Parshat Ki Tavo 5761
September 7th-8th, 2001
20 Elul, 5761

It's a shame we can't fulfill the mitzvah of Bikurim (first fruits) at the present time, without our Temple.  By all accounts, it was a most beautiful and inspiring national institution.

Details of the mitzvah are described at the outset of this week's parsha
(Chapter 26: verses 1-11).  

After the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel, and apportioned it among the 12 tribes (according to instructions recorded at the end of the Book of Numbers), we were commanded to bring each year a portion of newly ripened fruits and grains to the Temple in Jerusalem.  There, each individual farmer would present his "first fruits" to a Kohen, and recite a moving declaration of gratitude to the Almighty for bringing the Jewish people out from bondage in Egypt to freedom in a land "flowing with milk and honey." (This declaration, beginning with "An Aramean tried to destroy my forefather," has been incorporated in the Haggadah that we recite at the Seder each Pesach--the consummate festival of gratitude!) 

The Torah specifically instructs us to observe this commandment of Bikurim in a celebratory fashion: "You shall rejoice with al the goodness that Hashem, your G-d, has given you and your household-you and the Levite and the proselyte who is in your midst" (verse 11; Artscroll translation).    

The Talmud even specifies that the rejoicing should include song--and, so, the Levites would chant a psalm of thanksgiving as the bearers of the first fruits entered the Temple.

Here is how Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (drawing from the Oral Law) describes this splendid mitzvah in his commentary on the Torah (Deuteronomy, pp. 536-7):

"As a rule, the Bikkurim were not brought up by single individuals alone.  All the people of the cities belonging to a district assembled in the county town, [and] remained over night in the open places of the town…At daybreak, the leader called out, 'Up, let us go up to Zion, to the House of our G-d!' The procession was led by a fife band and a steer for a shelamim, an offering of a meal of peace [consumed in the Temple], its horns gilded and crowned with a wreath of olive leaves, until it reached the outskirts of Jerusalem.

When they arrived there, they sent into the town to announce their arrival, and in the interval adorned their baskets of Bikurim fruit.  The President of the Temple, assistants, and administrators went out to meet and receive them, the number of these varying according to the size of the arriving parties.  All the workmen and artisans in Jerusalem stopped work, even that which they were duty-bound to attend to, to shout the greeting: 'Brother from such-and-such a city, peace be unto you!'  The fifes continued to lead the procession until they reach the Temple Mount.   Arrived there, every one, even the King himself, took the basket on his shoulder and entered the ante-chamber of the Temple.  There, the Levites began to sing Psalm 30, 'I will exalt You, Hashem, for You have lifted me up, and you have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.'"

Reading this account, we can well understand why many sources cite Bikurim as a prime example of the noble practice (and obligation) of "hidur mitzvah," beautifying and adorning the commandments of the Torah.  No simple schlepping of produce to the capital here!  Rather, a stately procession, and an inspiring communal expression of joy and gratitude--even as each individual fulfilled his own personal obligation.

Until the Temple is rebuilt (with the coming of Moshiach), we'll have to console ourselves with reading about this mitzvah.  We can study the tractate, Bikurim, which is part of the order of Mishna (Oral Law) that deals with agricultural laws pertaining to the land of Israel.  We can also, of course, internalize the beautiful basic lesson of gratitude for the blessings G-d has given us, individually and collectively--a recurring motif throughout the Torah.  Thanking G-d for the gift of the (embattled) Land of Israel--and praying for the welfare of the Jews there--is especially appropriate at the present time, I would think.

But there is more as well.  The S'fas Emes cites a statement of the Midrash Tanchuma which explains that when Moshe saw (prophetically) that the mitzvah of bikurim would one day cease to be fulfilled, he formally established the practice of praying three times a day.  This does not mean, of course, that he wrote the actual text of the various blessings we say now, for we know those were composed by the individuals of the Great Assembly a millennium after Moshe's time.  But, in some sense, he formalized the three-times-a-day formula for tuning into G-d.

What's the connection between Bikurim and daily prayer?  The S'fas Emes explains the inner essence of bikurim: by offering the "first" to G-d (as, for example, first fruits), one thereby connects all that comes afterward to its spiritual root, and thus brings down G-d's blessing on it.  And that, in turn, leads to joy--for joy is the result of being connected to one's spiritual source.   

This can be understood, in part, at the psychological level.  If the first part of any endeavor is sanctified, dedicated to a higher purpose (connecting to G-d), then one's thoughts and intentions are set on a "holy" trajectory. The rest of that endeavor is then likely to remain "elevated."  

The three prayer services are linked to three periods of our daily life: morning, afternoon and evening.  By dedicating the first part to G-d, the whole period becomes sanctified.  This concept is most appropriate in relation to the morning prayer service. The first portion of our waking hours is given over to G-d in prayer, and it becomes the "first fruit" offering of our whole day!  We can then connect everything in our working day that follows to that inspiration and sense of newness (spiritual and physical) we experienced at its start.  (Until, of course, we need a new dose of prayer-inspiration for the next phase of the day.)

We may not be able to bring the bikurim to the Temple nowadays, but we can certainly make a procession to synagogue for morning services and humbly offer up our first words and thoughts of the day to G-d.  (You can keep your first cup of coffee for yourself, though…especially if it will help you get to shul!)  Even without a fife band and a festooned steer accompanying you, you'll be inspired by your first-fruit offering each day. Just try it, and see.

GOOD SHABBOS!!

YOSEF EDELSTEIN

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 355-0157; fax: 354-9923; e-mail address: Yosef18@aol.com