Скачать или смотреть First Fruits, First Thanks: Bikkurim vs. Ingratitude

Rav Kalatsky unpacks Bikkurim: only after conquest and settlement of the Land do we bring a basket of the first fruits of the seven species to the Kohen and declare our thanks. The formula of “Arami Oved Avi” retells—as if new (lehagid)—Yaakov’s peril with Lavan, the descent to Egypt, redemption, and entry into Eretz Yisrael so the farmer frames success as Hashem’s gift, not “my hands” or “my power.” The core lesson is hakaras hatov (recognizing the good) versus kefiyas tovah (ingratitude): the desert generation calling manna “light bread” and Adam blaming “the woman You gave me” are archetypes of ingratitude, which invites harm (the fiery serpents). A modern vignette—a heart-transplant recipient offering only token tzedakah—shows that real gratitude is concrete, costly, and voiced. Bikkurim trains us to convert prosperity into thanks, history into humility, and our speech into fresh praise.