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The Real Story of the First Fruits - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship
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This highlight was taken from the 15th session of the Land of Israel Fellowship - Getting Ready for The Shofar Blast of Rosh HaShanah on Sunday 6th September 2020. To be part of the Fellowship, click here to register: https://secured.israelgives.org/donate/Fellowship
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
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