Today we will share a Bitachon thought related to Parashat Ki Tavo, and of course we'll bring it back to humility. The Midrash Tanhuma, in the beginning of Ki Tavo quotes a pasuk in Tehilim 95,6 with three different terms for bowing
בֹּ֭אוּ נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֣ה וְנִכְרָ֑עָה נִ֝בְרְכָ֗ה ה׳ עֹשֵֽׂנוּ
Let us come, let us bow down and kneel,
bend the knee before the Hashem our Creator
The Midrash asks, Aren’t they all all included? They’re all the same types.
They answer that Moshe Rabbenu saw that the Bet Hamikdash would be destroyed and the Bikurim would stop, so he instituted praying three times a day. It’s quite clear from the Midrash that the three prayers are hinted to in this pasuk, which says to bow three different times, with each bow corresponding to a different prayer. Our bowing in the prayer is there to replace Bikurim.
We have to understand the significance of Bikurim, which, as we know, is all about gratitude. It comes at the end of the crop season, and we come to thank Hashem for what we have. It’s no coincidence that we always read this at the end of the year, because we have to look back at the end of the year and thank Hashem for what we received this year. Even if it’s just with a small reed basket of very tiny fruit, we still have to thank Hashem, and be happy with what we have. Before we go and ask for another year, we have to bow to Hashem. if we were successful and realize all the success came from Him.
So Bikurim is about Hakarat HaTov, and it says in Devarim 26,10,
After you put the fruits down,
וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִ֔יתָ לִפְנֵ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ
Bow down before Hashem your God
Bowing is a sign of humility, as we’ve said many times.
The last words of the the previous Parasha talk about Amalek. Amalek is arrogant. The numerical value of Amalek is 240 Ram,רם which means arrogant is also 240. Amalek is arrogant. Amalek doesn't bow. Amalek will be utterly destroyed. There's another creature that will be utterly destroyed in the future- that's the snake who also did not want to bow. That’s why he lost his legs and he's flat on the ground. He's forever bowing, because he didn't want to bow and humble himself to God. The Gemara in Bava Kama tells us in 17B, “One who does not bow in Modim, his spine turns into a snake after he passes away.” Why is that the punishment? Because one that doesn't bow at Modim is being snake-like. He's not humbling himself. He's not having Hakarat HaTov, which was the original sin of man. Man listened to the snake because he wanted to be a creator. He didn't want to humble himself. And that is what we try to fix on Rosh Hashanah, which is the day that Adam sinned.
Furthermore, we start off our high holiday Malchuyot prayers with Alenu LeShabe’ach where we say Ananchu Mishtahavim, we bow in front of God. We bow and we humble ourselves.
This is an important thing to prepare ourselves for. That bow in the middle of Musaf is an important bow. It’s a bowing of gratitude.It’s a bowing of humbling ourselves to God on Rosh Hashanah.
The shofar, too is bent on Rosh Hashanah, to symbol to us that we should bend ourselves. This all takes preparation. You can't just fall right into Rosh Hashanah.
We have to prepare beforehand and insert this in our prayers for the next few weeks.
A piece of advice-take out a moment when you bow by Alenu LeShabe’ach to have intention when you're bowing that, “I'm standing in front of God now and I'm bowing.” That bowing of our prayers is there to replace the thank you of Bikurim. And it says, the Bikurim brought blessings. God, a heavenly echo would come out and say, “You brought Bikurim in this year, you should come back and bring it again next year.”
Rabbi Moshe Wolfson adds something a little bit Kabalistic. The human being corresponds to the seven Ushpizin. Now the right arm is Abraham giving. The left arm is Yitzhak which is taking, Yaakob Avinu is the middle of the two. The two legs refer to Moshe and Aharon, called Netzach and Hod What do Moshe and Aharon say about themselves? “What are we?”
That's the ultimate level of humility. It’s even less than David Hamelech who said he is a worm. He says that's why Moshe and Aharon are the legs that bow down to Hashem; that's the highest level. Moshe Rabbenu, the most humble of men, brought the Torah down and he's the one that introduced to us a way to replace Bikurim- our three prayers a day. We can take those three prayers and turn them into outbursts of gratitude.
We like to do small things. I still remember what Rav Wolbe said many, many years ago, “Even people that are not ready to really work on being humble, the least they can do is be cognizant at the beginning of the Amida when they bow down, ‘I'm standing in front of God. I'm nullifying myself to Him. I'm holding my hands and feet locked. Not just to look like angel, but also to show I can't do anything. I'm shackled. God makes everything happen. I humble myself to Him.’” That is Bikurim, that is the secret for blessing. And that we do every year, two weeks before the end of the year. And let us all do it. Let's sit around the table and let us try to have Hakarat HaTov for the year. Appreciate the year God gave us, and we will, B’Ezrat Hashem, get another beautiful year.