Parsha Paragraphs
Rabbi Naftali Kassorla
Parshat Eikev
The King and His Prince
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Featured in this week's parsha is one of the most famous sets of verses in the Torah: והיה אם שמוע, the second paragraph in the Shema prayer which is recited every morning and evening. Holding a significant place in our daily lives, it is written in our tefillin and affixed to the doorposts of every room in our homes.
In this section, Rashi (Devarim 11:17) explains the verse: ואבדתם מהרה מעל הארץ הטבה אשר ה׳ נתן לכם – “And [then] you will be swiftly banished from on the good Land which Hashem gives you” with a משל (parable) from the Sifri:
This is compared to a king who sent his son to a place where there was a party. Before he went, he sat and instructed the son. He warned him, “Don’t eat more than you need, so that you will come home clean!” The son paid no heed to his father's instruction; he ate and drank more than he should have. He then vomited, and soiled [the clothes of] all the others at the party. The partygoers then grabbed him by his hands and his feet and dumped him behind the palace.
This parable brings out tremendous depth hinted to in the nuances of the pesukim, and I would like to attempt to illustrate them based on several ideas from Rav Yechiel Yitzchok Perr שליט״א.
Firstly, the King sits down with his son, connoting the gravity of what he is about to relay. This is the meaning of G-d’s warning: השמרו לכם – “guard yourselves” (11:16). This verse is bound on our arms and heads, and posted at every door of our homes, to emphasize the seriousness with which this warning is given to us.
The son is sent to a party. A party is a pleasant place to be, with a myriad of good things to eat. Just as the King to his son, G-d tells the Jewish people that the Land of Israel is bountiful and enjoyable. It is a nice place, with plenty of good things to eat: “For Hashem your G-d is bringing you to a good Land, a Land with rivers of water, springs and fountains coming forth in the valleys and mountains. A Land of wheat and barley, vines and figs and pomegranates; a Land of olive oil and honey; a Land in which not in poverty will you eat bread; you will lack nothing in it. A Land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains you will mine copper”(8:7-10).
It seems from the parable that the King knows his son has a sensitive stomach. Surely he saw from experience that when the son overindulges, it does not end well. So too, G-d knows that we have sinned prior in the wilderness. The King warns his son that he should eat only to satisfaction, and not overeat. Similarly, this warning posted on the door posts and worn on muscle and mind, is not only a warning against being seduced into idolatry, as the simple reading of the verse implies. Rather it is a warning against being seduced into materialism, “eating and being satisfied” (Rashi 11:15). Seeking more than we need and becoming addicted to acquisitions will turn us away from G-d.
The משל draws to a close with the other partygoers becoming soiled and thus throwing the Prince out. The Land of Israel too, when soiled, spits out its inhabitants. As we had been warned: “So that the Land shall not vomit you out for making it unclean – just as it vomited out the nation [which was there] before you” (Vayikra 18:28). Our removal from the Land is a direct result of our negative actions, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
However, with all this, the parable ends on a comforting note. The soiled and insulted guests do indeed throw the Prince out, but they fling him only behind the palace. Behind the palace – not too far from his father, the King. Not too far for the King to find us, when He, Our Father and King, comes looking for his beloved son.
The messages contained in these verses are clearly vital for us to recall all day, everyday. We are struck with reminders as we begin our day, enter and exit our homes, and go to bed at night. It behooves each and every one of us to understand and internalize what is being relayed here and to personally apply these messages to our daily lives.
Shabbat Shalom
