Awe, Love and Consequences

Ekev,  Devarim 7:12-11:25

Torah calls us this week, asking us-

"And now,

What does the Infinite ask of you?

 To live with awe of Being,

 To walk in Its paths,

 To love,

 And to be of service with your full heart and soul."

                   Devarim 10:12

During this section of the parting speech Moses continues to make to the Israelites, we hear a recount of the Golden Calf and the Second set of Tablets with the 10 Commandments.  The 613 commandments are all somehow included with the 10 Commandments, according to 10th Century Torah Scholar Saadia Gaon. Yet here, Torah distills the essence of the Commandments down to two ideas:

Be in awe and love. 

This is what is most important.  

Let awe and love drive all you do. 

This parsha holds many powerful pasukim (verses), some often seen as problematic.   

The name of the parsha, Ekev, means result/consequence.  There will be a result if you listen to The Infinite - love and blessings.  Does the Infinite "reward" us when we pay attention to what's important in Life?  One might see it that way, but it can be a dangerous theology: what would happen to our faith if we don't get rewards and wonderful things we want and or believe we deserve?  Instead of seeing the Infinite as a Rewarder, I suggest we see the Infinite as a Loving Source who empowers us with options, setting before us choices, each corresponding to a type of result.  

We read "If we forget the Infinite, we shall perish."  Perish? How so? Does that mean that when we do not focus on God we will die? No. Does it mean that when we forget the infinite we will not have the love and  blessings?  Not necessarily: There are plenty of times we may ignore our Inner Call to do something, yet our blessings may still be there, and we are still loved by Ahavat Olam, an Unending Love. However, as a result, we may have a more difficult time accessing that love and blessing.  For example, communally, we know the consequences of not caring for our earth.  As individuals and societies, we can indeed  miss out on the full richness of an experience when we forget to be in awe and love because we instead put our own gains first.

We are told in this parsha that God sets before us a blessing and a curse. The blessing or curse is not what happens to us, but how we respond. Even when going through rough times where blessings are harder to notice, the choice is ours: we either reap the positive result of being spiritually open to truly experiencing more blessings, or to a degree we suffer the negative result of missing the full experience because we are focused more on personal gain.

The Infinite Source of Blessings does not reward or  punish us. Rather, we experience the result of our choices.  We either deepen our experience or miss out on the full blessing of an experience because we have focused on other things. 

Later in this parsha, the idea of awe is expanded: "Don't grow haughty, don't forget The Infinite" - or you will perish. In other words, Don't think all these blessings came from you, yourselves! 

Moses tells how Israel is a "land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey."  Yet the manna we received in the desert is also mentioned here: We are told  we cannot  live "on bread alone."  We cannot live on only the food,  but rather we are fully alive with the spiritual patience of what waiting for manna each day represents: we are part of a system set forth by the Infinite from others.  But that is not what our moral compass of Torah is telling us.  Here's the passuk:  "Every place where the sole of your foot shall tread  shall be yours." Does this mean we can walk onto someone's property and it will be ours?  No.   This is not meant be taking land or homes from others: it  simply means we deserving the air and space we each take up. We are each  called to be confident in who we are. 

Throughout this parsha, Torah is calling us to be confident, yet it is also calling us to be humble. Reminding ourselves to embrace both our physical and spiritual origin is the whole nature of this parsha.

Shadal, the 19th century Italian Torah commentator taught that two things are needed to build a society- humility and compassion. Right in line with awe and love!

May we do our part as spirits in this physical form to live here in humble awe and love. If we all lived in compassion as well as awe and humility, just for one day-  what a world world it will be! Halavai! 

Ken y'hi ratzon. May it be God's will. Oh, but it already is God's will. May it also be our will- the will of each and every one of us that we listen to the call to be in awe and act from love.

Shavua tov! May it be a good week (& beyond), filled with awe and love. 

Rabbi JudiAhavah

*Note:  I am purposely using the word result in place of consequence,  though – the dictionary defines it as neutral, neither positive or negative, despite the connotation.