Timeless Torah

“Poverty pursues the poor,” is how the Talmud renders the truism, "The rich get richer while the poor get poorer."
What prompted our Sages to make this observation? The opening passage of this week's Biblical portion that outlines the laws of the first fruits: that the Israelite farmers were obligated to bring to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem as a gift to the kohen (priest).
There the Torah instructs: “You shall take from the first of all the fruits of the land...and place them in a basket. And you shall journey to the place that G-d your L-rd shall choose...And the kohen shall take the basket from your hands, and place it next to the altar of G-d.”
From the fact that the Torah utilizes the phrase basket, our Rabbis deduce that the fruits must be given in a container. The fruit was of course eaten by the kohanim (priests). But why mention the basket?
Therefore we are informed that while the rich would bring their offering in baskets of silver and of gold and have the utensils returned; the poor would bring their gifts in wicker baskets woven of dried willow, and both the baskets and the fruits remained with the priest.
Thus, the Talmud concludes, the pauper was further impoverished as his humble straw basket became an irretrievable part of his gift. “Unfair!” you claim. “Why should the rich once again benefit from their wealth even at the hands of G-d?"”
The halachic principle that explains this law concerns the concept of - bittul - nullification. Bittul means that an object whose function is wholly subservient to something else is not defined as an entity in its own right but as an accessory of the object it serves.
One application of this idea is Shabbat. While it is forbidden to carry an object outdoors on Shabbat, one is held liable only when the object is of a quantity that makes it a thing of value (e.g. a piece of string must be long enough to tie a handle on a sack, a piece of paper must be large enough for an initialed receipt, etc.).
Food less than the size of a dried fig is not considered a thing of value. Furthermore, even if this food is carried out in a container - an object of value - the container is nullified in relation to the food, since its entire function is to hold and preserve it.
Thus, we have an interesting halachic paradox: a person carrying an empty container would be penalized. But the same container, when holding an insignificant amount of food, becomes itself valueless and would not warrant any liability.
This explains why the rich retained ownership of their baskets while the poor had to relinquish theirs. A simple straw basket is nullified in its subservience to the fruit it contains; it therefore becomes part and parcel of the gift. A basket of gold, however, which retains a value of its own, remains distinct and separate from the fruit.
All this is pertinent for the farmer and his fruit. But what about G-d’s fruits which symbolically represent the vast multitude of His creatures? More specifically, what are His first and choicest fruits? This is the Jewish soul, the primary focus of His creation. As the prophet states, “Holy is Israel to G-d, the first of His harvest.”
If the soul is the fruit, the material body must be the basket, the physical container which channels the soul’s potentials into the achievements of physical life. But it is for us to define the relationship between our soul and body, between our divine essence and its material vessel.
We can opt for a materially rich life, in which the enhancement of the basket overshadows the fruit. The soul may still pursue spiritual gain, attaining a place next to the altar of G-d; but the material aspect of self will be left behind. But having failed to nullify the container to G-d's first fruit, the body remains distinct of the soul it serves.
On the other hand, we can strive to achieve a state of subservience: A state in which the material self is an egoless accessory to the soul. And when such is the case, the body is no longer defined by its physicality and its limitations. It becomes part and parcel of the soul's mission on earth and is wholly elevated alongside the fruit at the altar of G-d.