Parshat Eikev 5777
Rabbi Jablinowitz
The Medrash Rabbah at the very beginning of our parsha (3,1) discusses the Halacha of putting together a Menorah on Shabbos. The Medrash states that one who unknowingly puts together a Menorah composed of different parts on Shabbos must bring a Karban Chatas for he has done the melacha of building on Shabbos. And lest one think that the prohibitions of Shabbos are meant to bring us pain and annoyance, it's all for our good. On Shabbos we eat and drink and wear clean clothes, and Hashem gives us reward. When do we receive the reward? Answers the Medrash, Secharo B'Eikev Ani Nosein Lecha, I give you your reward B'Eikev. This is the meaning of the pasuk, V'Hayah Eikev Tishme'un.
What is the meaning of this Medrash? What is the significance of building a Menorah on Shabbos, and what is the meaning of the statement that your reward is received B'Eikev?
The Sfas Emes explains that there is great depth to the halachic question of building a Menorah on Shabbos. Putting together the different components of a Menorah represents the life work of an individual. One needs to spend his entire life building himself and making himself one complete, consistent unit. One of the challenges of life is that the total entity of a person should be focused on working together to fulfill the goal of Avodas Hashem. Therefore, putting together the different parts of a Menorah so that they match up and produce light is the metaphor employed by the Medrash. We do this by keeping mitzvos and creating light within a world of darkness.
The Medrash teaches that building a Menorah on Shabbos is prohibited. This is because during the week one must try to find the light contained within the darkness of our world. But on Shabbos this enterprise takes a break and we benefit from the glimpse of the light of Olam Haba that we receive on Shabbos. We take a respite from the ongoing process of creating our own personal Menorah and bask in the Divine light of Shabbos. Building a Menorah on Shabbos is prohibited.
This metaphor goes deeper with the understanding that the Sheshes Kenei Ha'Menorah, the six branches of the Menorah, represent the six days of the week. During the week we are involved in this building process. But as the pasuk states (Bamidbar, Chapter 8, Pasuk 2), El Mul Pnei Ha'Menorah Ya'iru Shivas Ha'Neiros. On the seventh day, on Shabbos, the light comes from the Penimiyus of Shabbos, from the essence of Shabbos itself. If during the week we must be careful from the dangers of the physical world and remove the light from the dark, on Shabbos we are able to eat and drink and wear nice clothes. For on Shabbos even the physical is spiritual. This is what the Medrash means when it states that Shabbos is not for your discomfort. The prohibitions of Shabbos, where we refrain from building a Menorah, are because on Shabbos we don't need to work, we don't need to create light. The light is automatic even in the physical.
As we mentioned above, the building of the Menorah is the lifetime work of building ourselves. This is why the Medrash teaches that the reward is given B'Eikev. The word Eikev means a heel and as the Ramban teaches in the beginning of our parsha, just as the word Rosh means head and represents the beginning of something, similarly the word Eikev, or heel, represents the end. The reward of keeping mitzvos and finding the light within the darkness is given B'Eikev; only when we finish building the Menorah of our life is the reward given.
But the word Eikev also represents an additional idea. The number of positive mitzvos, 248, corresponds to the number of limbs in a person and the negative commands, 365, correspond to the number of sinews in a person. This indicates the notion that by spending a life of keeping mitzvos we build ourselves. We attempt to create one whole organic unit functioning together spiritually similar to the way our bodies are one whole unit physically. This is an additional meaning of the phrase that the reward is given B'Eikev; when we leave this world and leave behind a situation whereby even our heels are working consistently with the more significant parts of our body in unison, this is when we receive true reward. This is the ultimate goal of the lifetime work of a Jew.
Good Shabbos
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