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0:01 Dear friends, welcome to this week's virtual dasha. 0:03 This week we have the incredible privilege of paraso and the para contains many dramatic mitzvah, many dramatic moments. 0:10 But let's focus for the few minutes on the opening part of the para because the introduces us to the concept to the mitzvah of first fruit. 0:20 The farmer takes the first of his fruits of the shiv the seven species unique and the Torah tells us that you gather up these fruit. 0:27 You bring them up to the basiktod and the Torah outlines a beautiful and detailed process. 0:32 You go ahead and you bring it to the coin. 0:35 There's an entire recitation. 0:36 The recitation essentially is a synopsis of the entirety of Jewish history. 0:41 It is then given over to the Cohen. 0:42 The Mishnikurum would detail how they became a major yiv. 0:47 The stores would close. 0:49 They would adorn the animals. 0:50 People would come out and watch the farmers come. 0:53 a magnificent, beautiful, and holy spectacle. 0:57 It's interesting to note that the way the section ends is the Torah says, so this is in chapter 26 verse 16. 1:13 This day, Hashem has commanded you to perform these statutes, these laws, these rules, you will guard them. 1:22 you will perform them with all of your hearts and with all of your soul. 1:27 A very beautiful and moving conclusion to the mitzvah of says something so beautiful. 1:33 Rashi says some you will guard this mitzvah. 1:36 you will perform its and the says that after the farmer brings his first fruit the heavenly voice comes out and says you have brought today ultimately again to repeat this process next year so interesting a beautiful the farmer's done his 2:04 part he's brought his first fruit And the basel divine voice comes out. 2:08 You performed the mitzvah this year to perform the mitzvah next year. 2:15 And what's fascinating is we don't find that the med says that by anything else, right? 2:20 A person brings brings the pascal. 2:24 The medish doesn't say that when the person is leaving after they brought the pascal, the heavenly voice comes out and says, "Oh, you brought the pesak, you observed PES this year. 2:33 You should be to do it next year." 2:35 Shabu, sukis, any other you bring your chumas and your mas whatever you're doing we don't find that beautiful almost level of divine intervention divine appribation divine encouragement you did such a beautiful job this year you should beem to do it 2:51 next year why here why why burim why by burim so the truth is perhaps on a basic level bikurim of course is a tremendous means explains that the profoundity of bikurim is a farmer works very hard, right? 3:06 Farming is not a sit back and relax and just see what happens profession. 3:10 For farming, every single step requires tremendous human intervention. 3:14 Even after you put in all of your intervention, it has to rain enough and it has to rain at the right times. 3:18 So the safer says then one would have thought that when the first fruits come, who's going to enjoy the first fruits? 3:24 It's the farmer. You worked hard lit literally the fruits of your labor. 3:28 You should be it's yours. 3:30 But yet what does the Jewish farmer do? 3:32 What does the Jew do? 3:33 He takes literally the first fruits of his labor and he gives it to recognizing the fruits of my labor are yours. 3:41 They're not mine. So perhaps being that the mitzvah of represents this tremendous display of amuno, this tremendous display of faith to give away the first of what you worked so hard for to is so such an enormous spiritual feat that 3:59 himself says and I hope that you have the spiritual courage to do this again next year. 4:05 I think that's the I think that's the pashhat. 4:08 But perhaps if we delve a little bit deeper, to me, one of the most intriguing pieces about Bikurin, and I've I've spoken about this over the years in a number of different ways, but I don't know why it catches my 4:19 attention every single year is a simple detail. 4:22 It's the detail of the basket. 4:25 You see the Torah outlines the something very interesting. 4:31 It says this is in base the second in the parachute chapter 26 verse2 you shall take the first fruit take the first fruit from your land and what you do put in the basket and take the basket bring it up 4:57 to the bos and I've always found it intriguing Why does have to tell the farmer to put in the basket? 5:04 Like who cares? Who cares? 5:06 What's the goal? The goal is to transport the first fruits from where you are situated ultimately to your keshd. 5:14 So you're bringing it in a basket. 