וְהָיָה כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱ-לֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בָּהּ (דברים כו,א).
In last week's shiur we explored the methodology of לִדְרֹשׁ סְמּוּכִין, inferring principles from proximity between paragraphs in the Torah. In that shiur we discussed the paragraph preceding the episode of Amalek, the precursor to a situation where Amalek rears his head in the world.
By the same measure, it is possible to infer a lesson from the paragraph following the paragraph of Amalek, the beginning of our parsha, the paragraph of the Bikkurim.
So, what is the connection between Amalek and Bikkurim? The Sfat Emet (כי תבוא, כד, תרנ"ד) says that Amalek is called רֵאשִׁית, as it says רֵאשִׁית גּוֹיִם עֲמָלֵק (במדבר כד, כ) and Bikkurim are also called רֵאשִׁית, as it says מֵרֵאשִׁית כָּל פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה (כו, ב). In this shiur I would like to bring a different perush on the reason for the proximity between the two, but first a short introduction.
Parshat Ki Tavo is the second parsha (in addition to Bechukotai) in the Torah that contains lengthy curses. Ezra HaSofer instituted that these two parshiyot would be read prior to chagim, Bechukotai prior to Shavuot and Ki Tavo prior to Rosh HaShana (with a buffer parsha in between, Bamidbar/Nitzavim).
The reason given in the Gemara is in order that תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ (Megila 31b). This is understandable for Rosh Hashana, which is the beginning of a new year, when HKB"H decides what our fate will be in the coming year, but why before Shavuot?
The answer is that on Shavuot, HKB"H decides the fate of fruits of the trees, the agricultural crops, for the coming year.
If, however, you examine the paragraphs of the curses, both in Bechukotai and in Ki Tavo, you will see that they are preceded by a paragraph of blessings. So how does this correlate with Ezra HaSofer's decree?
By reading these parshiyot before the chagim, you are leaving behind both the curses and the blessings, not just the curses? And if you say that it is to usher out the curses and usher in the blessings, why not reverse the order, i.e. begin with curses and then follow with the blessings?
In this week's shiur, I would like to explore the mechanism of a concept called וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט (דברים לב, טו), which is actually from parshat Ha'azinu, but has direct bearing on the subject under discussion here. When Moshe rebukes Am Yisrael in parshat Ha'azinu, he states this as a fact, not as a conditional statement. It is not a theoretical concept that might happen, Moshe is saying – it is for sure going to happen!
What does וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט mean? Literally it is translated as Yeshurun will get fat and kick.
Yeshurun is one of the names HKB"H gave to Am Yisrael, as we say each morning in Shacharit שֶׁמֵּאַהֲבָתְךָ שֶׁאָהַבְתָּ אוֹתוֹ וּמִשִּׂמְחָתְךָ שֶׁשָּׂמַחְתָּ בּוֹ, קָרָאתָ אֶת שְׁמוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל וִישֻׁרוּן. What is the origin of the name Yeshurun?
We know Moshe calls Am Yisrael – Yeshurun (see above in Ha'azinu), but how do we know HKB"H calls Am Yisrael Yeshurun? The Chatam Sofer brings the Gemara (Megila 18a).
R' Elazar says that HKB"H called Yaakov א-ל as it says אֵ-ל אֱ-לֹקֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (בראשית לג, כ). The Chatam Sofer says, that if you take the words א-ל and ישראל together, their gematria is ישורון. That's a nice רֶמֶז by the Chatam Sofer, but we have a passuk meforash of HKB"H calling Am Yisrael "Yeshurun" - אַל תִּירָא עַבְדִּי יַעֲקֹב וִישֻׁרוּן בָּחַרְתִּי בוֹ (ישעיהו מד, ב).
Seemingly what this phrase is telling us is that Am Yisrael will get "fat" and "kick", i.e. they will get complacent and too comfortable and rebel against HKB"H. Later I will bring, what I believe to be a better translation of וַיִּשְׁמַן and it has nothing to do with scales.
Why does the passuk use the word וַיִּבְעָט to tell us that Am Yisrael will rebel against HKB"H, why "kick"?
The Gemara (Avoda Zara 3a) says that the goyim came to complain to HKB"H. "The reason Am Yisrael are your Chosen Nation is because you gave them 613 mitzvot to observe. If you would have given us all these mitzvot, we too would have been your chosen children!"
HKB"H responded to this claim "You think you would have observed the mitzvot like Am Yisrael? Let's see. I have one small mitzva, an easy mitzva that doesn't cost much, called Sukkah (back then building a Sukkah didn't cost much, today it is not that cheap). Let's see you observe this mitzva".
The goyim indeed go ahead and build Sukkot on their roofs. HKB"H then brings the sun out in full force to beat down upon them. A short time later, the goyim can't take the heat anymore and rush out of the Sukkah, kicking it as they leave. HKB"H then laughs at them.
