Eikev - 1st Portion

Join me as we learn Chumash for Sunday parshas Eikev, chapter 7, verse 12, the first Torah reading of the Eikev. Last week we learned as Moshe reminded and encouraged the Jewish people to follow the commandments, reminding them of the 10 commandments, as well as telling them the importance of the relationship that they have with God and the covenant that God made with their forefathers. It is not because of their greatness and their specialty, but at the very fact that God has given that covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and continues with the Jewish people going into the land of Israel. This week Moshe reminds the Jewish people of the humility that they have to have before God, recognizing every mitzvah is important and their dependence on God's blessings. Verse 12. And if you will indeed heed these ordinances, and you'll safeguard them and perform them, and God will then keep the covenant that he made with you and the kindness that he swore to your forefathers. The word Eikev generally comes with a word in between, like in the book of Genesis. Eikev asher shama'ti b'koli. Why have we here does the Torah put the word Eikev tishm'un one right after the other? He so therefore Rashi tells us in Mitzvos Akalis she'odam dosh ba'akovav, if Mitzvos which are easy or light, which people usually step over, meaning they don't recognize their importance, tishm'un you will follow them, then you will get that great reward. V'shamar Hashem yishmor l'cha God will then keep his promise to you and give you that kindness and covenant that he made with you. Verse 13. V'aheiv'cha and love you and he will bless you and he will make your uh and he will bless you with and he will multiply you. And he will bless you with fruit of the womb, with children of free at muscle car and fruit of your soil to gun car your your your wine >> [clears throat] >> the gun car your wine this the gun car your grain your wine your car and your oil the the offspring of your cattle and the choice of your flock Allah on this earth that God that God swore to your forefathers lost of luck to give to you. Rashi what is the word of well this is talking about the children of your flock that the female gives me me out from her from her womb therefore it's called sugar of sugar is that's a gift coming from the womb. What is the word mean means the choice of your flock as we can menachem which is menachem in over here means explained a video the best of your flock the choice of their flock he gets the word from we learn previously about as in the book of braces where it tells us about the two mountains that were like stones and they were considered very strong. Unclass explains it which means the best of your best of your flock as well but they why was it called shamash as well ballet and why are these flock called a studies because since they would make their owners wealthy that says the town and the tractor of food and that if somebody wants to become wealthy he should deal in the business of selling goats and sheep and flock of these kinds of a light animals. Verse 17. But I'm sorry, verse 14. Baruch tiye mikol amim you'll be blessed from above all the people. There will not be any sterile male or barren female b'emtecha among you and amongst your flock. Akar the word akar is a man chain available man who's sterile and therefore he cannot give birth. Verse 15. V'heysir Hashem mikol choli and God will from you all illness v'chol machaveh Mitzrayim and all the uh diseases that were put amongst Egypt the bad diseases that you know about will not place upon you he will put them upon all instead he'll put them on all your enemies. Verse 16. V'achalta es kol ha'amim you must destroy all the people asher Hashem Elokecha nosein lach that God will be handing over to you. Lo sachis in chalam do not have do you must not spare them do not have any mercy on them. V'lo tisavdenu es eloheihem and do not worship their gods ki mokesh hu lach because it will be for stumbling block for you it will be a snare for you. Verse 17. Ki samer b'lavcha you might say to yourself rabim hagoyim eileh these nations are so numerous maybe many from us how we ever able going to conquer them to drive them out? Rashi ki samer b'lavcha al korcha loshon dilmahu over here the key means you might you might say maybe you'll say to yourself mipnei shem rabim because there are so many of them we're not going to be able to conquer them. Al temar kein don't say that as the verse continues in verse 18 lo tisna mehem don't be afraid of them. And Rashi continues there's no way you can explain it with any other translation as we mentioned ki has four different translations and therefore we have to say this one means perhaps you may say to yourself because they follows the following verse don't be afraid of them and it has to be make sense in the continuation of the verses. Verse 18. Don't be afraid of them. Remember what God has done to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt. The great trials that you saw with your own eyes and the signs and the miracles and the marvels. And