In the first scenario
the Torah promises blessings and serenity to the people of Israel. Though it
does not minimize the toil and travail that led to the moment when these
offerings arrived in the Temple, it does convey a sense of satisfaction and
achievement, of gratitude and
appreciation, for the accomplishments of the Jewish people, individually and
nationally, regarding the Land of Israel and its bounty.
When a spirit of wondrous gratitude marks the
accomplishments of the individual farmer and of the people generally in
settling and developing the Land of Israel, the set text that accompanies this
offering has little room for hubris and self-aggrandizement. Rather, its
wording highlights the relationship between God, the Land and the people of
Israel.
The second scenario in the parsha is far more somber and
even frightening. It describes the events, travail and persecution that will
visit the Jewish people over the long millennia of its exile. In vivid detail,
the Torah describes the horrors, defeats and destruction that this exile will inflict.
In our generation, tragic evidence of this portion of the Torah reading can
actually be seen on film and in museums.
We are witness to the fact that not one word of the Torah’s description
of dark future events was an exaggeration or hyperbole. This period of trouble
and exile lasted far longer than the initial scenario of the offering of the
first fruit in the Temple. And, unfortunately, the residue of this second
scenario is still with us and within us as we live in a world that manifests
its hostility towards the Jews.
Be that as it may, we should still be heartened by the
concluding words of this parsha, which promises that it will be the first of
our two scenarios that will eventually prevail. Even though so much of the
negative is still with us, we must be grateful for our restoration to
sovereignty, for dominion over our own homeland and for the bounty of the land
that we currently enjoy.
All of this is a symbol of the beginning of the resurrection
of the first scenario and the diminution of the effect of the second. May we
all be wise enough to realize this and adjust our attitudes and actions
accordingly.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein
