Parashat Eikev

Parashat Eikev describes the moment when nothing is lacking anymore. A person eats and is satisfied, builds houses, his possessions multiply, and he succeeds. And precisely then comes the warning: 'Guard yourself lest you forget.' It is easy to be grateful when we are in need of salvation. The true test begins after the request has been answered, when the good becomes routine and we begin to feel that it is simply owed to us. Gratitude is the ability to see that our lives are built from countless things we did not create alone. People who loved us, opportunities we were given, powers granted to us, a nation, a land, family, and health. 'And you say in your heart: my strength and the might of my hand have made me this wealth' marks the moment when a person stops seeing from whom he received, and consequently also stops feeling what he is called to give. To recognize the good.