God's great hand stretched out arm God took you out of Egypt. So too will God do to all the nations whom you fear. What is the word and saying is the challenges. And the great miracles for example the stick became into a snake. And there was a blood and dry land. And the marvels and the amazing miracles and plagues that happened amongst the Egyptians. And strong arms this refers to the pestilence. Egyptians flock and not the Jews. And God stretched out arms this is the sword of the killing of the firstborn that God himself went and smote every one of this firstborn while the Jewish people were spared. Verse 20. So too God is going to send the hornets against them. Against them until those survivors who are hiding from you will perish. What is the means it's a type of bug that flies which we translate as a hornet. That it would spelt it would spit it would throw a poison and cause them to become that they would not be able to give birth. And as well cause them to be blind. Be home welcome showing the stardom from any place that they would be hiding. So even though the Jewish people didn't see them, so therefore the verse says that it would continue to spread this poison amongst them, would blind them as well. They would not be able to have children. So therefore, as the verse continues to say, it would destroy them until there's nothing left of them. Verse 20. Uh verse 21. The saddest mean playing him. You must not be terrified from these nations. God is with you can God over the nation and awesome God. Verse 22. The national God will then cast the nations be from before you. From before you may act my heart gradually slowly. You will not be able to destroy them quickly because until the last of the beast of the field start to bring them. What is this referring to? Explain this follows Rashi. What is the Jewish people have to be worried about the animals? What is this coming to tell us? If they do a God says that there's nothing to be afraid of the animals. Nations of the the nations of the the I'm sorry the animals of the field the wild animals of the field are not interested you're not going to be able to hurt you. Hello, what is this referring to? This was God God knew that the Jewish people will eventually see sin and therefore they will not be able to be protected from the animals always and therefore he says that if they do sin that's when the animals will come upon them. Verse 23. When the son of God will deliver the nations to you. The home and home and the daily he will derange them with the great pandemonium. Until they are utterly destroyed. The home and home. The word the home and home as Rashi explains not good come at school late there's a comment on all of it. The fish ain't no matter how you because the last man the final man is not part of the root word. Hareu kimei vaham oisam aval vahamam galgal aglosai kulai yisait laficha chetzi kamats vachetzi patach kishar peilul shlishi asiyas Of here Rashi is telling us when the difference, if you want to know what is the root word, if the final mem is part of it or not. So, if you see there's a double kamats, so it's vahamam, so the actual word is vaham, and therefore the middle mem with the last mem is not part of it. However, it would be vahamam if there would be a 'nother vowel, then you would know that the actual root word is longer. As he brings a case in Isaiah, vahamam galgal aglosai, and therefore if over there there's a kamats and it has a patach, like any other root word which will have two different vowels on the actual root word. Verse 23. Verse 20 Where are we up to? Verse 24. Vinasan malcheihem biyadecha, he will deliver the kings into your hand. V'avadeta sh'mam, and you will destroy their name, their own name, mitachas hashamaim, from beneath the heaven, from under the heavenly satifish bifanecha, no man will stand in your way, adi sh'mim, kol oisam, until you will have destroyed them. Verse 25. silalei chem disur famash, you must burn their sculptured images of their gods in fire, al tisachmed kesef v'zahav aleihem, you must not desire the sil- silver and gold that they put on their idols, valakachta lach and think that you'll take them. Pente v'kesh paich, cuz then lest you be the stump use it as a stumbling block for yourself, ki so'eivas Hashem Elokecha, who because God is disgusted by it. Verse 26. v'lo s'vi ta'eivah bisacha, you should not bring any of these idols which are or any object which is disgusting into your home. V'yisacheidem kamohu, it should be considered and condemned for destruction. Shakkets tishaktsenu, you must utterly loathe it, v'sa'eiv tisa'evenu, and you must utterly detest it, ki cheirem hu, cuz it's something that needs to be destroyed. Chapter 8, verse 1. All the mitzvahs that I command you today safeguard to do them l'ma'an tichyun in order that you should be able to live and come and conquer the land asher nishba Hashem l'avoseichem that God has promised to your forefathers. Kol ha'mitzva What does this mean? K'pshuto, it simply said, every mitzvah that God gives you. Medrash Aggadah, the Medrash explains as follows. You