In this final aliyah of Parshas Eikev, Moshe Rabbeinu continues his warm words of chizuk and warning to Klal Yisrael as they prepare to enter the land. He lays out the fundamental yesod of our avodah: that our success in conquering Eretz Yisrael is completely dependent on our d'veikus to Hashem and our commitment to keeping His mitzvos.
Moshe Rabbeinu makes it clear that if we walk in Hashem's ways and hold fast to Him, we will see open nissim. The Torah promises that Hashem will personally drive out the mighty nations before us, giving us a supernatural victory that defies all natural order.
The aliyah concludes with the beautiful and powerful promise that if Klal Yisrael faithfully keeps the mitzvos, loves Hashem, and cleaves to Him, Hashem will dispossess all the mighty nations of Canaan before them. Every place where their feet tread will become their territory, stretching from the wilderness to the Lebanon and the Euphrates all the way to the Western Sea, with Hashem casting a dread and fear of them upon the entire land so that no man will be able to stand against them.
The Torah is telling us here a major yesod in avodas Hashem. The pesukim promise us that we will inherit the Eretz, that we will conquer nations much stronger than us, and that no man will be able to stand against us. But lichoira, how does this work? What is the key to unlocking this supernatural protection? The Torah makes it depend on one thing: "u'ledovka bo", to cleave to Hashem.
Rashi is immediately bothered by this. How is it possible for a human being of flesh and blood to cleave to the Shechinah? Is the Shechinah not a consuming fire? The teretz Rashi brings is beautiful: "Cleave to the talmidei chachamim and the sages, and I will account it to you as if you cleaved to Me." The Torah is teaching us that we do not have to climb up to Shamayim to find Hashem. He gave us a tangible, real way to connect to Him in this world, and that is by attaching ourselves to the true talmidei chachamim of our generation.
When you make an effort to be near a talmid chacham, to support them, to listen to their shiurim, or even just to watch how they conduct themselves, you are connecting your neshama directly to Hashem. This is not just a nice hiddur; it is our actual life support system. When we bind ourselves to those who are completely bated to Hashem, we merit that same supernatural siyata d'shmaya where no obstacle can stand in our way.
Today, make a point to connect with a talmid chacham. Go out of your way to attend a shiur in person, ask a sheilah, or support a local yungerman, keeping in mind that through this connection you are fulfilling "u'ledovka bo" and binding yourself to Hashem.