For We are Not Ungrateful

This week's parshah begins with the great mitzvah of בִּיכּוּרִים. The pasuk says וְהָיָה כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה וִירְשִׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בָּהּ (דברים כו א) - And it will be when you will come to the land that Hashem has given you, the land which you have inherited and settled. Following this is an instruction to take the first Shivas Haminim fruit that has ripened and bring it to the Beis Hamikdash, to give to the Kohen.

Rashi, explains the words וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו - say to him, (what should he say?( שֶׁאֵינְךָ כָּפוּי טוֹבָה - that you are not ungrateful [for all that Hashem has done for you]. We were instructed to do this mitzvah to show that we are not ungrateful for the land we were granted, and all the superior fruit that grow there. Therefore, we were to bring the first ripened fruit from פַּרְוֹת שֶׁנִּשְׁתַּבְּחוּ בָּהֶם אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל - the fruit with which Eretz Yisrael is praised.

A Joyous Celebration

The Mishnah (ביכורים פ"ג) describes how this mitzvah was performed with great fanfare and joy. A group of people would gather in a designated city, and they would all leave together on their journey towards Yerushalayim. They would travel slowly, so that more people could join their group as they continued on their way. Every morning, the leader of the group would wake everyone, exclaiming קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה (צִיּוֹן אֶל בֵּית ה' אֱלֹקֵינוּ (ירמיה לא ה - Rise and let us go up to Tzion, to the House of Hashem our G-d! On the way, they would chant (תהלים קכב א) שָׂמַחְתִּי בְּאֹמְרִים לִי בֵּית ה' נֵלֵךְ - I rejoiced when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of Hashem."

An ox, designated as a korban, would trot ahead of the procession, its horns plated with gold, and its head adorned with a wreath of olive leaves. The ox would be sacrificed upon arrival to the Beis Hamikdash. They also played music with a special wind instrument called a חָלִיל which created a pleasant sound that could be heard at great distances.

When they approached the holy city of Yerushalayim, the group would stop and send messengers into the city to announce their arrival. At this juncture, they further beautified their baskets, using fresh Shivas Haminim fruit not brought as Bikkurim. Then, the dignitaries, who held important positions in the Beis Hamikdash, would come toward them.

Whoever saw this procession would rise in honor. In other situations, the halachah of וְהָדַרְתָּ פְּנֵי זָקֵן rising in front of an elder or Torah scholar, does not apply to a craftsman who is employed by another, because the few moments that it takes would come at the expense of his employer. But when a Bikkurim procession would come, even the בַּעֲלֵי אִמָּנִיּוֹת - the craftsmen, who were employed, would rise. They all welcomed the Bikkurim bearers with special greetings, calling out, "Welcome, our brothers from such and such place!"

And then the chalil would start playing again, and each person would hoist his fruit basket onto his shoulders. Even the most distinguished individuals, including Agrippas Hamelech would hold his own basket aloft. When this joyous and splendid procession would finally arrive to the Beis Hamikdash, the Levi'im would serenade them singing the mizmor in Tehilim (לב א) אֲרוֹמִמְךָ ה' כִּי דִלִיתָנִי וְלֹא שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבֵי לִי - I will exalt You Hashem for you have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.

A Most Fundamental Middah

This amazing event, the great celebrations and grandeur with which this mitzvah was accomplished, is evidence of the exalted nature of this mitzvah. On other occasions when people would come up to the Beis Hamikdash, for example on עַלְיָה לְרֶגֶל or to bring up their מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי these mitzvos were not performed with this degree of grandiosity.

The Alshich Hakodosh questions the reason for this great celebration. Why did the occasion of bringing a single date or cluster of grapes to the Beis Hamikdash call for such a pompous affair?

