Making Sense of the Sedra: Eikev

It was during the England-Sweden semi-final of the Women’s Euros that Alessia Russo captured the hearts of the nation and wrote herself into footballing history. In the 68th minute, Russo had a shot on goal but it went straight to the Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindahl, who easily kicked it away.

Russo chased it as it rolled away from the goal, harassed by two Swedish defenders and suffering a body blow in the scramble. Undaunted, and without so much as a backward glance, she tried an audacious backheel kick which took everyone by surprise. The ball rolled between Lindahl’s feet and into the net.

We Jews have long had a certain affection for the heel. In this week’s sedra, Eikev, Moshe reminds the Jewish people: “It will be eikev (because) you listen to these commandments… that God will… love you and bless you…” (Devarim 7:12-13)

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The midrash comments on the word eikev used to mean ‘because’. It is linked to the word akeiv, which means heel, and the midrash comments that there is a hint here to a deeper idea: that you should  listen to the easy commandments that many people ‘grind beneath their heels’.

This nuance in the text offers us a different perspective on our spirituality. We may be looking for a once-in-a-lifetime grand gesture, something immensely heroic on an epic scale, and maybe something headline-grabbing as well, to define our lives.

But Moshe warns us that this is not what God seeks from us, and His blessing is not contingent on this. Quite the contrary. God wishes us to find Him, to relate to Him in the little moments, the gestures and thoughts that are so easily overlooked.

How much thought do we put into lighting our Shabbat candles? Do we pay attention to how we greet a work colleague or a bus driver? Do we take the trouble to find out the meaning of the Hebrew words in the songs in our prayer services that we know so well?

It is in these downtrodden details of our Jewish life that we can get to know who we really are. These are the spaces where our relationship with God and with other people is tested, where it blossoms and thrives and finds expression.

Alessia Russo reminded us all that a simple action with the heel can be a life-changing moment for an entire nation. Our parsha reminds us that our personal greatness lies at our feet. It is ours for the taking, and with it we too can reach our goal.