This parsha opens with a familiar passage to many - because of its inclusion in the Passover seder - about an ancestor that goes to Jerusalem with his first fruits, a ritual called Bikkurim. He schleps all the way to Jerusalem to present one little piece of fruit, the first that has grown on his trees, so that he can declare, “my ancestor was a wandering Aramean…” The tradition doesn’t even dictate the size of the fruit; it truly can be even just one tiny fig that he brings to fulfill the mitzvah. He gives a long speech, locating himself inside of his people’s history, to offer gratitude for this moment, as he presents his one, small piece of fruit.
There’s a second mitzvah of giving from one’s produce described later in the parsha, the mitzvah of ma’aser, the giving of one tenth of your produce. With this mitzvah, after the full crop has been harvested, one tenth is set aside to give to those who need it.
In the Mishna, the ritual of Bikkurim is described as a huge deal. There’s singing and dancing and a whole parade and processional as people bring their one tiny fruit, to the priest. There is lots and pomp and circumstance for this one piece of produce.. But with ma’aser, the tenth of produce given (that could be lots of fruit and vegetables!), there is one short line the giver declares, but there is no parade, no song, no instruments. It’s a much more significant amount of giving, but significantly less ritual.
So why this big difference? Why the parade and song and dance for a little fig, but barely anything for a tenth of our produce? There’s something powerful about the symbolism of the one piece of fruit, and that is what we make a big deal about. When we only have one fig to show for our produce, but we celebrate it nonetheless, we are making a statement about faith. We are making a parade for our belief in the future and what there can be, even if we don’t know yet. The one little piece of fruit represents potential and possibility. It represents hope. At that point, when there’s only one piece of fruit, we don’t even know what that season’s crop will be! But I offer thanks for what I think is possible in the future.
With the mitzvah of ma’aser, they’ve already gotten their full crop. It’s not a statement of faith to give, it’s fulfilling an important obligation. It’s about charity and giving and that’s valuable, but it’s an after-the-fact mitzvah, not one reliant on possibility and hope.
We live in a world where we have to look for those little fruits, and we have to hang on to them. We have to seek out the things that speak to a sense of possibility in the future, and it behooves us to actually make a big deal about them - to parade and sing and dance. It might seem silly to do all of that for a little fig, but it reminds us that the future can be bigger and better than what it is right now.
Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Sarit
If you are in need of the password for our livestream, please get in touch with Erica Mosely, our Office Manager, at Erica@BSholom.org
