Eikev, עֵקֶב  "As a Consequence"   Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

Ekev / Resurrection Shema

Poetic Notes On The Parashat Ekev*

The mitzvot are made for the land

and the land for the mitzvot

Those mitzvot that can be carried into exile

can be carried back from exile

The testimony of promise in which Isaac walked

and which Jacob carried down into exile

was the testimony of Abraham being called out 

of the exile of Adam

In the beginning and in the end

the land and the mitzvot are one

Through the mitzvot the land is planted,

planted and cultivated

and grown to be the holy garden,

with spiritual and natural fruit,

harvested in peace with abundance

A child is born out of the generative power of life

and has the potential for regenerative life

Yet, without a new act of God,

no child’s regenerative potential

could ever renew all creation 

A child is not born clothed,

with the exception of the foreskin… 

Adam was not created clothed

They were nursed into existence like a newborn

Darkness was not frightening to them,

nor was death yet their enemy

Adam’s potential regenerative life force was dominate,

until the tempter came and they listened to him  

Like naive children they dreamed of being superheroes

of bringing by themselves a regenerative life force

and eternal life to all creation

Instead, they brought shame 

and a need for covering to all their children

Then God circumcised Israel in Egypt

He took the law of the organics of righteousness

out of the Garden of Eden

and gave it to his nation of redeemed slaves

He planted his mitzvot in the Land of Abraham

His mitzvot sprouted in the Land of Isaac

And in the Land of Jacob they will bear eternal fruit

Then, to the audience of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 

Moshe will sing with Mashiach 

and Adam’s stature will reach its full potential 

This is your inheritance, Oh Israel

It is written in the will and testament

of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Moses stood in the role

of the executor of their will,

the role of Mashiach,

saying to the children of Israel,

God gave you manna

to sustain you in the desert

And He gave you mitzvot

the mitzvot of His mouth

to sustain you in the Land,

so you may inherit the milk and the honey,

the miracles and mercies of the Holy Land

His word brings a hornet swarm against the enemy,

a plague of nature to drive them out

For HaShem stands in your midst

He saves you little by little, 

lest four beasts take the place of the Canaanite

Beware of the daughters of Midian and Moab 

if they return again 

to lead you away captive to the four beasts

For HaShem leads and guides you into the land,

that you might transform its wheat

barely, grapes and figs

pomegranates, olives and dates

into holy, spiritual fruits

All and every mitzvah is yours

in all and every portion

They are a whole and perfect equipment,

a full and complete inheritance,

to cultivate a land with the spirit of regeneration,

and the power to transform time into Torah,

and an unholy world into a holy eternity,

by following Moshe and Mashiach

to the mezuzah at the gate of heaven

Thieves and robbers turned over earth,

looking for its treasures,

looking for the Jews who God redeemed

But they could not find them

For God hid them in the wilderness

The perfect expression of individuality

does not come from self-assertion

but from a truly organic nation,

a nation that is all in one

As the mother gives birth to the child

and it does not give birth to itself,

so it is with the poetry of Moshe

It is born of Israel in the mind

of the Blessed Holy One

Israel shall come planting and being planted,

a holy seed

The arrogant angel comes riding its horse

to capture the whole earth

and make Israel its prize

HaShem will hurl both horse and rider

into the sea of his forgetfulness 

Do not fear the arrogant ones

Come out of the exile

of forced labour and despair

Do not touch the idol’s blood

Return to the home of the resurrection to come

For to your credit, Israel, shall go the labour,

to you who resolved firmly, 

to dig deeply and truly,

to complete the whole mitzvah,

to elevate the Holy Land to its full measure,

to be a light to the nations

What David began he leaves his son to finish

What Moshe began his brothers and sisters finish

Then the reward shall come

You will stand again with Joseph

and recite the whole Shema

The Holy Doorpost 

of the doorposts of your heart and home

is the Presence of your God

All famine and exile will be forgotten at your gate

In the quorum of the resurrection

you will stand in your land and sing and pray

I will sing with Israel,

for HaShem gave Israel to Adam as lips of praise

With these lips alone

Adam is made worthy to praise HaShem 

HaShem is higher than all human praise

Therefore, we praise him through his gift alone,

through the gift of Torah Israel,

redeemed for the sake of thanksgiving and praise