Friday, September 7, 2012

Parshat Ki Tavo

The beginning of this week's Parsha describes the mitzvah of bikkurim, the commandment to bring your first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem.  This commandment was carried out with a lot of fanfare, and effort.  It is hard to explain why it was so important for people to travel all the way to Jerusalem just to bring the first fruits that grew on their land.  It seems like a somewhat trivial detail, yet there is a whole ritual that revolved around this practice.  The Mishna in the third chapter of bikkurim describes how the people and local leaders would gather around like at a parade when a person bringing their fruits to the Temple would travel through their town.
Many commentators have wondered about this ritual, what was the big deal?  I'd like to share with you one of the common themes that emerges in response to this question.
The message that I'd like to share is that this ritual is teaching us that details really matter.  The fruits of someone's land seem like no big deal at all, but to be able to elevate the trivial experience of experiencing a first fruit into a religious experience makes an impact on a person.  It would be easy to absent mindedly eat the first fruit, or to get so excited that the tree had finally grown fruits and just eat it without thinking where the fruit really came from.  So when a person consciously ritualizes the experience of anticipating their first fruits, and dedicates the experience to acknowledging that the fruit comes from God, it's a big deal.
This experience educates the person participating in it that everything comes from God.  We are not the true masters of the world around us, we need to acknowledge the role God plays in our lives, even in the small details.  When we have an appreciation for the Godliness of the small things, we can influence ourselves to put more thought into the details, and to pay better attention to details.  The details matter, when someone pays attention the details in our lives, we feel cared about and appreciated.  When we learn to pay attention to the details in the way in which we do everything, work, religion, relationships; we are showing that we care.

1 comment:

  1. This is definitely true regarding putting the effort into a mitzvah. What amazes me is that nowadays everything is pre-packaged: eruv tavshilin, soup greens, a challah molder. I understand if it's for a dire emergency as time is of the essence sometimes, however if it's for convenience that's a whole other story.

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