Friday, August 29, 2008  Re'eh (Mitzvot)  For more teachings on
the parashah, see the archives to this blog at August 2006.  We
mark with sadness the passing of Abie Nathan, hero of the
Israeli Peace movement, a “quixotic” individual who inspired
others and made a difference.  “… To the place where I shall
cause My name to dwell”  In Parshat Re’eh, as in the two
parshiyot that follow it, we are again in a section rich in
mitzvot—the recapitulation of the legal contents of the Torah,
which is in many ways the heart of Sefer Devarim (at least, if
not more so, than the rhetorical-historical contents of the
first three parshiyot). The mitzvot in Re’eh focus entirely, in
one way or another, on the service of God, radiating from twin
but opposite foci: the Temple and the centralization of worship,
and the prohibition, nay, all-out war against pagan worship.
Thus, following the declaration that one is to serve God (i.e.,
through animal sacrifices) only in “the place where I shall
cause My name to dwell” (an interest