Eikev Day 1:
Eikev can mean “because” or “heel”. The former seems to be a simpler contextual fit, but #RashiToday (Eikev Day 1) goes with heel (as the sole interpretation), as in (fully) fulfilling “mitzvot people tend to (figuratively/attitudinally) trample on with their heels” Commentaries give grammatical/contextual reasons to explain why in this instance #RashiToday goes with heel & not because for Eikev, but Rashi is standing his ground & making a stand with the heel message. Don’t tread on me! says the first verse in Eikev Day 1.
Eikev Day 2:
There’s only one #RashiToday commentary on Eikev Day 2: “Not that you aren’t mighty yourselves, but the nations you are facing are mightier than you (without divine assistance).” Think of the self-esteem value in this teaching! The greater strengths of others, while it certainly can present mighty problems when challenged by them, does not in & of itself diminish our own personal strengths. We don’t shrivel or melt away when faced with their greater strengths. You, too, are mighty, & remain mighty, even as they might be mightier. You might say this is one small but mighty #RashiToday!
Eikev Day 3:
From an unusual spelling of “Luchot” (Tablets) implying the singular, #RashiToday (#Eikev Day 3) derives the teaching that the 2 Tablets were symmetrical, identical (aside for wording). The location for this comment is interesting because the unusual spelling appears a few times, including in verses immediately preceding in #Eikev Day 3 (& #RashiToday makes a similar comment back in Shemot). #Rebbe points out visual symmetry is more of an issue when Moshe receives it than when G-d gives it, & the word count is higher on 1st tablet, so a child learning Rashi may think, perhaps the stones were different to accommodate varying wordcounts, hence this singular Tablet wording & #RashiToday comment. But what’s the message for us? What do we learn from this same-sized symmetry?
Thinking in terms of textboxes pr page-size, do you shrink or expand to autofit, or are the text and background tablet sized independently of each other? This symmetry of tablets for differently sized texts teaches us that the tablets aren’t fitted for the text. In language of Chassidus, the tablet or parchment isn’t just a medium & background for the text, but it represents an even higher level of spirituality, unexpressed white (or for tablets: blue) space, it represents an even higher level of spirituality, that doesn’t fit to text.
Eikev Day 4:
Moshe describes last 40 days spent on Mt Sinai getting 2nd tablets & G-d’s forgiveness (culminating in YomKippur) as “like the first (40) days”. #RashiToday Eikev Day 4 explains: Just as first 40 days were with G-d’s goodwill, same with last 40 days, unlike the middle 40 days which were a time of G-d’s anger. This is quite interesting, because the Jews weren’t forgiven until YomKippur at the end of the last 40 days, yet that whole set of 40 days was considered (in this #RashiToday Eikev 4) as a time of G-d’s goodwill. Perhaps this #RashiToday can allude to the Chassidic take on Teshuva as much more of a positive journey & ideal opportunity for spiritual growth & deepened connection. The process of Teshuva itself (even before forgiveness!) is considered a time of goodwill!
Eikev Day 5:
There’s an Midrashic argument “how many earth-openings” in the Korach story that #RashiToday only quotes in #Eikev Day 5 & doesn’t mention it back in Parsha Korach, & interestingly where Korach isn’t mentioned here at all! Rebbe (Eikev 1966) does a deep dive into why RashiToday quotes both opinions, specifically here, why by name, how this ties into these two rabbis general or particular perspective, their personal situations & more. Sifsei Chachomim has an uplifting take on why #RashiToday emphasizes two different ways the earth swallowed them up – as both illustrate the great miracle of this drastic event happening, as the verse says: “in the midst of all of Israel!” & yet everyone else was unharmed. Sometimes miracle is in negative space, the background we don’t notice at first. Not in dramatic earth-swallowing but in safety & survival of others. It doesn’t grab limelight, not always in focus, but it’s there, hopefully eventually, not in Korach but in Eikev, we see it.
Eikev Day 6:
“Serve G-d with all your heart(s)” #RashiToday Eikev Day 6 (quotes Sifri) this refers to prayer & supports it with an Aramaic verse from Daniel & then says “so, too with David” & a verse from Psalms. Rebbe asks why the 2 verses, why Daniel first, & why quote David by name? Rebbe explains that the 2 verses (Daniel & Psalms) in #RashiToday address 2 issues in referring to service as prayer: Can avodah-service be outside of Israel, without the Temple? The Daniel verse written in the exile & in Aramaic addresses that aspect. But wait, does Daniel for everyday working Jew? Daniel was a prophet! That’s where Psalm verse comes in, & by referring to it as (plain) “David” (w/o honorific): the shepherd, the king, who engaged with worldly matters – for him, too, (thereby for us, too) avodah-service = prayer. #RashiToday
Eikev Day 7:
Can’t help but think of last lines in Tanya 25 when reading the last verse in Eikev Day 7, but #RashiToday has different emphasis, explaining difference between the 2 words this verse uses for terror/fear/dread – as both a geographic & chronological differentiation back in #Beshalach, and there also seems to be a better verse for #RashiToday to quote from Devarim, there’s an incompletely recorded Rebbe talk on all this from Eikev 1965 – sadly missing is the life message & application portion, gleaned from these 2 types of fear.