The name of the Parshah, "Eikev," means "because," and it is found in Deuteronomy 7:12.
In the Parshah of
Eikev (“Because”),
Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, promising them that if they will fulfill the commandments
(mitzvot) of the
Torah, they will prosper in the
Land they are about to conquer and settle in keeping with G‑d’s promise to their forefathers.
Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the
Golden Calf, the rebellion of
Korach, the sin of the
spies, their angering of
G‑d at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (“The Graves of Lust”). “You have been rebellious against G‑d,” he says to them, “since the day I knew you.” But he also speaks of G‑d’s
forgiveness of their sins, and the
Second Tablets which G‑d inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.
Their forty years in the desert, says Moses to the people, during which G‑d sustained them with daily
manna from heaven, was to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of G‑d’s mouth does man live.”
Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with
milk and honey,” blessed with the “
seven kinds” (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and as the place that is the focus of G‑d’s
providence of His world. He commands them to destroy the
idols of the land’s former masters, and to beware lest they become haughty and begin to believe that “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”
A key passage in our
Parshah is the second chapter of the
Shema, which repeats the fundamental mitzvot enumerated in the Shema’s first chapter, and describes the rewards of fulfilling G‑d’s commandments and the adverse results (famine and exile) of their neglect. It is also the source of the precept of
prayer, and includes a reference to the
resurrection of the dead in the
messianic age.
Learn:
Eikev in Depth
Browse:
Eikev Parshah Columnists
Prep:
Devar Torah Q&A for Eikev
Read:
Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play:
Eikev Parshah Quiz
