TU BISHVAT READING

Rabbi Shalom Rosner Dr. Kenneth Brander

MITZVOT HAT’LUYOT BA’ARETZ First Fruit Praye呲

ith the rainy winter behind our people’s providential continuity, It is for this reason that the them and the summer har- ensured by the stability of living in our (Bikkurim 3:3) describes the lead- vest ahead, Jewish farmers own Land and fulfilling our destiny in ership and citizens of Yerushalayim Win the time of the Beit HaMikdash part through its sustenance. warmly greeting the bikkurim-pil- would celebrate the year’s bounty by grims as an essential part of the mitz- Yet there is an alternative interpreta- offering their of the Shivat vah itself. G-d has brought us from tion, suggested by Ibn Ezra and others, HaMinim (the ), bikkurim, being a “wandering Aramean” to the that oved is an adjective meaning wan- to G-d. They would festively carry their promised Land of in order for us dering or nomadic, hence rendering produce to Yerushalayim and ceremo- to live in harmony; to love and respect the opening phrase as “My forefather nially present them to the Kohanim. At every – a challenge we still face was a wandering Aramean.” this sacred, joyous moment, the farmer today. would recite a prayer, one of the few According to this reading, the back- The recitation of this paragraph at a tefillot written in the , recalling drop of the farmer’s recounting of the time of agricultural plenty and afflu- the history of the Jewish people from servitude in Egypt is Ya’akov’s experi- ence comes to remind us of a very our earliest ancestors: ence of wandering. The instability of fundamental tenet: our respect for Ya’akov’s home, riddled with family ּ ּ ּ ּ the other is a necessary condition for ֲאַרִמי ֵאֹבד ָאִבי ַוֵיֶרד ִמְצַרְיָמה ַוָיָגר שָׁם ִבְמֵתי strife among his children, becomes the מעט ויהי־שׁ ם לגוֹ י ּגדוֹ ל ע ּצום ורב… our physical affluence and for our ְ ָ ַ ְ ִ ָ ְ ָ ָ ָ ָ direct cause for the descent to Egypt at “Arami Oved Avi, and he went down safety and security in the Land as well the end of Sefer Bereishit, paving the to Egypt and sojourned there in a as being the foundation necessary for way for the Jewish people’s subjuga- small group, and he became there achieving our purpose: being a light tion under Pharaoh’s rule. a great, multitudinous, populous unto the nations. nation…” (Devarim 26:5). As the farmer recites these words over As we celebrate Tu BiShvat this year, the bikkurim-basket, what comes to The meaning of the opening phrase, let us rejoice in both the goodness mind is not an image of our enemies arami oved avi is ambiguous and of the and accept the from afar, but rather of our own famil- much discussed. The avi, forefather, responsibility for strengthening the mentioned here is identified with ial conflicts and communal points of bonds among all , including those Ya’akov Avinu. tension. who may differ from us, so we may merit G-d’s blessings this and every Some of the traditional commentators Distrust, breakdowns in communica- year. consider oved a verb: “An Aramean tion, resentment towards our fellow wished to destroy my forefather.” Jews – these are the sins that led to the first-ever exile to Egypt and the This interpretation, adopted by Rashi, destruction of the second Beit HaMik- Sa’adia Gaon and the Maharal, has dash and its long exile, which perpet- the verse referring to Lavan’s attempts uate our continued experience to this to already stymie the Jewish people’s day. development at its inception. It is recalled by Jewish farmers living cen- Bikkurim, the personal/national turies later to celebrate the immortal- celebration of the bounty of the ity of the Jewish people, despite Land, is a celebration of the unity the attempts of all those who of the Jewish people, and a have tried to destroy us – reminder that our relation- from Lavan to Pharaoh and ship with the Land is contin- Rabbi Dr. Katriel (Kenneth) Brander is Pres- all who would follow. We gent upon maintaining that ident and Rosh HaYeshiva of the Ohr Torah give thanks to G-d for unity. Stone network.

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