DEUT1483 See [[DEUT1689]] Deuteronomy 32:15 forsook SINAI2 72-3

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DEUT1484 The Mishnah (Bikkurim iii) which glowingly records the joyous procession of those bringing the first-fruits between Shavuot and Sukkot into the Temple where they recited the prayer of gratitude (Deuteronomy xxvi. 1-11), stipulates that if the first-fruits were tardily brought after the termination of Sukkot, no such recitation was allowed. Why? One should not wait for the last moment before discharging dues. Man must give according to his means, not according to his meanness. The classic Biblical example of such meanness in giving is to be found in the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis iv. 1-15). There we are told that Cain brought some "fruit of the ground as an offering unto the Lord", but Abel "brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof". (Genesis iv. 3-4). "The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and his offering, He had not respect". (Genesis iv. 4-5). Had mankind learned the moral of this story from the beginning, it would have been spared much suffering. It would seem, however, that though man is gradually making the earth yield its secret weapons of destruction, such as the atomic and hydrogen bomb, he has not yet learned the elementary truths of the sanctity of life and the need for kindliness. Mankind has climbed the mountains of scientific discoveries but its soul it has left in the valley below. For it spends most of its energies in acquiring goods but not the good. When will mankind learn that there are no pockets in the shrouds in which we are clothed when our eyes are closed?

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DEUT1485 To speak of a realistic and practical approach to God may seem to the uninitiated to use wrong terms when applied to the eternal verities of life. Yet realism and tangibility are not associated only with those things which can be touched or handled. Judaism has one grand purpose: to extract from life the beauty inherent in all things created by God. (Hence the blessings to be recited on all occasions.) To do so, it has pictured the world not as a torture chamber, in which our food is mixed with tears and our blessings with delusion; but as a field made glorious by opportunities ever before us, or by misery and pain which prove often the gateways to a better life. "That thou mayest live and rejoice with all the good things that God has given thee" [this verse] is the incentive behind many a command made by the Torah.

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DEUT1486 See [[DEUT696]] Deuteronomy 14:29 eat TELVOL2 200-1

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DEUT1487 See [[LEV316]] Leviticus 19:9 gleanings OXFORD 345-6

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DEUT1488 Declare having properly separated and given the required tithes. Man is the most sublime creation on earth, and the feature that most clearly sets him apart from animals is his power of speech. By virtue of this God given power, it is obvious that compared to animals, mankind lives on an entirely different plane of existence. Owing to the sublime nature of the power of speech, we find many people who take great pains regarding every word that they say, while they are not so concerned about their sinful actions. Compared to their concern over what they do, they are more concerned about what they say, lest they blemish this holy faculty. Separating tithes is a very important matter in its own right, but its importance is magnified because Levites and Kohanim, Hashem’s servants in the Beis HaMikdash, depend upon tithes for their livelihood. Accordingly, Hashem wants the Jewish nation to take special care to separate tithes properly. He wants us to take no personal benefit from them and give them as required. For these reasons He commands us to come to the Beis HaMikdash and verbally declared before Him that we have allocated the tithes properly and that no produce intended for the Levites or Kohanim was mishandled or remains in our possession. Requiring this verbal declaration ensures that we do everything that we must regarding the tithes, for who is not afraid of uttering a lie in the Beis Hamikdash?

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DEUT1489 Do not eat of the second tithe or of any other hallowed food when a close relative has died and is not yet buried. When a Jew eats of the second tithe, which has to be consumed in Jerusalem, or when he eats of any other hallowed meat or food, it is as if he partakes of food from the table of Hashem. At a time when a person is stricken with grief over the death of a loved one, it is inappropriate for him to approach the table of the King. In addition, the eating of the meat of an offering contributes to the atonement of the person who brought the offering. Without question, those who brought offerings would eat meat with this thought in mind, with reverence and devotion, hoping that by so doing, they would draw closer to Hashem. When someone is shrouded in grief, or is worried, unsettled and fearful, his mind is not capable of such thoughts of holiness. At such a time, therefore, it is not fitting for him to eat from the meat of an offering.

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DEUT1490 R. Huna b. R. Acha said: Come and see how great is the power of the doers of a mitzvah, for all instances of "Look down" [in Scripture] augur curses and this one augurs blessings; and, what is more, it is followed by (verse 16): "This day" [for the materialization of the blessing] (Yerushalmi Ma'aser Sheni 5:5)

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DEUT1491 See [[DEUT370]] Deuteronomy 8:6 ways MORINIS 56-57 and 289-90

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DEUT1492 [Among the fundamentals of repentance]: (13) The regarding of the lesser transgressions as severe ones, such as gazing at women or over-engaging in conversation with them, idle talk, idling, or mentioning God's name in vain. All of these and many others like these, which are considered minor in the eyes of many – even in the eyes of the great men of this generation--all of these should be regarded by the penitent as extremely severe, for four reasons: First, one should consider not the smallness of the transgression, but the greatness of Him who warned against it. This is an analogous to a king's commanding two of his subjects – – one to bring him something to drink to slake his great thirst, and the other to do something that he is not greatly in need of, exhorting each one upon his life to fulfill his respective task. It goes without saying that either of them who transgressed would incur the death penalty – – the stealer of one dinar being hanged just as one who has stolen a thousand dinars, each one having transgressed the king's command. So, in respect to all of the Torah, we have been commanded [this verse]: "Observe all the mitzvah that I command you today," and (ibid:26): "Cursed is he who does not fulfill the words of this Torah to do them." Second, if one commits a minor transgression many times it comes to be regarded as major, the punishment accumulating for each violation. Third, when one is accustomed to certain transgressions, he comes to see them as permissible and does not guard against them, then he comes to be numbered among those who cast from themselves the yoke of Heaven and are considered apostates in a particular respect. Fourth, it is the way of the evil inclination that if it is victorious in a minor matter, it will likewise be victorious in a grave one. Our Sages have, therefore, said (Avos 2:1): "Be as hateful of a lesser mitzvah as of a greater one," and (ibid.4:2): "For a mitzvah draws a mitzvah in its wake, and a transgression draws a transgression."

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