Imu Shalev: Welcome to Into the Verse, where we share new and unexpected insights about the parsha … diving deep into the verses to uncover the Torah’s own commentary on itself. 

Hi, I’m Imu Shalev. Here we are in Deuteronomy, near the end of the Torah, and you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed. By the end of the Torah, we’ll have learned 613 mitzvot to follow, which is why now is as good a time as any other for Moses to boil it all down for us. Could there be a pithy statement that makes it all really super clear what God expects of us? Turns out…there is! In this week’s parsha Moses gives us a handy-dandy, concise list. Having the prophet of all prophets compose a synthesis of God’s expectations like this could really offer clarity in how to live one’s life. The only problem is…he's not the only prophet to put out a Cliff Notes list of God’s demands for humanity. The prophet Micah also gives us a pithy list of what God wants of us, and here’s the trouble: It’s a totally different list, which is sort of a disaster. Having multiple conflicting lists is almost as bad as having none. If the prophets can’t even agree on what God wants from me, how am I supposed to gain that clarity? 

In this week’s episode of Into the Verse, Rabbi Fohrman examines Moshe’s recap of what God wants from us and explores how another prophet, Micah, could possibly give another answer. Here’s Rabbi Fohrman. 

Rabbi David Forhman: Hi, this is Rabbi David Fohrman, and welcome to Parshat Eikev. 

This week's parsha contains Moshe's summary of what it is that God asks of us. In just a What: says Mosheָ – מה יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך ׁשֵֹאל ֵמ ִע ָּמְך .everything summarizes Moshe two or sentence is it anyway that God asks of you, אם ִכי – ִּexcept for… and then Moshe gives a whole list of things: to love God, to fear Him, to serve God, to walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 10:12). 

What I want to look at with you today is the fact that later on, centuries later, we have a prophet who tries to do this exact same thing – boil down for you what it is that God wants in just a few words – and not only does that prophet try to do exactly the same thing, he actually sort of quotes the opening words of Moshe. 

The prophet I am thinking of is the prophet Micah, and Micah's statement begins: והָקְי מה ָוּ ךָמ ְּמ ִשׁרֵוֹד – ּWhat is it God seeks of you, anyway, אם ִכי – ִּexcept for… Then he gives a list: כיִּ andְ – ו ַה ְצנֵ ַע ֶל ֶכת ִעם ֱאֹלקיָך ,kindness lovingְ – וַא ֲה ַבת ֶח ֶסד ,justice doing is itִ – אם ֲעׂשֹות ִמ ְׁש ָּפט walking modestly with the Lord your God (Micah 6:8). 

But the list is different than the list that Moshe gives you, leading to some interesting questions. Was Micah arguing with Moshe? How does he mean for us to understand how his words jive with Moshe's words? 

Exploring Possible Reconciliations 

So you know, one possibility is, Micah is just unaware of what Moshe said. But that's very, very difficult to say. First of all, because Micah is a prophet, of course he would be aware of the great-grandfather of all prophets, the prophet of prophets, what it is that Moshe says. And plus, the language that Micah uses is actually evocative of Moshe. He basically quotes Moshe at the beginning and then veers away from him. 

– ְו ַע ָּתה יִ ְׂשָר ֵאל ָמה יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך ׁשֵֹאל ֵמ ִע ָּמְך ִּכי ִאם ְליִ ְרָאה ֶאת יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך :language s’Moshe to Listen And now, O Israel, what is it that God asks of you except for...? So, that very same Itִ – ה ִּגיד ְלָך ָאָדם ַמה ּטֹוב ּו ָמה יְקָוה ּדֹוֵרׁש ִמ ְּמָך ִּכי ִאם :uses Micah that formulation a is formulation was told to you what it is that God asks from you. What does He ask of you, except for...? It's not like Micah came out of that formulation out of the blue. He was more or less quoting Moshe. 

So he is obviously aware of Moshe and he intends to diverge from Moshe, which sort of strengthens our question. Is he arguing with Moshe? It is inconceivable that a later prophet would come along and junk what Moshe says and say, "That's ridiculous! Listen to what I say." I mean, it's not a new religion that Micah is starting over here. So what exactly is going on? 

