Parashat Ki Tavo: Every Deed

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

https://www.artscroll.com/ Books/lemynh.html Living Emunah on Yamim Noraim Gaining faith from the Days of Awe This week's parasha Ki Tavo begins with the mitzvah of bikurim , where a farmer brings a basket of fruits from the seven species to the Kohen and recites certain pesukim . The Mishnah describes the bringing of the bikurim as a very elaborate process. There were crowds of people waiting to greet the landowners in Yerushalayim, with music playing in the background. It is noteworthy to point out that the farmer only had to bring one fruit from each of the species. The sefer Mapik Margaliot writes, we see from here the unbelievable value that the Torah places on the littlest deeds that we do. Imagine a farmer with orchards full of fig trees or date trees and thousands of fruits that are going to grow upon them, and he takes just one to do the mitzvah of bikurim , and the Torah makes such a big deal over it. When he walks to Jerusalem with the basket, everyone who sees him stands up in honor of the mitzvah he's doing. To the onlooker, it may have seemed that a king or president had just arrived, but it was just a man holding a basket of fruit. To us, it looks like something simple, but the Torah knows how valuable it really is. Sometimes the evil inclination tells a person, "You're going to learn Torah now? It's not worth it. You're going to be late. You're not going to understand what's being taught. It's going to take you at least ten minutes just to find parking." Or if a person wants to go to shul to pray, the evil inclination tells him, "How much are you going to concentrate anyway? Most of the tefila you space out. It's not worth the effort." Let us make a simple kal v'chomer . If for one fruit, that is worth less than a penny to the farmer, the Torah gives him endless honor. How much more so if a person would wake up early in the morning and push himself out of bed to go to shul at a time when he wished he could sleep just a little longer. He fights himself and he goes anyway. How many worlds is he building in Shamayim for those efforts? Or after a long day's work, a person comes home and is so tired he just wants to relax, but instead he strengthens himself and goes back out to learn, sometimes in the freezing cold, searching for parking. Every word of Torah gives endless rewards. How much more so when they are learned with difficulty? Every deed that we do is worth so much and we can never underestimate even the smallest things that we do. A woman related, she heard a short class about giving chizuk to others. The rabbi specifically mentioned that if someone is going through a difficulty and that person has ever gotten chizuk that has helped him, then he should use that chizuk to give someone else he knows who is going through the same difficulty. The woman told this to her son who was having a very hard time in shidduchim . He took the advice and called someone that he knew was struggling in the same area. He gave him all the lines that have helped him in the past. The other boy thanked him for the kind words and then said, "You know, I have someone that I think would be great for you." P.S. A couple of weeks ago, they were celebrating their engagement. Every deed accomplishes worlds in Shamayim . We don't necessarily get to see their effects down here, but rest assured, every deed we do is immeasurable. Shabbat Shalom.