"Torah Lights"
 
Video Insights on the Parsha
 
 by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel: “…And He brought us to this place and He has given us this land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruits of the land which You, O Lord, has given me” (Deut 26:1-10). 

We often fall into a certain pattern of action or of prayer because of a specific set of circumstances - and even after the circumstances change, and different actions or prayers are called for, we continue to do what we’ve always done, praying the prayers we’ve always prayed, not taking into account the new situation, the new reality. For example, Jews in the Diaspora, both at the end of Yom Kippur and at the conclusion of the Passover Seder, continue to cry out in anguished hope: “Next year may we be in Jerusalem.” And yet if they truly wished to be in Jerusalem, all they would have to do is make aliyah, or at least regularly visit the Holy City, and not once in every 25 years.

Similarly, Jews in Israel continue to invoke the Nahem prayer on the fast of the Ninth of Av as if Jerusalem had been laid waste by the Roman legions only a short time ago, ignoring the vast number of changes in the city’s life – albeit with limitations but nevertheless the qualitative differences in Jerusalem since the Six Day War is enormous. Rav Haim David HaLevi suggests that we at least change the text of the prayer by adding a past tense: “The City which had been laid waste…” 

Another example of our stubborn refusal not to internalize the changes around us relates to a fascinating declaration at the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, and how we deal with it at our Passover sedarim. Chapter 26 of the Book of Deuteronomy opens with the command that when we dwell in the land of Israel, its first fruits are to be brought to the Temple in Jerusalem where we declare before the altar a quintessential summary of Jewish history culminating in Jewish sovereignty and Divine Service: “An Aramean [Laban] sought to destroy my father [Jacob-Israel], and he went down in Egypt…. And the Egyptians dealt ill with us and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage… and the Lord took us out of Egypt… And He brought us to this place and He has given us this land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruits of the land which You, O Lord, has given me” (Deut 26:1-10). 

The Mishnah clarifies a significant part of the Seder service, how after the second cup of wine and the asking the requisite questions around the table, we “…expound the Biblical text from the words ‘An Aramean sought to destroy my father…’ until the completion of the entire section….” (Mishnah, Pesachim 10,4). 

But we do not expound that entire portion; we stop short, concluding with the exodus from Egypt, (verse 8), but neglecting to continue to state how “G-d has brought us to this land flowing with milk and honey” (verse 9) and how “Now behold I have brought the first of the fruit of the land…” (verse 10). And even if we feel that we cannot in good conscience recite the last verse because, alas, we do not yet have a Holy Temple to which to bring the first fruits, we can – and probably must – recite the next –to-the-last verse, in which we offer our thanks to the Almighty for having returned us (after almost 2000 years!) to this land flowing with milk and honey! 

An investigation into the genesis of our Passover Haggadah texts (examining those found in the Cairo Genizah) reveals that apparently there were two main versions of the Haggadah, one emanating from Israel and another emanating from the Exile (Babylon). In Israel, the entire portion of the declaration was read; it was only in Exile that the last two verses were excised. And we in Israel are no longer in exile!

It would also appear that initially five cups of wine were poured during the Seder, the fifth relating to the fifth expression of redemption – “And I will bring you into the land…” (Exodus 6:8) – and to be drunk before the prayers of praise and thanks (hallel hagadah, Hodu LaShem Ki tov). It would seem – at least according to the Rambam (Laws of Hametz and Matzah 8,10) and many of the Geonim (Arvei Pesahim, ad loc) – that if you don’t take the fifth cup, you don’t recite hallel hagadol for the complete and universal redemption. Nevertheless, even after we’ve returned to a Jewish State we continue to make our Seder over four cups of wine. And even though the Rambam states that the fifth cup is only voluntary, surely we should demonstrate in some tangible or ritualistic manner that we appreciate the changed reality of our nation’s status? 

I would only add that our attitude towards the convert and the commitments which converts must make ought likewise undergo some sort of re-thinking in light of the situation in Israel today. Based on its Laws of Return, Israel offers automatic citizenship to anyone who would have been persecuted as a Jew under Nazi laws – there are more than 300,000 individuals who are presently Israeli citizens living in Israel from the former Soviet Union who are presently Israeli citizens but not halakhically Jews. They serve in the IDF, some even dying for the nation in our wars for survival, and their children go to the same schools as other Israeli children. For the first time in almost 2000 years, Jewish nationality (symbolized by the ritual immersion, national re-birth,) requires a commitment which is different from, and no less exacting than, Jewish religion (symbolized by the acceptance of the commandments).

The time has come for this sea-change in Jewish status ought make a serious difference - at least in terms of our desire to inspire the non-halakhic Jews in our midst to find their place amongst us as completely legitimate children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah!