In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, this timeless wisdom on the importance of unity is beautifully encapsulated in the description of the Bikkurim ceremony, a practice from the era of the Temple. As the rainy winter gave way to the summer harvest, Jewish farmers would celebrate the year's bounty by offering their first fruits of the shiv’at haminim, or seven species of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates, to God.
In a festive atmosphere, they would carry their produce (either fresh or dried) to Jerusalem and ceremonially present them to the Kohanim. At this sacred, joyous moment, the farmer would recite a prayer, one of the few prayers formally written into the Torah, recalling the history of the Jewish people, tracing back to our earliest ancestors:
“Arami Oved Avi, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there in a small group, and he became there a great, multitudinous, populous nation…” (Deuteronomy 26:5)
The meaning of the opening phrase, "Arami Oved Avi," is ambiguous, lending itself to diverging directions of interpretations.
Some traditional commentators consider “oved” a verb, such that the phrase means: “an Aramean wished to destroy my forefather.” In this interpretation, adopted by the medieval French Biblical commentator Rashi and later also by the Maharal of Prague in his commentary on the Haggadah, the “Aramean” refers to Lavan’s attempts to stymie the development of the Jewish people already at its inception, not honoring his business agreements with Jacob, tricking Jacob into first marrying his daughter Leah instead of her sister, Rachel and promoting idolatry in his home.
The episode of Lavan is recalled by Jewish farmers living centuries later in order to celebrate the immortality of the Jewish people. Despite the attempts of all those who have tried to destroy us, from Lavan to Pharaoh in Egypt and all those who would follow, we give thanks to God for our people’s providential continuity, ensured by the stability of living in our land and being sustained by its bounty.
Exploring unity and conflict
Yet there is an alternative interpretation, suggested by the medieval Spanish Torah scholar, poet, and traveler Ibn Ezra and others, that “oved” is an adjective meaning wandering or nomadic, thus rendering the opening phrase as “My forefather [Yaakov] was a wandering Aramean." According to this reading, the backdrop of the farmer’s recounting of the servitude in Egypt is not the desire to destroy the Jewish people but Jacob’s experience of wandering. The instability of Jacob’s home, riddled with family strife among his children, becomes the direct cause for the descent to Egypt, paving the way for the Jewish people’s subjugation under Pharaoh’s rule.
Going with Ibn Ezra’s reading of the phrase, as the farmer recites these words over the Bikkurim basket of fruits and grains, what comes to mind are not external enemies but rather our own internal familial conflicts. Distrust, breakdowns in communication, and resentment towards our fellow Jews are the sins that led not only to our original exile to Egypt but also to the destruction of the second Temple and the exile that followed, which perpetuates today through our continued exile experience.
Recalling these familial conflicts during the Bikkurim ceremony, which celebrates the land's bounty's personal and national celebration, reminds us of the essential role of unity. For this reason, the Mishna (in Bikkurim 3:3) describes the leadership and citizens of Jerusalem warmly greeting the Bikkurim pilgrims as an essential part of the mitzvah itself. This emphasizes how God has brought us from being "wandering Arameans" to becoming a nation living in the promised land of Israel so that we can live in harmony, a challenge we still face today.
Especially as we approach the anniversary of October 7, marking a year since the massacre of nearly 1,200 in southern Israel and the capture of the hostages, the alarming infighting and disunity are disturbing. Our inability to bridge gaps, see the best in others, and make space for those with whom we fervently disagree is a threat to our morale and national security.
We must not forget that unity is one of our foundational goals and responsibilities. We must continually strive towards it! It is the only way to have bounty and blessings in our promised land.