פרשת כי תבא
This week’s Parsha opens with the unique and important Mitzvah of Bikurim. The Torah commands us to bring the first of our fruits to the Beis Hamikdash and read certain passages that relate to this commandment, and then to recite certain verses of gratitude toward God, and finally to perform the ritual waiving of the Bikurim offering. The Torah ends off by instructing us to bow down in front of God and to feel a powerful sense of joy for all the good that Hashem has bestowed upon us. From this verse, Chazal learn that the Mitzvah of Bikurim is unique in that it must be performed with great elation. This is why Chazal said that if we bring Bikurim after Succos instead of before, it is deficient in that we do not read the usual Torah portion during the offering because we lack the necessary joy. We need to understand, what is so unique about this Mitzvah of Bikurim that happiness seems to be an integral aspect to its proper fulfillment?
There is another puzzling Midrash about the Mitzvah of Bikurim which needs to be worked out. The Midrash says that Moshe Rabenu saw through a prophetic vision that the Bikurim would eventually cease to be brought in Israel as a result of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, and therefore decided to institute the practice of praying three times a day to God. It seems that Moshe felt that whatever could be accomplished with the Mitzvah of Bikurim, could also be accomplished with prayer. What is the connection?
In order to answer these two issues, we need to first understand what the essence of this unique Mitzvah is. We mentioned that during the Bikurim offering, a person first thanks God for all the goodness that He does for that person, and then reaches the level in which he prostrates himself in front of Hashem, which indicates a deeper sense of commitment to Hashem in recompense for all that goodness. Similarly, when Eliezer, the servant of Avraham found a suitable mate for Yitzchak, he quickly bowed down to God and showed tremendous gratitude. Rashi says that from here we see that one is required to give thanks to God for good tidings. From this Rashi, we can derive that when a person has a very deep feeling of gratitude toward God, he expresses that feeling by prostrating himself and showing complete subjugation to Hashem’s will.
I would like to now add that when a person reaches this lofty level of deep gratitude toward Hashem, it will eventually lead him to a genuine feeling of inner tranquility and bliss. King David teaches us this principle in Tehilim. The verse says, “Being close to God, that is my goodness”. Dovid Hamelech is saying that the only thing that will make him truly happy is if he can manage to develop a genuine connection with his Creator. The Mesillas Yesharim introduces his magnum opus by expressing this principle – that since the greatest good that a man can achieve is by subjugating himself to the Master of the World, a person should spend his whole life pursuing this lofty goal and this will lead him to inner harmony.
In order to explain the Midrash which compares the Bikurim to prayer, we need to carefully analyze the words of the verse. The Torah says that a person brings the Bikurim and while in the presence of God, recites the aforementioned blessing and thanks to God. We find that the Bikurim process generates in a person three integral feeling to His service of God. Firstly, it reminds him of all the good that Hashem has done for the Jewish people on a nationalistic level, and for him in particular. Secondly, this feeling of gratitude will generate in him a strong feeling to completely subjugate himself to God. And thirdly, it gives him the precious opportunity to stand in front of Hashem and draw close to Him. Moshe Rabenu, who understood that these three tools were indispensable in a person’s journey to seek out Hashem, and who also saw that the Bikurim would eventually become nullified, decided to institute three prayers a day so that the Jewish people could continue the “Bikurim experience” on a regular basis. Prayer has all three of these components. During prayer, we are obviously standing in front of Hashem. And in addition, one of the primary aspects of prayer is to recognize that Hashem is the sole source of all the blessing that we receive in the world, and as a result of that perception, we completely subjugate our hearts to his will and his service.
Prayer also needs to be recited with great joy and happiness. The Gemorah in Berachos says that one may only pray when one is in a serene mindset as the verse in Psalms says, “One must rejoice in his trepidation.” The Gemorah explains these seemingly contradicting instructions by saying that trepidation is referring to the mindset one must have when he knows he is standing in front of God, but that this is intended to lead him to a great jubilation when he fully grasps the import of what that means to actually be standing in front of God.
Particularly in this time that we find ourselves, during the month of Elul, as Rosh Hashanah rapidly approaches, we have the opportunity to work on the lofty lessons we learned from the Mitzvah of Bikurim and in turn, from prayer as well. The aspect of fostering a sense of gratitude toward Hashem, which should generate a deep feeling of subjugation to His will, and certainly the aspect of recognizing Who we are standing in front of, and drawing close to Him, are all crucial issues which are deeply touched upon during this time. Joy in our service of Hashem is also a key point during this period. The Vilna Gaon was reported to have been the most joyous during the Shofar blasts, ecstatically exclaiming that this was the time of the coronation of the King.
May Hashem help us to truly realize who we are standing in front of, and what we owe Him, and through this, to feel a deep bliss!