Parashat Re’eh: What do the Miracles at the Splitting of the Jordan River Teach Us About Free Choice?

 

Parashat Re’eh
What do the Miracles at the Splitting of the Jordan River Teach Us About Free Choice

How Does the Path Away from the Torah Resemble a Merry-Go-Around?

One of the Torah’s most fundamental beliefs is that of free choice. Hashem endowed all humans with the ability to choose between good and evil. Being created in “the image of G-d” grants us this Divine gift of free choice. Childhood wounds and traumas do not confine us – we have the choice to rise above the baggage of our past and choose kindness and positivity rather than wallow in bitterness and self-pity. The best choice I ever made was choosing the Torah path. After exploring and searching for meaning, it became clear to me that the secular path of my upbringing resembled my hamster’s merry-go-around. It kept moving but never got anywhere other than in circles. Similarly, if I continued walking in my parents’ footsteps, I would get a good education, find a good job, marry an educated, affluent man, ensure our children received a good education, marry well, and have children who in turn would receive a good education – and so the merry-go-around would continue ad infinitum. This lifestyle didn’t seem to lead anywhere. I asked myself, “What would be accomplished at the end of the day?” In contrast, choosing the Torah path leads to eternity. Rather than working for ephemeral success in this world, we strive to serve Hashem and fulfill His will, which leads to accomplishment both in this world and in the world to come. Yet there is never any guarantee – while we have 100% control over our choices, we have 0% control over the outcome. I wish I could speak from my heart to all the teenage daughters who choose the secular path and ask, “So where is the path away from the Torah leading you? Why exchange the truth and tranquility for confusion, depression, drug abuse, eating disorders, and cutting (self-mutilation)?” Yes, I know you have been hurt, and I want to embrace you deeply and kiss your wounds into healing. You are young, your life is still before you, and you can start afresh by choosing the blessed life of Torah.

What is the Eternal Significance of Our Choices?

Parashat Re’eh opens with encouraging us to see and distinguish between the blessing and curse that Hashem has set before us as we enter the Land of Israel:

ספר דברים פרק יא  פסוק כו רְאֵה אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם בְּרָכָה וּקְלָלָה:

“See, I set before you today blessing and curse” (Devarim 11:26).

This verse is reflected later in Parashat Nitzavim: “It will be, when all these things come upon you – the blessing and the curse that I have set before you” …I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse – and you shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live” (Devarim 30:1 and 30:19).

The Ohr HaChaim explains that this verse describes two sets of realities. The first – “life and death” – refers to the here-and-now: the tangible consequences of our choices in this world. If we choose well, we will live; if we choose wrongly, we risk death. The second – “blessing and curse” – refers to the eternal destiny that awaits us after we leave this world. This is why the verse separates the two – the first applies to our present life; the second unfolds only after death.

This perspective lifts us out of the dizzying circles of the merry-go-round. Life is not an endless loop of empty achievements – every choice is charged with eternal significance. Choosing Torah is not merely about securing a better lifestyle here – it is about planting seeds of blessing that will bear fruit in both worlds. Even in moments when the reward is hidden, and the “life” promised feels far away, the Torah assures us that every act of choosing good is shaping both our present reality and our eternal future.

Does the Land of Israel Activate Our Choice Affecting the Spiritual World?

The Torah does not leave “choose life” in the realm of abstraction – it situates that choice at the Jordan’s crossing and inscribes it into the twin mountains that face Gilgal. As we enter the Land, the choice that shapes Olam Haba is stamped into geography itself – blessing upon Har Gerizim and curse upon Har Eival:

ספר דברים פרק יא  פסוק כט וְהָיָה כִּי יְבִיאֲךָ יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ וְנָתַתָּה אֶת הַבְּרָכָה עַל הַר גְּרִזִּים וְאֶת הַקְּלָלָה עַל הַר עֵיבָל:(ל) הֲלֹא הֵמָּה בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן אַחֲרֵי דֶּרֶךְ מְבוֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בְּאֶרֶץ הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַיּוֹשֵׁב בָּעֲרָבָה מוּל הַגִּלְגָּל אֵצֶל אֵלוֹנֵי מוֹרֶה:(לא) כִּי אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן לָבוֹא לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הַשֵׁם אֱלֹהֵיכֶם נֹתֵן לָכֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֹתָהּ וִישַׁבְתֶּם בָּהּ:(לב) וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם לַעֲשׂוֹת אֵת כָּל הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי נוֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם:

“When Hashem your G-d brings you to the Land to which you are coming to inherit it, you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Eival. Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, after the road of the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain, opposite Gilgal, near the terebinths of Moreh? For you are crossing the Jordan to come to inherit the Land that Hashem your G-d is giving you; you shall inherit it and dwell in it. And you shall guard to perform all the statutes and the ordinances that I set before you today” (Devarim 11:26-32).

