Commento su Deuteronomio 26:22

והיה כי תבוא … וירשתה וישבת בה AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN YOU COME IN [UNTO THE LAND …] AND POSSESS IT AND SETTLE THEREIN — This tells us that they (the Israelites) were not under the obligation to bring first fruits until they had conquered the land and divided it (cf. Kiddushin 37b).

והיה כי תבא, "It will be when you come, etc." The Torah introduces this paragraph with the word והיה, indicating a joyous event; the message is that the only true reason for being joyful is when one is privileged to live in the Holy Land. Compare what David had to say about the return to Zion, i.e. (Psalms 126,2) "then our mouths will be filled with laughter."

This teaches that they were not obligated to bring the first fruits, etc. You might ask why did Rashi not explain this earlier in parshas Shoftim (17:14) in the section [dealing with the appointing] a king, for there too it is written, “and inherit it and live in it”? The answer is that Rashi wants to explain why here it says, “And you inherit it and settle it.” For the [the law derived from these words] could be derived from the section dealing with [appointing] a king since we derive [from the term] “come” “come” from each other. Just as there they are not obligated [to appoint a king] until after the conquering and apportioning [the Land], so too here. And there is a tradition that this gezeira shava is a halacha given to Moshe at Sinai as Rashi explains in parshas Shelach Lecha (Bamidbar 15:18) regarding challah. [He comments there on the verse], “At your coming to the land,” that, “This [term] 'coming' is different from all the 'comings' in the Torah, etc. because Scripture specified with one of them, etc.” I.e., since it specified regarding [the obligation of appointing] a king, that it does not apply until after inheritance and settling [the Land], so too with all of them. Thus we see that this is an absolute gezeira shava. And if so, why does the verse here need to write “and you inherit it and settle it”? Rashi answers, “This teaches that they were not obligated to bring the first fruits, etc.” Apparently this verse is talking about eating [fruits], so one might have thought there is an obligation to bring first fruits immediately [after arriving in the Land] before benefiting from them, as we say (Berachos 35a), “Whoever benefits from this world without a blessing is considered as if he committed sacrilege,” and we would not have applied the gezeira shava from [appointing] a king. Therefore Rashi has to explain explicitly, “'And you inherit it and settle it,' [This teaches, etc.”] However, above in parshas Shoftim [the verse also has to specify that it is only after settlement, as] we would not learn this from first fruits, because one might think that they are obligated to appoint a king immediately they enter the Land, because the king is appointed to lead them in war, and there is no greater need for this than during the conquest and apportionment, since that is the main time of war. Therefore the verse there has to explain [by saying], “And inherit it and settle in it,” that this [appointing] is only after conquest and apportionment, in order that they give credit for the conquest to the Holy One and not to a mortal king.

Kap. 26. V. 1. כי תבוא וגו׳. Die ganze Gesetzgebung schließt mit zwei Institutionen, מקרא ביכורים und וידוי מעשר, welche die Grundtatsachen der jüdischen Nationalgeschichte und die Grundnormen der jüdischen Nationalaufgabe in zwei Bekenntnisse zusammenfassen, deren jährliches, beziehungsweise dreijährliches Aussprechen in jedem jüdischen Mann das Bewusstsein seines nationalgeschichtlichen Ursprungs und der daraus hervorgehenden nationalgesetzlichen Aufgabe wach und lebendig halten soll. Beide knüpfen sich an zwei andere bereits im Gesetze niedergelegte Institutionen, ביכורים und מעשר, welche die Würdigung des Landesbesitzes und der daraus hervorgehenden materiellen Begüterung, diese Grundlagen der nationalen Existenz, nach deren Ursprung und Bestimmung in gedankenvollen Bekenntnistaten zum Ausdruck zu bringen haben. Sie stehen daher in engster Beziehung zu dem Lande, dessen Besitznahme eben bevorsteht, und haben daher hier am Schlusse der Gesetzgebung, für deren Verwirklichung das Land erreicht wird, ihre geeignetste Stelle.

והיה כי תבא אל הארץ אשר נשבע ה' לאבותנו, “it will be when you come to the land which the Lord has sworn to our forefathers to give to us;” basing themselves on the above line, the Mishnah in bikkurim chapter 1,4, concludes that a proselyte who offers the first ripe products of his orchard while allowed to offer them, must refrain from reciting the benediction which includes thanking the Lord for having given the land to “our fathers”, seeing that he had not been Jewish at that time. Nonetheless he is commanded to address the Lord our G–d in his prayers as “our G–d and the G–d of our fathers.” The reason for this ruling is that the Jerusalem Talmud in tractate bikkurim 1,4, has ruled that all converts are called descendants of Avraham, seeing that G–d had told him that he would become the “father of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17,5)

והיה כי תבא אל הארץ, “it will be when you come to the Land, etc.” seeing that Moses had told the people in Deut. 25,19 that the commandment to wipe out Amalek would apply only after Hashem had given the people rest from all their enemies, he has to tell them here that what follows applies as soon as they enter and make their homes in the Holy Land. Some notable commandments that become due as soon as they will reap harvests in that land, are: the bringing to the Temple of the first ripened fruit of the seven species for which the land is famous, tithing the grain harvest by giving the Levites their share, inscribing the text of the Torah in the stones of the Jordan river, building the altar, as well as reciting the blessings and curses detailed in chapter 27,12-26 on the two mountains designates for this.

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נתן לך נחלה וירשתה, "which the Lord your G'd is about to give you as an inheritance and you will dwell in it." What exactly is this verse driving at? If the purpose of our verse is to convey the legislation of בכורים, "the offering of the first fruit," the Torah should have commenced these instructions with the words תקח מראשית כל פרי, "take from the first ripened fruit, etc." seeing this is the beginning of this legislation. Why did the Torah write ולקחת with the conjunctive letter ו when there is no connection to the most recently mentioned commandment? It appears that G'd actually commanded 4 separate commandments here. 1) The Israelite should realise in his heart that it was not he nor his strength which enabled him to conquer the land of Canaan but that it was a gift to him from G'd. This is why the Torah first wrote: "which the Lord your G'd is about to give to you." G'd gives it to you in order for you to realise this. The Torah advisedly used the formula אלוקיך, "your G'd," to remind you that He gave you the land in order for you to recognise Him as such. 2) You must drive out the former inhabitants of this land. You have to do this even if it appears to you that there is a good reason for keeping some former inhabitants in this land. The Torah demands that the enemies of G'd must be expelled from His land. This is why the Torah stresses וירשתה, "and you shall possess it." 3) Dwelling in the Holy Land is a commandment all by itself. We have numerous instances where the Talmud extols the importance of the commandment to dwell in the Holy Land. Compare Ketuvot 111. 4) The bringing to the Temple annually of some of the first ripened fruit which this land produces.

והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר ה' אלוקיך נותן לך נחלה וירשתה וישבת בה, ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה, “it will come to pass when you arrive in the land which the Lord your G’d is about to give to you as an inheritance and you will inherit it and be settled in it, then you will bring of the first fruit of all the soil, etc.” The commandment to offer the bikkurim does not apply to all categories of harvest produced in the land of Israel. It is applicable only to the seven species for which the land of Israel is famous, This is the understanding of the sages in Sifri Ki Tavo item 297. This is arrived at by the fact that in our verse the Torah writes: “which you will bring from your land,” whereas in Deut. 8,8 the Torah wrote: “a land of wheat, barley, grape, fig and pomegranate; a land of oil-olives, and date-honey.” The seven species mentioned in that verse determine what is meant in our verse here. The seven species mentioned in Parshat Eykev represent the species of farm-products which serve as the staple foods of the Jewish people. The commandment is applicable only at times when the Temple is standing (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 2,1). The reason that the Torah writes the words: “when you inherit it and dwell in it,” is to inform us that the commandment becomes effective only at that time, i.e. 14 years after the Israelites entered the Holy Land.

ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה, “You shall take from all the first fruit of the soil, etc.” our sages (Bikkurim 3,1) in describing the exact procedures to be followed when performing this commandment, wrote as follows: “a farmer goes into his field or orchard to check on the progress of the fruit or grain and when he observes a fig or cluster of grapes which has (almost) ripened, he attaches a string to it (to mark it) and declares that particular fruit as bikkurim.” Once he has made such a declaration the fruit becomes sanctified even while still on the tree although it has not yet completed its growth process completely. When the fruit is fully developed and cut from the tree it does not need to be sanctified again. Bikkurim are brought only from the choicest of one’s fruit. This is the meaning of the term מראשית, i.e. “from the best “(not necessarily from the first). The term ראשית also appears in that sense in Amos 6,6, where it means: “they anoint themselves with the choicest oils.” This is a principle that applies to the performance of all the commandments, i.e. one uses the choicest materials available when performing the commandment, not something of average or inferior quality. This was the difference between the offering of Hevel and that of Kayin, his older brother. The Torah reports of Hevel that he used the choicest of his animals as a sacrifice; hence G’d turned with goodwill to his offering while rejecting that of Kayin who had used inferior material. (Genesis 4,4)

אשר תביא, “which you are to bring;” if someone has set aside his bikkurim in order to bring them to the Temple and they have been lost or stolen he is liable for replacing them; We derive this from the text here where the word תביא implies a personal obligation for the owner to present this fruit to the priest in the Temple. It is one of the few commandments which cannot be performed by means of a “messenger, שליח, the task cannot be delegated. If at the time of taking the fruit from the tree the farmer had made a condition saying that he would delegate the task of transporting this fruit to the Temple such a condition is acceptable (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 2,21).
Farmers living in the proximity of Jerusalem, must bring fresh grapes or figs as their bikkurim, whereas those living far away may bring dried grapes or dried figs instead. Bikkurim are not to be presented in the Temple before the festival of Shavuot, seeing the Torah wrote (Exodus 23,16) “the festival of cutting (grain harvest) the time of the bikkurim of your labor.” If a farmer did bring his bikkurim before that date the priest does not accept them but they have to remain in escrow until that festival and only at that time can they be designated as bikkurim (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 25-6). Concerning such situations the Torah writes in verse 11 of our chapter: “you shall rejoice with all the goodness, etc.,” etc., i.e. that the time of year when bikkurim are acceptable is the season when people are happy seeing that they started bringing in the year’s harvest. Traditionally, this period extends from the festival of Shavuot through the end of the harvest season. If the bringing of the bikkurim occurs later than the festival of Sukkot, the offering is accepted but the accompanying scriptural verses may not be recited (Sifri Ki Tavo item 297).

מארצך, “from your land.” The sages in Sifri Ki Tavo 297 write that that as long as the particular species which qualifies as bikkurim is still in evidence on the land (unharvested) and the beasts of the field have not yet consumed any leftovers of such species, bikkurim are still acceptable. This prompted our sages to rule that after Chanukah one may no longer offer bikkurim, seeing that any fruit which ripens after that date is considered as part of the following year’s crop and must therefore be stored until the following Shavuot if it already ripened at such an early time of the year. (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 2,6)

מראשית [THEN THOU SHALT TAKE] OF THE FIRST [OF ALL THE FRUIT OF THE GROUND] — of the first fruits, but not all the first fruits, for not all fruits are subject to the duty of bringing to the Temple their first-fruits, only the seven chief kinds of products of Israel alone, for there is mentioned here ארץ, “the land” (אשר תביא מארצך) and it states there (Deuteronomy 8:8) “a land (ארץ) of wheat, and barley, etc.”, (thus suggesting an analogy — that the fruits of the land referred to here are those enumerated there). What is it that Scripture is speaking of there? Of the seven products through which the land of Israel is distinguished! So, too, here it speaks only of the distinguished products of the land of Israel which are seven species only (Sifrei Devarim 297:4; Menachot 84b).

THEN THOU SHALT TAKE OF THE FIRST OF ALL THE FRUIT OF THE GROUND, WHICH THOU SHALT BRING IN FROM THY LAND. [The meaning thereof is] that you shall take of the first of all the fruit which you will bring into the house from your Land, which the Eternal your G-d gives you. He commands that one should set aside that fruit in the field and designate it as first-fruit and then bring it into his house and put it in a vessel fit to be taken to the Sanctuary [in Jerusalem].¹Literally: “the Chosen House.” See Vol. IV, p. 178, Note 120. — “Fit to be taken to the Sanctuary,” this is undoubtedly a reference to what is stated in the Mishnah, that those who could afford it, “brought their first-fruits in baskets overlaid with silver and gold, while poor people brought them in wicker baskets of peeled willow-branches” (Bikurim 3:8). Now, Scripture did not prescribe an amount for the first-fruits, instead, even one grain [or berry] of that species exempts the entire field, similar to the law of terumah (the heave-offering) where one grain exempts the whole pile of grain.²This is the law of the Torah. The Rabbis however, established a minimum amount for the heave-offering to the priest. A liberal person should give one fortieth of his crop, a moderate person, one fiftieth; and a niggardly person, one sixtieth. In the case of first-fruits, the measure is one sixtieth of the produce, this law applying equally to all people (Chullin 137b).

מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך, the choicest of each category. [the word ראשית is not understood as “first.” Ed] We find the term ראשית used in this sense in Amos 6,6 וראשית שמנים ימשחו, “they anoint themselves with the choicest oils.” In verse 1 of the same chapter we read נקובי ראשית הגויים, “the ones known as the choicest of the nations. ” These “choicest” fruit are the seven types of produce for which the Land of Israel is famous, and this is why we have been commanded already in Exodus 23,19 to offer samples of these in the Temple. The gift known as ביכורים is not literally the fist ripe produce of each of these seven species, but the ones that grow on the best soil the farmer has so that it is truly also his choicest. The seven categorise of produce have been enumerated in Deut. 8,8-9.

Teneh, container, numerical value equals 60. The measurement is 1/60. The letter samech is missing from this section.

מראשית, "of the first, etc." This means that if a number of fruits ripen all at the same time only some of them have to be offered under the heading of בכורים. Our sages in Bikkurim 1,6 who stated that only the seven species mentioned in Deut. 8,8 are the subject of this legislation, derived this by the exegetical tool called גזרה שוה, i.e. the Torah employing similar sounding words in two unrelated subject matters when one or both of these words are superfluous in their context. The word which gives rise to this halachah is the word ארץ in the verse we just mentioned. According to Menachot 84 the words כל פרי, "all the fruit," mean that just as in Deut. 8,8. the Torah enumerated the seven species for which the land of Israel is especially extolled, so the law of בכורים applies only to these species.

והיה כי תבא אל הארץ וגו'...ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך , “It will be when you enter the Land …..and you will take from the first of every fruit of the ground that you bring in, etc.” Ibn Ezra writes that seeing that the last paragraph had concluded with the statement that the commandment to wipe out Amalek would not become operative until we were no longer surrounded by and threatened by enemies, the Torah now had to stress that there are commandments which become operative as soon as we had established ourselves on our ancestral heritage in the Land of Israel, formerly the Land of Canaan. Such laws include the bringing of the first ripe fruit to the Temple, observing the laws of tithing, and a host of others. Nachmanides explains that the wording of the commandment here indicates that the first ripe fruit is designated as such while still in the field or on the tree it grew on, and that it becomes sacred in accordance with such a designation. The owner then places the fruit in an appropriate container takes it home and keeps it until he makes the next pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

But not all the first, etc. This is the text in most books that are available to us. Re”m asks on this: Why learn this law from “of the first”? Derive it from the gezeira shava of “land” “land,” that only fruits of the seven species are subject to “first fruits”? Also, why is it different here that we expound “of the first” and not all the first to exclude, that not all trees are subject to the first fruit obligation, but only some of them. And why is challah (Bamidbar 15:21) different that we expound from “of the first” but not all the first, to exclude, that one may not make the whole dough challah. He discusses this at length. See the Nachalas Yaakov at length.

V. 2. ולקחת וגו׳. Die Pflicht, die Erstlinge der Landesfrüchte in das Haus des Gesetzesheiligtums hinaufzubringen, ist schon wiederholt im Gesetze ausgesprochen (siehe Schmot 22, 28. 23, 19 und 34, 26). Das Wochenfest heißt ausdrücklich: חג הקציר בכורי מעשיך (daselbst 23, 13) und יום הבכורים (Bamidbar 28, 26), mit welchem die Darbringung der מנחות von neuer Frucht und das Hinaufbringen der Erstlinge eingeleitet wird (siehe zu Wajikra 2, 11. 12 u. 23, 16. 17 und Bamidbar 28, 26). Ebenso ist bereits oben Kap. 12, 6 u. 17 die Pflicht des Hinaufbringens der Erstlinge zu der von Gott für das Heiligtum seines Gesetzes erwählten Stätte und das Verbot, sie außerhalb derselben im Lande zu genießen, im Zusammenhange mit andern dortin bestimmten Heiligtümern ausgesprochen. ביכורים werden dort unter dem Ausdruck תרומת ידך verstanden, eine Bezeichnung, die in dem hier folgenden ihre Erklärung findet.

ולקחת מראשית פרי האדמה, “you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground;” the reason why the Torah repeats this commandment which had appeared already in Exodus 23,19, is to list the commandments in a certain order.

זית שמן mentioned as one of these distinguished products is the Agari olive, in which the oil is gathered in one place.

והלכת אל המקום, “you will go to the place, etc.” Nachmanides writes that taking the verse at face value, the meaning is that once the Temple has been built we are not to take the bikkurim to any city of our liking. Just as the Torah has legislated in connection with the permission to eat non consecrated meat once the people were settled on their land, that any consecrated animal could be offered up only at a central location, i.e. in the Temple in Jerusalem, [once that city had been captured. Ed.], similarly, the consecrated bikkurim have to be brought to that same central location. [During the first 390 years, that location proved to be Shiloh during most of those years. Ed.] In the Sifri we are told that what is meant is Shiloh and the permanent Temple, which may lead one to believe that neither Nov nor Giveon ever served as a place where bikkurim were offered up. In other words, those two towns, though the Tabernacle stood there for a number of years, had not been chosen by G’d especially for that purpose, but were considered ad hoc solutions to the problems of “altars,” במות. Nachmanides does not think that this would be the correct interpretation, but thinks that the words: אשר יבחר וגו', were intended only to prohibit the offering of bikkurim on private altars. On the other hand, the words תביא בית ה' אלוקיך is meant to exclude offering these gifts in a temporary, collapsible, portable structure, such as the Tabernacle.

The aguri olive, with its oil gathered inside. You might ask: In parshas Eikev (above 8:8), Rashi explains, “' oil, olives,' Its meaning is, olives that produce oil.” Why does Rashi not explain there as he explains here [that “oil, olives” means the aguri olive]? The answer is that above he is discussing the praise of the Land of Israel; and regarding that he explains, “Olives that produce oil,” meaning that in other lands there are olives that do not produce oil, whereas in the Land of Israel, all its olives produce oil. But here he is discussing the verse dealing with the first fruits, and we bring only first fruits from the fruits of the Land of Israel by which the Land of Israel is extolled, as we derive from [the gezeira shava of] “land,” “land,” and it is as if the verse had explicitly written these fruits in the parsha of first fruits here as well. And here [too], “olive” means the olives of the Land of Israel and they all produce oil as Rashi explains in parshas Eikev. If so, it is understandable why he explains [the further point that for the mitzvah of first fruits that must be from the very best, one must bring] “the aguri olive, whose oil is gathered inside,” because there are olives whose oil oozes out during rainfall and these are not as good. Therefore Rashi explains, “The aguri olive, etc.” This also answers the contradiction in Re”m's words [where he seems to be saying that all the olives in the world produce oil].

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נתן לך "which the Lord your G'd is about to give to you;" The Torah emphasises the part of the land that G'd gives to you, because He had reserved for Himself part of that land, i.e. every seventh year when you are not allowed to work the land (compare Leviticus 25,4). It states there specifically that during the seventh year the land reverts to being G'd's. The legislation of Bikkurim applies only during the six years the Israelite farms his land. Although the land produces a harvest also during the seventh year the legislation does not apply as the land does not then belong to the farmer but is officially "ownerless."

AND THOU SHALT GO UNTO THE PLACE WHICH THE ETERNAL THY G-D SHALL CHOOSE. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture he admonishes against bringing first-fruit in [any] one of the cities [except for Jerusalem] after the Sanctuary was chosen [i.e., after Jerusalem was designated by the prophets and the ark of G-d was brought there], for just as He warned against slaughtering offerings outside [of the Sanctuary Court], so he warned with reference to the first-fruits. But the obligation of bringing first-fruits became binding immediately after they conquered and divided the Land,³This was after the fourteen years of the conquest and division of the Land, during which the ark of G-d was in Gilgal. Immediately thereafter they brought the ark to Shiloh where the House of G-d existed for a period of three hundred and sixty nine years. When the Philistines destroyed the Sanctuary in the days of Eli, the ark was moved to Nob and Gibeon, where it remained for a period of fifty seven years. From there it was moved by David to Jerusalem, and when Solomon completed the Sanctuary, it was placed in its final resting-place, the Holy of Holies. The period of Nob and Gibeon was not considered of the status of Israel having been brought to the rest and to the inheritance (above 12:9), because the structure of the House of G-d was not of stone as it had been at Shiloh; instead, it was made of the boards and curtains from the Tabernacle in the wilderness. Therefore during the fifty-seven years when the ark of G-d was first in Nob and later in Gibeon, it was permissible to bring offerings to G-d on the bamoth, “high places,” or private altars. See also further, Note 6. in accordance with the words of Rashi.⁴On this verse here. And in the Sifre it is stated:⁵Sifre, Ki Thavo 298. “And thou shalt go unto the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose to cause His Name to dwell there — this refers to Shiloh and ‘the Eternal House’⁶Or “the Permanent House.” The Sanctuary in Jerusalem is so called in contrast to the Tabernacle, which was portable. Also, because once the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, the place retains its sanctity forever, to the extent that even after its destruction, offerings may no longer be brought anywhere else. In the case of the Sanctuary in Shiloh, however, bamoth were permitted after its destruction. [in Jerusalem].” Perhaps the Rabbis [in the Sifre] meant to say that the bamoth (“high places”) were forbidden during both periods [i.e., Shiloh and Jerusalem]. However, during [the periods of] Nob and Gibeon [when high places were permitted] first-fruits could also be brought [only there in Nob and Gibeon], but they could not be offered at a private bamah, for Scripture refers [here in the chapter on first-fruits] to the altar [and he shall set it down before ‘the altar’ of the Eternal thy G-d indicating that only the public altar is suitable for first-fruits].⁷Verse 4. And “the altar” was only in the central place of worship — including Nob or Gibeon — but not at a private bamah. See further Vol. III, p. 123, Note 122 and Vol. IV, p. 180, Note 138. But since it is written, The choisest first-fruit of thy Land thou shalt bring into the House of the Eternal thy G-d,⁸Exodus 23:14. they perhaps did not bring first-fruits when it [the House of G-d] was in a tent and in a tabernacle⁹II Samuel 7:6. but only in Shiloh where there was a stone building and in the Eternal House,⁶Or “the Permanent House.” The Sanctuary in Jerusalem is so called in contrast to the Tabernacle, which was portable. Also, because once the Sanctuary was built in Jerusalem, the place retains its sanctity forever, to the extent that even after its destruction, offerings may no longer be brought anywhere else. In the case of the Sanctuary in Shiloh, however, bamoth were permitted after its destruction. [thus excluding the period of Nob and Gibeon].

Hier folgen nun nähere Bestimmungen der ביכורים-Institution, die, so einfach sie sind, in ihrer Ausführung sich zu einer großartigen, freudig gehobenen nationalen Bewegung gestaltete, welche jedes Jahr die Sommermonate vom Wochen- bis zum Hüttenfeste hindurch dauerte.

