"Who Don’t Hear, Will Feel"

I am from the Caribbean, and we have a popular saying that seems to fit this parashah very well: “Who don’t hear, will feel.”  This island idiom means that a person can be told something repeatedly, but if they choose not to listen, they will feel the consequences. This is the message that Moses has been trying to get across to the Israelites for years, with limited success. Despite the guarantees from Moses that as long as the people follow the precepts that God has set for them all will turn out well, they had little true emunah (faith) in God’s powers. When Moses did not return at a certain time from Mount Sinai, the people reverted to the old ways they learned from the Egyptians and made a golden idol. This week’s portion refers to the Israelites as a “stiff-necked” people, unable to turn their heads to look back at the past or look around them to properly observe their world. They cling stubbornly to their old ways and do not want to give Moses’s message the importance it deserves.

The title of the parashah, “Eikev,” is often translated as “because.” The first thing I thought of upon reading this title was the response that adults give to children when asked why children are expected to perform some action or duty related to safety or necessity. The age-old response is, “Because I said so; that’s why.” Although I am not fond of this type of exchange, sometimes, in matters of great importance or urgency, it is effective. Moses was that teacher in his day, trying to get across the point that the Israelites should not be asking why God wants them to do and not do certain things, but just do what God says. Moses speaks to the people of their mistakes in the past (the Golden Calf, the rebellion against him and Aaron, and more), reminding them of the many times that God forgave them when God could have just as easily wiped them out. Yet the people refuse to look back at their poor conduct and allow it to be a roadmap of what to avoid in the future. All they need to do is believe what God told their ancestors in Deuteronomy 7:8-9:

It was because the Eternal loved you and kept the oath that God swore to your ancestors that the Eternal brought you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Eternal your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love God and keep God’s commandments, to a thousand generations.

The Israelites still seem to not believe Moses, and ultimately God, despite the forgiveness and mercy God has shown them and the abundance of gifts God has showered them with. God did not have to give the people water and manna in the wilderness, but God did. The “because I said so” that Moses tells the people is his hope that they never again feel the wrath of God. Moses demonstrates exactly what every West Indian parent has said: “Who don’t hear, will surely feel.” The people have, in fact, witnessed the miracles that God has performed for them. Despite their lack of willingness to listen to Moses in the past, Moses hopes that the people will listen this time so that they don’t end up suffering the consequences.