Parashat Re'eh: The Art of Honor

Torah: Deut 11:26-16:17

Haftarah: Isa 54:11-55:5

Brit Chadashah: John 7:37-52

Main Sections:

God sets blessings and cursing before Israel.

Caution against false prophets.

Clean foods.

Teaching on the tithe.

Shmittah (cancelations of debts),

Harvest Festivals.

In Parashat Re’eh scripture jumps straight into Moses recounting the blessings and cursings which would be connected to Israel’s obedience, their ability to honor God, and obey his word. The word kavod or honor comes from the word meaning weighty or significant. The root word is first used in Lev 3 to refer to the liver, the heaviest of the internal organs used in the fellowship offering. The first occurrence of word kavod being connected to the fellowship offering is very telling and entirely appropriate. If we do not have any sense of honor, we will never have the proper sanctity for the person and things of God.

Honoring God is the first duty of the Messianic. If we are not careful, we can be spiritually lazy in how we sanctify or observe our prayer time and time on Shabbat. We can treat as “common” the sacred things that God has placed into our care. Our time with him is meant to be undertaken with a degree of awe, attentiveness, and honor but we are in a fast-paced society that pushes us to treat almost everything lightly so that we can handle the pace.

Honoring God helps us to declutter and reprioritize our energies so that we come into God’s presence with some strength and are not constantly exhausted, mentally depleted, or distracted. For some, honoring God will mean learning to rest and not overextend their activities. This is particularly important in our work in the congregation. We can get so caught up working on projects and doing things that we can trade our relationship with God for spiritual work and activity. We need a balance, and this is especially true if one is on the staff of a congregation.

To honor God and singularly devote our attention to him, we push out everything that distracts us and divides our attention. Sometimes this is a process. As our minds begin to settle, we can get fidgety and anxious. Being still before God is a skill. Attaining kavanah is when we settle into being settled. When our minds are focused and clear we can pray in a greater way and listen to the voice and leading of God.

When we honor HaShem we clear out our mental and emotional clutter and make a wide space for our worship and service to him. Some people achieve a sense of kavanah through meditation, others through playing music, or reading scripture. Some believers are movement-oriented in how they connect with their faith and may dance, flag, sign, write/draw, or just physically worship. Many days, especially when I have trouble focusing, I start out praying liturgy so that I can coral my mind and direct my attention. After I am settled, I can pray, attend to God’s presence, and seek him for direction.

Honoring God means that we understand his love for us. It is easy to get caught up in our humanity, personal issues, arrogance, anger, selfishness, or victimhood. If our self-esteem has taken a few hits, we can feel shaky and insecure. All of these affect how we give honor to God. We can fall into the trap of blaming God for those things we don’t understand, for the bad things that happen in life, or for those times when our expectations were not met. Honoring God has a lot to do with how we trust him and how intimate we are willing to be with his presence. If we think that God does not love us, or worse has cast us aside, it will be difficult to honor him because we do not have a grasp on his love for us.

The emotional distance we can experience in our spirituality is not always due to sin, it can be from getting weary in trials as well. This is an easy place to get into. It does not mean that we lack faith or are backslidden, it does mean that we need to practice our passions and seek his renewal. Life can constantly violate our person and when it does, our faith is the agent of renewal that brings us in contact with God for restoration. When our faith and love for him are renewed, we can honor him the way we should. We can love him fully, serve him passionately, and accept his sovereignty over the path of our lives.

Closing the gap of emotional distance sometimes involves reframing our concepts. Instead of looking too far into the future and trying to take in too much that we have no sense of control over, we can simply ask what God had ordained for the day we are living in. I often pray, “God, how can I be in your will and serve your purpose today? Help me look to you to see opportunities to minister and advance your kingdom.” Being attentive to the day we are in helps us focus on what is in front of us and connect more fully with those who God placed into our lives. When we focus on what God has placed around us and get our eyes off the spiritual mountains that won’t move, we can adjust our focus and energies and find new faith. Sometimes finding faith in our present is the key to ministering to the sense of frustration that overwhelms us. When we are pursuing the purpose God has given us, there will always be things we cannot control. Only God can move our mountains in his time and place.

Emotional distance can also be created when we confuse God’s will with our own. We can get fixated on an outcome, getting something, or being able to do something. It is easy to get tunnel vision when we are excited and feel like God is leading us. We can get all of our blocks in order, build our efforts with anticipation, and then feel rejected when things do not work out. If we don’t properly seek God’s will, timing, and place, we can fall into the trap of exalting our concepts above God’s. One person made a deal with God that he thought was noble. This bargaining was a form of manipulation where he was telling God that he would serve him if God would give him something. In the aftermath he stated that he tried God and God “let him down”, so he could not live for him. This emotional distance continued to widen until he lost all passion and desire to be close to God in any way.

Honoring another is the second key duty of the Messianic. Kavod HaBriyot means “respect for all human beings” or “dignity of all people.” It is the Jewish belief that everyone regardless of who they are deserves to be treated with honor and dignity because they were created in the image of God. Rabbi Irving Greenberg stated, “Because humans are the image of God, they are endowed by their creator with three intrinsic dignities: infinite value, equality, and uniqueness.”

Kavod HaBriyot helps us with giving compassion and being kind. It is a respect that recognizes each person’s uniqueness and the value of their thoughts, emotions, and opinions. It means that we are just as dedicated to protecting the honor of another as we are our own, fulfilling the biblical directive to “love your neighbor as yourself”. (Lev 19:18, TLV)

Shabbat Shalom

Rav Calev

Next Feasts

Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset, Sept 22^nd and ends at sunset on Sept 24^th.

Yom Kippur begins at sunset, Oct 1^st and ends at sunset on Oct 2^nd.

Sukkot begins at sunset, Oct 6^th and ends at sunset on Oct 13^th.

Hebrew words to know:

Kavod HaBriyot- Dignity or respect of people.

Ani ohev otakh (masc), Ani ohevet otkha (fem)- I love you 

Tachlis- (Yiddish) speaking directly to the point.