By Rabbi David Levin
This week’s Torah portion is Eikev: Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25
When life becomes easier and we start to relax, hard-won battles fade into distant memories. We then drift into a new reality, and instead of staying alert and valuing our principles, we relax, enjoying a good life and the rewards of our hard work, daring to believe we’ve earned it and that it will always be ours. The hunger that once motivated us diminishes, and we face the consequences. It is human nature to become complacent, but we must not.
This is Moses’ cautionary message to the people in his final speech. He warns them that change is coming. The generation that met God in the wilderness is passing away, and a new generation will take their place and settle in the promised land. Without that personal experience, these new generations risk losing their close relationship with God.
Turning away from God is dangerous. Forgetting how you arrived here and to show gratitude through consistent reverence and practice will lead people to ruin. Just as the current inhabitants who are about to be displaced from the land, you, too, will eventually lose the blessings of this place and be forced to leave as well.
The wilderness has taught you to be strong.
There’s an old story that teaches us that tough times build strong people, and strong people then create easy times. Those easy times lead to soft people, who in turn produce tough times again. It’s a cycle that can only be broken by staying committed to God, because God’s gift of the promised land won’t lead us to complacency. It remains a constant challenge.
We see this in our community today. The previous generations worked hard and built a better life for their children and our children. They will inherit wealth that makes life easier.
However, they may not fully remember the sacrifices others made for them. We are currently experiencing one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Money and property are passed to this new generation to simplify life. But this is only material wealth. The true challenge is how to pass down the lasting core values that emphasize hard work, sharing our abundance and working to improve the world by carrying forward the values of our tradition for everyone. We face this challenge today, just as Moses did then.
I recently spoke with a woman who was worried that her death might come too soon. Although her body was ready, she felt her children were not; they were unprepared to manage without her. The question was more complicated than the answer. Moses, too, is struggling to give final words of advice, admonitions to remember God and follow His word. At the end, it is too late to change the course. We hope that the lives we live and the values we model become lessons learned and embraced.
A midrash about the patriarch Jacob depicts him surrounded by his sons as he nears death, reflecting on whether his children have learned the lessons and will uphold the values or if those values will die with him. The adult children respond, “Listen, Father, we hear you and it shall be,” saying, “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.” With his final breath, Jacob says, “Praised be Adonai forever.” “Baruch Shem kavod malchuto l’olam va’ed.” (Gen Rab 95)
We would all sleep better knowing everything will work out. We do our best. For Moses, he was a prophet, a liberator, a teacher, a priest, a judge and a man. And yet he was concerned about whether he did enough and whether his “children” were prepared to move forward after he died. For 40 years in the desert and many years before the Exodus, he showed how to serve his people through his devotion to God. In our own ways, as parents, we also have those same responsibilities. As loving parents, we do our best to nurture and provide our children with what they need to find their way in the world. Then, it’s time for them to stand on their own. We work toward this moment diligently and can only hope it will be enough.
Rabbi David Levin serves as president of The Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia.
