"And it will be, when you enter the land that G‑d, your G‑d is giving you…" (Deut. 26:1-2)
The expression, "And it will be…" is one of joy. (Midrash Bereishit Rabba 42)
Allegorically, the notion of "coming into the land" alludes to the descent of the soul into the body. This descent is quite drastic, in that the soul leaves its spiritual abode only to find itself challenged by the overwhelming physicality that hides divinity. Yet, this descent is still, ultimately, a joyous event, one "that G‑d, your G‑d, gives you", because the true purpose of the descent is the ascent that it brings.
[Based on Likutei Sichot, vol. 9, p. 357]
"When you enter the land that G‑d, your G‑d, is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and settle it, take [some] of the first of every fruit of the ground that you bring in from your land, which G‑d, your G‑d is giving you, and put it in a basket. Then go to the place that G‑d, your G‑d, will choose to make His Name rest there." (Deut. 26:1-2) You should ensure that your heightened consciousness is vested in the appropriate means of expression…
The word for "land" (in Hebrew, "eretz") is cognate to the word for "will" (in Hebrew, "ratzon"). Based on this, the Baal Shem Tov expounded this verse as follows:
"When you enter the land…": When you succeed in aligning your will with G‑d's will…
"…that G‑d is giving you as an inheritance": this being a divine gift, an innate ability given by G‑d to every Jew…
"…you shall settle it": your job is to integrate this into your daily life, so the fact that your will has been superceded by G‑d's will serves not to divorce you from reality but to rather to work within reality to rectify it.
"…take…the…fruit…and put it in a basket": In other words, you should ensure that your heightened consciousness (in Kabbalistic terminology, "light") is vested in the appropriate means of expression ("vessel").
"Then go to the place that G‑d, your G‑d, will choose…": Be aware that when you travel from place to place, you are not doing so on your own, but rather divine providence is arranging your movements…and this is so that you disseminate divine consciousness wherever divine providence leads you.
[Note: the word for will…: "Why is the land of Israel called 'the land' ["eretz"]? Because it acquiesced ["ratzta"] to the will ["ratzon"] of its Owner." Bereishit Rabba 5:8]
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"When you enter the land…": In order to align your will with the will of G‑d…
"…go to the place that G‑d, your G‑d, will choose [in order] to make His Name rest there": devote yourself selflessly to disseminating awareness of the Divine wherever you are. How is this done? By reciting a blessing (over food) and reciting a verse from Psalms.
[Based on HaYom Yom, 18 Elul; Sefer HaSichot 5696-5700, p. 191; Keter Shem Tov, addendum 3] Do not let your intellect fool you into inaction by questioning your ability to influence your environment…
In other words, do not let your intellect fool you into inaction by questioning your ability to influence your environment. The fact that you are where you are indicates that G‑d has both placed you there and given you the spiritual power to disseminate awareness of the Divine. Furthermore, doing this will bring you material blessings as well. Divine providence works in the guise of worldly cause-and-effect to bring you where you are: you thought you went there to take care of some material need. Spiritualizing your being there will bring G‑d's beneficence into the physical process that worked to bring you there.
The connection between integrating divine inspiration into daily life and being aware that our footsteps are guided by G‑d is that if we have truly integrated our divine inspiration into our daily lives, then wherever we go, we will ipso facto disseminate awareness of G‑d.
[Based on Likutei Sichot, vol. 9, p. 339; vol. 24, pp.183-186]
In the terminology of Kabbala: the fact that we are commanded to bring the choicest fruits from the choicest places in the Holy Land alludes to G‑d's wish that we express the highest, choicest lights in vessels. But the highest lights are infinite, and therefore cannot be contained (i.e. expressed) in vessels. How, then, is this possible? Only by evoking the power of G‑d's essence, which transcends the definitions of "finite" and "infinite", and for whom everything is possible.
This is alluded to in the phrase "…put it in a basket…the place that G‑d, your G‑d, will choose…." True free choice is possible only for G‑d's essence, for only G‑d Himself can do anything.
[Based on Sichot Kodesh 5720, pp. 403-4]
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