Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster explores the concept of listening in Judaism and explains why it is so important to faith.
The first line of Shabbat's reading, Parshat Ekev (Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25) begins, 'And this is what will happen if you listen properly to these ordinances, adhere to them and carry them out in the right way.'
The Hebrew is very interesting, and the above translation is just one of many possibilities. However, I would like to concentrate on the two phrases, translated as 'what will happen' and 'listen properly'.
Let's start with 'listening properly'. The famous root shema from which this verb comes is the core of Judaism, as we learned last week in Deuteronomy (6: 4-9) - Hear O Israel.
But shema in Hebrew means far more than simply listening. So our phrase in Ekev can be translated in various ways. For example, If you hearken to these precepts; If you completely obey these laws; If you pay attention to these laws; If you heed these ordinances and even Because you hear these judgements. Furthermore, shema also means understand. So this is why in our passage, listening properly entails comprehension, followed by actions based on this comprehension.
Hebrew culture, followed to a large extent by Judaism today, is based largely on hearing. By contrast, Western cultures tend to be based on sight. That is why in Hebrew, the ear, now well known to be the source of balance, also refers to weights and correct dealings in business, with someone giving false weights, for instance, being guilty of a very serious crime. The sight of one's eyes, on the other hand, tends to be regarded more negatively, as potentially leading us astray and going after 'false gods'.
The Jewish G-d cannot be seen, as He is both invisible, and indivisible (one interpretation of 'One'). To know in Judaism is not to see, but to listen, to comprehend and to act. Not for nothing are so many of the world's great therapists Jewish, and even Freud called his new therapy 'the listening cure'.
In Judaism, to listen is to be open. And teachers are the great leaders in Judaism, because the best teachers listen, as in 'My door is always open....' And a great way of learning a foreign language, now defunct, is the use of dictation as a tool. Instead of just looking, talking and writing, dictation is a method in which registering sounds do the work of grammar, communication, honing perception and inner visualization. Dictation in a foreign language is also therefore a form of therapy.
So now that we have delved a little into the meaning of 'proper listening', as depicted in the first line of our Parsha, let's turn to the even more complex possibilities contained in the little word 'ekev'. Ekev's principal meaning is 'heel' - the part of our foot which takes the most pressure in walking. It is therefore most interesting that in English a 'well-heeled' person implies wealth. Maybe this was because shoes were once (and in some cases still are) incredibly expensive and in need of constant repair. So someone well-heeled could afford to have their shoes mended, maybe more than once. Therefore, being a cobbler was at one time a very respectable trade, in which many Jews excelled!
From 'heel', the definition expands to include 'trace', ie what is left of your foot-step when you walk, especially on the sand, which is so significant in Jewish Biblical history. After all, didn't G-d tell our ancestor Abraham that the Jewish people would be 'as numerous as the sand on the sea' (Genesis 22:17, Hosea 1:10)? So this extended meaning of 'heel' as maybe 'imprint' adds to the idea that every step we take, every trace we leave, every impression we make, is of the utmost significance.
Therefore, when the signs of the Messiah are upon us, these are called in Aramaic 'The footsteps/traces of the Messiah'. Many religious Jews, and others, feel that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 was one such sign, and that its 75-year survival against all the odds is another one of these signs!
So from heel, we get the name of 'Jacob' (Yaakov in Hebrew) as well as the great Rabbi Akiva, who was murdered most cruelly by the Romans in 135 CE – simply for adhering to Jewish religious principles. In other words, simply for being a Jew! As we have seen very recently in the US, the world continues to murder Jews simply for being Jewish.
From heel, Yaakov and Hebrew, we come to the preposition (or conjunction, there is a debate on this subject) 'because'.
What on earth, you might ask, does the concept of 'heel' have to do with the preposition/conjunction 'because'. The greatest biblical scholar, Rashi (Troyes, France, 1040-1105), enlightens us by referring to our very phrase in Ekev: 'And it will be, because you will listen'. Rashi's comment on this phrase is: 'This means that if you listen to the minor mitzvoth which one usually tramples with one's heels....'
Rashi delves into the depths of the matter and connects the two concepts of ekev – because and heel. He does this by emphasizing the importance of all those minor everyday modes of behaviour that one tends to overlook. In other words, for Rashi, 'G-d is in the details.' The teaching is not so much that if we behave well, we will be rewarded. That is a very childish way of going about things, as well as often being factually inaccurate. Just look at history and read the Book of Job. Righteous, truthful and honest people often suffer dreadfully, while the cruel and mendacious often get away with murder.
However, what our passage, and Rashi's commentary, seem to be telling us is that even if that is the case, what really matters is that, irrespective of consequences, we should still pay attention to the smallest of details in our own daily lives, even if others do not.
So, even though in English the 'well-heeled' person refers to the super rich, in Judaism it is almost the opposite: in Judaism, based in Biblical norms and rabbinic commentary, the well-heeled person thinks of the consequences of what they do, and nothing is too insignificant or menial a task. From Yaakov and Rabbi Akiba, it is the tiniest mitzvoth that matter, the way we treat our fellow human beings in our daily lives. And that is what the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) comes to remind us of. Words and things don't just go together – they are one and the same thing.
And don't you just love the idea of an entire Biblical Parsha being called 'because'?
