Torah portion

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SPIRIT

TORAH PORTION

Pause and Reflect

In the Torah portion this week known as Ki Tavo, we read one of the more famous and well-known passages in our tradition. The passage opens by telling the Israelites that when they enter the Land of Israel, they should perform the First Fruits ceremony.

They are to bring a basket with some of every first fruit of the soil and then bring the basket to the kohen in charge at that time in the place that God will designate. Once there, the person is to recite a formula that begins, “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there …” (Deuteronomy 26:110). This passage became a central text of the Passover Haggadah, a text we recite each year at the seder.

Rabbi Ilana Grinblat suggests one of the purposes of this ritual: After Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years, it is as if the Torah is asking them to ponder what it is that they have learned from their experience. What does it mean for the Israelites standing in the Land of Israel to recall that difficult journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom? For the Israelites, it was that God was the ultimate source of their liberation.

As we quickly approach the coming Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, we should be asking ourselves the same question. What are our first fruits? What is it that we have

learned from our experiences of this past year? What would we put in our basket? Would we put a computer screen with a Zoom session going in our basket? Would we put in a face mask? As we look to the coming year of 5782 what do we want our basket of first fruits to look like? One other aspect of Rabbi Robert thinking of this past

Gamer year in terms of the First Fruit ceremony is to

Parshat consider the narrative.

Ki Tavo: The Israelites focused on Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8; Isaiah 60:1moving from slavery to freedom. What would 22. be our narrative that we would want to recite before the kohen, before our community and before God this coming year? What immediately comes to my mind is that I believe I have learned more deeply the importance of connections. Specifically, I mean connections with my family, with my friends and with our community. For so many people the physical act of connecting with others has been one of the greatest challenges as we have all endured some level of isolation during this past year as we sheltered in place. As we go forward into this new year, I pray we all take some time to contemplate our basket of first fruit and our narrative to go along with it. May we all be blessed with a happy and healthy New Year. Rabbi Robert Gamer is the rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park.