The portion begins with the mitzvah to bring the first fruits of one’s produce to
Jerusalem and the Holy Temple: “It will be when you enter the land that HaShem your
God gives you as an inheritance….that you shall take of the first of every fruit…and
you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that HaShem your God will choose…”
(Deuteronomy 26:1). After bringing the first fruits in what is described in the
Mishnah as an incredibly joyous procession to the Temple and saying words of thanks
and praise of God the Torah states: “You shall be glad with all the goodness that
HaShem your God has given you…” (Deuteronomy 26:11).
Later in the portion comes what is referred to as the blessing and the curse. The
Torah establishes clear lines of consequences for listening or not listening to God
and following the mitzvot. Within the curses the Torah states as a reason all the
curses are occurring: “because you did not serve HaShem your God with joy and
goodness of heart….” (Deutronomy 28:47).
A man once came to a Chassidic Rebbe and complained that due to many set backs in
his life he was constantly sad and depressed. The Rebbe who knew the man told him
that it was actually the opposite – since he was sad and depressed all the time that
is why all these setbacks were happening!
Serving God with joy and looking at life with goodness of heart is not a side
issue in Jewish thought and observance; rather it is a crucial ingredient of a
spiritual and meaningful existence. When we harvest the fruits of our labors we can
relate to our success in one of two ways – either by attributing it to our own hands
alone, or by thanking God for the wisdom and abilities to achieve our goals. The
secret of happiness lies in nullifying the ego’s natural tendency to claim all honor
for itself and instead to rejoice in the blessings that God gives us. For in truth
the ego, when not properly directed knows no limit to the glory it feels is due to
it, and because of this is in essence never really satisfied.
There is a beautiful allusion to how to accomplish a joyous frame of mind hidden
in the words: “and you shall put it in a basket.” The word used here for basket in
Hebrew is “tene,” which has a numerical equivalent of 60. (In the rules of gematria,
the Kabbalistic wisdom of numerology, one may be added for the entire word.) In
Jewish law one substance becomes null and void in another substance that is 60 times
greater; 1:60.
The “basket” equaling 60 represents the ability of an individual to nullify his
or her own glory by bringing the first fruits to God. A further hint is that the word
for “I” in Hebrew, “ani” equals 61. These same letters when repositioned spell “ain,”
which means nothingness. The one (1) who puts his first fruits in a basket (60) is in
affect nullifying his ego (ani) and reaching the level of selflessness (ain), the
secret of true joy.
