Aikev: How the world works

Aikev, this weeks parsha  is about the Big Deal, the deal between Gd and people, the descendants of Yaakov ( derived from Aikev)  in particular.   The parsha starts with a deal: that is  based upon the Aikev:

וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן, אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה, וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם
2 And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep, and do them, that the LRD thy Gd shall keep with thee the covenant and the mercy which He swore unto thy fathers,

JPS translates Aikev as because, but the word means heel! Perhaps the point  is that the heel is the fulcrum for the walking (holech, halachah) person. Perhaps this deal will require a maximally cushioned area to absorb the shocks that are to come as a consequence of it. 

Part of the special deal with Israel is that 
 כִּי הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא-שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ--לֹא כְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם הִוא,
For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou didst sow thy seed, and didst water it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs;

 In the land of Egypt constant human intervention was necessary.  The miracle of sustenance was obscured by the human effort. 

We are trading that in for 

2 a land which the LRD thy Gd careth for; the eyes of the LRD thy Gd are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. {S} 

It will now be clearer that  Divine intervention is a major component of life.  We will depend upon the rains, not the river.  Instead of drawing water, we must now pray.  The model of cause and effect is altered.  It is not the work (alone) that brings success,  every achievement is a gift from Gd. 

Thus we have the second paragraph of the shema: 

  וְהָיָה, אִם-שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל-מִצְו‍ֹתַי, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם, הַיּוֹם

Love and serve Gd, everything will be OK.  Otherwise you will starve.  

Like any deal, The devil is in the details.