Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit
Parshat Eikev
The first part of Moses’ speech to the Israelites in this parshah promises the people blessings for listening to the laws of life and predicts destruction for disregarding and veering from them.
The second part of the speech begins with the “conquest of the land.” Many of us struggle with the seeming paradox of humanity being commanded in Genesis to be caretakers of creation and stewards of the land, with the idea of conquest and colonization or ownership of the land.
We deal in our day with tensions in this regard within and across many borders we have constructed in our world. Emerging conversations about how we can continue to live sustainably on the planet have now extended from the scorched land to the boiling sea, where tensions around fishing rights and protecting offshore natural resources have intensified. Various scientific and governmental circles have suggested demarking underwater national preserves to protect these fragile ecosystems.
Adam DePaul, a Lenni Lenape first nations local leader and our Yom Kippur guest at Mishkan Shalom a couple of years ago, quoted the Tanakh in his minchah talk to us about what being part of the land means to his displaced people: “Who does the earth belong to, who owns the sea and the skies? The earth is the God’s and the fullness thereof (Ps. 24:1), or is it ours to do with as we will?”
One way our parshah can be informative in this discussion is what follows in Chapter Nine of Devarim. Moses warns the people not to take personal credit for their coming success and taking control of Canaan, nor take their good fortune for granted, but to give credit where credit is due. He points out that the promised place does not have an ironclad guarantee if we begin to serve “other gods” in the way we pursue our goals, especially once we get our basic needs met.
Do we stay conscious and connected to a spiritual and moral center that guides our actions, our relationships with loved ones and strangers, as well as with the land? Once we become materially, emotionally, physically, intellectually and spiritually comfortable, do we forget the challenges and blessing of the journey that led us to this point and attribute our successes to any number of “American idols” made in our image?
This point is underscored at the end of the parshah with what came to be the second paragraph of the Sh’ma, an ever-present warning of karmic comeuppance. Moses conveys that if the Israelites follow God’s laws they will “eat and be content,” and, if not, “the earth will not bring forth its produce.” (Deut. 11)
Keep in alignment with Godly behavior, or else! For every negative action, there will be a reaction that will be equal or more intense. Of course, even within the Bible, this reductionist view is challenged in books such as Job, or in many of the psalms that strive to understand why what appears to be a just or ethical action is sometimes met with suffering and loss.
At the same time, the message of the parshah has relevance when it comes to how we deal with each other and the world we live in and the consequences when we start to live off “the fat of the land” and become increasingly blind to our choices.
The consequences of an imbalance and inequity in our way of life has led to some of the economic, political and ecological turmoil of the last number of years, and the health and hunger issues ongoing in this country, where amid tremendous abundance nearly a fifth of our population, mostly children, are not receiving minimum caloric intake on any given day.
Moses does not only intensify his prophetic warnings. He also introduces one of the most beautiful passages in the Torah, “And now O Israel, what does God demand of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God, to walk only in God’s paths, to love God, and serve God with all your heart and soul.” (Deut. 10:12)
The Torah suggests that loving ourselves, each other and the land we are part of is an antidote to our taking for granted the blessings we have been showered with and staying connected to each other when the challenges of life arise. Amid the last years of COVID and rising ecological upheaval, may we draw strength from our heritage and listen to the call of our times for everyone’s sake! What is the call you hear when you listen deeply this day?
Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit is the rabbi at Mishkan Shalom in Philadelphia. He is the co-founder/director of the Davennen Leader’s Training Institute, director of the ALEPH Hashpa’ah (Spiritual Direction) Training Program and a mentor with the Clergy Leadership Incubator. The Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia is proud to provide diverse perspectives on Torah commentary for the Jewish Exponent. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Board of Rabbis.