started doing a mitzvah don't leave it and do it a half job. G'morei asah, finish it yourself. Cuz a mitzvah is considered on the person who completes the mitzvah. We find this that the bones of Yosef that the Jewish people brought up from Egypt and buried it in Shechem. Wasn't Moshe the one that took it out of Egypt? Why then does it give the credit to the Jewish people? Ela l'fi she'hu sh'bikla gamra, because Moshe never entered in the land of Israel and he did not have a chance to actually complete the job. And who is the one that completed it? It was Gamru Yisrael, the Jewish people did it. Nikra al sh'mam, and therefore they are considered the one to follow the to get the credit for it. And therefore Moshe mitzvah tells them, Kol ha'mitzva, the entirety of a mitzvah, don't let a mitzvah do it a half job. Do it completely because the mitzvah is considered on the one who completes it. Verse 2. Like I have Remember the entire travel and journey that you went with God. Asher b'arba'im shana for the past 40 years b'midbar in the desert l'ma'an anosecha so that he would in order to afflict you ul'nasosecha and to test you l'da'at to know asher b'lvavcha to know what's truly in your heart. Ha'tishm'ru mitzvosav, will you follow in God's commandments im lo or not? Rashi, ha'tishm'ru mitzvosav will you follow God's commandments? Sh'lo l'hachlitena'siyum, you should not be uh testing God like you did in the past. Shlaita had it after of and not to second-guess what God tells you to do. Verse three. And he afflicted you and he let you go hungry and he fed you the mana I surely you died to that you never seen never heard of and I would have stuck even your parents never knew about it the money you had to let you know cuz not on bread alone does man survive. But one survives only by the command of by the what comes from the what comes from God's mouth. Meaning? Verse four. Your clothing did not wear out from being worn on you. And your feet did not swell by for these 40 years. Just an interesting note in the previous verse when he talks about the God starved them let them go hungry but even though he fed them the mana one of the reasons why the Talmud explains why it was called they let them go hungry because the money you had an allocated portion portion for that day and therefore being that you didn't know what you were getting the next morning was considered hungry. When a person goes to sleep when it's called pasta pasali when he has bread in his basket he knows that he's going to have something in the morning he sleeps better he eats better even though now he's not eating fully but because he knows he's going to have something in the morning he's not hungry. So too over here the Jewish people went to sleep hungry because they didn't know if the mana was going to fall again in that morning. Rashi about the clothing not did not wear out so Rashi explains as follows. Because the clouds of glory would basically be their washing machine and clean their clothing coming came and go out to them like clothing that were parts and they were therefore cleaned and washed and kept them clean and also their small children you could tell them are you going to wash them in the washing machine cuz the wash has a limit. So God only might >> So to the little children as they would grow their clothing would grow with them so they wouldn't have to get new clothing and just like this type of gives an example of a type of animal who the or type of um insect that its clothing grew grows with it. What does it mean that their feet did not swell enough but I can't didn't blow up like a piece of dough like the people that go barefoot because of that they their feet swell. Verse five. And you know in your heart just like a man chastises God chastise you as well. Therefore you will safeguard the commandments that God gives you to go in his ways or the year center of your God is going to God your God is going to bring you a lot of favor to a good land and it's not a land of brooks of water and Jonas fountains and underground and aquifers that come out that emerge in the valleys and in the mountains. Verse eight at its heater this is the verse that we see the seven special foods of the land of Israel are blessed with at its heater so you have a land which has wheat and barley grapes and fig grape vines and figs to remain in pomegranate at its a land of oil producing olives and honey producing dates. This is shaman olives that make oil. Verse nine at its a land will you will not eat bread without scarcity like you will lack nothing in this land It's a land whose stones can yield iron. And from the mountains, you will be able to mine copper. Verse 10. And over here, this is the mitzvah of the biblical commandment to say the grace after meals. Verse 10. You will eat and you'll be satiated. A commandment to bless God on the good land he has given to you. From here, we see that it's actually a biblical commandment to say the grace after meals, while the commandment to say a blessing before eating is a rabbinic commandment. This concludes the first Torah reading of Eikev.