Parshas Eikev Messages 5779

בּ"ה

Parshas Eikev

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‘And it will be because you will listen to these rules -- והיה עקב תּשׁמעוּן את המּשׁפּטים האלּה’ (Devarim 7:12)

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In Gemara Megillah, we are told that the word והיה is a language of joy. The verse thus alludes to us that if we are B’Simcha, happy, we will actually be able to keep the Mitzvos and serve Hashem a lot better. My Rebbe, HaRav Tal Moshe Zwecker shlit”a, in fact, explained to me that joy can be greater than a Mitzvah, because it leads to more Mitzvos. (See Beis Aharon).

And on the other hand, the verse seems to imply that keeping the Mitzvos and serving Hashem helps to bring more joy. As the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh (to this verse) writes: “There is not to a person to rejoice except when he guards to do all that Hashem commanded to do; then his heart will rejoice and his Soul will exult.”

(Ach Sameach)

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The Chiddushei HaRim {first Gerrer Rebbe -- HaRav Yitzchok Meir Alter zt”l} also brings the teaching that והיה implies joy. And he further explains that the word עקב can allude to the period of עקבתא דמשיחא, the time right before the arrival of Moshiach, when, as we are told, a lot of bad things will be rampant in the world. [And according to many Gedolim, we are holding in this time period right now!] Based upon these, he says that the verse hints to us the great joy Hashem derives when we keep His Mitzvos even in such a low generation as we live in today. . .

(Chiddushei HaRim al HaTorah)

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‘And it will be because you will listen to these rules -- והיה עקב תּשׁמעוּן את המּשׁפּטים האלּה’ (Devarim 7:12)

The word עקב can also mean ‘heel’. Below are some lessons taught by Meforshim from this:

1) ----- This verse refers also to keeping the Commandments which people look at as less important and tend to figuratively trample on them with their heels (Rashi zt”l from Midrash Tanchuma).

2) ----- The word עקב alludes to us that we must try to be very humble, and that will help us be able to understand Torah studies. And further, if we humble ourselves “like a heel”, secrets of the Torah will be revealed to us (Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh).

3) ----- It teaches us that all the more material rewards described here for keeping the Mitzvos are not nearly as great as the principal reward we will get, just like the heel is low down on the body (Rabbeinu Bachya zt”l).

4) ----- We see from the language of עקב used that we will be rewarded or punished for our footsteps, i.e. the way which we walk (see Gemara Bava Metzia 107a and Sotah 22a). There is great reward given to those who use their ability to walk or run to go to Shul, to Beis Midrash; visit the sick, go to comfort mourners, etc. But on the other hand, we will be punished if we make footsteps in the wrong direction -- meaning, going places to do bad things, or to just bad places, or walking in an improper or haughty way. (Ibid.)

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‘If you will say in your heart, “These nations are more numerous than me; how will I be able to drive them out? You shall not fear them. . .”’ (Devarim 7:17-18)

If we realize that according to the “natural order” of things, we wouldn’t be able to conquer those nations, because they were much more numerous than we, and only with the help of Hashem could we drive them out, then ‘you shall not fear them’ -- meaning, we have no reason to fear, because Hashem will indeed come to our aid. But, if we think that we can do it with ‘our strength and the might of our hands’, (c.f. 8:17) then we definitely have what to fear, because He might not protect us from them (see also Maasei Hashem).

(Derech Chaim Tochachas Mussar

in Shnei Luchos HaBris vol. 3)

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‘Your garment did not wear out from upon you and your foot did not swell this forty years.’ (Devarim 8:4)

The Clouds of Glory would rub the Jews’ clothes and press them. And also, as the children would grow, their clothing would grow with them, like the shell of a snail, which grows with it.

