Comentario sobre Deuteronómio 26:3

אשר יהיה בימים ההם [AND THOU SHALT GO UNTO THE PRIEST] THAT SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS — These apparently redundant words suggest: you have none else than the priest who lives in your days (you are only concerned with him) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 298:3; Rosh Hashanah 25b; see also Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:9).

AND THOU SHALT COME UNTO THE PRIEST THAT SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS — to the priest that shall be there in those days, for first-fruits, like all offerings, are given to the men of the [priestly] Division [who are assigned to the Sanctuary for a week at a time],¹⁰See Vol. IV, p. 17, Note 92. but he may not bring along a priest from his city in order to offer him his first-fruits.
Now, Rashi wrote: “You have none else than the priest who lives in your days as he is.” But I have not understood this, for in the case of an elder [of the Sanhedrin] it is proper to say [and thou shalt come …] unto the judge that shall be in those days,¹¹Above, 17:9. meaning that even though he is not as great and wise as the early judges in the ages which were before us,¹²Ecclesiastes 1:10. still he [the elder] is obligated to hearken to him [the judge], for “Jephtah in his generation is as Samuel in his generation.”¹³Rosh Hashanah 25b. The prophet Samuel is cited by Scripture as being equal to Moses and Aaron (Psalms 99:6). Elsewhere Jephthah is mentioned together with Samuel (I Samuel 12:11), thus teaching us that Jephthah in his generation was entitled to obedience just as was Samuel in his generation. But when bringing first-fruits, to whom shall he bring them if not to the priest that shall be in his days? Now, I have also seen the following text in the Sifre:⁵Sifre, Ki Thavo 298. “And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days. This is what Rabbi Yosei the Galilean says, And would it occur to you to come to the priest that is not in your days? Rather, [I must say that the verse requires one to come to] the priest who is considered by you to be established and fit in those days. Kinsmen who have ceased to be kinsmen are qualified.¹⁴This statement will be explained further on by Ramban as applying to a judge who was disqualified from rendering judgment involving a member of his family. This stricture does not apply to the bringing of first-fruits to a kindred priest who is ministering in the Sanctuary. And so it is also said, Say not thou: ‘How was it that the former days were better than these?’ ”¹⁵Ecclesiastes 7:10. The word days thus refers to “the judges of the former days.” Do not say that the judges of the former generations were better than those of the present, and therefore I would not listen to them. Instead you are to listen to them, for you are only concerned with them (Maharsha, Rosh Hashanah 25b). It appears that the Sages interpreted in this connection that if one brought first-fruits or a burnt-offering to a priest who was presumed to be qualified and afterwards it was discovered that he was the son of a divorced woman, [a defiled priest not entitled to perform the Divine Service, nor to receive the priestly gifts] the offerings are nevertheless valid, as is mentioned in the last chapter¹⁶In our text of the Gemara it is found in the third chapter of Kiddushin 66b. The tractate contains four chapters. of Tractate Kiddushin. Also included in this principle is [the rule] that a kinsman who has ceased to be a kinsman is qualified, this applying to an elder who may not be judged by a relative,¹⁷But if he ceased to be his kinsman — for example, a son-in-law [of the elder] whose wife died — he becomes qualified to judge. but it is not relevant to first-fruits.

אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם, even if the priest in the particular generation may not be outstanding in wisdom, you must not therefore treat with less respect than his position warrants. This is why the Torah added the seemingly superfluous words לה' אלוקיך, words usually only used when addressing men of outstanding caliber such as kings and prophets. [If I understand correctly, the author mans that only high ranking people need to be reminded by implication that there is a higher authority than they themselves. Hence the addition of the words לה' אלוקיך after the word הגדתי. Ed.] At any rate, the idea is that seeing that the priest receives the bikkurim on behalf of G’d, it is as if G’d’s agent is addressed by the title reserved for his Master.

אשר נשבע ה׳ לאבותינו, "which the Lord swore to our forefathers to give to us." The wording of this verse excludes this passage being recited by proselytes. He is obligated to bring the offering but cannot recite a line which would make a liar out of him (compare Bikkurim chapter 1).

אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם, “to the priest who is on duty during the years in question.” Rashi explains the verse as a reminder that only the officially ordained religious authority in each generation is authorized to hand down rulings, -on the basis of Torah laws, of course- and that one must not rely on rulings made at different times in different circumstances. (Compare Rosh Hashanah 25.) Nachmanides questions that if the Torah had written that “you shall come to the elder who is the wisest in his time,” this would be easy to understand, as the message would be that seeing that not every generation produces brilliant men, there is no choice but to turn to the relatively most learned man, instead of relying on decisions by sages who had lived in different countries, in different conditions. But, when it comes to performing duties in the Temple, why would the Torah have to mention that the first ripe fruit have to be brought to the priest performing his duties at that time, surely the fruit could not be presented to priests who had already died? If the Torah were speaking of חוקים, statutes, not given to interpretation, a reminder that one must go to the priest of one’s own generation would also make sense, the Torah agreeing that we must abide by the present authority’s decision even if these priests, sages, are known to be less learned than their predecessors. So what is the true meaning of what Moses has said here? It means that they have to be given to the roster of priests on duty at the time when the farmer arrives with his gifts, he cannot wait to hand it over until the roster changes in the week following. Neither is the farmer allowed to bring a local priest from his neighborhood with him to Jerusalem in order to ensure that that particular priest is the recipient of his gifts. According to Kiddushin 66, the meaning is that even if it turns out in retrospect that the presiding priest at the time was disqualified from receiving these gifts, as he was the son of a forbidden marriage, the ritual is not declared invalid retroactively.

That you are not ungrateful. Otherwise, why mention this? Does not the Holy One already know that he arrived to the Land? כפוי [to turn the good upside down and ignore it] is derived from the expression הכפשני באפר, “He turned me upside down in the ground” (Eicha 3:16).

V. 3. וכי עלתה על דעתך שתלך אצל ,ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם כהן שלא יהיה בימיך אלא כהן שהוא כשר וכה׳׳א אל תאמר מה היה שהימים הראשונים (ספרי) היו טובים מאלה. Der Beisatz אשר יהיה בימים ההם soll nach dem ספרי lehren, dass die im Vergleich mit früheren Zeiten etwa geringere Würdigkeit der Priester uns nicht abhalten soll, zu ihnen mit unsern ביכורים im Heiligtum hinzutreten, sobald sie nur כשר, sobald sie nur den gesetzlichen Anforderungen entsprechen. Nicht die individuelle Persönlichkeit des Priesters ist es, die wir in Gottes Gesetzesheiligtum aufzusuchen haben, sondern in seinem symbolischen Charakter als Vertreter und Diener dieses Heiligtums, der ihm von Gott mit seiner Geburt bestimmt und dessen er nicht durch Pflichtwidrigkeit unwürdig geworden, suchen wir ihn auf, um ihm als solchem, als dem Vertreter des Gesetzesheiligtums Gottes in unserer Gegenwart, die Erstlinge unseres Ackers und Feldes zu überbringen. Soll doch, nach der sogleich folgenden Erklärung, durch die ביכורים eine jede, auch die späteste Gegenwart, mit der fernsten Urvergangenheit unserer Nationalität und dem Ursprunge unserer nationalen Bestimmung in Verbindung treten. Je weniger etwa eine Gegenwart den idealen Anforderungen dieser Bestimmung entspräche, und jemehr dieser Abstand auch durch die Persönlichkeit der כהנים einer solchen Gegenwart zum Bewusstsein käme, um so wichtiger dürfte die ביכורים-Übergabe an sie mit den begleitenden, erklärenden und bekennenden Worten sein, auf dass der כהן nicht minder als der Bringende an die geschichtliche Vergangenheit, auf welcher eine jede Gegenwart steht und aus welcher sie ihre Aufgabe zu schöpfen hat, dadurch gemahnt werde und beide voll zu beherzigen lerne. So dürfte hier der Beisatz: אשר יהיה בימים ההם noch in vollerem Maße, als der ähnliche beim Richter (Kap. 17, 9) seine bedeutungsvolle Berechtigung haben.

אשר יהיה בימים ההם, “who will be on duty during those days; he is not to wait until a relative of his who happens to be a priest is on duty and to give it to him.

ואמרת אליו AND SAY UNTO HIM that you are not ungrateful (Sifrei Devarim 299:1).

הגדתי היום, equivalent to “I have made a public acknowledgment of the great works of the Lord today.” We find similar phrasing in Samuel II 19,7 when Yoav accuses David of having insulted all his ministers and generals by grieving over the death of his rebellious son instead of appreciating the loyalty of his followers who had saved his life under most difficult circumstances. The words there are: כי הגדת היום כי אין לך שרים ועבדים, “(by your excessive grieving) you have made clear that you do not consider that you have any loyal followers.”

