What Has Happened to Israel's Leadership

The plate of Simanim or signs on our Rosh Hashana table told a powerful story. The pomegranates and the dates did not only hint at blessings and desires they were calling out a clear message. Our generation has seen a miracle unfold before our eyes. A battered and struggling people came into the swamps and desolate valleys of this land and became the agents of its flowering.Those pomegranates and dates on our table were the results of their efforts and vision. Furthermore their pioneering efforts were imbued with miraculous and idealistic passion. Regardless of what they claimed to believe or not believe these early pioneers of Israel were active partners of Divine revelation. Yet only one or two generations later , the descendants of these same great pioneers became mired in self serving politics and small minded leadership. The great visionaries spawned heirs with no vision.

What Happened?

The ancient text  called the Sifri declared that " The Creation of the world occurred in the merit of the commandment of Bikkurim-First fruits." That statement is so powerful in its simplicity that it demands to be explored.

After a year of toiling, planting, watering, tending, and caring for the produce man has grown, he enters his field. He sees the first ripening fruit of one of the seven species and he ties a band over this fruit and declares "This is for Bikkurim (the ceremony of first fruits)" Later, when it ripens, he places it in a basket. These baskets were then brought to the Beit HaMikdash in a festive procession. In all parts of Israel they would gather in the middle of their towns in special gatherings called Maamadot. They awoke after spending the night in the open are when an appointed individual announced "Arise and let us go up to Zion and the house of our L-rd." The groups would then in a festive procession to Jerusalem singing, "I was happy when they said to me let us go to the house of the L-rd" (Psalms Ch 122). The procession included a bull to be used as a thanksgiving sacrifice, adorned with gold and a wreath of olive branches, with the whole procession led by the music of flutes. As they stood within the temple, the one offering the Bikkurim states to the priest in the Temple,"I proclaim this day to the L-rd thy G-d that I have come unto the land which the L-rd swore unto our fathers to give them." The person then declares the Vidui recanting the travails of the Israelites till they arrived in the land, settled it and now have succeeded in gathered in its fruits.

As the procession would walk through the streets of Jerusalem, all the workmen , laborers and scholars would stop what they are doing and stand in honor of these farmers bearing Bikkurim. The Torah commentator Bartenura raises an interesting question. According to another Jewish law, It is obligatory to stand in honor of a Torah scholar when he passes This is done not so much to honor the scholar as it is to honor the Torah that this " living torah scroll "represents. Yet that Jewish law continues that craftsmen do not have to stop their work to stand up for such a scholar as this would interrupt their work and livelihood. Such is not the case with the law regarding these farmers bringing the first fruits. "Why", asks the Bartenura, is that so?

The reason seems to be that these farmers, in this situation, during these festive times act as high priests. They are the tools of G-d's revelation within nature.This would be true anywhere in the world.Yet this is especially true in the land wherein Heaven touches the earth.In such a place the very fruits carry a Divine message. The return of G-d's Glory, symbolized by the fruits and blossoms of the land. When the prophet Ezekiel describes G-d's Glory leaving the Temple Mount (Ezekiel 11:23). , he is describing a people going into exile with the Glory of G-d going into exile with them . G-d’s Presence never left the Temple Mount but His Glory which neccessitates His people to reveal that aspect of His Presence ,did leave with those people.

Yet Ezekiel describes the return of the people from Exile in the following way; "But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home."(ibid 36:8 ) . Every fruit, every tree, every flower is a testament to G-d's promises. That then becomes the role of these simple farmers. They are the vessels through which G-d's Presence is revealed and glorified. That as the Sifri pointed out is in essence is the purpose of creation.

That helps explain what happened to the generations that followed the early pioneers of this newborn state. The visionaries who built this land were all farmers. It is difficult to be a farmer, especially in the land of Israel and not be imbued with a deep mystical sense of the inner harmony of this world. Whether they could or would have the insight to identify G-d in their passion, their passion was G-dly nonetheless.Ariel Sharon was such a farmer. That is what directed and moved his actions forward. Yet when Ariel Sharon stopped viewing his Syccamore Estates as a farm and started seeing it as expensive real estate ,he inevitably lost his way.

The children and grandchildren of the early pioneers ceased to be farmers and became obsessed less with how to make the land blossom and grow but rather with how to do that with their bank accounts. Without the experience of tilling the land, and without the anchor and compass of faith they   lost the Divine impetus of their mission in this land. As a result they falter and fail and will be replaced by the young men and women of vision who dot the hilltops of the Biblical land.

The fruit on our Rosh Hashana table did not only tell the story of what was but a was clear promise that the vision has not ended.