Eikev

Hashem would appear to be telling us this week that IF we observe the mitzvoth and act like good Jews THEN he will take care of us. IF we don’t, THEN we will have hard times (to put it lightly). Personally, I don’t subscribe to a systems of rewards and punishments as a motivator to do anything. If you instill in a child that the only reason to do well in school is to get a good grade then they won’t be learning for the sake of learning…they will learn only how to get good grades. Or if you tell them not do something for fear of punishment they will do the minimum in order to avoid punishment…not a good system. So you see how maybe this week’s parsha was a little off putting for me.

However, Rashi helped me out because he had a similar problem. Instead of reading “Eikev” as consequence, one could read it to mean “heel” (as in Yaakov who fell at the heels of Esau). How does reading “heel” help us at all? What a good question. Rashi explains it in a way I understood: basically Hashem wants us to pay attention even to the most minor of mitzvoth (the heels). To pay attention to these seemingly minor mitzvoth will lead to our spiritual fulfillment. Now that is an idea I can get behind.

It’s something that I struggle with…these minor commandments. I can get through life being nice to people, giving to charity, loving my neighbor, blah blah blah. However, for the life of me, I can’t seem to wash my hands before I eat bread every single time. Or really ever say blessings over food when it isn’t hamotzi at a big group meal or Shabbat or something. There are another million little things that I don’t do that I’m actively aware of but just choose not to for reasons of laziness or discomfort or WHATEVER excuse I use. I justify it in my head as being unnecessary. I understand why I need to be nice to my neighbor…it makes sense to me. The world would be a wonderful place if we were all kind and gentle and understanding toward one another. But what difference does it make if I bless the water I’m drinking??? Truthfully, I don’t know. I’ve heard beautiful answers/justifications but they still don’t push me to do it. And maybe this week’s parsha is telling me to. Just because I don’t necessarily understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t important. I don't understand 99.9 percent of anything. Hashem has probably got a better idea than I do. I’ll let you know how my minor observance thing goes. I’ll experiment this week. It’s a process.