Once each year, etc. Meaning that if he had more than one species of fruit, and one species ripened faster than the second, and he brings the first one to Jerusalem and says the readings, and then when the second species matures he brings it too, he does not say a reading a second time. Rashi's proof is that it is written “today,” which implies a restriction; otherwise, why write “today”?

HIGAD’TI’ (I PROFESS) THIS DAY. “Through this fruit which I have brought I profess and give thanks to the Eternal your G-d Who brought me into the Land which He swore unto our fathers to give us. Thus G-d fulfilled His words, and I give thanks and praise to His Name.” The meaning of the word higad’ti is like “I have told.” So also ‘vayageid Mosheh’ (and Moses told) the words of the people unto the Eternal,¹⁸Exodus 19:9. — The difficulty in the verse here is the word higad’ti which is in the past, when he has not made yet his declaration. Therefore Ramban writes that the very act of bringing the first-fruits into the Sanctuary Court constitutes a form of professing the omnipotence of G-d and an expression of thanksgiving to Him. In this sense the form of the word higad’ti is properly in the past, since the act of bringing the first-fruits has formed the way of communicating these thoughts. Such a usage is seen in the verse vayegeid Mosheh, which means that Moses “communicated” the words of the people to the Eternal. which means communicating. Or the interpretation thereof may be as follows: “I declare to you, O priest, and to all who stand by, and this declaration is unto the Eternal thy G-d, that is to say, to His Name, that I am come into the Land which He swore unto our fathers, for it is He Who brought me [near] to Him to serve Him in the Land.”

הגדתי היום וגו׳. Vergl. והגדתי לו כי שפט אני (Sam. I. 3, 13), הגדת היום כי אין לך שרים (Sam. II. 19, 7), wo הגיד etwas nicht durch Worte, sondern durch Handlungen an den Tag legen, das buchstäbliche הגיד vom נגד, etwas vor die Augen stellen bedeutet. So auch hier: durch das Hinaufbringen der ersten Früchte von meinem Felde habe ich es dargetan (siehe Bikurim 1, 7 תוי׳׳ט daselbst).

הגדתי היום, “I profess this day, etc.;” I give thanks today for having been privileged to come to this country [or to have been born in it] the land that Lord your G-d had sworn to your forefathers to become ours. He has kept His promise, and I have received my share of it. Now it is my turn to tender a gift from its produce in order to demonstrate that it is He Who has given it to our people.”

הגדתי היום I PROFESS THIS DAY — [the expression "this day" implies that the declaration is made] one once a year, but not twice a year [even when bringing from a different fruit or crop] (Sifrei Devarim 299:2).

כי באתי אל הארץ, that I have come to this land from another country אשר נשבע ה' לאבותינו לתת לנו, as when G’d had said in Genesis 17,8 “I gave this land to you and to your descendants after you.” Seeing that G’d had sworn this oath at the time, I consider myself though apparently an outsider, a stranger, as if I am a permanent resident thanks to His gift, and this is why I have brought these choice fruit that it is incumbent upon anyone who has received the land as either a gift or even as a tenant to present to the real owner of the land in recognition of His largesse.

לד׳ אלקיך; wohl so viel als für Gott, deinen Gott, in Beziehung auf ihn. אלקיך so Saul zu Samuel (Sam. l. 15, 15 u. 21, 30), Chiskia zu Jesaias (Kön. II, 19, 4). so auch (Wajikra 20, 7) von dem ganzen Priesterstamm: כי קדוש הוא לאלקיו, es ist Gott, den du lehrst, dessen Gesetz und Heiligtum du vertrittst. Indem ich die Früchte meines Landes zu dir hinaufgetragen, habe ich damit an den Tag gelegt, dass ich meinen Acker und mein Feld nur als Enkel der Väter in Besitz habe, denen Gott dieses Land für ihre Nachkommen im Bundeseid verheißen hatte, wie dies eben die Gesetzeslehre bekundet, welchem das Heiligtum, das du vertrittst, errichtet ist, und der, was er verheißen, in Erfüllung gebracht hat. Mein Acker und mein Feld stehen auf dem Boden "deines" Gottes und nur als Sohn seines Bundes sind sie mein. Zur Bekundung dessen habe ich diese Früchte gebracht.