וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְשָׁמַר ה' אֱ-לֹקֶיךָ לְךָ אֶת הַבְּרִית וְאֶת הַחֶסֶד אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ. (דברים ג, כו)
On the first passuk in our parsha, Rashi says that the word עֵקֶב refers to mitzvot שֶׁאָדָם דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו. The expression דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו literally means "threshing with one's heels".
Threshing is a process of breaking the wheat plant up into its components. The wheat plant consists of many parts, the stalk, the ear (capsules with hairy protrusions covering the grains, the grains inside the capsules). Threshing is a serious business and for it to be effective, appropriate tools are necessary. The earliest threshing tools involved some type of stick, at the end of which leather straps or metal chains were attached. Using these tools the threshers would strike the stalks of wheat repeatedly to break them apart.
As "technology" advanced (in the time of the Shoftim), this operation was performed using some kind of "sledge", a large, heavy board, studded underneath by stones or metal studs, drawn by an animal over the wheat sheaves. Alternatively, the sheaves were spread over the ground and large animals, such as horses, were allowed to repeatedly tread on them. Today's modern combine harvesters thresh the wheat using a rotating threshing drum, a roller studded with metal protrusions.
It is possible for humans to tread on the sheaves with their heels and thus thresh the wheat, but this process is very inefficient. Someone who threshes wheat in this way is flippant and not treating the task with the required respect. This is what שֶׁאָדָם דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו means, someone who is flippant about certain mitzvot that they consider to be insignificant, not affording them the required respect.
Using R' Tzadok HaKohen's principle to reveal the essence of a word, by searching for the first time it appears in the Torah - gives us an amazing insight into the deeper meaning of the first passuk in our parsha.
The first time the letters עקב appear in the Torah (albeit with different vowels) is in parshat Breishit, וְאֵיבָה אָשִׁית בֵּינְךָ וּבֵין הָאִשָּׁה וּבֵין זַרְעֲךָ וּבֵין זַרְעָהּ הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב (בראשית ג, טו). The reference is to the punishment of the נָחָשׁ who caused Adam HaRishon to sin.
The punishment of the נָחָשׁ is that enmity will forever exist between mankind and the נָחָשׁ. Man will be "struck" by the נָחָשׁ at the head and the נָחָשׁ will be "struck" by man at the heel.
This passuk is often misunderstood, i.e that הוּא, man will strike at the head and אַתָּה, the נָחָשׁ will strike at the heel. The reason most people interpret this passuk in reverse is because they take it "literally". When taken literally, man chops off the head of the snake and the snake bites the heel of man. This is the source of the confusion.
If you study the grammar, however, you will see that it is actually the other way round. If the Torah would have used the word יְשַׁפְּךָ (the פָּעַל construct), it would mean actively "strike". Instead, the Torah used the word יְשׁוּפְךָ (the הֻפְעַל construct), which means passively "struck". Therefore, הוּא יְשׁוּפְךָ רֹאשׁ means "he (man) will be struck by you at the head" and וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב means "you (snake) will be struck by him at the heel".
R' Tzadok HaKohen is telling us that this passuk is not to be taken literally. The "head" and the "heel" are not body parts, but rather refer to the beginning and end of a timespan.
R' Tzadok says that the gematria of נָחָשׁ is מָשִׁיחַ. The meaning of this passuk in Breishit is that in the beginning the נָחָשׁ, i.e the yetzer harah, will strike mankind, but in the end, the "tail/heel end" of history, in the time of Mashiach, עִקְבְתָא דִּמְשִׁיחָא, mankind will strike and take revenge on the נָחָשׁ.
This perush of R' Tzadok HaKohen was preceded by the Or HaChayim (דברים ג, כו) and the Gemara (סוטה מט, ע"ב) which refers to עִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא. The Or HaChayim distinguishes between the phrase וַיְהִי and וְהָיָה. When the Torah uses the word וַיְהִי it reflects a negative context. On the other hand, when the Torah uses the word וְהָיָה, is refers to something positive, something joyous, for example, the passuk וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִתָּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל (ישעיהו כז, יד) referring to the era of Mashiach. Similarly, says the Or HaChayim, in our parsha וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן, it is referring to something joyous. The Or HaChayim takes this application of joy in different directions – in studying Torah, in performing mitzvot, etc.
In this shiur I would like to focus on the "era of Mashiach" aspect of the word עֵקֶב, which is in fact also the interpretation of the Targum Yonatan (בראשית ג, טו).