מראשית, from the first,” Rashi emphasises the importance of the letter מ i.e. “from,” as opposed to “all.”It is not even necessary to bring the entire fruit only part of it. [My version of Rashi, does not have this, but states that the farmer may designate the respective fruit before it has fully ripened. Ed.] An alternate interpretation: the word מראשית does not describe a time but describes quality, i.e. the best of these first fruit is to be brought to the Temple. The word ראשית appears in this sense of quality also in Jeremiah 2,3 ראשית תבואתו, “the best of His harvest;” [G-d comparing other nations to Israel whom He had chosen. Ed] The prophet Amos in Amos 6,6 also uses the word ראשית in that sense when he said: וראשית שמנים ימשחו, “and they anoint themselves with the choicest oils. Still another interpretation: the word מראשית means from the first in their respective category that have ripened, the very fact that they ripened earlier making those fruit superior.

ודבש HONEY is honey of dates (not of bees).

When a man enters his field. Rashi is explaining why the verse says “first”? It should have said only, “You are to take of the fruits, etc.”

מראשית ולא כל ראשית ,מראשית כל פרי האדמה (Menachot 84 b). Es heißt ל nicht ׳ראשית כל פרי וגו, weil in der Tat nicht alle Bodenfrüchte ביכורים-pflichtig sind, sondern die Halacha mit גז׳׳ש-Hinweis auf ארץ חטה ושערה וגפן usw. (Kap. 8, 3) lehrt, dass auch hier das Land in ארצך nur in seinen dort genannten sieben seinen Bodenreichtum charakterisierenden Früchten gedacht wird. Die Bestimmung konnte daher nicht ראשית כל פרי, sondern nur מראשית כל פרי lauten, weil die ביכורים-Pflicht sich nur auf eine Auswahl der Bodenfrüchte, auf die sieben Fruchtarten bezieht, welche שבח ארץ ישראל den Bodenreichtum des Landes bilden. Und ebenso wie מראשית nur eine Auswahl bezeichnet, so bezeichnet auch das מארצך (es hätte heißen können אשר תביא ארצך, welche dein Land dir heimbringt), dass auch von diesen auserwählten Früchten nur diejenigen ביכורים-pflichtig sind, die in den für sie am besten geeigneten Gegenden des Landes wachsen. So: לא מתמרים שבהרים ולא מפירות שבעמקים, so Datteln nicht aus Gebirgsgegenden, andere Früchte nicht aus Tiefland (daselbst 84 b כן נלע׳׳ד לפרש).

כל פרי האדמה, “you are to bring these specimens in their original state,” i. e. when whole, not the wine you made out of the grapes, or the oil out of the olives, for instance. (Sifri)

מראשית OF ITS FIRST FRUITS — but not all the first fruits (not even of the seven species mentioned above) but when a man goes into his field and sees for the first time that year a fig that has ripened he binds a piece of straw round it as an indication and says “Lo, this is בכורים" (and it suffices) (Sifrei Devarim 297:7; Mishnah Bikkurim 3:1).

And notices the first fig to mature, he wraps, etc. Not a fig in particular, but other species as well. The reason for mentioning a fig is because it ripens earlier than other fruits.

כן נראה לע׳׳נ לפרש מימרא דר׳ אלעזר, דלא בא לומר דיליף ר׳׳י שאין חייב בביכורים מכל פירות ממראשית דאף הוא יש לו ג׳׳ש דארץ ארץ. אלא ה׳׳ק כמו שהוצרך הכתוב לומר מראשית ולא כל ראשית כיון דלא מחייב אלא אז׳ המינים כדילפינן בג׳׳ש כך אמר קרא מארצך ולא כל ארצך להוציא תמרים שבהרים וכו׳. כן נראה לע׳׳ד. כנלע׳׳ד ובזה מסולקת קושית המפרשים מאחר די׳׳ל ׳ג׳׳ש לימוד מראשית ולא כל ראשית ל׳׳ל עי׳ הרא׳׳ם לרשי׳ וברכת הזבח מנחות פד׳ ב ומן התימה על הגדולים הנ׳׳ל דס׳׳ל דבאמת דמראשית ולא כל ראשית דרשינן כמו בחלה דבעינן שיריה נכרים והלא בפירוש איתא פיאה א׳ א׳ דביכורים אין להם שיעור למעלה וביכורים ב׳ ד׳ עושה אדם כל שדהו ביכורים ע׳׳ש בר׳׳ש אלא ע׳׳כ מראשית גבי ביכורים לא אתי כלל לתלמודא מאחר דילפינן מג׳׳ש דלא חייב אלא בז׳ מינים ולא הוה אפשר לקרא לומר ראשית כל פרי כנ׳׳ל. ואפשר הא דמדמי הגדולים הנ׳׳ל דרשה דמראשית דביכורים לדרשה דחלה לא לגמרי מדמי להו אלא כמו דמראשית גבי חלה מלמד דאינו יכול לעשות כל עיסתו חלה כך מראשית גבי ביכורים מלמד שאינו חייב לעשות כל פירות .(שנתבכרו יחדיו באילן ביכורים אלא סגי אפי׳ ענב א׳ אפי׳ תאנה

ושמת בטנא, ”and you shall put it in a basket;” it should be presented in a dignified manner.

Es waren also nur die sieben Fruchtgattungen, die den "Ruhm" des jüdischen Landes bildeten, und von diesen die auserlesensten Arten, welche ביכורים-pflichtig waren. Sollten sie jedoch, wie es im folgenden Verse heißt, gleichsam das jüdische Land in der Hand des Bringenden repräsentieren und "zeigen", dass er in Besitz des den Vätern verheißenen Landes gekommen. Begreiflich eigneten sich dazu nur die dem jüdischen Lande charakteristischen Früchte und in ihrer besten Art.

והלכת אל המקום, “and you will go to the place, etc.;” the owner of the first ripened fruit is to do all this himself, not through someone whom he designated in his place. This refers both to collecting the fruit from the tree or cutting it from the ground. When a King employs a servant to tend to his fields, he also expects that tenant to bring him his share personally, not to delegate someone else with performing that duty.

Schon am Baume, selbst noch vor vollendeter Reife, bestimmte man die Früchte zu כיצד מפרישין הביכורים יורד אדם בתוך שדהו ורואה תאנה שביכרה אשכול ,ביכורים שביכר רימון שביכר קושרו בגמי ואומר הרי אלו ביכורים (Bikurim 3, 1). Heißt doch darum die Bikurimpflicht מלאה (siehe Schmot 22, 28).

ולקחת והבאת עד שתהא לקיחה והבאה באחד ,ולקחת וגו׳ ,והלכת וגו׳ (B. B. 81b), (נראה דכולל הש׳׳ם כל ענין והלכת אל המקום וגו׳ ובאת אל הכהן וגו׳ בלשון) הבאה דהא לא כתיב והבאת). Es soll das Entnehmen der Früchte vom Boden — nach ר׳׳ת vom Hause — und das Hinaufbringen zum Heiligtum durch einen und denselben geschehen, so dass כצרן ושגרן ביד שליה, wenn der Eigentümer die Erstlingsfrüchte von seinem Acker und Feld gepflückt, sie aber durch einen andern hat hinaufbringen lassen, מביא ואינו קורא er die Früchte nur schweigend in den Tempel zu bringen hat, die hier folgenden Bekenntnisse aber nicht aussprechen kann. Ebenso, wenn sein שליח die Früchte gepflückt, unterwegs aber gestorben ist und, der Eigentümer oder für ihn ein anderer das Hinaufbringen vollendet hat. Hat aber der שליח die Früchte gepflückt und vollends hinaufgebracht, so dass לקיחה והכאה באחד geschehen, so מביא וקורא, so können die בעלים auch die vorgeschriebenen Bekenntnisse aussprechen (רשב׳׳ם daselbst; siehe jedoch תוספו׳ daselbst. וע׳׳׳ מהרשא שם ,סוף ד׳׳ה בצרן ושגרן). Nach חדושי הרמב׳׳ן (daselbst) wäre unter הבאה nicht das ganze Hinaufbringen, sondern nur הכנסתן לעזרה, das Hineinbringen in den Tempelraum begriffen, und solle dies und die לקיחה, das Entnehmen vom Hause, durch die בעלים geschehen sein. Auf dem Wege dürften die Früchte auch abwechselnd von andern getragen werden. Jedenfalls steht לקיחה und הבאה, das Fortnehmen vom Felde — nach ר׳׳ת vom Hause — und das Hinaufbringen zum מקדש, in einem so wesentlichen Zusammenhange, dass beides durch eine und dieselbe Person geschehen soll und so dieser Zusammenhang zum Bewusstsein gebracht wird, und ist die Mizwa nur mangelhaft erfüllt, wenn לקיחה והבאה nicht באחד geschehen.

Wir haben schon zu dem Satze: ראשית בכורי אדמתך תביא בית ד׳ אלדיך (Schmot 23, 19) geäußert, dass in ביכורים der Gedanke sich ausspricht, dass die ersten Früchte unserer Acker und Felder nicht als תבואה für unser Haus, sondern für Gottes Haus, für das Haus seines Gesetzesheiligtums reifen, und damit die Erkenntnis und das Bekenntnis gepflegt werden soll, dass wir den Segen unserer Äcker und das Gedeihen unserer Arbeit nur in zweiter Linie unserem Fleiß und der Gunst der physischen Einflüsse, in erster Linie aber Gott und unserem treuen Verharren in seinem Gesetzesbunde verdanken. Es ist also nicht nur הבאה, das positive Hinaufbringen zu diesem Gesetzesheiligtum, sondern auch לקיחה, das negative Fortnehmen von unserem Felde, oder nach ר׳׳ת von unserem Hause, zum Zwecke des Hinaufbringens in Gottes Haus, die לקיחה לצורך הבאה ein wesentlicher Teil des ביכורים-Gedankens, der eben durch die Norm: לקיחה והבאה באחד seinen Ausdruck erhält. Dagegen ist aber die הבאה מעכב, und wenn die ביכורים vor vollendetem Hinaufbringen verloren gehen, müssen andere gebracht werden. חייב באחריותן עד שיביאן להר הבית שנאמר ראשית בכורי אדמתך תביא בית ד׳ אלקיך (Bikurim 1. 9). Im Zusammenhange hiermit dürfte auch die Bestimmung:

ספרי) מלמד שטעונים כלי ,ושמת בטנא) stehen, wonach es obligatorisch ist, die zum Hinaufbringen bestimmten ביכורים in ein Gefäß zu legen. Es wird damit die Bestimmung ihrer הבאה von Haus aus sichtbar.

אשר יהיה בימים ההם [AND THOU SHALT GO UNTO THE PRIEST] THAT SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS — These apparently redundant words suggest: you have none else than the priest who lives in your days (you are only concerned with him) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 298:3; Rosh Hashanah 25b; see also Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:9).

AND THOU SHALT COME UNTO THE PRIEST THAT SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS — to the priest that shall be there in those days, for first-fruits, like all offerings, are given to the men of the [priestly] Division [who are assigned to the Sanctuary for a week at a time],¹⁰See Vol. IV, p. 17, Note 92. but he may not bring along a priest from his city in order to offer him his first-fruits.
Now, Rashi wrote: “You have none else than the priest who lives in your days as he is.” But I have not understood this, for in the case of an elder [of the Sanhedrin] it is proper to say [and thou shalt come …] unto the judge that shall be in those days,¹¹Above, 17:9. meaning that even though he is not as great and wise as the early judges in the ages which were before us,¹²Ecclesiastes 1:10. still he [the elder] is obligated to hearken to him [the judge], for “Jephtah in his generation is as Samuel in his generation.”¹³Rosh Hashanah 25b. The prophet Samuel is cited by Scripture as being equal to Moses and Aaron (Psalms 99:6). Elsewhere Jephthah is mentioned together with Samuel (I Samuel 12:11), thus teaching us that Jephthah in his generation was entitled to obedience just as was Samuel in his generation. But when bringing first-fruits, to whom shall he bring them if not to the priest that shall be in his days? Now, I have also seen the following text in the Sifre:⁵Sifre, Ki Thavo 298. “And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days. This is what Rabbi Yosei the Galilean says, And would it occur to you to come to the priest that is not in your days? Rather, [I must say that the verse requires one to come to] the priest who is considered by you to be established and fit in those days. Kinsmen who have ceased to be kinsmen are qualified.¹⁴This statement will be explained further on by Ramban as applying to a judge who was disqualified from rendering judgment involving a member of his family. This stricture does not apply to the bringing of first-fruits to a kindred priest who is ministering in the Sanctuary. And so it is also said, Say not thou: ‘How was it that the former days were better than these?’ ”¹⁵Ecclesiastes 7:10. The word days thus refers to “the judges of the former days.” Do not say that the judges of the former generations were better than those of the present, and therefore I would not listen to them. Instead you are to listen to them, for you are only concerned with them (Maharsha, Rosh Hashanah 25b). It appears that the Sages interpreted in this connection that if one brought first-fruits or a burnt-offering to a priest who was presumed to be qualified and afterwards it was discovered that he was the son of a divorced woman, [a defiled priest not entitled to perform the Divine Service, nor to receive the priestly gifts] the offerings are nevertheless valid, as is mentioned in the last chapter¹⁶In our text of the Gemara it is found in the third chapter of Kiddushin 66b. The tractate contains four chapters. of Tractate Kiddushin. Also included in this principle is [the rule] that a kinsman who has ceased to be a kinsman is qualified, this applying to an elder who may not be judged by a relative,¹⁷But if he ceased to be his kinsman — for example, a son-in-law [of the elder] whose wife died — he becomes qualified to judge. but it is not relevant to first-fruits.

אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם, even if the priest in the particular generation may not be outstanding in wisdom, you must not therefore treat with less respect than his position warrants. This is why the Torah added the seemingly superfluous words לה' אלוקיך, words usually only used when addressing men of outstanding caliber such as kings and prophets. [If I understand correctly, the author mans that only high ranking people need to be reminded by implication that there is a higher authority than they themselves. Hence the addition of the words לה' אלוקיך after the word הגדתי. Ed.] At any rate, the idea is that seeing that the priest receives the bikkurim on behalf of G’d, it is as if G’d’s agent is addressed by the title reserved for his Master.

אשר נשבע ה׳ לאבותינו, "which the Lord swore to our forefathers to give to us." The wording of this verse excludes this passage being recited by proselytes. He is obligated to bring the offering but cannot recite a line which would make a liar out of him (compare Bikkurim chapter 1).

אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם, “to the priest who is on duty during the years in question.” Rashi explains the verse as a reminder that only the officially ordained religious authority in each generation is authorized to hand down rulings, -on the basis of Torah laws, of course- and that one must not rely on rulings made at different times in different circumstances. (Compare Rosh Hashanah 25.) Nachmanides questions that if the Torah had written that “you shall come to the elder who is the wisest in his time,” this would be easy to understand, as the message would be that seeing that not every generation produces brilliant men, there is no choice but to turn to the relatively most learned man, instead of relying on decisions by sages who had lived in different countries, in different conditions. But, when it comes to performing duties in the Temple, why would the Torah have to mention that the first ripe fruit have to be brought to the priest performing his duties at that time, surely the fruit could not be presented to priests who had already died? If the Torah were speaking of חוקים, statutes, not given to interpretation, a reminder that one must go to the priest of one’s own generation would also make sense, the Torah agreeing that we must abide by the present authority’s decision even if these priests, sages, are known to be less learned than their predecessors. So what is the true meaning of what Moses has said here? It means that they have to be given to the roster of priests on duty at the time when the farmer arrives with his gifts, he cannot wait to hand it over until the roster changes in the week following. Neither is the farmer allowed to bring a local priest from his neighborhood with him to Jerusalem in order to ensure that that particular priest is the recipient of his gifts. According to Kiddushin 66, the meaning is that even if it turns out in retrospect that the presiding priest at the time was disqualified from receiving these gifts, as he was the son of a forbidden marriage, the ritual is not declared invalid retroactively.

That you are not ungrateful. Otherwise, why mention this? Does not the Holy One already know that he arrived to the Land? כפוי [to turn the good upside down and ignore it] is derived from the expression הכפשני באפר, “He turned me upside down in the ground” (Eicha 3:16).

V. 3. וכי עלתה על דעתך שתלך אצל ,ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם כהן שלא יהיה בימיך אלא כהן שהוא כשר וכה׳׳א אל תאמר מה היה שהימים הראשונים (ספרי) היו טובים מאלה. Der Beisatz אשר יהיה בימים ההם soll nach dem ספרי lehren, dass die im Vergleich mit früheren Zeiten etwa geringere Würdigkeit der Priester uns nicht abhalten soll, zu ihnen mit unsern ביכורים im Heiligtum hinzutreten, sobald sie nur כשר, sobald sie nur den gesetzlichen Anforderungen entsprechen. Nicht die individuelle Persönlichkeit des Priesters ist es, die wir in Gottes Gesetzesheiligtum aufzusuchen haben, sondern in seinem symbolischen Charakter als Vertreter und Diener dieses Heiligtums, der ihm von Gott mit seiner Geburt bestimmt und dessen er nicht durch Pflichtwidrigkeit unwürdig geworden, suchen wir ihn auf, um ihm als solchem, als dem Vertreter des Gesetzesheiligtums Gottes in unserer Gegenwart, die Erstlinge unseres Ackers und Feldes zu überbringen. Soll doch, nach der sogleich folgenden Erklärung, durch die ביכורים eine jede, auch die späteste Gegenwart, mit der fernsten Urvergangenheit unserer Nationalität und dem Ursprunge unserer nationalen Bestimmung in Verbindung treten. Je weniger etwa eine Gegenwart den idealen Anforderungen dieser Bestimmung entspräche, und jemehr dieser Abstand auch durch die Persönlichkeit der כהנים einer solchen Gegenwart zum Bewusstsein käme, um so wichtiger dürfte die ביכורים-Übergabe an sie mit den begleitenden, erklärenden und bekennenden Worten sein, auf dass der כהן nicht minder als der Bringende an die geschichtliche Vergangenheit, auf welcher eine jede Gegenwart steht und aus welcher sie ihre Aufgabe zu schöpfen hat, dadurch gemahnt werde und beide voll zu beherzigen lerne. So dürfte hier der Beisatz: אשר יהיה בימים ההם noch in vollerem Maße, als der ähnliche beim Richter (Kap. 17, 9) seine bedeutungsvolle Berechtigung haben.

אשר יהיה בימים ההם, “who will be on duty during those days; he is not to wait until a relative of his who happens to be a priest is on duty and to give it to him.

ואמרת אליו AND SAY UNTO HIM that you are not ungrateful (Sifrei Devarim 299:1).

הגדתי היום, equivalent to “I have made a public acknowledgment of the great works of the Lord today.” We find similar phrasing in Samuel II 19,7 when Yoav accuses David of having insulted all his ministers and generals by grieving over the death of his rebellious son instead of appreciating the loyalty of his followers who had saved his life under most difficult circumstances. The words there are: כי הגדת היום כי אין לך שרים ועבדים, “(by your excessive grieving) you have made clear that you do not consider that you have any loyal followers.”

Once each year, etc. Meaning that if he had more than one species of fruit, and one species ripened faster than the second, and he brings the first one to Jerusalem and says the readings, and then when the second species matures he brings it too, he does not say a reading a second time. Rashi's proof is that it is written “today,” which implies a restriction; otherwise, why write “today”?

HIGAD’TI’ (I PROFESS) THIS DAY. “Through this fruit which I have brought I profess and give thanks to the Eternal your G-d Who brought me into the Land which He swore unto our fathers to give us. Thus G-d fulfilled His words, and I give thanks and praise to His Name.” The meaning of the word higad’ti is like “I have told.” So also ‘vayageid Mosheh’ (and Moses told) the words of the people unto the Eternal,¹⁸Exodus 19:9. — The difficulty in the verse here is the word higad’ti which is in the past, when he has not made yet his declaration. Therefore Ramban writes that the very act of bringing the first-fruits into the Sanctuary Court constitutes a form of professing the omnipotence of G-d and an expression of thanksgiving to Him. In this sense the form of the word higad’ti is properly in the past, since the act of bringing the first-fruits has formed the way of communicating these thoughts. Such a usage is seen in the verse vayegeid Mosheh, which means that Moses “communicated” the words of the people to the Eternal. which means communicating. Or the interpretation thereof may be as follows: “I declare to you, O priest, and to all who stand by, and this declaration is unto the Eternal thy G-d, that is to say, to His Name, that I am come into the Land which He swore unto our fathers, for it is He Who brought me [near] to Him to serve Him in the Land.”

הגדתי היום וגו׳. Vergl. והגדתי לו כי שפט אני (Sam. I. 3, 13), הגדת היום כי אין לך שרים (Sam. II. 19, 7), wo הגיד etwas nicht durch Worte, sondern durch Handlungen an den Tag legen, das buchstäbliche הגיד vom נגד, etwas vor die Augen stellen bedeutet. So auch hier: durch das Hinaufbringen der ersten Früchte von meinem Felde habe ich es dargetan (siehe Bikurim 1, 7 תוי׳׳ט daselbst).

הגדתי היום, “I profess this day, etc.;” I give thanks today for having been privileged to come to this country [or to have been born in it] the land that Lord your G-d had sworn to your forefathers to become ours. He has kept His promise, and I have received my share of it. Now it is my turn to tender a gift from its produce in order to demonstrate that it is He Who has given it to our people.”

הגדתי היום I PROFESS THIS DAY — [the expression "this day" implies that the declaration is made] one once a year, but not twice a year [even when bringing from a different fruit or crop] (Sifrei Devarim 299:2).

כי באתי אל הארץ, that I have come to this land from another country אשר נשבע ה' לאבותינו לתת לנו, as when G’d had said in Genesis 17,8 “I gave this land to you and to your descendants after you.” Seeing that G’d had sworn this oath at the time, I consider myself though apparently an outsider, a stranger, as if I am a permanent resident thanks to His gift, and this is why I have brought these choice fruit that it is incumbent upon anyone who has received the land as either a gift or even as a tenant to present to the real owner of the land in recognition of His largesse.

לד׳ אלקיך; wohl so viel als für Gott, deinen Gott, in Beziehung auf ihn. אלקיך so Saul zu Samuel (Sam. l. 15, 15 u. 21, 30), Chiskia zu Jesaias (Kön. II, 19, 4). so auch (Wajikra 20, 7) von dem ganzen Priesterstamm: כי קדוש הוא לאלקיו, es ist Gott, den du lehrst, dessen Gesetz und Heiligtum du vertrittst. Indem ich die Früchte meines Landes zu dir hinaufgetragen, habe ich damit an den Tag gelegt, dass ich meinen Acker und mein Feld nur als Enkel der Väter in Besitz habe, denen Gott dieses Land für ihre Nachkommen im Bundeseid verheißen hatte, wie dies eben die Gesetzeslehre bekundet, welchem das Heiligtum, das du vertrittst, errichtet ist, und der, was er verheißen, in Erfüllung gebracht hat. Mein Acker und mein Feld stehen auf dem Boden "deines" Gottes und nur als Sohn seines Bundes sind sie mein. Zur Bekundung dessen habe ich diese Früchte gebracht.

ולקח הכהן המנה מידך AND THE PRIEST SHALL TAKE THE BASKET OUT OF THY HAND in order to wave it. The priest places his hand beneath the hands of the owner and so waves it (Sukkah 47b).

והניחו לפני מזבח ה' אלוקיך, to make plain by this gesture that these fruit are not really intended for the priest, but are a present to G’d, Who, in turn, gives them to the priest just as He does with other offerings brought to Him.

Places his hand below the owner’s hand and waves. I already explained [how Rashi knows this] in parshas Tzav (Vayikra 7:30) and in parshas Tetzaveh (Shmos 29:24) and in parshas Emor (Vayikra 23:11). His proof is that it should have said, “The kohein shall then take the basket and place it before the altar of Adonoy, etc.” Why does it say “from your hand”? Thus “from your hand” is available for a gezeira shava. It says “hand” here and it says “hand” by the owner of a peace offering (ibid 7:30). Just as over there, there is waving, as it is specified there, so too, the “hand” over here involves waving. Regarding the waving here, Rashi explains in Chapter Lulav Ve'arava (Sukkah 47b) that the owner holds the edge of the basket while the kohein places his hands beneath the bottom of the basket. Even though regarding peace offerings, the kohein puts his hand directly under the owner’s hand, that is because a peace offering has no edge or bottom, therefore the kohein’s hand is directly under the owner’s hand.

