​Parashat Eikev 5784, 2024:“Know Him in All Your Ways”

Rabbi David Etengoff
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ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The mitzvah of cleaving to Hashem (hadvakute b’Hashem) appears in our parasha, as well as two other times in Sefer Devarim:

For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love Hashem your G-d, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him (u’l’davka bo). (11:22)

You shall hold Hashem, your G-d in awe, worship Him, and cleave to Him and swear by His Name. (10:20)

But you who cleave to Hashem, your G-d, are alive all of you this day. (4:4, all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
A celebrated statement of Chazal suggests that hadvakute b’Hashem is well-nigh impossible, since Sefer Devarim 4:26 states: “For Hashem, your G-d, is a consuming fire…” (Talmud Bavli, Ketubot 111b)  In his Torah commentary, Torah Temimah, on Sefer Devarim 11:22, Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein (1860-1941) asks why our Sages presented this position, since:

It is plausible to explain the [concept of hadvakute b’Hashem] in a direct language-based manner, namely, it is referring to devekut hanefesh m’ahavah v’chibah yitarah—the soul cleaving to Hashem from abundant love and affection. As Dovid HaMelech writes, “davka nafshi acharecha—my soul has clung after You…” (Sefer Tehillim 63:9) 
 
Why did Chazal refrain from a soul-based approach? Rav Epstein’s answer gives voice to the incredibly high level of spirituality that devekut hanefesh m’ahavah v’chibah yitarah represents and the difficulty of attaining this goal: “We can answer that this middah [that Dovid HaMelech was able to reach] is the highest possible level of love of Hashem, and thereby set aside solely for unique individuals and people who have reached the loftiest peak of spirituality. As such, it is impossible to demand this from general members (hamon ha’am) of the Jewish people…” If this level of hadvakute b’Hashem is beyond the grasp of the hamon ha’am, what kind of devekut is available to one and all?
 
In his Torah commentary, Biur al HaTorah, Rabbi Ovadiah ben Ya’akov Sforno (1475-1549) answers this question through his interpretation of the phrase “u’l’davka bo” (Sefer Devarim 11:22): “All of your actions should be undertaken with the intention to perform His will, as it is said: ‘In all your ways know Him, and He will direct your paths.’” (Sefer Mishle 3:6)  In my view, the Sforno’s analysis coupled with this pasuk evens the spiritual playing field and makes hadvakute b’Hashem accessible to the entire Jewish people. Little wonder then, that the great Tanna, Bar Kappara, taught: “Which is a brief passage upon which all fundamental principles of Torah are dependent? ‘In all your ways know Him, and He will direct your paths.’” (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 63a, translation, The Koren Talmud Bavli) 
 
Shabbat Shalom
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