This week’s reading, Eikev, begins with G-d’s promise of great blessings: “It will be, that because you listen to these judgments, and guard them, and do them, Hashem your G-d will guard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your fathers” [7:12]. The crops will flourish, the flocks will grow, many children will be born, and people will not be ill.
But Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) comments upon the word which we translated “because” you listen. In Hebrew, the word Eikev comes from the word “heel.” The straightforward meaning is that the blessings will come “on the heels of” listening to G-d’s laws. But there are other ways to say “because,” and furthermore, as the Sifsei Chachamim notes, something that comes “on the heels” follows after something that already happened beforehand. The Torah should say, then, that “it will be, that because you listened…” It seems out of place for the Torah to use this particular word for “because,” when the blessings described in this passage will come if Israel will follow Hashem’s laws in the future.
So Rashi explains: these blessings will come if you will guard the “light” Mitzvos, the ones which a person treads under his heels. That is why the word Eikev is used to indicate “because,” for it is hinting to things a person might carelessly step on.
At first, a person might wonder what the Torah is speaking about. What sort of Commandment would a serious person neglect like that? How could any Commandment be treated so lightly?
In reality, though, we can definitely find areas where we are not as serious as we should be. And though this is true in many areas, I was reminded of a lesson I saw recently from Rabbi Yisrael Mayer Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim, who wrote extensively about the laws regarding gossip, talebearing, and other forms of forbidden speech.
“With other transgressions,” he writes, “It is quite possible for a person to go for a week, a month, or sometimes even a year or two, without transgressing them. Not so with the transgressions that depend upon a person’s speech! even if one is a God-fearing Jew, if he does not accept upon himself the obligation to guard, it is unlikely for him to be saved for even one week from forbidden speech” [Chovas Hashemira, Ma’alos Hashemirah, #2]. His point was not merely that we must accept the idea of following these Commandments as a matter of principle, but that we must study these laws and work to implement them in our lives.
Earlier this year, a book called “Asarah Devarim: The Ten Commandments of Speech,” was published by Israel Book Shop, translating collected writings by the Chofetz Chaim on “the Top Ten Forms of Forbidden Speech.” These extend well beyond gossip and talebearing, for which the Chofetz Chaim is best known, but include lying, mockery, hurtful language, causing embarrassment, and more. The translation above from Chovas Hashemira is from p. 28 of that book.
By studying these laws, and committing ourselves to following them, may we see G-d’s blessing upon ourselves, our families, and all Israel!
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