It is noteworthy that the choice between “life and death,” which refers to our tangible reality in this world, is not mentioned in our parasha. Instead, it is specifically the choice between “blessing and curse” – pointing to our eternal destiny in the World to Come – that is connected with crossing the Jordan, the defining boundary that distinguishes the Land of Israel from all other lands. Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, the Netziv, explains that the purpose of crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land was that this great act would awaken the soul – for just as every significant action leaves a lasting impression on the soul, so too here, their miraculous entry into the Land etched a deep spiritual imprint within them (Ha‘amek Davar, Devarim 11:31). It is therefore no coincidence that the moment the Israelites took the leap of faith – to cross the Jordan into the Holy Land – became the very moment when our choice affecting Olam Haba – the world of souls – was activated.

What Turns a One-Time Miracle into a Life of Blessing?

The miracles of the Jordan’s splitting strengthened our emunah, as Rashi explains: “For you are crossing the Jordan…” – the miracles of the Jordan will be a sign in your hands that you will come and inherit the Land (Rashi, Devarim 11:31). These miracles not only assured us that the Land would be ours – they also awakened our soul. The Imrei Shammai teaches that the miracle was not an end in itself but a charge to live continually with the faith it inspired, for the purpose of all miracles is to draw us closer to Hashem in our daily lives. By the merit that they crossed the Jordan with the intent to drive out the inhabitants of the Land before them (Sotah 34a) – obeying Hashem’s voice and the voice of Yehoshua just as they had obeyed Moshe at the Sea of Reeds – they were rewarded. Both crossings were acts of faith and self-sacrifice, for the waters of the Jordan stood up as one wall, twelve mil high (11.5 km or 7+ miles) straight up! The people of Israel were in danger that the waters might rush upon them and drown them. Yet they believed in Hashem and in Yehoshua, as it is written, “And they feared him as they had feared Moshe all the days of his life” (Yehoshua 4:14). In the merit of this faith, they inherited the Land. The more we live a life of emunah – which can only be fully realized in the Land of Israel – the more we dwell in the spiritual dimension and awaken the eternity of our souls. Experiencing the miracles of the current war likewise strengthens the emunah of our soldiers. This faith is manifest in Israel’s courage to confront evil on multiple fronts, and in the belief that Hashem Himself is fighting our wars. Perhaps this very emunah inspired Israel’s decision on August 8 to conquer Gaza, defeating Hamas and concluding the war. May Hashem bring our complete victory soon!

October 7th has finally made it clear to most Israelis that we can only dwell securely on our land by conquering it completely, as it states: וִירִשְׁתֶּם… וִישַׁבְתֶּ – “you shall inherit it and dwell in it” (Devarim 11:31). Yet it also works the other way around – inheritance only becomes real through dwelling, via the everyday acts that root us in the Land: locking, fencing, planting, repairing. The Sifri teaches that this mitzvah is not complete without dwelling, for the essence of inheriting the Land is to take possession of it in a lasting way, which is only achieved by living there permanently (Torah Temimah, Devarim 11:31, note 47).

The Chatam Sofer deepens this concept by focusing on the miracles of the Jordan as proof of our merit to inherit the Land. He questions Rashi’s statement that these miracles would be a sign of inheritance and answers with the Talmudic story of the River Ginai, which replied to Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair’s command to split: “I certainly do the will of my Creator, but you – perhaps you do the will of your Creator?” (Babylonian Talmud, Chullin 7a). When the Jordan split before the Israelites, it testified that they were indeed doing the will of their Creator, for otherwise the Jordan – which surely fulfills its Creator’s will – would not have split for them. The splitting of the Jordan was thus not merely a miraculous passage; it was Heaven’s public testimony that Israel is worthy to inherit the Land, for the very forces of creation only move aside for those fulfilling Hashem’s will. May we be worthy of continued miracles to conquer the entire Aza and free all the hostages!

What Makes the Inheritance of the Holy Land Endure?

Parashat Re’eh summons us to see – to cultivate inner vision that recognizes how Hashem’s blessing becomes tangible, specifically in Eretz Yisrael. The Torah anchors this vision in place: the Jordan, the Gilgal, Har Gerizim, and Har Eival. Geography becomes pedagogy. We do not inherit abstractions – we inherit a holy Land through revealed miracles and sustained emunah. The declaration at the entrance to the Land of Israel about the curses that follow transgressing the mitzvot, and the blessings we merit by keeping them, teaches that the inheritance of the Land is dependent on performing its mitzvot. When we live in the Land for the sake of its mitzvot, the Land answers. Miracles become signs, signs become memory, and memory becomes a life in which וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים – לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ – “Your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the Land forever” (Yeshayahu 60:21). The Jordan still whispers to those who listen: walk forward – the dry ground of inheritance is waiting.