Dvar Torah for Parshat Ki Tavo

Based on Likutey Moharan I, Lesson #23

"When you come to the Land... you will take the first of the fruits and place it in a basket... bring it [to the Beit HaMikdash]... the kohen will take the basket from your hand and place it before the altar of God... you will place the basket before God... You will rejoice in all the good that God has granted you and your family...."
(Deuteronomy 26:1-11)

You've plowed and sowed, planted, watered and waited, anticipated and prayed, looking for the fruit of your labor. And, with God's help, it finally makes an appearance. But you don't take it for yourself. You tie a ribbon on that first fruit and you start to prepare for your trip to the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) in Jerusalem. You start to prepare for your trip to bring bikurim (first fruits).

All that hard work, all that nervous waiting, all that time you've invested and then you give away the fruit?! And you even have to make a special trip to Jerusalem to do so?! "You will rejoice in all the good that God has granted you and your family...." Let me enjoy it right here, at home, now. What am I supposed to learn from this mitzvah?

Way back when, in the Garden of Eden, we were told not to eat from the fruit of a certain tree (Genesis 2:17). However, instead of heeding Hashem's directive, we followed the Serpent's advice. One of the punishments Hashem meted out to the man (and not the woman) was: "You shall eat [what you grow] in anguish" (Genesis 3:17). You will never fully enjoy your income and what it provides. You will always feel that you don't have enough.

Not a pleasant thought to consider. But Rebbe Nachman gave us some advice on how to make amends for eating the forbidden fruit. To the extent we follow his advice we will be exempt from this punishment. The advice is: be happy with what you have (cf. Avot 4:1). Well, you're probably wondering, what sort of advice is this?! This is precisely my predicament. How can I be happy with what I have if the punishment is that I won't be happy with it?!

The Rebbe was aware of this question. He tells us that the only way to be happy with what we have is to honestly believe [1] that God and God alone is the one who provides our livelihood; [2] that He can do it in the easiest way possible for us. Because, for whatever reason, Hashem does want a person to do something in order to "make a living." The stronger your belief in these points, the holier your paycheck.

Another suggestion Rebbe Nachman makes is to check your motivation for making money. If you're primarily interested in money for your ego's sake or for the sake of your stomach and entertainment (bread and circus), then of course you'll never be satisfied. Someone else always has more, there's always a new food to try or a new toy to buy. But if your motivation in "making a living" is to have the wherewithal to perform mitzvot (including paying for that privilege when need be), to give charity, to pay for your children to receive a Torah education, then you'll enjoy every penny.

How do we re-motivate? How can we save ourselves from the fate of those who have wealth, that is not merely worthless, but toxic? The Zohar teaches that the only one who saved from the poisonous effects of money is a tzaddik of the very highest levels (Tikuney Zohar 3). Even someone who is truly learned and committed to Judaism can easily fall to the desire for money if s/he doesn't have a proper connection to such a tzaddik.

The mitzvah of bikurim teaches us these lessons. We bring the basket of first-fruits to the Beit HaMikdash, the seat of the Sanhedrin (the source for Torah education) and give it to the kohen, the ultimate recipient of the fruits. He represents the tzaddik. First he, and then we, place the basket at the foot of the altar. First the tzaddik learns how to use all of the material world only for God's pleasure and we learn from him.

So how happy can we be from giving our livelihood away? From the mishna we see that the mitzvah was performed with great joy and pomp.

Those bringing bikurim would set out from home. When they stopped to stay overnight in a city they would announce their arrival. When they left in the morning their leader would announce, "Come up with us to Jerusalem!" At the head of the procession was an ox. Its horns were overlaid with gold and its head was crowned with an olive wreath. Musicians play and led the way to Jerusalem. Beit HaMikdash officials went out to receive them and the craftsmen of Jerusalem would come to greet them... When they arrived at the Beit HaMikdash the Levites would sing!
(Bikurim 3:2-4)

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!