פָּרָשַׁת עֵקֶב

Parshat Eikev, named for its opening words "because (eikev) you listen," promises that if Bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel) keep Hashem's mishpatim (laws), He will keep His covenant with them and bless their children, their crops and their herds. They need not fear the nations of Kenaan; Hashem will drive them out little by little. Moshe Rabbeinu tells them to remember the forty years in the wilderness, when Hashem fed them the man (manna) to teach them that a person does not live by bread alone. He describes the good land of the shivat haminim (the seven species - wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, pomegranates, and dates): "You will eat and be satisfied, and bless Hashem your G-d for the good land He has given you" (the source of birkat hamazon, the blessing after meals). He warns them not to grow proud and say, "My strength and the power of my hand made me this wealth."

Perek 9 tells them they receive the land not for their righteousness, for they are a stubborn people, but because of the wickedness of those nations and Hashem's oath to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Moshe retells the golden calf, the luchot (tablets) he broke, and his forty days of prayer for the people and for Aharon. Perek 10 brings the second luchot, placed in an aron (ark) of wood, and the tribe of Levi set apart to serve Hashem. "What does Hashem ask of you, but to fear Him, walk in His ways, love Him and serve Him?" They are to circumcise the orlah (foreskin) of their hearts and love the ger (stranger), for they were strangers in Mitzrayim (Egypt). Perek 11 describes the Land of Israel, which drinks the rain of the heavens under Hashem's constant watch. Vehaya im shamoa (11:13–21, the second paragraph of Kriat Shema) teaches that rain and harvest depend on their loyalty, and repeats tefillin and mezuzah. If they keep the mitzvot, every place their feet tread will be theirs.