The Gemara goes on to ask "But the halacha is מִצְטַעֵר פָּטוּר מִן הַסֻּכָּה, if someone is seriously suffering in the Sukkah (from rain/heat, etc.), you are allowed to exit!" The Gemara answers, "Yes you are allowed to leave the Sukkah according to halacha, but when a Jew leaves under such circumstances, he is very distressed to leave, he certainly does not kick the Sukkah".
The reason the goyim kick the Sukkah is not to exhibit remorse or distress, but rather anger and disdain. HKB"H gave them a simple test that they failed. Instead of responding with humility and admittance "Yes, Am Yisrael truly are the Chosen People, they are more spiritually elevated than us", they are angered by their own failing and as result, belittle and reject the Torah "Who needs the Torah anyway!"
When Moshe wants to say that Am Yisrael will "rebel" against HKB"H, he uses the word "kick", וַיִּבְעָט, indicating that same disdain as the goyim kicking the Sukkah as they leave – "Who needs HKB"H anyway?"
In Ki Tavo (and Bechukotai) the curses are prefaced by blessings. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה בָּעִיר וּבָרוּךְ אַתָּה בַּשָּׂדֶה … בָּרוּךְ טַנְאֲךָ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּךָ … יִפְתַּח ה' לְךָ אֶת אוֹצָרוֹ הַטּוֹב אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם לָתֵת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ בְּעִתּוֹ … and all the other brachot (דברים כח, א-יד). When we read them, it sounds like paradise on earth!
However, Moshe is telling us וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט, it is not a possibility, but a certainty. When HKB"H gives us all these blessings the inescapable outcome is that we are going to "kick". It may not be immediate, but it will eventually happen.
When Am Yisrael first received the Mann, they were in wonder of it, but a few decades later it already became to them לֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל. Similarly, when Am Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael and discovered the wonders of the Holy Land - the infrastructure that the goyim built for us, the riches in the walls of the houses, the miraculous natural bounty and beauty of the land. How long did this last? A few short generations. Read sefer Shoftim, it is a repetitious saga of rebelling against HKB"H and returning to Him.
How does this destructive dynamic come about?
The first cause is complacency. The first time you see something, it is amazing, wondrous, but the second time you see the same "magic", it is not so impressive. After the 10,000th time, it becomes – the norm.
For Am Yisrael who left Egypt, the Mann was miraculous, but their children who were born in the Midbar, they were born into the reality of the Mann, to them it was how the world normally operated.
Similarly with the first generation who entered Eretz Yisrael under Yehoshua, it was wondrous and amazing, but their grandchildren, who were born in Eretz Yisrael – to them it was the norm.
The second cause is propriety. When HKB"H created man, He blessed us פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁהָ (בראשית א, כח). What does it mean כִבְשֻׁהָ? Most of the Mefarshim (Abarbanel, Sforno, Malbim, etc.) say that by multiplying and inhabiting the earth with human beings, we distance the wild animals and thereby "tame the jungle". However, the Targum Yonatan and Onkelos, translate it differently - וּתְקוּפוּ עֲלָהּ, "you will control it".
In other words, כִבְשֻׁהָ means that we will dominate our world. We will discover how it works and will manipulate things in the world for our own benefit. We will discover the principles of aeronautics and build airplanes to allow us to travel quickly from place to place.
We will discover the secrets of electricity, light, waves, biology, botany, astronomy etc. and we will invent things like light bulbs, telephones, internet, antibiotics, cherry tomatoes, space shuttles.
The danger is that we will mistakenly assume "propriety" over these discoveries and inventions and we will think that it was our intelligence that enables us to discover and invent them, our strength and perseverance that enabled us to build skyscrapers that reach up to the clouds, tame the wasteland with millions of acres of fields, growing genetically engineered crops that are juicier, bigger, more pest and climate resistant, creating global villages and global economies proving sustenance and employment for billions and billions of people.
We will assume propriety over all these advancements and forget that it was HKB"H that gave us the intelligence, the strength and the perseverance to accomplish all these things. And we will think "Who needs G-d? G-d didn't create cherry tomatoes, the Volcani Institute of genetic agricultural engineering did!" (Actually, Israelis did not invent the cherry tomato, they genetically engineered an existing, tasteless South American weed into something edible and flavorful).
The dynamic of וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט begins with prosperity, it emerges from prosperity. And it causes us to forget HKB"H.
The Torah is rife with myriad reminders of HKB"H, in everything we do, and they all have one common denominator. Gratitude, says the Alsheich (דברים כו, א) is the cornerstone of the entire Torah.
Simply saying "Thank you" to HKB"H, is the foundation for every single one of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah. By thanking HKB"H, you are acknowledging that HKB"H is the source of everything, even the accomplishments we attribute to ourselves.