Rashi (שמות כא, א) has a very famous principle, derived from the Mechilta (ibid.), that when the Torah adds the letter "vav" at the beginning of the word it means that the section in question is connected to the one that precedes it. Therefore, when our parsha begins with the word וְהָיָה (עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן), we need to examine the preceding section and try to understand the connection between them.
Here we find something very interesting.
The passuk immediately preceding our parsha at the end of Vaetchanan says - וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת הַמִּצְוָה וְאֶת הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לַעֲשׂוֹתָם (דברים ז, יא). Last week's parsha ends by speaking about the מִּצְוָה, the חֻקִּים and the מִּשְׁפָּטִים, entreating us to observe all these three categories of commandments. However, our parsha begins with וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם, entreating us only to observe the מִּשְׁפָּטִים. What about the מִצְווֹת and the חֻקִּים?
The Abarbanel (ibid.) gives various answers for this paradox, for example he brings a chidush that the word מִּשְׁפָּטִים is inclusive also of the מִצְווֹת and the חֻקִּים and the fact that that these two psukkim are connected by the connecting "vav" - comes to teach us that. I believe that the use specifically of the word מִּשְׁפָּטִים in the context of עֵקֶב, the era of Mashiach, also comes to teach us something else (more on this later).
This week, we have, collectively as a nation, undergone a change in mindset. Prior to a week ago we were in "damage control" mindset - focusing on the destruction of the Batei Mikdash, our almost 2000 year exile and the dysfunctions that gave rise to this dark period in our history. It was a period of looking back and introspection (see last week's shiur). We are now moving into a new mindset of looking forward, to the month of Elul and the upcoming chagim, focusing more on the spirit of Elul and the remedies for the dysfunctions – doing teshuva and mending our ways.
It is uncanny how the three weeks prior to Tisha Be'Av consistently reflect our dysfunction as a nation, how the worst parts of us seem to explode uncontrollably, like dirty laundry hung out for all to see. The withdrawal of the Charedi parties from the government, the "has-been generals" forum releasing a video clip urging us to surrender to Hamas (which resulted in Germany placing an arms embargo on Israel). The Israeli media serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda (better than Hamas could ever do themselves).
When Am Yisrael implodes (or "appears" to the world to be imploding), it does not evoke empathy and support from the world. When the world perceives Hamas to be "imploding", they all rush to their aid and try to prevent such a thing from happening. Hypocritically, when the world perceives Am Yisrael imploding, they all rush to try hasten the process and drive the nail further into the coffin. Most of Europe, Canada, Australia, etc. rushing to hasten Israel's demise by recognizing a Palestinian state – a carbon copy of the terrorist entity in Gaza, but this time in the heart of the country, bordering Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The world thronging to the streets in violent protests to spew hatred. Increased attacks against Jews around the world.
It is as if this period in the Jewish calendar is DNA encoded for everything that can possibly go wrong - to go wrong. We duck our heads and wait for it to pass, without internalizing the true reason why this period is so tough for us. We simply wait it out and then … continue as before. The true reason why Tamuz and the first half of Av are consistently so bad for us, is not because of some DNA coding in the calendar, it is because of some DNA coding within us, Am Yisrael. We make this period dark by giving voice to the worst attributes and factions in our nation and thereby arouse the prosecuting angel in Heaven. All the "disasters" that have befallen us in the past few weeks are a direct result of our own dysfunction, as they have been throughout history, beginning with the meraglim.
Why is it that France and the UK did not announce their intention to recognize a Palestinian state while we were attacking Iran? The reason is because that period of 12 days was one of Am Yisrael's finest! Almost total awe and unity in the hidden strength that we never even knew we possessed. When Am Yisrael work together as a team, the prosecuting angel is silenced. When we regress and implode, the prosecuting angel is aroused.
One of our most severe dysfunctions in Am Yisrael is concentrating on the surface level and not digging deeper to understand the underlying source of the dysfunction. We focus predominantly on the results, the aftermath and not the root cause.
A case in point is Gush Katif. In the last weeks we have been exposed to numerous reminders of the national tragedy that befell us in these very same months (Aug/Sep), twenty years ago, in 2005. Myriad articles in the newspapers, documentaries in the media, highlighting and showcasing the historic injustice and evil that took place. Inevitably, as we always do, we refrain from digging down to the root of the matter but rather resort to the "blame game". It was Ariel Sharon trying to evade criminal prosecution and divert attention from his family corruption לִכְאוֹרָה. It was "revenge" of the left-wing "kibbutznikim" against the right-wing "settlers" because of the latter's meteoric success in turning desert dunes into a thriving ideological and agricultural empire, while the left-wing kibbutzim were in cultural and financial decline, etc. etc.