(Rashi zt”l from Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah)

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‘And you shall know with your heart that just like a man chastises his son, Hashem your G-d chastises you.’ (Devarim 8:5)

HaRav Zalman Sorotzkin zt”l explains concisely, but beautifully: Just like a good parent does not punish or chastise their child to take revenge, but rather to guide the child on the upright way and to benefit them, so too, whenever Hashem brings any suffering on us to chastise us, He does it for our benefit and to help lead us on the proper route in life.

(Oznayim LaTorah)

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‘And it will be if you will surely forget Hashem your G-d, and you will go after gods of others and you will serve them and you will prostrate yourself to them; I bear witness in you today that you will surely perish.’ (Devarim 8:19)

It really bothered me that this verse, which describes a tragic, tragic, possible occurrence, begins with the word והיה, which, the Sages tell us, connotes joy! What is it doing here?

I posed this question to the Bostoner Rebbe of Yerushalayim {HaRav Mayer Alter Horowitz shlit”a}. He looked into the matter, and found in a sefer an answer given by the Chozeh of Lublin {HaRav Yaakov Yitzchok Horowitz zt”l}, photocopied it, and sent it to me.

Says the Chozeh zt”l: If a person commits a sin (like the forgetting of Hashem and avodah zarah described in the verse), and is still joyous -- meaning that they do not regret it, and are not upset about their transgression; in a state like this, they will get the terrible punishment of ‘you will surely perish’. For if they do not feel pain or regret over sinning, they will not come to repent.

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Another answer I heard from one of my Rebbeim shlit”a in the name of Rebbe Baruch’l of Mezhbuzh zt”l: והיה אם שכח -- if we will “forget” to be happy; happy in our service of Hashem, and just happy to be a Jew, then תשכח את השם אלקיך -- we will end up forgetting Hashem.

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In this Parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu recounts to the Bnei Yisroel how they made the golden calf, and that when he descended from the mountain with the Two Luchos in his hands, and he saw what they had done, he grasped the Luchos, threw them down, and shattered them. The verse says that ‘I smashed them before your eyes’ (9:17).

Rebbe Yisroel of Ruzhin zt”l picks up on this language, and he explains that Moshe Rabbeinu only smashed the stone of the Luchos -- what was ‘before your eyes’ -- but their inside, their p’nimiyus, and their letters, remained complete.1

(Brought in Maayanah Shel Torah)

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1 For a similar interpretation of the word ’לעיניהם’, ‘before their eyes’, see Rashi zt”l to Bereishis 44:24.

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‘And now (ועתה), Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you. . .?’ (Devarim 10:12)

The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah) tells us that the word ועתה is an expression of Teshuva, and as proof, it quotes our passuk. Where, though, asks the Chofetz Chaim zt”l, in the word ועתה, do we find the idea of Teshuva hinted at?

And he answers wonderfully: One of the biggest strategies of the yetzer hara is to make us push things off. To procrastinate -- but with the intention of not getting the thing done in the end. It tells us “Today you don’t have time to learn or to fulfill Mitzvos, or to contemplate how to properly keep the Torah. Tomorrow, or some other day, you’ll do all this, because then you will be free from your other burdens.” But the next day, it comes to the person with the same argument -- to push off all the good stuff to the next day. And it continues in this strategy every day of the person’s life, trying to persuade them to push off Torah study, etc. till tomorrow, and then the next day. . .

Now, says the Chofetz Chaim, we can understand the Midrash: The above quoted passuk comes to warn us not to follow the arguments of the yetzer hara to push off good deeds for “the next day”, as it begins with the word ועתה -- And now. Meaning: That at all times we should think about ‘what Hashem asks of us’ now; at that moment. What does Hashem want me to do right now? And if we go in this way always, we will serve Him properly, and we will be aroused to overcome our yetzer hara and return to Hashem.

(Note in Ahavas Chesed ch. 11)

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‘And now, Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you except to fear Hashem your G-d, to go in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Hashem your G-d with all your heart and with all your Soul. To guard the Commandments. . .’ (Devarim 10:12-13)

Chazal (Berachos 33b) learn from this verse that ‘Everything is in the Hands of Heaven except for fear of Heaven’ -- meaning that we have free choice over our actions, and we make the decision to do what we are supposed to, or Chas v’Shalom, to not.

