The Real Story of the First Fruits - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

as we walk towards the holidays the torah portion um is a part of the process it's like every step we take the torah portion is a stepping alongside us guiding alongside us and so ari this is your chance hello my friends these right here are very special pomegranates jeremy and i came to this mountain four years ago for four years this pomegranate tree has not produced even one fruit and now it has three these are the first fruits and so i'm filled with excitement and gratitude and joy but it isn't because now i have three pomegranates to eat this rosh hashanah because i could just go to the grocery store and easily and inexpensively buy bigger and more seedy pomegranates than these these pomegranates are special because of what they represent and what they mean to me they're so special because they are the dramatic and divinely orchestrated fruits of this unbelievable journey which after overcoming great odds they have now come into the world and it's so perfect that they're maturing right now in this week's torah portion of kitavo where do we find ourselves in the torah in parashat ki tavo when the jewish people are about to enter the land of israel and moshe rabe knew moses teaches them a beautiful commandment the mitzvah of bikurim the offering of the first fruits the farmer is tilled planted tended watered prayed and harvested his produce and he takes his precious first fruits and hands and makes his way to the bay mikdash the holy temple in jerusalem he's not only going to thank hashem for the sustenance that he and his family have been blessed with but he's instructed to tell a story and the text of the story is exact it's not up to his own creativity because it isn't just his story it's the story of the jewish people it's the story of the nation of israel deuteronomy chapter 26 verses 5 through 10. then you shall call out the day and say before hashem your god and aramine tried to destroy my father he descended to egypt and so adjourned their few in number and there he became a great nation great strong and numerous the egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us and placed hard work upon us then we cried out to hashem the god of our forefathers and hashem heard our voice and saw our affliction our travail and our oppression hashem took us out of egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm with great awesomeness and with signs and wonders he brought us to this place and he gave us this land a land flowing with milk and honey and now behold i have brought the first fruits of the ground that you have given me hashem and you shall say it before hashem your god and you shall prostrate yourself before hashem your god is that beautiful that testimony that story that journey so the jewish way to celebrate the harvest is more than having the farmer just express gratitude for his own personal experience but to link that harvest all the way back to the slavery and exodus from egypt and even further back than that all the way back to jacob and laban his father-in-law that wanted to kill him and end the entire jewish mission before it even began while there are many hours of commentary analysis and exposition on what that all means the underlying message is clear we need to know our story we're seeing before our eyes what is happening in america when a nation begins to forget its own story and origin stories are humbling uh they're filled with mistakes as well at least ours is jacob left the land of israel fleeing his brother esau who he tricked he was destitute and vulnerable exiled from his physical and spiritual home he was abused he was tricked he was enslaved and yet he returned to the promised land after having amassed wealth both physical and spiritual wealth which he earned from the sweat of his brow and all without ever losing faith in hashem without ever losing faith in the covenant his children are then exiled in egypt and miraculously redeemed and brought through the desert back to the land of israel and these fruits these fruits this is where the journey has led us jeremy and i along with our other two partners yossi and roni we've overcome many obstacles and we have many obstacles still in the way but we've overcome many obstacles to help manifest the great prophecy of our farm brought this farm into existence we've overcome so many obstacles to be vessels through which this garden of eden-like oasis on the judean frontier has come into the world which for me right now at this very moment is symbolized by this beautiful little pomegranate by my personal story is just my personal story is just a part of the story of our partnership and our partnership is just a part of the story of the jewish people's return to the land and so our joy and gratitude is amplified and magnified beyond magnified beyond description when it becomes a part of the epic story of triumph of the nation of israel returning to the promised land after our long and painful exile as prophesized in the torah and foretold by the prophets there's a story told of three laborers building the steps to enter the beramik dash the holy temple they were asked what are you doing the first one said i'm here chiseling this piece of stone the second one said i'm chiseling this piece of stone to make a column of stairs and the third one said i am chiseling this piece of stone and building the stairs for the nation of israel to ascend to the holy temple in jerusalem which god's presence dwells in to fill the whole universe with love and peace to the naked eye they were all doing the same thing building stairs but their inner experience could not have been more different the narrative upon which they see the world their personal lives and their national lives are radically different with the last worker driven by and motivated by a level of mission and purpose and honor and gratitude to which the others simply couldn't compare and that's why after all of these fruits that's why they mean so much to god because they mean so much to us they're so precious to god because they're so precious to us and they're precious to us because we remember and internalize not only our own personal stories that have brought us these fruits and brought them into existence but also our national story of triumph and blessing and the humble beginnings against all odds from which we've come rabbi eliao destler said the greatest service of god lies in the refinement of motivation why we do what we do and that is why it's so important to know our stories and to share our stories hashem abba connect us with our stories we're coming together not only from throughout the land of israel but from all over the world and we're not only coming together from different places but also from different faiths but what do we have in common that our eyes are focused on you help us hashem return us to you we want to come close to you particularly during these special moments leading up to rochester and yom kippur the day of atonement whether we may have actual fruits or not we want to offer our first fruits to you and help us hashem to understand our stories to remember our stories to internalize the miraculous journey you've led us upon and brought us together at this very moment we're so grateful to you hashem for having brought us to this far and from the humble beginnings that we've come from so with humble hearts we ask you hashem to not stop now but to bring about the full redemption the in-gathering of the exiles and build the final temple of in jerusalem so that your presence can permeate the world as water covers the sea shalom my friends back to you jeremy thank you ari that uh it's just beautiful