While passing through a village, Schmulik is stopped by a local man, “Hey, do you know how many cookies you can eat on an empty stomach?” Schmulik answers “Oh about five…”

“No, no,” the man laughs, “You’re wrong! You can only eat one. After that your stomach’s not empty anymore!!”

When Schmulik returns home, he goes running into the kitchen and asks his wife, “Surale, how many cookies can you eat on an empty stomach?” She thinks for a moment and then replies, “Two.” “Too bad,” he sighs, “If you would have said ‘five’ I would have had a great joke for you!”

The Schmulik in this joke, is not the only one who focuses on the wrong things and misses the important punch line. So many of us blow the small and irrelevant details in our lives out of proportion and do not ascribe proper importance to the truly significant aspects of our lives.

In the beginning of our Parsha, we find Moses urging the Jewish People to follow G-d’s commandments in order for them to be worthy of the wealth of blessings that He promised to our forefathers. The word that Moses chooses to introduce this concept is the strange word Eikev, which means because, or if.

In other words, “because”, or “if” we follow G-d’s ordinances, then we receive the benefits of his covenant with our forefathers. The word Eikev also means a heel. Rashi explains that Moses purposely selected this word to teach us that we should follow the commandments that a person is likely to treat lightly and tread on with their heels. These seemingly insignificant commandments, which many pay little attention to, can be the ones that bring the greatest divine blessing into our lives. Moses chose the word heel as a symbol for this message of listening to G-d’s commandments, paying special attention to the smallest details.

The idea of the heel in this week’s Parsha, brings to mind another episode in Moses’ life that referenced the heel or foot. When G-d first revealed Himself to Moses from the Burning Bush, He said to him, “Remove your shoes from your feet.” With this command, G-d impressed an important point on Moses.

That point was that when you walk down the road in shoes, you stroll easily. The shoes that you wear protect you from feeling the little stones and the sharp pebbles on the road. However, when you walk down the road barefoot, you feel every little stone and every sharp pebble that you step on.

As Moses was being appointed to lead Israel, he was commanded to remove his shoes. This hinted to the fact that he had to walk through life “barefoot”, so that he could feel and understand every little pain and every little sorrow which was the lot of his people. The true Jewish leader cannot isolate himself from the plight of his people. He cannot put on the figurative shoes of indifference, caring for himself, at the cost of feeling the distress of his flock.

Similarly, each of us should take off the shoes of apathy, and be sensitive to the even the smallest opportunities for kindness. We never know which minor gestures on our part could make a difference in people’s lives. When the brothers sold Joseph as a slave to the Ishmaelites, the Torah tells us that they received 20 Shekels of silver from the sale. Each of the ten brothers thus received 2 shekels.

The Targum Yonasan, quoting the Midrash, tells us that they spent the money buying shoes for their feet. Why did they suddenly buy shoes? Were they walking barefoot until that time? Now that we have established the symbol of shoes, this puzzling Midrash makes sense. After selling Joseph into slavery, the brothers needed a way to protect themselves from their conscience. So they purchased shoes, as an emblematic gesture that they were ignoring the sufferings of their brother that they had sold into slavery and the pain it caused their inconsolable father. They were de-sensitizing themselves to the anguish of others that they had caused.

Chassidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev once said: I learned the meaning of love from a drunk. I once passed two drunks drinking together in a gutter and overheard the following conversation between them:

Drunk # 1: “Do you love me?”

Drunk # 2: “Sure I love you.”

Drunk # 1” Do you really, really love me?”

Drunk # 2: “Yes, I really, really love you.”

Drunk # 1: “Then what’s bothering me?”

Drunk # 2: “How should I know what’s bothering you.”

Drunk # 1: “You don’t really love me. If you really loved me, you would know what’s bothering me.”

The message to us is to make the daily lives of our friends and family an important part of our lives. When it comes to the issues that cause others stress, we cannot write them off as unimportant. It is this display of sensitivity and empathy that is the antidote to Exile. We find ourselves in Galus because of the sin of Sinas Chinam – causeless hatred. We will solve the problem of Exile by removing our “shoes” meaning that which covers and prevents our Jewish hearts from being aware of the plight of others, and reaching out to them with compassion and love. Their lives need to be relevant to us. Solving their real aches and pains needs to become our purpose in life.

Then, because we feel the small distresses of others, and help them overcome their challenges, Hashem will take us out of our distress and bring a final end to Golus, with the revelation of Moshiach, speedily – Now!