asher lo yakim -- do things lishma!

1) Many meforshim talk about why the particular 11 arurim mentioned in the parsha are singled out more than any other aveiros.  You can find this idea in the Sefas Emes, but it really goes back to R' Bachyei: the gemara (Makos 24a) writes that David haMelech took all 613 mitzvos and boiled them down to 11 principles that are mentioned in Tehillim ch 15.  Not that you don't have to keep all 613 mitzvos -- what it means is that a m'eiyn of the level of dveikus that you can achieve by doing all 613 mitzvos can be captured by living these 11 principles (see Maharal in Ch Aggados).  The gemara at the beginning of Sukkah that daf yomi learners hopefully still remember tells us that the Shechina never came down lower than 10 tefachim, and no one ever went up more than 10 tefachim.  There is a boundary between shamayim and aretz.  David haMelech gives us 11 principles to live by, 1 more than 10, so we can break through that boundary.  11 spices are in the ketores -- same idea.  R' Bachyei writes that the 11 arurim are the flipside to these 11 principles.  I didn't try to do a one to one comparison to see how they line up, but it would be an interesting project.

The last one of the arurim on the list is אָר֗וּר אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹא־יָקִ֛ים אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י הַתּוֹרָֽה־הַזֹּ֖את לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אוֹתָ֑ם.  What does "asher lo yakim" mean?  If, for example, you don't fulfill the mitzvah of not eating neveilah, then you are over the lav of neveilah.  What does "asher lo yakim" add?  We've discussed the Ramban and Chasam Sofer on this in the past.  Abarbanel suggests that the pasuk is talking about someone who does fulfill everything, aleph through taf.  The problem is the motivation.  Sometimes a person does the mitzvos because that's the key to getting the kavod they need, maybe getting $$$, or getting the social recognition and prestige.  A person has to be "yakim," to fulfill the Torah, "...LA'ASOS OSAM," because he wants to do what Hashem told him to do, not as a means to some other end.  It very much sounds like the Abarbanel is bashing she'lo lishma here.  What about l’olam yaasok adam baTorah u’mitzvot af al pi shelo lishmah?  I assume Abarbanel would differentiate between degrees of she'lo lishma, but be that as it may, it is still a very striking statement.

2) We have earlier in the parsha by bringing bikurim  וּבָאתָ֙ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם.  Rashi comments אשר יהיה בימים ההם – אין לך אלא כהןא בימיך, כמות שהוא.  Ramban asks:  b'shlama in parshas shoftim where we are speaking about zakein mamrei, I understand why the Torah has to say וּבָאתָ֗ אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם וְאֶ֨ל־הַשֹּׁפֵ֔ט אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם meaning, as Rashi comments ואפילו אינו כשאר שופטים שהיו לפניו, because otherwise I might have thought that the mitzvah of listening to B"D only applies when the members of BD are talmidei chachamim of stature, but when they are not such brilliant leaders, maybe there is no problem taking issue with their psak, kah mashma lan that it doesn't work that way.   אין לך אלא שופט שבימיך - you have to listen to the B"D in your time even if they are not all Einsteins.  However, what's the hava amina to think that you would not have to bring bikurim to a kohen who is not on such a high level?  Does it take an Einstein to eat a basket of fruit?

R' Baruch Sorotzkin explains that the idea of bringing bikurim is that when you come in contact with a kohen who is oveid in beis ha'mikdash, it makes an impression.  Tos in Baba Basra (21) writes with respect to maaser sheni כדדרשי' בספרי למען תלמד ליראה וגו' גדול מעשר שני שמביא לידי תלמוד לפי שהיה עומד בירושלים עד שיאכל מעשר שני שלו והיה רואה שכולם עוסקים במלאכת שמים ובעבודה היה גם הוא מכוון ליראת שמים ועוסק בתורה: that when you spend time in Yerushalayim to eat maaser sheni and you witness the kohanim doing avodah and engaged in mileches shamayim, it brings you to greater yirah and great closeness to Torah.  You're not just a messenger to drop off a fruit basket.  One might have thought that this is well and good if the kohanim in your time are people from whom there is something to learn and something to gain from being in contact with, but let's be real -- not every kohen in history is like that.  Kah mashma lan Rashi that you still have to go and bring your bikurim to fulfill the mitzvah.

3) The Midrash writes that when Moshe foresaw that the mitzvah of bikurim would end, he instituted davening 3x a day (see this post, and here, here, and here).  The gemara in Brachos tells us that tefilah corresponds to the daily korbanos.  In other words, prayer, coming close to G-d, demands sacrifice.  According to another view, tefilah was instituted by the Avos.  In other words, we do it because it is part of our tradition, because our parents and grandparents prayed.  Our Midrash gives us a different perspective.   וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ -- the word "haya" is always an indicator of happiness and joy, as Ohr haChaim explains אמר והיה לשון שמחה, להעיר שאין לשמוח אלא בישיבת הארץ על דרך אומרו (תהלים קכ״ו) אז ימלא שחוק פינו.  ב .  Similarly, וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֣ בְכׇל־הַטּ֗וֹ the halacha is that אין קורין מקרא בכורים אלא בזמן שמחה, מעצרת ועד החג, שאדם מלקט תבואתו ופירותיו ויינו ושמנו you can only bring bikurim during the harvest months when the farmer has the most joy from seeing the fruits (no pun intended) of his labor.  When the farmer comes to the beis ha'mikdash with his bikurim, he is not coming with a sense of sacrifice, he is not coming because his parents and grandparents came, as this parsha is speaking וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ to the future generation that will be the first ones in Eretz Yisrael who can fulfill this mitzvah. The farmer is coming to express his joy.  That's what the takanah of tefilah is a substitute for -- the joy we lack because we don't have a beis ha'mikdash and we don't have bikurim.   "ר אין עומדין להתפלל לא מתוך עצבות ולא מתוך עצלות ולא מתוך שחוק ולא מתוך שיחה ולא מתוך קלות ראש ולא מתוך דברים בטלים אלא מתוך שמחה של מצוה (Brachos 31)  I would venture to guess that many people can relate to prayer as an act of sacrifice, a sacrifice of their time, their energy, it's yet another commitment to attend to, and many people can relate to prayer as a continuation of the legacy of the Avos, they think back to parents or grandparents, etc. but the challenge is to be able to come to tefilah with simcha, as an expression of simcha in avodas Hashem.