Chasidic Insights

CHASIDIC INSIGHTS PARSHAS KI SOVO 5763 BS"D

Ch. 26, v. 2: "V'lokachto mei'reishis kol pri ho'adomoh asher tovi mei'artz'cho asher Hashem Elokecho nosein loch" - The purpose of the exercise of bringing the first-ripened produce to the Beis Hamikdosh is to change one's attitude, - "asher tovi," from "mei'artz'cho," - that you will bring from YOUR land, believing that you are master over the land, to "asher Hashem Elokecho nosein loch," - a recognition that Hashem is constantly giving us the land. (Akeidas Yitzchok)

Ch. 26, v. 3: "Higadti ha'yom" - Translate the word "higadti" as "I have been FORTUNATE," as we find "boh gad" (Breishis 30:11). Thus the one who brings his first-ripened produce offering is stating, "I have been FORTUNATE today to be able to live in this land and bring .." (Haksav V'hakaboloh)

Ch. 26, v. 11: "V'somachto v'chol hatov asher nosan l'cho Hashem Elokecho u'l'vei'secho atoh v'haLevi v'ha'geir" - Your greatest joy should not be in the good that you have received, but rather, in the fact that it was given to you by Hashem. (Tiferes Shlomo - The Holy Admor of Radomsk) Your greatest joy should not be in the good that you have received, but rather, in your sharing it with your family, the Levi, and the convert. (Va'y'da'beir Moshe)

Ch. 26, v. 13: "Lo ovarti mimitzvosecho v'lo shochochti" - Sometimes people get so bogged down with the halachic minutiae of a mitzvoh that they totally lose sight of their connection with Hashem, the One who commanded that we perform the mitzvoh in the first place. Hence, the person who brings his first-ripened offering states that he has not forgotten Hashem Who has commanded that we do the mitzvoh. We sometimes get so involved in a mitzvoh that we forget the M'tza'veh. (Sfas Emes)

Ch. 27, v. 8: "Es kol divrei haTorah hazose ba'eir HEI'TEIV" - Even though the Torah contains admonitions, many of them contained in our parsha, nevertheless, the words of the Torah should be written in a manner that allows the righteous people of each generation to interpret the words as a blessing (see gemara Taanis 20a). This is the intention of "ba'eir HEI'TEIV," - allow the words to be explained in a positive manner. (Noam Elimelech)

Ch. 28, v. 13: "Unsoncho Hashem L'rosh v'lo L'zonov" - And Hashem will place you TO a head and not TO a tail - Why does the verse not say "Unsoncho Hashem rosh v'lo zonov"? Being a head is not always advantageous. In Pirkei Ovos 4:20 Rabbi Masya ben Chorosh says that it is better for one to be a tail of a lion rather than a head of a fox. On a simple level this means that it is better for one to be connected, even at the lowest level, to greatness, rather than to be at the highest level of mediocrity. Thus the intention of our verse is that Hashem will place you, connect you, TO a head, to greatness, and not TO a tail, to mediocrity. (Rabbi Yehoshua of Apt in O'heiv Yisroel)

This also explains the text of our Rosh Hashonoh prayer "sheni'h'yeh L'rosh v'lo L'zonov," which also seemingly has an extra letter Lamed before "rosh" and "zonov."

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