Parasha Reeh
See — I place before you blessing and curse. Laws of the chosen place, kashrut, tithes, and the festivals.
Overview
Parasha Reeh opens with one of the Torah's most direct statements of free will: "See — I place before you today a blessing and a curse." It then covers the centralization of worship in the chosen place, dietary laws, tithes, the release of debts, the treatment of the poor, and the three pilgrimage festivals.
The Story
Moses commands Israel to destroy all idolatrous sites in the Land and to worship only in the place God will choose. The dietary laws are reviewed. The laws of tithes, the firstborn animal, and the Sabbatical year's release of debts follow. Moses commands: "Open your hand wide to your poor and needy brother." The three festivals — Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot — are described as times when every Israelite must appear before God, and "none shall appear before God empty-handed."
Significance for Noahides
The opening declaration — "See, I place before you blessing and curse" — is the Torah's clearest statement of human free will and moral responsibility. The command to open one's hand to the poor is a universal ethical imperative. The prohibition of false prophets and those who lead others to idolatry is directly relevant to the Noahide prohibition of idolatry.