Eikev - August 2, 2026 / 19 Av 5786
This week’s parsha is Eikev, like the word which gave Jacob (Yakov) his name, “heel” the bottom part of the foot, from which Jacob was grasping on to Esau. In this parsha though, the word signifies obeying, or “hearkening” to the words of the Torah, which if we do, Hashem will safeguard our covenant and show us kindness. Interestingly enough, in English, to “heel” as a verb means a very similar thing, to bring an animal alongside to follow the path.
Earlier this week, my son decided to blast some heavy rock music as teenagers often do when they are trying to annoy their parents or are blissfully ignorant of the decibels coming out of their speakers. I was in the next room but this is the basic idea of how this went down:
Son: Oh yeah… “I tried so hard and got so far…but in the end it doesn’t even matter” (Linkin Park)
Mom: Of course it matters! Everything you do matters! Now turn it down!
First of all, I laughed for five minutes straight. Then I thought about what the lesson is here, because lessons are everywhere even my kids’ terrible music. The Midrash here in parsha Eikev also links the heel as a reference to “the end” (the World to Come), just as the heel can be considered end of the body. There are several possible meanings here and a number of commentaries on the verse, but I would like to think about it thus. Rashi states that “to heel” is an allusion to all the small mitzvot, the minor commandments which one might “trample” with their heel. The Midrash on this verse introduces the commandment not to move a menorah on the Shabbat as one might come to reassemble it on the Sabbath (menorahs were usually made of interlocking branches in those days), thus completing a task, which is forbidden on the Sabbath.
So, just as putting together pieces like minor tasks can result in a prohibited action, so too there are rewards and consequences for everything we do. The Midrash also refers to Sabbath and this verse as indicating that our primary reward for keeping the Sabbath is “at the end,” meaning in the World to Come. Even the Israelites in the desert were only able to properly observe one Sabbath, (derived from Exodus 16:30). Talmud Shabbat states that if the entire Jewish people observe just two Sabbaths, we would merit the redemption.
So let us remember, in the end it does matter! This is how we do it (Montell Jordan). We pay attention to all the small things (Blink 182), between people and for G-d - like love and kindness, prayer and Sabbath. That is how we achieve the final reward at the end of days.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
Earlier this week, my son decided to blast some heavy rock music as teenagers often do when they are trying to annoy their parents or are blissfully ignorant of the decibels coming out of their speakers. I was in the next room but this is the basic idea of how this went down:
Son: Oh yeah… “I tried so hard and got so far…but in the end it doesn’t even matter” (Linkin Park)
Mom: Of course it matters! Everything you do matters! Now turn it down!
First of all, I laughed for five minutes straight. Then I thought about what the lesson is here, because lessons are everywhere even my kids’ terrible music. The Midrash here in parsha Eikev also links the heel as a reference to “the end” (the World to Come), just as the heel can be considered end of the body. There are several possible meanings here and a number of commentaries on the verse, but I would like to think about it thus. Rashi states that “to heel” is an allusion to all the small mitzvot, the minor commandments which one might “trample” with their heel. The Midrash on this verse introduces the commandment not to move a menorah on the Shabbat as one might come to reassemble it on the Sabbath (menorahs were usually made of interlocking branches in those days), thus completing a task, which is forbidden on the Sabbath.
So, just as putting together pieces like minor tasks can result in a prohibited action, so too there are rewards and consequences for everything we do. The Midrash also refers to Sabbath and this verse as indicating that our primary reward for keeping the Sabbath is “at the end,” meaning in the World to Come. Even the Israelites in the desert were only able to properly observe one Sabbath, (derived from Exodus 16:30). Talmud Shabbat states that if the entire Jewish people observe just two Sabbaths, we would merit the redemption.
So let us remember, in the end it does matter! This is how we do it (Montell Jordan). We pay attention to all the small things (Blink 182), between people and for G-d - like love and kindness, prayer and Sabbath. That is how we achieve the final reward at the end of days.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
