“High Heels,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings

August 15, 2025 | 21 Av 5785

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection, as we make our way toward Shabbat. You can also listen to it as a podcast.

This week’s portion begins with the word ekev — עקב. It has two meanings: heel, as in that part of the foot, and if, as in a consequence of.

We have seen the first meaning when the patriarch, Jacob, then in utero, holds on to the heel of his brother Esau who emerged first. The commentators focus on Jacob’s determination to acquire the first position in the family through manipulation by grasping at the heel of his brother set to be born first. As we have learned in Genesis, Jacob maneuvered Esau to sell him his birthright for a bowl of stew and then later, posed as Esau to receive the first born blessing from his ailing and blind father. Such antics caused Jacob to flee for his life.

The second definition of ekev means if, as a conditional necessity for behavior. Every action has its consequences and Moses exhortation to the people to follow the rules and observe them carefully is meant to raise their awareness for a higher purpose. The difference between righteous behavior and self-serving conduct determines blessing or curse.

The one word, ekev, with its two meanings is intricately intertwined. We could read the verse as, “And it will come to pass on the heel of your obeying and observing the covenant established by God with your ancestors…”

As Rabbi Steve Chester wrote:

“We know that nothing in life occurs by itself, nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything occurs — ekev — on the heel of everything else. As we go through life, we are always dependent on someone or something. As we strive to achieve our goals, we are attached to one another and to God. We are constantly holding on to the heels of others.”

As the patriarch Jacob demonstrated, sometimes holding on to the heel of others is for selfish purposes while at other times, as Moses urged the people, our entire future could rest on our interdependence and connection to each other.

As we gaze upon the circumstances in which we live in our own lives and in the world today, we witness how much can come to pass on the heel of actions by our leaders. Whether their behavior is righteous or self-serving, whether it is for a higher or lower purpose will affect us all. A future of blessing or curse rests on the heel of what might transpire.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and impressions. Share with me what you think. Your email goes directly to me!

Rabbi Elaine Zecher