By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — We’ve all heard inspirational messages, stories that lead to a few moments of emotional response. But for a story to lead to lasting impact, to change the course of our behavior, we must see that story as connecting to the very foundation of our life’s purpose, what many mental health experts refer to as our guiding “North Star,” our motivating “why?”
That’s what Moshe attempted to do in this week’s parasha, growing from his concerns about what the generations to come will – or won’t – do in terms of upholding all of the laws and rules that Hashem brought down for them, for us.
The name of the parasha, Eikev, is linked to its opening pasuk, “And it shall come to pass, because (eikev) you hearken to these laws, observe them and do them…” Interestingly, eikev can be pronounced akeiv, meaning “heel,” which Rashi raises as a concern for its allusion to those mitzvot that a person tramples on with his/her heel, deeming them irrelevant, foolish in our times, insignificant, or just foolish.
Commentators tell us that down to our heels, we are to “hearken” to all of the commandments that Hashem brings for us. We’ve seen the acts of Hashem, and we’ve heard the stories recounted step-by-step from Moshe, and now we are enjoined to build a bottom up and top down relationship with Hashem, from our heels to our heads.
He tells the people who saw all that Hashem did for them, “Keep, therefore, all the instruction that I enjoin upon you today, so that you may have the strength to enter and take possession of the land that you are about to cross into and possess, and that you may long endure upon the soil that the Eternal swore to your fathers to assign to them and to their heirs, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 11:7-9).
Moshe is teaching that we need to be careful with all of the commandments that Hashem brings for us, not just those that we deem important in our own thinking. As Rabbi Jonathan Sack tells us, “The fact that there is no word for ‘obedience’ in biblical Hebrew, in a religion of 613 commands, is stunning in itself. He wants us to listen, hear, eikev, not just with our ears, but with the deepest resources of our minds. If God had simply sought obedience, he would have created robots, not human beings with a will of their own.”
So, how are we doing in our moral wilderness? Wonder what Moshe thinks as he looks at the generations that have followed, and sees the relationship we’ve created based on our “why’” with Hashem’s guiding rules? Does he see us continue living in a mindless exile? Given the headlines of antisemitism today, does he see us remembering all of what Hashem did for us, genuinely attaching to the stories related by Moshe, and standing tall and proud of our heritage fully recognizing where our strength originates?
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com