Ki Tavo: 5784 - On the eve of Chai Elul, living with the times: What is the reason for the mitzvah of bikkurim, and the connection to the recent events of 'Operation Pagers' in Lebanon. Presented by Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld,…

00:02 Speaker 1 Tonight is Chai Elul, the birthday of the two great luminaries, the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch. May their merit protect us. One of the Alter Rebbe’s sayings is that we must “live with the times.” At first, chassidim did not understand what that meant, until they looked into it. It meant living with the weekly parsha. This week’s parsha is Parshas Ki Savo. We have the mitzvah of bikkurim, the first fruits. A person has a field, trees, and fruit. Hakadosh Boruch Hu has blessed him. So when he sees that the fruit has ripened, he must take some of it to the Beis Hamikdash and give it to the kohen, and he must recite the passage of bikkurim. The passage says, “An Aramean sought to destroy my father,” and he must recite it. What is the reason for this mitzvah? As explained in the parsha, since Hakadosh Boruch Hu has blessed you and given you abundance, an abundance of fruit, “you shall declare and say”: Don’t be ungrateful. Thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu for what He has bestowed on you, for what He has given you. That is the idea of the mitzvah of bikkurim. When a person receives something from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, he must say thank you. He must give thanks and not be ungrateful. That is the mitzvah of bikkurim. The same applies between one person and another. When someone receives a favor from another person, or anything at all, he must not be ungrateful. He must acknowledge it and say thank you, because he received a favor from him. We saw this firsthand with the Rebbe. When the Rebbe would come from home to 770, or when he would leave, there were usually children or young men, or whoever happened to be there, who would go over, open the door, and hold it for the Rebbe to enter or

02:14 Speaker 1 for the Rebbe to leave. Yes, they would hold it open because the door had a spring. Every time, the Rebbe would turn to the person and say thank you. He had received a favor from him, so the Rebbe would thank him. That is what it means not to be ungrateful. We must give thanks, and that is what the Torah teaches us through the mitzvah of bikkurim: A person must not be ungrateful. Whenever you receive a favor, or anything at all, you must know to thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Recently, over the last few days, we have experienced tremendous miracles, miracles that Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed for us, things beyond nature. We must know that it is He alone “Who gives you the strength to achieve success.” True, so much thought goes into it, and all kinds of—so much time is spent planning it. But for all these things to succeed, it can only happen if Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives you heavenly assistance, because He gives you the strength to achieve success. We read and learned about this in Bava Basra, at the beginning of the tractate. Iyov comes to Hakadosh Boruch Hu with a complaint and says: Perhaps Hakadosh Boruch Hu made a mistake? His name is Iyov. Perhaps Hakadosh Boruch Hu mistook him for an oyev, an enemy, and that is why He brings suffering upon him? So Iyov comes to Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the claim that perhaps there has been some mistake. Hakadosh Boruch Hu says to him: Are you suggesting that I made a mistake? And He gives him four examples of things that are very similar. One example is the rain that falls: Every drop has its own particular shape. No two drops have the same shape. So if I do not confuse one drop with another, would I confuse Iyov with an enemy? Then He also speaks about the doe giving birth. Because her skin is so

04:25 Speaker 1 tightly constricted, she has difficulty giving birth. She cannot give birth, and then a snake comes and bites her at precisely the moment she needs to give birth. If it happened one moment earlier or one moment later, she would die. So I, Who know the exact moment to bring the snake to bite her so that she can give birth—would I confuse Iyov with an enemy? The same applies to the sounds of thunder, and likewise to the gazelle. He gives him four examples, things that are so similar. I do not make a mistake, so would I make one here? The same applies to us. All these miracles that amaze us so much, that amaze the whole world—if just one thing had not worked exactly right, the whole thing would have gone, as they say, down the drain. What could have happened? For all these things to work out, we need heavenly assistance. True, a person puts in all the effort he can, but ultimately, the bottom line is that it is He Who gives you the strength to achieve success. We hope and look forward to Hakadosh Boruch Hu truly giving us the wisdom and the strength to subdue all our enemies and all...

05:39 Speaker 2 Amen.

05:39 Speaker 1 So may all Your enemies perish, Hashem.

05:41 Speaker 2 Amen.

05:41 Speaker 1 With Hashem’s help, may Hakadosh Boruch Hu grant all the Jewish people a good year and an inscription and sealing for good.

05:47 Speaker 2 Amen.