He quotes a statement from the Midrash which he says further intensifies the question. Chazal say in Midrash Rabah (בראשית רבה א ד) say that the first word in the Torah indicates that the mitzvah of Bikkurim is one of the chief purposes of creation, since we find that the Torah uses the word 'reishis' also by bikkurim, as it says (שמות כג יט) רֵאשִׁית בִּכּוּרֵי אַדְמָתְךָ תָּבִיא בֵּית ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ - The choicest of the first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of Hashem, your G-d. Right at the beginning of creation the torah hint at the mitzvah of bikkurim to make known to us the Creator's intentions.

The Alshich elaborates that it is not merely the performance of this mitzvah which makes it so important, rather it is the intent; the fundamental middah of hakaras hatov. Recognising that Hashem is the One Who created us and provides for us is indeed the ultimate purpose of creation.

Lest you Forget

It is human nature for a person to get accustomed to that which he has, and forget Who has granted it to him. Therefore, we were given this mitzvah, to remind us on a yearly basis, where all our blessings come from.

The Alshich sees a reference to this in the pasuk and interprets it accordingly: וְהָיָה כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ... - And it will be, when you come into the land... ,וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בָּה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ - and you possess it and settle in it... - You will begin to feel like it is an inheritance that is naturally yours, and therefore you will not be grateful for it, and you will forget אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ - that it is Hashem your G-d Who has given it to you. You will settle in there and become accustomed to its bounty. You will be so habituated, you will forget how blessed you are, and how grateful you must be. Therefore, you should bring Bikkurim, which will remind you that this land and all the blessings that you have, have been bestowed upon you by your Loving Father to Whom you must be eternally grateful.

(תורת משה - אלשיך ר"פ כי תבוא)

This idea that the recognition that Hashem created the world and our gratefulness to Him, serves the purpose of creation, is also found in the words of the Ramban: "The intention of all the mitzvos is that we should believe in our G-d and thank Him for He has created us, and this is the intention of Creation, and Hashem has no desire in the creations of down below, only that man should know and thank his G-d that created him."

(רמב"ן סוף פר' בא)

Do Not be "Ungrateful"

One may ponder on the words of Rashi, "that you are not ungrateful". Why does he use the negative term כָּפוּי טוֹבָה and not the positive term of being מַכִּיר טוֹבָה; to be grateful?

Perhaps this is because it is simply impossible to be sufficiently grateful to the King of all Kings, the Creator of the World. We can never fulfill our debt of gratitude, neither for the gift of being part of the הַנִבְחָר עַם nor for everything He does for us on a personal level every moment of every day since before the day we were created. Therefore, when the Midrash explains this mitzvah, it focuses on not being ungrateful. For that is achievable. Sufficient gratitude is impossible.

Sometimes a person does a favor for another, which is too great to repay. For example, if a passerby saves a child's life by pulling him out of a dangerous situation, the parents can never sufficiently repay him. They simply must suffice with never forgetting the favor, and always showing as much gratitude as possible. In the same vein, but in obviously much greater measure, we can never thank Hashem for every breath that we take, and all the gifts in our lives. Therefore, we must at least remember the source of our blessings and be grateful to the fullest extent possible; שֶׁאֵינְךָ כָּפוּי טוֹבָה

Appreciation even for the Inanimate

The importance of this middah is evident from the many instances in which the Torah mentions it. We see that Moshe Rabbeinu would not hit the river by the makkah of dam and tzefardea, because it protected him as a newborn when Pharoah decreed that the Jewish baby boys be thrown into the Nile. He would not hit the ground by makka of kinnim because he had benefited from it when he killed a Mitzri in retaliation for his hitting a Yid, and then buried the corpse underground to hide the deed.

This was the degree of hakaras hatov Moshe had indebted to even inanimate objects. This reinforces how fundamental this middah is, and how much more so we must act in this manner in relation to other human beings.

Chazal in the gemarah Bava Kama (צב ע"ב) tell us, 'Do not throw a stone into a well from which you have drawn water'. Rashi explains that this means that one should not disregard or disparage an object that has previously benefited him. If one has benefited from a place or thing, he must remain grateful to it and not damage it, even though it is inanimate.

