Eikev 7:14 · unit 3

Parashas Eikev · Passuk 7:14

The Complete Passuk

בָּר֥וּךְ תִּֽהְיֶ֖ה מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּ֑ים לֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בְךָ֛ עָקָ֥ר וַֽעֲקָרָ֖ה וּבִבְהֶמְתֶּֽךָ׃

You shall be blessed above all other peoples: there shall be no sterile male or female among you or among your livestock.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Bekhorot 44b.

TT lemma: ובבהמתך (unit 3 of 3).

Sefaria — Bekhorot 44b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
ובבהמתך. אמר ר' יהושע בן לוי, לא יהיה בך עקר מן התלמידים , ועקרה שלא תהא תפלתך עקורה לפני המקום. אימתי, בזמן שאתה משים עצמך כבהמה [שם שם]

English: R’ Yehoshua ben Levi said: “There shall not be a barren one among you” — from disciples; “and barren” — that your prayer not be barren before the Omnipresent. When? When you make yourself like an animal [in humility before God].

On the daf / in context: Same sugya as the bodily reading; dual derasha on the phrase.

Type of Learning

Custom (aggadic expansion)

What Is Learned

The verse is extended to spiritual fertility: productive discipleship and effective prayer, conditioned on humility.