A Closer Look at the Differences 

Okay, so there are a few important clues that we need to pay attention to. And I think if we add up all the clues, we're going to be able to find ourselves an answer. 

Here is the first sort of set of clues that we need to look at: the discrepancies between what Moshe says and what Micah says. So listen to the language carefully and ask yourself: How is the language different? And I think we will be able to find at least three differences between them. 

First, Moshe asks for all these things having to do with man and God and really emphasizes wants God, Him fear to you wants Godִּ – כי ִאם ְליִ ְרָאה ֶאת יְקָוה... ָל ֶל ֶכת ְּב ָכל- ְּדָר ָכיו ּו ְלַא ֲה ָבה אֹתֹו :that you to love Him, God wants you to serve Him. And that's the emphasis of Moshe. Micah's ֲעׂשֹות ִמ ְׁש ָּפט ְוַא ֲה ַבת ֶח ֶסד ְו ַה ְצנֵ ַע ֶל ֶכת :issues justice-social the on more, different very is emphasis . ִעם-ֱאֹלקיָך 

But aside from the differences in the list itself, here, at least, are a couple differences in the prologue of what each prophet says. 

Okay, here is Moshe, and right after that I'll read Micah. 

it is what, Israel O, now And… dot dot dotְ – ו ַע ָּתה יִ ְׂשָר ֵאל ָמה יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך ׁשֵֹאל ֵמ ִע ָּמְך ִּכי ִאם :Moshe that God asks of you other than… dot dot dot. 

Okay, now listen to Micah: ובֹט ּמה ַדםָא ָךָל ְגיד ִּה – ִIt was told to you, O man, what is good. מה ָוּ ךָמ ְּמ ִשׁרֵוֹד ּוהָקְי – And what is it that God seeks of you, אם ִכי – ִּexcept for… dot dot dot. 

What audience does Moshe see himself as addressing, and how does that differ from the audience that Micah is talking about? Obviously they are talking to the same audience. They are both talking to the Israelites, to the Jewish people, but Moshe actually says that when he 

from ask God does what, Israel O, now Andְ – ו ַע ָּתה ִי ְׂשָר ֵאל ָמה יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך ׁשֵֹאל ֵמ ִע ָּמְך :speaks you? When you look at Micah, Micah says: ובֹט ּמה ַדםָא ָךָל ְגיד ִּה – ִIt was said to you, O man. So even though Micah's also addressing the Jews, he's addressing them as “man,” whereas Moshe is addressing them as “Israel.” That is one interesting discrepancy. 

Here's another discrepancy in language. Let’s talk about the “seeking” itself, the verb that is used to describe what it is that God asks of you. When Moshe uses that verb, it's והָקְי מהָ ךְמ ָּע ִמ ֵאלֵֹש ׁךָלקיֹא – ֱWhat is it that God asks of you? “אלֵֹש “ׁreally means “ask.” Look at Micah: ?you of seeks God that it is Whatָ – מה יְקָוה ּדֹוֵרׁש ִמ ְּמָך 

So there is a difference between seeking and asking. And by the way, if you think about the difference even in Hebrew, for those of you who know Hebrew, the word שׁרֵוֹד ּis a very strong word. It's really to demand, to seek. So there's a much stronger emphasis in Micah than there is in Moshe. Moshe is talking about what it is that God asks of you; Micah's talking about what it is that God seeks of you. Or to put it a little bit more subtly, there is a difference between what God asks of you as an Israelite and what God demands from you as a man. 

A Good Level of Obligation 

And here already we’re beginning to get a picture, maybe, of how these two men's statements might actually jive with each other. Look at the very last thing that Moshe says in his list, after he gets through with fearing of God and loving God and serving God and doing all of His mitzvot. The very last words he says is that God has given you all these mitzvot to do ךְל ָובֹלט – ְfor your benefit (Deuteronomy 10:13). It's good for you, those things. It is kind of interesting that those very last words of Moshe – ךְל ָובֹלט – ְwere actually the first words of Micah. 

s'Moshe quoting just not s'Micahִ . ה ִּגיד ְלָך ָאָדם ַמה ּטֹוב ּו ָמה יְקָוה ּדֹוֵרׁש ִמ ְּמָך :Micah to Listen beginning, ךָמ ְּמ ִשׁרֵוֹד ּוהָקְי מה – ָWhat is it that God seeks from you? He is also quoting Moshe's end, the ובֹט ּמה . ַMoshe said at the end ךְל ָובֹלט . ְAll of this is ובֹט – is good for you. 

