Bar & Bat Mitzvah · Parent Speech Guide · Deuteronomy

The Parent Speech for Parashat Eikev

If your child is reading Eikev, the speech you give that morning shouldn't be a book report on the portion — it should be about them, with the parsha giving your words weight. Eikev hands a parent three honest ways in: gratitude when things are good, the small stuff — eikev, not by bread alone.

What happens in Parashat Eikev

Gratitude after eating your fill, the lessons of manna, and the small commandments people trample.

1. Gratitude when things are good

'You will eat and be satisfied and bless' — the source of birkat hamazon. The test of character isn't hunger; it's remembering to be thankful when full.

The story to findHow does your child stay grateful in a comfortable life — the thank-yous and awareness that aren't automatic at their age?

2. The small stuff — eikev

Eikev means 'heel' — tradition reads it as the commandments people tread on because they seem minor. Character lives in what you don't skip.

The story to findWhat 'minor' good things does your child never skip — holding the door, the thank-you note, checking on a friend?

3. Not by bread alone

The manna taught that we don't live by bread alone — there's more to a life than material things.

The story to findWhat feeds your child beyond stuff — the music, ideas, people, or purpose they actually run on?

How a real parent speech comes together

The speeches that make a room go quiet aren't essays about the parsha — they're two or three true stories about your kid, with one Torah moment placed where it lands hardest. Pick the single theme above that made you think of a specific dinner-table moment, answer its question honestly, and resist the urge to attach a moral to every story. End with a blessing in your own words — that's the part everyone remembers.

Nachas writes it with you.

A ten-minute interview about your child, and you get a speech plan that pairs their real stories with Eikev — then three complete drafts in different voices, for every speaker in the family.

Start with Eikev — see your speech plan

The interview and speech plan are free. No signup.