1st Portion Re'eh Part 2 (Deu 11:31-12:2)

31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you [the miracles that you experience then will be a sign to 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.

The One Place of Worship

1 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely [(whence it is derived that in destroying idolatry one must uproot it entirely)] all the places [which are] on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.

Rashi’s Commentary

11:31 You are about to cross the Jordan—The miracles that will be wrought for you during your crossing of the Jordan shall be an omen for you that you will indeed enter and inherit the land (cf. Sifrei Devarim 57).

12:2 Destroy completely—Destroy and again destroy! (i.e. destroy completely). From here we learn that he who eradicates an object of idol-worship must thoroughly uproot it (i.e. remove every trace of it).

The places . . . where the nations . . . worship—And what shall you destroy from them? Their gods which are on the mountains (Avodah Zarah 45a).

SifreiDevarim 57:1

11:31 You are about to cross the Jordan—When you cross the Jordan, you will know that you will inherit the land.

The Lord your God is giving you—In your merit.

When you have taken it over and are living there—In reward for inheriting, you will dwell.

SifreiDevarim 60:1

12:2 Whence is it derived that if an Asherah (a tree devoted to idolatry) were cut down and grew again it must be cut down again—even ten times? From “Destroy completely.”