What God demands
In a few verses the Torah tells us “what does .A. your God from you, but fear .A. your God, that you walk in all his ways, and that you love him, and serve .A. your God with all your heart and with all your soul; that you keep the commandments of .A. and the statutes of it, which I prescribe to you today, so that you may have prosperity? Behold, from .A. Your God is the heavens, and the heavens of heavens, the earth, and all things that are in it. Only your parents were pleased. A. to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, you, above all people, as on this day. Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, and harden your neck no more. Because. Your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great, powerful and fearsome God, who is no respecter of persons, nor takes bribes; who gives justice to the orphan and the widow; that she also loves the stranger, giving him bread and clothing. You will love the stranger, then; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Devarim 10: 14-19).
What familiar words! It is not for less. Dozens of times the prescription appears to love strangers and fight for the oppressed and forgotten, so easily referenced but who are always left aside.
We wonder, what does the verse that commands "circumcision of the foreskin of the heart, and relaxing of the neck" do? The answer is that without this exercise that seems easy but is not, you cannot "walk in all his ways, and love him, and serve .A." your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Only when we are able to remove our shielding can we open ourselves to the experiences of others and reveal the Creator. For this, internal spiritual work is essential, without which the world cannot be changed, much less truly share with the oppressed. We can't have one without the other.
A few months ago we wondered what the world would look like after the Covid-19 pandemic, speculating that the world would no longer be the same as before, that we would learn our lesson. Today the pandemic continues to hit many parts of the world, claiming fatalities and expanding poverty more than before... and those who are saved, look to the side, and are not even grateful that they are still alive and healthy and that they have goods that allow them to satisfy all of their needs. the needs.
It seems necessary more than ever to love the stranger and feed the orphan, however the differences between rich and poor are increasing. Those who can launched themselves into a spending spree without looking at others in need.
Justice will come when our hearts are open and our necks are flexible, when “doing for” is replaced by “doing with” or better yet receiving instruction from the widow, the orphan and all whose voices have been ignored.
Ekev tells us that the good life is based on good actions: walking in the path of God and keeping the commandments. We must do these things without expecting any reward: God does justice for the orphan, the widow, and the stranger, so we must do the same.
But if that is not enough, these actions must be taken with the knowledge that God can destroy, and has destroyed, those who do not do them. We must not only do these things, we must do them with our entire being and we must teach them to the next generation. It's bad enough having to shoulder these complex responsibilities and explanations, but we have to pass them on to our children.
Suffering, failure, pain, reward and joy are parts of human existence.
Ekev seems to say that material possessions may or may not be a reward for our merit; In some cases they can also be given to us for reasons that would make us squirm. They may be more of someone else's loss and punishment than our reward. What we should worry about is not material possessions, although we should be grateful for them. Rather, our real focus should be on alleviating suffering, being diligent about the obligation to live in a godly manner, being grateful for the good things that come our way without assuming we deserve them, and instilling these understandings in the next generation.
Living life aware of these complexities may be the best way we can all achieve a good life.
A good start to this is to cut off the armor of the heart and feeling, and not become haughty after having been humiliated or seeing the impairment and impoverishment of the other.