This week we read Parshat Eikev. Moshe continues his closing address to the Jews, promising them that if they will fulfill the commandments of the Torah, they will prosper in Israel.

He also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korach, the sin of the spies, their angering of G‑d at Taveirah. But he also speaks of G‑d’s forgiveness of their sins, and the Second Tablets which G‑d inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.

He describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven kinds” (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and as the place that is the focus of G‑d’s providence of His world. He commands them to destroy the idols of the land’s former masters.

A key passage in our Parshah is the second chapter of the Shema, which repeats the fundamental mitzvot enumerated in the Shema’s first chapter, and describes the rewards of fulfilling G‑d’s commandments.

Av 20 is the yahrtzeit (anniversary of the passing) of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878-1944), in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was Chief Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav (currently Dnepropetrovsk), and was arrested and exiled to Kazakhstan by the Stalinist regime as a result of his work to preserve Jewish life in the Soviet Union.

Moshe explained to the Jewish people the purpose and lesson of their 40-year journey in the desert. In the desert, it was Hashem who fully provided for them: food, water, shelter, direction. This was to remind them that even in the future, when they will be responsible for working for sustenance, they must remember that it is not their effort that provides for them, but it is Hashem’s blessings. We can apply this idea in our daily lives. While it seems that we are the ones providing for ourselves, it is really all from the hand of Hashem and we must never forget that. 

Imagine watching the Beis Hamikdash go up in flames? Even someone with a heart of stone would do whatever it takes to turn the world upside down and stop the destruction. The Rebbe taught us that this same urgency applies to us today: we cannot just stand by. We need to turn the world over TODAY to end the pain of exile and bring Moshiach!

While visiting Bar, Montenegro, my friend Hillel and I met a Jewish man named Jasa. After talking for more than an hour, I asked if he would like to put on tefillin. He gladly agreed. When we needed a siddur for the Shema, Jasa brought his own. As I opened it, a faded photograph of the Lubavitcher Rebbe fell from between the pages. When I asked about it, Jasa shared an unforgettable story.

Jasa had grown up in Serbia and moved to Israel in the 1960s. Years later, his fourteen-year-old son began suffering from severe pain in his leg. Doctors discovered a fast-growing tumor and said the boy’s only chance of survival was an immediate amputation. Jasa’s wife signed the permission form, but Jasa stepped outside and called his mother. “If G-d wants, he will live with two legs,” she told him. “Do not amputate.” Although the doctors warned that his son might die within weeks, Jasa refused the operation.

Devastated, Jasa returned to work at a division of Israeli security. A Vizhnitzer chassid who worked with him noticed his distress. After hearing what had happened, he gave Jasa a photograph of the Rebbe with a telephone number written on the back. Their office had access to a private line connected to the Rebbe’s secretariat, and he urged Jasa to call for a blessing.

Rabbi Hodakov, the Rebbe’s personal secretary, answered. Jasa told him everything and begged for a blessing for his son. “Call me back on Friday with good news,” Rabbi Hodakov replied before hanging up. Jasa could not understand how there could possibly be good news so soon.

That Friday, before the boy was transferred to another hospital, the doctors took one more X-ray. The technician came out in shock: the tumor was gone. The doctor refused to believe it and performed surgery, but found only a small, lifeless mass. Two weeks later, the boy was walking normally. Jasa immediately called the Rebbe’s office to share the news. “Todah,” Rabbi Hodakov quietly replied.

Hillel and I sat speechless. Then Jasa added one final detail. When his son had turned thirteen, he had been advised to buy tefillin from a trustworthy scribe in Kfar Chabad. Instead, he had purchased a pair at the market in Tel Aviv. After his son’s recovery, he had them checked. They were invalid. The improperly formed words were from the verse: “…so that your lives and the lives of your children may be lengthened.”