friends, a tribe, a “hevra” or “habura” in Hebrew.  A group of men who are his friends, his society.  They are outside source of inspiration and validation.  If a man relies only on his wife as the prism to view his life, he can get the wrong picture.  Women understand life differently than men do, that’s not am insult, that is simply how we are created.

Men are hierarchical, competitive, logical and direct.  Women are collaborative (at least they appear so externally) and have deeper emotional insight.  A man needs other men to help him judge his personal growth and spiritual achievements per masculine standards.  This is especially true in conventional Judaism, where much of our spiritual life is gendered.  Men learn Talmud (Gemara) and pray daily with the community.  Women are not required to do this and don’t engage in these activities*.  They can’t give men appropriate feedback on their efforts from a male perspective.
*Women are, ideally, expected to master the areas of Jewish Law that are practically relevant to them, which is an immense amount of nuanced material that many men have difficulty understanding.

In modern mainstream society “male spaces” are almost nonexistent, since women are expected to be welcomed and accommodated in every group.  Now there is a dearth of masculine spaces for men to get honest feedback on how to improve how they are performing as a man.  A modern man starts to rely on a female interpretation of his performance as a man, and this is a great danger for him.

Men get respect from other men for performance and competency, not just for showing up.  The respect earned from other men shapes how a young man sees himself, and gives him incentive to further self development.  A man should not want to “be a better man” for approval from a woman.  Being better as a man earns masculine merit.  A man should have brothers and friends that are so close to him that they could influence him towards idolatry – or to the opposite.

The highest charity

Charity is a Jewish innovation.  Before the Jews brought ethical monotheism to the world, poor people usually starved.  In a polytheistic world, why would the followers of Asherah help the servants of Baal?  If Baal wanted his people to live he would provide them food!  For the followers of Asherah, letting the Baalites starve would prove that Asherah was stronger than Baal, or demonstrate that the servants of Baal were being less pious and deserved their punishment.  Polytheism invites selfishness and destroys the human impulse to charity.  The Talmud (Bava Batra 10a) brings an illustrative exchange between our great sage Rabbi Akiva and a Roman politician:

Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva: “If your God loves the poor, why doesn’t He feed them?” Rabbi Akiva replied to him: “So that we should be saved from purgatory (in the merit of the charity we give).”

“On the contrary: for this you deserve to be punished. I’ll give you an analogy: This is analogous to a king who got angry at his slave and locked him away in a dungeon, and commanded that he not be given to eat or to drink; and a person came along and gave him to eat and to drink. When the king hears of this, is he not angry at that person?”

Said Rabbi Akiva to him: “I’ll give you an analogy: This is analogous to a king who got angry at his child and locked him away in a dungeon, and commanded that he not be given to eat or to drink; and a person came along and gave him to eat and to drink. When the king hears of this, does he not reward that person . . . ?”

This ancient conversation highlights the innovation of Jewish charity.  The ancient Romans viewed the poor as rebellious slaves who didn’t even deserve to live.  So the rich need not make an effort to feed the poor (famously the Romans kept the poor masses occupied with bread and games so they would not riot and overthrow the rich).  From the Roman’s analogy we understand that they viewed their deities as fickle and punitive.

However, the Jews see all of mankind as the children to God (14:1), as all men are created in the Divine image (Genesis 1:26).  We know God has no physical image, this is a spiritual concept only.  When a father must punish a child, the father is not being fickle, he is trying to educate and improve his son.  He doesn’t even want to hurt his son, but spare the rod…

We are commanded to be charitable because God wants His children to take care of one another.  As a father, one of the most distressing things is when your children scream and fight with each other.  The most pleasant time is when they get along and help one another.  God does not experience emotions like humans do, but the idea is the same.

When there will be among you a needy person, from one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother.  Rather, you shall open your hand to him, and you shall lend him sufficient for his needs, which he is lacking. (15:7-8)

We are commanded to give charity but the word used means to lend money (ha’avet, see 15:6).  The Bible clearly states that making loans is charity.  How are loans the paradigm of charity?  The lender gets back what he gave!

Real charity is not a hand out, but a hand up.  You don’t lend a man $10k for cigarettes and liquor, but you could lend that for him to start a business or to invest for profit.  The borrower is going to use the money to make more money, allowing him to support himself and repay the lender.  Jewish law, including Maimonides, rules that giving to a man to get him independent and on his own two feet is the highest level of charity.

When you ‘lend’ money, you must keep in mind that you may not get it back.  Your loan may become pure charity.  Don’t “lend” money that you absolutely need to get back.  The Bible gives us the commandment to forgive loans every seven years in part to remind lenders of this fact of life (15:1).

For there will never cease to be needy within the land.  Therefore, I command you, saying, you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor one, and to your needy one in your land (15:11).

Judaism does not idealize the human situation.  There will always be needy in the world.  Interestingly, the Bible uses a different word for truly destitute and starving (ani) and for relatively needy (evyon) as used here.  The Bible reminds us that some men will have more than others, and that this is the normal human situation, as we organize societies in hierarchical fashion.

However, if a society becomes wealthier, the rising tide lifts all ships.  A man can be fairly well off objectively, not starving and certainly not a pauper, but still be needy compared to other men in his own society.  A “poor” man in today’s America has vastly more wealth and access to abundance than a “rich” man did 100 years ago.  A “poor” man in America would be considered amazingly wealthy in some other places in the world.  Giving and lending to this man is still charity.

There are other religions and quasi religious political movements that preach that they will bring about perfect equality and an elimination of poverty.  This will happen soon they say, as soon as their chosen enemy is defeated.  The communists promised plenty for all as soon as the evil capitalists were destroyed, then they starved their political enemies by the millions.  Some extremists promise tranquility as soon as the infidels are wiped out, and they kill one another more than the infidel.  Environmentalists pledge perfect cleanliness when the extra people and polluting industries are removed, feminists promise perfect world harmony and happiness when the men are totally under their thumbs…

Beware of any movement promising such nonsense.  The Bible doesn’t engage in such fantasy and wishful thinking.  The Bible is totally realistic; part of being realistic is acknowledging that men have an important spiritual component.  The Bible is also realistic about how mankind functions in economic and social life.  Human beings are hierarchical, some men work harder, longer, or smarter than others.  The Bible states that this is an innate human reality.

Some take measured risks and gain windfalls.  Some lead and organize other men to build business and industry and accomplish more than one man could do alone.  If such activities are not rewarded with more material wealth, then that society disincentives work, risk, and leadership.  Sure, some men are born blessed, or lucky, or with silver spoon in hand.  Life isn’t fair, and the Bible says it never will be perfectly fair.  This gradient creates incentives for men to improve themselves and adapt to succeed in their situation.

Beware of religious and quasi-religious movements that promise an idealized future that they will create as soon as they get total power,  They are all liars.  They really want control at any cost, not harmony and equality.  And we know from our study of responsibility, people who cannot control themselves try to control others.

The Bible doesn’t want to control you, God wants you to take control of your own life and improve it. Choose life, and choose your life: make your choices with your best interests in mind.  Men can work on themselves and do better, and raise the levels and standards for their entire society.

Only when men can make real and meaningful choices about their lives is this possible.  You cannot do that in heaven or in a socialist or feminist dystopia.  Part of using your free will is realizing that in real life, some men will always have more and less than others, and doing what you can to help your brothers.  The Bible is a guide for this life, not a promise of a perfect utopia.