It may well be that Micah sees himself as kind of offering a commentary on what Moshe's saying. It's almost as if he's saying, ובֹט ּמה ַדםָא ָךָל ְגיד ִּה – ִI'll tell you what that ובֹט is. I'll tell you what the good is. Let me explain to you what Moshe was alluding to when at the very end of his words he was talking about ובֹט .Moshe was talking about a whole other level of obligation, a level of obligation that is a ובֹט – a goodness obligation that rises above and beyond what it is that we're called upon to do as Israelites, but a kind of obligation for goodness that devolves upon us as a member of the human race. Something that God seeks 

walkingַ – ה ְצנֵ ַע ֶל ֶכת ִעם-ֱאֹלקיָך ,kindness lovingַ – א ֲה ַבת ֶח ֶסד ,justice doingֲ – עׂשֹות ִמ ְׁש ָּפט :us from modestly with God. 

So I think we're beginning to get a picture of how Micah's words might jive with Moshe's. But I think there is more to this picture. So let's look at a few more clues to try to continue fleshing it out. 

The Larger Context of Micah's Words 

So Micah's words that we have been talking about thus far appear in the Book of Micah chapter 6, verse 8. We, to this point, have just been looking at verse 8. I want to pull back the zoom lens now and see the larger context, and I think we will really be able to flesh out what’s happening here. 

קּום ִריב ֶאת- ֶה ָה ִרים :says God which that to now Listenִׁ – ש ְמעּו נָא ֵאת ֲא ֶׁשר יְקָוה :6 chapter Micah summoning of sort is God that is happening s'that thing first very Theְ . ו ִת ְׁש ַמ ְענָה ַה ְּג ָבעֹות קֹו ֶלָך the mountains and summoning the valleys and is demanding that nature itself listen to a debate, as it were, that God is now going to carry on with His people, Israel. 

lodge to wants God that complaint theֶ – את ִריב יְקָוה ,mountains you, Listenִׁ – ש ְמעּו ָה ִרים ְו ִעם יִ ְׂשָר ֵאל ,people His with arguing is Godִּ – כי ִריב ַליקָוה ִעם ַעּמֹו .people Jewish the against כח ָּוַתִ ְי – and He is going to debate Israel. And here is the opening salvo from God, as it were: I have Howּ – ו ָמה ֶה ְל ֵא ִתיָך ֲענֵה ִבי ?you to do ever I did whatֶ – מה- ָע ִׂשי ִתי ְלָך ,nation Myַ – ע ִּמי worn you down? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 

Now look specifically at the nature of this question, right? God is not actually, you know, lodging sort of one of these standard complaints which you see often in the Prophets, that the Jews have worshiped idols or that they are betraying Him or that they're adulterous or bad things like that. He is actually saying something more subtle. He is not actually complaining that you are not keeping the mitzvot. Maybe you are keeping the mitzvot. 

What He is demanding from the Jews is more passion. You're doing this by rote. It's as if it doesn't mean that much to you. You seem like you are worn down. You seem depressed. Where’s the life? Where’s the vigor? What have I ever done to weary you so much? Why does it seem like such a burden for you? 

play interesting an – Egypt of out you took I, Lookִּ – כי ֶהֱע ִל ִתיָך ֵמ ֶאֶרץ ִמ ְצַריִם :continues God on words, by the way, and the last thing that God said is, ךָתי ִא ֵל ְה ֶמה – ָHow did I weary you? And now a play on words: ךָתי ִל ִעֱה ֶכי – ִּBecause I did the opposite of wearying you: I brought you up, I brought you up out of Egypt. If you are sounding kind of flat, depressed, why are you so depressed? I brought you up out of Egypt. I did this great thing for you that should 

ָו ֶא ְׁש ַלח ְל ָפנֶיָך ֶאת מֹ ֶׁשה .slavery of out you took Iּ – ו ִמ ֵּבית ֲע ָב ִדים ְּפ ִדי ִתיָך .passion and love inspire םָרי ְמ ִו ּןֹהר ֲא – ַI gave you great leaders: Moshe, Aaron, and Miriam. What more could you ask from Me? 