5:15 You're bringing it in a in a supermarket shopping bag. 5:18 You're bringing it in a shopping cart. 5:20 You're shleing it in your arms. 5:21 You put it in your tunic. 5:22 Who cares? Who cares? 5:24 Why does the delivery mechanism of of the tenner play any kind of role in this? 5:31 And in fact, interestingly enough, the discuss that sometimes the baskets themselves were in fact part of the gift to the co. 5:40 It wasn't just the fruit that the basket went along. 5:43 Torah goes out of its way to mention put you put your fruit in a basket. 5:49 What's the perhaps sensitizing us to is something really amazing is the first fruit. 5:57 It's the beginning. It's the beginning. 5:59 It's a new process, right? 6:00 The farmer's just just seen his first bounty, all the work, all the efforts, and now he has this new beginning. 6:08 One of the most important details to focus on when it comes to new beginnings is what are you putting in your basket and taking with you and what are you going to leave behind. 6:20 See the basket only has room for so much stuff. 6:25 You can't get everything in the basket. 6:26 And that's why remember again is not all of your first fruit. 6:31 It's some of your first fruit. 6:34 who says holy Jew have a brand new beginning in front of you right now and you're going to begin that you're going to start that new beginning with you're going to take the first fruit and you're going to go up 6:45 to the bdash but in order to really maximize this new beginning you need to take out your basket because you have to learn the art of figuring out what to take with you and what to leave behind. 7:01 What do you want to shle with you in the journey of your new beginning of life? 7:06 And what are you willing to say, I'm going to leave it on the side. 7:10 And dear friends, I think we recognize that this is one of the hardest things to do in life to figure out what am I putting in my basket versus what am I going to leave behind. 7:19 We go through life and we accumulate a lot of luggage or better stated, we go through life and we accumulate a lot of baggage. 7:29 And a lot of times that baggage follows us wherever we go in life. 7:33 You know, I've used the mush if you ever you ever get on an airplane. 7:37 If you ever fly somewhere and perhaps especially if you're flying with a family, you know, there's a lot of luggage, there's a lot of bags or even if it's just you, some people tra travel heavier. 7:46 You know, so you've got your suitcase which you checked in and then you've got your carry-on and then you know you've got the backpack or a briefcase. 7:52 There's a lot of stuff and you know if you're showing up to the airport, you have all this baggage and you're huffing and puffing and if there's a mishbaka, you're huffing and puffing a little exasperated, maybe even a smidge angry 8:02 and thinking to yourself, why did I even do this? 8:05 What was I thinking? 8:06 Okay, we've all had those moments. 8:08 And then, you know, when you're like, you're in the airport and you see that person often looks like, you know, a wellput together business person, a man or a woman, and what happens? 8:16 All they have is like a carry-on like and that and like one of those like micro carryons. 8:21 Like it's just it's just tiny. 8:22 Like you wonder how is anything even in there and they're just taking the carry-on and they're they're holding their latte and they're just walking through the airport. 8:29 They're not a care in the world. 8:30 They they could be on vacation. 8:32 That that's how relaxed and how happy they look. 8:34 And you look at that and you're like first first you want to say I hate you. 8:37 Like how how are you just traveling so light? 8:40 And then I think there's a piece of us that says, "I want to be you." 8:45 Because the ability to travel light, not just when you're taking a flight, but throughout life is one of the most important and profound things to life happiness. 8:56 We shle along so much stuff. 8:58 We shle along so many feelings of hurt, of betrayal, of animosity. 9:04 This one hurt me. 9:04 This one didn't come through for me. 9:06 This one I'm angry at. 9:07 And by the way, maybe it's all legitimate. 9:08 It's all legitimate. Maybe you were the victim, the agrieved party, the offended one. 9:13 It's possible. See, you're entitled. 9:15 You're entitled to be angry. 9:17 Schle it along until 120. 9:20 Go for it. It's your baggage. 9:22 You've earned it. You have a right to carry it. 9:24 And where does it get you? 9:26 And what does it do for you? 9:27 And how many of us go through life with the baggage filled with just feelings of regret? 9:34 I I didn't take this opportunity. 9:35 I didn't take that opportunity. 