All of the above are the surface level symptoms, they are the result, the מַכֶּה בַּפַּטִּישׁ, not the root. In not one article, not one documentary did I hear anyone ask the question "Why did HKB"H allow this to happen?" At the root of it all, if it were not for a גְּזֵרָה מִשָּׁמַיִם, the expulsion from Gush Katif could not have taken place. What circumstances gave rise to such a harsh גְּזֵרָה that expelled thousands of Jews from their homes, by the hand of other Jews davka? What is the root?
Similarly with the 7th of October massacre. We are all furiously occupied with the surface level symptoms, the מַכֶּה בַּפַּטִּישׁ. We have all regressed (as we always do) to the blame game. Blaming it on the Oslo accords, blaming it on the expulsion from Gush Katif, blaming it on the "deep state", blaming it on the Likud government turning a blind eye for over a decade while Hamas built tunnels and armed themselves to the teeth, blaming it on the army, the Shabak, the יועמ"שית, the Supreme Court, the left-wing media, the Messianics, the Charedim etc. etc. What about the real question "How did the גְּזֵרָה מִשָּׁמַיִם come about that allowed for thousands of people to be massacred, raped, burned alive, beheaded?" Hamas were the מַכֶּה בַּפַּטִּישׁ. What was the root cause of the גְּזֵרָה?
Similarly with the issue of Charedi conscription. Instead of peeling away the layers to search for the root at the heart of the matter, we prefer the blame game and the surface level symptoms. The army is to blame for not providing the conditions for the Charedim to preserve their way of life during army service. The Charedi political parties are to blame for playing both sides against each other to evade conscription at all costs. The left-wing Kaplanistim are to blame for fanning the flames of hatred and playing the Charedim off against the National Religious, etc. etc. All these are the symptoms. I have not heard one person ask the real question " How did the גְּזֵרָה מִשָּׁמַיִם come about that there exists this insurmountable chasm between the two main factions in Am Yisrael? What is the root cause?"
Do you know why we always resort to the blame game? Because it is easy. It is much easier to lay blame than to really dig deep down for the root.
As it stands now, I am not sure that Israel can win the war in Gaza. Not because we lack the military power or smarts to do so. The world has witnessed some of the Israeli "smarts" in the past year and is in awe. It is not lack of "smarts" or military ability that is causing this war to be prolonged, it is the festering sores within our own nation that instead of receiving treatment from us, are being allowed to fester at a greatly accelerated rate and threaten the demise of the entire organism, chas vechalila.
As with all these myriad facets, I don't hear the real question being asked "Where is HKB"H in all of this?" How can HKB"H allow our hostages to suffer in Gaza dungeons? How can HKB"H allow so many of our brave soldiers to die in battle, leaving behind widows and orphans on an unprecedented scale?
So, what is the root cause? Not surprisingly it is the same root cause for all of the above.
The root cause is that the "human experiment" has failed on a global level.
Adam HaRishon thought he could allow the נָחָשׁ, the yetzer hara, in and defeat it by himself. In the 6000-year lifespan of the Creation (before the Geulah) the number of people who have been able to fully overcome the yetzer hara, can be counted on one hand – in fact only four people (Bava Batra 17a) – Binyamin the son of Yaakov Avinu, Amram the father of Moshe Rabbeinu, Yishai the father of David HaMelech and Kilav the son of David HaMelech. These were the only people in history who never sinned their entire lives, from birth to death. Every other human being, at some time or another, sinned during their lives. The "human experiment" is something of a statistics game. Some people sinned more and some sinned less. Some nations sinned more and some less. The nation that sinned less than any other nation throughout history, statistically speaking, is Am Yisrael. Within Am Yisrael there are people who sin more and those who sin less.
Of all the trillions and trillions of human beings to walk this earth since Adam HaRishon, only four defeated the yetzer hara completely. All the rest either succumbed fully or partially to the wiles of the yetzer hara. The yetzer hara is that powerful and not to be trifled with. The statistical odds of defeating the yetzer hara are pretty slim (like four in a trillion trillion).
