Eikev & Jewish Meditation

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​Parshah Summary – P’sha

The third parshah of Sefer Devarim continues with Moses’ closing address to the Children of Israel, promising them that if (Eikev) they will fulfill the mitzvot, they will prosper in the Land – a “good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey…” Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korakh and the sin of the spies. But he also speaks of forgiveness and the Second Tablets, instructing them in the core principles of “circumcising the heart,” and the mitzvah to “love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Moses explains that their forty years in the desert, during which they were sustained with daily “manna” from heaven, was to teach them “that a human being does not live by bread alone, but by all that emanates from God’s mouth does a person live!” Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven species” – wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates. He warns them to be aware, lest they become arrogant and begin to believe of themselves that “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth…

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Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching

וְהָיָ֣ה עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְשָׁמַר֩ יְהֹ–וָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לְךָ֗ אֶֽת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃

And it will be if you listen to these discernments and guard them and do them, then Hashem your God will guard for you the covenant and the kindness which was sworn to your ancestors…

- Devarim (Deuteronomy) 7:12 Parshat Eikev

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The infamous and much hated Rabbi, Menahem Mendel of Kotzk, once visited his little home town where he grew up. While he was there he made a point of visiting his first, early childhood teacher who had taught him the alef-bet, whom he loved very much. Before he returned home, he happened to run into another teacher of his. “I see that you visit your preschool teacher, but you don’t visit me? What have I done to offend you?” asked the teacher. “You taught me things that can be refuted,” replied the Kotzker, “because according to one interpretation they can mean this, and according to another they can mean that. But my first teacher taught me things which cannot be refuted, and so they have remained with me; that is why I owe him special reverence.” 

The mind tends to dwell upon that which it does not know for sure. That’s because it is the job of the mind to figure out, to conjecture, to approximate, to guess; that’s how we are able to navigate life and make decisions. But this useful tendency often becomes a compulsive habit, usurping awareness away from what we actually do know. The more we ignore that which we know for sure, compulsively investing our guesses, conjectures and approximations with a reality they don’t really possess, the more we live life through the screen of thought; this is called “living in one’s head.” Notice: people often feel most strongly and defend most passionately (and attack most violently in defense of) things they don’t really know for sure. What is it that we do know for sure?

Turn your attention from involvement with your thoughts and “see” what is actually happening, right now. This is meditation – intentionally noticing and therefore knowing what is really present now in your experience. At first, there may be a feeling of disorientation or fear. What if thoughts are just thoughts? What will happen if you let go of all that mind generated drama and attend to what is present, to what you actually know for sure? The ego is uncomfortable with this, because “ego” is a sense of identity built from our thoughts and feelings. Begin letting go of your thoughts and feelings, and the ego can feel threatened. 

​ הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔וֹ יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְה–וָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו
Though one walks in darkness and has no glow, let them trust in the Name of the Divine, and rely on their God…
- Isaiah 50:10 

הָלַ֣ךְ חֲשֵׁכִ֗ים וְאֵ֥ין נֹ֙גַהּ֙ ל֔וֹ – Though one walks in darkness and has no glow… The haftora hints that there is an aspect of our consciousness that is forever in a state of not-knowing: ayn nogah lo – “has no glow.” It doesn’t say that one has no “light” but rather one doesn’t even have any “glow” at all; one “walks” in total darkness. But if we can be clear about not being clear, if we can truly understand and know on the deepest level that all of our mind’s judgments are guesses and approximations, then we can transcend the mind-identified ego; we can transcend our separate self-sense that thrives on belief in our own thoughts and denial of the darkness. This is the Path of ר Reish, the Recognition of Not-Knowing. 

יִבְטַח֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְה–וָ֔ה וְיִשָּׁעֵ֖ן בֵּאלֹהָֽיו – let them trust in the Name of the Divine, and rely on their God… Then, in that surrender to Not-Knowing, a new way of being emerges: first, trusting in the Divine Name – that is, trusting in how Reality is unfolding – this is the Path of י Yud. And second, relying on God – that is, knowing that God/Reality/Being is ultimately “in charge” – everything we have and everything we are is ultimately “held” by That. This is the Path of ס Samekh – of knowing God as our Eternal Support. 

​Then, we can realize: there is something we can know, if we would only stop and see it: we are This Consciousness, seeing That which is present, Now. Interestingly, if we put these three letters together: ר reish, י yud and ס samekh, we get רִיס rees – “eyelash.” The function of the eyelash is to protect the eye from foreign particles; it is to protect our seeing. Secondarily, lush eyelashes are considered beautiful, hinting: to truly see without the foreign impediments of thought and preconception allows us to behold a beauty that transcends all concepts. 

​וְהָיָ֣ה עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה – And it will be if you listen to these judgments… The word for “if” or “because” is עֵקֶב eikev, which literally means “heel,” as in the English idiom that one thing will “follow on the heels” of another, meaning that one thing is the consequence of another. But according to a hasidic teaching, the hint is that we should become present with our bodies – even in our heels – that is, the most insensitive part of the body should become aware. Then, when we are fully present, with awareness permeating the whole body, we can make these subtle mishpatim, subtle judgments concerning our own thoughts, and we can begin to truly know what we know and what we don’t know, trusting in the Mystery. Then, in connection with the Truth of this moment and in surrender to the unknowability of everything beyond this moment, the heart is set free, and we can rest in knowing the vastness of what we really are: the simple, open space of awareness within which the fullness of this moment now arises.

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Read past teachings on Eikev HERE 

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