V. 4. ולקח הכהן וגו׳ והניחו וגו׳. Indem es erst Vers 10 am Schlusse des Ganzen nochmals heißt: ׳והנחתו לפני וגו, ist hier zuerst mit ׳ולקח וגו׳ והניחו וגו der Zweck des Hinaufbringens der Früchte allgemein ausgesprochen, dessen spezielle Ausführung dann folgt. Sie werden dem Priester überreicht, um sie dem מזבח ד׳ אלדיך, dem unserer völligen Hingebung an Gott, als "unserm" Gott, in Erfüllung seines Gesetzes geweihten Altar zu Füßen zu legen. Das erneute Bewusstsein des innigen Zusammenhangs einer jeden lebendigen Gegenwart samt ihrer materiellen Wohlfahrt mit unserm nationalen Ursprung und der in ihm wurzelnden Bundespflicht, soll eine erneute Hingebung an die uns damit gestellte Lebensaufgabe bewirken.

ולקח הכהן הטנא מידך, “the priest will accept the basket from your hands;” the priest acts as the delegate of the king, i.e. Hashem, in this instance.

Das ולקח הכהן הטנא מידך, das Überreichtwerden des Fruchtkorbes durch die Hand des Bringenden an den Priester für den Altar, findet aber seine Erläuterung in dem ידיו תביאינה את אשי ד׳, in dem Überreichen der Opfer- und Spendenteile, אימורים וחזה ושוק an den Priester von den שלמים-Opfern (Wajikra 7, 30; siehe daselbst). Wie dort, so wird auch hier die Übergabe durch eine von בעלים- und Priesterhänden gemeinschaftlich vorgängig zu vollziehende תנופה ותרומה-Handlung vollbracht, und dadurch מוליך ומביא מעלה ומוריד, der Übergabe selbst der Sinn einer Weihung an die gesamte Mitwelt und an Gott erteilt (siehe daselbst zu Versen 28 — 30). Beachten wir, dass die hier auf den כהן bezogene והניחו ,הנחה, am Schlusse von dem Bringenden ausgesagt wird, והנחתו, so setzt auch schon der Wortlaut unseres Textes eine von beiden gemeinsam zu vollbringende Handlung voraus, wie dies ja bei der תנופה wirklich der Fall ist (siehe Menachot 61 a u. b).

והניחו לפני מזבח ה' אלוקיך, “he will deposit it in front of the altar of the Lord your G-d.” If there is no altar, i.e. if the Temple is not standing, this procedure is not valid. (Sifri)

Wie aber die הגשה der Mincha (Wajikra 6, 7) אל פני המזבח ,(במערב) לפני ד׳ (בדרום), somit an dem südwestlichen Winkel des Altars geschieht, und damit die in der Mincha repräsentierten Güter der Nahrung und des Wohlstandes dem aus der תורה quillenden Geiste huldigend geweiht werden (siehe daselbst und zu Kap. 2, 8), so wird auch hier für die Niederlegung der Früchte zu Füßen des Altars לפני המזבח und לפני ׳ד ausgesprochen: ׳והניחו לפני מזבח ד und ׳והנחתו לפנ׳ ד und daran im Jeruschalmi (Bikurim III, 6) auch der südwestliche Altarwinkel als die auch für die הנחה der בכורים bestimmte Stelle gelehrt. Die Bikurim werden daher in das Heiligtum gebracht, um nach vollzogener תנופה an den südwestlichen Altarwinkel niedergestellt zu werden und damit das Gott gehörige Land mit allem seinem Reichtum der Beherrschung durch den vom Gesetze gewährten Geist zu unterstellen.

ביכורים sind unter den von den Bodenerzeugnissen zu gebenden Spenden die einzigen, bei welchen die תנופה ותרומה-Handlung vorzunehmen ist. Weder bei תרומה, noch מעשרות, noch חלה findet eine solche statt. Daraus erklärt sich, dass, wie oben bemerkt, unter תרומת ידך überall nur ביכורים verstanden werden (siehe Raschi Peßachim 36 b).

וענית is an expression for raising one’s voice (speaking loudly) (Sotah 32b).

ארמי אובד אבי, my father, i.e. Yaakov, who was for a while a wandering lost person without a home of his own, was not at the time able to establish a nation deserving or fit to inherit this land.

וענית ואמרת, "And you shall answer and say, etc." Some commentators understand the word וענית as similar to Job 3,2: i.e. "he answered." It is also possible that the word is related to עני. When an undeserving individual has received a great favour from his king, he humbles himself before his king with a contrite heart. Similarly, the Jewish farmer who has seen the blessing G'd has showered on his field or orchard humbles himself before the Lord. He does so by recounting the lowly beginnings of the Jewish people whose ancestor Jacob was a hired hand working for Laban, who made every effort to destroy him. Up to this point the word וענית applies to the recital of the Jewish farmer. Once he recalls the Exodus and how G'd has elevated the Jewish people the Torah refers to his recital as ואמרת, "you will say (with a sense of great satisfaction)". This is what the sages had in mind in Pessachim 116 when they said that the order in which we recount the story of the Exodus on the night of the "Seder" is that one begins by reciting something shameful only to conclude with something representing praise and satisfaction.

ארמי אובד אבי, as if the Torah had written” my father Avraham was an Aramite, lost, and exiled from his birthplace Aram.” G’d had told him in Genesis 12,1 “go forth for yourself from your homeland, etc.” Later on, Avraham himself relates to Avimelech the king of the Philistines, (Genesis 20,13) that G’d had made him wander, away from his father’s house, etc. The meaning of the word אובד here is similar to תועה, the root Avraham used to describe wandering without specific objective, almost like walking because one is lost. The word occurs clearly in that sense in Psalms 119,176 תעיתי כשה אובד בקש עבדך, “I have strayed like a lost sheep; search for Your servant, etc.!” We also find the word in this connotation in Jeremiah 50,6 עמי רועיהם התעום, “My people were lost sheep; their shepherd led them astray.” In other words, the recital by the farmer goes back to the Jewish people’s origin, the farmer saying: ‘our forefathers came to this land from an alien country and now G’d has given it to us.

ארמי אובד אבי, “An Aramean tried to destroy my father;” the reference is to Lavan who chased after Yaakov and his family intending to kill them all. Ibn Ezra writes that the ארמי described here was Yaakov himself, so that the meaning of the verse would be: “when my forefather Yaakov arrived in Aram he was penniless, on the brink of death.” The word אובד only appears in an intransitive mode, so that it cannot mean that Lavan tries to kill him. Furthermore, the word appears in the context of someone being close to death Proverbs 31,6: תנו שכר לאובד ויין למרי נפש, “give liquor to the one who is about to perish or wine to the embittered.” Verse 7 in that same chapter of Proverbs is proof of that meaning, as Solomon continues with: ישתה וישכח רישו ועמלו לא יזכר עוד, “so that he may forget his poverty, and will no longer remember his suffering.” The meaning of the whole recital by the farmer is: “I did not inherit my wealth from my father who was extremely poor when he came to Aram, and subsequently my forbears were strangers and slaves in Egypt, few in numbers; afterwards my fortunes improved when Hashem redeemed us from slavery and brought us to this wonderful land from the produce of which I bring the first ripe fruit as a symbol of my gratitude.” Do not try to argue that an Israelite cannot be called a “Aramean;” we know both from Samuel II 17,25, and Chronicles I 2,17 that Avraham, Ishmael, who were refugees from Aram at one time are still referred to as Arameans on occasion.

ארמי אובד אבי, “my father (Yaakov) was a wandering Arami.” The Torah here refers to Yaakov as an ארמי (as if he had been a person born in Aram) The meaning of the line is: “my father had become a poor Arami.” In other words, by the time my father arrived in Aram he had become impoverished. The word אובד also appears in hat sense in Proverbs 31,6 where the words תנו שכר לאובד mean: “give liquor to the poor person.” We know that Yaakov endured much pain while serving Lavan. He himself testified to this when he said (Genesis 31,40) “by day scorching heat consumed me.”

This denotes a loud proclamation. But it does not denote [an expression of] answering or replying, because there cannot be a reply unless someone calls or asks, and here, who called to him or asked him anything?

V. 5. וענית ואמרת וגו׳. Mit dem Korbe der bereits dem Streben für Gott und die Gesamtheit durch תנופה geweihten Früchte in der Hand, die er, wie er bereits gesagt, zum Ausdruck des Bewusstseins gebracht, dass er das Land nur der Erfüllung der Bundesverheißung Gottes an die Väter verdanke, schaut nun sein Blick zurück auf diese Uranfänge des jüdischen Volkes und hebt die Momente hervor, in denen eben für alle Zeit die Wahrheit sich bekundet, dass bei der Gründung des jüdischen Volksdaseins nur Gottes Wille und Gottes Allmacht gewaltet und kein sonstiger Faktor Teil daran hat.

וענית ואמרת, “and you will respond by saying, etc.;” the recital of the prayer of thanksgiving must be performed audibly, but the recital of the “confessional” part starting with the words: בערתי את הקודש, “I have cleared out any sacred things, etc.” may be recited in a whisper. The text introduces it with the word: ואמרת, “you will say,” instead of וענית ואמרת

ארמי אובד אבי, “my forefather used to be a wandering Aramean;” this verse has been abbreviated. In full, it should have read: “Yaakov my forefather was a wandering Aramean.” While he was serving Lavan in Aram he was no better than a wandering Aramean, he had no house or land of his own; he was not even a resident in that country.”

ארמי אבד אבי A SYRIAN DESTROYED MY FATHER — He mentions the loving kindness of the Omnipresent saying, ארמי אבד אבי, a Syrian destroyed my father, which means: “Laban wished to exterminate the whole nation” (cf. the Haggadah for Passover) when he pursued Jacob. Because he intended to do it the Omnipresent accounted it unto him as though he had actually done it (and therefore the expression אבד which refers to the past is used), for as far as the nations of the world are concerned the Holy One, blessed be He, accounts unto them intention as an actual deed (cf. Sifrei Devarim 301:3; Onkelos).

He cites the Omnipresent’s benevolence, etc. I.e., because he mentions the Holy One's benevolence, that He gave them this Land, he also mentions the other benevolences that He treated our forefathers. Otherwise, what connection is there between “the Aramite destroyed my forefather” and the first fruits?

After having had a good look at our paragraph I have also found in it an allusion to our inheriting the celestial regions. The words והיה כי תבא אל הארץ hint that a person has no right to rejoice until he arrives in the land of the higher regions of which Solomon says in Proverbs 31,25: "she looks forward to the יום אחרון, "the final day" with laughter." This means that even a woman of valour such as described by Solomon as the epitome of woman-hood does not permit herself joy in this life. Joy in this life is vanity and רעות רוח, "a vexation of the spirit." The Torah continues with אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נתן לך, "which the Lord your G'd will give to you," i.e. only that land (the hereafter) is called an enduring inheritance. The reason the Torah is careful to say נתן לך, "gives to you," is because all of the treasures of this world are as nothing compared to the gift of an inheritance in the "higher world." No matter how much wealth any one of us has acquired in this world, it would not suffice to acquire, i.e. to buy even the least bit of an inheritance in the hereafter. This is why the Torah can only describe such an inheritance as a gift from G'd not as something we could trade for our assets in this world.

אבד ,ארמי אבד אבי im Kal ist immer intransitiv und heißt: zu Grunde gehen. א ֹ ֵבד daher: ein zu Grunde gehender, einer, der dem Untergange nahe ist. ארמי und und zwar läst der trennende Akzent auf ,אבי sind daher beides Prädikate von אבד ארמי den Gedanken zuerst auf diesem ruhen und fügt dann noch אובד als zweites Prädikat hinzu: ein Aramäer, dem Untergange nahe war mein Vater.

אובד, “poor,” compare Proverbs 31,6, תנו שכר לאובד, “give liquor to the one who is perishing.”It is not astounding to find Yaakov referred to as Arami, as in Chronicles I 2,17 (יתר(ו is called Ishmaelite, although in Samuel II 17,24, he is clearly called Israelite.

וירד מצרימה AND HE WENT DOWN INTO EGYPT — But there were others, too, “who came against us to destroy us” (cf. the Passover Haggadah), for afterwards Jacob went down into Egypt with his children and these were enslaved there).

Because he intended to act, etc. Rashi is answering the question: If Lavan did not destroy him, why then is it written “destroyed,” which indicates that he did destroy him? אובד is a verb acting on something else [i.e. saying that the Aramite destroyed Yaakov], as if it said מאבד, [sought to destroy] even though this is not in accordance with proper grammar. So one has to explain according to this Midrash of the sages.

וישבת בה "and you will dwell therein;" this is best understood in light of the description of what the righteous will be doing in the hereafter supplied by Berachot 35. The Talmud there describes the righteous as sitting in the hereafter with their crowns on their heads.

Den größten Gegensatz zu der gesegneten Selbständigkeit im eigenen Lande, von welcher die Früchte im Korbe als bekundende Zeugen gebracht sind, spricht das Prädikat "Aramäer" aus, unter welchem der Bringende seinen Ahn erblickt.

במתי מעט WITH A FEW PERSONS — with only seventy souls (Sifrei Devarim 301:4; Onkelos).

For with the nations, the Omnipresent equates, etc. Rashi is answering the question: The Holy One does not equate thought with deed except for idolatry (Kiddushin 39b)! Therefore he explains, “For with the nations, etc.” I.e., even not in the case of idolatry He equates, etc., and only with Yisroel is it so [that He does not equate thought with deed].

ולקחת מראשית, "and you will take from the first, etc." we can understand this according to the Zohar volume two page 59 that all the commandments a person performs in this life together with all the good deeds he does are collected and stored up in the celestial regions awaiting his arrival there at which time they will serve him as an entrance card to an audience with the King of Kings, the Almighty. This idea is based on Isaiah 58,8: "that your righteousness walks ahead of you when the Glory of G'd gathers you in." ולקחת מראשית כל, "and you will take from the first of all, etc." The Torah means that the word ראשית refers to the best, the choicest. When presenting an offering to G'd you will only take the choicest of the products this world has to offer. Another meaning which the Torah alludes to when choosing the word ראשית is the Torah itself. We have it on the authority of Bereshit Rabbah 1 that the Torah itself is called ראשית.

Kanaan war nicht die Heimat der Väter, in Aram stand Abrahams Wiege, Aram nannte er ארצי ומולדתי, sein Land und seine Geburtsheimat; kein Heimatsrecht hatte er selber im Lande, dass nunmehr etwa die Enkel sich desselben als naturberechtigte Erben erfreuen dürften. Heimatlos in der jetzigen Heimat der Enkel war ihr erster Ahn, musste es als Gnade betrachten, wenn ihm in der jetzigen heimatlichen Erde der Enkel ein Grab für sein Weib gewährt würde. Und als sein erster Enkel, Jakob-Jisrael, dessen Namen das Volk jetzt trägt, als Flüchtling in die aramäische Heimat zurückgepilgert war und sich dort durch schweren Knechtesdienst eine Existenz errungen hatte, duldete ihn wieder die aramäische Heimat nicht; mit Untergang bedroht, musste er, vor seinem ränkevollen Schwäher fliehend, wieder als Flüchtling mit Weib und Kind Kanaans Boden aufsuchen, um auch dort die Ruhe nicht zu finden, und endlich, einer Hungersnot entfliehend, immer noch ארמי, immer noch heimatlos, und schon um dieser noch dazu mit widrigsten Geschicken bisher gepaarten Heimatlosigkeit willen: אובד, nach menschlichem Urteil ohne alle Hoffnung für eine einstige selbständige Zukunft, in die an Sprache und Sitte und Lebensanschauungen noch gegensätzlichere Fremde, nach Ägypten, hinabzuziehen.

Yet others fell upon us to annihilate us, etc. Rashi explains [the verse as follows]: The straightforward meaning implies that because the “Aramite destroyed my forefather” therefore “he descended to Egypt.” But this is not so. Therefore he explains “yet others, etc.” which is a separate matter.

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נתן לך, "which the Lord your G'd gives to you;" this may be understood in terms of what our sages in Berachot 35 said about an apparent contradiction between two verses in Psalms. In Psalms 24,1 the Psalmist says: "the earth and all which is in it belongs to G'd," whereas in Psalms 115,16 the same Psalmist proclaims: "the heavens are G'd's heavens, whereas He has given the earth to man." The Talmud resolves the apparent dilemma by saying that the first verse is true when man has failed to thank the Lord by reciting a benediction before he enjoys the pleasures this earth provides. The second verse is true after man has obtained permission from G'd to treat the earth as his by means of reciting the appropriate benedictions. In other words, once man has complied with G'd's commandments, whatever he has accomplished on earth is considered as something he has accomplished in his own domain, albeit one that G'd has given to him as a gift. Were it not so, none of man's actions would be of the slightest value since he would constantly toil within a domain to which he has no claim and upon which he could not therefore make a lasting impact. When the Torah wrote: "which the Lord your G'd gives to you," it referred to the gift of the entire earth to man provided he had first complied with G'd's wishes.

Volkeszukunft in Kanaans Land war den Vätern verheißen — und als eine nur in Aram berechtigte, zukunftlose Familie zogen sie nach Mizrajim, ארמי אובד אנוס על פי הדבור — אבי וירד מצרימה, fügt die Agadaerläuterung hinzu, der Hinabzug der Jakobsfamilie nach Mizrajim war nach menschlicher Berechnung nur eine noch größere Entfernung von der Verwirklichung der ihnen verheißenen Zukunft. Es war trotz des augenblicklichen Glanzes, dem sie entgegen ging, eine wahrhafte ירידה. Daher bedurfte es des ermutigenden Zuspruchs: אל תירא מרדה מצרימה (Bereschit 46, 3). Daher schied Josef, in seinem Glanze, mit der Überzeugung, dass es einer besonderen פקידה, eines besonderen Eingreifens der göttlichen Waltung bedürfen werde, und mit der Zuversicht, dass diese sich bezeugen werde, sie einst wieder hinaus und hinaufzuführen zu dem verheißenen Lande (daselbst 50, 24). Allein sie zogen hinab, scheinbar אנוס ,אובד durch die Macht der Verhältnisse gezwungen, und על פי הדבור, und der göttlichen Weisung gehorchend.

ושמת בטנא, "and you will place it in a basket, etc." This is a hint that all the good deeds a person does have to correspond to the guidelines set by our sages as we read in Deut. 17,11: "in accordance with the Torah which they (the sages) will teach you and in accordance with the judgments they will say to you." These sages are the ones who have expounded the Torah in 60 tractates of the Talmud, the numerical value of the letters in the word טנא, "basket" symbolising these 60 tractates of the Talmud. Unless the performance of all these good deeds is based on the authority of the sages and the framework which they have provided both the do-gooder and his good works will be burned.

ויגר שם von vornherein war nicht die Absicht להשתקע במצרים, sich dort bleibend anzusiedeln; einen Fremdlingsaufenthalt suchten sie dort, und den erhielten sie mit allen bitteren Konsequenzen, die sich für heimatlose, unberechtigte Fremde in einem Staate wie Ägypten daran knüpften. במתי מעט, mit siebzig Seelen.

והלכת אל המקום, "and you will go to the place, etc." According to the Zohar volume one page 81 man does not normally proceed directly to be received by G'd in His palace, but he has to prepare himself in a place called the ante-chamber. Sometimes the period such a soul has to stay in the ante-chamber preparing itself for the fateful interview may be quite lengthy. Our verse alludes to the period needed for man's soul to prepare itself for entering the palace where it will come face to face with G'd, i.e. "the place which He chooses for His name to reside in."

ויהי שם und dort, wider alle berechtigte Erwartungen, wurden sie, durch ihre im Gegensatz zu der übrigen Bevölkerung bewahrte geistige und sittliche Eigentümlichkeit geeint, לגוי, zu einer gesonderten Volkeseinheit, מצוינים שם, und zwar zu einer großen Volkeseinheit, durch Gottes Segen stark und zahlreich.

ובאת אל הכהן, "and you will come to the priest, etc." We may look at this in light of Chagigah 12 where the archangel Michael is described as standing ready to sacrifice the souls of the righteous on a celestial altar in honour of G'd Almighty. The words which the Torah here tells the person offering his בכורים to recite are to be understood as the words which the soul is to recite to the arch-angel Michael, who is the High Priest in the celestial regions, before he proceeds to offer this soul as a sacrifice.

The words אשר יהיה בימים ההם, "who will officiate at that time," may be understood in light of the Zohar who says that the "priests" (angels) officiating in the celestial spheres are subject to rotation. We have a statement to this effect in the Zohar Chadash Parshat Lech Lecha concerning the status of the archangel Michael. This is the reason the Torah wrote אשר יהיה בימים ההם. We are told there that this angel only attained the position of "High Priest" after he had offered the soul of King David thus enabling it to enter the celestial regions. This occurred after Solomon had built the Temple on earth. [According to the text in the Zohar Chadash, although G'd had forgiven David the sin with Bat Sheva, David had not yet secured entry to the hereafter until that day. Ed.] The recital of the abbreviated history of the Jewish people including the words אשר נשבע ה׳… לתת לנו, "which the Lord had sworn an oath …to give to us," refers to the land of Israel which is the means through which Torah observance and performance of good deeds will continue.

The Torah goes on with ולקח הכהן הטנא מידך, "and the priest will accept the basket from your hand," to indicate that the only thing the celestial High Priest will accept from you as a suitable gift for G'd are offerings based on Torah values as taught to us by the oral Torah, i.e. as per the number 60 represented by the word טנא and referring to the 60 tractates of the Talmud.

וענית ואמרת, "and you will say in your (spiritual) poverty," the Torah refers to the fact no matter how much a person tries to do good in this life it is not enough to please the Lord. Our sages in Eyruvin 17 said that when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob face G'd to be judged, neither one of them is able to hold his own seeing that it is not possible for man born of woman to meet the standards demanded of him by G'd. Job referred to this when he said (Job 4,17) "can mortals be aquitted by G'd, can man be cleared by his Maker?" The recital the Torah prescribes for the farmer bringing the first fruit is nothing but a list of the excuses cited by man for his failure to live up to G'd's expectations of him. First he refers to the adverse circumstances under which he laboured at Laban the swindler. This is a simile for the temptations of the evil urge who is a great swindler having tricked Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge. The Torah itself had described the tempter, the serpent, as very wily (Genesis 3,1). The words אבד אבי are a reference to Adam. Isaiah 43,27 quotes G'd as saying "your original father (Adam) has sinned, and your spokesmen (priests and prophets) trangressed against Me." The word אבד is a reference to the mortality this sin introduced to the human race, something which affected all subsequent generations who became infected with an evil pollutant. This is the mystical dimension of the foreskin which is part of the embryo from its very earliest gestation. Another meaning of the words אבד אבי "who denies my Father," is similar to Psalms 14,1: "the withered man has said in his heart 'there is no G'd.'"

