And it shall be, when you come into the land that G‑d your L-rd is giving you for an inheritance, and you possess it and settle it, you shall take the first of all the fruit of the ground, produced by the land that G‑d your L-rd is giving you. And you shall place it in a basket, and go to the site that G‑d will choose as the place associated with His Name. (Deut. 26:2)

In the words of our holy teacher, the Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the secret of the First Fruits is the return of the light of the Feminine [Nukva] to the priest, who is chesed, so that the Externalities - the forces of evil that exist beyond the realm of holiness - do not draw [sustenance] from it.

We can explain our Master's words according to the teaching: "Whoever brings a gift to a Torah scholar is as though he has brought First Fruits." (Ketubot 105b) Why are the first fruits singled out as opposed to all the other priestly gifts?

There are 24 gifts that Israel is required to give to the priests throughout the year, such as the First Fruits, the firstborn of the flock, the first shearing, and various portions of the Temple sacrifices.

This can be explained as follows: "G‑d has made everything for His own purpose…" (Proverbs 16:4) Everything is created for His honor, to retrieve the sparks of purity that were scattered in all things. The Congregation of Israel - a synonym for the Shechina - then ascends with these sparks to make "a new offering to G‑d", as in the case of "a new measure and an old measure" (Mishna Challa 4:4), as is known to the wise. For a person who clings to G‑d creates a Unification of His Name with everything he sees, hears, smells and touches.

An awesome Unification will take place above, to be reflected below….

Through this, the Divine Presence is adorned with ornaments that did not previously exist.

Based upon the Zohar II:95a, referring to the sparks of holiness that are removed from the impure shells and given to the restoration of the Shechina. These sparks are said to not have existed prior to their redemption from the kelipot.

Then "all the workers of iniquity will be scattered." (Psalms 92:10) The evil will be sweetened, the good removed, and an awesome Unification will take place above, to be reflected below.

The forces of evil only exits due to the spark of holiness trapped within them. When this spark is removed, they are annulled.

A righteous person is able to discern and uplift the sparks of holiness in all things….

The mystery of the First Fruits is the mystery of the sparks that are sorted out in holy thought in order to uplift the lights of "Feminine Waters", of Nukva to their roots, so that the impure shells do not draw upon it.

That is, the holy consciousness of a righteous person is able to discern and uplift the sparks of holiness in all things.

"And he wraps a band around it…" is the mystery of the verse "Great are the works of G‑d…" (Psalms 111:2)

Rashi (Ex. 23:19) explains that at the beginning of the season, a farmer wraps a band (in Hebrew, "gami") around the first fruits so that he can identify them later. The words "Great are the works of G‑d – in Hebrew, "Gadol ma'asei Y-H-V-H" - form an acronym for the word "gami", band.

Not every person can endure having his soul…create unifications with all the things in the world….

However, not every person can endure having his soul cling to the supernal G‑d, to create unifications with all the things in the world, and ornaments and [letter] combinations. Therefore, G‑d, in His great love for the holy nation, commanded us to bring First Fruits to the Temple, and through them to make a great and awesome unification, to uplift the soul of all living beings, and through this mitzvah, to bind all objects, actions and pleasures of this world to G‑d. For everything follows after the beginning, and since he revealed the first time that his whole intention is to uplift the soul of all life to G‑d, all of his fruits and crops are rectified and refined. This is the meaning of giving a gift to the Torah scholar.

Understand this well, for the tzadik has the power to rectify everything, and everything that belongs to a person is rectified by means of this gift. I.e. just as the First Fruit uplifts the holy sparks that are in the rest of the crop, so a gift to a tzadik can redeem the holy sparks that are in the rest of a person's possessions.

This was the practice of the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples. For sometimes, a tzadik can pass by a certain place with a unification of His Name or a holy thought in mind, and he repairs all the vegetation of the field.

[From Otzar HaChayim, parashat Mishpatim p. 199b, as found in Sefer Baal Shem Tov, parashat Ki Tavo; translation and commentary by Rabbi Eliezer Shore
Reprinted with permission from www.baalshemtov.org]