And I Will Love You and Bless You!

EIKEV עקב תשמעון Because you will listen! Moshe tells Bnei Yisroel, If you listen and keep the words of the Torah, HaShem will bless you with delicious crops, chubby cattle, and an abundance of wine to celebrate your many simchas! And many babies too! לֹא־יִֽהְיֶ֥ה בְךָ֛ עָקָ֥ר וַֽעֲקָרָ֖ה וּבִבְהֶמְתֶּֽךָ: If you keep the Torah, HaShem tells us, there will be no more barrenness or pains! But if you disregard My word, I will shower upon you NO BLESSINGS! It’s as simple as that.

In addition, Moshe reverberates the words—the commands!—of HaShem: וְאָֽכַלְתָּ֣ אֶת־כָּל־הָֽעַמִּ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ֙ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֔ךְ לֹֽא־תָח֥וֹס עֵֽינְךָ֖ עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם וְלֹ֤א תַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־מוֹקֵ֥שׁ ה֖וּא לָֽךְ: Consume your enemies and make sure you conquer Eretz Yisroel. Don’t have mercy on the people who are trying to stop you. Worship your Torah, which is your morality. וְלֹ֤א תַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם Don’t worship their gods, or their sense of morality. ולא תחוס עליהם! Stop having compassion on the wrong people.

It is interesting to note that the lashon Moshe uses for mercy is with “your eyes,” even though mercy is generally felt with one’s heart. But maybe this specific choice of words is to highlight the importance to not get swayed by our public “image” and all the virulent messages that we see, in preventing us from having compassion on our own people and preventing us from proper יישוב הארץ. It’s all a trap preventing us from doing what’s right! כִּֽי־מוֹקֵ֥שׁ ה֖וּא לָֽךְ The nations around us, if we care about their sense of morality, and how the UN and the world views with THEIR eyes our actions to regain our land, this will only get us stuck even more, almost like Devil’s Snare! (The more you have to refute and tiptoe around public concerns like eggshells, walking away from your truth, the further you get into this trap!)

The only morality we know and should care about, Parshas Eikev reminds us, is HaShem’s, not the world’s public opinions. HaShem is telling us through Moshe, Have no mercy on your enemies and believe in HaShem, and you will see good! HaShem promises us SO MANY blessings this week, if we try to do the right thing by Him.

In this world, HaShem doles out reward and punishment, operating on a system called middah knegged middah, measure for measure. HaShem pays attention to our good and bad deeds and doesn’t just repay us accordingly. He has this sense of irony almost, where the details of our actions come back in our reward and chas v’shalom in our punishment. If we honor our parents and take care of them when they’re elderly, HaShem not only blesses us but blesses us with longevity —the very thing we helped with through our actions.

And same thing with punishment: we see this brilliant principle throughout the stories of Torah and Tanach. Take Egypt for example in the Sefer of Shemos: Paro declared that everyone must throw all the baby boys in the Nile River, and not only was Paro punished for his evil decree and behavior, he was punished and killed in the very waters he sought to hurt and annihilate others (the waters of the Yam Suf).

Even in our own lives, in modern times, I’ve heard countless stories, for instance, of parents estranging their children from others or children estranging their parents from the rest of the family, and not only are these individuals punished but the very estranged people leave these individuals to go back to those they love.

There are many examples we can look out for in the dramas we experience and the tales we hear—of HaShem rewarding us specifically in the details, measure for measure, for the good and the bad that we do. And sometimes the reward hits us years later like a boomerang!

This incredible principle lies in the three letters of EIKEV—because you did this, so I will do back for you in the same vein. Moshe tells us right at the beginning of the Parsha, that if we do good for HaShem, HaShem will do good for us! If we cherish His Torah, He will cherish us right back without a second. If we abide by the words וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַֽעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם, if we safeguard our mitzvos—then naturally, מדה כנגד מדה measure for measure,וְשָׁמַר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לְךָ֗ אֶת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַֽאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ: HaShem will also safeguard—his Bris to us and all the kindnesses He has promised our forefathers way back when.