The yetzer hara has so many wiles and tricks that they are impossible to count – he is an angel and has capabilities beyond human capabilities. The yetzer hara deceives everyone in a different way, always targeting their weakest spot. The yetzer hara doesn't immediately tempt you to kill someone or to bow down to an idol. The yetzer hara knows that everyone has their red lines. So, he tempts people with things way below their red lines, with seemingly trivial, insignificant things. In this way he gains a foothold and then ups the ante fractionally. Every time he succeeds, the person's red line also moves up fractionally and essentially the person never reaches their red line, because it is always shifting.
This is what Chazal (Avot 4,2) said עֲבֵרָה גוֹרֶרֶת עֲבֵרָה. It is like a chain reaction.
In His mercy, HKB"H gave mankind a powerful weapon to counteract the yetzer hara – the mitzvot. To the rest of the nations, He gave 7 and to Am Yisrael 613. It is like a scale with two plates on either side of the fulcrum. Just like one sin begets another, so too does מִּצְוָה גּוֹרֶרֶת מִצְוָה. Accumulating weight on the "sin plate" is practically unavoidable (כִּי אָדָם אֵין צַדִּיק בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה טּוֹב וְלֹא יֶחֱטָא [קהלת ז, כ]), however, by also accumulating mitzvot on the other plate, you prevent the scale from spiraling out of control and you maintain, to some degree, the red line.
This is what Rashi is teaching us in the first passuk of the parsha, do not treat the mitzvot lightly. Even a mitzva that seems trivial to you, perform it as diligently as you perform what you perceive to be "monumental" mitzvot. The mitzva may objectively be insignificant (we don't know שֶׁאֵין אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל מִצְוֹת [אבות ב, א]), but it triggers us to do another mitzva and another. Similarly, do not treat sins lightly, even sins that seem miniscule and inconsequential to you. They may in fact be objectively miniscule, but by sinning with them, you set in motion a chain reaction.
Do you know how the Reform movement began in Germany? It all started when the rabbi of one congregation decided to cancel saying בַּמֶּה מַדְלִיקִין before Maariv on Shabbat in his shul. It then developed into only saying one יְקוּם פֻּרְקָן before Musaf instead of two, and later on both were scrapped … and so on, until the Reform movement is what it is today. It is a chain reaction, without the counterbalancing chain reaction, adding only to one plate and neglecting the other.
The Rambam (הלכות תשובה ג, ד) says that we ALL need to consider ourselves as if the two plates are equal, כְּאִלּוּ חֶצְיוֹ זַכַּאי וְחֶצְיוֹ חַיָּב. It does not matter what "uniform" we wear, whether we have a kippa on our heads, wear tzitzit or a black suit and hat. The "uniform" is not an accurate indication of the scale – some people wear the uniform and are reshaim, others do not wear the uniform and are tzaddikim.
HKB"H also gave Am Yisrael another powerful weapon – teshuva, feeling guilty that we have sinned and repenting. Teshuva has the power to cancel sins and if it is done out of love for HKB"H, it even has the power to convert those sins into mitzvot.
Some nations began their inception by sinning according to the chain reaction above, until their red line was non-existent. They cancelled any feeling of guilt whatsoever. For them, the possibility of teshuva is also non-existent, there is no remedy - nations like Amalek, Pharaoh in Egypt. HKB"H gives mankind a choice הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים (דברים ל, יט). To determine which nation is closer to HKB"H, it is a simple yardstick – see what they value more - life or death! In the war in Gaza this contrast is stark. One side is all about sanctifying life and living, while the other is about sanctifying death and killing.
Am Yisrael have had scale swings to various degrees throughout history. At some points the scales were tilting in favor of the mitzvot and in other in favor of the sins (we just commemorated a fast day for remembering one such instance).
If you want to know why this reality exists in our nation that no red lines longer exist, it is because of the unbalanced chain reaction above. It begins with small, trivial things. The yetzer hara tempts everyone differently, some with pride, some with money, some with power, etc. Not everyone is strong enough to battle the wiles of the yetzer hara.
On a small, limited individual scale it is periodically a success, but on a global scale a failure.
However, there is good news. HKB"H is a merciful G-d. He created a failsafe, a time limit for the experiment - 6000 years. Mankind has up to 6000 years to win the battle against the yetzer hara on their own, and if they do, the Geulah will come before 6000 years (אֲחִישֶׁנָּה). Failing that, HKB"H will end the experiment (בְּעִתָּהּ) and bring the Geulah regardless, just before the 6000 years are up (214 years before to be exact, according to the calculation of the Vilna Gaon, which is the year תשפ"ו, 5786).
