Parashat Re’eh and weekend services

Dear Congregants and Friends,

We very much look forward to seeing you all for services this weekend, both Friday evening August 22 at 7pm and Saturday morning, August 23 at 9am.  The Torah service will be at around 9:45am and concurrently we will have children’s story time in the social hall.  If you haven’t been in a while, don’t be a stranger. Come where the folks are friendly, the kidush yummy and the davening meaningful.

Our parshah, Re’eh, is always read near the beginning of the month Elul.  Elul of course is the month before Rosh Hashanah, the New Year-it is a month of introspection and soul-searching, as we prepare for the High Holidays with their theme of repentance and new beginnings.  In this vein, we should look carefully at a passage in our parshah which deals with a city in Israel which has given itself over to idolatry.  The Torah tells us that such a city is to be wiped out to the last living creature, burned to the ground and never rebuilt (our Sages aver that this never happened).  What is interesting is the wording-“If you hear it said of one of the towns…you shall investigate and inquire and interrogate thoroughly.”(Deut. 13:13-15). In other words, we are not to rush to judgement based on hearsay and rumor, but rather on facts, and facts alone.  It is so easy for us to judge based on what we hear or read or see on television.  But if those words are not verifiable fact, then we should suspend judgement until all the facts are in.  In doing so, we acknowledge that there is ultimately only One True Judge in this world, and while we are called to emulate God to the best of our abilities, we must be humble in our attempts, and let us approach Yom Hadin, the Day of Judgement, with humility before our Judge.  Shabbat Shalom.