So generally, this is God's complaint: “How did I weary you?" And now, what is the Jews' answer going to be? 

If you were going to be the defense lawyer for the Jewish people, how would we reply to this kind of complaint? You would search yourself. You would say, “What can we do to show our sense of gratefulness, to show our passion? What could we do to lift up our level of observance just a little bit more, so that God would feel that we're responding appropriately to what it is that God has done for us?” So in other words, what you're looking for is to sort of take your passion for Judaism up a notch. 

Okay, so now we are in a position to begin to appreciate why Micah might start using Moshe's language within this speech, why he might reference this formulation of Moshe's about what it is that God asks of you. Because if you really think about it… there’s a real big problem, really, which is: How do you take it up a notch? 

The problem lies in Moshe's words. You see, Moshe formulated the basics of what it is that Judaism demands from us. And the problem is, it's not a little bit of stuff. It is a huge amount. 

ְו ַע ָּתה יִ ְׂשָר ֵאל ָמה יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך ׁשֵֹאל ֵמ ִע ָּמְך :words s'Moshe in inherent almost is paradox the, mean I – Moshe said: And now, Israel, what is it that God asks from you, except…? Now, if you just started with that, it sounds like God is just asking a couple of things from you. What does he want from you anyway? He just wants a few things. So it seems like, yeah, you can probably take care of those from 9:00 to 11:30 in the morning, on your way to the dry cleaners. 

But then listen to what it is that Moshe says: והָקְי-את ֶאהָרִ ְלי- ְאם ִכי – ִּYeah, God just wants you to fear Him. God wants you כיו ָרָד- ְּכל ָב ְּכת ֶל ֶל – ָto walk in all of God's ways. Yeah, He’d also like d'He andְ – ו ַל ֲעבֹד ֶאת-יְקָוה ֱאֹלקיָך to, much very Him love really toּ – ו ְלַא ֲה ָבה אֹתֹו to you like you to serve Him, ךָש ֶׁפַ ְנ-כל ָב ְו ּךָב ְב ָל- ְכל ָב – ְּwith all of your heart, with all your soul, not to just serve Him a little bit. Plus maybe for good measure, והָקְי תֺצו ְמ- ִאת ֶרֹשמ ְׁל – ִHe also wants you to keep these commandments. How many commandments? 613, no biggie! תיוָֹקּח-ֻאת ֶו – ְAlso, He has ordinances; He’d like you to keep those too, וםֹיּה ַךָו ְּצ ַמ ְכיֹ ִאנ ָשר ֶׁא – ֲall of these things today. ךְל ָובֹלט – ְIt's for your benefit anyway! What’s the big deal? God is just asking a couple of things from you. Just get it done early in the morning, and then go about the rest of your day. 

The problem is that Moshe seems to portray this as such a little thing. But it’s not a little thing. It seems to be all-consuming. And if you really do all of this all-consuming stuff, and God still comes back to you and says, “Yeah, yeah, you're doing the stuff you’re supposed to do, but take your passion up a notch!" – what are you going to do to express more? 

The problem is, whatever I do to try to do extra, it's already in the basic package! When your basic package is so all-consuming that it includes all the extras already, how do you put any extras in? And this, by the way, I think is a very timely issue. It's something that affects all of us. I mean, to be a Jew nowadays is, just to make the tuition payments for Jewish day school, it takes it all out of you, and then you go to minyan in the morning, you’ve got to learn, and daf yomi, and no lashon hara, and all of this. It is an all-consuming thing. And then you say, "Well, yeah, you really want to take it up a notch and really be passionate!” What is left to do? How would you respond to God if that's the complaint? 

What Qualities Show God That We Are Good Servants? 

