Aikev: The Foot
The parsha starts with a reference to the heel, aikev. It ends with the ball of the foot, Kaf regel:כָּל־הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּדְרֹ֧ךְ כַּֽף־רַגְלְכֶ֛ם בּ֖וֹ לָכֶ֣ם יִהְיֶ֑ה Every spot on which your foot treads shall be yours
The aikev, a word meaning heel, consequence and deceive, first appears as the target of the serpent in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:15). It evens the match between the human who can crush the head of the snake, and the poisonous creature who, by biting the most insignificant of places, can kill the erect person.
The foot is the instrument for following the path ( halacha). It treads upon the earth and whatever is thrown onto the earth. Rashi quotes the Midrash TAnchuma : אִם הַמִּצְווֹת קַלּוֹת שֶׁאָדָם דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו תשמעון. If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), ye will hearken to ,
What does that mean? Certainly there is a special difficulty in the vigilance about things that seem trivial, things you step on or step over ,or try to avoid stepping in. Growing up in New York City, before people picked up after their dogs, I learned to watch where I stepped. Perhaps that is part of the intention of the mitzoth: to avoid stepping in things that are unpleasant to clean up later.
The eikev word echoes Jacob, Yaakov, the third patriarch. Jacob was so named because he held onto the heel (the vulnerable spot inherited from Adam) as he competed with Esau at birth. Esau uses the word , Va'yaakaveini: he supplanted me, when he describe the how his brother, Yaakov, obtained the blessing that he thought came to him. He got him by the heel! It is not much of stretch to translate this word that implies cheating, and includes the name of the last patriarch as : he Jewed me. Jews will not replace us?
The Onkelos translation of eikev is chalaf, in exchange . This is a contract. Keep the mitzvoth and the reap the benefits of the covenant. Sometimes a person has to hang on to the covenent by its last vestige, by its heel. The lowly, abused, heel is the pivot, the point that determines direction.
Watch your step!
The foot is the instrument for following the path ( halacha). It treads upon the earth and whatever is thrown onto the earth. Rashi quotes the Midrash TAnchuma : אִם הַמִּצְווֹת קַלּוֹת שֶׁאָדָם דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו תשמעון. If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), ye will hearken to ,
What does that mean? Certainly there is a special difficulty in the vigilance about things that seem trivial, things you step on or step over ,or try to avoid stepping in. Growing up in New York City, before people picked up after their dogs, I learned to watch where I stepped. Perhaps that is part of the intention of the mitzoth: to avoid stepping in things that are unpleasant to clean up later.
The eikev word echoes Jacob, Yaakov, the third patriarch. Jacob was so named because he held onto the heel (the vulnerable spot inherited from Adam) as he competed with Esau at birth. Esau uses the word , Va'yaakaveini: he supplanted me, when he describe the how his brother, Yaakov, obtained the blessing that he thought came to him. He got him by the heel! It is not much of stretch to translate this word that implies cheating, and includes the name of the last patriarch as : he Jewed me. Jews will not replace us?
The Onkelos translation of eikev is chalaf, in exchange . This is a contract. Keep the mitzvoth and the reap the benefits of the covenant. Sometimes a person has to hang on to the covenent by its last vestige, by its heel. The lowly, abused, heel is the pivot, the point that determines direction.
Watch your step!
posted by Sheldon Goldberg at 6:12 AM
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