My late teacher, Vendyl Jones, of blessed memory painted a vivid verbal picture of the opening verse of Parashat Eikev, describing Moses, fired with hope and enthusiasm, raising his right foot and stamping the ground with his heel, telling Israel:
“And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform, that the Lord, your God, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers."
The name for Parashat Eikev (Deut. 7:12–11:25) is taken from the word that is sometimes translated because or at last. Just as English words can possess more than one meaning, ekiev can also be rendered as heel. The alternative meaning of eikev as heel is an allusion to the Torah principle that there are no minor commandments. Human frailty can lead us to wrongly view some mitzvoth as minor, and those mitzvoth are trampled under the heel. Giving equal weight to all of the mitzvoth is embedded in the word eikev. This becomes apparent when we read the Ten Commandments as listed in the 20th chapter of Exodus. Those first ten are regarded as a summary of all 613. When we count all the Hebrew words in the Ten Commandments we discover there are 172. That number is also the numerical value or gematria of the word eikev.
The word eikev holds messianic connotations such as the idea of the “Heels of Moshiach”, or the End of Days. Prior to the coming of that time, the generation will be likened to the heel of the foot which is coarse and insensitive. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory taught that just as the heel is the lowest part of the body, this is hint that in the days of the Moshiach, the spiritual development of humanity will be at its lowest, just before the Redemption.
In Israel's spiritual and historical connection to the land, we can see that when the nation faithfully observes all the mitzvoth, they will not be expelled from it. HaShem will broaden Israel's borders: "Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread, will be yours..."
Moses reminds the nation of the tangible goodness throughout the land, something that can only be realized by physically trodding the earth of eretz Israel and being sustained by the bounty of the 7 species of produce listed in Parashat Eikev. Each is symbolic of certain aspects of a Torah life:
Wheat symbolizes the nourishing of our souls through Torah.
Barley represents humility.
Grapes are symbolic of celebration
Figs symbolize sweetness.
Pomegranates have 613, the same number of mitzvot in the Torah.
Olives stand for light.
Dates symbolize endurance necessary for spiritual growth.
The Seven Species are linked to the future redemption as seen in the book of Amos:
“A time is coming—declares GOD—when the plower shall meet the reaper, and the treader of grapes. The one who holds the [bag of] seed; when the mountains shall drip wine, and all the hills shall wave (with grain).” - Amos 9:13
The word eikev takes us back to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Gan Eden. In the aftermath, HaShem tells the serpent, in Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.” The enmity between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent may be an allusion to the brave women of Israel who continually resisted falling prey to the Sin of the Golden calf, the rebellion of Korach and the Sin of the Spies.
The connection to Eve is more apparent when the letter “yud” is added to word eikev yielding the name, Ya’akov. Like all names in the Torah, Ya'akov's name reveals his destiny, as well as his character traits (midot). He was born grasping the heel of his twin brother, which foreshadows how he would supplant Esav.
Consider a seemingly simple remark made by Ya'akov in Genesis 33:14 when he and Esav prepare to journey together. Esav, full of false modesty bows before Ya'akov, imploring him“Let my lord go ahead of me." Ya'acov's response resonates with prophetic insight. Ya'acov is telling us that Esav and his descendants will take the lead in history, ahead of Ya’acov. However, Ya’acov's descendants, true to their ancestor's name will ultimately overtake Esav, supplanting him as the leader of the world embodied in the role of Moshiach. Ya’cov is the offspring of the woman and his descendants will crush the head of the serpent, destroying its global influence— at the heel of history—the End of Days.
Comments