Devarim is the last of the five books that make up the Torah, and is a series of speeches that Moshe gives the Israelites before they enter the Land of Israel. In Moshe’s speech in Parashat Eikev, Moshe repeatedly mentions the many failures of the Israelites in their time travelling  through the desert. 

Many great Rabbis have questioned this decision; why does Moshe decide to remind the Israelites of all of their worst mistakes right before they enter the Land of Israel? Would it not make more sense for him to rather look forward and inspire the Israelites, giving them hope for the future? Rabbi Chaim Druckman roots his answer in the meaning of the name of this Parasha; Eikev. In Hebrew, Eikev can mean “because” but it can also mean “heel” which is the core to Rabbi Druckman’s answer to this question. 

Our heels are the lowest parts in our bodies yet they play an important role in stability and allowing our feet to exert force and move forward. Spiritually, our “heels” represent our lowest moral moments which paradoxically are those which push us forward should we leverage them in the correct way to do so. 

Moshe’s review of the Israelite’s failures is not meant to scold them, but rather to empower them. For the Israelites to be entering the Land of Israel means that, although they have ‘collapsed’  morally multiple times, G-d always forgave them and together they have recovered and restored their moral and spiritual strength . The fact that the Israelites survived all of these moral failures should give them hope and courage for the future: they should believe that nothing can stop them, as long as they remain close to G-d.

Parashat Eikev teaches us that Hashem does not expect us never to fail, but rather that our connection with G-d is determined by the way we respond to our failures and bounce back. Failure allows us to take a step back and rethink the direction we choose to take -  which in turn can lead to a closer connection with G-d and a deeper awareness of G-d’s constant involvement in our lives. 

We should not try to hide or erase our “heels”, the moments in our lives which we are at our lowest. Instead, reflecting honestly about those moments and asking ourselves what we can learn from them is the key to moving forward positively  and the route to becoming better human beings.

Moshe made it clear to the Israelites that as they enter the Land of Israel they should remember that their future is not built only on their successes but also on their ability to turn their weaknesses into strengths.

As we enter this new academic year, it is important to reflect honestly on both our achievements and our failures from our previous school year. Moreover, it is important to not let our previous failures define us and to instead appreciate the power of failing well: to leverage failure and thereby to create more success for ourselves both academically and spiritually. 

Shabbat Shalom 

Aviad, Grade 12