Eikev
Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25
Moses promises that if Israel faithfully observes God's commandments, they will be blessed with prosperity, health, and victory over their enemies. He reminds the people of the wilderness years — the hunger, the manna, the thirst — all designed to teach that 'man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of Hashem.' Moses recalls the golden calf, the broken tablets, and the second set of tablets, emphasizing God's mercy and Israel's stubbornness. The parasha contains the second paragraph of the Shema, linking rain and harvest to obedience, and the command to circumcise the foreskin of the heart.
Key figures
- Moses — Exhorts Israel to remember God's provision and to remain faithful
- God — Tested Israel in the wilderness with manna, demands wholehearted devotion
Famous verses
- 8:3 And He afflicted you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceeds out of the mouth of Hashem man lives.
- 8:10 And you shall eat and be satisfied, and bless Hashem your God for the good land which He has given you.
- 10:12 And now, Israel, what does Hashem your God require of you, but to fear Hashem your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul;
- 10:19 Love therefore the stranger; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Haftarah: {'ref': 'Isaiah 49:14-51:3', 'connection': "The second Haftarah of consolation; Zion laments that God has forsaken her, but God responds that a mother may forget her child yet He will never forget Israel — echoing Eikev's promise that obedience brings divine remembrance."}
Total gematria: 487,048.