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EKEV

Moshe’s long oration to the people of Israel continues. He portrays for them the blessings and the lurking dangers that await them in the Land of Israel. He is aware of the temptations that they will face in establishing themselves in there new and ancient homeland. Moshe views his people as a type of recovering alcoholic – always prone to fall off the wagon when passing an establishment that dispenses alcoholic beverages. The Jewish people are always prone to revert to their Egyptian ways – to the influence of the pagan societies that surround them and have a strange allure to them.

Moshe knows he will not be present to try and protect them and he sadly predicts that problems will prevail. Coming into a new country, having to live in a natural instead of supernatural environment, adjusting to new leadership and different challenges all combine to create a difficult and tense situation for the Jewish people. Moshe’s warnings are not limited to his generation or Yehoshua’s generation but are aimed at the Jewish people in all of its generations.

Jews are always subject to foreign and many times anti-Torah influences. How to protect one’s self from that constant difficulty of societal life has remained the perennial challenge of Jewish life throughout the ages. In our time this struggle has been intensified by the establishment of a Jewish state once gain in the Land of Israel. In short, the issue remains how to remain Jewish, nationally and personally, in a very large and influential non-Jewish world.

Moshe’s solution is the old time-tested and true one – the study and observance of Torah and its value system. There is no other solution to the “Jewish problem.” All of history literally shouts this answer from its story of Jewish life and existence over thousands of years. Moshe warns us not to search for other apparently beguiling answers that eventually bankrupt and lead only to further problems and disasters.

People always search for the “ekev” – the “because” and “why” of Jewish problems and challenges. Moshe answers the “ekev” problem by explaining that it is up to us to live up to the role that the Lord has ordained for us. The Lord eventually does not easily tolerate backsliding from the Jewish people. People may deem God’s instructions to be irrelevant to their own society and stage of life but in reality these instructions are the keys to personal fulfillment and Jewish survival and triumph.

“Ekev” “because”  is the absolute answer to understanding our current world and societal challenges. Rashi comments that “ekev” also means the idea that people step on God’s commandments deeming them to be irrelevant to their lives. So Moshe wishes us to remember the “because” element of “ekev” as well to warn us not to trample on our heritage and disregard that uniqueness that can save us from the pitfalls of a non-Jewish world, devoid of holy values and lofty aims. There is no substitute for the authenticity of Moshe’s message to us. His words should be heeded.