It’s all in the Basket - Ki Tavo 5785

I had a very interesting discussion with a person I have known for many years.  While he is not connected much to observance of Mitzvot, he described to me the great spiritual path he has found.  He told me about going deeper and deeper into various levels of consciousness, finding nothingness and then the light behind it.   After explaining to him that the ultimate mystical and spiritual secrets are found in the Torah, we discussed the primacy of practice.  We are here on Earth to fulfill Hashem’s will, and that is specifically to work within the darkness of the physical world.  Mystical meanings bring life to the Mitzvot, but without physical practice, there is no true connection to Hashem.  I was struck by the relevance of this discussion to this week’s Parsha, and it is actually a mystical teaching that brings this idea to light.

One of the most beautiful pilgrimages to the Holy Temple that farmers in Israel would observe was the “Bikkurim,” bringing the first fruits.  As the farmer would see the grain and produce begin to ripen, he would tie a string around the first ones.  Then, when they were fully ripe, he would take those first fruits, put them in a basket, and bring them to Jerusalem.  There was a special “waving ceremony” and a statement that the farmer would make, and then the Kohen (priest) would take the fruit.

This entire experience was one of great joy and fanfare.  The farmers would be greeted at the gates of Jerusalem, and accompanied by the residents of the city to the Temple with singing and celebration.  The baskets were organized with the fruit in layers, grapes hanging over the sides, and doves flying above attached to the baskets by strings.  

There are many rules and conditions for this ceremony.  It was practiced only in Israel when the Holy Temple was standing.  The produce brought was only the seven species with which the Torah praises Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, dates and olives.  Among those, only the finest produce was given, for example dates had to be from the low lying areas where they grow best.  The idea was to recognize that everything we have is given to us by Hashem, recognized by giving the first and best to Him.

One of the rules was that the produce must be placed in a basket. “Of all the first fruits of the earth that you harvest from your land that G-d, your G-d, is giving you, you must take one specimen. You must place these fruits in a basket and go to the place to which G-d, your G-d, will choose to attach His Name... The priest will take the basket from your hands, and place it before the Altar of G-d, your G-d.” (Devarim 26:2,4.)

What kind of basket?  Those who could afford it would use a silver or gold basket.  Poor people would use a wicker basket made of willow twigs or something similar.  But a fascinating detail is that the gold and silver baskets were returned to the owner, while the wicker baskets remained with the Kohen.  The Talmud makes a wry statement:  “This is what people say, that poverty follows the poor.”  Why would it be this way?  One explanation is that because a poor person generally has a smaller gift, the basket makes it more substantial and therefore a more presentable gift.

As in all matters of Torah, Chassidus brings life to the concept and gives us a deeper, mystical meaning to the story.  The first fruit is the soul.  It comes from the highest spiritual levels, sourced in the Essence of Hashem. .  It is “the fruit of the Holy Land,”  and pure and perfect in every way.  That perfect holy soul does not hang out in perfect holy places, however. While there are many holy spiritual worlds, that is not the purpose of the soul. That perfect soul descends into a “basket” - a physical body specifically in a physical world.  

Our Sages taught that the purpose of this “great descent” of the soul is in order to achieve a “great elevation.” In other words it is precisely because the soul is in such a lowly place that it accrues the greatest spiritual benefits. Because Hashem’s purpose of the entire creation was not to create spiritual, holy worlds.  No matter how holy, it is a step down from Hashem’s ultimate holiness.  The purpose of everything is this, physical, “lowly” world, a dark place with an absence of Divine revelation, so that when a human being chooses to do good, they are lighting up a dark place.  That is news, and that is what Hashem desires.

So it is only when the “First Fruits” - the soul, descends into a “basket” - the container of the body, that the purpose of all of creation is fulfilled.  Now the gold and silver baskets are the spiritual pursuits that we are involved in.  The wicker basket represents the ordinary unadorned simple physical activities.  This means the physical acts of Mitzvot, and the day-to-day activities permeated with purpose and meaning to bring the light of the soul into the physical world.

It is the wicker basket that remains part of the first fruit gift, because those simple acts are the most meaningful and enduring.  Kabbalah teaches that after the coming of Moshiach, the ultimate reward will be the resurrection, when the soul will be permanently reunited with the body.  Because the body and the physical is where the will of Hashem is, and that is where His Presence will be revealed in the future.

The above is also related to the special day today, Thursday.  It is the 18th of Elul, also known as Chai Elul, meaning the day that brings life to the service of Elul.  Click here to see more about the meaning of this day.