Parashat Eikev: Why the Smallest Mitzvot Matter Most

"And it shall come to pass, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and perform them, that the Lord your God will keep for you the covenant and the lovingkindness that He swore to your forefathers." (Deuteronomy 7:12)

God's covenant and His promise to redeem His children are like an unlimited check waiting to be cashed. The funds that make that promise a reality depend on us. Each one of us has the opportunity to help fulfill it by listening to the voice of God and living according to His will.

If you or I do not merit to bring the Divine promise to fruition in our generation, it will be fulfilled in the next. God's covenant and His oath remain eternal. They never expire.

Notice the seemingly small word in the verse: "for you" — "The Lord your God will keep for you the covenant." Your observance of the mitzvot can bring that covenant to fulfillment in your lifetime. The oath that has been preserved from the days of our forefathers has reached you, and through you it can become reality — if only you choose to make it so.

The haftarah reinforces this message through the words of the prophet Isaiah, who teaches us how to find hope and comfort while the Jewish people continue their long and often difficult journey through history: "Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you. For I called him when he was but one, blessed him, and made him many." (Isaiah 51:1–2)

Isaiah emphasizes the words, "For I called him when he was but one." Abraham stood alone in the land of Canaan, yet God blessed him and multiplied his descendants. Just as Jewish history began through one individual, so too the future redemption and the fulfillment of God's promises can begin with one person willing to take the first step.

That one person is you. Each of us carries an extraordinary responsibility.

The Mitzvot We Step Over

How do we fulfill that responsibility?

The Torah answers: "And it shall come to pass, because (eikev) you listen..."

Rashi famously explains: "If you listen even to those commandments that people trample under their heels."

The expression "trample under their heels" is the key to understanding the verse.

The heel is the lowest part of the human body. Compared to other parts of the body, it is relatively insensitive. Yet at the same time, it bears the weight of the entire body.

Spiritually, the heel carries profound symbolism. The head represents thought, understanding, and planning. The heart represents emotion and desire. The heel, by contrast, simply follows instructions. Tell it to walk, and it walks.

Symbolically, the heel represents those mitzvot we perform almost automatically, without much thought, without reflection, and sometimes without engaging our hearts.

Throughout the day we perform countless mitzvot that have become second nature. In many ways, this is a blessing, because healthy habits are essential to spiritual life. But habits also carry a danger: they can cause us to lose our sense of purpose and emotional connection.

The Torah therefore teaches that the first step toward becoming worthy of God's covenant is not necessarily adding more mitzvot. Rather, it is bringing greater awareness, understanding, and heartfelt intention into the mitzvot we already perform every day.

The Deeper Meaning of "Threshing"

Even the word Rashi uses — "trample" — is remarkably precise.

Threshing is an agricultural process performed by repeatedly stepping on harvested grain. The farmer places the sheaves on the ground and treads over them again and again. Compared to other stages of farming, it requires relatively little planning or creativity. One simply continues stepping.

And yet, that seemingly simple process reveals the grain hidden inside. It separates the valuable kernels from the husks and chaff, uncovering nourishment concealed within what appeared ordinary.

The same is true of the mitzvot we perform almost automatically. They have the power to reveal the deepest dimensions of our spiritual lives — but only if we bring our hearts into them.

One Mitzvah with New Awareness

Perhaps we should begin with just one familiar mitzvah and consciously invest it with thought and feeling. By doing so, we allow it to nourish and elevate our spiritual lives.

A perfect example appears later in this week's Torah portion: Birkat Hamazon, the Grace After Meals (Deuteronomy 8:10).

The Torah commands that after eating bread to satisfaction, a person must recite Birkat Hamazon. (The Sages extended this obligation to even smaller quantities of bread.) The blessing consists of several sections, and the second blessing, known as Birkat HaAretz ("The Blessing for the Land"), was instituted by Joshua after the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel (Berachot 48b).

Its words are striking: "We thank You, Lord our God, for giving our forefathers a precious, good, and spacious land; for bringing us out of Egypt and redeeming us from the house of bondage; for the covenant You sealed in our flesh; for Your Torah that You taught us; for Your statutes that You made known to us; for the life, grace, and kindness You have bestowed upon us; and for the food with which You constantly nourish and sustain us every day, at every moment, and at every hour."

Notice what happens.

A person eats a simple slice of bread, yet instead of thanking God only for the meal, he thanks Him for the Exodus from Egypt, the covenant, the Torah, the gift of life itself, the beauty and goodness of the world, and the countless acts of kindness that surround him every day.

Then the blessing concludes: "For all these things, Lord our God, we thank You and bless You..."

We thank Him for everything. Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz of Mir explains that this is the Torah's model of gratitude. A Jew is expected to thank his Creator not merely for isolated blessings, but for every single moment of life.

It is remarkable how much reflection, emotion, and meaning can be infused into something as seemingly routine as eating a slice of bread.

Birkat Hamazon is a mitzvah many of us recite several times a day almost automatically. Yet if we approach it with greater awareness and intention, we can uncover within ourselves a rich spiritual harvest.

If we begin taking these small but meaningful steps — heel to toe, one step at a time, we will merit the fulfillment of the prophet's promise: "For the Lord has comforted Zion; He has comforted all her ruins. He has made her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found within her, thanksgiving and the sound of song."

May that day come speedily in our time.