Dvar Torah for Parshat Ekev

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hilkhot Prikah u'Te'inah 4:35

"V'hayah im shamoa tishma'u el mitvosai (And it will come to pass, if you will hear and listen)...."
(Deuteronomy 11:13)

This week's parsha contains the second paragraph of the Shema. Our Sages refer to this passage as kabalat ol mitzvot, accepting on oneself the yoke of complying with the Torah and mitzvot. Rashi explains the words, "im shamoa" - if you listened [to the Torah in the past], then - "tishma'u" - you will be able to hear and listen to new perceptions of Godliness [in the future].

The passage promises the Jews that they will be blessed if they perform the mitzvot. Conversely, it lists several misfortunes for which they will be liable should they be derelict in mitzvah performance. One of those misfortunes is, "you will be banished from the land..." (ibid. v.17).

In reference to the destruction of the First Temple, the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:11) delivered the following message from God: "Why was the Land lost...?" Our Sages teach that this question was posed to the wise men and Prophets of that generation, but they had no answer. God Himself had to provide it: "Because they abandoned My Torah." That is, the Jews did not recite the blessings on the mitzvah of Torah study before they studied (Bava Metzia 85b). Many commentaries have been offered on this teaching. Reb Noson offers the following.

The inability of the wise men and prophets to answer Jeremiah's question is puzzling. In any number of places in the Torah we find the Jews being told that if they adhere to the Torah they will be blessed in their Land, whereas if they do not, they will be banished from the Land. All the Jewish leaders and prophets, throughout the generations, warned them of the dire consequences should they fail to follow the precepts of the Torah. What then was the difficulty of God's question?! And the answer, that the Jews did not recite the blessing for Torah study, implies that this lapse is far more severe than failure to study or observe. This is even more difficult to understand! How can not reciting the blessing on Torah study be worse than transgressing it?

Reb Noson answers that God's question was posed not as rebuke for a past misdeed. Rather it was meant as a suggestion for the future. From the exile experience itself we are to glean advice on how to return to God and the Land. This forward-looking point of the question is what the wise men and the prophets failed to discern. They thought, "Whatever happened, happened. What difference does it make now why the Land was lost?"

So God Himself answered the question. True, the Jews served idolatry, committed adultery, etc. But we Jews have shown that no matter how far we've strayed from God, He is nonetheless never very far from our hearts. Collectively, this has been proven true time and again throughout our history. Individually as well, each of us, from the time s/he experiences his personal "Pesach," feels a deep spiritual yearning, a strong bond and connection to God. Therefore, God's intention was, and is, for us to draw strength from our misfortunes. Perhaps you are an absolute fiend in your dealings with people. Perhaps in the past you have ignored all the rituals. But why should this stop you from trying even to serve God a little? Why not grab a simple, easy-to-do mitzvah, or study even a few lines of Torah? Who says that because you've strayed, you have to give up everything??! Bind yourself to that little bit of spiritual yearning that remains!

Reb Noson writes that this is alluded to in the answer, "They did not recite the blessing for Torah study." Certainly, the Jews did not just wake up one morning and begin to serve idolatry. Their decline began with a small sin and eventually evolved until they were guilty of the cardinal transgressions (sexual immorality, murder, idolatry). The reason they kept falling and falling until they committed such crimes, was that they did not strengthen themselves with the little bit of spiritual yearning they still had left.

More importantly, not reciting the Torah blessings indicated that they lacked appreciation for God's having chosen them as His people and for having given them His most prized possession, the Torah. If we will truly appreciate that "little bit," if we take advantage of every drop of spiritual feeling forever within the reservoir of our neshamah (soul), we will always be able to find God, no matter how distant we may feel ourselves to be. For as long as a person attempts to draw upon whatever little bit of inner strength he has within him, there is hope.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!