First Fruits, New Thoughts: A Pilgrim Reflects on the First Fruits Ritual
I announce today to the Lord your God that I have entered (讘讗转讬) the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us . . . An Aramean astray, my ancestor; he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few-in-number, but he became there a nation, great, mighty and many. Now the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us with hard servitude. We cried out to God, the God of our fathers, and God hearkened to our voice. He saw our affliction, and our strain, and our oppression. And God took us out from Egypt, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with great awe-inspiring acts, and with signs and portents. And he brought us (讜讬讘讬讗谞讜) to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now鈥攈ere, I have brought (讛讘讗转讬) the premier-part of the fruits of the soil that you have given me, O Lord!
鈥擠euteronomy 26:3b, 5b鈥�10a, the declaration that accompanies the bringing of the first fruits (transl. Everett Fox)
Peace be with you, friend! My name is Micah; I hail from Anav. And you? Shemaryahu, from Jericho, you say; a Benjaminite, then. Well, if you don鈥檛 mind sharing the road with a Judahite let鈥檚 walk together.
I can tell from the contents of your basket that you鈥檙e a date grower, and who in Jericho isn鈥檛? On the other hand, almost anyone living in Anav is bound to have a vineyard, and I鈥檓 no exception; hence my burden, a cask of wine. My vineyard鈥檚 not a large one. Still, my grapes are the finest and my wine is always in demand. Pardon me if that sounds like a boast, but I鈥檓 only telling you what鈥檚 true.
You don鈥檛 have to be a prophet to discern that the both of us are on the way to the Temple to bring our first fruits. I鈥檓 not free of faults, I鈥檒l admit, but I never fail to make this pilgrimage.
And of course, it鈥檚 the same every year鈥攑lacing our offering in front of the priest and reciting the declaration. I don鈥檛 know it by heart鈥攆ew do, though maybe you are more learned than I鈥攕o the priest will recite the words and I鈥檒l repeat them after him.
The year before last I got to thinking: What do the words mean? Don鈥檛 get me wrong鈥攖hough I鈥檓 neither scribe nor scholar, I understand the words. What I mean is: Why the long speech? Why not just bring the offering, place it before the priest, and head back home? This past year I decided to listen carefully to the words of the declaration, and it changed how I regard this whole first fruits business鈥攂ecause I鈥檝e got to tell you, part of me has always felt that it was just an excuse for the priests to take yet another cut of the fruits鈥攕o to speak鈥攐f our labor.
Do you remember how the declaration begins? 鈥淚鈥檝e entered the Land that we were promised by God,鈥� or words to that effect鈥擨 can鈥檛 repeat it word for word, mind you. Then there鈥檚 something about our ancestor having been a wandering Aramean鈥擜braham, I think, or maybe Jacob; I would have asked the priest to set me straight, but there was a long line behind me. In any case, Jacob went down to Egypt to be with his son Joseph; that鈥檚 how the trouble started, as I鈥檓 sure you know.
The declaration continues: When we first settled in Egypt we were just a clan, but of course everyone had many children鈥攎y wife and I have six, God bless them鈥攁nd in a few generations, we were more like a nation than a family. I guess that made the Egyptians uneasy, a large group descended from immigrants. As happens too often, fear turned into hostility, and before we knew it we were slaves. And we鈥檙e not talking serving dinner and running errands; it was back-breaking labor, building cities for the pharaohs.
It took Him some time, but eventually God began paying attention to our desperate situation, and after bringing plagues upon the Egyptians the pharaoh relented and we left Egypt. (By the way, I鈥檓 adding that part about the plagues and the pharaoh. None of that is in the declaration, which keeps things short鈥攗nlike me, I鈥檓 afraid.) Finally鈥攈ere鈥檚 where the historical review ends鈥攐ur God brought us to Canaan, which is described as a land of milk and honey鈥攁nd luscious grapes, one might add.
Only after all this do you announce that you鈥檝e brought the first fruits. Good thing you鈥檙e allowed to put down the basket before making the speech!
I can see that you are losing interest, so let me get to my main point. Going over the declaration in my mind, it occurred to me that all my life I鈥檝e thought of my plot of land as mine by right. I inherited it from my father as he did from his; for how many generations it has belonged to my family, no one knows. But the declaration reminded me that at some point in the distant past, ancestors of mine, who had lived for years as nomads in the wilderness, arrived in Canaan. What a sense of wonder must have overcome them upon seeing, after all those years in the wilderness, a land full of trees and fields, vineyards, olive groves, sheep and cattle! Oh, and date palms.
Matters were not so simple, however. After our people entered Canaan, there was the long struggle to take possession of the Land we had been promised. At some point, though, my ancestors were able to build a home and plant a vineyard. What joy and gratitude they must have felt after the first harvest! And wouldn鈥檛 they have thanked our God for taking their grandparents out of Egypt and making it possible for them to live a simple, peaceful life in a place they could call their own?
Here鈥檚 my real point. When my ancestors came to the Land and settled it, they were preparing the way for their children and their children鈥檚 children and so on鈥攆or me. So you could say that when they entered the Land, I entered with them. When they settled here, I settled with them. And it all began with the miracle of our God taking us out of Egypt. The miracles performed for my ancestors when they left Egypt were performed for me as well.
And all of this is in the declaration: I will be saying that I鈥擨 myself鈥攈ave reached the land of Canaan鈥斪懽愖�; and that鈥檚 because our God brought us to the land鈥斪曌欁懽欁愖犠�; and as a result, I鈥檓 now able to bring the first fruits鈥斪斪犠� 讛讘讗转讬.
It鈥檚 no small thing that I can grow my grapes and produce my wine, enjoy the life my wife and I have made together, and watch our children grow. It鈥檚 not a bad thing to remember this once in a while, to remember Who made it all possible, and to be thankful.
I鈥檝e talked long enough. Are you stopping here for the night or do you plan to push on until sunset? You鈥檙e continuing your journey? Well, you鈥檙e young and I鈥檓 not; I need some rest. God bless you and safe travels, my friend! And who knows? Maybe we鈥檒l meet again in Jerusalem; if not this year, then next.
The publication and distribution of the 91快播 Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee (锄鈥漧) and Harold Hassenfeld (锄鈥漧).