The word אבי, "my father," may also be a reference to the soul seeing all the efforts of Satan are aimed at corrupting and destroying the holy soul in man. The soul is called "father" in the Zohar volume one page 76. It is Satan who tries to prevent man from carrying out his duty to serve his Maker. This is not all Satan was responsible for, but וירד מצרים, "he descended to Egypt," i.e. to the place where the evil urge is at home, the epitome of physicality, the place where the soul is under the greatest amount of pressure to yield to Satan. This is the mystical dimension of Isaiah 65,25: ונחש עפר לחמו, "and the serpent feeds on dust." This is a simile for Satan subsisting on all the material pleasures of this world, enjoying them for their own sakes, something which is an abomination to G'd. Literally, the very fact that man's body is narrow, מצר (same as מצרים) accounts for the fact that the evil urge within us is so close to our soul that we can hardly avoid touching. The four basic raw materials which G'd employed to create this physical universe have all become predominantly secular and even defiled through man's original sin so that G'd had to decree mortality on His creatures. [The author, in common with all other Kabbalists, has explained that death is part of the rehabilitative process for the spirit which will ultimately redeem man. Ed.]. This perversion of the basic raw materials man is made of is the reason people respond so readily to the seductive tactics of Satan. The body itself is called מצרים, "Egypt," (confined), because it exerts constant pressure on man through the pleasures man lusts after.

ויגר שם, "it sojourned there," i.e. intitially the presence of Israel's soul in Egypt, Satans' home, was only comparable to the presence of a stranger. [compare the parable the prophet Nathan told David to illustrate to him how wrong he had been in taking Bat Sheva as his wife. Ed.] We read in Samuel II 12,4: "the traveller went" (and seduced David). Compare the treatment of these verses in Sukkah 52.

במתי מעט, "few in numbers." This is a reference to the relatively weak forces of Satan at that time. Afterwards these forces increased manifold due to the active co-operation of man himself. This is why the Torah continues: ויהי שם לגוי גדול ועצום "and while there it became a powerful nation." This is the mystical dimension of Psalms 25,11: וסלחת לעוני כי רב הוא "and pardon my iniquity though it is great." Rabbi Yitzchak Luria explained that the word רב, "great," refers to the evil urge whose powers are great. The fact that G'd commanded us to perform the rites of the scape-goat on the Day of Atonement is proof that Satan's power must not be discounted. G'd commanded that we present one scape-goat each to Him and to the Azzazel (Leviticus 16,8).

וירעו אותנו המצרים ויענונו, "The Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, etc." The Torah means that by means of the transformation which had taken place in the four basic raw materials from which G'd had created the physical universe we ourselves became evil. You have to translate the words וירעו אותנו "they made us evil". Once the composition of the raw materials had become redefined, the willpower of the life-force, נפש, within man was bound to reflect the nature of the material his body is made of.

ויענונו, "they afflicted us;" this describes the utter inability of the victim to resist his attacker anymore, in this case the attack by the evil urge. The Talmud relates an interesting story involving this point in Kidushin 81 involving Rabbi Amram who was well known as "Rabbi Amram the pious." Some female prisoners had been rescued from their captors by men of his town Nehardea who entrusted their care to Rabbi Amram. The Rabbi provided accomodations for them in the second floor of his house and removed the staircase leading to the upper floor as a precaution to protect the chastity of these girls or women. It happened that when one of the girls passed the space near where the ladder used to stand, Rabbi Amram experienced a sudden shaft of light which he considered as due to the physical beauty of that girl. This caused the evil spirit within him to be aroused to the point where he tried to put the ladder back in place. Although the ladder was far too heavy for one man to carry, his urge was so strong that he managed it. At the last moment before completing the climbing of the ladder, he was able to shout for help exclaiming that there was a fire in the house which needed to be extinguished. Naturally, the townspeople including the local scholars came to help, and when they became aware of the true state of affairs they chided Rabbi Amram for embarassing them in such a way. Rabbi Amram retorted that it was better both for them and himself to be embarassed before their peers on earth rather than to be embarassed after his departure from earth in the celestial regions in front of all the righteous souls keeping company with G'd. The Rabbi implored the evil urge to leave him, whereupon the latter departed in a column of fire. Thereupon Rabbi Amram said to the evil urge: "although you are a column of fire and I am only flesh and blood, I am superior to you."

ויתנו עלינו עבודה קשה, "and they made us perform hard labour." This is hyperbole describing that instead of the evil urge bothering them only from time to time, the attempts by the evil urge to pervert the Israelites became something ongoing. This is why the Torah describes it as עבודה קשה. Another meaning of the expression is along the lines of the statement in Kidushin 30 that the evil urge appears anew every single day in a stronger form. All the words the Torah has written here are what the servant Israel argues before G'd Almighty after his death in order to explain why his offering to G'd is so insignificant.

ונצעק אל ה׳ אלוקינו, "We cried out to the Lord our G'd, etc." Here the Torah provides a hint that it is necessary for man to pray to G'd daily to save him from the wiles of the evil urge. וישמע ה׳ את קולנו, "and G'd listened to our voice, etc." Although G'd Himself created the evil urge in order to examine if man truly serves Him, nonetheless when man cries out to G'd to be saved from these temptations He responds when He sees how the evil urge has made a deep imprint on us, one described here as ,ענינו, עמלנו לחצנו. The word עני refers to the complete collapse of our spiritual resources to fight the temptation of the evil urge; the word עמלנו refers to the burdensome task of fighting off the evil urge; the word לחצנו refers to the evil urge imposing his will upon us against our better judgment. G'd listened to our appeal because we suffered from all these three pressures. Another way of looking at this verse is to understand the word ענינו as a reference to the fact that most Torah scholars suffer from personal poverty. In fact Midrash Tehillim 5 quotes the Torah as wanting to know from G'd why the scholars devoting themselves to its study are poor. Although one must not generalise, as there have always been some Torah scholars who enjoyed great material wealth, we are taught in Avot 6,4 that the normative approach to the path of Torah is when its scholars eat bread and salt, drink water sparingly (as opposed to wine), sleep on the floor and generally practice a life of asceticism. The word עמלנו should be understood as in Berachot 17 "hail to those who labour hard in order to acquire Torah." In our day and age when a tremendous amount of toil is required to extract even a single halachah or new Torah insight, we can appreciate what the sages meant with their statement. Finally, the word לחצנו refers to the fact that all the people who make their lives dependent on Torah study, etc. experience that they are being opposed from many quarters so that ועיני כל אליו ישברו, "and the eyes of all the Torah scholars have to be trained upon Him (for help)."

ויוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים, "And the Lord took us out of Egypt, etc." This is a reference to G'd saving us from the onslaught of the evil urge which squeezed us i.e. מצרים. Our sages in Kidushin 30 state that without G'd's help it would be impossible to withstand the temptations of the evil urge. They base this on Psalms 37,32: "the 'wicked one' watches for the righteous and attempts to kill him. The Lord will not abandon him to his power."

ביד חזקה, "with a strong hand, etc." Here the Torah alludes to the means G'd employs in order to save man from the attacks of the evil urge. The Talmud in Kidushin which we cited previously quotes G'd as saying that He has created antidotes to every potential hazard in His universe. The antidote to the evil urge is Torah study, for instance. יד חזקה is a reference to Torah based on Deut. 33,2: "from His right hand He presented the fiery Torah to them."

ובזרע נטויה, "and with an outstretched arm." The Torah refers to three separate means employed by G'd to save man from being victimised by the evil urge. Menachot 43 states that anyone wearing phylacteries on his arm, fringes on his garments, and who affixes a mezzuzah on the doorpost of his house, will not easily succumb to sin. In our verse we may understand the words בזרע נטויה as an allusion to the effect of phylacteries worn on the arm against the temptation by the evil urge. The Torah continues ובמורא גדול "and with great fearsomeness;" this may be viewed as an allusion to the power of the phylacteries worn on the head to combat attempts by the evil urge to corrupt us. Concerning the power of fringes worn on our garments to fight off the evil urge, the Torah writes ובאותות. The reason is that the commandments to wear ציצית is a sign demonstrating that we are not idolators but are servants of the Lord. Nachmanides in his commentary on Parshat Shelach Lecha claims that these fringes allude to an all-embracing known as Ottot. The word ובמופתים corresponds to the law to affix mezzuzot to the door-posts of our houses. This practice originated in Egypt prior to the killing of the firstborn when the sign of the blood of the passover lamb protected its inhabitants against the angel of death, Satan incarnate. According to Zohar volume three page 265 just looking at a mezzuzah has such a powerful effect on the forces of the קליפה that many of them are frightened by merely seeing the name שדי on the outside of the capsule.

It is entirely possible that the entire verse contains a hint at the power of the Torah which saves man from the evil urge and the various cravings for satisfying one's urges in this life. The verse contains 5 separate items each one representing one of the five Books of Moses. The expression ביד חזקה, "with a strong hand," corresponds to the Book of Genesis in which the deeds of G'd the Creator who has fashioned the whole universe are described. The expression בזרע נטויה, "with an outstretched arm," corresponds to the Book of Exodus in which G'd is described as displaying His might against the Egyptians both in Egypt and at the sea, and where we learned about His manifesting Himself to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. The expression ובמורא גדול, "and with great awesomeness," reflects the Book of Leviticus in which we are commanded to perform the various acts of service to the Lord in the Tabernacle, where G'd taught us to fear the holy sites, and where He sanctified the Tabernacle when He killed the two sons of Aaron who had made unauthorised use of a holy site. The expression ובאותות, "and with signs," corresponds to the Book of Numbers, where the Israelites were reported counted איש על דגלו באותות. The expression ובמופתים, "and with miracles," corresponds to the Book of Deuteronomy, during the course of which Moses admonished the Jewish people pointing to all the miracles G'd had performed on their behalf and which alone accounted for their surviving up until then. Moses warned the people that G'd had not paid them back for their evil deeds as He would have been entitled to do, but had instead made them the recipients of all His love and kindness. This Book also contains information about the institution of prophecy and the miracles such prophets would be authorised to perform under certain conditions and how the performance of such miracles may serve to establish the prophet's credibility.

ויביאנו אל המקום הזה, He has brought us to this place, etc. The Torah refers to the higher world, the world inhabited by the נשמה, the superior soul. This soul is unable to make all these statements until after it has left the body it had inhabited and has reached the regions known as Gan Eden of the celestial regions. This occurs after it has had its fill of the Gan Eden to be found on earth. This is why these words about the soul having been brought back to this place have been said at this stage. The very fact that the soul has managed to reach these regions and face G'd and to tell Him all the aforegoing is already a delight for it, especially when compared to its former location in what was merely an earthly Paradise. The Torah goes on to describe this earthly Paradise as ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, "a land flowing with milk and honey". We have a similar description of an idyllic country in the terrestrial regions in Song of Songs 4,11 when Solomon says דבש וחלב תחת לשונך, "honey and milk lie under Your tongue."

ועתה הנה הבאתי, "And now, here I have brought, etc." We have mentioned repeatedly that whenever the Torah uses the word עתה it has a connotation of תשובה, repentance. The person whom the Torah describes as reciting this prayer is a penitent. Although we have described him as having already been a resident in the terrestrial Gan Eden which certainly places him amongst the select group of the righteous, this is not enough when one desires entry to the celestial Gan Eden. Here we deal with the mystical dimension of the judgment G'd subjects the souls to in the future, something referred to as עמק יהושפט, [compare Yoel 4,2 where this location is described as where G'd judges the survivors of the war of Gog and Magog Ed.]. Even the prophet Samuel dreaded to face this final judgment and this is why he was so upset when the necromancer brought him back at the behest of King Saul (compare Midrash Tehillim 8 and Chagigah 4). This Midrash claims that there never was nor ever will be a valley named "the valley of Yehoshophat," i.e. that the name Yehoshaphat is a combination of the Hebrew for "G'd will judge."

והשתחוית לפני ה׳ אלוקיך, "and you will prostrate yourself before the Lord your G'd." Here the Torah pays a tremendous compliment to the souls who will enjoy this privilege, i.e. that they may face the Lord without a dividing curtain between them and Him. Hail to the soul which achieves such stature.

ושמחת בכל הטוב, "And you will rejoice with all the goodness, etc." The word טוב may be understood as in Psalms 145,9: "G'd is good to all." In order that we should so understand the verse, the Torah wrote בכל הטוב, i.e. "you will rejoice with the One who is the only One representing all goodness." He is the source of all goodness. אשר נתן לך, "which He has given to you." This goodness is a free gift, it is not value for services rendered.

The reason the Torah writes the additional word לך is to exclude anyone else including angels from becoming recipients of all this goodness G'd has at His disposal. This is in line with Berachot 5 that when the Torah mentions טוב, it refers to the Torah. The angels were not given the Torah. If mankind at large were only aware of the goodness represented by the Torah there would be an endless queue of people offering all their material possessions in order to receive the Torah.

ולביתך, "and to your house." The Torah emphasises that the goodness of G'd will not only be experiences by the soul but also within the soul's house, i.e. the body it inhabits. Each one will experience it in accordance with his capacity to do so.

והלוי, "as well as the Levite." This may be understood on the basis of an assurance in the Zohar volume two page 94 that certain people who deserve it are assigned a soul from a higher spiritual domain, from the עולם האצילות. The word הלוי in our verse is an allusion to this soul which accompanies some people.

והגר אשר בקרבך, "and the proselyte within your midst." This too may be understood according to what is written in the Zohar volume three page 217. It is stated there that when a person has an opportunity to perform one of the commandments which are not usually capable of being performed, G'd enables the souls who have already departed from earth without having had the opportunity to perform this commandment to join a soul in the body of the Jew who is about to perform this commandment. In this way these souls can claim their share in its performance. This is the גר אשר בקרבך "the stranger within your midst" which the Torah alludes to in our verse.

ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבודה קשה, seeing that once the Jewish people had become a nation they were not legally capable of receiving gifts as the gifts given to slaves automatically belong to the slave’s master.

Treated us badly. The text should say that they acted badly towards us. Rather the Egyptians made us into the wicked ones, who lacked gratitude. They suspected that we would side with their enemies, which had never entered the minds of the Jewish people.

V. 6. הרע ,וירעו אתנו jemandem wehe tun, ihn misshandeln, wird mit ל־, aber auch mit את konstruiert. So ולא הרעתי את אחד מהם (Bamidbar 16, 15). מנעני מהרע אותך (Sam. I. 25, 34).

And oppressed us. They forced us to perform labor that brought them no benefit, but purely for the purpose of afflicting us.

Die Agadaerläuterung, welche hierbei auf das ׳הבה נתהכמה וגו hinweist, nimmt das וירעו in dem Sinne: sie wollten uns schaden, wollten unsere Größe und Kraft vermindern und brechen.

ויענונו ויתנו עלינו וגו׳ sind die aus dem גרות hervorgegangenen ענוי und עבדות, welche zusammen die drei typischen Seiten des ägyptischen Galuth bildeten (siehe Schmot 6, 6).

Hashem accepted our prayer. They merited to have their prayers accepted even though they had no words, but simply cried out from the depths of their hearts.

V. 7. לחצנו ,עבדות־עמלנו ,ענוי־ענינו .ונצעק וגו׳, eigentlich ja Beengung, Beschränkung-גרות (siehe Schmot 22, 20).

And perceived our oppression. Even those things about which we were embarrassed to cry out, such as preventing marital intimacy.

And our labor. This refers to the children who were thrown into the river eighty years earlier, which they had already forgotten to cry out about.

And the pressure. This is the confinement, for Pharaoh confined the people to live in small homes. All of this caused the people to be depressed and to lack hope, to remove the ambition and pride of the Jewish people. Pharaoh did all of this to humiliate the people. One who has spent his whole life suffering like this does not realize the evil that has been done to him, and he thinks that it is natural that he is depressed and weak. But Hashem sees and proves the truth.

V. 8. ביד חזקה .ויוציאנו וגו׳: die stärker als die Hand unserer Sklavenhalter war und unser עבדות sprengte. בזרוע נטויה: dessen Herrschaft sich über alle Länder erstreckt und alle Menschen zu ganz gleich berechtigten גרים auf Seiner Erde macht. ובמורא גדול die alle zu fürchten haben, welche ihre Macht zum ענוי ihrer schwächeren Menschenbrüder missbrauchen. ובאותות ובמופתים, diese גרות ,עבדות und ענוי aufhebenden זרוע נטויה ,יד חזקה und מורא גדול offenbarte er durch אותות ומופתים, durch Belehrungszeichen und Strafwunder (siehe Schmot 4, 21 und zu 7, 15):

ובמורא גדול, “and with awesome power,” compare Deuteronomy 7,19.

אל המקום הזה [AND HE HATH BROUGHT US] UNTO THIS PLACE — This refers to the Temple where the worshipper was standing when he made this declaration.

ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת, after we had left Egypt as free men we did not have any part of the land to settle in, and He gave us this land which is a superior land flowing with milk and honey.

As indicated by the plain connotation. And therefore perforce “this place” refers to the Beis Hamikdosh. But if the explanation of “He gave us this land” is not according to its simple meaning, we could then explain that “to this place” means the Land of Israel.

V. 9. אל המקום הזה ,ויבאנו וגו׳, zu dieser von ihm erwählten Stätte seines Gesetzesheiligtums (vergl. Schmot 15, 17) und für dasselbe, für die Verwirklichung des hier ruhenden Gesetzes, ׳ויתן לנו וגו gab er uns das gesegnete Land, das sich um das Gesetzesheiligtum wie um seinen Mittelpunkt schließt, und dessen Besitz uns endlich die nie besessene Heimat gab. ויביאנו אל המקום הזה זה בית המקדש ויביאנו אל המקום הזה ויתן לנו בשכר ביאתנו אל המקום הזה נתן לנו את הארץ הזאת (ספרי)

ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Just as the land flowing with milk and honey refers to only five of the seven Canaanite tribes where it is first mentioned in Exodus 13,5 so here too Moses refers to the areas of these five tribes. This is also the source of the statement of Rabbi Yossi ha’glili who ruled that firstling fruit could not be brought from produce grown on the east Bank of the Jordan as the quality of the soil there did not lend itself to producing superior fruit.

ויתן לנו את הארץ means what it literally implies: AND HATH GIVEN US THE LAND.

והנחתו AND THOU SHALT PLACE IT [BEFORE THE LORD THY GOD] — This tells us that he takes it after the priest has waved it, and holds it in his hand whilst he makes the declaration, and then again waves it (Sukkah 47b; cf. Sifrei Devarim 301:33).

ועתה, after I have become thoroughly aware how great and extensive is Your loving kindness demonstrated by how You have made us fit to take possession of the land and to take us out to freedom in a manner enabling us to accept a gift which will be legally ours, and you have given us such a choice land, הנה הבאתי את ראשית פרי האדמה אשר נתת לי ה', I herewith present as a token of my gratitude a gift of the choicest fruit of this land which the Lord has given me.

As a result, now I have brought ראשית פרי האדמה אשר נתתה לי, for all of this wealth is not my own achievement but I merited it due to Your loving kindness.’ This is also the style in which Joshua called the Jewish people to order when he began his parting speech with the words: 'בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם מעולם, תרח אבי אברהם וגו, “your ancestors used to reside across the river Euphrates; Terach the father of Avraham, etc. etc.” Joshua concludes his brief summary of Jewish history with verse 13, with the arrival of the Israelites in the Land of Israel and their being settled there. (Joshua 24,2-13)

This teaches that he takes it after the kohein’s waving, etc. Otherwise, why write “and you shall then place it”? It already said (v. 4) “and he will place it.” Rashi's proof that he “then waves it again,” is from here; that we derive “and you shall then place it” from “and he will place it before [the altar of] Adonoy.” Just as regarding “place it” in the beginning, he waved it before placing it down, so too, etc.

V. 10. ועתה וגו׳, und nun, da uns das Land nur durch dich geworden und du uns das Land nur für das Gesetz gegeben, dem dieses Heiligtum errichtet ist, darum habe ich hierher die Fruchterstlinge des Bodens gebracht, den Du mir, Gott, gegeben.

והנחתו והשתחוית, “and you shall set it down and worship the Lord your G-d;” the verse teaches that these fruit have to be deposited twice. Once at the time the recitation is read, and once when the donor prostrated himself in prayer.

Und darum והנחתו וגו׳ stellst du den Fruchtkorb an der dem aus seinem Gesetze dir leuchtenden Geiste geweihten Seite des Altars vor Gott, "deinem" Gotte, nieder und scheidest mit השתחויה, mit dem Ausdruck deiner "völligen Hingebung an Gott" aus seinem Hause. Doch noch nicht aus dessen Umkreis. Denn, wie jedes Erscheinen im Tempel, fordern auch ביכורים das Verweilen in der Tempelstadt bis zum anderen Morgen. טעונין לינה (Bikurim II. 4; — siehe Kap. 16,7).

והשתחוית, “you will bow down,” as people do when taking leave of a superior such as a Rabbi.

Wie Bamidbar 18, 13 ausgesprochen, kommen die ביכורים dem כהן zu Genusse, und zwar haben sie in der Beziehung den Charakter von קדשי מקדש, dass sie nicht jedem beliebigen כהן, sondern der diensthabenden Priesterabteilung (משמר siehe Wajikra 6, 19) zufallen (siehe Bamidbar 5, 9). Sie durften auch (Dewarim 12, 17) nur im Umkreis des Heiligtums, d. h. innerhalb der Tempelstadt genossen werden. Wie מעשר שני sind sie ebenso אסור לאונן (V. 14) und unterliegen dem מ׳׳ש( ביעור V, 6). In übrigen Verwendungsverhältnissen haben sie den Charakter von תרומה (Bikurim III, 12; siehe zu V. 13).

ושמחת בכל הטוב AND THOU SHALT REJOICE IN EVERY GOOD THING — From this they (the Rabbis) derived the law that the recital on the occasion of bringing the first fruits is made only during the joyful period of the year — from Pentecost till the Feast of Tabernacles — when a man is gathering in his grain, his fruits, his wine and his oil; but from Tabernacles onwards until Chanucah if he brings these, he does not make the recital (Pesachim 36b).

concerning the words “נותן לך ושמת בטנא,” (from verse 2) the vowel kametz under the letter ל of the word לך was justified as it represented the end of the speech. When the word לך has the vowel kametz under the letter ך, this indicates that it belongs to what came before.

Except during the time of rejoicing, etc. Otherwise, what rejoicing is there that it is written “you shall rejoice, etc.”? It is not eaten by non-kohanim because its laws are derived from terumah [which is forbidden to non-kohanim]? Therefore he explains, “From here they derive, etc.” Therefore, regarding the Levi and the proselyte too, you cannot explain as in parshas Re'ei (above 12:18), that you are obligated to have them rejoice with you, since it is forbidden to them. Therefore he explains that they too are obligated in first fruits (Devek Tov).

V. 11. ושמחת וגו׳. Dann, nach der aus dem Rückblick auf die Vergangenheit geschöpften Erkenntnis, nur Gott zu verdanken, was die Gegenwart an Selbständigkeit und Segen enthält, und nach der von solcher Erkenntnis getragenen erneuten Hingebung an Gott, freust du dich vor Gott all des Guten, das er dir gewährt, eine Freude, die, wie die Festesfreude ושמחת בחגך (Kap. 16, 14) ihren Ausdruck in זבחי שלמים findet und es auch im folgenden Kapitel V. 7 heißt: וזבחת שלמים ואכלת שם ושמחת לפני ד׳ אלקיך, zunächst mit שלמים-Opfer begangen wird. Und ושמחת בכל הטוב die Güte, das Beglückende des gewährten Guten soll einen freudig gehobenen Ausdruck finden, einen solchen Ausdruck gewährt aber, nach Arachin 11 a, nur שירה, das begeisterte Lied. Daher ביכורים טעונין קרבן ושיר (Bikurim II, 4). Wie denn der ganzen Vollziehung der ביכורים-Pflicht der Stempel der Freude aufgedrückt war.

ושמחת בכל הטוב, “you will rejoice in all the good, etc.” our sages in the Talmud tractate Pesachim folio 36 derive the rule that the period during which these bikkurim may be offered in the Temple commences with the festival of Shavuot and concludes with the sukkot festival, by which time every type of harvest has produced at least some fruit that have ripened. This is also the reason why one of the names of the Shavuot festival is חג הבכורים, “festival of the first ripened fruit.” While it still possible to present such bikkurim at the Temple between sukkot and Chanukah, the paragraphs in our portion to be recited by the farmer who offers these fruits, may no longer be recited. The reason is that the term “ראשית,” “the first of,” would hardly be appropriate at that time of the year. After Chanukah no more such fruit may be offered in the Temple. The reason is that even the animals in the field will no longer find such species of fruit on the field.

