Eikev:  Mechanism

The  theme of attribution runs through the parsha. It begins with

וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן

as a consequence of your heeding these laws
                                    Metsudah Publications, 2009

This complex  translation of עֵ֣קֶב,eikev, comes from Onkelos. Onkelos, the ancient ( c. 35–120 CE) ,official (Talmudically sanctioned) translator of the Torah renders  eikev  חֳלַף  chalaf, Aramaic for exchange.

I must put aside the very popular midrashic interpretation quoted by Rashi, relating eikev to its other meaning: the heel of the foot.

 אִם הַמִּצְווֹת קַלּוֹת שֶׁאָדָם דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו תשמעון.

If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels, ye will hearken to

The simple meaning of the first sentence of the parsha, as expressed by the official translation is: If you will obey.. then you will receive. It moves the contingency from physics to the author of Nature, the Creator of the universal. The good outcome is not a consequence of successful effort, it is a gift from a pleased Gd.

 

The last section of the chapter contains the second paragraph of  Shema (of allegiance); it is a restatement of the command to love Gd  in its transactional form:

וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺתַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם

If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day,

וְנָתַתִּ֧י מְטַֽר־אַרְצְכֶ֛ם בְּעִתּ֖וֹ

I will grant the rain for your land in season

הִשָּֽׁמְר֣וּ לָכֶ֔ם פֶּ֥ן יִפְתֶּ֖ה לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וְסַרְתֶּ֗ם

Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you turn aside,

וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֣ה מָטָ֔ר

there will be no rain

 

 if you will keep the commandments, the forces that you depend upon- and are out of your control -will help you. If you stray, there will be drought.

 There are several statements in the chapter that warn against errors of attribution. Eikev says that what we perceive as cause and effect is a convenient fantasy, a model.   It is not a truth. The parsha asks us to remember the manna and says that the human does not live by bread, but by the word of Gd.

The idea that humans can understand, and thus reliably influence, the “forces of nature” is increasingly questioned and denied. Medical journal advertisements for drugs, previously, included information about the (presumed/proposed) mechanism of action of the drug. I found this information useful to  help predict and deal with side effects and interactions. That information is no longer given. Known, documented side effects and interactions are stated, but the mystery of the (presumed) mechanism is not revealed.

This abbreviation of information can be excused as a greater level of honesty. The proposed mechanism may be incorrect.  There are numerous examples of misattribution. Silence may be better than uncertainty.

There is also an increasing awareness of complexity. The ramifications of an action that perturbs a complex and delicate system are so numerous and interact in unknown complex ways. Knowledge of one small aspect, even if it is an initiation point, may be misleading.

The emergence of artificial intelligence, offering perfectly functional answers that may not have a traceable path in logic, but are supported by large data sets (or, much more insecurely, large language models) has made the insecure and puny speculations, based on test tube observations, unacceptable. Why bother adding a paragraph about signal transduction pathways or cytokines?

Loss of faith is the Achilles heel. If we have no confidence in mechanism, and transfer belief into large language models, truth becomes what we are told. The oracle cannot be questioned. By grabbing the heel of Esau, Jacob did not accept his subservient fate. Deception,  excuse, the agents of temptation, impedes a true understanding of cause and effect.  The brother that races ahead, not thinking of what he is trampling on, is re-minded about consequences and considerations. It is Jacob who brings elements of the Torah to Esau.  The consequences seem to include getting his head stepped on.

Growing up in New York City, before people picked up after their dogs, I learned to watch where I stepped. Sometimes I failed and had to clean off the smelly dog poop. I think that is part of the reason for my bent posture.  Perhaps that is part of the intention of the mitzoth: to avoid stepping in things that are unpleasant to clean up later.

Eikev is intrinsic to the character of Jacob and his descendants.  It is curiosity and tenacity .  It invites us to analyze more closely the nature of the world: causes, effects, targets and defenses.   It is how we relate to Gd

 

In 2020, I wrote a poemoid about Eikev. I had hoped to edit it, but I did not. Please send reply with edits. Thanks. Here it is

 

 

A song to the Creator of a place for the Heel of Cause

 

I recognize Your Role

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role

 

I recognize Your Role for creating the world

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for creating the world with a big bang

 

 

I recognize Your Role for providing clean water

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for  the variety of ways it comes into being

    the distillation of water from the seas into clouds

    the purification of soil  through selective absorption of plants

 

 

I recognize Your Role for creating  light

 I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role  for the ability to see

I recognize Your Role for creating  darkness

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role  for the ability to not see

 

I recognize Your Role For creating variety

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for the random

    its predictability in the aggregate

    its unpredictability in the individual

 

I recognize Your Role for  spawning biological diversity

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for creating DNA

    for error prone replication

    for the corrective machinery

    for the errors that emerge and generate diversity

        the substrate of evolution

 

 

   I recognize Your Role in the (merciless) selective pressure

  I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role  for the haven of the niche

 

I recognize Your Role in the weather

I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for the Butterfly in the Canary Islands

     that generates the hurricane anon

 

 

I recognize Your Role for creating  heaven

  I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for views from space

    that made heaven more distant

        as it should be

 

I recognize Your Role for creating  the atmosphere

  I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for breath

 

I recognize Your Role feeding the hungry

  I recognize  the Kindness of Your Role for hunger

    so that food can be appreciated

 

From <https://ideasintorah.blogspot.com/2020/08/aikev-heel-of-agency.html>