It is so tempting to assume that when things are going well for us, it’s due to our own hard work, expert skills, or virtuous life—to think “I can afford the new car because I work really hard,” “My love life is going well I’m so cool/hot/compassionate,” “I got promoted because I’m so good at my job.”  

Parashat Eikev cautions us against this very human impulse. Our Torah portion has a specific warning for a future generation of Israelites who have entered the land, eaten their fill of its bounty, and built nice houses to live in: “Do not say to yourselves, ‘My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me’” (Deuteronomy 8:12-17). 

The Torah specifically teaches us not to assume that our superior might has won us our good fortune. Why is this necessary in the book of Deuteronomy, where practically every other sentence is a reminder that the Israelites only have good fortune by God’s hand? Maybe it’s because it is so challenging not to credit our good fortune to our own abilities and work. Psychologists call this the self-serving attributional bias, by which most people attribute their successes to their own ability and effort, but attribute their failures to external factors, like unfairness or bad luck. 

Our tradition, it seems, has had this wisdom since long before the advent of modern psychology. Parashat Eikev pushes us to consider what beyond ourselves may have brought us to success: not just Divine help, but also effective mentors and coaches, support of all kinds from friends and family, and plain old good luck. 

What has contributed to your successes, big and small? How can you express appreciation for those contributions?