I would like to share a beautiful thought on Parashat Ki Tavo, that has to do with Tefilla and Hakarat HaTov/gratitude, and eventually will relate to our prayers in shul.
The Midrash Tanchuma, in this week’s Parasha, says something very interesting.
צפה משה ברוח הקודש וראה שבית המקדש עתיד ליחרב והבכורים עתידין ליפסק עמד והתקין לישראל שיהיו מתפללין שלשה פעמים בכל יום לפי שחביב תפלה לפני הקב"ה מכל מעשים טובים:
Moshe Rabbenu saw with his Devine spirit that the Bet HaMikdash would be destroyed, and Bikkurim would stop. He went and made a takana/rectification for the Jewish people, that they should pray three times a day, because tefila is the most dear of good deeds.
It doesn’t say that the korbanot or the ketoret stopped. It says that the Bikkurim stopped. So the obvious question, that many rabbis ask, is: What is the exact connection between bikkurim and tefilla?
I was given an explanation, in the name of Rav Simcha Solovechik, the son of the Bet HaLevi, a great rabbi from the town of Brisk whom we’ve quoted many, many times:
We can look at the pesukim of Bikkurim, analyze them and come away with a deeper understanding of Bikkurim, which we can then apply to tefilla.
Bikkurim tells us that we go into the land that Hashem gave us for an inheritance, we dwell there,
we take from the first of the fruit and put it in a basket, then take it to the Bet HaMikdash, where we go to the Kohen and tell him as follows
הִגַּדְתִּי הַיּוֹם לַה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ כִּי בָאתִי אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע ה’לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ לָתֶת לָנוּ
I said today, to Hashem, our G-d, that I came to the land that G-d gave me.
The obvious question is -But the man didn’t say anything! He walks in with his basket, and doesn’t say anything. All he did was come. What did he say?
The pasuk continues and says that the Kohen takes the basket from him, puts it in front of the Mizbe’ach and then
וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ you will say out loud...
And then goes back through the story of the Hagaddah, about Lavan, and Yetziat Mitzrayim, Pesach...and up until this point.
So what are these two stages?
הִגַּדְתִּי I will say
And then
וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ I will raise my voice out loud and say...
What are these two levels?
Rav Simcha Soloveichik makes a very nice diyyuk/point about this: the person says,
הִגַּדְתִּי I have said, I have spoken
This word actually shows up by Edut/witnesses, where the pasuk says,
אִם לוֹא יַגִּיד if the person won’t testify.
How does one testify? Technically, it doesn’t have to be spoken testimony, it can be written down. This word יגיד would seem to include writing.
But there’s another pasuk that says
על פי שנים עדים
“On the mouth of two witnesses” - so we see that writing is not a qualified method of testimony. We need the mouths of the witnesses.
But the word יגיד on its own just means “to make a statement,” although not necessarily by speaking. Therefore, the first stage of Bikkurim is that you came to the Bet HaMikdash.
That’s a statement. Coming to shul is a statement. We don’t have to say anything. But Hashem tells us this is not enough for Bikkurim. It’s not enough that you showed up and made a nonverbal proclamation of your dedication.
Hashem wants more, therefore, וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ He wants us to be loud, to say it at the top of our lungs. That is the Hiddush of Bikkurim. It’s not enough to just show up. We have to say it loud and clear, “Hashem, and you gave me everything.” Speak out loud.
Ramban, at the end of Parashat Bo, talks about this. We go to shul, but we should pray out loud, not in a low voice. It’s not enough to just show up. Hashem wants to hear our Hakarat Hatov/gratitude for Hashem, declared at the top of our lungs.
People sometimes mumble a thank you. We don’t want to mumble this thank you, we want to give a loud Thank You.
Rav Simcha says that this is the correlation between Bikkurim and Tefila. It’s not enough to come to shul. We have to come to shul and speak out loud and talk to G-d. He ties this to the phenomenon we see, where people talk in shul. He explains that it’s because deep down, a person feels that it’s enough that he came to shul. His feelings are there, isn’t that enough?
No. It’s not. We have to say it out loud, and enunciate clearly. Sefer HaHinuch talks about this. When it comes to Vidduy/confession, it’s not enough to confess in your heart, because unless you say things aloud, they don’t have an impact. That’s a tremendous psychological lesson. The same is true with relationships. Sometimes people say, “Isn’t it enough that I gave a gift? Doesn’t that say something?”
Or “I wrote a card... I sent a text” Doesn’t that say something?”
Not as much as וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ saying it out loud.
“I love you” Say it out loud to your children, or whomever you have to say it to. One of Rabbi Miller’s 10 Steps to Greatness is to lock yourself in your closet and declare, out loud, “I love You Hashem!”
That’s the Hiddush of Bikkurim. We have to say it, scream it, yell it.. out loud.
Moshe Rabbenu wanted to duplicate this with our prayers. We want the power of the “out loud.”
Korbanot is action, and it’s nice. You brought a korban. Ketoret is nice too. But the out loud aspect was the Hiddush of Bikkurim, and we keep it alive with our prayers, out loud.
And this is not just for our prayers.
Our Berachot should be out loud, Birkat HaMazon should be out loud. The Steipler spoke of the great impact of a home where berachot are said out loud, and the Pele Yoetz speaks about it too. It’s powerful. It’s the Hiddush of Bikkurim. Out loud
Have a wonderful day.