The Parsha also discusses the land Bnei Yisroel are about to enter. A gorgeous land dripping in milk and honey with the biggest, juiciest fruits you can imagine, the Shivas Haminim. The very fruits Bnei Yisroel complained about when they sinned in response to the Meraglim’s report of the Land. HaShem only wants to give us good and asks of us just to listen to Him, so we can have the maximum good in our lives. When we do the right thing and safeguard it like something which is precious to us—if when we listen, עקב תשמעון, then we will win the prize, HaShem will safeguard His special promise to us: the land of the plenty, an abundance of miracles, and all kinds of delicious foods and overflowing wealth!

HAFTORAH The Jewish people complain to their navi Yeshayah that Gd left them. He says, This is not true. Your actions pushed Him away! He tells them, HaShem loves you like a mother loves her children—and if you can imagine, even more than that HaShem loves you! This passage, the second of the nechamos haftorahs from Shabbos Nachamu until Rosh Hashanah, discusses the times of Moshiach. Yeshaya encourages us to do good again and we will then, עקב because of our good deeds, middah knegged middah, we will see the Geulah.

בָּר֥וּךְ תִּֽהְיֶ֖ה מִכָּל־הָֽעַמִּ֑ים! Blessed are You from all the other nations, the Parsha tells us. Be proud Jews, proud Zionists, and cherish YOUR land and Jewish identity. Stop worrying about how the world defines morality and do what’s right by the Torah. Our Jewishness is ours not only to hold onto but to value! And measure for measure, HaShem promises us blessings special for us, nobody else. Moshe also tells us that nothing can harm us if we follow HaShem’s words.

לֹ֥א תִירָ֖א מֵהֶ֑ם, do not fear your enemies, and Moshe uses an even stronger language a few pesukim later לֹ֥א תַֽעֲרֹ֖ץ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם כִּֽי־יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ֙ בְּקִרְבֶּ֔ךָ אֵ֥ל גָּד֖וֹל וְנוֹרָֽא: Do not shake in terror from them, because HaShem is with you and will help you win. Again, this acute sense of irony with HaShem’s reward resonates throughout the entire text of the Parsha: If you welcome HaShem into your lives and are proud of it and display it, not hiding from or being ashamed by it. If we only fear HaShem, then HaShem will be so Prominent amongst us and all the nations will fear Him and His retribution.

So if we capitalize on our specialness as Jews and appreciate our observances which are distinct from any other nation, then ברוך תהיה מכל העמים, HaShem will bless US accordingly, so much more than anybody else! To the extent that וְהֵסִ֧יר יְהֹוָ֛ה מִמְּךָ֖ כָּל־חֹ֑לִי וְכָל־מַדְוֵי֩ מִצְרַ֨יִם הָֽרָעִ֜ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָדַ֗עְתָּ לֹ֤א יְשִׂימָם֙ בָּ֔ךְ וּנְתָנָ֖ם בְּכָל־שֽׂנְאֶֽיךָ: He will remove all the diseases that our enemies put on us in Mitzrayim and in Galus and afflict those who hate us with that very same suffering, middah knegged middah.

In this world, HaShem not only rewards and punishes, but His ways are ironic, in giving us what we need based on how we act, and punishing those with the exact same measure with which they’ve punished us. It’s up to us to do the right thing and choose good.

And finally, what Brachos HaShem has in store for us if we finally tap into His treasure house of Mitzvos!…As the beginning of Eikev says, if we keep HaShem’s Torah, He will show us SO MUCH LOVE and deliver our Holy Land into our palms. We are all so badly waiting for this… וַֽאֲהֵ֣בְךָ֔ וּבֵֽרַכְךָ֖ וְהִרְבֶּ֑ךָ And HaShem will love you and bless you and multiply you! with the help of HaShem, very soon.