Parshat Ekev

Learning Group—Parshat Ekev

(Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25)

(Haftara: Isaiah 49:14-51:3)

1. [8:7] “God is bringing you to a good land with brooks of water… going out in the valleys and the hills.” In our spiritual literature, the land of Israel represents the ideal state of mind. Why is a land of hills and valleys more ideal than a flat land?

2. [11:24] “Every place that your feet walk will be yours…” On a spiritual level, this seems to mean that in the ideal mental state, one will feel comfortable wherever one is. On the other hand, we are expected to be sensitive to injustice—to the weak and the poor. Does being comfortable mean that one will be less sensitive to the moral demands of one’s life?

3. [Isaiah 50:1] “…where is your mother’s document of divorce [from Me]…” Our relationship to God can be like a marriage, or like a master-servant relationship, or like friends and so on. What factors define our relationship to God at any particular time—is it us, or is it our situation in life or is it tradition or some other factor?

4. [Yeshaya 51:1] “…you that chase after justice, that seek God…” Why are seekers of God only those who chase after justice. What about those who chase after love or after peace or inner peace—are they not seekers of God?

5. [Haftara] “…joy and gladness will be found there, thankfulness and the sound of music.” This is a comforting messianic vision. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says that the quality of thankfulness is considered like the light of Paradise. What makes the quality of thankfulness so special?

Commentary

When a person is on a trip and he can’t pray or learn Torah in his normal way, then he should serve God in other ways, and he shouldn’t be bothered by this, because God wants him to serve in all ways—sometimes in this way and sometimes in that way. That’s why he happened to be going on a certain road, or speaking to certain people, in order to serve God in that particular way.

–R. Yisrael ben Eliezer, 1698-1760, Ukraine.

This study page is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Bella bat Yitzchak Kummer, Chaim Yosef Yechiel ben Eliyahu Kummer and Eliyahu and Margaret Kummer

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