9:36 Or I had this dream and it didn't materialize or I had this relationship and I lost and and legitimate. 9:43 All legitimate. All legitimate. 9:46 But what does it do for you to shle it along throughout the journey of life? 9:51 What does it do for you just to keep on carrying it around? 9:54 All it does is slow you down, bog you down, hold you down. 10:00 Sometimes the key to successful living or the key to maximizing new beginnings is pack light. 10:08 Identify what are the things you need to take with you and what are the things that I'm finally ready to let go of and leave behind. 10:19 And perhaps it's that very detail that is sensitizing us. 10:23 You see, they didn't have the mitzvah of bikurim only starts when you go into So, Bikurum is all about new beginnings. 10:31 You're a people now with land, with a destiny, with a future, with responsibilities. 10:37 Bikur represents the new agricultural cycle. 10:40 It's a new crop. 10:41 And who says, "My precious Jew, if you want to maximize your beginning, you know what you do? 10:47 Take out a basket. 10:48 Take out a basket and understand you have a limited amount of space in that basket. 10:54 What do you want to fill it with? 10:58 What do you want to put in there? 11:00 Can't get everything. Can't get everything. 11:01 And if you fill it with the wrong things, it doesn't leave room for the things you really want out of life. 11:10 Says in life, we all have that basket. 11:12 We all have that basket. 11:14 The basket of the basket of the self. 11:17 And I don't always choose what gets put into it initially. 11:22 Sometimes the hurt, the pain, the disappointment, the disillusionment fills it. 11:26 But then every once in a while I take my basket, I turn it over. 11:27 I empty it out. 11:29 And now when I start from new, I have the ability to say, "Okay, okay, new basket, new year, new beginning, new crop, new land. 11:38 I have the choice to fill it with what I want and to leave behind the things I don't want." 11:46 That level of personalistic emotional discipline to decide what do I want to shle and what do I want to leave behind? 11:54 What are the things that are important to take me on the next stage of my journey? 11:58 And what are the things that are only going to hold me back? 12:00 And yes, we have the power to let go. 12:04 We have the power to let go of pain. 12:06 We have the power to let go of anger. 12:08 We have the power to let go of resentment. 12:10 We have the power to let go of disappointment. 12:13 We have the power to let go of all of the disillusionment and negativity that we all slept through life. 12:20 We have that power cuz it's my basket. 12:24 It's my basket. And that's what the farmer does when he goes through with his brand new crop, brand new beginning says doesn't work without a basket. 12:34 You got to take your basket, decide what you're putting in. 12:36 And then what happens after the farmer comes to you? 12:39 Then the basal comes out. 12:40 What does the basal say? 12:44 Look at you. Look at you. 12:47 Look at what you've just done. 12:49 You have brought a basket of fruit toesh. 12:52 And to do that, you had to decide what goes in the basket and what's left behind. 12:58 You had to decide ultimately again what's traveling with you and what's getting left behind. 13:04 You exercised that power over yourself, that power over your emotions. 13:15 You will be to repeat this next year, the year after, and the year after that. 13:22 And what a message for us as we enter into these final days of El and prepare for the year ahead for tina 5786. 13:32 One of the most important things is before we get into chuva or anything else is take your personalistic basket empty it. 13:40 And now decide what are you taking with you into the new year and what am I finally prepared to leave behind. 13:50 This becomes the ultimate avod that we have to decide. 13:54 And this avod is so necessary as it sets the tone for the year ahead. 14:00 Before I start clapping, all of that stuff, there is a limited amount of emotional and spiritual bandwidth that exists inside of me. 14:11 And if I'm carrying the wrong stuff in my basket, it just eats up all of my energy. 14:16 There is nothing more exciting than new beginning. 14:19 There is nothing more exciting than a new year. 14:21 There is nothing more exciting than and there is nothing more exciting in life than an empty basketem to fill our personalistic basket of self with goodness with beauty with holiness with love for one another and beautiful dreams for the future. 14:44 Wishing everyone a good night of Shabas and a beautiful Shabas Kesh.
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