Another week that went by in a blink. One moment it was Sunday morning, the next it was Thursday afternoon, then Shabbat, and then, somehow, Sunday again. Last week was a blur of swimming lessons, the gym, a lot of homemade pizza, an aquarium outing, a library trip (I finished three Lily Kings this week!), two Trader Joe’s runs, weekly lunch day-date with my husband, and a lot of time here at home.
I really enjoyed Eikev, at this rate, I have a feeling Deuteronomy will become my favorite book of the Torah. What I find so interesting, is that while Moses relays back Gods rules and laws, he weaves in the narrative that he and Israel lived for the last forty years. It’s very compelling. Welcome to Eikev.
You Will Be Tested By Your Hardships
The biggest thing that stands out to me this week is this particular passage: Remember the long way that the Lord your God has made you travel in the wilderness these past forty years, that He might test you by hardships to learn what was in your hearts: whether you would keep his commandments or not (8:2) and then again, here: In order to test you by hardships only to benefit you in the end (8:16)
I want to sit with those two passages for a while. Friends, life is filled to the brim with hardship. We all struggle in such unique and different ways. Even those of us who are blessed in many, many aspects of life, we all still struggle with our own internal battles. Maybe it’s a difficult relationship, an alcohol addiction, money struggles, chronic depression, a physical disability, loneliness, crippling social anxiety, challenging family dynamics, it could be anything. And on top of that, we all go through many specific tests and challenges, unique to us, and our specific struggles. These are all from God. Every single one. Yet, interestingly, there’s always light on the other side. It’s like… as hard as something is, while we’re going through it, the reward and gratification coming out on the other side is equal to the opposition. When things are going smoothly, when things are good, it’s so easy to be happy, and kind, and upbeat, and all the wonderful characteristics we all strive for. It’s when things are not going well, when things are actually really, really difficult, and we’re still able to show up and smile, and be kind, and upbeat, and patient with one another, that’s the real test. Are you able to be a decent human being when things aren’t going particularly well? Only God knows what’s in your heart. The only way those qualities are revealed—both to ourselves and to the people around us—is by being thrown into the deep end. And quite often by the way, as it seems we are always going through something, aren’t we? In fact, there’s a famous Talmud saying, “anyone who passes forty days without suffering has received his world.” Our world is nothing but suffering. Sometimes small, hilarious, insignificant things, but sometimes by really big, soul crushing, seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And it’s rare, very rare to go forty days without suffering, of one kind or another. As one of our favorite rabbi’s, here in St. Louis, says all the time, “life is a long series of difficulties, broken up with moments of joy.”
It’s Not Because of You, It’s In Spite of You
So, when I came across “know, then, that it is not for any virtue of yours that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess; for you are a stiff-necked people” (9:6) I had to laugh. Because it is head scratching, why did God choosing Israel as His special nation? A tiny nation, one that is stiff-necked, (read: stubborn as hell), and defiant. Here’s the analogy that Dennis Prager gives, in regards to 9:6 —
It is as if a coach chose an overweight, un-athletic group of people and made them into champions; everyone would credit the coach and his methods, not the natural abilities of his players.”
I really loved that analogy. Also had to laugh, because Jews are typically not very gifted in the athletic department either, so it makes for an extra spicy analogy.
Things I Learned This Week
I was embarrassed to realize… I wasn’t 100% sure what exactly was written on those tiny mezuzah scrolls. And it turns out, it’s two passes from Deuteronomy. I’m pulling this straight from Chabad’s website:
First Portion (Deuteronomy 6:4–9): Begins with “Shema Yisrael” (“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One”), declaring the core concept of monotheism and the commandment to love God and write His words on the doorposts of your house.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9)
Second Portion (Deuteronomy 11:13–21): Expresses the idea of reward and consequence, emphasizing loyalty to God’s commandments and the promise of continuity upon the land.
If, then, you obey the commandments that enjoin upon you this day, loving the Lord your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil – I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle – and thus you shall eat your fill. Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. For the Lord’s anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield it’s produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that the Lord is assigning to you. Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, and teach them to your children — reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; and inscribe them on your doorposts of your house and on your gates – to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.” (Deuteronomy 11:13-21)
This is going to sound even crazier…. so, we have a stunning mezuzah at our front door, gifted to us by the previous homeowners, and shortly after moving in, we splurged on two gorgeous mezuzahs for our interior garage door and the door leading to our backyard. All three of our entrances are covered. However, we have yet to hang mezuzahs on our bedroom doorposts. I know, I know. This week, we decided to fix that. The nudge was reading this weeks parsha.