אתה והלוי THOU AND THE LEVITE — the Levites are also bound to bring the first fruits to the priest if they planted anything in the fields attached to their cities.

If they planted in their cities. I.e., within their forty-eight cities.

Nicht vereinzelt brachte man sie in der Regel hinauf. Alle zu einem Ständebezirk (מעמד; — siehe zu Bamidbar 28, 2) gehörigen Städte versammelten sich in der Bezirksstadt, blieben über Nacht auf den freien Plätzen der Stadt ohne — der טומאה wegen — in ein Haus einzukehren. Mit Morgenanbruch rief der Führer: קומו וגעלה ציון אל בית ד׳ אלקינו "Auf, lasst uns hinauf nach Zion, zum Hause unseres Gottes!" Dem Zuge voran geht ein Stier zum שלמים-Mahlopfer, die Hörner vergoldet, mit Ölzweigen bekränzt, und Flötenbläser vorauf, bis sie in Jerusalems Nähe gekommen. Dahin gelangt, lassen sie sich in der Stadt anmelden und schmücken inzwischen ihre Bikurimfrüchte. Tempelvorsteher, Beistände und Verwalter gehen ihnen zum Empfange entgegen, je nach Anzahl der Kommenden entsprach die Zahl der Empfangenden. Und alle Handwerker in Jerusalem unterbrechen selbst ihre Pflichtarbeit und bringen ihnen den Gruß: "Brüder aus der und der Stadt, euer Kommen zum Frieden!". Die Flöte bläst immer vor ihnen her, bis sie zum Tempelberg kommen. Dort angelangt, nimmt selbst der König den Korb auf seine Schulter und geht zur Tempelvorhalle ein. Dort angelangt, stimmen die Leviten das Psalmlied 30 an: ארוממך אלדי כי דליתני ולא שמחת אויבי לי (Bikurim 3, 2 — 4).

והגר אשר בקרבך, “and the stranger that dwells in your midst.” Rabbi Joseph Kara raised the question of why a convert-who presumably does not own ancestral land belonging to Israel,- is mentioned in this paragraph at all. These firstling fruit are given only to Jewish priests, and only from land defined as ארצך, “your (ancestral) land?” This word specifically excludes produce not grown by Jews on Jewish land. Rabbi Yom Tov explained it to him and showed him a Midrash in which it is stated specifically that converts (referred to as גרים, onetime strangers, may bring bikkurim, but they may not recite the benediction in which we give thanks for the land which the Lord had sworn to our forefathers to give to Avraham’s descendants (Compare Mishnah 4,chapter 1 tractate Bikkurim. Since the Lord had not sworn to give this land to converts, he could obviously not give thanks for what had never been promised or given to him or his forefathers. Nonetheless, when he says his prayers, privately, he may refer to “our G–d, the G–d of the forefathers of Israel.” if his mother had been Jewish, he will use the same formula every Jew uses, i.e. “our G–d and G–d of our forefathers. In the Jerusalem Talmud Rabbi Yehudah states that the proselyte, though, of course, the land had not been given to his forefathers, may address G–d as also the G–d of our forefathers, as G–d has proclaimed Himself to be the “father” of all converts According to Rabbi Yehudah, the convert recites the same benediction as the natural born Jew when bringing bikkurim. This is based on G–d having appointed Avraham as the ”father” of a multitude of nations in Genesis 17,5. Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi stated that the halachah is according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah.

והגר אשר בקרבך AND THE STRANGER THAT IS AMONG YOU — he, too, brings the first fruits to the priest but does not make the recital, for he cannot truly say, as is prescribed, “[I profess this day … that I have come into the land which the Lord sware] unto our fathers” (v. 3) since his fathers were not Israelites (cf. Sifrei Devarim 301:37; Mishnah Bikkurim 1:4; Talmud Yerushalmi Maaser Sheni 5:5).

Who brings without reciting, etc. Rashi is answering the question: The proselyte is obligated in all mitzvos of the Torah, is it then not obvious that he is obligated regarding the first fruits, and thus the verse should have written only, “You and the Levi”? He answers, “He brings without reciting,” and therefore the proselyte is specified separately.

Es war auch die eigentliche Zeit für die Bikurimdarbringung auf זמן שמחה, auf die frohe Sommerzeit vom Wochenfest bis zum Hüttenfest begrenzt, in welcher das Schneiden und Pflücken des Fruchtsegens Freude in die Herzen der Menschen verbreitet. Nur in dieser מעצרת עד החג מביא וקורא ,זמן שמחה, wird bei der Darbringung der Erstlinge das auf die Vergangenheit rückblickende Bekenntnis gesprochen (Pesachim 36 b). Das ואמרת und ושמחת unseres Textes gehört, wie ספרי lehrt, enge zusammen. Für die Zeit, wo sich das Herz der gesegneten Gegenwart freut, ist die Pflicht gegeben, der heimatlosen, dem Untergang nahen Vergangenheit unseres Ursprungs zu gedenken. בזמן קצירה ולקיטה שאדם לוקט תבואתו הצריכו הכתוב קריה דארמי אובד אבי (Raschi Peßachim daselbst). מהחג ועד חנוכה, vom Hüttenfest bis Chanucka, sind zwar noch Früchte zum Einheimsen auf dem Felde und es findet noch die Bestimmung ihre Anwendung, ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך, allein זמן שמחה und damit auch זמן קריאה ist vorüber, daher מהחג עד חנוכה מביא ואינו קורא (daselbst und ספרי).

ספרי) מלמד שאדם מביא ביכורים מנכסי אשתו וקורא ,אשר נתן לך וגו׳ ולביתך und Gittin 47 b), "dir und deinem Hause". "Haus" begreift wie gewöhnlich zunächst: die Frau, und ist damit gelehrt, dass der Mann auch ביכורים von den Gütern der Frau bringen und in dem Bekenntnis: אשר נתתה לי sprechen könne, obgleich dem Manne nur, nach Usus und späterer gesetzlicher Anordnung, die Nutznießung von den Gütern der Frau zusteht und sonst die Norm zu Recht besteht, dass קנין פירות לאו כקנין הגוף דמי, dass ein Nutznießungsrecht nicht als Eigentumsrecht an einem Besitzobjekt zu behandeln ist (siehe Wajikra 25, 15-16).

אתה והלוי וגו׳ (siehe zu Kap. 12, 12).

כי תכלה לעשר את כל מעשר תבואתך בשנה השלישת WHEN THOU HAST FINISHED TITHING ALL THE TITHES OF THY INCREASE IN THE THIRD YEAR — this means: when you have finished the setting apart of the tithes of the third year. It (Scripture) has fixed the time for removing the tithes from the house (ביעור) and the confession regarding their proper disposition (ודוי) for the eve of the Passover festival of the fourth year, because it is stated, (Deuteronomy 14:28) “At the end (מקצה) of three years thou shall bring forth [all the tithe of thy increase in the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates]”. It uses here (in the verse just quoted) the words “at the end of” (מקצה) and it states further (Deuteronomy 31:10—11): “At the end of every seven years … [in the festival of Tabernacles, … thou shalt read this law before Israel]” with reference to the law of “public assembly”, in order to suggest an analogy. How is it in the case further on? It takes place at a festival period as stated! So, too, here, the rite takes place at a festival period. If so, one might argue: What is the case there? It takes place on the festival of Tabernacles; so, too, here the rite takes place on Tabernacles! Scripture, however, states here: When thou hast finished tithing the tithes of the third year, which thus points to a festival on which all tithes are finished and this is the Passover festival, for there are many trees the fruits of which are gathered after Tabernacles, and consequently the setting apart of tithes of the third year is at an end on Passover of the fourth year. And whoever had delayed his tithes until then Scripture declares him bound to clear them out by that time from his house (cf. Sifrei Devarim 302; Talmud Yerushalmi Maaser Sheni 5:6).

[IN THE THIRD YEAR,] THE YEAR OF THE TITHE. The tithe for the poor.

When you finish setting aside the tithes, etc. The meaning is not when you finish setting aside the tithes of the second year, as is implied by “in the third year” as meaning that you are in the third year and setting aside tithes of the second year. Because then it should have said, “When you finish tithing all the tithes of your produce [of] the third year.” Therefore one must explain that “in the third year” means “pertaining to the third year,” and the word is lacking a שי"ן, as in the verse (Shmos 18:20), “The path [in which] they must walk.” The third year refers to the third year following Shemittah.

V. 12. כי תכלה וגו׳. In dem eigentlichen Maaßerkapitel Kap. 14, 22 — 29 ist bereits angeordnet, außer dem schon früher bestimmten jedes Jahr dem Leviten zu gebenden Zehnten, im ersten und zweiten, vierten und fünften Jahre einer Schemitaperiode einen zweiten Zehnten, מעשר שני, zum Selbstgenuss innerhalb der Tempelstadt auszuscheiden, jedes dritte und sechste Jahr der Schemitaperiode aber, also immer im dritten Jahr, den zweiten Zehnten nicht wie bemerkt zum Selbstgenuss, sondern als מעשר עני, zur Verteilung an die Armen und Mittellosen zu verwenden. Wir haben dort die Maaßergesetzbung bereits im Zusammenhange betrachtet und haben bemerkt, wie durch diese drei Zehnten, מעשר עני ,מעשר שני ,מעשר ראשון, die Ziele zu würdigen gelehrt werden, die Pflege des Geistes, die Pflege des Leibes, die Pflege der Nächstenliebe, denen überhaupt unter dem Diktate des göttlichen Gesetzes unsere nationalen Güter zugewendet werden sollen. Durch diese Maaßergesetzgebung ist also ein dreijähriger Maaßerturnus angeordnet. Innerhalb eines solchen Turnus, der mit dem dritten Jahre schließt, sind alle drei Zehntarten zur Erfüllung zu bringen und sollen mit Schluss des dritten Jahres vollbracht sein, so dass alle Zehntfrüchte der zurückgelegten drei Jahre mit Ablauf des dritten die ihnen gesetzlich bestimmte Verwendung gefunden haben. Hiernach wird wohl dieses dritte Jahr das Zehntjahr, שנת המעשר vorzugsweise genannt. Es heißt nun nicht שנת המעשרות, das Jahr, das alle drei Zehntpflichten brachte, sondern שנת המעשר, das Jahr, in welchem der Zehnte eintritt, der in den beiden vorangegangenen Jahren nicht, statthatte, und zwar kommt dieser nicht zu den beiden anderen hinzu, sondern tritt an die Stelle des שנה שאין בא אלא מעשר אחד הא כיצד מעשר ראשון ,מעשר שני ומעשר עני ומעשר שני יבטל (R. H. 12 b; — siehe Kap. 14, 22 u. 28).

כי תכלה לעשר, “when you complete tithing, etc.” this verse is also a repetition of Deut. 14,28; it is inserted here only on account of the confession as per verse 13: בערתי הקודש מן הבית, “I have removed everything that is holy (second tithe) from the house;”

שנת המעשר [THE THIRD YEAR] WHICH IS THE YEAR OF TITHE — These apparently redundant words (for every year except the Sabbatical year it “a year of tithing”) suggest: that year in which only one of the two tithes that had to be separated in the previous two years is due (שנת המעשר, lit., the year of the tithe), viz., the “First Tithe”. For in the first year of the Shemitta-period the law of the “First Tithe” applies — as it is stated, (Numbers 28:26) “[And to the Levites shalt thou speak …] when ye take of the children of Israel the tithe” (which is the First Tithe) — and that of the “Second Tithe”, as it is stated, (Deuteronomy 14:22—23; cf. Rashi on the latter verse) “[Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed … year by year], and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God … the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil”. You thus have two tithes every year, one that you must give the Levite and the other which you must consume yourself in Jerusalem (the “Second Tithe”). It now comes and teaches you here that, in the third year, of those two tithes mentioned only one is due, and which is it? It is the “First Tithe”. And that instead of the “Second Tithe” one has to give in the third year (and similarly in the sixth) the “Tithe of the Poor”, for it states here ונתת ללוי “AND THOU HAST GIVEN UNTO THE LEVITE”, i.e. given him that which is due to him — here you have mention of the “First Tithe”, לגר ליתום ולאלמנה “[AND THOU HAST GIVEN] … UNTO THE STRANGER, THE FATHERLESS, AND THE WIDOW” — this is the “Tithe of the Poor” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 303:1; see also Rashi on Deuteronomy 14:23 and 29).

As it is said, “At the end of three years you shall remove, etc.” Rashi wants to prove that the time of divesture and recitation is on the day before Pesach. This verse is written in parshas Re'ei (above 14:28) relating to tithes.

Von diesem Schluss des dreijährigen Maaßerturnus heißt es nun hier כי תכלה לעשר usw. ונתת ללוי וגו׳ (siehe zu Kap. 14, 29). Der stärker trennende Akzent auf ללוי dürfte für die Auffassung sprechen, dass damit der dem Leviten als solchem zukommende מעשר ראשון-Zehnte gemeint sei. Es würden dann hier die beiden im dritten Jahre zur Verteilung kommenden Zehnten, מעשר ראשון ללוי und לגר :מעשר עני usw. bezeichnet sein.

ונתתי ללוי לגר וליתום ולאלמנה, “and I have also given to the Levite, the stranger the orphan and the widow.” This is not necessarily to be understood as cumulative, but you have given to any of the above mentioned categories of people.

ואכלו בשעריך ושבעו THAT THEY MAY EAT WITHIN THY GATES, AND BE SATISFIED — Give them sufficient to satisfy them. From here they (the Rabbis) derived the law: one must give the poor in the barn no less than half a kab of wheat or a kab of barley (Sifrei Devarim 303:2; Talmud Yerushalmi Peah 8:5; see also Rashi on Deuteronomy 14:29).

Here, “at the end of” is said, and below, “at the end of seven years” is said, etc. Not actually here in this parsha. Rather, Rashi is saying that [the phrase] “at the end of” is said regarding the third year. Therefore, it is as if it is written here, because here too it talks about the tithe of the third year.

ואכלו בשעריך (siehe zu Kap. 12. 17).

The year when the tithing obligation is for only, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Why the verse calls the third year “the year of the tithe.”? Are the first and second years not years of tithes? He explains, “The year when the tithing obligation is for only, etc.”

Supply them with enough to satisfy them, etc. Rashi is answering the question: If he does not want to eat, what can one do about it? Therefore he explains, “Supply them, etc.” Do what you are obligated to do.

Less than half a kav of wheat, etc. Which is [the volume of] twelve eggs. But of barley one has to give him a [whole] kav. And one only has to give him a half a kav of wheat at the threshing area, because in town one does not have to give him a half kav, because in town he can go to others as well. However, this is not the case regarding threshing areas because they are distant from each other.

ואמרת לפני ה' אלהיך THEN THOU SHALT SAY BEFORE THE LORD THY GOD — Make the declaration (lit., confess) that you have given your tithes (Sifrei Devarim 303:5).

הקודש מן הבית, because of our and our fathers’ sins the privilege of performing Temple service was removed from the firstborn, who otherwise would also have been the recipients of all the various tithes. Ezekiel 20,26 refers to this when he writes: ואטמא אותם במתנותם, בהעביר כל פטר רחם , “and I defiled them through their own gifts, when causing each first born to pass;” the prophet calls this line the ווידוי מעשר, the confession represented by the fact that the tithe cannot remain in the home but must be given to Levites who supplanted the family priest, the firstborn as a result of their having participated in the sin of the golden calf. (Maasser Sheyni 5,10)

ואמרת לפני ה' אלוקיך, this is what the Lord your G’d commanded in order that you not become tardy and hold back your tithes making a liar out of yourself in the presence of your G’d.

בערתי את הקודש, “I have removed the holy things, etc.” This is a reference to Terumah gedolah, which is sacred and generally amounts to 2% of the farmer’s grain harvest (Terumot 4,3).
מן הבית, “from the house.” This refers to challah, something sacred prepared in the house and given to the priests.
וגם נתתיו ללוי, “I have also given (it) to he Levite.” This is a reference to the first tithe, i.e. 10 per cent of the grain harvest remaining after the Terumah of the priest has been set aside. The letter ו in front of the word גם refers to the second tithe, the one consumed in Jerusalem by the farmer and his family.
לגר, ליתום,ולאלמנה, “to the proselyte, the orphan and the widow.” This is a reference to what is known as מעשר עני, “the tithe for the poor,” applicable in years when the second tithe is not applicable. The various gifts fell due in the following sequence: first the farmer sets aside the תרומה גדולה which is given to the priest. It is called ראשית, as the Torah (Deut. 18,4) speaks of ראשית דגנך. After that the farmer sets aside the first tithe intended for the Levite, as the Torah writes: “I have given to the Levite all the tithes of Israel” (Numbers 18,21). The Levite in turn has to set aside 10% of what he received as tithe from the farmer as a “tithe from the tithe,” and give it to the priest. After that, the farmer sets aside for his own use the second tithe which he took with him to Jerusalem and consumed there. This is the meaning of עשר תעשר את כל תבואת זרעך ואכלת לפני ה' אלוקיך in Deut. 14,22. The reason the Torah repeated the words עשר תעשר is because two different tithes are referred to. After that, in the third and sixth year of the שמטה cycle, the farmer set aside the tithe for the poor and distributed it according to how he saw fit. This is the meaning of Deut. 26,12: “to the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow, you shall give it,” as these categories of people are presumed to be most likely the ones having a claim to it. This is what the Torah speaks of in the paragraph commencing with verse 12 “when you have completed the tithing of your harvest in the third year, the year of the tithe.” The Torah teaches that at the end of the third year of the cycle a new kind of tithe has to be set aside, the tithe specifically intended for the poor. In the years that this tithe applies the second tithe does not apply, i.e. the farmer does not have to take it to Jerusalem in order to consume it there but he hands it out locally. After having properly observed all the commandments pertaining to gifts to the priest, the Levite, to the poor (and consuming the second tithe in Jerusalem), he is to recite the declaration recorded here affirming that he has done his duty and that as a result he looks forward to being in G’d’s good graces (verse 15). He is not allowed to recite this “confessional” until after he has completed the whole series of gifts prescribed in the Torah. The declaration in question is recited on the last day of Passover of the fourth and seventh year of the shemittah cycle respectively, seeing that the words תכלה לעשר imply “on the festival when all the tithes have to come to an end.” The harvest from many trees is still collected long after the Sukkot festival, so that the confessional cannot be recited until the following festival, i.e. Pessach. Anyone who has failed to distribute the various tithes by that time must remove them from his house (destroy them). This is why we are told in Avot 5,9 that certain disasters (pestilence) which occur in the fourth year of the cycle are due to the failure of the farmers to discharge their obligations of tithing properly. (a plague in the fourth year indicates failure to distribute the tithe to the poor in the third year, whereas a plague in the seventh year is indicative of the tithe for the poor not having been distributed during the sixth year of the cycle). The destruction of the leftover tithes occurred on the penultimate day of the Passover so that the confessional could be recited on the afternoon of the last day (Maimonides Hilchot Maasser Sheyni 11,7).

Acknowledge that you gave your tithes. That is, acknowledge in your heart [i.e. to yourself]. Otherwise, it should have said, “You shall declare to Adonoy your God,” as it says above (v. 3) regarding the bringing of the first fruits. (Minchas Yehuda). Because if the verse is understood according to its simple meaning, what need is there to say [this] to the Holy One? It is already known to Him. (Nachalas Yaakov)

V. 13. ואמרת לפני וגו׳. Wie zu Kap. 14, 22 u. 28 erläutert, richtete sich die Jahreshörigkeit der Früchte hinsichtlich ihrer Zehntpflicht nicht nach der Zeit ihrer Lese, sondern nach dem Anfangsstadium ihrer Reife, עונת המעשרות, und reichte daher für manche Früchte der dritte Jahrgang bis ins vierte, beziehungsweise siebte Jahr; da, wie zu V. 11 bemerkt, bis zu חנוכה noch vorjährige Früchte auf dem Felde blieben. Wenn לפני ד׳ אלקיך die Bestimmung enthält, das hier folgende Zehntenbekenntnis, וידוי מעשר, in der Tempel-עזרה zu sprechen (siehe ראב׳׳ד zu 3 ,11 הל׳ מ׳׳ש רמב׳׳ם), so war die erste Gelegenheit dazu an פסח, dem ersten auf חנוכה folgenden Wanderfeste, und lehrt auch ספרי zu 14, 28, dass das מקצה שלש שנים für וידוי מעשר ebenso auf das erste רגל nach Schluss des dritten Maaßerjahrgangs hinweise, wie das מקץ שבע שנים für ל מצות הקהל (Kap. 31, 10) das erste Fest nach Schluss des siebten Jahres bestimmt. במנחה ,בי׳׳ט אחרון של פסח war daher dieses Maaßerbekenntnis zu sprechen (Maaßer scheni V, 10).

בערתי הקודש, this is a reference to the bikkurim as these have to be brought to the Temple. Compare Mishnah in tractate Bikkurim 2,2: tithing and firstling fruit rules have something in common with one another which they do not share with T’rumah (2% of the grain harvest given to the priest as the first type of tithe) in that they require to be brought to Jerusalem, and that failing this they have to be destroyed.

בערתי הקדש מן הבית I HAVE REMOVED THE HALLOWED THINGS FROM THE HOUSE — this refers to the “Second Tithe” which is termed קדש (cf. Leviticus 27:30 and Rashi thereon) and the “fruit of the vineyard in the fourth year of its growth” (נטע רבעי which is also termed קדש; cf. Leviticus 19:24) (Sifrei Devarim 303:6; Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:10). Scripture teaches you that if he has delayed his “Second Tithes” of the first two years of the Shemitta period and has not taken them up to Jerusalem he must bring them up now (Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:10).

וגם נתתיו ללוי, the meaning of the word גם in our context is the same as the words אף על פי, “even so.” We find the word גם used as אף על פי also in Ruth 1,12 when Naomi explains to her daughters-in-law that even if she were to get married immediately she would not be able to produce sons who could become the husbands of her daughters-in-law and thereby keep their deceased husbands’ names alive vicariously (symbolic levirate marriage). We must therefore perceive the farmer’s declaration to mean: “I confess that my sin was great so that as a result I am forced to destroy or remove all sacred things from my house even though I, personally, have discharged my duties by giving the Levite and his companions these tithes at Your command. Having done so, I pray that You will look down benevolently. Seeing that normally the word השקפה is used in Scripture as “looking down to confirm something negative,” the farmer had to add that he means that he has merited a benevolent השקפה as expressed by the plea וברך את עמך את ישראל, “and bless Your people, Israel, etc.”

ככל מצותך אשר צויתיך, “in accordance with all of your commandments which I have commanded you.” A reference to the setting aside of all the aforementioned tithes. Our sages in the Mechilta Mishpatim 19 state that the words imply that not only have the tithes been given but that they had been given in the required sequence. They base the requirement to do so on Exodus 22,28: מלאתך ודמעך לא תאחר, “do not be late in giving your respective offerings.”
לא עברתי ממצותיך, “I have not infringed on any of Your commandments.” The farmer declares that he did not use an excess contribution from one species to save himself part of the contribution of another species. Neither did he use produce which had already been harvested to be part of the tithe for produce which had not yet been harvested. He had not used last year’s harvest to discharge the duty to tithe from this year’s harvest, nor vice versa.
ולא שכחתי, “and I did not forget.” This means that when giving (setting aside) the respective tithes the farmer did not omit mentioning the name of the Lord. We know that any benediction which does not include mentioning the name of the Lord and His kingdom is as if it had never been recited at all (Berachot 12).

