Pisqa’ 301³⁰

1. “Then you should respond, saying” (Dt. 26:5). Here, response is mentioned (Dt. 26:5), and elsewhere, response is mentioned (Dt. 27:14). Just as the response mentioned elsewhere (Dt. 27:14) refers to a response in the sacral language,³¹ This term is commonly rendered as “Holy Tongue.” In most rabbinic contexts, as here, it refers to the scriptural texts that are recited aloud in the course of ritual exercises of speech. Cf. Pisqa’ 291.2. so, too, the response mentioned here (Dt. 26:5) must refer to a response in the sacral language.

footnotes: ³⁰ H:290-291;JN2:276-279. ³¹ Heb. leshon haqodesh.

On this basis they taught: In the olden days, whoever knew how to declaim³²n this case, the sense is to deliver a text aloud in leshon haqodesh from a written transcript such as a scriptural scroll. would declaim, and whoever did not know how to declaim— they would declaim for him. When people hesitated to bring the First-fruits [lest they expose their ignorance,]

whether one knows how [to declaim] or not, they shall declaim for him. ³³ They based this [innovation in the rite] on the verse: “Then you should respond” (Dt. 26:5)— Actually, response implies [prompting] from the mouths of others.

footnotes: ³² Heb: liqr’ot. I ³³ // M/Bik.3:7

2. “Saying³⁴ 301.2 closely parallels the text of the Passover Hagaddah. In general the Sifre version is briefer than that of the Haggadah, although it does as well contain some material that is absent from the Haggadah’s version. For details, see the critical apparatus of F:319, ls. 5ff. and M. Kasher, A Critical Edition of the Passover Haggadah, pp. 32-43. before HASHEM your God: an Aramaean [desired] to destroy my father” (Dt. 26:5).³⁵ This teaches that Father Jacob descended [from the Land] to Aram only on the condition that he be destroyed (li’abeid),³⁶ (“to be lost” or “to destroy”) is the textual hook that enables the midrashist to read the figure of Laban into the narrative of the declaration as the “Aramean” who “sought to destroy” Jacob. and that Laban, the Aramaean, be considered as if he had destroyed him (‘ybedo).

footnotes: ³⁴ Pisqa’ ³⁵ Cf. the translation of JPS: “My father was a fugitive Aramean” and the following note. ³⁶ The dual connotation of the root, ‘-b-d

“But he descended to Egypt” (Dt. 26:5)— this teaches that he did not [intend to] descend permanently, but only for temporary asylum.³⁷ Would you insist that he descended in order to seize the royal crown? The Teaching states: “Taking asylum there” (Dt. 26:5). Is it possible to say that he brought along a vast population? The Teaching states: “With a few men” (Dt. 26:5)— in accordance with what was said: “With seventy persons did your ancestors descend to Egypt” (Dt. 10:22).

footnotes: ³⁷ This passage, poorly attested in copies of Sifre, also not found in the Haggadah.

“And they grew there into a great people” (Dt. 26:5)— this teaches that Israel stood out there.

“And He saw our suffering” (Dt. 26:7)— for it is stated: “When you examine their birthing-stools, if it is a boy, then kill him” (Ex. 1:16).

“And our toil” (Dt. 26:7)— [toil is the waste of our fertility,] for it is stated: “Every son born shall be thrown into the river” (Ex. 1:22). {“But HASHEM took us out of Egypt . . . amidst powerful signs and prodigious wonders” (Dt. 26:8)—}³⁸

footnotes: ³⁸ Dt. 26:8 appears in the text of the Haggadah, but is lacking in versions of Sifre. I supply it here for intelligibility.

"great and mighty": as it is written (Shemoth 1:7) "And the children of Israel were fruitful and teemed and multiplied and became exceedingly strong, and the land was filled with them."

"and populous": as it is written (Ezekiel 16:7) "I made you as numerous as the plants of the field; you increased and grew, and you entered the prime, etc."

(Devarim, Ibid. 6) "And Egypt wrought evil unto us": as it is written (Shemoth 1:10) "Come, let us outsmart it, lest it become numerous, and it be, that if a war break out, etc."

"and they afflicted us": as it is written (Ibid. 11) "And they appointed taskmasters over it in order to afflict it with their toils, and they built treasure cities for Pharaoh."

"and they placed us under hard labor": as it is written (Ibid. 1:13-14) "And Egypt worked the children of Israel with (back-) breaking labor. And they embittered their lives with hard toil: with mortar, and with brick, and with all the labor of the field; all of the labor with which they worked them was (back-) breaking."

(Devarim, Ibid. 7) "And we cried out to the L-rd, the G-d of our fathers": as it is written (Shemoth 2:23) "And it was in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel moaned under the toil, and they cried out, etc."

"and the L-rd heard our voices": as it is written (Shemoth, Ibid. 24) "And G-d heard their outcry."

"And He saw our affliction": This refers to (enforced) separation from conjugal relations, as it is written (Shemoth, Ibid. 25) "… and G-d saw the children of Israel, and G-d knew (i.e., He "took it to heart.")

"and our toil": the children, viz. (Shemoth 1:22) "Every son that is born, into the Nile shall you throw him, and every daughter shall you keep alive."

"and our lachatz": This is oppression, viz. (Shemoth 3:9): "and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them."

(Devarim, Ibid. 8) "And the L-rd took us out": not through an angel, and not through a seraph, and not through a messenger, as it is written (Shemoth 12:12) "And I shall pass through the land of Egypt in this night, and I shall smite, etc.": "And I shall pass through the land of Egypt" — I, and not an angel. "and I shall smite every first-born" — I, and not a seraph. "and upon all the gods of Egypt I shall wreak judgments" — I, and not a messenger, "I am the L-rd."