Many people in the world, says the Chiddushei HaRim zt”l, turn two things around from how they should do stuff: They spend much, much time pursuing their livelihood and business, excessively, even though one’s livelihood is truly in the hands of Hashem. But they don’t devote nearly as much time -- or perhaps hardly any time at all -- to trying to advance in the service of Hashem, which is in our hands, and just leave it at asking ‘and place in our hearts understanding’!

(Siach Sarfei Kodesh, vol. 1, piece #481)

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‘And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and your neck you should not stiffen anymore (לא תקשו עוד).’ (Devarim 10:16)

Says the Degel Machaneh Ephraim {HaRav Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov zt”l}: If we “circumcise the foreskin of our hearts”, i.e. purify our hearts and cut away the spiritual blockage from them (see Rashi zt”l), then לא תקשו עוד, which can also mean that we won’t anymore have questions and doubts about how Hashem runs His world.

(Quoted in Maayanah Shel Torah)

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‘From the beginning of the year, until the end of year -- מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה’

(Devarim 11:12)

When talking about the beginning of the year, notes the Satmar Rebbe, HaRav Yoel Teitelbaum zt”l, the Torah employs the language ‘השנה -- the year,’ while when speaking of the end of the year, it merely says ‘שנה -- year’.

Explains the Satmar Rebbe zt”l, at the beginning of a year, when we are coming into Rosh Hashanah, we tell ourselves that this is going to be the year -- we are going to make grandiose changes, improvements, etc. But as time passes, we go back to what we were, and, by the time the year is reaching a close, it ends up that it was just another year. . .

We must take this piercing message to heart, and make sure that this year; this month, week, and even day, do not end up ‘just another one.’ May Hashem help us with this.

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‘And you shall teach them (אתם) to your sons. . .’ (Devarim 11:19)

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Says the Chofetz Chaim zt”l: The word is pronounced as אותם (osam), them, whereas it is written as אתם (attem), which means ‘you’.

This comes to teach us that a parent cannot just rely on teaching their children; they themselves must also learn.

(Chofetz Chaim al HaTorah)

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|~Maaseh~| HaRav Shimon Schwab zt”l once spent Shabbos with the saintly Chofetz Chaim zt”l, in Radun. It was Friday morning, and, in the middle of a discussion concerning the function of Kohanim, the Chofetz Chaim turned to Rav Schwab and asked, “Are you a Kohen?”

“No,” replied Rav Schwab.

“Perhaps you have heard that I am a Kohen,” the Chofetz Chaim said.

“Yes, I have heard.” Rav Schwab quietly responded.

“Perhaps you are a Levi?” the Chofetz Chaim asked.

“No, I am not,” was Rav Schwab’s reply.

“What a shame!” Said the Chofetz Chaim. “Moshiach is coming, and the Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt. If you are not a Kohen [or Levi], you will not be able to perform the Avodah, Service, in the Sanctuary. Do you know why? Because 3,000 years ago, at the incident of the Golden Calf, dein Zeide, your “grandfather”, is nisht gelafen, did not run forward when Moshe Rabbeinu called out , ‘Mi l’Hashem eilai!’ ‘Whoever is for Hashem, should come to me!’ Now take heart and listen: When you hear the call, “Mi l’Hashem eilai!” come running!”

HaRav Avraham Leib Scheinbaum shlit”a sums up: This was the Chofetz Chaim’s message. When the call from Hashem comes, we must respond immediately, because that window of opportunity will not stay open forever. The Leviim responded 3,000 years ago, and it transformed their lineage forever.

(Peninim on the Torah; Sixteenth Series)

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Gut and meaningful Shabbos to all!

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Friday, August 23, 2019