Returning The First Beginning

בענין מצות ביכורים ואח"כ מעשר עני ואח"כ היום הזה כו' מצוך ודרשו חז"ל המביא ביכורים עושה יום הזה כו'

Regarding the mitzvah of bikkurim (first fruits), and afterward the mitzvah of maaser ani (the tithe for the poor), and afterward the verse "this day Hashem your God commands you" (Devarim 26:16) — Chazal expounded that one who brings bikkurim, it is as though he makes "this day," treating it as if Hashem received it anew that very day.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's sequence: bikkurim, then maaser ani, then "this day Hashem commands you." Chazal teach that bringing bikkurim renews the relationship with Hashem as if it were given fresh that day.

הגם כי כ' אצל מעשר עני השקיפה כו'

Even though Scripture writes by maaser ani, "Look down from Your holy dwelling" (Devarim 26:15).

He notes a contrasting feature: by maaser ani the Torah uses the language of "looking down" from Heaven, hinting at a Divine response to the giving.

ופרשנו כי הכל תלוי בהראשית לכן סמוך לי' כי תכלה לעשר שטוב אחרית דבר הוא מראשיתו

We have explained that everything depends on the beginning, the reishis; therefore it is placed adjacent to "when you finish tithing" (Devarim 26:12), for the good end of a matter flows from its beginning.

Everything hinges on the reishis, the beginning; that is why "when you finish tithing" is placed nearby, since a good ending grows out of a good beginning.

והנה מצות ביכורים הוא להתדבק בכח הראשית כמ"ש ראשית בכורי אדמתך תביא כו'

Now, the mitzvah of bikkurim is to cleave to the power of the reishis, the beginning, as it is written, "The first of the bikkurim of your land you shall bring" (Shemos 23:19).

The whole purpose of bikkurim is to attach oneself to the power of the beginning, bringing the very first of one's produce to Hashem.

וכ' בזוה"ק שכפי שמירת הראשית אין מתערב אח"כ פסולת לכן כ' אח"כ ל"ת גדי בחלב אמו

And it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh that according to how one guards the reishis, no waste becomes intermingled afterward; therefore it is written immediately after, the prohibition "You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Shemos 23:19).

The Zohar teaches that guarding the reishis keeps later waste from mixing in, which is why the prohibition against mixing milk and meat immediately follows the bikkurim verse.

שכשבנ"י קבלו התורה שהוא יום הביכורים הי' חירות רק שע"י החטא בא תערובת טו"ר וכפי מה שמתדבקין בכח הראשית מתברר התערובות

For when Bnei Yisrael received the Torah — which is the day of bikkurim — there was freedom; only that through the sin a mixture of good and evil entered, and according to how they cleave to the power of the reishis, the mixture is clarified and refined.

At Matan Torah — the original day of bikkurim — Bnei Yisrael stood in freedom; the sin introduced a mixture of good and evil, and clinging to the reishis sifts that mixture out.

וע"י הבאת הביכורים לבהמ"ק מתעורר גם בשמים ראשיתן של ישראל

And through bringing the bikkurim to the Beis HaMikdash, the reishis of Yisrael is awakened above in the heavens as well.

Bringing bikkurim down here awakens a parallel arousal of Yisrael's spiritual root in Heaven above.

כדאי' בשביל בנ"י שנק' ראשית

As Chazal say, the world was created "for the sake of Bnei Yisrael," who are called "reishis," the beginning (Rashi, Bereishis 1:1).

Chazal explain that creation itself was for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, who carry the title "reishis," the beginning of all.

וכמו שהקב"ה חיבב את בנ"י ומסר להם הראשית של כל הבריאה כמ"ש חז"ל שעלו במחשבה קודם הכל

And just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, cherished Bnei Yisrael and handed over to them the reishis of all of creation — as Chazal said that they arose in the Divine thought before everything else —

Just as Hashem cherished Bnei Yisrael and entrusted them with the reishis of creation, having placed them first in the Divine thought,

על אחת כמה וכמה שיש לנו ליתן כל הראשית אליו ית' תמיד

all the more so are we obligated to give over all the reishis, the first of everything, to Him, Blessed is He, at all times.

so too we are obligated to constantly return that first and finest portion back to Hashem.

וז"ש ה' האמרת וה' האמירך פרש"י לשון חשיבות שצריכין בנ"י לזכור תמיד בהש"י ולהחזיר כל ראשית וכל דבר חשוב אליו ית' וכמו כן הקב"ה מחבב את בנ"י יותר מכל מה שברא בעולם

This is the meaning of "You have proclaimed Hashem... and Hashem has proclaimed you" (Devarim 26:17-18) — which Rashi explains as an expression of distinction and importance — that Bnei Yisrael must always remember Hashem and return every reishis and every important thing to Him, Blessed is He, and in like measure the Holy One, Blessed is He, cherishes Bnei Yisrael more than everything He created in the world.

The reciprocal verses of proclaiming, which Rashi reads as mutual distinction, mean Bnei Yisrael return every important first to Hashem, and He in turn cherishes them above all creation.

ובמד' תנחומא ראה מרע"ה שבהמ"ק עתיד לחרוב וביכורים עתידין ליפסק ותיקן שלש תפלות כו'

And in the Midrash Tanchuma, Moshe Rabbeinu foresaw that the Beis HaMikdash was destined to be destroyed and that bikkurim were destined to cease, so he instituted the three daily tefillos.

The Midrash Tanchuma relates that Moshe Rabbeinu, foreseeing the Churban and the ceasing of bikkurim, established the three daily tefillos as a replacement.