(Devarim, Ibid.) "with a strong hand": This is the pestilence, as it is written (Shemoth 9:3) "Behold, the hand of the L-rd is in your cattle in the field … a very sore pestilence."

"and with an outstretched arm": This is the sword, as it is written (Joshua 5:13) "with his sword sh'lufah in his hand": ("sh'lufah" =) outstretched.

"and with great fear": This is revelation of the Shechinah, as it is written (Devarim 4:34) "Or has a god ever done miracles to come and take for himself a nation with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great fears, before your eyes?"

"and with signs": This is the staff, as it is written (Shemoth 4:17) "And this staff you shall take in your hand, wherewith you shall do the signs."

"and with wonders": This is the blood: as it is written (Joel 3:3) "And I will set wonders in heaven and earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke."

Variantly: "with a strong hand": two. "with an outstretched arm: two. "and with great fears": two. "and with signs": two. "and with wonders": two. These are the ten plagues that the Holy One Blessed be He brought upon the Egyptians.

R. Judah would create a mnemonic for them, pronouncing their initial letters [as an acrostic]: DaTZaK, ADaSH, B’AKHaB .³⁹ (see Jastrow, s.v.). The solution to the present example is: *Dam* (blood), *TZefardeia* (frogs), Kinim (lice),`Arov (wild beasts), Dever (cattle fever), SHekhin (boils), Barad (hail),‘Arbeh (locusts), KHoshek (darkness), Bechorot (death of the Firstlings).

footnotes: ³⁹ The acrostic, composed of the initial letters of lists of technical terms and the like, is a common mnemonic technique of scribal elites in the ancient Mesopotramian and Mediterranean world. In Rabbinic scholasticism, the acrostic is known by the Greek term, notariqon

3. “Then He brought us to this place” (Dt. 26:9)— this implies the Holy Abode. Or: is it [equally] possible to say that this implies the Land of Israel? When He says [in the same verse]: “And He gave to us this Land” (Dt. 26:9)— indeed, the topic here is the Land of Israel! What, then, does the Teaching convey by “Then He brought us to this place” (Dt. 26:9)? As a reward for our arrival at this place, [the Holy Abode], He has given us this Land.

“A Land dripping with milk and honey” (Dt. 26:9). Here we find the phrase, “a Land dripping with milk and honey” (Dt. 26:9); and elsewhere we find the phrase, “a Land dripping with milk and honey” (Ex. 13:5). Just as elsewhere, the phrase, “a Land dripping with milk and honey” (Ex. 13:5), refers to [the territory of] the five nations [i.e., Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites], so, too, here, the phrase, “a Land dripping with milk and honey” (Dt. 26:9), must refer to [the territory of] the five nations.

they do not bring First-fruits from Trans-Jordan, **for it does not drip with milk and honey!**⁴⁰ 299.2.

footnotes: ⁴⁰ //M. Bik.1:10. Cf. Pisqa’

4. {“And, now, indeed, I have brought” (Dt. 26:10).}⁴¹ “Now”—immediately.

footnotes: ⁴¹ The quotation of Dt. 26:10 does not appear in texts of Sifre. I’ve interpolated it within brackets for the sake of intelligibility.

“Indeed”—enthusiastically.

“I have brought”—from my own [soil].⁴²

footnotes: ⁴² Cf. Sifre Nu., 117, Sifre Nu. 119.

“The first and finest of all the fruit of the soil” (Dt. 26:10). On this basis they taught: A person may go down to his field and see an early-ripening fig, an early-ripening grape-cluster, or an early-ripening pomegranate, tie some reed-grass around it,

**These are indeed the First-fruits!**⁴³

footnotes: ⁴³ =M.Bik.3:1.

“Which you have given me, HASHEM” (Dt. 26:10). On this basis they taught: Administrators [of property], [Hebrew] slaves, **court-appointed messengers,**⁴⁴ women, **persons with ill-defined genitalia,**⁴⁵; “one whose sex is obscure.” **and those with both sets of genitalia,**⁴⁶ “androgyne.” This second group of three, because they are women or inconclusively male, are precluded by biological destiny from uttering the confession that includes acknowledgement of the Land as theirs. bring the First-fruits, but do not declaim—

“Which you have given me, HASHEM” (Dt. 26:10) ⁴⁷ [since their status prevents them from owning land].

footnotes: ⁴⁴ The first three listed are temporarily landless as a condition of fulfilling certain social roles and therefore cannot truthfully acknowledge the Land as theirs. ⁴⁵ Heb: tumtum ⁴⁶ Gr: ‘androgynos;” ⁴⁷ =M.Bik.1:5.

5. “And set it before HASHEM . . ., and prostrate yourself before HASHEM your God” (Dt. 26:10)— this teaches that settings should be performed twice— one at the time of the declamation, and one at the time of the prostration.

“And you shall rejoice” (Dt. 26:11)— with as many kinds of rejoicing as possible.

“In all the good” (Dt. 26:11)— this is by means of the song

[offerred as an expression of joy during the rite].⁴⁸ “Which HASHEM your God has bestowed upon your household” (Dt. 26:11)— this teaches that a person may bring the First-fruits from his wife’s property and then declaim [on her behalf].

footnotes: ⁴⁸ // M. Bik. 2:4. The “song” in question, according to M. Bik.3:4, appears to be Ps. 30.

“You, and the Levite, and the migrant who is in your midst.” (Dt. 26:11) On this basis they taught: Israelites of impaired lineage make the confession, but not proselytes, or freed [gentile] slaves [who have been naturalized as Israelites]. **for they have no [ancestral] share in the Land.**⁴⁹

footnotes: ⁴⁹ //M.MS.5:14.