Parshat Ki Savo
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

Parshas Ki Savo begins with the mitzvah of "Mikra Bikkurim" - "Proclamation Upon First Fruits". The Torah commands that one who brings his bikkurim (first fruits) to the Beis Ha-Mikdash recite an accompanying text, in which he recounts the persecution of Yaakov at the hands of Lavan, the affliction of our people by Egypt, and their small number. The recitation then relates how God took our nation from bondage upon hearing our forefathers' cries, performed wondrous acts in the desert, and then brought us to Eretz Yisroel, with all of its bounty.

No other action-mitzvah requires one to narrate portions of Jewish history upon its performance. Why does the mitzvah of Bikkurim mandate the recital of such a text?

Bikkurim are - in many ways - symbolic of the origins of the Jewish People. The fruit began as a small seed with no vitality or import. Upon personal attention and effort on teh part of the farmer and his careful cultivation, the seed grew into a fruit-bearing tree, which ripened and merited to be part of God's service in a most significant manner. So, too, were the Jews at the time of Yaakov Avinu powerless and minute. Hashem took our nation under His wings, developed us into a large, thriving religious movement, and brought us to His land. Thus, Mikra Bikkurim is not only an historical text. Rather, it links the bikkurim to the Jew by demonstrating the symbolism and meaning of the fruit and Jewish destiny.

The Talmud explains the great pageantry associated with bringing bikkurim. Pilgrims bearing bikkurim would be accompanied by musicians on their trek to Yerushalayim; the animals which were loaded with bikkurim were adorned most lavishly; the baskets holding bikkurim were ornately decorated and beautiful. Although these enhancements are precipitated by the requirement of "Hiddur Mitzvah" - beautifying mitzvos - they are presented by the Talmud primarily in the context of bikkurim.

Perhaps one can draw a connection between the gala march and delivery of bikkurim and the Jew. When Hashem brought our people through the desert and into the Land, He did so with a full display of splendor and grandeur. We were enveloped by Clouds of Glory, led by God's pillars of fire and clouds, protected from all elements in a most miraculous way, and delivered into a bounteous plain, marked by the splitting of the Jordan River and the passage of the Ark and the nation on dry land. The sheer glory of our journey was therefore akin to the radiant procession of bikkurim, and the splendour of delivery of bikkurim is thus a reflection of the Jews' travels upon being redeemed by God.

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