Parashat Eikev and the Amnesia of Success.

There is a story of a man desperately searching for parking in Tel Aviv. Late for the most important meeting of his career, he circles the streets again and again until, in complete desperation, he looks heavenward and prays. “God,  I really need Your help. Please, help me find a parking space.”At that very moment, a car pulls out. The man looks back toward heaven and says, “Never Mind, God. I’ve Got This” It is funny because it is painfully familiar. And it is precisely the spiritual disease that Moses diagnoses in Parashat עקב.

Standing on the threshold of the Promised Land, after forty years of wandering through the wilderness, Moses is not worried that the Israelites will stop believing in God during moments of suffering. Human beings usually remember to pray when life falls apart. He worries about something far more dangerous. He worries about what success does to memory.

Remember the entire journey by which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2)

Remember the entire journey by which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2)

Then comes the warning that echoes across generations:

Take care lest you forget the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 8:11)

Take........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)