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Double Mitzvah – Ekev

By on July 26, 2013

Double Mitzvah Jewrotica Parsha

Written by Tamar Fox. Check out last week’s post in this series, Double Mitzvah – VaEtchanan.

Rated PGIn this week’s parashah, Ekev, Moses continues his speech to the Israelites. He tells them they will have to annihilate people who are not believers in God. Moses reminds them not to forget God’s commandments even after they enter the land of Israel. Finally, Moses tells the Israelites that the biggest task is to continue to fear God.

Reading this week’s parashah I was reminded of a list a friend recently posted on Facebook. The list is from a blog, Single Dad Laughing, written by a man named Dan Pearce who has been divorced twice, and came away from those experiences with a list of 16 Ways I Blew My Marriage. The list is a tool for those who want to avoid the mistakes that Dan made. And in many ways it’s similar to some of the advice that we get in this week’s Torah portion. It reminds us to value our partners for everything that they have done and will do for us. It reminds us to be intentional about remaining close with our partners, even when we’re frustrated or upset. And it reminds us that cooking for our partner is a great way to show our love in a tangible way.

In this week’s parashah, Moses is taking a similar tack to Dan from Single Dad Laughing. He’s trying to remind the Israelites just how valuable their relationship with God is, and just how much they should appreciate that relationship. God loves them, takes care of them, and feeds them. If they do not work on maintaining their close relationship with God, they won’t be able to conquer the challenges that await them in the Land of Israel.

Shabbat shalom!

Author of Jewrotica's Double Mitzvah column, Tamar Fox is a writer and editor in Philadelphia. She will try anything once, including open relationships, dating someone who is chalav yisrael, and going to Suriname.
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