Ki Tavoh

All Our First Fruits

Adapted from Chabad.org

You shall take of the first of all the fruit of the land to the place that the Lord your G-d will choose. (Devarim/Deuteronomy 26:2)

How does this instruction apply to those who are not farmers?

Philosopher Moses Maimonides teaches: Everything that is for the sake of G-d should be the best and most beautiful. When one builds a house of prayer, it should be more beautiful than one's own dwelling. When one feeds the hungry, one should offer the best and sweetest food. When one clothes the naked, one should offer the finest clothes.

Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson teaches: If the school day includes both sacred and secular studies, sacred studies should be scheduled when the mind is at its freshest and most receptive. If a person's talents are to be divided between two occupations - one occupation designed to pay the bills and a second occupation that benefits fellow human beings - a person should devote her or his keenest abilities to the second occupation

By devoting the "first fruits" to G-d in these ways, a person is saying: "The true purpose of my existence is to enable my spirit to rise above my matter-clogged life. Even if spiritual pursuits are a quantitatively small part of my life, qualitatively they are huge!"

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