In this week’s Torah portion, entitled Ki Tavo, which translates into “when you enter the land,” Moses instructs the Israelites regarding the law of bikurim, the bringing of the first fruits.  Moses states that when the Israelites enter the Land of Israel and settle it, they are to bring the first fruits as sacrifices of thanksgiving to God.  As part of the ceremony, the priest recites a history of the Israelites – Abraham and Jacob’s wanderings, the slavery in Egypt, and the possession of the Land of Israel.

The first fruits are brought after the Israelites have settled the land and actually have fruits to offer.  Moses is telling the Israelites about a ceremony that will take place in the future.  When these words are spoken, the Israelites are on the other side of the Jordan River, hoping and waiting to take the next step in building the land and taking the next step in becoming a people that live in their own land.  Moses also provides the wording for the ceremony.  The wording for the ceremony describes the history of the Israelites.  The  history and experiences that have lead them to this miraculous opportunity to be able to offer the first fruits that were grown and harvested in the land of Israel to God.

This ceremony, that will take place in the future, celebrates that the Israelites are living in and cultivating the land of Israel at that time and for generations to come  The language of the ceremony places the Israelites past and path at its center.  This is an essential step in going forward for the Israelites as they take their next step in settling the land and continuing to become a people.  This is also true with us as individual people, as a Jewish community and as Americans.   In order to know where we are going, we need to know from where we have come. Then we have to let that become part of how we move forward.