Portion 47 of 54 · Deuteronomy
רְאֵה
Re'eh
A choice is set out plainly, and then a long stretch on giving, lending, and releasing debts.
Start by reading it
Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17
6 chapters. About 24 minutes at an unhurried pace.
Paired reading from the prophets: Isaiah 54:11–55:5
What happens
- 01
See, I set before you a blessing and a curse. Choose.
- 02
One central place of worship, and warnings against following other gods.
- 03
Every seventh year, debts are released. Do not let the approaching year make you tight fisted.
- 04
Open thy hand wide. The three pilgrimage feasts, and nobody comes empty handed.
The thing most people walk past
It names the excuse before you make it
The text anticipates the calculation — the release year is close, so why lend? — and forbids it in advance. It knows exactly how a generous law gets quietly worked around.
One verse to carry
but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him.
Not a feeling. A hand, opened, wide. The Torah keeps translating compassion into something physical and checkable.
A question to sit with
'The poor shall never cease out of the land' and 'there shall be no poor among you' are in the same chapter. How do you hold both?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.