Don’t Be a Basket Case!
Words serve a purpose. Nothing in the Torah is superfluous. So when I notice the repeated use of a word that tells me something seemingly unnecessary, I take that as a challenge to find the deeper meaning. The Torah portion, Ki Tavo, starts by describing the laws of bikkurim, which are the procedures for bringing the first fruits to the Priests in the Temple. But the description seems superfluous. We are commanded to place our fruits into a “basket,” and then we are…