This refers to the second tithe and the fourth-year fruit. As Rashi explains above in parshas Kedoshim (Vayikra 19:24), that the second tithe and the fourth-year fruit are called “sacred.”

בערתי הקדש מן הבית. Dieses Bekenntnis, mit welchem nach vorgängiger Selbstprüfung der Bekennende es aussprechen soll, dass er alle die ihm von seinen Bodenerträgnissen obliegenden Leistungen pflichtgemäß erfüllt und verwendet habe, bezieht sich zunächst auf die drei מעשר-Leistungen, und unter diesen steht מעשר שני voran, so dass, wenn man sich Verse 13 und 14 vergegenwärtigt, man sich sagen muss: in diesem Bekenntnisse bildet מעשר שני den Mittelpunkt, dem sich die beiden anderen Zehnten, מעשר שני ועני ausgesprochen und, wie wir sehen, alle Bodenpflichtspenden angedeutet, anschließen.

וגם נתתיו ללוי AND I HAVE ALSO GIVEN THEM TO THE LEVITE — this refers to the “First Tithe”. וגם AND ALSO — the redundant word וגם serves also to include “Terumah” and the first-fruits that one has failed to give to the priests (Sifrei Devarim 303:7; Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:10).

And teaches you that if one tarried with his two year tithes, etc. Rashi is answering the question: There is no second tithe in the third year; if so, one should only declare the poor man’s tithe which is obligatory in the third year and continues until Pesach of the fourth year, as said above! Therefore he explains, “And teaches you, etc.”

Unter den drei Maaßer-Arten ist es nämlich nur מעשר שני, dem das Prädikat קדש zukommt. Es ist Wajikra 22, 6 unter קדשים begriffen, die nicht בטומאה genossen werden dürfen, und Wajikra 27, 30 als קדש לד׳ :ממון גבוה genannt (siehe daselbst und oben Kap. 14, 22). Obgleich daher in der Reihenfolge zuerst מעשר ראשון für den לוי auszuscheiden ist und dann erst מעשר שני zum Selbstgenuss in der Tempelstadt (siehe Schmot 22, 28), so blickt doch der Wortlaut unseres Bekenntnisses mit בערתי הקדש מן הבית zunächst auf die Erfüllung der מעשר שני-Pflicht hin und lässt das מעשר des לוי und das מעשר :des Armen nur im Anschluss folgen וגם נתתיו ללוי ולגר וגו׳. Ja, so sehr hat dieses Bekenntnis hauptsächlich מעשר שני im Auge, dass die speziellen Bekenntnisse des Verses 14 לא אכלתי באני usw. die das Objekt einfach fortsetzen: ממנו, sich ja nur auf מעשר שני beziehen können, welches das einzige מעשר ist, das dem Pflichtigen unter bestimmten Modalitäten zum Selbstgenuss bleibt.

ולגר ליתום ולאלמנה AND [I ALSO HAVE GIVEN] … UNTO THE STRANGER, THE FATHERLESS, AND THE WIDOW — this refers to the “Tithe of the Poor” (Sifrei Devarim 303:8).

This includes the terumah-gift, and the first fruits. [In some texts] Rashi writes terumos in the plural form to also include the terumah taken from tithes as the Mishnah says at the end of Maaser Sheini (5:10). Rashi includes first fruits with terumah, because, as Rabbeinu Shimshon explains there, the Torah writes (above 12:17), “the terumah-separation of your hand,” and the sages (Makkos 17a) explain, “These are the first fruits.” Rashi mentions them explicitly because not everyone is knowledgeable of this teaching.

Stillschweigend und andeutungsweise umfasst jedoch das Bekenntnis alle Pflichtleistungen von den Bodenerträgnissen. So schließt der Begriff קדש außer מעשר שני auch נטע רבעי, das ebenso wie מעשר שני (Wajikra 19, 24) קדש genannt wird und dem Selbstgenuss in der Gottesstadt bestimmt ist (Maaßer scheni V, 10) und nach dem Jeruschalmi daselbst auch ביכורים mit ein, die, wie zu V. 10 bemerkt, sogar den Charakter קדשי מקדש haben und wie מעשר שני vom כהן nur im Umkreis der Tempelstadt בטהרה und שלא באנינות zu genießen sind. מן הבית begreift andeutungsweise auch חלה, die bei der häuslichen Brotbereitung zur Pflicht kommt, somit ganz eigentlich aus dem Hause zu spenden ist. Dem mit וגם נתתיו ללוי ausgesprochenen מעשר ראשון schließt sich auch die den Stammesgenossen der Leviten, den כהנים werdende תרומה und תרומת מעשר an, sowie dem mit לגר וליתום ולאלמנה bezeichneten מעשר עני, auch die anderen Armenspenden von den Bodenfrüchten לקט שכחה ופאה (Maaßer scheni daselbst).

ככל מצותך ACCORDING TO ALL THY COMMANDMENTS — i.e. I have given them (all the sacred gifts mentioned) in the sequence prescribed for them: I have not set aside the heave-offering before the first-fruits, nor the tithe before the heave-offering, nor the “second” tithe before the “first”. This would indeed have meant altering the sequence, for the heave-offering is (after the first-fruits which are naturally the first of all sacred gifts) termed ראשית “firstling״ (in its relation to the tithes) because it is the first gift due after it (the crop) has become (bears the name of) corn (i.e. after it has been winnowed), and it states, (Exodus 22:28) “Thou shalt not delay to offer from thy fulness and thy liquids”, which means (see Rashi on that verse and Note thereon): Thou shalt not alter the prescribed order (cf. Sifrei Devarim 303:11; Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:11).

For terumah is entitled “the first, etc.” Rashi wants to explain from where we know the Torah is particular about the order.

In Beziehung auf alle diese Pflichtspenden spricht der Bekennende aus בערתי הקדש מן הבית וגו׳, dass er von ihnen allen nichts mehr im Besitz habe, das nicht bereits seine gesetzmäßige Verwendung gefunden. Am Tage vor dem Bekenntnistage, also am ערב י׳׳ט אחרון של פסח des vierten und siebten Jahres (siehe oben), war somit das ביעור, d. h. es mussten dann alle die noch unverwendet vorhandenen Pflichtfrüchte ihrer Bestimmung gemäss verwendet, oder wo diese Verwendung nicht mehr möglich, vernichtet werden. תרומה ותרומת מעשר mussten dem מעשר ראשון ,כהן dem מעשר עני ,לוי dem Armen gegeben werden, נטע רבעי ,מעשר שני und ביכורים vorschriftsmässig in der Tempelstadt verzehrt werden, oder, wenn sie sich außerhalb der Tempelstadt befanden, durften sie nicht länger aufbewahrt, sondern mussten vernichtet werden (Maaßer scheni V. 6; — siehe Jebamot 73 a רשי׳ ותוספו daselbst).

לא עברתי ממצותיך I HAVE NOT TRANSGRESSED THY COMMANDMENTS — i.e. I have not set apart as a sacred gift grain from one species as a substitute for what was due from another species, nor have I separated grain from the new crop as a substitute for what was due from the old one (Sifrei Devarim 303:13; cf. Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:11).

Of one species for another, etc. For example, wheat for barley.

ככל מצותך אשר צוית, dass er sie auch in der bestimmten Reihenfolge ausgeschieden, הא אם הקדים מ׳׳ש לראשון אינו יכול להיתודות, hätte er z. B. מעשר שני früher ausgeschieden als מעשר ראשון, so könnte er das Bekenntnis nicht sprechen (daselbst 11).

ולא שכחתי NOR HAVE I FORGOTTEN — i.e. forgotten to bless you on the occasion of setting the tithes apart (Sifrei Devarim 303:14; Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:11; cf. Berachot 40b).

To bless you for the setting aside of tithes. Re”m writes: It means, from praising and blessing You at the time of setting aside the tithes. But it does not mean from reciting the [formal] blessing for the one who is setting aside tithes, because that [formal] blessing is a text instituted by the men of the Great Assembly, for the blessings upon [the performance of] mitzvos are only Rabbinically ordained.

לא הפרשתי ממין על שאינו מינו ולא מן התלוש על המחובר :לא עברתי ממצותיך ולא מן המחובר על התלוש ולא מן החדש על הישן ולא מן הישן על החדש, dass er auch die Pflichtspenden von jeder Gattung Früchte und von jedem Jahrgang besonders (siehe zu Kap. 14, 22), auch nicht מן התלוש usw. von dem schon Pflichtigen für das noch nicht Pflichtige und umgekehrt מן החיוב על הפטור ומן הפטור על החיוב gegeben.

עליו :ולא שבחתי (Berachot 40 b לא שכחתי מלברכך ומלהזכיר שמך )ומלכותך (daselbst), ich habe auch das nicht vergessen, was du uns nicht ausdrücklich geboten, aber bei der Erfüllung deiner Gebote vorausgesetzt, dass wir sie im Sinne deines Gebietens und als von dir geboten vollziehen, wie dies unsere ברכות מצות vor der Erfüllung einer jeden מצוה aussprechen (siehe Chorew § 678).

לא אכלתי באני ממנו I HAVE NOT EATEN THEREOF IN MY MOURNING — From here we may derive that it (partaking of sacred gifts) is forbidden to an אונן (a technical term for the near relatives of a deceased, from the period of death to burial) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 303:15; Mishnah Bikkurim 2:2).

I HAVE NOT EATEN THEREOF IN MY MOURNING. Even though the avowal¹⁹The “avowal was recited at the time of the Afternoon Offering on the last day of Passover, in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical cycle. The avowal [recited in any language] could be made only by one who observed all laws affecting tithes and heave-offerings. See further “The Commandments,” Vol. I, p. 139. included all tithes, as the Rabbis interpreted:²⁰Maaseir Sheini 5:10. “I have also given it unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow²¹Verse 13. etc.,”²²“I have also given it to the Levite, this is the tithe of the Levite [i.e., the First Tithe]. I have ‘also’ given it, this is the terumah (the heave-offering), [given by the Israelite to the priest] and the heave-offering of the tithe [given by the Levite to the priest]. And unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, this refers to the Poorman’s Tithe, gleanings, the forgotten sheaf, and the corner of the field” (Maaseir Sheini 5:10). — the statement I have not eaten thereof in my mourning refers only to the hallowed things [mentioned at the beginning of the preceding Verse 13: I have put away ‘the hallowed things’ out of my house] which refers to the Second Tithe and fourth-year’s plantings which may not be eaten in mourning and in a state of impurity.²³The heave-offering on the other hand may be eaten by the priest in mourning, but not when he is impure. The First Tithe [after the heave-offering thereof has been removed], the Poorman’s Tithe, gleanings, etc. may be eaten in mourning as well as in impurity. The Second Tithe, eaten by the owner, his family and guests in Jerusalem, is thus the only tithe that may not be eaten in mourning. Like the heave-offering and the heave-offering of the tithe, the Second Tithe may not be eaten in impurity.

לא אכלתי באוני ממנו, the word און is used here in the same sense as in Job 20,10 ידיו תשבנה אונו, where it refers to the proceeds of a robbery, i.e. “his own hands must give back his wealth.” We also find it used in this sense in Hoseah 12,9 מצאתי און לי, “I have become rich.” (the riches derive from robbery) This is the plain meaning of the line.

לא אכלתי באוני ממנו, “I have not eaten from it while in a state of intense pre-mourning;” Nachmanides comments on this that although the confession applies to all the different kinds of tithes, some of which are secular in terms of religious law, here the words apply only to the kinds of gifts that have a sacred character. Produce that has been labeled מעשר שני or נטע רבעי, the second tithe, or the grapes grown in the fourth year after the vineyard has been planted, do possess such a degree of sanctity, and may not be consumed while in a state of impurity or intense mourning, immediately before the burial of the next of kin.

לא אכלתי באוני ממנו, “I have not eaten of it while in a state of (pre)mourning.” A person engaged in preparing for the funeral of near relatives is forbidden to eat any sacred foods (Sifri).
ולא בערתי ממנו בטמא, “and I have not removed or used up any of it while in a state of ritual impurity.” I did not set it aside while I was contaminated.
ולא נתתי ממנו למת, “neither did I give any of it for a dead person.” I did not use it to buy a coffin or other necessities for the dead person’s burial from the proceeds of the produce designated as tithes (Sifri 303 on this verse). The reason that the Torah makes the farmer recite this is that not only did he not use the proceeds from such produce for something merely permitted, but even if he had “misused” it in order to fulfill a commandment such as a burial from the proceeds this is also forbidden and he has to declare that he had not done so. In other words, one must not appear as if one pays one’s debts by diverting funds destined for another commandment in order to do so. The tithes must be used only for food and drink. One must not even buy clothing from the proceeds.
שמעתי בקול ה' אלוקי, “I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my G’d.” I did so when I brought the tithes to the Temple.
עשיתי ככל אשר צויתני, “I did in accordance with all that You commanded me.” I rejoiced and made others happy with it (Maaser Sheni 5,11); this is based on the instruction: “you shall rejoice with all the goodness” (verse 11).

From here we derive that it is forbidden during grief. Otherwise, what difference does it make whether or not he ate [during grief]? Even though the declaration includes [all] tithes and terumos as the sages expound from the earlier verse, “I have also presented it to the Levi, etc.,” [and if so, why do the sages apply this prohibition only to the second tithe?] Nevertheless, the word “of it” implies only one [type of] tithe, and this can only be the second tithe which is called “sacred” (Vayikra 27:30), [as the previous verse mentions the word “sacred”] (Kitzur Mizrachi).

V. 14. אוני .לא אכלתי באוני ממנו (siehe Bereschit 35, 18). Wir haben bereits bemerkt, dass dies und das Folgende sich nur auf מעשר שני (implizite auch auf die ihm verwandten נטע רבעי und ביכורים) bezieht. Den gesetzlichen Begriff: אונן, d. i. den Zustand eines von Schmerz um das Hinscheiden eines nahen Verwandten Ergriffenen, haben wir bereits Wajikra 10, 13. 14 u. 19 als Hindernis der עבודה und אכילת קדשים für כהן הדיוט und Hindernis der אכילת קדשים selbst für den כהן גדול gefunden (siehe daselbst). Hier ist nun auch für מעשר שני (implizite auch für ביכורים und נטע רבעי), der איסור niedergelegt, dass dieselben nicht im Zustande des אנינות gegessen werden dürfen. Ob Aussprüche, wie לא אכלתי באוני ממנו und die folgenden, die nicht in verbietender, sondern nur in verneinend aussagender Form gefasst sind, gleichwohl als direkte, מלקות bewirkende, oder nur als indirekte Verbietungen, wie לאו הבא מכלל עשה aufzufassen seien, ist eine Differenz zwischen רמב׳׳ם und רמב׳׳ן (siehe ׳ס׳ המצות שורש ח am Ende). Für das folgende אכילת מעשר בטומאה בין בטומאת (הגוף בין בטומאת עצמו )המעשר werden direkte, מלקות nach sich ziehende Verbote Jebamot 73 b nachgewiesen (siehe Wajikra 22, 6 und Dewarim 12, 17).

לא אכלתי באוני ממנו, “I have not eaten from it when it was stolen property;” the expression און occurs in this sense in Job 20,10: ידיו תשבנה אונו, “his own hands must restore his wealth” (the illegally acquired wealth).

ולא בערתי ממנו בטמא NEITHER HAVE I CONSUMED ANY THEREOF UNCLEAN — i.e. whether I was unclean and it (the sacred gift) was clean, or I was clean and it unclean (Sifrei Devarim 303:16). But where has one been prohibited about this (that he declares that he has not infringed the command)? In the following passage: (Deuteronomy 12:17) “Thou mayest not eat within thy gates [the tithe of thy corn]” — this (the expression “within thy gates”) refers to eating sacred things in a state of uncleanness, just as is stated with reference to פסולי המקדשין (animals intended as sacrifices, but which have become unfit for that purpose) (Deuteronomy 15:22) “Thou mayest eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person [may eat it alike]”. These you may eat, states Scripture, — but this (the tithes of thy corn in a state of uncleanness) you must not eat in the manner which is termed “eating within thy gates” (“the unclean and the clean together”) of which there is mention in another passage (Yevamot 73b).

ולא נתתי ממנו למת, “neither did I give from any of it to the dead.” Rashi explains the letter ל in the word למת, as meaning “for,” i.e. to be used to purchase either a coffin or the garments the dead are buried in. Nachmanides questions this, as produce having a sacred character such as the ones mentioned, may not be traded to purchase coffins or ordinary clothing for use by the living either. The second tithe may not be redeemed to become secular outside the city of Jerusalem, for instance, except for coin of the realm. The proceeds must be used to purchase food and drink and other items but these are to be consumed inside Jerusalem by the owner and his family. Maimonides (Sefer hamitzvot 152) understands the term למת as a simile for something of no benefit to a living human being, the farmer stating that he has spent the proceeds only for items of benefit to the living. Some commentators interpret this “confessional” to mean that the farmer has not used the proceeds even to fulfill a commandment such as burying and providing the wherewithal to a dead person who had no family that would assume the burden of burying him in a dignified manner.

Whether I was defiled and it was clean, etc. That is, the terumah, or I was clean and it was defiled.”

NOR HAVE I GIVEN THEREOF FOR THE DEAD — “to prepare a coffin and shrouds for it.” This is Rashi’s language. But I have not understood this, for Scripture explicitly states that we are not to exchange the fruits of the Second Tithe outside Jerusalem except for coined silver.²⁴Above, 14:25. In Jerusalem we are to spend the money on edible things, for any of the herd, or any of the flock, or for wine, or for strong drink²⁵Ibid., Verse 26. and eat them before the Eternal. [It is, therefore, clear that it is forbidden to use the money to purchase a garment even for the living — hence it is pointless to make such an avowal with respect to the dead!]
Now, Harav Rabbi Moshe [ben Maimon] wrote in his work²⁶Hilchoth Maaseir Sheini 3:10. “The Second Tithe is designated for use as food and drink, for it is said, and thou shalt eat there before the Eternal thy G-d.²⁵Ibid., Verse 26. Anointing is like drinking. It is forbidden to spend it on his remaining necessities, such as buying vessels, clothes and servants, for it is said, nor have I given thereof for the dead, that is to say, I have not spent it on anything which does not sustain the body.” [Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon] thus interpreted the phrase for the dead here as being an expression for any thing through which a person does not live. But these are words of mere exaggeration.²⁷See my Hebrew commentary p. 468 for a defense of Rambam by Rabbi Yoseph Karo in his “Keseph Mishneh.”
Other scholars²⁸I have not been able to identify them. have explained that the avowal is that he did not spend therefrom for a coffin and shrouds even for the dead — which [spending] is a religious duty — and certainly not for the living for a cloak or shirt. And in the Sifre it is stated:²⁹Sifre, Ki Thavo 303. “Nor have I given thereof for the dead — to prepare a coffin and shrouds for it. These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. Rabbi Akiba said to him: If it is forbidden for the dead, it is likewise forbidden for the living. Why then is it stated nor have I given thereof [‘for the dead’]? It means that I have not exchanged the Second Tithe even for something which is clean.” Thus Rabbi Akiba interprets the expression neither have I given thereof, as meaning that “I have not even used it in exchange for clean, edible things.” This is similar to what we have been taught in a Mishnah:³⁰Maaseir Sheini 1:1. “Second Tithes may not be sold or bartered. Nor may a man say to his fellow in Jerusalem, ‘Here is wine, and give me oil [in exchange].’” In the opinion of Rabbi Akiba, the expression for the dead is thus connected with the above statement, ‘I have not eaten thereof in my mourning — for the dead,’ for the term “mourning” applies only to the dead. [And the expression nor have I given thereof thus stands as a complete independent statement, meaning “I have not sold it or bartered it even for clean food fit to be eaten.”]
Now, I have seen the following text in the Yerushalmi:³¹Yerushalmi ibid., V, 5. “Rabbi Eliezer said in the name of Rabbi Simaie: Nor have I given thereof for the dead. How are we to interpret this? Shall we say that it forbids the bringing of a coffin and shrouds for the corpse — if something like this for the living [e.g., a cloak or shirt] is forbidden, need we be told that something which is prohibited for the living may not be done for the dead? What then is there that is permissible for the living [with the Second Tithe] and is forbidden for the dead? It is anointing.” But I do not understand this text either, for if he anointed a corpse with the oil of the Second Tithe, he has consumed it in impurity, and he has already confessed that, neither have I consumed any thereof unclean! And in the Gemara of Tractate Yebamoth, Chapter He’arel,³²Yebamoth 74a. we find: “Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said in the name of Rabbi Simaie, Whence do we know that, if the oil of Second Tithe was rendered impure, we may use it for anointing?³³Since anointing is like drinking, and drinking impure Second Tithe is forbidden, one would think that anointing oneself with such oil is forbidden. And so, whence do we know that it is permissible? Because it is stated, nor have I given thereof for the dead — ‘I have not given it for the dead,’ but for the living akin to the dead I may give it. What use is there for the living and the dead alike? I must say this is anointing.” [The verse thus teaches us that if the oil of the Second Tithe has been rendered impure, it may still be used to anoint the living.] There [the Sages of the Gemara] have asked, “Perhaps I should say that this verse is an avowal that he did not buy a coffin and shrouds [for the dead],” meaning it would be permissible for a living [person] to buy himself a shirt if the Second Tithe was rendered impure, because then, [since it may not be eaten] we cannot apply the verse, and thou shalt eat there before the Eternal thy G-d!³⁴Above, 14:26. To this the Rabbis replied, “The verse states thereof [nor have I given ‘thereof’ for the dead] — from the very oil itself” [i.e., I have not used the Second Tithe oil itself to anoint the dead, thus signifying that if that oil becomes impure I may still use it to anoint myself]. It now remains that the avowal, nor have I given thereof for the dead is attached to the statement neither have I consumed any thereof unclean, the person avowing that he did not eat from it in impurity, and did not use the impure [oil of the Second Tithe] for a corpse, to anoint it. However, in a Mishnah we have been taught in accordance with the words of Rabbi Eliezer [mentioned above in the Sifre²⁹Sifre, Ki Thavo 303. that nor have I given thereof for the dead means to prepare a coffin and shrouds for a corpse]:³⁵Maaseir Sheini 5:12. “Nor have I given thereof for the dead — I have not bought a coffin and shrouds for the dead with it, nor have I given it to other mourners.” This interpretation which the Rabbis [here in the Mishnah] deduced, that he did not give it for the dead — neither for the corpse itself such as for a coffin and shrouds, nor for his mourners [to eat while in mourning] — includes his own mourning as well as that of others. And because of the mourning of others, he avows already about the coffin and shrouds, although such uses [as buying a cloak or shirt] are forbidden even for the living.

בין שאני טמא והוא טהור בין שאני טהור והוא טמא ,לא בערתי ממנו בטמא (Jebamot daselbst), das Verbot מעשר שני im Zustand der טומאה zu essen, sei es in persönlicher, dass der Essende, sei es in sachlicher, dass das מעשר tame wäre, ist bereits, wie bemerkt, in Wajikra und Dewarim ausgesprochen. Es heißt aber nicht לא אכלתי ממנו בטמא, sondern לא בערתי ממנו בטמא, und ist damit für מעשר שני שנטמא über das אכילה-Verbot hinaus auch ein sonstiger Verbrauch בטומאה untersagt. Während nämlich bei תרומה שנטמאת, die wie andere קדשים טמאים verbrannt werden muss, eine Benutzung während des Verbrennens, הנאה בשעת ביעורה, z. B. zum Leuchten oder Kochen gestattet ist (siehe zu Bamidbar 18, 8), ist solches für מעשר שני שנטמא untersagt, wie dieser Gegensatz zu תרומה (Jebamot daselbst) ausgesprochen ist: ממנו אי אתה מבעיר אבל אתה מבעיר שמן של תרומה שנטמא.

ולא בערתי ממנו, “neither I have destroyed any of it unlawfully;” בטמא, “nor have I eaten any of it while in a state of ritual impurity.”

