A Jewish farmer stands in the Beit HaMikdash holding a basket of fruit. But the story he tells doesn't begin with his field. It doesn't begin with the harvest. It doesn't even begin with him. It begins thousands of years earlier.

In this Torah study we ask, why does a Jewish farmer, standing in the Beit HaMikdash with the first fruits of his own hard work, tell a story that began thousands of years before he was born? What does it tell us about Jewish faith? What is the Torah wisdom?

Bikkurim appears to be a simple mitzvah of gratitude. But hidden within its few passukim is an extraordinary idea about Jewish history, Jewish values, Jewish philosophy, Judaism, human achievement and the way we understand our own lives.

This week’s parsha contains one of the Torah’s most remarkable ideas about gratitude, success and the story we tell ourselves about how we got here.

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Torah Wisdom: Why does the Torah sometimes tell us to remember, sometimes warn us not to forget, and occasionally command both?

The answer opens a fascinating window into the psychology of memory and profound Jewish teachings and Torah insight.

Some things must be remembered. Some things must never be forgotten. And they are not the same thing.

This Torah study shows that hidden inside the Torah’s language in this parsha, is a remarkable understanding of Judaism, jewish philosophy, how memory works, how identity is formed, and what can happen when the most important truths in our lives quietly disappear from consciousness.

What does the Torah fear we might forget?

And what happens to us if we do?

The answer may change the way we understand Jewish values, some of Judaism’s most familiar ideas, and perhaps the way we understand ourselves.

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For a Jewish person Elul can feel overwhelming. We look back at the year, see the same weaknesses, the same struggles and the same failures and wonder: what does HaShem actually expect from us?

Every Elul we start again. Through Torah wisdom we think about what needs to change, what we should be doing better, our Jewish values, our Judaism, and the person we ought to become.

In this Torah study, one passuk in Parsha Shoftim suggests that HaShem may be asking us for something rather different. And the clue lies in one Hebrew word thats meaning is very easily misunderstood.

As we approach the Yamim Noraim, perhaps we have been asking ourselves the wrong question. What if one of the biggest mistakes we make during Elul is trying too hard to become better?

Parshat Shoftim contains a deceptively simple instruction that takes us from Avraham Avinu to Ya’akov, from astrology to Har Sinai, and ultimately to a very different understanding of what HaShem actually wants from us.

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