Re'eh - Behold

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse--
27 the blessing if you obey the commands of Yahuwah your Elohim that I am giving you today;
28 the curse if you disobey the commands of Yahuwah your Elohim and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
29 When Yahuwah your Elohim has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses.
30 As you know, these mountains are across the Yarden, west of the road, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.
31 You are about to cross the Yarden to enter and take possession of the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there,
32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

Destroy All Vestiges of Pagan Idolatrous Worship

12:1 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that Yahuwah, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess-- as long as you live in the land.
2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.
3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
4 You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way.

The Command to Worship in the Presence of Yahuwah

5 But you are to seek the place Yahuwah your Elohim will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;
6 there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
7 There, in the presence of Yahuwah your Elohim, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because Yahuwah your Elohim has blessed you.
8 You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit,
9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you.
10 But you will cross the Yarden and settle in the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.
11 Then to the place Yahuwah your Elohim will choose as a dwelling for his Name-- there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice possessions you have vowed to Yahuwah.
12 And there rejoice before Yahuwah your Elohim, you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

13 Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please.
14 Offer them only at the place Yahuwah will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.
15 Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing Yahuwah your Elohim gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.
16 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.
17 You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
18 Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of Yahuwah your Elohim at the place Yahuwah your Elohim will choose-- you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns-- and you are to rejoice before Yahuwah your Elohim in everything you put your hand to.
19 Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
20 When Yahuwah your Elohim has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, "I would like some meat," then you may eat as much of it as you want.
21 If the place where Yahuwah your Elohim chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks Yahuwah has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.
22 Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat.
23 But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
24 You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.
25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of Yahuwah.
26 But take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the place Yahuwah will choose.
27 Present your burnt offerings on the altar of Yahuwah your Elohim, both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of Yahuwah your Elohim, but you may eat the meat.
28 Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of Yahuwah your Elohim.
29 Yahuwah your Elohim will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,
30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same."
31 You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things Yahuwah hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

Warnings About a False Prophet

13:1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder,
2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them,"
3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. Yahuwah your Elohim is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 It is Yahuwah your Elohim you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against Yahuwah your Elohim, who brought you out of Mitzrayim and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way Yahuwah your Elohim commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known,
7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other),
8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him.
9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from Yahuwah your Elohim, who brought you out of Mitzrayim, out of the land of slavery.
11 Then all Yisrael will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.
12 If you hear it said about one of the towns Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you to live in
13 that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known),
14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,
15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.
16 Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to Yahuwah your Elohim. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt.
17 None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that Yahuwah will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers,
18 because you obey Yahuwah your Elohim, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.

Instructions About Pagan Mourning Rituals

14:1 You are the children of Yahuwah your Elohim. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead,
2 for you are a people holy to Yahuwah your Elohim. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, Yahuwah has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

Our first task is to examine the text of Devarim 14:1 to discover its precise meaning. Here is the Hebrew script of Devarim 14:1:

Wdd>GO*t.ti al{ ~k,yhel{a/ hwhyl; ~T,a ~ynIB'

`tmel' ~k,ynEy[e !yBe hx'r>q' Wmyfiót'-al{)w>

The following are popular English Bible translations of this verse:

Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. (king jimmy version)

You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. (NAS)

You are the children of the LORD your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead (NIV)

Since you are the people of the LORD your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads for the sake of the dead. (New Living Translation)

My translation is not much different. This is because the words are very clear to understand:

You are the sons of YHWH your Elohim; you shall not cut yourselves nor make baldness between your eyes on behalf of the dead (DRV)

This verse refers to a well known mourning custom of the pagans. The people of the world, who do not know Elohim the Creator, both in ancient times and in modern culture, perform radical and sometimes bazaar acts against their own bodies while mourning over their dead. Cutting the body for the dead was and still is practiced by many religions around the world. Some Catholics, Muslims, Satan worshippers, and others perform ritual hacking of their bodies to draw blood in mourning for and in remembrance of their dead loved ones and heroes. A contemporary example of this is reported on every year by the media as Muslims memorialize one of their great ones. Participators gash themselves and teach their little ones to slash themselves as well, usually across the head.

