Harvests of Our Heritage

Seeing those pictures that Ezra posted last week of Jews harvesting grapes in the Holyland reminded me of a Divar Torah I put together on this week's Parsha, Ki Tavo, for K'Cholmim two years ago. Indeed harvesting is "waaaay better" than uprooting and as you can see below the message harvesting Holyland fruits imparts is still just as important as ever.

Same Golus, Different Zip Code?
By Pinchas M. Orbach
Elul - 5762

I was asked to contribute to K'Cholmim's Weekly Zionist Devrai Torah. As I wondered how to go about writing a "Zionist" Devar Torah it occurred to me that the Torah, even in its simplest form without any elaborate commentaries is itself fiercely Zionistic. Take this week's Parsha for instance. It begins:

When you come to the land that G-d your Lord is giving you as a heritage occupying and settling it, you shall take the first of every fruit of the ground produced by the land that G-d your Lord is giving you. You must place it in a basket, and go to the site that G-d will choose [Yerushalayim] as the place associated with his name. There you shall go to the priest officiating at the time and say to him, "Today I am affirming to G-d your Lord that I have come to the land that G-d swore to our fathers to give us." (Devarim 26:1-3)

This Mitzvah of Hava'at Bikkurim imparts an important lesson. It addresses Jewish farmers which toiled the whole year, working the land to ensure a plentiful harvest. The very first fruits that blossom are marked, harvested and brought to the Beit Hamikdosh, the site Hashem chose as "the place associated with his name." There they are given as gifts to the Kohanim. The obvious lesson is that while it may appear like the farmers are agricultural experts that turned the desert into a blooming orchard of pomegranate trees, to assert this claim would be to deny a fundamental facet of reality -- everything comes only from Hashem.

Regard this subject Rav Eliahu Dessler zt"l, wrote:

Nature itself is a miracle. Should someone protest and say that nature is rooted in a cause, we may very well ask him why that particular cause produces such a particular result. Nature is a miracle - but we have become accustomed to it.



Were we to be told that a man died, was buried, that his body had rotted in the ground and that the grave had opened and he had come forth, we would exclaim, "A miracle, a revival of the dead." Yet, when a seed is planted and grows forth after it has rotted in the ground, is that not, too, a revival of dead? Bury the lobe of a calf's ear deep in fertilizer. If a full-grown cow were to spring up, that's a miracle. When a full-branched tree grows from the planting of a small shoot, is that any more natural? But to one we are accustomed and see it as part of nature; to the other we are not and name it a miracle. (Haggadah Gedoli Tunoas HaMusser, P.104).

Since these fruit are actually miracles from Hashem it is most appropriate that we show our thanks by designating these "first fruits" as gifts for Hashem - or for his representative, the Kohan.

But aside from giving the first fruits to the Kohanim the farmer is told of another Mitzvah, Mikra Bikkurim, the declaration recited after the fruit basket is placed before the Alter and accepted by the Kohan. "Today I am affirming to G-d your Lord that I have come to the land that G-d swore to our fathers to give us." The farmers declare how before being given Eretz Yisrael we were slaves harshly afflicted under the Egyptians.

"G-d then brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with great visions and with signs and miracles. He brought us to this area, giving us this land flowing with milk and honey. I am now bringing the first fruit of the land that G-d has given me." (Ibid. 26:8-10)

These are not only G-d's fruit. They are G-d's fruit from G-d's land. Just as it is a miracle that these fruit grew is also a miracle that we are living in Eretz Yisrael. Both are gifts from Hashem. Which explains why Bikkurim must be brought to "the place associated with his name." This declaration cannot be made anywhere else. Only by actually being in Yerushalyim can the farmer truly appreciate the message that Bikkurim is trying to send. It is only from the Beit Hamikdosh, "you, the Levite, and the proselyte in your midst shall thus rejoice in all the good that G-d your Lord has granted you and your family." (Ibid. 26:11)


