One senses something incredibly deep going on in bikkurim<\/i>, a seemingly simple mitzvah of delivering the first produce of the seven species up to Yerushalayim to the kohen. It is a mitzvah whose protocol greatly transcends its content. Consider the following mishnaic snapshot of the 2nd temple annual bikkurim<\/i> parade:<\/p>\n
How were the bikkurim taken up [to Jerusalem]? All [the inhabitants of] the cities .. gathered together and spent the night in the open place .. early in the morning the officer said: \u2018let us arise and go up to Zion, into the house of the lord our god\u2019.. Those who lived near brought fresh figs and grapes, but those from a distance brought dried figs and raisins. An ox with horns bedecked with gold and with an olive-crown on its head led the way. The flute was played before them .. when they arrived close to Jerusalem they ornamentally arrayed their bikkurim .. the governors and chiefs and treasurers [of the Temple] went out to meet them .. All the skilled artisans of Jerusalem would greet them:\u2018brethren, men of such and such a place, we are delighted to welcome you\u2019.. when they reached the temple mount even king Agrippa would take the basket and place it on his shoulder and walk as far as the temple court. At the approach to the court, the levites would sing the song: \u2018i will extol thee, o lord, for thou hast raised me up, and hast not suffered mine enemies to rejoice over me\u2019.. The rich brought their bikkurim in baskets overlaid with silver or gold, whilst the poor used wicker-baskets of peeled willow-branches<\/i><\/p>\n
Not bad for a little olive, a bit of fig, a shtick raisin and a piece of pomegranate. Almost sounds a bit Hungarian. So why all this commotion?<\/p>\n
Now consider a few more unique halachic details:<\/p>\n
and a few Rabbinic statements regarding our mitzvah:<\/p>\n
Simply put: Bikkurim<\/i> is a big deal. It stature dwarfs a simple tithe or even terumah. Within its portals, our commentaries find critical themes of<\/p>\n A final halacha captivates me: [Rambam, Bikkurim<\/i>, 3:5]<\/p>\n [Halachically], eating Bikkurim is like eating terumah. Bikkurim is stricter in that it is forbidden to the onein<\/b>[the one who lost a relative that has not yet been buried]<\/em><\/p>\n Why is this so? Because bikkurim<\/u> requires simcha [joy] \u2013 a statement that is borne out by the end of the bikkurim section:<\/p>\n You shall rejoice with all the good that Ad-noy, your G-d, gave you and your household; you, the levi, and the proselyte in your midst.<\/p>\n One might have been tempted to say that the Torah is either urging us to be happy or describing the natural state of affairs of the bikkurim bringer. The fact that this verse serves as a source1<\/a> prohibiting the onein from eating bikkurim <\/i>indicates that it is not merely a suggestion; it is the law! The Torah strikingly declares: Be Happy! Form and action will not suffice. The striking nature of this requirement becomes all the more curious given that simcha obligation resides in but a few places in the Torah2<\/a> – leaving us to ponder the unique relationship between simcha and bikkurim.<\/p>\n Before we try to figure it out, one must note the remarkable symmetry in our parsha. The Talmud points out that we read Ki Tavo the Shabbos before the last Shabbos of the year \u2013 in order to rid the year of its curses, a theme that occupies the greater part of our parsha. We want to enter the new year on a high note.<\/p>\n In detailing those terrible punishments, the Torah makes a brief and penetrating comment:[Devarim,28:45-47]<\/p>\n All these curses shall come upon you and will chase you and reach you until you are destroyed; for you have not obeyed Ad-noy, your G-d, to guard His commandments and His statutes that He commanded you\u2026 because you did not serve Ad-noy, your G-d, with joy and goodheartedness, from your bounty.<\/b><\/p>\n Our parsha begins with the simcha imperative and concludes by spelling out the consequence of a simcha-less existence!<\/p>\n It is these last troubling verses which the mind instinctively protests:<\/p>\n Perhaps it is not happiness per se that is the point. Indeed there is no requirement that every mitzvah be done with happiness. It is the mindset that is the key to the pasuk \u2013 for happiness is a litmus test and a choice. If indeed no one can have it all [except for the other guy]; the question then becomes -what dominates my frame of reference? What I have or what I don\u2019t have?<\/b><\/p>\n To the extent that I find simcha in what I have, be it a figele<\/i> or a shtick<\/i> barley, davka at the beginning of the yield, then I will be develop the simcha trait in everything that comes my way. Bikkurim<\/i> – the mitzvah, is celebrated with pomp and circumstance for it is precisely in the small that the Torah seeks to hammer home the message that it\u2019s all a gift. More to the point the Torah reminds us to be happy in all that Hashem gives you<\/b> \u2013 for within that gift is the most precious relationship possible.<\/p>\n Concurrently, to those who feel entitled (kumtzach mir<\/i>), the Torah, in the terrifying tochacha, resoundingly reminds us the root of all sin, not a particular act begins with an emptiness, an unhappiness. It is as if the Torah warns:<\/p>\n If you can not be happy with what you have already, then who says when you get more, you will yet reach the promised land of contentment. Do you want to know why you have veered away \u2013 why you were looking for love and joy in all the wrong places? \u2013 it is because you were not able to find it at home.<\/i><\/p>\n In short, to gain happiness one must choose it. Like all important things in life, it is an avodah, a midah to be acquired – not a particular amount of money.<\/p>\n As we walk into Rosh Hashana, let us ponder all the good that is already in our life: the good of family, the good of health, the good of life .. and the good of being able to connect to the source of all truth through His mitzvos.<\/p>\n With great bracha for a wonderful new year,<\/p>\n Good Shabbos, Asher Brander<\/p>\n FOOTNOTES:<\/p>\n\n
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