So now let's go back to Micah and read Micah's proposed response, a response which he immediately rejects. But he's sort of creating the straw man to show you what you might think would be a way to respond to God. If you can't really so easily add more to the basic package, so maybe you would do this. 

ִא ַּכף ֵלאֹלקי ?God approach to God before come I shall what Withַּ – ב ָּמה ֲא ַק ֵּדם יְקָוה :6 Verse וםֹמר – ָHow could I possibly indicate my subjugation to the Almighty? What can I possibly do? ותֹולֹבע ְוּנּמ ֶד ְּק ַאֲה – ַI know! Maybe you think you should offer offerings to Him. Maybe that would be the way, extra offerings. הָשנ ָׁיֵבנ ְּליםָ ִעגֲב – ַּMaybe I should offer really good ?work really would that think Youֲ – היִ ְר ֶצה יְקָוה ְּבַא ְל ֵפי ֵאי ִלים .calves old-year-one, offerings You think it would work to maybe give a thousand rams to God? מן ֶש- ָׁלי ֵחֲַנ ותֹבב ְר ִב – ְּMaybe I should come to him with ten thousand rivers of oil, maybe that would do it. עי ִש ְׁפ ִּרי ִוֹבכ ְּתן ֵּא ֶהַ – Maybe I should sacrifice my firstborn to atone for these sins that I might have, יִטנ ְב ִרי ִפ– ְּ maybe I should kill all of my children, שי ִׁפַ ְנ טאת ַּח – ַto atone for any sins I might have (Micah 6:7). 

And basically, Micah is offering the obvious answer to you, that "No, no, you're not going to do that!" That’s kind of stupid, right? 

In other words, what Micah's doing here is, he's sort of elaborating for you a dangerous kind of slippery slope, you know? And the slippery slope starts with offerings. Yeah, maybe offerings is the answer! Maybe really good offerings is the answer. But if you think that's not good enough, maybe more offerings is the answer! Ten thousand rivers of oil! And if that wouldn't be good enough, maybe I am going to give something even more precious than an offering. Maybe I need to give my firstborn, maybe I need to give all of my children back to God! 

And what Micah is showing is, that kind of logic of going above and beyond using offerings, sacrifice, as your barometer of extra religiosity, is just going to lead you over the cliff. It's going to get you in very deep trouble very quickly. 

That's not the way to do it. Micah is now going to give you a different way to do it, an opposite way to do it. 

The Foundation of What Moses Was Asking 

ובֹט-ּמה ַדםָא ָךָל ְגיד ִּה – ִI'll tell you what good is, if you want to be extra-special good. והָקְי-מה ָוּ ךָמ ְּמ ִשׁרֵוֹד – ּWhat is it that God really seeks of you, O man? And here, Micah's going to lay it out. 

פט ָּש ְׁמ ִותֹשׂע – ֲBe just, be fair. Decency begins with fairness, but it doesn't end with fairness. Fairness is just the ground level. On top of fairness rides kindness, and that's the next thing Micah says. 

סד ֶח ֶבת ַה ֲא– ַYou should love kindness. It should be a part of your daily regimen. Kindness without justice is mush. Justice without kindness is hard and steely-edged. 

Those are only the first two steps. Decency actually requires a third thing. A just person, a kind person, will also want to extend himself towards God. He will want to walk with God with humility. Because if you walk with God arrogantly, you are going to end up mistreating people despite your fairness and despite your kindness. Not everybody walks with God the same way you walk with God; they walk with God a little differently. If you walk humbly with God, I have the humility to understand that I do it this way, but you do it that way, and that changes everything. I can still be fair to you, I can still be kind to you, because I walk with humility with God. 

Don’t look at things that take away from your wholeness as a person to indicate your extra level of passion to God. Look at those things that promote your wholeness as a person. Let me tell you what you should look at: Paradoxically, look at the basics. 

You want to know how God's really going to love you? Shore up the foundation. You are Israelites. The foundation of being a member of Israel is to be a human being. When Moshe spoke about everything that God wants from you as an Israelite, that's just what God asks of you. God asks of Israel to be a very special nation with some sort of exemplary relationship with God. And really all God can do is ask that of you. I mean, He's asking for a special connection between you and God. 