This coming Rosh Hashana we will be entering the עָקֵב of history, the tail end. As HKB"H promised, in this period, HKB"H will get rid of the yetzer harah for good - וְאַתָּה תְּשׁוּפֶנּוּ עָקֵב, in the year תְּשׁוּפֶ-נּוּ , i.e. תשפ"ו.
Where does that leave us? Who will merit the Geulah and who will not? Not all of us will.
The ones who will merit the Geulah will be those who answer the call to arms - וַיַּעֲמֹד מֹשֶׁה בְּשַׁעַר הַמַּחֲנֶה וַיֹּאמֶר מִי לַה' אֵלָי? (שמות לב, כו). Those in Am Yisrael who do teshuva. Those who do not, will be lost - just like all the Israelites in Egypt who perished during מַכַּת חֹשֶׁךְ.
If anyone is in doubt that we are imminently pre-Geulah, just read this Gemara –
בְּעִקְבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא חֻצְפָּא יִסְגֶּא וְיֹקֶר יַאֲמִיר הַגֶּפֶן תִּתֵּן פִּרְיָהּ וְהַיַּיִן בְּיֹקֶר וּמַלְכוּת תֵּהָפֵךְ לְמִינוּת וְאֵין תּוֹכַחַת בֵּית וַעַד יִהְיֶה לִזְנוּת וְהַגָּלִיל יֶחֱרַב וְהַגַּבְלָן יִשֹּׁם וְאַנְשֵׁי הַגְּבוּל יְסוֹבְבוּ מֵעִיר לְעִיר וְלֹא יְחוֹנָּנוּ וְחַכְמוֹת סוֹפְרִים תִּסְרַח וְיִרְאֵי חֵטְא יִמָּאֵסוּ וְהָאֱמֶת תְּהֵא נֶעֱדֶרֶת נְעָרִים פְּנֵי זְקֵנִים יַלְבִּינוּ זְקֵנִים יַעַמְדוּ מִפְּנֵי קְטַנִּים בֵּן מְנַוֵּל אָב בַּת קָמָה בְאִמָּהּ כַּלָּה בַּחֲמֹתָהּ אֹיְבֵי אִישׁ אַנְשֵׁי בֵּיתוֹ פְּנֵי הַדּוֹר כִּפְנֵי הַכֶּלֶב הַבֵּן אֵינוֹ מִתְבַּיֵּשׁ מֵאָבִיו וְעַל מָה יֵשׁ לָנוּ לְהִשָּׁעֵן עַל אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם
Just prior to the Geulah, chutzpah will increase substantially, the cost of living will soar, there will be plentiful grapes (raw materials) but wine (end products) will be very expensive, those in power will be apikorsim and will not accept rebuke, holy places will become impure, the Galilee will be destroyed and the border will be desolate, inhabitants of the (destroyed) border towns will wander from city to city and will receive no charity, the wisdom of the chachamim and the G-d fearing will be despised, truth will disappear, the younger generation will shame the elder generation, the older generation will stand before the young, sons will curse their fathers, daughters will rebel against their mothers, brides against their mothers in law, family life will be destroyed, the face of the generation will resemble a dog, the son will not be embarrassed of his father - and we will have nothing left to turn to except our Father in Heaven.
At the tail end of history what will be the issue at hand? וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה, there will be a major incident regarding the judicial system.
עֵקֶב in gematria is הקְּנִזִּי, one of the nations that HKB"H promised Avraham in Brit Bein HaBetarim that his descendants would conquer and annex as part of Eretz Yisrael. The קְּנִזִּי inhabited the south of the country, which subsequently became part of the inheritance of Yehuda. עֵקֶב in gematria is also חָמָס גּוֹג מָגּוֹג and also סִין מָגּוֹג.
If that is not chilling, then I don't know.
Before HKB"H's call to arms, He will perform stupendous supernatural miracles, surpassing those in ancient Egypt - to wake Am Yisrael up. We are experiencing these miracles as we speak and the best is yet to come.
HKB"H will send Eliyahu HaNavi to soften our hearts of stone וְהֵשִׁיב לֵב אָבוֹת עַל בָּנִים וְלֵב בָּנִים עַל אֲבוֹתָם (מלאכי ג, כד) and enable us to do teshuva.
Right now, what we should be doing is grabbing mitzvot to tip the scales. We should stop believing that our prime minister or army are going to solve all our problems and cry out to the only One who can really solve everything.
Answer the call now, even before it comes!
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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