This week, the second of the 7 Shabbatot of comfort in the weeks that follow Tisha B'Av, we read Parshat Eikev. Let us try to understand what message of consolation we find in our parsha. In the opening verses of the parsha, we find words of reassurance that if we keep Hashem’s mitzvot, Hashem will love us and bless us with all the things that He promises: And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your soil, our grain, your wine, and our oil…you shall be bless above all peoples: there will be no sterile male or barren female among you or your livestock (7:13-14).
It becomes immediately apparent that there is a connection between the idea of bracha (blessing), and multiplying from the above verses. In fact, Rav Soloveichk points out that the very first time we find a blessing in the Torah, this same association is found after Hashem creates man:
Veyivarech otam Elokim lamor, pru u’revu u’milu et ha’aretz
And G-d blessed them, saying, be fruitful and multiply and fill the land (Breishit 1:28)
The Rav explains that the concept of a blessing is not necessarily to thank Hashem (as we have other words in Biblical Hebrew that mean to thank - we do not use the word baruch in such a context). The Rav offers an often quoted explanation of the word levarech, to bless, as synonymous with increase – when we bless someone with happiness, wealth, or children we are hoping that these things are increased in their lives.
If this is what a bracha really is, then we can understand why and how Hashem blesses us - He blesses us with all that we have. Given the Rav's understanding of a bracha, Rav Binny Friedman and others grapple with the question of what it means for us to bless Hashem? What do we, or can we, increase when we bless Hashem in our prayers and our daily brachot on the food we eat?
Perhaps the answer to this question can be found the verse in this week’s parsha in which we find the source for the mitzvah we have to recite 100 blessings each day:
And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, demand of you (Ve’atah Ysirael ma Hashem Elokecha shaal me’amcha)?
Only to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul (10:12)
The rabbis learn out that the word “mah” (what) should be read as meah (100), so the pasuk should read that Hashem only asks of us to recite 100 blessings each day. It is from these very same verse, from the words, fear the Lord, that the rabbis derive the basic principle:
Hakol bidai hashamaim chutz me’yirat hashamaiim
Everything is in the hand of Heaven except for the fear of the Heaven (Brachot 33B)
There are several times in the Torah that we are commanded to fear Hashem; yet Chazal specifically chose this verse as the source for this principle. We must try to understand what connection the rabbis want us to understand that links the obligation to say 100 brachot a day AND the notion that Hashem controls everything except our fear of Him?
When understood in their deeper meanings, these two ideas are actually one in the same. The word yirah, fear, also means see. Chazal explain that to fear Hashem is really to see Hashem all around us – in our lives and in the world around us. And, it is through the recitation of 100 brachot a day that we come to see Hashem in our lives. Rav Binny explains that when we bless Hashem, we increase His presence in this world and in our lives. It is through these brachot that we recognize that Hashem is in control, and we should be aware of this at all times of the day. This is precisely the reason the Torah commands us to bless Hashem after we are satiated from eating a substantial meal:
And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you…lest your heart grows haughty, and you forget the Lord, your God" (8:10-14)
We must bless Hashem after we are satiated in order to remember that it Hashem who provides for us and satisfies us. When we are aware of this, we are able to see Hashem in all that we do and all that we have – and that is when we truly live our lives be’yirat shamaim, with fear of the Heavens.
At the end of the parsha, the Torah tells us that Hashem will bring us to “a land the Lord, your God, looks after; the eyes of Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year” (Devarim 11:12) Rashi explains here: tamid eynei Hashem Elochecha doresh otah – Hashem’s eyes are always watching over us in Israel.
Hashem watches us because He loves us so intensity. While the Torah tells us to constantly be reminded of Hashem, we also learn that Hashem is constantly thinking of us - it is as though Hashem does not, or cannot take His eyes off the Jewish people. This may be truly especially when we are in the land of Israel, but a powerful and comforting verse in this week;s haftorah tells us it is true all the time:
Can a mother ever forget her child; cease to have compassion for him? Even if she could, I will never forget you! (Yeshaya 49:15)
Hashem does not forget us, Hashem always wants to be closer to us – it is up to us to open our eyes to see Hashem and to open ourselves to feeling His presence in our lives and in so doing increase Hashem’s presence in this world.
Let us then remember Hashem as He remembers us; let us see Him as He sees us. Chazal explain that fear of Hashem is the first step towards our ultimate goal to love Hashem. With our understanding of yirat Hashem, as seeing Hashem in our lives, we can better appreciate how doing so can lead us to truly loving Hashem. In fact, Rav Dessler explains that one way in which we can fulfill the command to love Hashem is to contemplate all of the things that we are thankful for, all of the things that Hashem has given us in our lifetime.
When we become aware of what Hashem gives us each day, we are automatically in awe of His endless kindness, and it is through our blessings that we bring Hashem into our lives – and ultimately it is these blessings that allows Hashem to shower more blessing on us and into the world. I hope that we can all work to see Hashem in our surroundings and in our lives. May we see and know all of the blessings that Hashem showers on us and bless Him in response. After all, as we learn from our parsha, the first step to being blessed, is feeling blessed.
Have a blessed week & shabbat shalom, Taly