ולא נתתי ממנו למת NOR HAVE I GIVEN THEREOF FOR THE CORPSE to prepare for it a coffin and shrouds (Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:12).

Where is the admonition concerning this?, etc. You might ask: Why not say that the admonition is from here, as Rashi explained above, “From here we derive that it is forbidden during grief.” The answer is that the prohibition certainly is derived from here. Therefore the explanation of [Rashi's question], “Where is the admonition concerning this?” means, in order that he transgresses a negative commandment and be given lashes. But regarding eating in grief, there is only a prohibition and no lashes. And when it is written, “I did not eat of it when grieving,” it is merely relating a fact but it is not an admonition, because an admonition is only feasible when it comes from the Holy One's mouth [as a commandment]. Therefore Rashi explains, “Where is the admonition, etc.”

Wie zu Kap. 12, 24 bemerkt, kann מעשר שני שנטמא selbst innerhalb der Tempelstadt noch ausgelöst werden, wo dann die קדושה auf das Auslösungsgeld übergeht und dieses dann zum Genuss בטהרה verwendet wird (daselbst V. 26).

ולא נתתי ממנו למת, “nor have I given any of it for the dead;” (a euphemism for given it to idols, i.e. “dead deities.”) I have given all of it to the living G-d, the King of the universe.

שמעתי בקול ה' אלהי I HAVE HEARKENED TO THE VOICE OF THE LORD MY GOD — i.e. I have brought it into the Chosen House (Temple‎) (Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:12).

To make a casket or shrouds. This teaching is a novelty; for even a casket or shrouds that are a mitzvah, and certainly secular purposes [are forbidden]. See Kitzur Mizrachi.

ולא נתתי ממנו למת, selbst in seinem טומאה-Zustand habe ich es nicht für einen Toten, etwa zum Salben einer Leiche verwendet (Jebamot 74 a). Oder nach Maaßer scheni V, 12 לא לקחתי ממנו ארון ותכריכים ולא נתתיו לאוננים אחרים, ich habe dafür nicht Sarg und Leichentücher gekauft und habe es auch nicht anderen אוננים zum Genuss gegeben. Nach 3 ,10 הל׳ מעשר שני) רמב׳׳ם) umfasst נתינה למת jede Verwendung für "Totes", d. h. jede Verwendung, die nicht מקיים את הגוף, die nicht der Erhaltung und Förderung des lebendigen Leibes zugute kommt, und ist eben Gegensatz zu אכילה שתיה וסיכה den Genusszwecken, für welche מ׳׳ש zur Verwendung kommen soll.

עשיתי ככל אשר צויתני, “I have acted in accordance with all that You have commanded me.” (regarding the tithes etc., of all that my fields produced)”

עשיתי ככל אשר צויתני I HAVE DONE ACCORDING TO ALL THOU HAST COMMANDED ME — I have myself rejoiced and made others rejoice by it (Sifrei Devarim 303:18; Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:12).

I have brought it to the Temple. Otherwise, why write, “I have heeded the voice of Adonoy”? The person has already declared that he fulfilled all he was commanded and he did not transgress all that he was admonished against? For this reason too, they expounded from, “I have fulfilled everything that You commanded me,” [to mean,] “I rejoiced, and brought joy with it.”

הביאותיו לבית הבחירה :שמעתי בקול ד׳ אלקי, ich habe es in den Umkreis des von dir erwählten Hauses hinaufgebracht, שמחתי ושימחתי בו :עשיתי בכל אשר צויתני, ich habe, wie du mir geboten, mich dessen erfreut und habe andern damit Freude bereitet (Maaßer scheni 5, 12). Oben Kap. 12, 18 sind diese beiden Gebote ausgesprochen:

I rejoiced, and brought joy with it. That is, [to] others.

ואכלת שם לפני ד׳ ושמחת אתה וביתך ,והלוי אשר בשעריך וגו׳, und ebenso Kap. 15, 26 u. 27.

השקיפה ממעון קדשך GLANCE DOWN FROM THE RESIDENCE OF THY HOLINESS . . [AND BLESS THY PEOPLE ISRAEL — “We have done what Thou hast laid upon us, do Thou now what has upon Thee to do, because Thou hast said, (Leviticus 25:3, 4) If ye walk in My ordinances … Then I will give you rain in its season etc.

WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN US, AS THOU DIDST SWEAR UNTO OUR FATHERS — “to give it³⁶Rashi adds the phrase “to give it,” for otherwise the two phrases [as Thou didst swear unto our father — a Land flowing with milk and honey] lack a connecting word or phrase. Ramban will point out that “giving” is implicit in “swearing.” to us and Thou hast fulfilled [Thy promise by] giving us A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY.” This is Rashi’s language. If so, the order of the verse is [to be inverted as follows]: “and the Land which Thou hast given us, a Land flowing with milk and honey, as Thou didst swear unto our father.” And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that the meaning thereof is, may it always be so, that is to say, “and bless the Land which You have given us to be [always] a Land flowing with milk and honey.” But there is no need for all this, for included in the term “speaking” or “swearing” is the act of “giving.” Thus a man may say to his fellow, “You have sworn me your field” [which means: “you have sworn to give me your field”], or “You have told me a hundred” [which means “you have sworn to give me a hundred dinars”]. Similarly, as the Eternal, the G-d of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee — a Land flowing with milk and honey³⁷Above, 6:3. [the term “hath spoken” means “hath spoken that He would give thee”]. We have already explained it [there].³⁷Above, 6:3. So also, and he gave him a house, and food he told him, and gave him land³⁸I Kings 11:18. [which means “and food he promised to give him”]. Now, do not find it difficult here that in the oaths made to the patriarchs “a Land flowing with milk and honey” is not mentioned. Since at that time the Land was a Land flowing with milk and honey, [it would have been redundant to describe it explicitly. Therefore it was as if] He swore to them by a Land flowing with milk and honey. Or it may be that unto our fathers [here does not mean the patriarchs] but those who came forth from Egypt, for it was to them that it was said, unto a Land flowing with milk and honey,³⁹Exodus 3:8. similar to the expression, and the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and our fathers⁴⁰Numbers 20:15. [which refers to “our fathers” who came forth from Egypt].

וברך את עמך...ואת האדמה אשר נתתה לי, in the same manner as You have sworn to our forefathers, when You swore to them: “I will take you up from the poverty in Egypt to a wide good land, etc.” (Exodus 3,17)

השקיפה ממעון קדשך, "Look down from Your holy abode, etc." Why did Moses repeat his reference to heaven by calling it both "holy abode" as well as "heaven?" If all Moses had wanted was to tell us that G'd's abode is a holy place he should simply have written: השקיפה ממעון קדשך השמים, without the additional word מן.

It is known according to the Midrash Shemot Rabbah perek 41 that every time the Torah uses the word Hashkafa, it has negative connotations. In this case, the word is used to show how great the strength of people who take ma'asrot that they can turn negative language into positive. It is surprising why use negative language and reverse it. What would be lost if the pasuk just used the world "hibitu" [which has a positive connotation]. The language of "From your holy dwelling place, from the heavens" should also be examined since the p'shat is repetAlthough in Chagiga (12) a "ma'on" (dwelling place) is called "shamayim" (heavens), as it quotes [our pasuk] "from your holy dwelling place, from the heavens." The repetition is because of the word "min" (from). The pasuk does not say "from your holy dwelling place the heavens." This teaches two things: The heavens are a place of the planets and stars that emanate blessing onto Earth. Additionally, the gemara in Chagiga (12) explains that me'on is the place where the heavenly angels dwell. And the Maharsha already discussed this in his Chiddushe Aggadot. But the explanation of this verse is that the person who brings bikkurim is glorified in his actions that he did everything to the best of his abilities. He therefore comes to ask for heavenly mercy that God should bless Israel and their land. In truth, a person can not be so certain in his or her deeds that his or her prayers will be heard from on high. For without a doubt this person has made some mistake. Therefore, this prayer was established with the words hashkifa mime'on kodhecha. An explanation: Look down (hashkifa) negatively upon the malachei hasharet. And find in them mistakes. Therefore, look down upon us from the Heavens and bless etc. And, in your mercy, do not focus on any mistakes that were made. In this way everything becomes clear: this is why it is reasonable to say hashkifah etc. But it could have said hashkifah meme'on kodshecha vehabitah min hashamayim, like in Tehillim 102. Instead, it is written as is to teach that "someone who brings ma'asrot" etc. 

אשר נתת לנו כאשר נשבעת לאבותינו, “that You have given to us as You had sworn to our forefathers.” Rashi understands this as if the Torah had written: “as You have sworn to our forefathers to give to us, and you thus kept Your promise.” It also includes the acknowledgment that the land in question does indeed flow with milk and honey. Nachmanides writes that if we were to accept Rashi’s interpretation, the words ואת האדמה אשר נתתה לנו ארץ זבת חלב ודבש וקיימת, would mean: “that the land that You have given us is a land flowing with milk and honey, and You kept Your promise.” [Rashi wanted to avoid the impression that the promise of giving us the land was the substance of G’d’s blessing for which the farmer prays in this verse. Ed.] Ibn Ezra writes that the thrust of the farmer’s prayer is that G’d should bless the land to continue to give its generous yield also in the future, just as it had done up until that year. There is no need for all of these explanations as G’d’s oath included the realization of it, i.e. the giving of the land to the generation G’d had selected for this. He had promised to Moses in Exodus 3,8 that the land of the Canaanites, which would be given to the Jewish people, was at that time a land flowing with milk and honey. [It could hardly have been less, as the Torah had described it in Genesis 13,10 already as comparable to “the garden-like nature of the land of Egypt.” Ed.]

Now You fulfill what is incumbent upon You, etc. Otherwise, what relevance has this prayer over here? Therefore [it means], “Because we have fulfilled, etc.” it is fitting for You to fulfill what You promised. At any rate it is a prayer, and not as Re”m and Devek Tov write.

V. 15. עשינו מה שגזרת עלינו אף אתה עשה מה :השקיפה ממעון קדשך שהבטחתנו (Maaßer scheni daselbst 13). Haben, wir unsere Pflicht getan, so dürfen wir auch hoffen, dass du uns den Segen gewährest, den du uns verheißen. השקיפה: senke deinen prüfenden Blick herab auf unser Tun und Lassen (siehe Bereschit S. 266). Daher im Jeruschalmi: בוא וראה כמה גדול כוחן של עושי מצות שכל השקפה שבתורה לרעה וזו לשון ברכה.

ואת האדמה, “and the soil,” in order that You will provide the rain at the appropriate time so that I can continue to serve You with the same fervor next year, and fulfill all the commandments connected with ownership of this land.

אשר נתתה לנו כאשר נשבעת לאבתינו [BLESS THY PEOPLE ISRAEL, AND THE LAND,] WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN US, AS THOU SWAREST UNTO OUR FATHERS, to give it unto us, and indeed Thou hast kept Thy promise, giving us ארץ זבת חלב ודבש A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY.

To give to us, and You fulfilled, etc. By adding the words “to give to us,” Rashi is answering the question: The oath does not mention “a land flowing with milk and honey,” so how is it written here, “As You swore, etc.”? Therefore Rashi explains “to give to us.” That is, [You gave to us] as You swore to our forefathers you would give us, “and [also] You fulfilled” the promise you made to those who went out of Egypt to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, [which was] more than You had sworn to our forefathers.

I believe the Torah wants to make us privy to a secret, i.e. that G'd has prepared two distinct sources in the celestial spheres from which to exert His benevolent influence on mankind. One source is the reservoir of spiritual input into man, i.e. the source from which the holy souls are despatched to inhabit our bodies. The other reservoir is that which provides us with physical goodness, i.e. the sustenance enabling His creatures to stay alive by means of food, etc. In the language of the Zohar, the combination of these two are called זווג, coupling, pairing (as in marriage). This term is applicable whenever one of the two of the pair in question is active, i.e. provides the input, and the other is the recipient of that input. According to our Kabbalists the input of holy souls which used to originate from the celestial spheres has been interrupted ever since the day the Temple was destroyed, so that nowadays we receive input only from the source which provides the material goodness G'd has to offer. Moses, i.e. the Jewish farmer in our chapter, prays that G'd should provide the spiritual input, i.e. ממעון קדשך, "from Your holy abode." This input originates in the highest celestial region, hence the Torah describes that abode as קדש, holy. Kabbalists have already revealed (Zohar volume two page 121) the difference between a level called kadosh, and the level in the celestial spheres called kodesh. The latter level is higher than the former as every intelligent student will appreciate. The words מן השמים "from the heavens," refer to the lower of the above-mentioned levels within the celestial spheres. The pairing, זווג which results when the input originates only in the spheres called kadosh is inferior to that which results when the input from heaven includes input from the part known as kodesh. Concerning the first request, that G'd should provide input from the highest regions, the farmer asks that "Your people will be blessed," i.e. with sons and daughters whose souls originate in מעון קדשך. Concerning the heavenly input into our world of material blessings i.e. food, the blessings originating in the sphere called השמים, the farmer asks the blessing for the אדמה, the earth on which the Israelite dwells (compare Maaser Sheyni 5,13).

Mit dieser Institution וידוי מעשר schließt die ganze eigentliche spezielle Gesetzgebung. Es folgen nur noch die auf die Erhaltung des nun abgeschlossenen Gesetzes im Ganzen in dem Volkesbewusstsein sich beziehenden beiden מצות הקהל :מצות (K. 31, 10 u. 11) und כתיבת התורה (daselbst 19).

Bedenken wir dabei, wie die מעשר-Gebote die einzigen in der ganzen göttlichen Gesetzgebung sind, für deren pflichtgetreue Erfüllung ein so förmliches rückblickendes Bekenntnis vor Gott vorgeschrieben ist: so muss den durch diese מעשר-Gebote gepflegten Grundsätzen und Gesinnungen und deren Betätigung eine ganz besondere Bedeutsamkeit für die durch das ganze Gesetz angestrebten Ziele innewohnen.

Wie wir wiederholt erkannt und in dem eigentlichen מעשר-Kapitel (Kap. 14, 22 f,) eingehend entwickelt haben, soll durch die dreifachen Maaßerpflichtleistungen die Verwendung unserer materiellen Güter für die ihnen von Gott gesteckten Ziele des aus der תורה zu erleuchtenden Geistes (מעשר ראשון), des in sittlicher Reinheit zu pflegenden Leibes (מעשר שני), und der aus hingebendem Pflichtgefühl zu fördernden Nächstenwohlfahrt (מעשר עני) gelehrt und übend zum praktischen Bewusstsein gebracht werden. Unter die Verwirklichung dieser drei Ziele dürfte aber wohl überhaupt die Summe unserer Gesamtaufgabe sich begreifen lassen, und ein Volksleben, dessen materielle Bestrebungen in die Verwirklichung dieser Ziele aufgehen, dürfte in der Tat — losgelöst von allem Egoismus und aller sittlichen Entartung — ein so gesundes und menschlich vollendetes sein, dass es mit dem Aufruf השקיפה sich den die materiellen Mittel zu einem solchen Volkesstreben gewährenden Gottessegen erbitten darf.

Diese Betrachtungen dürften, wie wir glauben, eine Einsicht in die Motive eröffnen, welche eben dem Bekenntnis der erfüllten Maaßerpflichten die Stelle als Schlussstein der ganzen Gesetzgebung angewiesen haben mögen.

Unter diesen Maaßerpflichten stellt aber das auf die Erfüllung rückblickende Bekenntnis, wie wir gesehen haben, in augenfälliger Weise das dem Selbstgenuss verbleibende מעשר שני, — obgleich es in der Reihenfolge der Erfüllungen erst die zweite Stelle einnimmt und nicht vor מעשר ראשון ausgeschieden gewesen sein darf, wenn überhaupt das Bekenntnis soll gesprochen werden können, — mit Entschiedenheit in den Vordergrund, so sehr, dass nicht nur der größte Teil des Bekenntnisses sich nur auf dieses מעשר bezieht und beziehen kann, sondern dass nach der Halacha (Jeruschalmi Bikurim II, 2) das ganze מעשר-Bekenntnis entfällt, wenn jemand wohl תרומה und andere מעשרות, aber nicht מעשר שני gehabt hat — er wäre z. B. erst im dritten oder sechsten Schemitajahre zu Acker und, Feld gelangt —. Wir sehen daher hier wieder, wie die Heiligung der sinnlichen Leiblichkeit als der das ganze jüdische Pflichtleben tragende Grundstein begriffen wird, eine Wahrheit, die sich, wie wir gesehen haben, von der grundlegenden Milahinstitution an die ganze Gesetzgebung hindurch verfolgen lässt. In der Ausübung der Maaßerpflichten geht allerdings immer מעשר ראשון voran. Denn nur der durch den Levitenstamm zu pflegende Geist der תורה bringt die Aufgabe der durch Heiligung zu erhebenden sinnlichen Leiblichkeit (מעשר שני) und der aus Liebespflicht zu fördernden Nächstenwohlfahrt (מעשר עני) zum lebendigen Bewusstsein. Ohne תורה-Erleuchtung bleibt der genießende Mensch nur Tier und der besitzende Egoist. Allein in dem die Erhebung des Menschen zu dem jüdischen תורה-Ideal bewirkenden Einfluss steht die מעשר שני-Heiligung des sinnlichen Lebens mit Entschiedenheit oben an. Erst wenn auch der genießende Mensch nicht vor Gott und seinem Heiligtum zu erröten hat, erst wenn auch der genießende Mensch — ebenso fern von sittlicher Unfreiheit (טומאה), wie von Trauerverkümmerung und Unterschätzung der irdischen Lebensfreude (אנינות und נתינה למת) — mit seinem Genuss als sittlich heiliger, Gott dienender Tat in dem Umkreis seines Gesetzesheiligtums weilt, mit dieser Gottheiligkeit auch des sinnlichen Lebens jeder dualistische Gegensatz aus dem Wesen des Menschen gewichen, und der sittlich geheiligte Leib zu einem Träger des göttlichen Geistes geadelt ist: erst dann wird der jüdische Mensch fähig, aus dem reinen Geistesborn der תורה Wahrheit zu schöpfen, erst dann seine Brust weit genug, um auch die Nächstenwohlfahrt in freudiger Selbstlosigkeit wie die eigene zu umfassen. Heißt es ja oben Kap. 14, 23 von diesem מעשר שני-Genuss in der Tempelstadt: ואכלת לפני ד׳ אלקיך במקום אשר יבחר לשכן שמו שם וגו׳ למען תלמד ליראה את ד׳ אלקיך כל הימים!

Darum schließt die ganze spezielle Gesetzgebung mit dem מעשר שניBekenntnis ganz so wie תורת כהנים, das große Buch der priesterlichen Lebensheiligung, das Wajikra, mit der מעשר שני- und der ganz gleichen מעשר בהמה Institution geschlossen hat (siehe daselbst zu Kap. 27, 30 - 33).

היום הזה ה׳ אלהיך מצוך THIS DAY THE LORD THY GOD COMMANDETH THEE — This suggests: each day they (God’s commandments) should be to you as something new (not antiquated and something of which you have become tired), as though you had received the commands that very day for the first time (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 1; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 11:13).

THIS DAY THE ETERNAL THY G-D COMMANDETH THEE TO DO THESE STATUTES AND ORDINANCES. Now Moses finished explaining the Torah to them and issuing all the new commandments which G-d commanded him to declare to them. Therefore he said, “This day the Eternal thy G-d commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances, for I have already completed everything for you.” He mentioned, and thou shalt observe and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.⁴¹In Verse 16 before us. I have already explained the terms “heart” and “soul.”⁴²Above, 6:5.

היום הזה, that You entered into the covenant with him. The “covenant” comprised the undertaking by Israel to keep G’d’s statutes as something that would ensure their welfare, something He had not done for any other nation.

היום הזה, "On this day, etc." Did then Moses command these commandments on the day the Torah reports this, i.e. a few days before his death? Did G'd not command all these commandments already when the people were at Mount Sinai? Rashi explains that Moses meant that the commandments should be regarded by the people as if they were something new each day. I think that maybe what the Torah had in mind is this. Whereas it is true that all these commandments had been legislated and taught ever since the people had stood at Mount Sinai, the commandments which pertained to the land of Israel had thus far been only in the realm of theory, i.e. they had to be studied but could not be performed. Moses says, that as of the day he addressed the people, the laws pertaining to the land of Israel were no longer in the sphere of theory but had begun to assume practical significance. The people might therefore view these commandments as if they had just been given to them. The word היום, "this day," is not to be interpreted literally but refers to an imminent period.

היום הזה, “on this day, etc.” Nachmanides writes that this verse completes the review of the Torah by Moses and the revealing by him to the people of commandments not revealed to them thus far. This is why he concludes the verse with the exhortation to the people to observe all the commandments.

A heavenly echo blesses him, etc. Rashi is answering the question: This parsha is certainly juxtaposed to the parsha of first fruits. Therefore [the words], “You shall observe, etc.,” refer to the parsha of first fruits. But how can “you shall observe and perform them, etc.” refer to the parsha of first fruits if in the parsha of first fruits it is written that he already completed the entire procedure and has already brought the first fruits, as is indicated by the verse, “View, from Your sacred residence, etc.”? Therefore Rashi explains, “A heavenly echo blesses him, etc.” (Re”m). To me it seems that Rashi is answering the question: According to the verse's straightforward meaning, why is it written, “This very day, etc.”? Hashem already commanded this in the parsha of “Should you thoroughly heed My commandments” (above 11:13), and in the parsha of “You are to love” (ibid 6:5). Perforce, the whole matter refers to bringing the first fruits, and if so, why is it written, “You shall observe and perform them”? What is it referring to? And how is it connected to, “Adonoy, you have distinguished today, etc.”? Therefore it must be that, “A heavenly echo blesses him, etc.”

V. 16. היום הזה. Mit dem nun heute vollendeten Abschluss der Gesetzgebung trittst du ganz eigentlich in die Pflicht des Gehorsams gegen dies Gesetz ein. Wie so häufig, ist aber die Summe der ganzen Gesetzgebung in חקים und משפטים, in unser individuelles Leben sittlich umschränkende Gesetze und in unser Zusammenleben rechtlich gestaltende Ordnungen gefasst, sowie unsere Aufgabe in Beziehung zu ihnen in שמירה und עשיה, in ihre Erhaltung sichernde Geistestätigkeit und Gewissenhaftigkeit, und in praktische Ausführung, beides aber בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך, mit Dahingebung unseres ganzen empfindenden und denkenden und unseres ganzen lebenden und strebenden Wesens.

את החוקים האלה, “these statutes.” The ones pertaining to the tithes and the firstlings of the fruit,

ושמרת ועשית אותם THOU SHALT THEREFORE KEEP AND DO THEM — A heavenly voice (בת קול) pronounces by these words a blessing upon him (the worshipper): “You have brought the first fruits today — you will be privileged to do so next year, too!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tavo 1).

בכל לבבך, you must embrace these laws with all your heart, without mental reservations or doubts about their authenticity. Your sole motivation must be to carry out His will.

ואת המשפטים, “and the details surrounding these laws,” a reference to the details connected with the laws of tithing, such as not eating from these when in a state of mourning. (verse 14)

ובכל נפשך, you must not allow yourself to be distracted, sidetracked, by the evil urge, i.e. temptations, because you are so firm in the belief of the superiority of the Lawgiver.

ושמרת, “you shall observe,” in your heart.

ועשית אותם, “and perform them, in the Holy Land.”

האמרה, האמירך are words for the meaning of which there is no decisive proof in Scripture. It seems to me, however, that they are expressions denoting “separation” and “selection”: “You have singled Him out from all strange gods to be unto you as God — and He on His part, has singled you out from the nations on earth to be unto Him a select people”. [As far as this meaning is concerned I have found a parallel (lit., a witness) to it where it bears the meaning “glory”, as in (Psalms 94:4): “All wrongdoers glory in themselves”].

