Shabbos Parashas Eikev - 5777
Shabbos Parashas Eikev - 5777
Rabbi Hal Miller
Take care lest you forget Hashem your G-d by not observing His commandments,
His judgments and His decrees, which I command you today. [Devarim 8:11]
The verse before ours gives us the blessing over a bread meal, the birchat
hamazon. It says, "you will eat and be satisfied and you will bless". If this
is a commandment to bless, why does our verse need to follow immediately with
a reminder not to forget what it is that we were just told to bless G-d for?
Presumably, the answer lies in the next verse, "And now, Israel, what does
Hashem your G-d require of you but to fear Hashem your G-d" [Devarim 10:12].
But how does this address the question of two verses apparently giving the
same commandment?
One way to look at this is that verse 10 is
that
the basic mitzvah to bless, but
that it does not provide a foundation. Verse 11 te
ll
s us what the impact of
failing to bless would be. Sometimes the Torah tells us the why behind a
mitzvah. When it does, it is incumbent on us to understand how to apply the
lessons in similar situations. What do we learn from the explanation of our
verse?
Nechama Leibowitz sees the same pattern in other places. "The Torah
admonished Israel on many occasions not to forget, in the days of prosperity
they were destined to enjoy, the period of misfortune they were then
undergoing. Repeatedly the Torah warns them not to forget in the days of good
fortune the source of their well
being: G-d." She uses as an example the verses
discussing the people having eaten and built houses, and their flocks growing,
then ending with "and you forget the L-rd your G-d who brought you forth out
of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage" [Devarim 8:12-18]. She
explains that the verses there connote two things: open miracles such as the
manna and springs of water, and hidden miracles such as the minerals in the
land. The key of the two-verse pattern is to ensure that people do not fall
into the trap of thinking "all this is from the work of my hands".
The Ba'al HaTurim holds something close to this. He says that the proximity of
"you will eat and be satisfied" and "lest you forget Hashem your G-d" as a
hint that one must mention the day of death in the blessing over food. Being
reminded every time we sustain our lives that the only reason we are not yet
dead is proof of G-d's mercy, and that we owe Him constantly.
Rabbeinu Bechaye asks whether Hashem, who owns the world and all in it, needs
man to pronounce a blessing. He says that it is we who need the bracha. When
we say a blessing over something we enjoy or need, we are testifying to the
fact that it came from G-d. The purpose of the doubled verses is to ensure
we turn our acknowledgement to Him.
Rav Hirsch stresses that the only reason we continue to receive abundance is
the blessings we make over that abundance. Stopping to bless is the cure for
"selfish egotism".
Rav Moshe Feinstein separates the two verses. The second one is "intended to
prevent us from thinking that Hashem's material blessings are a reward for our
righteousness." He believes that the earlier verse, commanding us to bless, is
for many of the reasons of the other commentators, but the second verse, "lest
you forget" is specifically to show us that the reward we may earn for giving
the blessing is because of His kindness, not because we earned it. He also
views this as a test. If we acknowledge the abundance we receive, and that
abundance increases, will we continue to acknowledge His gift, or will we fall
into the thinking that it is merely a natural occurrence.
Human nature is geared to forgetting how things came about. When something
fantastic happens, we all sit up and take note. After a while, it blends into
the background and we stop paying attention. Our verse tells us that this is
not the right behavior, that we need to continually remember from Whom we
obtain our life's sustenance.