There is no mitzva in the Torah that more embodies the principle of gratitude more than the mitzva of bringing Bikkurim to the Beit HaMikdash. By making the huge effort to bring those two measly cherry tomatoes, worth less than 1 NIS (actually right now they are more like 21 NIS, tomatoes is currently a scarce commodity in Israel), that were the first to grow on the bush, that you tied a rubber band around to mark them - you are declaring
"The Volcani Institute didn't create these cherry tomatoes, it was You, HKB"H. thank you for these cherry tomatoes!". (OK, I can hear you purists saying, they did not bring veggies as Bikkurim, it was only fruit of the Seven Species, but you get the general idea, genetically engineered cherry tomatoes or genetically engineered Majhoul dates, they are all the same principle).
The result of rebelling against HKB"H brings Amalek. The Torah immediately follows with the cure, to prevent וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט – Bikkurim, saying thanks to HKB"H – for everything.
Right now, Am Yisrael are deep in the midst of a struggle with Amalek and one of the most prominent issues that preoccupies our nation right now is "changing misconceptions", trying to understand how misconceptions led us to the predicament in which we currently find ourselves. Identifying those who were part of the "קוֹנְסֶפְּצִיָּה", putting them on trial and replacing them with their betters who were not. Politicians, generals in the army, heads of the secret services, judges in the Supreme Court, professors in academia, etc.
Undoubtedly, this cheshbon nefesh needs to be done, but if you think that it will result in finding a limited number of "scapegoats" that will stand before a tribunal, you are seriously mistaken. There are not enough courts or tribunals in the land that will be able to house all those guilty of the קוֹנְסֶפְּצִיָּה, because we are ALL to blame, the entire Am Yisrael is guilty of the קוֹנְסֶפְּצִיָּה, not just select individuals. We are ALL guilty of וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט.
A short 80 years ago Am Yisrael was in galut, without a State and at the whims of dictators and despots. If you think we, Am Yisrael, had it good 80 years ago, then you are a Holocaust denier.
Out of the inferno of Europe, the State of Israel was born, in a land that for more than half a century had been resuscitated by countless צַדִּיקִים who toiled night and day to drain the swamps, dying of malaria, building the infrastructure that we now reap the fruits of. This was Generation "P" (Pioneers).
If you think the first few decades of the established State of Israel were a picnic, then you forget about the wars, the years of צֶנַע, during which basic commodities, like eggs and milk were a luxury. Generation "P" who built this country was not spoiled. They were selfless individuals who had little expectation of reaping the fruits of their own labor and sufficed with the knowledge that it was their children who would do so.
They did not suffer from any קוֹנְסֶפְּצִיָּה, it was the next generation, my generation who are guilty of that. We are Generation "A" (Abundance). We were born into a reality that our parents crafted for us, with the sweat of their brow and often at the sacrifice of their lives. What they themselves did not enjoy, they made sure their children would have – university educations, a safer, more financially secure world to live in.
Generation "A" who grew up in the Diaspora, like myself, in the affluence of the West, were a terribly spoiled generation. We had no immediate trauma from wars and loss of life. Generation "A" born in Israel was born into families from Generation "P" who personally experienced the ravages of war. They grew up without parents, or with parents scarred by war. They experienced firsthand the after effects of war and many of them resolved that they would not bequeath that legacy to their children.
If the previous Generation "P" drained the swamps and established the state, Generation "A" built modern Israel, the hi-tech, agri-tech industries, the modern cities, highways, train tracks, skyscrapers, abundance beyond compare, no less than any other modern, Western country.
You no longer need coupons to buy eggs (right now you might need coupons to buy tomatoes). You walk into a supermarket and the degree of abundance is unfathomable. Thousands of varieties of food, toiletries, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, cookware (all laid out with precision to make you buy more and spend more money). If someone was cryogenically frozen 80 years ago and woke up today and you took them to the local Rami Levy supermarket, they would think that the Mashiach had already arrived and that they are in Gan Eden.
A week or two ago this country bumpkin from Karnei Shomron had to drive to Tel Aviv for a doctor's appointment and as I was driving on the Ayalon highway, I experienced the same thing I always experience when driving to Tel Aviv – an almost overwhelming sense of wonder and amazement at the progress, the ever increasing number of skyscrapers, the intricate highway intersections, the bridges, overpasses, railway stations, all the technological progress that has made our fledgling (76-year-old) country the counterpart of more veteran Western countries.
If you woke up a cryogenically frozen yeshiva student from 80 years ago and took him on a tour of Bnei Brak and Yerushalayim, passing thousands upon thousands of yeshivot, kollelim, all the tens of thousands of seforim, new sforim, improved editions of old sforim, all the tools that a modern yeshiva student has today at their disposal – he would think that the Mashiach had already arrived and that we are in Gan Eden.
