AUGUST 3 • 2023 | 41

SPIRIT

Holy ‘Heeling’
T

he aftermath of Tisha 
b’
Av always feels some-
what counterintuitive. 
After mourning the loss of 
our Temples, we feel the void 
of our personal and commu-
nal Judaism; and we 
go right back to the 
routines of our exilic 
lives. We return to our 
morning runs, our 
coffee breaks, our usual 
entertainment; and 
we move on from the 
mourning, despite the 
fact that nothing has 
filled that void. 
While we continue 
to mention and yearn 
for the rebuilding of 
Yerushalayim every 
day, multiple times a day in 
different prayers, the pain and 
discomfort of the Tisha b’
Av 
has somehow dissipated. 
Rashi (Devarim 7:12) 
comments on the beginning 
words of the parshah that 
Hashem is specifically asking 
us to take care of the “easy 
mitzvot,
” those which some 
people “trample upon with 
their heels” (hence the word 
Ekev). The Sfas Emes extends 
this analogy to the entire 
body. There are mitzvot that 
correlate to the head, which 
people consider as the most 
weighty of obligations. There 
are mitzvot of the heart or 
other limbs, which are import-
ant to people, albeit less so 
than those of the head. And 
then there are the mitzvot of 
the heel, which are the least 
significant to people. And 
yet, explains the Sfas Emes, 
we also know that the heel is 
that with which we create our 
foundation, which allows us to 
stand upright. It is with these 

“insignificant” mitzvot that 
we establish our true Jewish 
identity.
And so it is in most areas of 
life. We often invest much of 
our energy in big activities, the 
momentous occasions. 
But if we think about 
how much more time we 
spend in the day-to-day 
interactions, the every-
day routine of life, what 
we realize is that who we 
are is truly determined 
in those “insignificant” 
moments: in the greet-
ings to our co-workers, 
in the patience with 
our children, with the 
thoughtful gesture for 
our spouses and with our 
daily prayers and blessings. 
Perhaps our shift from Tisha 
b’
Av back to our routines is 
not a neglect for the cavernous 
void of the Temple, but instead 
a recognition that, if we don’t 
have the big stuff, then it’s our 
responsibility to make the 
most of the small stuff. 
If we are yet to merit the 
experience of three pilgrimag-
es to Yerushalayim, of the Yom 
Kippur service or the Sukkot 
celebrations, then we must set 
our sights on the smaller activ-
ities that we still can achieve. 
We will continue to recall the 
loss of our Temple, but we 
will do what we can to bring it 
back, by focusing on building 
our foundation — its founda-
tion — through the “smaller” 
deeds of everyday life.
Once we appreciate the 
importance of the small stuff, 
we’ll then realize that they are 
really the big stuff. 

Rabbi Shaya Katz is rabbi of Young 

Israel of Oak Park.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi 
Shaya Katz

Parshat Ekev: 

Deuteronomy 

7:12-11:25; 

Isaiah 

49:14-51:3.

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