Timeless Torah

Unlike other cultures, Judaism worships the word, not the image. G-d, as encountered by the Patriarchs or the Israelites at Sinai, came not as a visible presence, but as a voice - challenging, and summoning. Listen how insistent Moses is on that point: “Then G-d spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no image; there was only a voice.”
The G-d of Israel cannot be visualized. Hence the prohibition against making images. Idolatry is more than absurd: worshipping things we ourselves have made; objects that “have mouths but cannot speak...eyes but cannot see!” The very idea that G-d can be seen is ridiculous; not because He is of great dimension, He is of no dimension.
Hence the key word Shema-Hear. From, “Hear O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is one,” to, “Earth hear the words of My mouth,” the verb shema appears 92 times in this one Book of Devarim (which itself means words).
Israel is the people called on to reject images in favor of words; to discard appearances and follow instead the commanding Voice. In the ancient world, religions offered spectacles. Thus a G-d that could not be visualized proved quite difficult to peddle. “Where can you see G-d?” they were asked.
Judaism’s answer was that G-d is found not in the vast spaces of the universe, nor in the minute letters of the genetic code. If this is where you seek G-d, you are looking in the wrong place. Indeed the real mistake is that you are looking at all.
G-d is discovered not by looking, but by listening. He lives in the words of the Torah and the prophets. Why? Because words are what make humans unique. Because we have language, we can ask questions like “Why?” We can dream dreams, imagine alternatives, sketch utopias, formulate plans, construct intentions. Only because of language are we morally responsible.
To be sure, we share 98% of our genes with primates, but it is the other 2% that counts. The fact that we can speak means we are held accountable to keep our word. But language is more. Animals are surely conscious, but human beings are self-conscious. Animals may be alone; but only we feel lonely. That is because we can articulate the difference between I and you. Speech means we can ask for help and respond to others asking for help. We can share our hopes and fears. Speech thus allows us to bridge the abyss that lies between us.
Other cultures believed that G-d created the universe and then ceased to take any further interest in it. They found it possible to imagine G-d creating an impersonal world, but impossible to imagine Him speaking to persons. For them, G-d was a force, the Cause of causes. He was an “It” that created; but not a “You” that communicated. He was the G-d of science but not of speech. It was this doctrine which Judaism opposed.
True, G-d as Himself is beyond us; but in speaking He opened up a relationship with humanity. All He asks is that we speak back to Him. Therefore, seek Him in His own words; for the Torah constitutes the covenant that binds us. To meet G-d, you must listen to G-d.
Our portion however, seems to represent a counter-example. Re’eh, its first word, means See. On the face of it, Moses is making an appeal to the eye, not the ear. However, if we examine the role of sight in Judaism we discover something strange. Often, when the Torah seems to be using a verb or metaphor for sight it is actually referring to something not seen at all, but rather heard.
One example can be found in the opening of the book of Isaiah: The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah saw: Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the L-rd has spoken...Hear the word of the L-rd, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law!”
The initial verse speaks of a vision. Yet it contains no visual imagery. What Isaiah ‘saw’ was a proclamation, not a sight. Here too, the key verbs are hear and listen.
More striking is an episode in the first chapter of Jeremiah: The word of the L-rd came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. The L-rd said, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled.”
Jeremiah saw an almond tree, a visual image. Yet immediately we discover that what is significant is not the appearance of the tree but the sound of its name. In Hebrew almond tree is shaked, similar to the verb to watch- shoked. The passage is a verbal pun. Jeremiah saw but G-d taught him to listen.
The same thing occurs at the beginning of our reading: See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse; the blessing if you listen to the commands ...that I am giving you today; the curse if you do not listen to the commands.
The text seems to be about seeing. In fact, it is about listening to something heard, namely a blessing and a curse. The non sequitur is so marked that some translators render the verb re’eh not as see but as understand.
Re’eh-See turns out to be not a contradiction of the idea that Judaism reveres the word, but a dramatic reiteration of it. “See, I am placing before you both a blessing and a curse.” What were the Israelites asked to see? Words.