Session 32: Parashat Eikev

"The Four Freedoms" Speech, Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 6, 1941

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In Parashat Eikev, Moses continues his long farewell address to the ancient Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. Moses, who midrash tells us was a hesitant public speaker at the beginning of his journey, speaks powerfully in the Book of Deuteronomy, teaching the Israelites that a human being “may live on anything that decrees,” not just bread alone. FDR, one of the great orators in American political history, cited Parashat Eikev in his famous “Four Freedoms” speech, making the argument that modern democracies must stand for something more than the survival of their own citizens, and instead aspire to a vision of flourishing for all of humanity.

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