Ki Savo: A Parade for a Pomegranate

Hi, it's Double Life with the Parsha in 5, where in 5 minutes we try to give you a little insight into the Parsha. And this week, of course, is Parshas Ki Savo. And we start with the story of Bikkurim. When one of the seven fruits that Eretz Yisrael is blessed with. All right. Chittah, se'orah, gefen, te'enah, rimon, zayit, shemen, u'dvash. Or in English, uh grapes and olives, uh wheat and barley, uh dates and um figs. And the one that very often people forget is a pomegranate. That's cuz everything there has like uh you know, wheat and barley are both grains. Yeah. Uh grapes and olives, you make, you know, olive oil and grapes from it, you know, you squeeze them. Yeah. Uh figs and dates, most people don't even know the difference between them. When you say a tamaren and a te'enah, they don't even know the difference. The only way to remember is you go on a date with tamaren, you don't take te'enah out on a date, you know what I mean? That's how you remember, you know. People forget rimon. Cuz it doesn't have a doesn't have a pair. So, it sits by itself. Yeah. L'havdil, the same problem with the seven dwarfs, you know. So, Doc and Dopey, they go together, Happy and Grumpy, they go together, you know. Sleepy and Sneezy, they both have conditions, you know. People forget Bashful, yeah. That's the rimon of the seven dwarfs. Anyway, just thought I'd share that. But uh so, what happens? The first of the fruit that come and that ripen, you bring it up to Yerushalayim and you give it. Now, the the Mishnah in Bikkurim describe this. The people get baskets. Rich people have gold baskets, and the poor people weave their own baskets. They put the fruit in the baskets, and they decorate it with flowers. They decorate it with little birds. And they gild the horns of the shore that's going to carry the bikurim, and they come in marching with instruments in a parade. And when they come to Yerushalayim, everybody who's working stops working. The Gemara in Chullin says you don't have to get up and stand up for a talmid chacham when you're working. But when the people with the bikurim come, you stop and you stand up and say, "Welcome, people from Tiberias, who are bringing their bikurim." And then officers of the Beit Hamikdash come out and greet you when you bring it in to give it to the kohen. All this over a fig and a date? And a pomegranate? That's the big deal? I bring my ma'aser sheni to Yerushalayim every year, 10% of my total income. You know how much money that is that gets poured into Yerushalayim's economy? No one's coming out and making a parade for you. But you brought a first fruit. Woohoo! Yeah. Why? Because I'm sure you've heard the expression, "You baked the cake, you get the first slice." People who grow vegetables, and bless all of you, I My father had a florist and nursery, but I have a black thumb. I was never good at growing things, yeah. I The only thing I knew how to do was radishes, cuz you just throw them in the ground and they grow. But nobody wants radishes, you know? But the people who can make those tomatoes, nice beautiful tomatoes. So, the first tomato, of course, goes to me, the first one of the season. Yeah. So, uh when you take those bikurim, and you say, "No. Uh everything belongs to Hakadosh Baruchu." So this story once with scientists say we don't need God, we could grow anything we want and create the, you know, the seeds and clones and do everything we need. He says, "Yeah?" Says, "Okay. First make your own earth." Where did you get the ground from? Where did you get the sunshine? Where did you get the rain? Kadish Baruchu provides you with everything. Okay, you planted it. You harvested it, very nice. So when you give the first fruits to Kadish Baruchu, we are acknowledging that it comes from Kadish Baruchu, not from our efforts, but from the chesed that Kadish Baruchu gives us. Chavis.