Rav Menachem Zemba zt"l (from the Warsaw Ghetto) gives an interesting explanation for Bikkurim. Interpreting an insight from the Ari Z"L, Rav Zemba concludes Bikkurim are actually a remedy for the slandering of the Land by the Maraglim, the spies, in Parshat Shalach. He points out how the spies brought back the same fruit the Mishna uses to explain Bikkurim, "one cluster of grapes, pomegranates, and of the figs." (Bamidbar 13:23) Rashi explains these were used specifically for the purpose of slandering the Land. "Look, just as these fruit are giant, the inhabitants are also undefeatable giants!" These fruits were used as a tool to prevent Jews from coming to Eretz Yisrael. Therefore these same fruits, the fruits of Eretz Yisrael, which were used as "proof" that the Land cannot be conquered, are used for the exact opposite purpose. These fruits are proof that as promised, Hashem has given us "this Land flowing with milk and honey." Then, only after affirming we've come to our Homeland and repenting for slandering Eretz Yisrael, can we "rejoice in all the good that G-d your Lord has granted you and your family."

I was in a Jewish bookstore last week. There was a big sale. The owner joked about the how the sale would last until the end of the summer or until he won the lottery, whichever came first. Should he hit the jackpot he would spend his time "studying the Babylonian Talmud," he quipped. One of the customers remarked perhaps he should consider "moving to the Holy Land as well." He dismissed this suggestion with a nod of his head and a sweep of his hand, and muttered "same Golus, different zip code." He would not rejoice at the thought of living in Eretz Yisrael. So long as the third Beit Hamikdosh is not standing, in his mind, there is absolutely no difference between living in the land of our heritage or living in 11230. "It would be best to go back to Egypt!" (Ibid. 14:3)

A similar phenomenon of apathetic Jews following the Balfour Declaration, prompted Rav Kook to remark:

"There are some Jews for whom the international recognition of the Jewish people's right to its land does not inspire joy. This is because the primary focus of their mourning is the spiritual destruction of Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael, while the utter humiliation of the Land being subjected to foreign rule does not grieve them. But those who always felt deep sorrow, not only for the destruction of Jerusalem and Eretz Yisrael, but for the absence of Jewish sovereignty in our land, the international declaration that Eretz Yisrael must return to the Jewish people is a source of happiness. They merit to see Jerusalem in its joy." (Ravkook.n3.net)

I would like to share with you a little addition to this thought. A friend of mine enlightened me to a marvelous motto. "Hodu L'Hashem Ki Tov, Ki Le'olam Chasdo." It's from Tehillim 118 (with all the current events read the whole 118 now very carefully. Interesting isn't it?) "Give thanks to Hashem for he is good; for His kindness endures forever!" Truly internalize this thought and everything becomes "the hand of G-d." How wonderful it must be see life this way! Hashem through kindness makes fruit grow - a miracle. Hashem through kindness gave us Eretz Yisrael - a miracle. But the most difficult part is realizing that even when events seems to be terrible and can't get any worse - this too is the kindness of Hashem - a miracle. And the spies did not realize this - that was their sin. The owner of that bookstore did not realize this. "Give thanks to Hashem for he is good; for His kindness endures forever!"

Indeed this was precisely the farmer's declaration before rejoicing. "Hashem has indeed brought us to the land given to us as a heritage." Only after thanking Hashem "for he is good" can we "rejoice in all the good that G-d your Lord has granted you and your family." As a side point according to the Rambam, Yerushalyim still maintains the very same sanctity today as it did in the time those farmers rejoiced. "Because the sanctity of the Mikdash and of Yerushalayim is on account of the Shekhinah - and the Shekhinah is never nullified." (MT Beit haB'hirah 6:16)

Today, we must strive to emulate the message of the Bikkurim rather than the message of the Maraglim. Without perceiving Eretz Yisrael is a gift we will end up slandering the land. We must appreciate that Eretz Yisrael is not merely another zip code. It is called "Nachlah" - a land given to us as our heritage! A gift - a miracle - from Hashem! Indeed "the Land is a very, very good Land." (Bamidbar 14:7) It is a land flowing with Milk and Honey. We must return. And when we do we will merit seeing the prophecies of this week's Haftorah materialize. "Violence will no longer be heard in your land, neither desolation nor destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise." (Isaiah 60:18)

"May Hashem bless you from Zion, and may you gaze upon the goodness of Jerusalem, all the days of your life." (Tehillim 128:5)

Shabbat Shalom.