I can’t. I just can’t. At least not today. I know I have a penchant for trying to redeem irredeemable texts. Not just a penchant, a passion. However, today I am weary of that effort, weary of the rationalizations, loop de loops, torturous paths, and cherry-picking that is too often necessary to find positive values from troubling texts.
This week, I found nothing redemptive in parashat Eikev. Oh sure, it starts off seemingly positive enough. All these good things will happen if…it’s that if that turns an otherwise positive passage into a troubling one. You’ll get to successfully enter the promised land – and along the way, you will mercilessly kill, with G”d’s favor, the present occupants.
We are reminded of how G”d dealt with the Egyptians. Hmmm. Let’s see. Many Egyptians died, their economy was left in a shambles, crops devastated, animals dead, and the whole country a stinking, fetid mess.
Yep. Y’all just head on into the promised land, slaying and killing along the way, and I’ll make sure your enemies fall – though you have to do the actual killing. Oh,and by the way, tear down their altars, and destroy all their idols, and don’t even think about imitating any of their ways.
You do this and you will be very fruitful and your population will explode.None of your animals will be infertile, and so your flocks will similarly increase in number. You won’t get sick. All you have to do in exchange is show no pity.
How very “Animal Farm” of G”d. All my creations are equal in My sight, but this people are more equal. It’s no wonder our “chosen-ness” has haunted us and is a concept often rejected by modern liberal Jews.
Oh, and, by the way, this won’t be some quick and easy process. No, only little by little will you defeat your enemies and come into possession of the land. Why? Hmmm. Gimme a second to come up with a good rationalization here. Oh, I got it. If you conquer all these people too quickly, there won’t be enough people to keep the wild beasts from ravaging the land, and harming you.
Now wait just a darn minute here. G”d, creator of the Universe, doer of mighty deeds, maker of great miracles, Deity capable of delivering these people into the promised land and given them future generations of success can’t handle some wild beasts? WTF is with that?
G”d promises to drive Israel’s enemies into panic, making it easier to conquer them.(But G”d can;t handle the wild beasts?)
Acting like a morale officer, Moshe then reminds the people of all the great miracles that G”d has done for them these last 40 years. Why,even our clothes didn’t wear out. Yes, there were some harsh times, but G”d only did this to teach you a lesson – and to remind you that it is G”d who will provide. When you lack faith, expect a hardship in order to bring you back to your senses. Of course, when it gets too hard, G”d will provide relief through a miracle. (But G”d can;t seem to deal with this “wild beasts ravaging the promised land if the conquest is too fast” thing? SMH)
Okay, enough stick for a bit. Here’s some carrot. You’re gonna really like this promised land. Things will be so good. You will eat until satiety. Oh, and don;t forget after eating and being sated, to thank G”d.
Enough carrot. Back to the stick. You’re gonna get so comfortable you’ll become haughty and believe your success is of your own making. Don’t do that. It is not your own merit that has won you this largesse. (Hmmm – then why, exactly is G”d showering this particular people with all this success? Could it be that G”d is over-compensating for a promise forgotten and ignored through 400 years of slavery in Egypt?)
Whatever you do, don’t follow the ways of the people you vanquish, or G”d will bring wrack and ruin upon you. (Note, no promise here, as one finds elsewhere, and especially in the later prophetic works, that you will suffer rack and ruin but only up to a point because G”d loves you and will ultimately show mercy in the end.
In some ways, this is a very Trump-ian situation. G”d (or perhaps it is really Moshe,) at times, appears to be saying contradictory things. First, that the people must go and fight and kill the current occupants of the land, and then later, it is stated that G”d will go at the front of you, a devouring fire, wiping out your enemies. So which is it? Are the Canaanites gonna pay for that wall or not?
As if we haven’t had enough stick and too little carrot yet Moshe proceeds to recap all the times the Israelites were disrespectful to or showed lack of faith in, or disobeyed G”d. I’ve commented before about this segment of the text, and about Moshe’s proclivity to play fast and loose with the facts. Is Moshe deflecting responsibility for striking the rock any different than the behavior we see from today’s politicians? It would seem that, sadly, such dissembling and spin have a long history.
The one more recap. Moshe offers a recitation of G”d’s greatest hits and best characteristics.Isn’t that great! More carrot. Followed immediately by more stick. Follow ways other than G”d’s ways, and all this largesse will be taken away from you.
Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick.Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick.
Enough already. Why this pep talk? If G”d is so all-powerful, why does G”d need us to do the dirty work? Yes, G”d is enabling a smaller force to overwhelm a larger one, but this is possible even without G”d. It’s called strategy and tactics. And this may be the fourth millennia BCE, but human beings already know all about war, and about how a smaller force can overcome a larger one.
It’s all so confusing. Yeah, I’ll grant you the admonition to remember to say thank you after our bellies are full is a useful nugget. However, as far as I can see, that might be the only one. All these platitudes about giving rain in its season and all that – that’s all they are – platitudes. They don’t redeem this text at all.
Another year I might be able to find (and clearly, in previous years I have been able to find) redeeming things in this parasha. Not this year. Not with a country in chaos, a world potentially on the brink of war. So if you’re looking for something uplifting before this Shabbat, I have nothing to offer – except the peace of Shabbat itself. As to this parasha: I. Just. Can’t.
Shabbat Shalom,
Adrian
©2017 by Adrian A. Durlester
Other musings on this parasha:
Eikev 5775 - Kindlers of Fire (Revised from 5766)
Eikev 5774 The Hills Are Alive (Redux 5773)
Eikev 5773 - The Hills Are Alive
Eikev 5772 - Is El Al Really Doing the Right Thing?
Eikev 5771-Lining Up Alphabetically By Height
Ekev 5770 - For the Good Planet
Ekev 5769-Not Like Egypt
Ekev 5766 - Kod'khei Eish-Kindlers of Fire
Eikev 5765-Are We Forgotten?
Ekev 5764-KaYom HaZeh
Ekev 5760 (from 5759)-Not Holier Than Thou
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