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Parshat Ekev – Because (You hearkened…)
By: Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
This week we read the portion titled, “Ekev,” which means ‘Because’ (you hearkened). The portion begins by articulating a very interesting proposition as the Almighty offers the Jewish people a deal in which He promises all sorts of beautiful blessings because they listened/followed the Divine Commandments (aka Mitzvos). Being that this portion is in the Book of Deuteronomy we understand that this is Moses conveying his impression of G-d’s word. Moses is reminding the people that we have entered into a contract with the Master of the Universe; a contract that stipulates since we will do what we need to, the Creator will reciprocate with all manner of blessings.
There is an alternative translation of ‘Ekev’ that has great significance as well. The word ‘Ekev’ means heel. The commentaries explain that we are being promised that if, or better yet since, we will follow all commandments, even those that often get trampled underfoot because they seem less important, we will be blessed in wondrous ways.
The world has a saying, “The devil is in the details.” That is understood to mean that those details that many feel are minutiae, are actually quite important – essential even to achieving success. As Jews we look to the Torah for life-guiding wisdom. In this case we are saying that, “The G-dliness is in the details!” When we are mindful of the fine points of a Torah observant life we will indeed experience incredible blessings.
Can we take a moment and imagine an insignificant sounding Mitzvah that can actually bring us meaningful blessings?
Let us use an extremely straightforward commandment – to say a blessing when we enjoy something; for instance before eating a fruit we say the blessing thanking G-d for the fruit of the tree. We Jews are actually expert ‘blessings sayers’ as we have almost limitless opportunities to say blessings. Throughout the day we put many things, all Kosher of course, into our mouths. Due to the regularity of the activity many may come to take the food for granted. How many of us eat mindlessly?
If we can train ourselves to be more self-aware and to carefully acknowledge the Source of the sustenance that we are enjoying, that will certainly positively affect our outlook on life. The more grateful a person is the more joyful that person will be. The more joyful a person is the more blessings he will see, as he sees the world through ‘rose colored glasses’.
We understand from this that the blessing on the food has far-reaching and deeply profound consequences. The simple act of acclimating ourselves to acknowledging the Source of our blessings will cause us to perceive more and more blessings, which will turn any pessimist into an optimist!
Let us endeavor to be more mindful of the Divine Commandments, and not to, G-d forbid, trample any of them underfoot. Let us embrace the manifest blessings in our life and ride the joyous feeling transforming our landscape from darkness into light and from negativity into the ultimate positivity!
Wishing everyone an uplifting, joyous, and HEALTHY Shabbos!
CRAZY, BUT NOT DANGEROUS Rabbi Eli Friedman Chabad of Calabasas
When my grandfather had his draft meeting in the 1940's, the interviewing officer took one look at this serious-looking, suit-wearing, bearded teenager sporting a Dick Tracy hat, and immediately set about ascertaining the boy's sanity.
"Boy, do you date?"
"No."
"Do you go to the movies?"
"No."
The officer scribbled furiously in his notes. "What are you writing about me?" my grandfather asked.
"I'm describing you as crazy but not dangerous."
And for the rest of his life, my grandfather would laugh, "Don't worry, I'm crazy, but not dangerous!"
*
Someone said something on TV recently about the Hasidic Jewish community, something less than complimentary; something about backwardness and the need for progressiveness. In response, there has been a tidal wave of pushback, with people from the community protesting the stereotyping and describing the fulfillment and happiness they feel from living in the Hasidic community.
But along with the pride and joy, there is a shade of defensiveness; an effort to prove how "normal" we are. You might think we're backwards - we are not. Whether it's a medical degree, or musical skills, or skateboarding moves, people from the Hasidic community are proving their "normalcy" to their detractors.
Defensiveness is never good. If you are wrong, don't defend your mistakes. And if you are right, you have no need to get defensive.
So instead of trying to prove how normal we are, let's be honest: we are not normal. We are crazy. Not dangerous, but crazy. And we couldn't happier being our own kind of crazy.
We find meaning in turning chickens in circles over our heads on the morning before Yom Kippur. We cover our kitchens in so much tin foil for Passover one might think we're trying to go to space. We don't just build a Sukkah - we eat full meals in it regardless of rain, snow or sleet. We don't just wrap Tefillin; we wrap two pairs, just to be sure. And we're happy to pay $1,200 for a pair of Tefillin and $100 for a single Mezuzah. But they can be gotten for much cheaper? Yes, but perhaps you forgot: we're crazy!
Many of us think the periodic table is what you take out when extra guests show up for Shabbat. Our children couldn't name the major TV networks and wouldn't know a Kardashian from a Sarkisian.
A Hasidic man is perfectly content to have never had a girlfriend and had his first date at age 22, and for the express purpose of finding his wife, and a Hasidic woman is perfectly content to have a gaggle of children and no career other than a lifetime of trying to raise her boys and girls to care. (Talk about a lifetime achievement award.) How many guys have rolled their eyes at me and seriously doubted those assertions? Ah, but that's because they forget that we're crazy!
