Parshat Ki Tavo

Our parsha this week opens with the mitzvah of Bikurim. The truth is, our parsha more than simply opens with Bikurim; it celebrates it. Bikurim gets a lot of attention and is very much in the limelight. The Torah prescribes a fairly lengthy text associated with Bikurim and talks about the ceremony of bringing it to the Kohen. In fact, these pesukim are famous! You may recall them from the Seder on Pesach night, where they form the anchor of the second part of Maggid.

For such famous pesukim, you might be surprised to learn exactly how many fruits one needs to bring. What is the minimum amount you can bring for Bikurim? In theory, you could bring one grape, as Bikurim is listed as something that has no minimum shiur. We have this whole lavish, festive ritual we say when we bring our first fruits, but in theory, the festival celebrates a lonely grape.

Standing in stark contrast are the very next mitzvot, that of Maaser Ani and Maaser Sheni. A Jew is required to give ten percent of his money to tzedakah. And here, despite the fact that the amount given is significantly superior to the financial requirement of Bikurim, there is no celebration. No pomp, no circumstance. You drop off the money and you move on. Why?

Hanging on the walls of most restaurants is a single dollar bill. Usually, this is the first dollar bill that the owner ever made. They could use that money - they could invest it or find a better use for it than sitting on the wall. Yet, he affixes it on the wall because that dollar bill represents something: the beginning of the actualization of a dream. What was once only a vision, perhaps even a grand vision, has now been actualized, and the dream has come true. The owner does not hang up every dollar bill, just those that mean the most, and often, those are the first dollar bills earned