“עקב" is not a word that we come across often in the Torah, and even those few times have different meanings. As it appears in the beginning of this week's parasha, it can mean because, part of an if-then proposition. Usually, it refers to something after the fact:
והתברכו בזרעך כל גויי הארץ עקב אשר שמעת בקלי.
All the peoples of the earth will be blessed by your seed because you listened to My voice. (Gn 22:18)
This verse comes at the conclusion of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. Abraham's progeny would be a source for blessing as a consequence of his obedience to Hashem's will.
והרביתי את-זרעך ככוכבי השמים ונתתי לזרעך את כל-הארצת האל והתברכו בזרעך כל גויי הארץ. עקב אשר-שמע אברהם בקלי וישמר משמרתי מצותי חקותי ותורתי.
I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and I will give your descendants all these lands. All the peoples of the land will be blessed through your offspring, as a consequence of Abraham listening to My voice, keeping my watch, commandments, statutes and teachings. (Gn 26:4-5)
ועבדי כלב עקב היתה רוח אחרת עמו וימלא אחרי והביאתיו אל-הארץ אשר-בא שמה וזרעו יורשנה.
My servant Caleb, because he possessed a different spirit and remained loyal to Me, him I will bring into the land that he entered, and his progeny will possess it. (Nu 14:24)
And so, our parasha opens with a passage that begins and ends with this word:
והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה ושמרתם ועשיתם אתם ושמר ה' אלקיך לך את-הברית ואת-החסד אשר נשבע לאבתיך.
If you obey these laws, keeping and observing them, then Hashem your God will keep the covenant and kindness that He swore to your forefathers. (Dt 7:12)
והיה אם-שכח תשכח את-ה' אלקיך והלכת אחרי אלהים אחרים ועבדתם והשתחוית להם העדתי בכם היום כי אבד תאבדון. כגוים אשר ה' מאביד מפניכם כן תאבדון: עקב לא תשמעון בקול ה' אלקיכם.
If you forget Hashem your God, following after other gods, serving and prostrating yourselves before them, I bear witness today that you will certainly perish, just like the peoples Hashem will cause to perish before you, so you will perish, because you will not have heeded to the voice of Hashem your God. (Dt 8:19-20)
So, it seems a little strange to refer to a parshah “if” or “because”. What's more is that Hebrew has another, simpler word for if – אם, and for because – מפני. What is it about this word that makes it different?
Let's recall, for a moment, another situation where this word also appears, dealing with the birth of Jacob:
...ואחרי-כן יצא אחיו וידו אחזת בעקב עשו ויקרא שמו יעקב
Afterwards his brother came out, his hand grasping on to the heel of Esau, and his name was called Jacob... (Gn 25:26)
עקב has another meaning – the heel of the foot.
What is interesting about the heel is that if one wants to stay put, they exert pressure on the heel to insure that they do not move. And when one is stubborn and unmovable, we refer to them as “digging in their heels.”
What do heels have to do with our parasha?
There is a message here about human qualities that go beyond a simple “if” or “because”. Keeping the mitzvot, living the life that we, as Jews, are expected to lead in fulfilling our covenants may seem somewhat counterintuitive. After all, if what humans seek out in life is pleasurable fulfillment, then restrictions on our freedoms and instincts is not something ideal. We have something of an animal soul in us. Our covenantal obligations impose burdens on us, and there is so much that tempts us away. Keeping that commitment requires us at times to be stubborn, to dig in our heels with a mind towards doing the best that we can to fulfill the mitzvot.
But there is also another side of the coin. We can also be obstinate in our refusal to maintain the covenant. We can come up with every possible explanation and rationalization to dismiss and disregard expectations. When we go beyond the simple lack of fulfillment, when we are obdurate in our objections, we run tremendous risk, as we find at the close of this passage at the end of chapter 8.
Our heels do not hear, but they can help, or hinder, our ability to heed.
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