THOU HAST AVOUCHED THE ETERNAL THIS DAY. The meaning thereof is: “Since you have accepted the entire Torah upon yourselves with all its interpretations, details, and new promulgations, you have thus magnified G-d and exalted Him, that He alone will be your G-d; you will in no way avow another god.”

In this respect, את ה' האמרת היום, when you accepted upon yourself to become a party to this sacred oath, which puts at risk every physical goodness on earth in the event that you desecrate this oath האמרת, by doing so you elevated the image of the Lord, Who, as a result, will be even more honoured in your eyes than before you entered into this reciprocal covenant with Him. You have thereby demonstrated that it is more important for you to do His will than to enjoy any of the transient pleasures of this life.

1. To YHVH you are to declare today. The numerology of this phrase is equal to the phrase "the recitation of the Shema"

את ה׳ האמרת היום להיות, "You have distinguished Hashem this day to be a G'd for you, etc." The reason the Torah added the word היום, "this day," may be understood in conjunction with what we learned in Ketuvot 110 that "anyone who lives in the diaspora is considered as if he did not have a G'd." The words את ה׳ האמרת היום apply only to people who are in the Holy Land. Even though at that precise moment the Israelites were still on the land that used to belong to Sichon and Og, this was considered part of the Holy Land seeing that it had been conquered by the whole nation at the command of their prophet Moses. We have discussed and proved this point in connection with our commentary on Numbers 32,3. Seeing that the land in question was no longer part of the diaspora, the Israelites could truly claim to have adopted the Lord as their G'd, and G'd in turn adopted them as His exclusive people.

את ה' האמרת היום, you have become as if betrothed to G’d Who had said “I will be your G’d,” for this is something which depends primarily on Him. He will be your Saviour as a result of your observing His commandments which you accepted.

את ה' האמרת, “You have exalted Hashem,” by accepting the entire Torah in all its details you have exalted Hashem this day; you have adopted Him as your exclusive G’d, eschewing all others.

את ה' האמרת היום, “You have distinguished Hashem today, etc.” The word האמרת means “to elevate, to distinguish” (Ibn Ezra). It is found in this context in Isaiah 17,6 בראש אמיר, “on the topmost branch.” Onkelos also understands the word in that sense when he renders it as חטבת, similar to Proverbs 7,16: חטובות אטון מצרים, “colored sheets of Egyptian linen, (excellent linen).” It is reported in the name of Rabbi Yehudah Halevi that he understood the word האמרת as a derivative of ויאמר, “he said,” in which case the meaning would be that “you have done the right thing in the eyes of the Lord by accepting His Torah until you turned around and proclaimed that He was to be your G’d.”

You have distinguished Him, from the alien gods, etc. This is the explanation of, “You have distinguished today, etc.”

V. 17. אמר .את ד׳ האמרת kommt nur hier und in dem folgenden Verse im Hifil vor. In dieser Form heißt es nichts anderes, als: veranlassen, machen, dass ein anderer etwas sage. Nun lässt der ganze Inhalt dieses und der folgenden Verse es zu, ׳את ד׳ האמרת וגו zu verstehen: du hast Gott zu sagen veranlasst: und ד׳ האמירך ׳וגו: Gott hat dich zu sagen veranlasst; denn offenbar enthalten Vers 17 die Zusage Israels an Gott, sowie Verse 18 und 19 Gottes Zusage an Israel. Es ist nun an sich nicht ungewöhnlich, dass der Gegenstand, von welchem man etwas ausgesagt, im Akkusativ zu אמר steht. So: הוא הבאר אשר (Bamidbar 10, 29), אל המקום אשר אמר ד׳ אותו ׳אתן לכם אמר ד׳ למשה וגו (daselbst 21, 6), אמרו צדיק כי טוב (Jes.3, 10). את ד׳ אמרת להיות לך לאלקים würde somit heißen: von Gott hast du es ausgesagt, dass er , dir Gott sein solle, und ebenso ד׳ אמר אותך להיות לו לעם סגלה: Gott hat von ausgesagt, dass du ihm ein nur ihm angehöriges Volk sein sollst. האמרת und האמירך heißt aber: du hast veranlasst, dass man von Gott sagt, er solle dir Gott sein, und Gott hat es veranlasst, dass man von dir sage, du sollest Gott ein עם סגולה sein etc. Das heißt: Israels Gelöbnis an Gott und Gottes Zusage an Israel ist kein so zu sagen privates geblieben, es ist ein weltkundiges, in das Bewusstsein der Menschheit eingegrabenes geworden. Man bezeichnet fortan Gott als Israels Gott und Israel als Gottes Volk.

את ה' האמרת היום להיות לך לאלוקים....וה' האמירך היום להיות לו לעם סגולה, “You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your G–d.....and the Lord has affirmed to you this day that you are His special people, etc.” Concerning the precise meaning of these two verses, we read the following in the Talmud tractate B’rachot, folio 6: “The Holy One blessed Be He said: “you have declared Me as unique in the universe, by declaring “hear o Lord the Lord our G–d the Lord is unique.” Therefore I have reciprocated by declaring you as a unique people for Me.” (Compare Chronicles 1 17,21: ומי כעמך ישרך גוי אחד בארץ, “and who is comparable to Your people Israel, a unique nation on earth.” An alternate interpretation of our two verses: The word האמרת, means: “an exchange of something.” G–d credits the Jewish people with having traded in any other deities in favour of the invisible Creator, Who had revealed Himself to them at Mount Sinai. In response to that act, the Creator traded all the other 70 nations on earth as His potential favourite, and chose us instead. This would be similar to what Moses said in Psalms 94,4 יתאמרו כל פועל און, “for how long will the ones mouthing falsehoods (against Israel) be allowed to get away with it?” Still another interpretation of these unusual verses: The word אמיר occurs in Isaiah 17,6, שנים שלשה גרגרים באמיר, “two or three berries on the topmost branch;” here we would have to understand the word האמרת as meaning that Israel had elevated the Lord G–d to the topmost branch, and the Lord responded by elevating the Jewish people to the highest ranking nation. The expression יתאמרו כל פועלי און, corresponds to the psalmist describing the wicked people describing themselves (reflexive mode) as the most advanced and important in the world.

את ה׳ האמרת היום, “you have avouched the Lord this day;” you have singled out the Lord today; by accepting G-d’s commandments you, Israel, have adopted the Lord your G-d as your only deity. He has reciprocated by making you His special people, as He demonstrated by all the miracles He performed for your sake.

להיות לך לאלוקים, that He will be the most exalted of all disembodied phenomena, powers; you are aware that all that occurs in your life is the result of His guiding fate and history, in your case, without resorting to deputies, agents, any intermediaries who carry out His commands. Seeing that this is so, it would be inconceivable that in your religious rites you were to turn, even only as an auxiliary, to any other phenomenon purporting to be His agent. You bow and humble yourself only before Him, directly.

וללכת בדרכיו, “and to walk in His ways.” To not only perform His commandments to the letter, but also to model yourself according to what He has revealed about Himself, i.e. to go beyond the letter of the law and to honour the spirit upon which the law has been based.

And He set you aside, for Himself, from the peoples of the earth, etc. This is the explanation of, “And Adonoy has distinguished you, etc.”

Another meaning of this verse may be based on the Zohar volume one page 108 according to which the other countries on earth have been assigned by G'd to a respective שר, minister, who is in charge of them on G'd's behalf. The land of Israel and its people on the other hand are not subject to any delegate of G'd but are ruled over directly by G'd Almighty. In Psalms 17,2 David phrased it thus: "My judgment will proceed from directly in front of Your eyes." In other words, we are not subject to the authority of any of G'd's deputies.

AND THAT THOU WOULDEST WALK IN HIS WAYS — to do the good and the right, and do kindness one to another. And keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His ordinances. He [Moses] singles out the statutes and ordinances [for the reason] I have explained,⁴²Above, 6:5. and he includes in the expression and His commandments all the commandments — positive and negative. And hearken unto His voice — this refers to whatever He will command you concerning other deeds through me or through the rest of the prophets, as I have explained.⁴³Ibid., 13:5. It is possible that the expression His commandments refers to the positive commandments, and hearken unto His voice means the avoidances, that is to say, the negative commandments.

את ד׳ האמרת: Israel hat vor aller Welt von Gott gelobt, ׳להיות לך וגו: dass es sein Geschick und seine Tat Gottes Lenkung und Leitung unterstellt, וללכת בדרכיו: dass es nur in den von Ihm gewiesenen Wegen seine Ziele anstreben, ולשמר חקיו ׳ומצותיו וגו: die von ihm gegebenen Gesetze, Aufgaben und Ordnungen hüten (siehe oben) und gehorsam erfüllen wolle.

וללכת בדרכיו, to try and emulate His characteristics to the extent He has seen fit to reveal these to you.

ולשמוע בקולו, “and to hearken to His voice.” Any other matters He will command you through me, even if they are not part of the basic 613 commandments.

It denotes glory, etc. Thus האמרת means “you glorified,” as in “All evildoers glorify themselves.” They glorify themselves that their [evil] way is successful (Rashi, Chagiga 3a).

Still another thought which may be concealed in our verse is that Hashem, the attribute of Mercy, will participate in judgment of the Jewish people. While it is true that G'd judges everyone and every nation according to their just deserts, i.e. להיות לך לאלוקים, in your case, G'd the merciful will cause the Israelites to say (to acknowledge) that His judgment is fair, i.e. they will bless the Lord even when they experience what appears to them to be a harsh judgment.

ולשמוע בקולו, as is fit for His servants.

וללכת בדרכיו, "and to walk in His ways, etc." Moses compliments the Jewish people that they walk in G'd's paths even in matters G'd has not specifically commanded. As soon as they have divined what it is that He would want them to do, they do so of their own accord. Specific examples are such good practices as visiting the sick, burying the dead. The Israelites learned from G'd visiting Abraham or burying Moses that these were virtues He wants us to practice though there is no specific commandment ordering us to do so. Israel's walking in the paths of G'd extends both to חוקיו, His statutes, the laws that appear to have no rationale, as well as מצותיו ומשפטיו, His other commandments and His social laws, i.e. the laws governing inter-personal relationships, relationships which are to be administered by terrestrial courts. ולשמע בקלו, "and by listening to His voice;" this is a reference to Torah study. The reason the Torah describes this as G'd's "voice" may be understood with reference to Sifri, 115 where the author asked: "how do we know that if one studies Torah from the mouth of a minor scholar this is equivalent to one's hearing the Torah from G'd's own mouth? Answer: it says in Deut. 15,5 אם שמע תשמע בקול ה׳ אלוקיך (compare Rashi on that verse). Why did the Torah mention Torah study as the last of the virtues Israel is to practice? This is to inform us that even if a person has mastered all the disciplines of Judaism, is thoroughly familiar with all the laws and precepts, he is still obligated to make study of the Torah part of his daily program. It is a commandment all by itself. As long as man lives he has never fully discharged his obligation to engage in the study of Torah as we know from Numbers 19,14: זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל. We may translate this as: "this is the obligation to study Torah. It extends until man dies while engaged in its study."

כאשר דבר לך AS HE HATH PROMISED THEE — in the words (Exodus 19:5) “Ye shall be a select portion unto Me” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:25).

AND THE ETERNAL HATH AVOUCHED THEE. For this day is to you as the day of [the Revelation on] Sinai, and G-d exalted and magnified you by your acceptance of the Torah in order that you be His own treasure from among all peoples,⁴⁴Exodus 19:5. and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments,⁴⁵In Verse 18 before us. for, to you alone He gave His Torah and commanded you with all the commandments that are desireable before Him and to no other nation. It is similar to what is written, He declareth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation.⁴⁶Psalms 147:19-20.

וה' האמירך היום, by entering into the covenant with you, a distinction He has not accorded to any other nation.

He (G-d) said to (Israel) to be to Him a treasured nation, that even if another nation were to come along and improve their deeds and to try to cleave to the divine presence, nevertheless, they will never achieve the level of the Jewish people, and it is this aspect of the Jewish people that is referred to as ‘treasured’, and this is the greatness of the Jewish nation…

He also האמירך, contributed His part in your becoming willing to become His people (and all that this entails). Moses refers to all the miracles G’d had performed for this people before they agreed to become His people.

וה' האמירך היום, “and Hashem on His part has distinguished you today, etc.” Moses tells the new generation that this day on which he concludes the review of the Torah for them is for them as if they themselves had participated in the revelation at Mt Sinai almost 40 years previously. G’d granted them an opportunity to consider themselves as having been present at that time when their parents had become Hashem’s “special” people.

וה' האמירך, “and the Lord reciprocated with similar sentiments towards you.” In other words, just as you accepted Him as G’d, so He performed so many miracles on your behalf that as a result you agreed to view yourself as exclusively His people. G’d confirmed this at Mount Sinai when he said in Exodus 19,5: “if you will surely hearken to My voice and be loyal to My covenant, then you will become a treasured people for Me, more so than any of the other nations.”
ולשמור את כל מצותיו, “and to observe all His commandments.” This means that the statements about Israel’s status which we just described are contingent on the people observing the Lord’s commandments. A Jewish people who fails to observe these commandments does not qualify for the distinctive title עם סגולה.

VV. 18 u. 19. וד׳ האמירך וגו׳: Und Gott hat vor aller Welt von Israel ausgesprochen, להיות לו וגו׳: dass Israel Ihm ausschließlich angehören, keine andere Macht Gewalt über Israel haben, ולשמר כל מצותיו: und Israel wie der Cherub am Wege zum Baume des Lebens, wie die Cherubim über der Bundeslade, der Wächter des göttlichen Sittengesetzes auf Erden sein solle. ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים וגו׳, hat Israel, sobald es sich als gewissenhaften Hüter seines Gesetzes bewährt, eine weltgeschichtliche Stellung verheißen, die es hoch über alle anderen von Gott gestalteten Völker hinaus heben soll, so dass die Tatsache seiner völkergeschichtlichen Erscheinung Gott auf Erden לתהלה לשם ולתפארת gereiche. Israels völkergeschichtliche Erscheinung soll תהלה werden: eine Offenbarung der Gotteswaltung inmitten der Menschheit, ja eigentlich eine "Ausstrahlung" in geschichtlichen Erscheinungen, die auf Gott, als deren Ausgang zurückführen und sein Dasein und Walten konstatieren; und mehr als dies, soll לשם werden: soll nicht nur eine unbestimmte Ahnung von einem einzigen Meister der Gänge der Natur und Geschichte, soll שם, soll, indem es mit dem Buche seiner Lehr- und Gesetzoffenbarung in der Hand, dem einzigen Quell seines Geistes- und Tatenlebens und seiner Wundererhaltung, in Mitte der Völker wandelt, eine ganz bestimmte, klar umschriebene Erkenntnis von dieses einzigen Gottes Sein und Wollen vermitteln, und — wenn es von diesem Gotte und seinem treu erfüllten Gesetze getragen, das Menschen- und Volkesglück erreicht, das Gott ihm in seinem Gesetze verbrieft, — so wird dies לתפארת, wird eine alles andere so weithin überstrahlende Verherrlichung Gottes und seines Gesetzes werden, dass "Völker zu diesem Lichte wandeln werden" und Israel ein "Kranz der Verherrlichung in Gottes Hand, ein Königsdiadem seinem Gotte wird" ׳והיית עטרת תפארת ביד ד וצניף מלוכה בכף אלקיך (Jes.62, 3). ולהיותך עם קדוש וגו׳, und während Gott es vor aller Welt ausgesprochen, dass Israel als das Volk des Gottesgesetzes ein Werkzeug der Völkererleuchtung und Völkergesittung werden solle, so hat er eben damit האמירך: zum Bewusstsein aller Menschen die Bestimmung und Erwartung von Israel ausgesprochen, dass es in allen zu ihm Zählenden ein עם קדוש, eine "heilige", nur dem sittlich Guten und Gott Wohlgefälligen zugewandte Nation sein solle, also — dass, wenn je es seiner heiligen Bestimmung untreu werden sollte, der kleinste Bube aus der übrigen Menschheit es an seine Bestimmung und seine Verpflichtung mahnen könne.

להיות לו לעם סגולה, so that He may achieve with you what He hoped to achieve with mankind when He created man, saying: “let us make man in our image, etc. (Genesis 1,26).

Alternatively, this is intended as reassurance to the Jewish people that although there would be stormy periods in their relationship with G'd, periods during which G'd would be very angry at them, G'd would never exchange them for another nation. The words כאשר דבר לך have to be understood as in Berachot 7 where the meaning of Exodus 33,16: ונפלינו אני ועמך, "and I (Moses) and Your people will be distinguished" is discussed. This was a request by Moses that G'd not allow His Presence to rest on any other nation and not to grant them prophets. We have explained in our book Chefetz Hashem that what Moses meant was that even if another nation were to qualify for such favourite treatment by G'd on the basis of its moral and ethical achievements, whereas at that same time the Israelites would be habitually violating the Torah precepts, G'd should not distinguish such a nation by making it His favourite. At that time G'd promised Moses that the Israelites would retain their status of being special to G'd.

ולשמור כל מצותיו, He accorded you an additional distinction in having chosen you to observe all of His commandments; by comparison the other nations have not been rated important enough in His eyes to warrant these commandments. Proof is the statement of our sages that if a gentile decides to observe the Sabbath legislation voluntarily as a religious act, he is guilty of death, as ever since the first sin, man had been condemned to labour in the sweat of his brow for a livelihood, and only the Jewish people have been relieved of this decree on one day of the week, i.e. the Sabbath. (compare Sanhedrin 58) All other nations have been given only seven commandments to observe.

ולשמר כל מצותיו "and to observe all His commandments." Seeing that this is a commitment undertaken by Israel vis-a-vis G'd why does the Torah write such a line in a verse which portrays G'd's commitment to Israel?

Perhaps the glory of Israel consists in the fact that G'd has seen fit to "give" this nation all His laws, something He had not seen fit to do for any nation or individual during the 2,000 years of mankind's existence prior to G'd's revelation at Mount Sinai. G'd had only given a few laws to Adam and Noach, holding back the vast majority of them until He revealed them to Israel. We must remember that the principal function of these commandments is to act as a barrier against the various abominations in our universe. Observing these commandments acts like inoculation against the danger of becoming polluted by these various spiritually negative influences which abound all around us.

A second explanation for the strange phenomenon of G'd being described as "keeping all His commandments," maybe that it is an assurance that G'd will strengthen all the forces which are active to promote the keeping of His commandments. We have to understand this verse as a gentle reminder that even with the best will in the world we would not be able to observe all of G'd's commandments unless we received a heavenly assist.

A third meaning may be based on Kohelet 8,5: "he who keeps the commandments will know no evil;" our sages in Pesachim 8 derive from that verse that anyone engaged in the performance of a commandment either himself or even as a delegate for someone else, will not come to harm while so engaged. The word ישמר in our verse then means that G'd will watch over people engaged in מצוה-performance.

A fourth meaning may be that our verse speaks of a dimension which even Moses himself had not attained, even though he too was part of this nation called עם סגולה. Our sages in Sotah 14, commenting on Moses' prayer to be allowed to enter the Holy Land, ask why Moses was so anxious to do this. Did he perhaps want to taste the produce of that land? They answer that what motivated Moses to make this request was his desire to be allowed to fulfil all the commandmnets which can only be fulfilled on the soil of that land, not in the desert or anywhere else for that matter. G'd's promise here refers to His granting the Israelites the opportunity to fulfil all the commandments, i.e. to let them live in the Holy Land. This is why the Torah emphasised the word היום when speaking about G'd's undertaking vis-a-vis Israel. He referred to the time when entry to the Holy land had become imminent. This was a distinction which had been denied even to Moses.

When you examine the two verses 17 and 18 respectively you will find that between them they describe six virtues which Israel excels in, and 6 six distinctions G'd bestows on the Jewish people. 1) "to be your G'd;" 2) to walk in His paths; 3) to observe His statutes; 4) to observe His commandments; 5) to observe His social laws; 6) to hearken to His voice. Verse 18 is G'd's response where He bestows six distinctions upon us. 1) to be His precious people; 2) to protect us when performing all His commandments. 3-5) to make Israel supreme over all the nations; to be famous and a glorious example amongst all the nations through the performance of laws given to us exclusively by G'd; 6) to be a holy nation, an achievement which is due to Torah-observance. The verse concludes with כאשר דבר לך, "as He said to you" (in Exodus 19,6) where the Torah wrote: "these are the words you are to say to the children of Israel."

ולהיתך עם קדש … כאשר דבר AND THAT THOU MAYEST BE AN HOLY PEOPLE … AS HE HATH SPOKEN — in the words, (Leviticus 20:26) “And ye shall be holy unto Me” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:25).

AND TO MAKE THEE HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS THAT HE HATH MADE, IN PRAISE — that all the peoples of the earth should praise you for the fact that G-d will be near whenever you call upon Him.⁴⁷See above, 4:7.

ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים, in your ability to understand the meaning of life on earth and to teach it. This is the meaning of Exodus 19,6 “you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

ולתתך עליון וגו', “and to make you supreme, etc.;” to set you up as an example that all the other nations praise and wish to emulate. They do so because they realize that you evoke immediate responses when you call upon Hashem.

על כל הגוים אשר עשה לתהילה ולשם ולתפארת, “over all the nations that He made, for praise, for renown, and for splendour.” Whereas the Lord will make the Jewish people supreme in these respects, He does not do so with any of the other nations as they have been assigned to the various planets which govern their fates. לא כאלה חלק יעקב כי יוצר הכל הוא, “not like these is the portion of Yaakov, for it is He Who formed all things” (Jeremiah 10,16). This difference is meant when the Torah describes the Jewish people as being לשם ולתהילה. Israel’s fame is its praising the Lord and His great name. He is Israel’s G’d in a somewhat exclusive manner.

ולתתן עליון, “and to place you supreme;” where is the source for G-d doing this? Compare Deut. 28,13: 'ונתנך ה לראש ולא לזנב, “and the Lord will make you the head and not the tail.”

לתהלה ולשם ולתפארת, for the Almighty, as per Isaiah 49,3 “Israel, you in whom I glory.”

ולשם, “and for renown,” to enhance your reputation all over the world.

AND IN NAME — that thy renown will go forth among the nations for His splendor which He had placed upon thee,⁴⁸Ezekiel 16:14. for you are exalted above all.

ולהיותך עם קדוש, and your being a holy and eternal nation.

ולתפארת, “and for splendour;” you will be able to boast that whatever enterprise you are embarking on will be crowned with success.

AND IN GLORY — for you will be glorified over them by being able to do with them whatever you will desire; thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee,⁴⁹Job 22:28. similar to what is stated, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying: Mine own hand hath saved me.⁵⁰Judges 7:2.

כאשר דבר, when He said at the time in Exodus 20 “you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

ולהיותך עם קדוש, “and for you to be a holy nation.” You will have attained the דבקות, close attachment, a state of relationship with your G’d which is the ultimate level of closeness to Hashem that man is capable of attaining. Rabbi Yehudah the Spaniard explains that the word האמרת in verse 17 is derived from the word ויאמר, “he said,” and its meaning in that verse is that you have done what is good in His eyes to such a degree that it is said about you or of you that He is surely your G’d, and He in turn will do for you in accordance with what you say (request) so that you can truly say that you will be His special people.

AND THAT THOU MAYEST BE A HOLY PEOPLE UNTO THE ETERNAL — to cleave to Him ultimately.⁵¹See above, 11:22.
And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], in praise suggests that the G-d of Israel is thy praise,⁵²Ibid., 10:21. and His Great Name is thy G-d,⁵²Ibid., 10:21. and this is your Glory, similar to what is written, For Thou art the Glory of their strength;⁵³Psalms 89:18. the Glory of Israel.⁵⁴Lamentations 2:1.