P046 Ekev “Because”
In the Parshah of Eikev ("Because"), Moshe 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 God's promise to their forefathers. We see the promise from God over and over through out this parasha. We once again see the love letter from God. “He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers..”
Moshe 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 God at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (the fascinating meaning behind the names) "You have been rebellious against God," he says to them, "since the day I knew you." But he also speaks of God's forgiveness (Grace) of their sins, and the Second Tablets which God inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.
Their 40 years in the desert, says Moses to the people, during which God sustained them with daily manna (What this) from heaven, was to teach them "that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of God's mouth does man live." How the Lord puts us in the desert to be chastised but also to be alone with Him.
Moshe describes the land they are about to enter as "flowing with Chalav (milk) and Devash (honey)", blessed with the "Seven Kinds" (wheat and barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and the place that is the focus of God'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 Sh'ma, which repeats the fundamental mitzvot enumerated in the Sh'ma's first chapter and describes the rewards of fulfilling God'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.
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