In the beginning of Parshas Ki Savo, there are two mitzvos that involve making a speech. One of them is Mikra Bikurim, the formal declaration a person makes upon bringing the first fruits of his crop to the Beis HaMikdash. In addition to the mitzvah of bringing the first fruits, in most situations there is a second mitzvah of reading the pesukim found in our parsha beginning with the words: “Then you shall call out and say (v’anisa v’amarta) before Hashem your G-d...” [Devorim 26:5-11]
What follows is a brief synopsis of the history of the Jewish people. We had to go down to Egypt. The Ribono shel Olam took us out of Egypt. He brought us to this place, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first fruit of the ground that You have given me, O Hashem. In short, we extol the praises of all the things the Almighty did for us, and we acknowledge our privilege of now being able to bring the first fruits of our wonderful land as a gift offering to the Kohen.
In connection with this Mikra Bikurim declaration, the Torah writes: “V’Anisa v’Amarta.” Rashi writes that this specific idiom indicates that the declaration is to be made “b’kol Ram” – in a loud voice. The Biblical passages read on this occasion are not to be said as one says the Shmoneh Esrei – silently. They are to be said out loud.
There is a second declaration associated with agricultural mitzvos that are performed in the Land of Israel. That declaration is contained in the pesukim found in the section of Vidui Ma’aser [Devorim 26:13-15]. At the end of each of the three-year mini-cycles that take place during the first six years of the seven year Shmitah cycle, the Jewish farmer makes a declaration testifying to his observance of the laws of separating and properly distributing Teruma and Ma’aser to the Kohanim, the Leviim, and the poor during the past three-year cycle. “I have eliminated the holy things from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite, to the convert, to the orphan, and to the widow, according to the entire commandment that You commanded me; I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, and I have not forgotten. I have not eaten of it in my intense mourning; I have not consumed it in a state of impurity, and I have not given of it to a dead person; I have listened to the voice of Hashem my G-d; I have acted according to everything You have commanded me.”.
However, the Torah does not specify that Vidui Ma’aser must be said in a loud voice. Why is it that Mikra Bikurim must be said “b’kol Ram” and Vidui Ma’aser is apparently said silently?
The answer is obvious. The declaration of Mikra Bikurim extols the praises of the Almighty. The Jewish farmer is not praising or patting himself on the shoulder for his diligent observance of the laws. He recounts what the Ribono shel Olam did for him. At such a time it is appropriate that everyone should hear what is being said: Kol Rom. Vidui Ma’aser, on the other hand, is what I have done. I have done everything the Almighty has told me to do. When I am saying what I did right, it is not appropriate to give a klop in the Beis Medrash and say “I came to minyan every day for the last seventeen years....” We do not do that. We do not publicly pat ourselves on the back.
This is the simple answer to our question. However, I saw a very interesting insight from Rav Shlomo Kluger, which applies this dichotomy of silent recitations versus out-loud recitation to another area of Jewish practice.
The halacha is that Shmoneh Esrei should be said silently. There is one exception to this rule. It says in Shulchan Aruch that on Yomim Noraim, a person can say the Amidah louder than he recites it the whole year. This does not mean that every congregant should pretend to be the chazzan and sing the whole nussach of Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur while reciting his private Amidah. However, a person is allowed to say it louder than normal. Why is that?
The commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch give a couple of reasons: First, on the Yomim Noraim everyone davens out of a Machzor. During the year, people sometimes daven by heart (especially in the times of the Shulchan Aruch, not everybody had a Siddur). When Reuven is davening by heart and Shimon suddenly says something out loud, it can cause Reuven to become derailed and lose his mental place in davening. When everyone is reading out of a Machzor on Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur, it is much less likely for a person to get mixed up in his own Amidah recitation as a result of someone else davening out loud.
However, says Rav Shlomo Kluger, there may be another reason as well: Just like we say that Mikra Bikurim is said out loud because we speak there about the praises of the Ribono shel Olam, this too can explain the Shulchan Aruch’s distinction between Yomim Noraim davening and the normal daily davening. The hallmark of the Yomim Noraim Amidah is “Meloch al kol ha’Olam kulo bichvodecha...” It is all about the Kingship of the Ribono shel Olam. We acknowledge the Sovereignty of the Almighty. It is about Him, it is not about me.
The whole year the overriding themes of Shmoneh Esrei are “Almighty I need sustenance, I need cures, I need this, I need that.” It is all about “me”. When it is all about “you”, you do that quietly. But Yomim Noraim, we are asking the Almighty to become King of the world. It is all about Him. That is the equivalent of Mikra Bikurim where we apply the principle of “V’Anisa v’Amarta” and we proclaim it aloud, rather than in silence.