This kind of meaningless and vain worship is what Sha'ul was referring to in his letter to the Colossians when he states:

These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body--a wisdom with no true value--they in reality result in fleshly indulgence. (Colossians 2:22-23)

The Creator Elohim does not desire that we mistreat ourselves, cut ourselves or harm ourselves in any way. This is not acceptable worship to him. He made us in his image and requires that we love our own bodies because they are the temple of Elohim.

The Torah speaks to the kind of worship which Elohim is looking for in us and also to the kind of worship which he rejects. He first tells us that he wants us to obey his commandments, not the commandments of the religious systems of men:

These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that Yahuwah, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess-- as long as you live in the land. Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.

Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way (Devarim 12:1-4).

Yahuwah demands that we worship him his way - the righteous way. The ways of man are detestable to him and thus, he doesn't receive such worship as men think is acceptable:

You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things Yahuwah hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it. (Devarim 12:31,32)

Cutting oneself and making baldness on the forehead on behalf of the dead flies in the face of what Yahuwah wants for us. So it is clear by the context of this verse that the prohibition of making baldness on the forehead is not a general rule for all Yisrael. It is prohibited by this commandment only in the case of doing it in mourning for the dead.

Detestable Creatures That May Not Be Eaten

3 Do not eat any detestable thing.
4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.
6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.
7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you.
8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.
9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales.
10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.
11 You may eat any clean bird.
12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,
13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon,
14 any kind of raven,
15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,
17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,
18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
19 All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you; do not eat them.
20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.
21 Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to Yahuwah your Elohim. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

Instruction About the Tithe of Your Produce

22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.
23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of Yahuwah your Elohim at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere Yahuwah your Elohim always.
24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by Yahuwah your Elohim and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where Yahuwah will choose to put his Name is so far away),
25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place Yahuwah your Elohim will choose.
26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of Yahuwah your Elohim and rejoice.
27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.
28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns,
29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that Yahuwah your Elohim may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Shemittah - The Year of Release

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Yisraelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Yisraelite or brother, because Yahuwah's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.
3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.
4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,
5 if only you fully obey Yahuwah your Elohim and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
6 For Yahuwah your Elohim will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.
8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.
9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to Yahuwah against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.
10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this Yahuwah your Elohim will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free.
13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.
14 Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as Yahuwah your Elohim has blessed you.
15 Remember that you were slaves in Mitzrayim and Yahuwah your Elohim redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.
16 But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you,
17 then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.
18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And Yahuwah your Elohim will bless you in everything you do.

Instructions About Your Animals

19 Set apart for Yahuwah your Elohim every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.
20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of Yahuwah your Elohim at the place he will choose.
21 If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to Yahuwah your Elohim.
22 You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.
23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

Appearing Before Yahuwah At the Appointed Festivals

16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Pesach of Yahuwah your Elohim, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Mitzrayim by night.
2 Sacrifice as the Pesach to Yahuwah your Elohim an animal from your flock or herd at the place Yahuwah will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Mitzrayim in haste-- so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Mitzrayim.
4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
5 You must not sacrifice the Pesach in any town Yahuwah your Elohim gives you
6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Pesach in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Mitzrayim.
7 Roast it and eat it at the place Yahuwah your Elohim will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to Yahuwah your Elohim and do no work.
9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
10 Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to Yahuwah your Elohim by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings Yahuwah your Elohim has given you.
11 And rejoice before Yahuwah your Elohim at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name-- you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.
12 Remember that you were slaves in Mitzrayim, and follow carefully these decrees.
13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
14 Be joyful at your Feast-- you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
15 For seven days celebrate the Feast to Yahuwah your Elohim at the place Yahuwah will choose. For Yahuwah your Elohim will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear before Yahuwah your Elohim at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before Yahuwah empty-handed:

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