The reality is that, compared to 80 years ago, we are living in a reality of Mashiach and Gan Eden, but we don't recognize it as such, because we are traumatized. Generation "A" is traumatized by abundance, we are the generation of exactly what Moshe called וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט.
Generation "A", until about 11 months ago, was not living in the reality of existential threat, that Generation "P" lived in. Yes, we have experienced terror attacks and repeated "sivumim" in Lebanon, Shomron and Gaza, but none of them were as existential as say, the War of Independence, the Yom Kippur War.
It is not that we had no problems, we did, but they were "rich man's problems". Not enough budget for yeshivas, not enough budget for the health system, striking teachers every 1st of September, increasing inflation, problems with our neighbors playing the music too loud, petty machlokot between people in shul, problems with bias in the courts, that kind of problem.
We ALL experienced the dynamic of complacency and כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי. Both the religious and secular experienced it.
We, the religious Generation "A" became so complacent that we saw no urgency to move ahead with G-d's plan. After 2000 years, in 1948 HKB"H gathered our exiles and gave us Eretz Yisrael on a plate, in 1967 He handed us Har HaBayit on a plate, in 2019 He handed us annexation of Yehuda and Shomron on a plate, sponsored by Donald Trump and the USA.
However, each time, instead of following the prophecies in the Tanach, the plan, we were too focused on our abundance, too focused on the wrong things. Instead of simply saying THANK YOU HKB"H and graciously accepting these lavish gifts, we concentrated on our own daled amot and preservation of our sectorial abundance.
We, the religious "messianics" (that the secular like to call us), dropped the ball and instead of actually pursuing the Messianic mission in the Tanach – working to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash, which can only happen when Am Yisrael are united within themselves, we concentrated rather on sectorial budgets for the yeshivas, mamlachti dati schools, political appointments to the Chief Rabbinate, in fighting between different factions of the Charedim and the Dati Leumi sectors.
We do not deserve to be called "Messianics", because we have not rightfully earned that title. Uniting Am Yisrael and building the Beit HaMikdash is not high on the religious Generation "A" agenda.
The secular Generation "A", traumatized by their parents' experience of war and over-zealous in their sense of propriety of all their parents' achievements, developed a "messianic" cult all of their own – peace at all costs. We are strong, our army is strong, look at what we built – Iron Dome, David's Slingshot, Laser weapons (soon to be released), advanced detection systems for tunnels and monitoring fences.
We are strong, nothing can beat us! וַיִּשְׁמַן does not only mean "fat", it also means "well oiled" – look how well-oiled our כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי is. From our man-made strength comes peace. We can afford to downsize to a "small, smart" army, we can afford to relinquish large tracts of strategic land. The days of existential threat against Israel are over.
You can almost imagine HKB"H sitting up there in Heaven, looking down and thinking – "What else can I do to give them the hint? I brought them back to their land. I gave them abundance beyond imagination. I gave them the strength and intelligence to become a regional superpower, economically and militarily.
Instead of thanking Me and doing what I ask of them, they are all busy taking the credit for themselves, constantly fighting within themselves, concentrating on the טָפֵל and not the עִקַּר, perverting justice and adopting the culture of the goyim! This is what they do with all the שֶׁפַע that I gave them?"
And HKB"H sent us wakeup calls. First was COVID – "Remember ME, HKB"H, the One who is running this world?" Next was October 7th, when we didn't wake up from the first. The illusion of abundance of Generation "A" revolves on a pinhead. In an instant it can flip and disappear.
We are ALL to blame for the קוֹנְסֶפְּצִיָּה, we are ALL to stand trial before a tribunal. We will be doing so on Rosh Hashana. What will we say in our defense?
The hope is that there is another generation, Generation "M" (Mashiach), the children of our Generation "A". These children also grew up traumatized, traumatized by their parents', our, obsession with abundance, complacency and arrogance. Ironically it was these children who did not grow up in the trauma of war who are now being called upon to wage war, for their parents' mistakes.
Generation "M" is not plagued by the ills of their parents. They see the emptiness of materialism and abundance and are hungry for true values. All the while we called them the "Tiktok" generation, more spoiled than even we are, but this is not true – they are more closely aligned with HKB"H's plan than we are. All our misconceptions, petty machlokot, they are not tainted by them.
We, Generation "A", need to step aside, and let this wonderful new generation repair our mistakes. These צַדִּיקִים, who are more closely related to Generation "P" than to us, are doing it at the expense of their own lives. Too many lives, Rachmana litzlan.
We, Generation "A" need to do tshuva. ALL of us, and oh boy, do we have what to do tshuva for!
We can start with one simple word – Thanks. "Thanks HKB"H, that we are still alive, despite all the wrong we have done to You".
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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