Weekly Sabbath Torah Reading/Commentary:  Parashat Ekev -- (Deuteronomy
7:12-11:25)

Commentary on the Weekly Sabbath Torah Reading for 18 Av, 5760
(Gregorian Date:  August 19, 2000)


by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Chief Rabbi of Efrat;

EFRAT, LIBERATED JUDEA, Yom Revii (Fourth Day -- "Wednesday"), 15 Av, 5760
(Gregorian Date:  August 16, 2000) What does it mean to bless G-d?   We can all understand the
concept of G-d blessing us, but the idea of humans blessing G-d is rather
strange!

In this week's portion of Ekev, the issue of blessing G-d comes to light in
the following verse:

"And you shall eat and be satisfied and bless G-d your
Lord for the good land which he has given you". [Deuteronomy 8:10]

Had the verse instructed us to "thank G-d" (using the language of "HODA'AH"
this would be perfectly understandable -- everybody accepts the importance
of expressing gratitude to the Creator of the universe for His munificence
in sustaining us.

But for a human being to bless G-d sounds almost paradoxical.  G-d may want
our thanks, but why should He want our blessings?  What can we possibly
give the Creator of the universe that He doesn't already have?

It turns out that Grace After Meals ("bentsching") is derived from this
very verse, the commandment that if we eat bread we must "bentsch".  The
phrase "uverachta et Hashem" (you shall bless G-d) does not appear anywhere
else in the Torah.  We can safely assume that the concept of blessing G-d
must be associated with Grace After Meals which, from the point of view of
Jewish law, is only required when we eat bread, fulfilling the verse, "you
shall eat and be satisfied".

What then is so special about bread, more so than any other food?  Even
more to the point, only several verses before the Bible praised a different
category of sustenance:

"For G-d your Lord, brings you into a good land, a
land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths...a land of wheat and
barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and
honey dates."  [Deuteronomy 8:7-8]

There are the Seven Species for which the land of Israel is famous, the
seven special fruits for which the seven hills of Efrat are named.  These
luscious and colorful fruits are far more attractive and inspiring than a
boring, prosaic and commonplace loaf of bread.

You will remember that the scouts brought back green juice grapes in order
to demonstrate the uniqueness of Israel - not dry and crusty bread!

Rav Soloveitchik, my rebbe and mentor, once addressed the issue as to why
bread should be singled out with three biblically ordained blessings (four
in all, the first composed by Moses, the second by Joshua, the third by
David and Solomon, and the fourth by the Sages after the destruction of
Betar) -- while the Seven Species, even though they grace the land of
Israel like a crown of glory, are honored with but a single blessing after
they are eaten.

Not only that, but when three or more eat bread together, a formal 'ZIMUN'
(literally invitation) precedes the actual Grace After Meals, in which one
of the participants 'invites' the others present to respond to the praises
of G-d.  On the Sabbath and Festivals, there is even a custom followed by
many Jews to perform this 'ZIMUN' while lifting a cup of wine.

This "formal invitation" is also exclusive to bread.

Rav Soloveitchik explained as follows:  Concerning the Seven Species, the
partnership between G-d and humans is limited, with the humans performing a
largely custodial task.  Once we plant the seed, G-d does all the rest,
with the possible exception of our watering and protecting the
fruits.  Even the water is generally rain water from G-d.

The truth is that when an individual comes across a pomegranate tree in an
open field, and takes a bite into the fruit, he/she is almost experiencing
the "manna from
heaven"!  G-d does almost everything!

In contrast, bread's extraordinary journey from the field to the mouth
requires a series of specific
procedures.   According to the Mishna's categorization of the 39 forbidden
activities on the Sabbath, eleven are devoted to the preparation of bread:

"Sowing, ploughing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing,
selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking...."  [Babylonian Talmud,
Tractate Shabbat 74b]

Clearly the production of bread is a major project, and even though the
seed and the earth and sun and the rain are provided for by G-d, what comes
up from the ground will turn into hay unless man first turns it into bread.

