The Torah teaches a person to walk down the path of truth. It gives him advice as to how to repent and return to his Master. Even if death has been decreed to him, it, and all other bad decrees, can be abolished. They can be made to leave him without a trace.
Thus Hezekiah, a King learned in Torah, was healed in its merit and given an extra 15 years of life, even though the prophet Isaiah had informed him of his impending death.
In this week's Torah reading, Moses tells the Jewish people,
"G-d is bringing you into…a land of wheat, barley, grape-vines, figs, and
pomegranates; a land of oil-olives and honey." (Deut. 8:7-8) The Ari teaches
that, generally, the Land of Israel is a manifestation of the partzuf of
Nukva, and the praises of her fruits reveal secrets of the supernal
spiritual origins of seven of her sefirot. The Ari demonstrates
how wheat orginates in chochma (directly above chesed), barley in
gevura , grape-vines in tiferet, figs in netzach,
pomegranates in hod, olives in yesod, and honey in malchut.
Nowadays, our table fulfills the mystical dimensions of what used to be the Temple service. Instead of the sacrificial offerings being consumed at the altar, we consume our meals after and before benedictions expressing our awareness of He Who supplies our needs.
We become like angels when the food we consume is of the right kind and we consume it in a state of sanctity. Just as physical food gives us our continued existence on earth, so do our souls serve as "sustenance" for the angels and assure their continued existence.
Prayer is called "the service of the heart" and not the service of the lips because it requires the mouth, not just the meditations of the heart. The combination of the external service with internal intention together make a person a receptacle for receiving the goodness of the Creator. This service then becomes an offering before G-d - focused intention combined with the sweetness of the melody and the song of prayers.
The second paragraph of the Shema prayer is found in this Torah portion and the first paragraph is in the previous Torah portion, Vaetchanan. Although similar in many ways - and even seem to be a repetition - there are a number of differences between the two paragraphs that mirror the different aspects of our relationship to G-d described in the two portions.
Va'etchanan focuses on Moses' request that G-d grant us the unconditional gift of divine "sight". This perception of divinity is so intense that fulfillment of G-d's will is a given; there is no need to mention reward and punishment, and there is no room for exile.
Ekev, in contrast, focuses on our "hearing", which obligates us to refine ourselves with our own effort. At this less intense level of perception of the Divine, it is necessary to describe the consequences of heeding or ignoring G-d's call and we also need each other to bolster our commitment to G-d's will.
The name of the parasha, Eikev, has two meanings: "since" or "heel" - implying the end of something, like the heel of a person's foot. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that we must actualize the cause, i.e. keep the mitzvot, in order to bring about the effect - G-d's providing for our needs.
Another way of understanding this cause/effect relationship is that when a Jew is involved in learning Torah or performing mitzvot, he or she is attaining the ultimate effect possible: to connect and unite with the Giver of the Torah.
The Baal Shem Tov taught that the word "ekev" is a commentary on the word "listen". One should listen like this is the "ekev", the "end", the last mitzvah he will ever merit to perform.
"Be careful not to mix up your mezuzot with the Rebbe's mezuzot," the scribe cautioned.
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