From our Torah this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: “And you shall bless the LORD your God for the good…” (Deut. 8:10). Whenever we derive benefit or enjoyment from something we are to bless (i.e., thank) God for his goodness. Indeed the Hebrew term for gratitude is hakarat tovah (הַכָּרַת טוֹבָה), a phrase that means “recognizing the good.” The heart looks through the eye, and therefore how we see is ultimately a spiritual decision: “If your eye is “single” (i.e., ἁπλοῦς, sincere, focused),” Yeshua said, “your whole body will be filled with light” (Matt. 6:22). When we see rightly, we are awakened to God’s Presence in the little things of life, those small miracles and “signs and wonders” that constantly surround us. The good eye of faith sees hundreds of reasons to bless God for the gift of life (1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Thess 5:18; Psalm 103:1-5). The LORD is “enthroned among the blessings of His people” (Psalm 22:3).

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In our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Eikev) we read: “But now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask from you … but to love him with all your heart and with all your soul?” (Deut. 10:12). But how are we able to love God be’khol levavka (בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ) – “with all our heart” – and be’khol nafshekha (וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶׁךָ) – “with all our soul,” apart from healing of the brokenness that makes our hearts divided and sick? That is what the redemption from Egypt was about: we were personally chosen by God, redeemed by his grace, led out from from cruel bondage, only to be led into the desert, away from the world, where we slowly began to understand that we were valued, cared for, and beloved of God. We believed in the possibility of promise, of covenant… Only then could we hear the request from heaven: “Now love Me…” In other words, we can only truly love God by knowing we are beloved by God, and the invitation to love him is a response of his great passion for you (1 John 4:19). Accept that you are accepted in the heart of the Beloved (Eph. 1:4-6).

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“The whole commandment that I am commanding you this day you shall observe and do, so that you may live…” (Deut. 8:1). The Hebrew phrase kol ha’mitzvah (כל־המצוה), here translated as “the whole commandment,” refers to the heart attitude, or the inner passion of the soul. Some have linked the word “commandment” (מצוה) with the word “connection” (צוותא), suggesting that God’s commandments are the means by which we cleave to Him, as is written: “this is the love of God (אהבת אלהים), that we hold fast to his commandments” (1 John 5:3). The commandments are “for life” (Lev. 18:5), which means they serve as the call of the Beloved to rise to something far greater…

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Our Torah reading for this week is called “Eikev” (עֵקֶב), a word often translated “because,” though it literally means “heel,” and therefore recalls Jacob (יעקב) the “heel-holder” who wrestled with the pain of his past to learn to bear the name Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל), the “prince of God” (Gen. 32:28)… Like Jacob, we must grapple to believe that the covenant of God’s love and acceptance is meant for us, too… Read more “Grappling with Faith”