Devar/5770/Ki Tavo
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< Devar | 5770
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And thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is in the midst of thee. (Deut 26:11)
The ceremony of the bringing of the "first fruits" seems a bit strange. The first fruits are brought in a basket to the Temple. There we say to the Cohen who is there: I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the land…, and the Cohen takes the basket. Immediately And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God: 'A wandering Aramean was my father…, And the Egyptians dealt ill with us…, And we cried unto the LORD…, And the LORD brought us forth…, And He hath brought us into this place. Finally, he says that he brought the first fruits -- and then the Torah commands thou shalt rejoice in all the good. What is this "rejoicing", and for what?
The rejoicing mentioned here is the rejoicing of the "peace offering" and the accompanying song (Laws of First Fruits 3:13). It would be easy to understand this as a formal "rejoicing", since one who is in mourning is be forbidden to bring the offering -- and it seems difficult that the Torah would command us to "be happy" in the normal sense. But even though it does not say we must be happy in that sense, it does try to show us that, yes, we must be happy.
This long ceremony we mentioned is a repetition of the history of our holy Nation, and in particular it is a repetition of our salvation from our enemies, and God's fulfillment of His promises to our forefathers. Were only one of them to be fulfilled, it would be enough for us. But since He not only brought us multiple salvations, but also filled our storehouses with produce -- we must not only thank God, we must truly be happy and rejoice. First and foremost because I am come unto the land -- because that is the end of exile, whether from Ur Casdim, or from Egypt, or with God's help soon, from all the corners of the globe.
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