כי אמרו חז"ל הפאה והביכורים אין להם שיעור

For Chazal said that pe'ah (the corner of the field left for the poor) and bikkurim have no fixed measure.

Chazal teach that pe'ah and bikkurim have no fixed measure or upper limit.

כי התדבקות עד השורש והראשית היא מאין סוף ואין תכלית

Because cleaving until the root and the reishis is drawn from the Ein Sof, the Infinite, and has no limit or end.

The reason they are limitless is that cleaving to the ultimate root draws from the Ein Sof, which itself has no boundary.

וזה הרמז של פאה וביכורים לתת הראשית והתכלית האחרית להש"י כמ"ש בשכבך ובקומך

And this is the deeper allusion of pe'ah and bikkurim — to give the reishis, the beginning, and the takhlis, the final end, to Hashem, as it is written, "when you lie down and when you rise up" (Devarim 6:7).

Pe'ah and bikkurim together symbolize giving both the beginning and the final end to Hashem, paralleling "when you lie down and when you rise up."

וזה המשך כי תכלה לעשר אחר מצות הביכורים

And this is the continuation, "when you finish tithing" (Devarim 26:12), coming after the mitzvah of bikkurim.

This explains why "when you finish tithing" follows the bikkurim passage — it expresses the same theme of beginning and end.

ובכל עת הבאת הביכורים התדבקו בשורש הראשית ממדרגה למדרגה עד שורש התורה שהיא יום הביכורים

And at every occasion of bringing the bikkurim, they cleaved to the root of the reishis, level after level, until the root of the Torah — which is the day of bikkurim.

Each act of bringing bikkurim raised a person rung by rung up to the very root of the Torah, the original day of bikkurim.

ובכל יום יש הארה מקבלת התורה כמ"ש אנכי מצוך היום ומחדש בכל יום בטובו מ"ב

And on every day there is an illumination from the receiving of the Torah, as it is written, "I command you this day" (Devarim 26:16), and He renews each day, in His goodness, the act of Creation.

Every single day carries an illumination of Matan Torah, since the Torah says "this day," and Hashem renews Creation daily in His goodness.

רק הגשמיות והתערובות מכסה וע"י מצות אלו מתברר הטוב

It is only that the physicality and the mixture conceal it, and through these mitzvos the good is clarified and refined.

Only physicality and the mixture of good and evil obscure this light, and these mitzvos serve to clarify and reveal the good.

[וז"ש וענית ואמרת עני' היא על התורה שניתן בסיני שהוא התעוררות מלמעלה ה' האמירך

[And this is the meaning of "You shall call out and say" (Devarim 26:5) — the "calling out" refers to the Torah that was given at Sinai, which is an awakening from above, "Hashem has proclaimed you";

The "calling out" of the bikkurim declaration alludes to the Written Torah given at Sinai, an awakening that comes from Above — "Hashem has proclaimed you."

וע"י התעוררות שלמטה היא בחי' תורה שבע"פ את ה' האמרת]. ועתה תפלות במקום תמידין איתקון וע"י ג' תפלות זוכין לעורר התחדשות מהארת החיות של התורה שבכל יום

and through the awakening from below, which is the aspect of the Oral Torah, "You have proclaimed Hashem."] And now the tefillos have been instituted in place of the daily korbanos, and through the three tefillos we merit to awaken a renewal from the illumination of the life-force of the Torah that comes each day.

The corresponding human effort is the aspect of the Oral Torah, "You have proclaimed Hashem"; now that tefillah has replaced the korbanos, the three daily tefillos awaken the renewed life-force of Torah each day.

וכנראה שבהבאת ביכורים פעם א' בשנה ניתקן מה שצריכין עתה ג"פ בכל יום

And it appears that through bringing bikkurim once a year, that was accomplished which we now require three times each day.

It emerges that the single yearly bringing of bikkurim once accomplished what now demands three tefillos every day.

וז"ש שעתידין ביכורים לפסוק שאז הי' התחברות עד שורש הראשית בלי הפסק בעבודת בהמ"ק שנק' נחלה ואמרו חז"ל נחלה אין לה הפסק:

And this is the meaning that bikkurim are destined to cease — for then there was a connection reaching until the root of the reishis without interruption, through the avodah of the Beis HaMikdash, which is called "nachalah," an inheritance, and Chazal said that an inheritance has no interruption.

Bikkurim ceasing reflects a deeper loss: in the time of the Beis HaMikdash the connection to the root was unbroken, an avodah called "nachalah," an inheritance — and Chazal teach that an inheritance never has interruption.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds his piece around the idea of reishis, the beginning, teaching that the mitzvah of bikkurim is meant to attach Bnei Yisrael to the spiritual power of the beginning by returning the very first and finest of everything to Hashem. Because Bnei Yisrael are themselves called "reishis" and arose first in the Divine thought, they are obligated to give back all that is first and important to Him, and in turn He cherishes them above all creation. Guarding this reishis sifts out the mixture of good and evil that entered through the sin, clarifying the good, and reaching to the root draws from the Ein Sof, which is why pe'ah and bikkurim have no fixed measure. Since each day carries an illumination of Matan Torah — the original day of bikkurim — the daily renewal of Creation can be awakened through the three tefillos that Moshe Rabbeinu instituted in place of the now-ceased bikkurim and korbanos. What the yearly bikkurim once achieved as an unbroken "nachalah" connection in the Beis HaMikdash, we now reach for three times daily through tefillah.