Eikev for Chanting 2026
Deut. 8:7-10 Plaut p. 1230
Source Sheet by Yair Robinson
(ז) כִּ֚י יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ מְבִֽיאֲךָ֖ אֶל־אֶ֣רֶץ טוֹבָ֑ה אֶ֚רֶץ נַ֣חֲלֵי מָ֔יִם עֲיָנֹת֙ וּתְהֹמֹ֔ת יֹצְאִ֥ים בַּבִּקְעָ֖ה וּבָהָֽר׃ (ח) אֶ֤רֶץ חִטָּה֙ וּשְׂעֹרָ֔ה וְגֶ֥פֶן וּתְאֵנָ֖ה וְרִמּ֑וֹן אֶֽרֶץ־זֵ֥ית שֶׁ֖מֶן וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ (ט) אֶ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹ֤א בְמִסְכֵּנֻת֙ תֹּֽאכַל־בָּ֣הּ לֶ֔חֶם לֹֽא־תֶחְסַ֥ר כֹּ֖ל בָּ֑הּ אֶ֚רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲבָנֶ֣יהָ בַרְזֶ֔ל וּמֵהֲרָרֶ֖יהָ תַּחְצֹ֥ב נְחֹֽשֶׁת׃ (י) וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַטֹּבָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתַן־לָֽךְ׃
(7) For the ETERNAL your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; (8) a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; (9) a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper. (10) When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the ETERNAL your God for the good land given to you.
This week we read what I would argue is one of the most important lines in all of Torah, but you wouldn’t know it. It doesn’t arrive with the drama of the giving of the Ten Commandments, or the parting of the Sea of Reeds, or anything of that sort. It’s a quiet line, but no less profound for it. In the midst of a series of reminds of what God has done for Israel, we receive this commandment: “When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Eternal your God.” It is, effectively, an instruction to offer gratitude. Yes, for the meal, which is consumed, but also for our greater sustenance, our health, our families, our community, our lives. What is gratitude? Moshe Chayyim Luzzatto, the Ramchal, understands it as the natural outcome to being the recipient of others’ generosity, including our parents for our lives, and God, as illustrated in our text. We are interdependent creatures, and in our interdependence, we are the recipients of generosity from others, a generosity we cannot repay; so our only choice is to expand that generosity, passing it forward, projecting it outward. That is gratitude.