In the production of bread, the concept of partnership is evident, with
human ingenuity and exertion very much in the foreground.  The eating of a
pomegranate, on the other hand, is basically receiving a divine gift, is a
function of G-d bestowing His loving kindness upon us.

Rav Soloveitchik suggests that the greater the degree of human input, the
greater the degree of sanctity.  I might suggest a further elucidation of
this profound insight.  G-d might have created a world in which we were
spectators and recipients - but then human beings would be no more than
puppets or pawns in a Divine chess game in which the Almighty is the sole
player.

G-d chose instead to create an imperfect, incomplete world in which we are
to be His Partners, in which He waits for us to be perfect.

The world in the Kingship of G-d.  Insofar as we express our Divine-given
function as His Partners, we do indeed "bless" G-d.  It is for the
privilege of being G-d's Co-workers, for the pride which comes from the
Knowledge that He thinks us worthy of being His Partners, that we praise
and bless Him especially when we are intimately involved in developing His
creation.

When the Israelites leave Egypt, only one person gives praise to G-d,
Yitro, the Midianite father-in-law of Moses.  In contrast, when the Red Sea
is split, the entire nation sings the great song of Shira praise.

Should we therefore assume that the miracle of Egypt was any less great
than the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea?   Certainly both events
are remarkable and unique.  The Exodus demonstrated an ongoing systematic
destruction of the natural order in a series of ten supernatural and
unexpected plagues that anyone could see came from the hand of G-d.  The
splitting of the Red Sea happened once, and only following "a strong
Easterly wind"!

Why greater praise at the Red Sea?  In Egypt, the miracles were wrought
exclusively by G-d, with no human involvement whatsoever.  The people were
passive:  they listened, they heeded, they waited.  G-d Himself planned and
executed the Exodus, "neither via angel or messenger".

At the Red Sea, on the other hand, no miracle would have occurred, the Sea
would never have split, and Nachshon, and many other Israelites not jumped
into the swelling
waters and the dangerous waves.  Only after the Jews were willing to take
the risk of drowning and make the first steps into the inundating sea, did
the Almighty respond by revealing the dry land.

The greater song of praise is occasioned when the Israelites themselves are
the initiators and co-actors in the drama of history.

Rav Soloveitchik goes on to contrast the two special mountains of the
Bible, Mount Moriah and Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai was the scene of Divine Revelation, the place from which we
received the Bible.  Yet the sanctity of Mount Sinai was temporary.  Three
days prior to the Revelation at Sinai, the Israelites were told to separate
themselves from the mountain:

"...Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death".  [Exodus 19:12]

Once the Revelation was given, the mountain resumed its
previous status without a "do not trespass" sign adorning its peak.  To
this day, its exact location is unknown to us.  Its probable site was given
up to the Egyptians after the Yom Kippur War with barely a sigh of
protest from the majority of the Israelis.

Mount Moriah, on the other hand, is the Temple Mount, the sacred spot from
which Jerusalem emanates.  No Israeli would contemplate giving up
Jerusalem, eternally sacred and the symbol of our glorious past as well as
our redemptive future.

These two mountains, Sinai and Moriah, represent two aspects of our
historic experience.  At Sinai, our involvement in the Revelation was
relatively passive.  G-d gave His Torah to us - and wherever G-d takes over
entirely, the sanctity of that place is muted.

In contrast, the holiness of Moriah, the location of the Temple in
Jerusalem, is a sanctity which can never be extinguished or relinquished
because it was at Moriah, that Abraham brought his beloved son Isaac to be
sacrificed.  Abraham was the star actor at Moriah, placing his entire
future at risk in a deed of
ultimate commitment.

Sinai expressed G-d's gift to us, Moriah our gift to
G-d.  Only the sanctity of Moriah is eternal!

The more the individual is involved, the greater the sanctity and the
higher the praise.  G-d is constantly in search of humans to be His
partners in perfecting the world and thereby to bless Him!

Shabbat Shalom from Efrat,


Rabbi Shlomo Riskin