Parashah Ekev Comments 2023
Our Torah portion for this week is “Parashah Ekev.”
“Because you are listening to these rulings, keeping and obeying them, Adonai your God will keep with you the covenant and mercy that He swore to your ancestors. He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground—your grain, wine, olive oil and the young of your cattle and sheep—in the land He swore to your ancestors that He would give you.”
The title of the parashah (“Ekev”) is the first word of the portion. It means “because” in English. It is used here as a conjunction that connects obedience to the Torah and the blessings that result from that obedience. Since the Hebrew consonants that make up the word ‘ekev are the same as the word meaning “heel” (‘aqev), the ancient sages understood that as long as we respect and obey the Torah’s minor mitzvot—and do not trample on them with the heels of our feet—HaShem will honor His promises.
Additional understandings include: (1) the reward for following God’s instructions will be forthcoming in the Messianic Age (the end, or “heel” of history), and (2) Ekev alludes to ikveta d’meshichah, “the heels of the Mashiach,” the last generation of Exile expected to hear the Messiah’s footsteps. It is then that all will be made clear.
Rashi’s “heel” and the “minor” commandments
Rashi taught that the heel upon which we walk alludes to the care we must take to adhere to all divine commandments, including those seemingly unimportant or trivial—often “trampled” with little concern for their spiritual weight.
“Should a bird’s nest appear before you on the way, on any tree or on the earth, chicks or eggs, and the mother resting on the chicks or the eggs: You shall not take the mother with the offspring. You shall send away the mother, and take the offspring for yourself, so that it be good for you, and your days be long.”
Shared foundations and honest distinctions
What follows are observations from more than 35 years as a Jewish person who believes Yeshua (Jesus) is the promised Messiah and over 13 years as an ordained Messianic rabbi. Judaism and Christianity share the Tenach (Older Testament) as God’s word, and both believe in the coming Messiah. Yet there are distinctions. Naming them is not to divide; it is to pursue clarity in hope of the highway of unity the prophets envisioned.
“In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria… In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth… ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.’”
Main elements in Jewish identity include: (a) the people of Israel (ethnicity), (b) the land of Israel biblically bequeathed to the Patriarchs (larger than today’s state borders), and (c) the Jewish religion. Traditional Judaism holds two messianic perspectives: Mashiach ben Yosef (the suffering, Joseph-like redeemer) and Mashiach ben David (the reigning king). Messianic Jews affirm these as one Messiah: Yeshua who came as Mashiach ben Yosef (cf. Isaiah 53) and will return as Mashiach ben David.
“Adonai says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’”
Messianic Jews are Jews (not Christians), though distinctives can blur since many were discipled by well-meaning Christians. Most Christians embrace the Trinity; Judaism emphasizes God’s indivisible oneness (Shema) and tends to see Trinitarian worship as avodah zarah (idolatry) because it appears as worship of more than one God. Jewish readers render Deuteronomy 6:4 as “Adonai is one,” not a composite unity. Many Christians read John 10:30 (“I and the Father are one”) in support of Yeshua’s full divinity; Jewish readers disagree with that theological conclusion.
Jewish culture contains anti-Christian antibodies born of long experience with persecution “in Jesus’ name.” Yet classic Jewish sources also ascribe exalted status to Messiah—unique, perfectly righteous, foreknown before birth, even tied to “Adam Kadmon” in mystic language. Jeremiah’s call language (“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you”) is applied broadly in Jewish thought; the Talmud famously says, “All the world was created for the Messiah” (Sanhedrin 98b). Still, Judaism does not see Messiah as co-equal with God.
Witnesses, debates, and interpretive breadth
Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53 has shifted across centuries—from messianic readings to the modern national reading (Israel as the suffering servant). The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a–b) hosts varied messianic portraits. Some scholars (minimalists) see little that aligns with Yeshua; others (maximalists) see much, including references to “Yeshu” (Aramaic for Yeshua). Pinchas Lapide, an Orthodox scholar-diplomat, affirmed Yeshua’s resurrection yet did not confess Him as Messiah. Albert Einstein admired “the luminous figure of the Nazarene.” Numerous rabbis over the last two centuries have concluded that Yeshua is the promised Messiah. Reasonable people can see multiple interpretive layers in the same prophetic texts.
Given this, a “court of Truth” might leave Yeshua’s Messiahship unproven in the strictest sense—yet the circumstantial evidence is substantial. How much more will be required before Jewish hesitation is overcome?
