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Orchard of Delights Ki Tavo

£Living in Divine SpaceLiving in Divine SpaceLiving in Divine Space apparent. Indeed, this mitzvah is a spiritual nexus touching upon
the very purpose of creation.
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On a linguistic and semantic level, the connection between the
word “mereishit” (from the first of every fruit) and the Torah’s first
The Torah repeatedly mentions the obligation to set aside cities of
refuge for those who commit unpremeditated murder, but nonetheless word “bereishit” (in the beginning) is immediately apparent. The
are somewhat responsible because they were criminally negligent. Midrash is clearly responding to this fundamental link by suggesting
These cities not only offer the murderers some mode of spiritual that the bringing of the first fruit is the very reason for creation.
penitence, they also protect them from the victims’ relatives who are However, Rashi’s comment on the word “bereishit” alerts us to an
permitted to slay them if they venture outside the city before the law even more intrinsic connection. He translates the letter beit, the “be-”
allows (that is, when the High Priest dies). in “bereishit,” as “for the sake of,” instead of adopting the more
usual translation of the beit as “in” (“in the beginning”). This allows
Every time the Torah mentions this mitzvah, it adds a new him to explain that God created the world “for the sake of the Torah
element. Previously the Torah established that there would be three that is called the first of His ways and for the sake of Israel that is
cities of refuge west of the Jordan River where most of the children called the first of His produce.” Rashi is clearly stating that God
of Israel would settle and three east of the Jordan where two and created the world for the sake of the Torah and the Jewish people.
a half tribes would settle. In Shoftim, the Torah reveals that in the By equating the Jewish people with “the first of His produce,” Rashi
Messianic era, when the Land of Israel’s borders are expanded to is clearly intimating that the Jewish people’s offering of their annual
include those lands promised to Abraham, three more cities will be “first produce” is intrinsically connected to the very reason the world
added, bringing the total to nine. was created. However, his inclusion of “for the sake of the Torah”
The connection of this mitzvah to the month of Elul, when Shoftim suggests an even more profound link between creation, Torah, and
is read, is clarified by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh’s comments on the the Jewish people.
Rambam. At the beginning of the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam Another important Rashi sheds light on this by claiming that the
discusses six perpetual mitzvot that he deems applicable to all Jews, Giving of the Torah was the purpose of creation. As Rashi notes, at
at all times, in all places. (While one might have assumed that all the conclusion of the sixth day of creation, the Torah recounts: “And
mitzvot fulfill these criteria, some mitzvot only apply to cohanim it was evening and it was morning the (hashishi) sixth day” (Genesis
or levi’im and many can only be performed in the Land of Israel 1:31). Following the other days, the Torah also declares that “it was
or when the Temple is standing.) The six mitzvot enumerated by evening and it was morning” and mentions that it was the “second,”
the Rambam include the following: (1) Belief in the existence and “third,” “fourth,” or “fifth” day, respectively. But on none of these
Providence of God; (2) The prohibition against believing in other gods other days is the definite article (“the” [heh]) used to single out the
or in relying on forces other than God; (3) Belief in God’s oneness, day. Rashi explains that the letter heh was added on the sixth day
in His all-encompassing unity; (4) The obligation to love God; (5) to allude to another sixth day, the sixth of Sivan, when the nation
The obligation to fear or be in awe of God; and (6) The obligation to of Israel received the Torah on Mount Sinai. Since the very purpose
protect one’s mind from negative thoughts. of creation and its continued existence depended on the Torah
In his introduction to Sefer Hachinuch, the author enigmatically being given to Israel, this day signaled a new epoch in the history of
alludes to a connection between these six perpetual mitzvot and the creation. On this day, it was as if all of creation was created anew.
six cities of refuge. (This approach reflects the Ba’al Shem Tov’s

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