In Parshat Ekev (Dvarim 7:9) the following words about the Land of Israel stand out: “… A land where you will lack nothing…” Sifre (Dvarim, Piska 37), asks: Why the Land of Israel is called tevel (Mishlei 8:26)? The answer is that every country possesses certain...
Celebrating 21 Years of Aliya! The Haftara for Parshat Ekev (Yishayahu 49:14-51:3) gives hope to Zion and Jerusalem that their children who have been sent to exile will return. One can’t help but notice that the Haftara foreshadows a lot of what is happening in the...
The Talmud, Brachot 21a asks “From where in the Torah do we derive the obligation to recite Birkat HaMazon, the Grace After Meals?” The answer is in Parshat Ekev, Dvarim 8:10: You shall eat and be satisfied and bless your God for the good Land that He...
In Parshat Ekev (Dvarim 8:7-9), B’nai Yisrael are told:For HaShem, your God, is bringing you to a good Land; a Land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a Land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a Land of olive...
In Parshat Ekev, Dvarim 11:13-15, we read verses that are well known as they are recited twice a day in the second paragraph of the Shma:And it will come to pass that if you continually heed My commandments that I command you today, to love HaShem, your God, and to...
In Parshat Ekev (Dvarim 7:15) we are told: This shall be the reward when you listen to these laws, and you observe and perform them; HaShem your God will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness that he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you...
In Parhsat Ekev, B’nai Yisrael are reminded of how God took care of them for forty years in the wilderness. In Devarim 8:4 we read “Your garment did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.” We see a similar statement in...
In Parshat Ekev (Dvarim 8:8), we are told that the Land of Israel is a land of the seven species: “A land of wheat and barley, and grapes and figs and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and (date) honey.”When Adam and Chava ate from the Eitz HaDa’at...
In Parshat Ekev, we are told to remember the exodus from Egypt, the forty years in the desert, the manna and all of the other miracles that God performed for B’nai Yisrael before they arrived in the Land of Israel.Once B’nai Yisrael would arrive in Israel...
In Parshat Ekev, Dvarim 8:7-9 we read:For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, grapes and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of oil,...
The Haftarah for Parshat Ekev is the second of the seven comforting Haftarot which are read between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashana. The Haftarah comes from Yishayahu chapters 49-51. The last sentence of the Haftarah (51:3) states: “For God shall comfort Zion, He shall...
Sponsored by Sharona, Josh, Dov, Moshe and Yehuda Halickmanin memory of Deborah bat Mordechai v’Esther z”l on her first yahrzeit 22Av,wife of Michael Jankelowitz, mother of Roy and Danit In the Talmud, Brachot 21a Rav Yehuda states: From where in the...
In Parshat Ekev, Devarim 11:13-22 we read the words that are very familiar to us from the second paragraph of the Shma prayer (Vehaya im Shamoah…). The paragraph begins with the words: “It will be that if you listen to My commandments that I...
Celebrating 8 years since my Aliya to Israel In Parshat Ekev (Devarim 9:23) we read about the importance of inheriting the Land of Israel: “And when God sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and inherit the Land that I have given you.” But you defied God and did...
In Memory of Joelle Lewandowski z”l In Parshat Ekev, when B’ani Yisrael were about to enter the Land of Israel they were told (Devarim 9:3): Listen, Israel! You are crossing the Yarden to come inherit nations greater and more powerful than you;...
In Parshat Ekev, Devarim 9:5-6 we read the following words: “Not because of your righteousness and the uprightness of your heart are you coming to inherit their land. Rather, because of the wickedness of these nations is God expelling them before you, and in...
Come and Possess the Land! In Parshat Ekev 8:1 we read: “The entire commandment (mitzvah) that I command you today you shall observe to perform so that you may live and increase and come to possess the Land that God swore to your...
In Parshat Ekev we read about the beauty of the Land of Israel (Devarim 8:7) “For Hashem your God brings you into a good Land, a Land of streams of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. A Land of wheat and barley and vines and fig...
When B'nai Yisrael were about to enter the land of Israel, Moshe explained to them that the Land of Israel would be different from Egypt (Devarim, Parshat Ekev 11:10-11) "The land which you are arriving to inherit is not like the land of Egypt, from which you...
Torah Study for WomenIn Parshat Ekev we find the commandment for a man to teach Torah to his sons. The words are recited twice a day as part of the Shma prayer (Devarim 11:19): “velimadetem otam et bneichem”,“and you are to teach them to your...
Rabbi Dov Ber, the Magid of Mezrich taught that it is more important to have kavana, intense concentration, during birkat hamazon, grace after meals, than during tefilla, prayer (aside from the Shma). His reasoning is that birkat hamazon is deoraita, a mitzvah from...