The problem named: anti-Semitism / anti-Judaism
The Older Testament records nations seeking to suppress Israel: Amalekites, Philistines, Midianites, Moabites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. Antiochus IV Epiphanes sought to erase Hebrew life, recounted in the Maccabees. Roman occupation followed, and many centuries later the industrialized genocide of Nazi Germany was abetted by strains of Christian anti-Judaism, including polemics from Martin Luther’s later writings. Across history: expulsions, pogroms, Inquisitions, Crusader massacres, ghettos—tragically “in Christ’s name.”
We thought the Shoah would end such hatred; instead, like a cancer in remission, anti-Semitism has resurged—attacks on Jews, synagogues, students, and Israel. Not all hostility is Christian-sourced, but much is tolerated within Christian cultures. Few churches speak clearly against it. Some protest, “We love Israel,” yet fail to love Jewish people as neighbors.
Why this matters for redemption history
“…by their stumbling, deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.”
Romans 11:25:
“A hardening in part has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.”
These verses imply that Jewish jealousy (holy envy) awakens when Christians reach spiritual maturity. That requires repudiating prejudice—especially against the “apple of His eye.” Until then, the fullness of the Gentiles will remain incomplete.
“For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of Adonai.’”
Yeshua’s return is tied to Israel’s invitation. Replacement Theology—teaching that the Church has supplanted Israel—must therefore be rejected as anti-biblical.
“For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke will pass from the Torah until all is fulfilled.”
The endgame: Kingdom handed to the Father
“Then the culmination, when He hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after He has destroyed every rule and every authority and power.”
Revelation 21:1–4:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… the holy city, New Yerushalayim… ‘See! God’s Shekhinah is with mankind… He will wipe away every tear…’”
No invitation from His people, no coming of Mashiach ben David. No Messiah’s reign, no New Jerusalem descending. Therefore, the Church’s repentance toward Israel is not peripheral—it is pivotal.
The cure: emulate HaShem—love in action
“Beloved friends, let us love one another, because love is from God… The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
In Jewish thought, we know God by imitating Him. The more we embody His attributes—through the Written Torah and the Living Torah, HaMashiach—the more we love others, distribute goodness, and truly know Him. The same applies interpersonally: empathy leads to understanding, appreciation, and genuine love.
This is not the same as loving Israel abstractly. Love must be personal. The more Christians truly know and honor Jewish people, the more Jewish ears will open to Yeshua. As love grows, so will appreciation for Jewish practice—especially Shabbat as a foretaste of the world to come. “Shabbat shalom” becomes a weekly rehearsal of eternal peace.
May this love also spark renewed Torah reading, the context in which Yeshua ben Yosef lived—a life of obedience. WWJD? He would follow Torah. May His people do likewise, in Spirit and in truth.
Traditions that provoke hope
Jewish tradition speaks of the Lamed-Vav—thirty-six hidden righteous who keep the world from collapsing—one of whom may be Messiah. Whether midrash or mystery, the point remains: righteousness sustains the world, and hidden humility moves history.
Call to action: love people first, then God
Keep this Chasidic insight in mind: the Torah commands love three times—twice for people (Leviticus 19:18, 34) and then for God (Deuteronomy). Only after learning to love people can we truly love HaShem. Let this become a calling on our lives: bless HaShem by blessing His people.
Take a Jew to lunch. Stand with worshippers at a Jewish Shabbat service. Become a “fellow sojourner,” obeying God’s word as best you can. Return your free will to HaShem.
“So now, O Israel, what does Adonai your God require of you, but to fear Adonai your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the mitzvot of Adonai and His statutes that I am commanding you today, for your own good?”
The answer is nothing. The question is everything.
Amen.
Notes and References
Isaiah 53 (national and messianic readings), Sanhedrin 98a–b (messianic portraits), Rashi on Devarim, traditions of ikveta d’meshichah, and the Lamed-Vav Tzadikim. Quotations are presented in the style and transliterations customary in Messianic and traditional Jewish contexts (e.g., HaShem, G-d, Mashiach, Tenach, Brit Chadashah).
Hero image prompt Ultra-wide late-summer dusk in the Judean hill country (Parashat Ekev): foreground—an unrolled Torah scroll beside a simple wooden staff resting on warm limestone; mid-ground—terraced fields with vines, olive trees, and sheaves, suggesting “grain, wine, and oil”; background—distant hills fading into deep cobalt sky where first stars emerge (the “heels” of history). Non-iconic, no people. Vivid seasonal palette—gold, olive green, and deep blue—with gentle wind ripples in grasses and a faint path leading forward. Crisp textures in parchment, wood, stone, and foliage; soft atmospheric haze; no text.
