After generations of waiting, Bnei Yisrael finally entered Eretz Yisrael. This was a dream for generations. The parsha starts with Bikkurim: The farmer brings his first fruits and declares:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“\u05d4\u05b4\u05d2\u05b7\u05bc\u05d3\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05d4\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05f3 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05e7\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05d1\u05b8\u05d0\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5…”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “I declare today… that I have come to the land Hashem swore to our forefathers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The farmer arrives in Yerushalyim with his fruit and says “look where I originally came from.”<\/em> Hashem kept his promise to our forefathers and now we are lucky enough to live in a bountiful land. The journey itself is an important part of recognizing what we have, enabling us to formulate the proper joy of gratitude. We didn\u2019t always have this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first fruits are marked with explicit procedures. What about the second fruit? Third? Does the appreciation of where we were and what we now have stick? Do we continue to notice? <\/p>\n\n\n\n People learn to adapt quickly. We get used to what we have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about when you cut your finger tip and you are suddenly obsessed with that finger. It heals and then once again you forget it exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a natural tendency to notice what’s wrong<\/em> far more easily than what’s right.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is addressed with the Brachos & Klalos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “\u05ea\u05d7\u05ea \u05d0\u05e9\u05e8 \u05dc\u05d0 \u05e2\u05d1\u05d3\u05ea \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4\u05f3 \u05d0\u05dc\u05e7\u05d9\u05da \u05d1\u05e9\u05de\u05d7\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d1\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1 \u05dc\u05d1\u05d1 \u05de\u05e8\u05d1 \u05db\u05dc”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Because you did not serve Hashem with joy… from an abundance of everything.” (Devarim 28:47)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not rejection, and not straying. Just the failure to be happy in our service to Hashem due to complacency. To forget our joy of having an abundance of everything Hashem thinks we need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can we prevent this? Start the day grounded in gratitude, but then ask;<\/p>\n\n\n\n what about the second fruit, third?<\/p>\n\n\n\n “How can I carry the \u201cthank you Hashem for giving me this day\u201d throughout the entire day?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Flash back to the farmer, when he brought the fruit he verbalized his history. Keep in mind the journey it took to get you to this very day and take action to internalize and express your gratitude throughout the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we head into Rosh Hashanah, and move toward a new year, can we stop and think about what this past year already gave us? Do we feel real joy over what we already have<\/em>? The things we once only dreamed of? Can we recognize that we have enough of an abundance to serve Hashem with joy and prepare once again this Rosh Hashanah to anoint Hashem as a king, our king? Not just during the beginning but throughout the whole day, the whole week and the whole year? If we recount our history and where we came from, YES we can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can we feel not just the gratitude but the real joy of what we have? <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The joy of grounded gratitude After generations of waiting, Bnei Yisrael finally entered Eretz Yisrael. This was a dream for generations. The parsha starts with Bikkurim: The farmer brings his first fruits and declares: “\u05d4\u05b4\u05d2\u05b7\u05bc\u05d3\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05d4\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05f3 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05e7\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05d1\u05b8\u05d0\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05e8\u05b6\u05e5…” “I declare today… that I have come to the land Hashem swore to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25,23,20,21,24,22],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abundance","tag-bikkurim","tag-gratitude","tag-grounding","tag-joy","tag-ki-savo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The curses at the end of the parsha trace back to a subtle failure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every morning: “\u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05d3\u05b6\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9… \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d4\u05b6\u05d7\u05b1\u05d6\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc \u05d1\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u05e0\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05de\u05b8\u05ea\u05b4\u05d9”<\/em> \u2014 “Thank You for returning my soul.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nReader’s Reflection <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n