I could go on and on, but the point is already clear: the Hasidics are crazy, and furthermore, they're proud of it.
Because it's not so much about how crazy they are, but rather what it is that they're crazy about. Societal trends and sensibilities mean less (not because Hasidics are trying to be anti-establishment, but) because being Jewish means more.
*
Yesterday was the Yartzeit of the Rebbe's father, Reb Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory. This gentle, saintly man was murdered by the Soviets for being uncooperative in their rancid revolution. They sought to erase faith in G-d from the earth, and he wanted the opposite.
Once, in the early, very dangerous days of the Soviets, they announced a new upcoming census. Reb Levi Yitzchak overheard people in his congregation advising each other to avoid all kinds of trouble by identifying as "no religion" when asked. On the next Shabbat, from the pulpit, he informed the community that denying one's Jewish identity is a cardinal sin. Shortly, he was summoned to the local Soviet authorities who demanded to know why he was encouraging religion when they were working so hard to do away with it. He replied, "Aren't you all about the truth, pravda? I wanted to make sure my people wouldn't lie." They arrested him, exiled him, and eventually starved him to death.
Why didn't he just go with the flow like all the other rabbis of that time and place? Why did he stand up to them? Why put himself in mortal danger? Isn't that crazy?
For that matter, why did Moses stand up to Pharaoh? Why did Queen Esther stand up to Haman? Why did Rabbi Akiva stand up to the mighty Roman empire? Why did the Maccabees go to war against the world's mightiest military and not just assimilate like most of the Jews of their time? Why did the Jews repeatedly wage a lopsided war against all the Arabs instead of just moving to Colorado? Why did they fly to Entebbe and snatch back their fellow Jews when they all could have gotten massacred? Why not just negotiate? Why did Daniel Pearl declare himself Jewish and get himself executed? Isn't it all crazy? Couldn't they all just be normal?
Hasidic Jews shouldn't apologize to their fellow Jews for being crazy any more than the Jewish People should apologize to the world at large for being crazy.
It is not our place to be normal. It is our place to be crazy. Crazy about G-d, His Torah, and the Mitzvot. Where the rest of the world sees an ancient text, we crazies see a vibrant, euphoria-inducing love-letter from G-d. While the world endlessly ponders the world's origins, we crazies party EVERY SINGLE Friday night to celebrate that it was created by G-d. While the "normal" world puzzles over chronic unhappiness, the crazy Hasidic women joyfully enjoy their boisterous broods of crazy children. While the "normal" world rages over the outrages of harassment and unwanted closeness, and scratches their collective heads trying to solve this chronic problem, crazy Hasidic women thank G-d, His Torah, and the modest, crazy Hasidic men for the fact that they've never, ever experienced any of it, ever. Never. Not even a dirty joke. Isn't that crazy?
*
When G-d asked us to be a "light unto the nations," did He mean simply that we should be the best doctors, songwriters, skateboarders, lawyers, gymnasts, and scientists? Nothing wrong with any of that but is that the light G-d was asking for? He was asking that we be HIS light unto the nations; that we utilize our Divine souls to reflect G-dly light to the world - that we "love G-d with all your heart, all your soul, and all you might."
So really now, is there any way to be that and not be thought of as a little crazy? That Jews are crazy and Judaism is outdated is legit the oldest story in the world. It is surely the most unoriginal thought currently available. We're old. What else is new. We're crazy. Nu, what's your point?
If we'd be normal, we'd be extinct. 'Tis far better to be thought the craziest people around than to not be around altogether. It is high time the critics of Hasidic life admit that they measure their own normalcy by the unbending, timeless lifestyle of those crazy Hasidics.
L'Chaim my fellow Jews. We'll never win the coveted Most Normal Nation award. So we might as well enjoy what we really are and what we are really good at: being Jewish. And if people think we're crazy, well then, we might as well all become Hasidics - no one enjoy life more than them.
Wishing you all a "crazy, but not dangerous" Shabbat!
Rabbi Eli Friedman
Chabad of Calabasas
Haftarah of Shabbat Parshat Ekev
Isaiah 49:14 - 51:3
This week's haftorah is the second of a series of seven "Haftorot of Consolation." These seven haftarot commence on the Shabbat following Tisha b'Av and continue until Rosh Hashanah.
The exiled Jewish people express their concern that G‑d has abandoned them. G‑d reassures them that it is not so, comparing His love and mercy for His people to that of a mother for her children, and even greater than that, too.
The prophet Isaiah then touchingly describes the ingathering of the exiles which will occur with the Messiah's arrival and returning to the initial subject matter of this haftorah, that of the Jewish people's complaint of being abandoned by G‑d, he reminds them of their rebellious behavior that brought about the exile and suffering. He concludes with encouraging words, reminding us of what had happened to our ancestors, Abraham and Sarah. Just as they were blessed with a child when they had all but given up hope, so too, G‑d will send us the Messiah.
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