But you know what Micah says? There's stuff that God demands of you, demands of you just by nature of being a human being. Make sure that that's in order. Do that stuff, and then God will really be impressed with you. That's what you need to get back to if God sees your service of Him as being worn down. 

You want to get the shine back? Don't look to go above and beyond your level of obligation. Look to shore up the foundation of your obligation. Look to shore up your wholeness as a human being. It's the foundation of everything Moshe is talking about. It's the foundation of what makes you a Jew. 

Imu: So I have to say that this is a really fascinating piece for me. I think it’s worth actually going back and seeing what did Rabbi Fohrman notice in the text that had him make his claims. Both the prophet Micah and the prophet of prophets, Moshe, are sort of giving us a Buzzfeed-style top-three list of the major things that God wants of us. And their lists are different, and that's troubling. And so Rabbi Fohrman noticed, in Deuteronomy Moshe is talking to Israel and God is asking things of Israel, but in Micah the subject is not Israel, it’s Adam, it's all of us, it’s all of humanity, and God isn’t asking, He is demanding – שׁרֵוֹד .ּAnd Rabbi Fohrman’s argument is that that which God demands of humanity is foundational, and that which God asks of Israel is layered on top of that. And he buttresses that noticing with the rest of the chapter in Micah, where Micah sets up that straw man – where you might think that what God wants of you is sacrifice, ten thousand rivers of oil, sacrificing your children, your firstborn. And Rabbi Fohrman’s argument is that Micah is rejecting that strawman and saying that God actually does not want self-effacement. God wants us to pursue justice, to seek kindness, to walk humbly with Him. That's the foundation, and the foundation needs to be strong. That’s what I heard Rabbi Fohrman notice. 

The question is, what does that mean to us? Because that is what I am actually grappling with after listening to this. Because I can tell you, as a religious Jew I often crave, I don’t know if it’s the Buzzfeed list, but a checklist. There’s a part of me that sort of just wants to know that if I go to minyan three times a day, if I keep all the major holidays, if I keep the 39 melachos of Shabbat – or not keep them, but rather abstain from them – if I have separate sinks in my kitchen for dairy and for meat, if I send my kids to yeshiva day school… then I will have done all that God asked of me. 

And I think what I like about a checklist sort of Judaism is that it’s at least tangible for me. I know exactly what it is that I am supposed to do, what’s expected of me. I’m not sure what it is for me. Maybe it’s that I feel like I’m going to earn enough mitzvah points in order to make it into the next world, or probably something a little more vague – but it’s sort of that if I do these deeds, it staves off the guilt. And there’s some part of me that finds that far more attractive than Micah’s list, where we have these vague pronouncements which are really nice but really hard to live up to: the idea of doing justice, kindness, and walking humbly with God. I know how to go to shul; I know how to shake a lulav. I don’t really know how to walk humbly with God. I suppose I could be more kind, but the value to “be more kind'' is a lot less tangible than, “Here, grab this esrog, take this lulav and shake it.” 

While it can be attractive to go for a checklist version of Judaism, I can see how we can very quickly get to a place where we miss the fundamentals. At the core, at the foundation, is seeking justice, doing kindness, and walking humbly with God. And it's a wonderful scorecard, as it were, to be able to tell when in my life I am on-track or off-track. 

And while I’m not going to go into what it might mean for me to actually seek justice in my own life and to pursue kindness and to walk humbly with God, what I will say is that, if I’m hurrying to get out of my house on a Shabbat morning and I snap at my children or I’m unkind to my wife… I mean, what a basic and obvious expression of skipping the fundamentals for the sake of a piety that isn’t really pious. That's one example. And I think it's really useful for me to audit my life against these values and to learn to crawl before I walk. That’s what I am taking from Parshat Eikev. Thanks for listening. 

Credits 

This episode was written and recorded by our lead scholar, Rabbi David Fohrman. When this episode originally aired on Aleph Beta, it was edited by Rivky Stern. Into the Verse editing was done by Evan Weiner. 

Our audio editor is Hillary Guttman. 

Our editorial director is me, Imu Shalev. 

Thank you so much for listening.