The Gemara bases this on a pasuk in last week's parshah לֹא תְתַעֵב מִצְרִי, כִּי גֵר הָיִיתָ בְאַרְצוֹ (דברים כג ח) - You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land. The Torah tells us that we are not to distance the Mitzri completely. A male from the nation of Amon or Moav may never marry into the Jewish nation. However, a Mitzri, after converting his third generation will be permitted to marry a Yid.

Rashi explains that this is כִּי גֵר הָיִיתָ בְאַרְצוֹ because they hosted us in their land. Even though they enslaved us brutally, still we must show some measure of appreciation because we lived in their land! Yaakov and his children came to live in Mitzrayim, and even though they later held us against our will, we must still show appreciation for their earlier kindness. This is the extent to which we must never forget even the smallest measure of kindness shown to us!

Rabbi Yosef MiGash related a story that happened with his Rebbe the Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, known as the Rif, which personifies the teaching of this Gemara.

The Rif was once very ill, and a rich man who owned a healing bathhouse allowed him to use these baths to help him recuperate from his illness. The bathhouse did indeed aid in his recovery, and eventually, he recovered completely.

After some years the wealthy man lost all his money and had to sell all his possessions in order to pay his heavy debts. The Rif was approached as a halachic authority was needed to help facilitate the sale. However, the Rif refused, saying that he is unable to aid in the sale of the bathhouse, as he had benefited from it. He did not want to disadvantage a place which he had used, and he was afraid that perhaps the sale was not beneficial for the bathhouse!

The Ri MiGash expressed a fortiori that we must learn from this story. If his Rebbe showed so much appreciation for an inanimate bathhouse, how much more so must we show appreciation to a human being who has granted us a favor.

(שיטה מקובצת, בב"ק שם)

The Vilna Gaon quotes the Rambam who writes in Moreh Nevochim that if a person learned even one thing from a sefer, he should not scoff at the rest of the sefer. He should show gratefulness for the benefit he derived from the sefer, and therefore he should not demean it.

(ענף יוסף, עין יעקב שם)

A Yiddishe Middah

The Shlah Hakadosh quotes an interesting Targum Yonasan. Targum Yonoson reveals a fascinating episode that was behind Yosef Hatzaddiks actions.

When the Mitzrim could no longer afford to buy food during the famine in Mitzrayim, Yosef told them to sell their land to the government and thus he would provide them food as a form of payment. Their land was repossessed by the government. However, Yosef did not acquire the land of the, אַדְמַת הַכֹּהֲנִים לֹא קָנָה (בראשית מז כב) 'priests' of Mitzrayim. He allowed the 'priests' to keep their land even if they did not have money to buy food. This was in appreciation for an earlier act of kindness they had shown him.

When Potiphar's wife fabricated a libel on Yosef, he was taken to court before the priests of Mitzrayim. They realized his innocence and therefore did not give him capital punishment. Perhaps they could not fully negate the accusation of this 'noble women', so they sentenced him to prison. However, the true punishment for this crime would have been a death sentence, and they spared Yosef from that. Many years later, in recognition and appreciation for their kindness, Yosef did not tax their land in their time of need. Our Fathers and forebearers showed us the importance of הַכָּרַת הַטוֹב.

Appreciation for Man, Appreciation for Hashem

The Midrash cites many examples of where we see the importance of hakaras hatov in the Torah. And it cautions us that appreciation for other people works jointly with appreciation for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. A person who acts ungratefully towards others usually forgets about his debt of gratitude to Hashem. The Midrash brings an example from Pharaoh. Initially when he started to enslave the Yidden the Torah says (שמות א ח) אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע אֶת יוֹסֵף - he did not know Yosef - he "forgot" about Yosef's service to his country. He enslaved the people of Yosef's family, flagrantly disregarding the fact that Yosef had saved them in their time of need.

Because he did not appreciate what Yosef had done for him, he later reached the stage where he said (שמות ה ב) לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אֶת ה' I do not know G-d. His middah of כְּפִית טוֹבָה led to כְּפִירָה denying the existence of G-d.

