Where the Seed is Sown

The Torah commands that the “first fruits” be brought to Jerusalem.   * This provides for religious expression of thankfulness to Elokim. Those that do this are able to “experience” what it means to be grateful. Thus, the “Garden” is where seed is sown and also where produce is harvested. For the “joy” of your own soul, ponder this concept. “For all those that have willing hearts;” ( a portion of what is given to Bet Ami is sent to the Land to fulfill this first fruits concept. )

Look and learn:

The Hebrew term used for the first fruits is “Reishit.”   This is similar to the word Bereishit meaning "in beginning” in Genesis, the first book of Torah. Genesis is the book where everything but the LORD began.

The beginning of any venture has its own uniqueness, a special quality. Torah itself is “reishit” (first) as are the people of the “Lord’s Israel” who follow it. All of those that are called “rashit” and call upon the LORD, have uniqueness to them and are therefore linked with those around them who call upon the Name of the LORD.   

But there is, however the other side of the coin, something else that is called reishit and to this application, is somewhat confusing.

And when he (Balaam) prophesied about Amalek, he took up his discourse, and said, "Amalek ( one of Esau’s sons) was the first (reshit) of the nations, but his latter end shall be that of everlasting condemnation." (Numbers 24:20) How can Amalek, the very opposite of Torah and Israel, deserve the same distinct depiction as reshit? This observation that Amalek, too, is called Reishit links two sections of the Torah which otherwise seem thematically independent. From an earlier Torah portion: Remember what Amalek did to you by the way, when you came forth out of Egypt. How he met you by the way, and struck at your rear, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around, in the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance to possess, that you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget it. (Deut. 25:17-19)

And it shall be, when you come in to the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and live in it. That you shall take of the “first” of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that the Lord your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the Lord your God shall choose to place his name there. (Deut. 26:1-2)

The association of the teachings leads us to conclude that there must be a deeper relationship between the first fruits (gratefulness) and Amalek (self-centeredness) the "first nation."

A Sage comments:

The characteristic of the nation of Amalek is its worldview that God does not exist and all of life is all just coincidence. Amalek pollutes the world, and is the source of unnatural or illegitimate pleasure. After the splitting of the sea awed the nations, only Amalek was not afraid of Elokim. The people of Israel were compared to a boiling cauldron, and Amalek jumped into the cauldron to cool them off. * Amalek will try to cool off your love for the LORD and take away “the fear of the LORD” in you. Why? So you loose your wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10)

A Rabbi said: "It is written, Amalek is the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish forever. Was  Amalek really the first of the nations? Were there not many tribes, nations, and peoples in the world before Amalek came? Amalek was the first nation who feared not to proclaim war against Israel, as it says, and he feared not God; In fact, apart from Amalek there was no nation that was not awestruck before the mighty works of the Holy One, blessed be His holy Name. Therefore his latter end shall be that he perish for ever." (Zohar, Exodus 65a) While the Torah and all of those who are the Israel of God represent one type of Reishit, Amalek represents the opposite, a completely different type of beginning. The Torah and Israel are a manifestation of God's will - holiness on earth. Amalek represents the opposite, the rejection of God, and a world view of coincidence, a pact with impurity and a desire to attack all that is holy.

The result:   A physical and a spiritual battle remains in everyone that repents and turns to the LORD. The Bikkurim / the first fruits - have a quality to them which allow the defeat of Amalek’s philosophy. The individual who sees his life as the work of God, and demonstrates proper thanksgiving, rejects the worldview of “coincidence.”