The Prelude to All That is Good

Parshas Eikev

Posted on July 29, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah| Level: Beginner

And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform, that HASHEM, your G-d, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. (Devarim 7:12)

 

And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love HASHEM, your G-d, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, (Devarim 11:13)

 

And it will be, if you hearken: Heb. וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ literally, And it will be, if hearkening you will hearken. If you hearken to the old [i.e., if you study what you have already learned], you will hearken to the new [i.e., you will have a new and deeper understanding]. – Rashi

I don’t know what “hearken” and “heed” mean. They are not words that we use often these days. That’s what happens when we study Torah translated to a different language. There is something always lost in the translation. “Hearken” and “heed” are really not bad substitutes for “SHEMA” – Listen! One verse literally reads, “V’Haya Eikev Tishmaoon” “if you will listen”. Eikev literally means heal and “V’Haya”, our sages tell us, always introduces good news. Good Things are coming because of this type of listening. Also, we have “V’Haya Im Shamoah Tishu… “If you will listen–listen to My Commandment”. More good news is promised for that double form of listening. Rashi explains that if you listen to the old you will be able to listen to and learn the new. Somehow the search for new is dependent on success in reception of the old. In any case listening seems to be the master key to all the promises. Let’s explore how it works.

 

Everything in life filters down through 1) Thought 2) Speech 3) and Action. One of my teachers told us that this is true as well in each domain. In the arena of thought, for example, there is the “thought of thought” and then there is the “speech of thought” and then the “action of thought”.

 

This has implications in the world of listening. There are many levels to listening. Listening is an art and like any art form there is a science to it as well.

 

There is a way of listening whereby one hears the words that are being delivered but they remain in the realm of the “thought of thought”. The words are all understood but they are remote, abstract, like a stone skipping over the surface of a pond but they do not penetrate the listener.

 

The apocryphal story is told that Mrs. Einstein was asked once if she understands what her husband is speaking about. Her reply was, “Every word! It’s just the sentences I am having trouble with!” It’s possible to hear every word and not understand and even to understand but still remain unaffected.

 

There is another level in listening whereby one cogitates on the words. He is digesting what is being said. This sparks an inner dialogue. Now in the realm of the “speech of thought” a bridge is being built between the mind and the heart. The listener begins to feel the message and empathize with the speaker. Their worlds are slowly merging and readying to become one.

 

From being two separate circles, they are now touching and overlapping like a Venn diagram.

 

The next level of listening is where the message is validated inwardly, accepted, embraced, and even celebrated. The listener is enveloped by the message. The circle of the listener is surrounded by the size of the message.

 

Sometimes we sip an idea thinking we are larger than it but like the ocean it then swallows us and we are now swimming and bathing in its enormity.

 

From the heart it has traveled all the way down to the bottom of the foot. The heel is the darkest and most unfeeling part of our anatomy, yet it too is affected by message. That’s major!

 

This now is the realm of the “action of thought”. Here decisions are made, life changing decisions, and commitments. Now maybe we can understand the introductory words,”V’Haya Eikev Tishmoon” – If you will listen with the heel of your foot then you will be spurred by and inspired into action and that is the prelude to all that is good!

 No Easy Matter

Parshas Eikev

Posted on August 20, 2024 (5784) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

In ancient times, many of the more enlightened Romans were fascinated by the purity, spirituality and truth of Judaism – but very few of them actually converted. The burden of the Torah – submission to divine authority, circumcision, Sabbath and festival observance, dietary laws, ritual purity – was simply too heavy to bear. In our own times as well, many secular Jews feel drawn to traditional observance, but only a limited number of them can bring themselves to make the commitment. Without question, keeping the Torah is no easy matter.

 

And yet, in this week’s Torah portion, we find an amazing statement. In summing up the demands of the Torah, Moses declares, “And now, O Israel, what does G-d your Lord ask of you but to fear G-d your Lord, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve G-d your Lord with all your heart and all your soul?” So what is Hashem asking of us already? Not much, Moses tells the Jewish people. Only to fear Him. Only to walk in all his ways and love Him. Only to serve Him with all our hearts and souls. That’s all.

 

That’s all? Is this such an easy thing?

 

The commentators explain that the Hebrew word yirah, fear, is closely related to the word re’iyah, seeing. The key to fear is clear vision. If we see the Creator in the world around us, if we recognize His Presence, we will inevitably be seized by an overwhelming awe of His greatness and goodness. All Moses asked was that we open our eyes and look. The rest would take care of itself.

 

But how do develop this clear vision? How do we penetrate the veil of concealment that separates us from our Creator? This in itself is surely no easy matter.

 

Our Sages find an allusion in this verse to the daily requirement of making one hundred blessings. Nothing may be taken for granted. On special occasions, we are inspired to make the blessing of Shehechianu, thanking Hashem for giving us the life and the sustenance to enjoy this wonderful experience. We can relate to the wonder of these rare occasions. If a sunrise occurred only once every twenty years, we would rise before dawn to watch the spectacle with bated breath, and we would be humbled by the awesome Presence of the Creator. But a sunrise occurs every day, and we have learned to take it in stride.

 

The same is true of the countless miracles of daily living. If they were not so familiar, we would gasp at them in wonder. We would be exhilarated as we wrap ourselves in warm clothing. We would be intoxicated by the smell and taste of a fresh cup of coffee. We would be astounded at the ability of the body to excrete its waste products and cleanse itself. Yet we take all these things for granted. But if we make the hundred blessings, if we take the time to acknowledge the divine benevolence inherent in all the minute details of existence, we would maintain a perpetual sense of awe and wonder. This is what Hashem wants of us, that we open our eyes and truly see the wonders of His creation, so that this clarity of vision will translate into a sense of the awesomeness of Heaven.

 

However, as a great sage once commented, heaven is closer to earth than the heart is to the mind. A purely intellectual awareness of Hashem, expressed by lip service in the form of a hundred daily blessings, is simply not enough to inspire true fear of Heaven. The knowledge cannot be detached from the person. We must “lift up our eyes and see who created all these,” in the words of the prophet Isaiah. We must transcend our materialistic view of the wonders of the world and see them as an expression of an infinite spirituality of which we our souls are an integral part. We must involve our hearts and souls in this awareness of the omnipresence of the Creator, and thereby transform ourselves.

 

A famous Greek philosopher’s disciples discovered him eating flesh ripped from a live animal, and their disgust registered on his face.

 

“How can I philosopher do such a thing?” they asked.

 

“Right now I am not a philosopher,” he replied. “I’m just a hungry man. When we meet later, I shall be a philosopher once again.”

 

We all have the ability to transform our own lives, as long as we integrate our awareness of the Creator into our identities. When our blessing and expressions of gratitude emanate from such an awareness, we will undoubtedly find that all these difficult things Hashem asks of us are, indeed, an easy matter.