The Midrash says that Adam Harishon was expelled from Gan Eden because he demonstrated כְּפִית טוֹבָה. He told Hashem הָאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּ עִמָּדִי "I sinned due to the woman that you gave me". He was not removed from Gan Eden only for the sin of the עֵץ הַדַעַת, but for blaming it on Chava, as opposed to showing appreciation to Hashem for providing him with a soulmate.

(משנת רבי אליעזר פרק ז)

A fascinating story is told about the Cofetz Chaim. Someone once heard him berating himself on the first night of Selichos. He was giving himself himself mussar 'Yisroel Mayer were you makir tov to Hashem that he gave you the knowledge and ability to write the sefer Chofetz Chaim? Are you grateful enough that so many yidden are learning and benefiting from it? Even a dog demonstrates gratitude to his master!

(החפץ חיים - חייו ופעליו ח"ג ע' תתרצד)

Even an Animal Knows his Master

הַכָּרַת הַטוֹב is such a fundamental middah, that Hashem even put it into nature. יָדַע שׁוֹר קֹנֵהוּ וַחֲמוֹר אֲבוּס בְּעָלָיו (ישעיהו א ג) even the animals show appreciation for those that serve them.

Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter Shlita, in his sefer הַמְבָרֵךְ יִתְבָּרֵךְ demonstrates this with a truly compelling story of a person who worked in Siberia. In that region, people engaged in polar bear hunting. They would dig a deep pit and then camouflage it with branches and leaves. When an unsuspecting bear would pass, he would fall directly into the trap. Once, however, this individual mistakenly walked into such a trap and fell right in. To his horror, he saw that he was not the only one in the pit. A large polar bear had fallen in before him. As the bear approached him, he was sure that he would meet a gruesome end. However, the bear simply stepped onto him and used him as a ladder to enable him to climb toward safety.

With that danger over, the man started to think about how he could save himself from his predicament; however, he could not find a way out of the deep pit.

When several hours passed, the polar bear who had been with him returned with a long branch which he let down in order to assist the man in climbing out. Thus, he went to great lengths to demonstrate his gratefulness for the man who had unwittingly saved him. Even a bear possesses the instincts of gratitude!

In the Merit of הַכָּרַת הַטוֹב

The Midrash in this week's parshah tells us that after the bearer of Bikkurim would say the מִקְרָא בִּכּוּרִים which one recites when doing this mitzvah, he would then utter a tefillah for himself, Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. Thereafter a Bas Kol, a Heavenly voice would be heard blessing him 'Next year you should again merit to bring Bikkurim to the Beis Hamikdash'.

The Midrash explains this with a mashal. A person brought his friend a seasonal fruit for a gift. His friend blessed him that he should also be able to bring him this gift the following year. His friend's blessing includes a brachah for life, health and sufficient livelihood; for only if he is granted these gifts will he be able to actually come again to his friend and bring him the fruit. In the same vein, the Bas Kol blessing the bearer of the Bikkurim was a blessing for life and health and sustenance as well as other great blessings. Through showing הַכָּרַת הַטוֹב a person can receive great bounty.

The Sefer Hachinuch (מצוה תר"ו) also instructs us to 'awaken ourselves in gratitude to Hashem' for it brings great blessings unto a person. He says, that this is one of the reasons for the mitzvah of Bikkurim. Hashem gave us this mitzvah due to His desire to continue showering us with great blessings. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to bestow all the good in the world upon us, therefore He gave us this mitzvah which serves as a vehicle to demonstrate הַכְּרַת הַטּוֹב, which in turn can then serve as a great conduit for הַשְׁפָּעוֹת טוֹבוֹת, wellsprings of goodness.

May we indeed merit to show הַכָּרַת הַטוֹב to all parts of creation for the wonderful world we inhabit, as well as to our fellow man and much more so towards our compassionate Father who sustains us in every way, every moment of every day. And in this merit may we see abundant blessings always, as well as the building of the third Beis Hamikdash, when we will again be able to fulfill the holy mitzvah of Bikkurim! אָמֵן כֵּן יִהְיֶה רָצוֹן

אָ גוּט שַׁבָּת