Shabbos Parashas Eikev - 5781

Shabbos Parashas Eikev - 5781

Rabbi Hal Miller

It will be because of your listening to these ordinances and your observing and

performing them, then Hashem your God will safeguard for you the covenant and

the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. [Devarim 7:12]

It sounds like a simple sentence, but the commentators have widely varied views of

what the words mean, even though in the end most agree on the overall purpose.

The most obvious difference has to do with the word eikev. The place we see this

word most often is with the name Yaakov, relating his holding on to Eisav's heel

during their birth. Certainly the word refers to the heel of a foot, but it also can be

translated in many other ways, such as to stop or prevent, to be arrogant or

deceitful, or a consequence. What is the Torah teaching us here?

Rashi hastens to the heel idea, saying that it refers to someone trampling with his

heel the "light commandments". There is much discussion about what that latter

term means. Onkelos also ties eikev to heel, saying that it follows on from the

listening and observing part of our verse that God will do what He promised.

Kol Dodi refines the approach, saying that it refers to an extremity, that we should

not just do the minimum in performing mitzvot but go to the edge to do them in

the best possible manner.

But others, such as Ramban, disagree, saying that eikev means like b'abor, which

is usually translated either as "because" or "on account of". We cannot dismiss

Rashi and his followers too easily here, as he translates it in the alternative as

"It will be because of", which fits with Ramban.

In addition to what Onkelos gave us above, he translates the word as "in exchange

for", which is similar to Ramban as well. Talelei Oros takes the further step of "as

a result of".

It seems to be used here in a positive sense, thus ruling out arrogance, deceit,

and prevention. While God made a promise to the Patriarchs that He would give

much reward to their future generations, and that promise will definitely be fulfilled,

there is nothing in the Torah that ties God down to any particular generation, thus

He is able to condition that fulfillment on the Jews doing what they were commanded.

Here, Moshe is telling us that if we do as commanded, it will be our generation through

whom those promises will be fulfilled, and if we do not, then we will pass without

seeing that fulfillment.