Ekev | The Relationship between God and the Jewish People

Parashat Eikev is THE parasha that defines the relationship between God and the Jewish people, based on the history of the Jews in the desert. There are many different aspects of this relationship discussed throughout the parasha. Today we shall concentrate on only one - and that is the role that the Land of Israel plays in that relationship.

 

For the land to which you are coming to inherit, it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you plant your seeds and irrigate with your feet like a vegetable garden.

But the land to which you are traveling to inherit is a land of hills and valleys - you shall drink water from the rains of heaven.

A land which HaShem your God cares for, the eyes of HaShem your God are on it, from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.(11,11-13)

 

What is the meaning of the comparison to Egypt? How does this quality of the land serve as a cause or reason for the Jews to observe the mitzvot, as implied by the opening conjunction "for", which follows an injunction to fortify ourselves and observe the mitzvot, in order to inherit the land (11,8)?

Rashi interprets these verses as direct and simple praise of the Land of Israel. Israel is not like Egypt,

 

but better than it.... In Egypt you had to bring water from the Nile by foot to irrigate, and you have to lose sleep and labor, and the low lands have water but not the high lands, so you have to pump water from low to high. But this land drinks water from the rain of heaven - you sleep on your bed and God waters the low and the high.

 

There are a few problems with this interpretation. The first is simply the facts - being dependent on rain has two results, which men historically will try to overcome. One is that it is unreliable, irregular at best, and at times simply absent. The danger of drought is a common feature of the climate of the Land of Israel, with three instances mentioned in the Torah, and two more in the Prophets. Secondly, it only rains in Israel in the winter, which provides water for long growing crops like grains, but makes it difficult to grow vegetables, which require irrigation (which is what the verse means by saying that Egypt is like a vegetable garden). A second problem is that the context of these verses is the observance of mitzvot, both in the previous and the succeeding verses. How does a promise concerning the ease of labor in Israel fit in here? A glowing description of the bounty of the land is found previously in the parasha - 8,7-10 - in a context that makes much more apparent sense.

 

Speaking of the ease of life in Israel - consider this striking midrash from the life of Abraham.

 

R. Levi said: When Abraham was wandering (after leaving his father's house in the east) in Aram Naharayim and Aram Nahor (Syria), he saw them eating and drinking and dancing. He said: May it be that I do not receive my portion in this land. When he came to the "ladder of Tyre" (the northern border of the Land of Israel), he saw them weeding at the appropriate time and ploughing at the appropriate time. He said: May it be that my portion be in this land. God said to him: To your seed will I give this land. (Bereishit Rabba 39,8).

 

The Ramban interprets differently than Rashi.

 

The simple explanation is that it is said as a warning. He said to them, "And you shall observe the mitzvot... and inherit a land" (11,8) of milk and honey, because God will give rain to His land at the right time, and the land will give forth its produce. But know, that it is not like Egypt where it is irrigated by foot from the canals and ponds like a vegetable garden. It is "a land of hills and valleys, - you shall drink water from the rains of heaven," and not in any other way! So it requires that God care for it always with rain, FOR IT IS VERY THIRSTY, and needs rain all year. If you will transgress the will of God and He will not care for it with rains, then (the land) will be very bad, and will not grow (anything). Then the verses repeat and explain all this in the next section - if you will listen to my mitzvot, "I will give the rain of your land  in its time," but if you do not listen, "He will hold back the rain...." (11,13-17).

 

Is this a blessing? The midrash quoted above claims that this is THE blessing, the attribute that leads Abraham to fall in love with this land. The land of Israel lives, as it were, on the brink (which probably explains the politics as well!). There is, at any point, enough water for a few more days. The blessing comes not from a great natural resource like the Nile, but from "heaven" - "you shall drink water from the rains of heaven." This is the opposite of irrigating "by your feet." The eyes of the inhabitants of the land are by necessity turned upwards all the time. The Jew lives in dependency, receiving from the hands of God, whose eyes "are on the land" always, and not imagining that their livelihoods are guaranteed by a resource possessed and in their control. This is a blessing, though one that is perhaps not psychologically comfortable. The Torah has previously warned against the comfort of having one's riches in one's hands -

 

Lest you eat and be satiated, and build good houses and settle. And your herds and flocks will multiply and gold and silver will multiply for you and all that is yours will be multiplied. And your heart will be lifted and you will forget HaShem your God.... And you will say in your heart, MY STRENGTH AND THE POWER OF MY ARM HAS MADE ALL THIS WEALTH FOR ME (8,13-17)

 

We now understand the meaning of "a land which God cares for." God has not given us a naturally rich land and told us to enjoy ourselves. He has said, if you need something (as you will), come to me, for I am always interested in your welfare. Ask and I will (please God) provide it. Our eyes are turned upwards, to (the rains of) heaven, and God's eyes are on the land, "from the beginning of the year to the end of the year."

 

This description of the land, the intended habitat of the Jewish people, is also the description of the normative state of the Jews themselves. Your resource is in God. This is both greater than any natural resource possible, but also more "risky." As the following section concludes,

 

And you shall put these words on your hearts and souls, and tie them as a sign on your arms and as phylacteries between your eyes (the mitzva of tefillin). And you shall teach your children to speak of them (the mitzva of learning Torah - the VBM), when sitting in your homes, and when traveling on the road (seems like you will have to buy cellular-modem laptops), when reclining and when getting up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house (the mitzva of mezuza) and your gates. In order that your days and the days of your children be lengthened, on the earth which God has promised your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens on the land. (11,18-21)

 

 

Copyright (c)1997 Yeshivat Har Etzion.  All rights reserved.