The altar of HaShem, your G-d

(Deuteronomy 26:4)
Elul 20, 5776/September 23, 2016

"And it will be, when you come into the land which HaShem, your G-d, gives you for an inheritance, and you possess it and settle in it, that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you will bring from your land, which HaShem, your G-d, is giving you. And you shall put them into a basket and go to the place which HaShem, your G-d, will choose to have His Name dwell there. And you shall come to the kohen who will be serving in those days, and say to him, 'I declare this day to HaShem, your G-d, that I have come to the land which the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us.' And the kohen will take the basket from your hand, laying it before the altar of HaShem, your G-d." (Deuteronomy 26:1-4)

As we read these opening words of parashat Ki Tavo we are filled with the excitement, the anticipation, the intense joy being described by Torah: our long, arduous journey is over; we have entered the land promised us by G-d, and G-d is directing us to the very place most dear to Him, the place of the great stone altar.

The bringing of the first-fruits to the Holy Temple takes place each year beginning with the late spring festival of Shavuot and continues throughout the autumn festival ofSukkot, and, historically, was not the first thing Israel was directed to do upon entering the land. But nevertheless, as the verses above suggest, and as the long narrative the bringer of the first-fruits is commanded to recite while standing alongside the altar makes clear, the first-fruits offering is intended to celebrate and thank G-d for His abundant love and kindness in leading His people Israel into the land He promised our fathers.

The great Jewish sage Maimonides, in his book, The Laws of the Chosen House, describes the altar that stood in the innermost courtyard of the Holy Temple, as standing in "the most precise location - mekomo mekuvan b'yoter." Maimonides is teaching us that when we rebuild the Holy Temple we must be certain to place the altar upon the exact same spot it was located in former times. Its precise location is essential. But why?

If we examine the word used by Maimonides meaning "precise," we can gain insight into this question. The Hebrew word mekuvan, which we translate as "precise," is simply a form of the word "kivun," which means direction. That is, the altar need be placed in the most "directed" or precise location. But the word mekuvan is also related to the wordkavannah, which means to direct oneself mentally, or to intend. As an example, we are told to pray with great kavannah, with great focus and intention, so that our prayers will arrive at the place where they can be heard. In this manner we can understand Maimonides' description of the location of the altar as being in the place most intended, or willed, by G-d. In truth, any location, as with any other phenomena in G-d's created world, is an expression of G-d's will. G-d willed the world into being, as described in the book of Genesis, and the place in creation most intended by G-d, most reflective of and most redolent and filled with the will of G-d, is the place in which stands the Temple altar.

Immediately after receiving the Ten Commandments at Sinai, Israel, in the book of Exodus, is told "An altar of earth you shall make for Me." (Exodus 20:21) This earthen altar stands in the very place where G-d first formed Man, and is made from the very earth from which Man was formed. The Temple altar is the heart and the lungs of man, for it was here that G-d breathed life into Adam and transformed lifeless dust into a living being. It was here that Adam first defied G-d's will and ate from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, it was here that G-d sought Adam and called out "Where are you?"(Genesis 3:9) and it was here that, twenty generations later, Avraham totally and completely subjugated his will to G-d's will, and bound his son Yitzchak upon the altar. The place of the Temple altar is THE most precise location on earth, the most intended location by G-d, the greatest and most manifest point of G-d's will on earth, because it is the place where He fulfilled and completed His creative intention by creating man, the ultimate object of G-d's love.

The place of the altar is the 'sweet spot' of creation, the spot most dear to G-d. When the pilgrim brings his first-fruits to the altar and stands before the kohen, he is acknowledging with every fiber of his being, every grain of the dust from which he was created, G-d's presence in his life. In this place G-d expressed His love for man and in this place man pronounces his love for G-d. The Song of Songs most perfectly describes the innermost message of the first-fruits offering; "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." (Song of Songs 6:3).

-The Temple Institute