PARSHAT EKEV - How to “Heel” or “Heal” the world
by Rabbi Alan Garber
The word Ekev, the name of this week’s parsha, is translated as “since” or “because” – “It will be, because/since you will listen to the statutes.” (Devarim 7:12).
The commentators also point out that Ekev can mean heel. Meaning that we should be careful to listen to the so called small commandments that people often tread on with their heels as being unimportant.
The word akeiv in the sense of “heel” appears in the Torah regarding the birth of Esau and Jacob. There the Torah records that when the twins were born, Jacob grasped the heel of Esau as they emerged into the world.
Esau represents the notion of quashing and belittling the small things. Jacob is in the world to hold up the details and say that details are important. Some people say that the devil is in the detail, but we say God is in the detail. The Torah gives many instructions and directions covering the full gamut of our lives from when we wake up till we go to sleep from when we are born till we leave this world.
We know that the beautiful garden or a beautiful piece of music is made up of lots of attention to the many details.
Someone once asked a rabbi why does Judaism have so much detail in it? Why can’t I just be a good person? The rabbi said he’d answer back via email. The man waited and waited. Finally after two weeks he saw the rabbi and shul and asked him why he didn’t respond. The rabbi said "I wrote to you straight away on your address jsmith@gmailcom".
The man replied "But you left out the dot before the ‘com’!"
To which the rabbi replied “Oh it’s only a little dot!
Often we don’t realize when we do what we think are small things, that these small things can affect on the world around us. A small smile or word of compliment can have a huge ripple effect. Each effort can help us heel/heal the world.