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TU BISHVAT READING
TU BISHV A T READING
Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander
Rabbi Shalom Rosner R abbi Dr . K enneth Brander
MITZVOT HAT’LUYOT BA’ARETZ BIKKURIM
Fi Fr
Pre
ith the rainy winter behind our people’s providential continuity, It is for this reason that the Mishnah
them and the summer har- ensured by the stability of living in our (Bikkurim 3:3) describes the lead-
Wvest ahead, Jewish farmers own Land and fulfilling our destiny in ership and citizens of Yerushalayim
in 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-
offering their first fruits of the Shivat Yet there is an alternative interpreta- vah itself. G-d has brought us from
HaMinim (the seven species), bikkurim, tion, suggested by Ibn Ezra and others, being a “wandering Aramean” to the
to G-d. They would festively carry their that oved is an adjective meaning wan- promised Land of Israel in order for us
produce to Yerushalayim and ceremo- dering or nomadic, hence rendering to live in harmony; to love and respect
nially present them to the Kohanim. At the opening phrase as “My forefather every Jew – a challenge we still face
this sacred, joyous moment, the farmer was a wandering Aramean.” today.
would recite a prayer, one of the few According to this reading, the back-
tefillot written in the Torah, recalling drop of the farmer’s recounting of the The recitation of this paragraph at a
the history of the Jewish people from servitude in Egypt is Ya’akov’s experi- time of agricultural plenty and afflu-
our earliest ancestors: ence of wandering. The instability of ence comes to remind us of a very
fundamental tenet: our respect for
י ֵ ת ְ מ ִּ ב ם ָ ׁש ר ָ גָּי ַ ו ה ָ מְי ַ ר ְ צ ִ מ ד ֶ רֵּי ַ ו י ִ ב ָ א ד ֵ בֹא י ִּ מ ַ ר ֲ א Ya’akov’s home, riddled with family the other is a necessary condition for
…ב ָ ר ָ ו םּוצ ָ ע לֹוד ָּג יֹוג ְ ל ם ָ ׁש־י ִ הְי ַ ו ט ָ ע ְ מ strife among his children, becomes the our physical affluence and for our
direct cause for the descent to Egypt at
“Arami Oved Avi, and he went down the end of Sefer Bereishit, paving the safety and security in the Land as well
to Egypt and sojourned there in a way for the Jewish people’s subjuga- as being the foundation necessary for
small group, and he became there tion under Pharaoh’s rule. achieving our purpose: being a light
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
arami oved avi is ambiguous and mind is not an image of our enemies of the Land of Israel and accept the
much discussed. The avi, forefather, from afar, but rather of our own famil- responsibility for strengthening the
mentioned here is identified with ial conflicts and communal points of bonds among all Jews, including those
Ya’akov Avinu. tension. who may differ from us, so we may
Some of the traditional commentators Distrust, breakdowns in communica- merit G-d’s blessings this and every
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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