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There is a verse in our parsha (Ki Teitzei) that does not get much “playԅin a Torah portion that includes such weighty matters as the “captive woman” and how a Jewish warrior should wage war, the subject of picking olives sort of fades into the background. And yet, the Torah found it important enough to devote a verse to olive picking. It reads, “When you beat your olive tree, do not remove all of its best produce. Leave it for the convert, the orphan and the widow” (Deut. 24:20). You could ask all kinds of questions on this verse, but the most obvious one is, “why olive trees?” True, they are one of the seven species that characterize the land of Israel (the others are grapes, pomegranates, wheat, barley, dates and figs), but the only other fruit of Israel that receives special treatment, via extra verses, is grapes, since from grapes emerges wine, the most important of all liquids…
It could be argued that since oil emerges from olives, and olive oil is the highest quality oil, the Torah finds it important to devote a verse to olives. However, our verse is not about olives or olive oil, but about olive trees. Moreover, elsewhere the Torah does devote time to olive oil - in the section commanding us concerning the vessels of the mishkan (“tabernacle”), there are verses telling us about what kind of oil to use in the menorah. So, we’re back to the original question; why does the Torah find it necessary to devote a verse to “olive picking”?
By the way, for those of us who are agriculturally challenged, the pre-modern method of picking olives was not by going up on a ladder to literally “pick” the olives off the tree. No, that would be too inefficient. Instead, you “beat” the tree. By beating the tree, the ripe olives fall off and there is no need to climb the tree to remove them…which is why the verse says, “When you beat your olive treeŔ
Ultimately, every Torah expression must be understood in terms of our relationship with the One above. Every mitzvah, every story, is a “lesson” in how to connect to God. With that in mind, the Chassidic master, R’ Menachem Mendel of Rimanov (author of Ilana deChaya) suggests that the lesson that emerges from our verse is the following: “It is known that the holy Torah is eternal, and if so, we must understand what the Torah means with our verse. Now, we know that the benefit that derives from olives arrives later than the benefit that comes from other fruits, from which we derive enjoyment as soon as they ripen. The olive, though, demands much work before we derive any enjoyment from it, for after it ripens it is still hard and bitter, until we “sweeten” it so that we may enjoy its benefits (literally, “its light and illumination”).”
R’ Menachem Mendel goes on to trace out the lesson in terms of our avoda – our path of connection with God. He says that it is difficult to begin this path, difficult to maintain it, and time-consuming to cultivate. And therefore, those who want to develop a path of meditation, Torah study and prayer that culminates in “speaking directly” with God, face a long and difficult process in front of them. Nevertheless, we should accept this challenge with love, and it should be “sweet in our eyes, until we merit to speak [with God] using the appropriate words. As the dove [from Noach’s ark] said, ‘Let my sustenance be as bitter as the olive in your hand.’ And that is why our path of connection with God is compared to an olive – it commences with difficulty, but culminates with illumination.”
Now, continues the Ilana deChaya, it is necessary to guard and protect whatever spiritual achievements we do manage to accomplish after much work of prayer, meditation and study. And the most dangerous pitfall that awaits us after we have achieved something in this field is: pride. After rectifying our souls and our bodies, we must protect ourselves from ego, which has the potential to totally uproot all of our spiritual achievements. And even though the One above does not withhold the reward for whatever we have achieved, He may transfer that reward to someone who has served Him better, with more modesty and less ego. In the realm of the spirit, it is possible for one who has served God with a lesser level of effort and success to “take” the reward of another person who has served God longer and with more success, just because he is more modest and has less pride. And that is why the verse says, “When you have beaten your olive tree [and your body], and rectified them so that you are on a level that you are capable of pouring out your heart and pleading before God, then make sure that you do not “remove all of the best produce.” That is, do not develop pride over your spiritual achievements, for if you do, then He will transfer the reward to the “convert, the orphan and the widow,” alluding to those with a lowly spirit, who may take your portion (spiritual reward).
Thus, the Chassidic master, R’ Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, author of Ilana deChaya, interprets this verse about olive picking from our Torah portion. It may not be one of the “heavier” topics of the parsha, but it certainly addresses the most important thing that a Jew deals with during his lifetime – how to get closer to the One above. And in this manner he shows us that no aspect of the Torah is devoid of meaning – we have only to delve deeper into the verse in order to apply it to ourselves!