Our parasha begins with the mitzva of bringing bikkurim (first fruits) to the Beit Hamikdash to present to Hashem amidst a festive declaration of gratitude for having received the Land that produced the fruit (Devarim 26:1-11).

We cannot fulfill, in our times, this mitzva, which thanks Hashem for the Exodus from Egypt after 210 difficult years, because we do not have the Beit Hamikdash. However, we are not exempt from looking for ways to thank Hashem for all of the good He does for us every day. We not only had an exile in Egypt but various other exiles, beginning with the Assyrian exile 2,700 years ago, which left the majority of Am Yisrael under foreign rulership. Many of the nations and/or religions that dominated us, including the Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and Christians, also controlled Eretz Yisrael in those times. The curse, which is also a blessing, is that during foreign control of Eretz Yisrael, the Land remained mainly desolate, as the Torah predicted (see Vayikra 26:32-33).

Although some thought it could not get worse than the Crusades or the Inquisition, we were subjected to a worse tragedy – the Holocaust of 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children, who were slaughtered without mercy. The stench of the crematoria of Aushwitz, Maidanek, and other centers of horror, still pervade the spirit of many.

“Like dust from ashes,” Am Yisrael was reawakened in its Land, where we built a glorious Jewish State. It did not happen in one day, but three years after the Holocaust, against all odds, David Ben Gurion declared the State’s establishment. Tzahal, with tremendous Divine Assistance, defeated the Arab armies, who simultaneously attacked the new state with the plan of destroying it. The War of Independence left us with more area than the Partition Plan envisioned, reaching from Eilat to Metula. While the financial situation was difficult, including food rationing, it was still appropriate to view the national breakthrough as reminiscent of Hashem extricating us from Mitzrayim (Egypt). “Mitzrayim” reminds us of the word “meitzar” (constricted area), as in the pasuk “From the meitzar I called out to Hashem” (Tehillim 118:5).

Since 1948, Hashem’s grace has enabled Israel to expand, including with livable borders through miracles 19 years later, fulfilling the end of the pasuk “Hashem answered me in a wide place” (ibid.). In the Yom Kippur War, Hashem showed how an almost conquered nation could counterattack and draw close to enemy capitals. Since then, Israel has continued to thrive, becoming a world leader in technology, medicine, and most certainly, Torah scholarship.

We have a great obligation to Hashem to do the following: 1. Thank Hashem for the unprecedented gift of the State of Israel (“Thank Hashem for He is good, as His kindness is eternal” (ibid. 1). 2. Unite, look for those things we share, and listen to what is on the minds and hearts of others. This requires everyone’s sacrifices, through willingness to give, not coercion. 3. Be willing to take responsibility in action for the nation’s needs, including security needs.

I humbly suggest that great Torah leaders call on the community that between Shavuot and Simchat Torah, the time of bringing bikkurim, everyone bring a bikkurim-like gift in Yerushalayim – a donation to the weak in society (see Devarim 26:11). This would be a partial spiritual fulfillment until we will be able to do the actual mitzva.