We all like to take credit for success, but failure we tend to blame on others. Such is human nature. Judaism, in trying to elevate our base…
Eikev: Time for Awe
One of the primary goals of the Torah is the inducement of fear of heaven. “Now what does Hashem, your G-d ask of you? Only to fear Hashem your G-d,…
Eikev: The Big Bribe
The measure of a human being is revealed by the little things. The greater the person, the more one understands the significance of the small…
Eikev: Missing Commandments
Had things gone according to plan, the chumash would be a much shorter book. If not for the sin of the golden calf, there would have been…
Eikev: 100 Streams
"And now, Israel, what does G-d, Ma Hashem, want from you but just to fear the Lord your G-d, to walk in all His ways, to love Him and to…
Eikev: A Long Journey
"According to the days that you spent exploring the land, forty days, a year for a day, you shall carry your sin and you will know My actions…
Eikev: Lots of Love
The Talmud declares that wisdom depends on the ability to make distinctions. It is for this reason that havdalah, the ritual marking the end of the…
Eikev: A Little Humility
Moshe Rabbeinu was a most humble person. We know this because the Torah tells us so, the only trait of Moshe that the Torah actually enumerates. But…
Eikev: Pain and Gain
“And they placed upon them taskmasters lema’an anoto, in order to afflict them in their burdens” (Shemot 1:11). This inuei, affliction is the first…
Eikev: Fear of G-d
Effort vs. result. The relative value of these two concepts is a fundamental dispute between our western worldview and Jewish teachings. The secular…
Eikev: The Sweat of Your Brow
Raising an independent nation is no easy task. The generation that left Egypt was (understandably) not up to the task. Whether or not their children…