Комментарий к Дварим 26:1

והיה כי תבוא … וירשתה וישבת בה AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN YOU COME IN [UNTO THE LAND …] AND POSSESS IT AND SETTLE THEREIN — This tells us that they (the Israelites) were not under the obligation to bring first fruits until they had conquered the land and divided it (cf. Kiddushin 37b).

והיה כי תבא, "It will be when you come, etc." The Torah introduces this paragraph with the word והיה, indicating a joyous event; the message is that the only true reason for being joyful is when one is privileged to live in the Holy Land. Compare what David had to say about the return to Zion, i.e. (Psalms 126,2) "then our mouths will be filled with laughter."

This teaches that they were not obligated to bring the first fruits, etc. You might ask why did Rashi not explain this earlier in parshas Shoftim (17:14) in the section [dealing with the appointing] a king, for there too it is written, “and inherit it and live in it”? The answer is that Rashi wants to explain why here it says, “And you inherit it and settle it.” For the [the law derived from these words] could be derived from the section dealing with [appointing] a king since we derive [from the term] “come” “come” from each other. Just as there they are not obligated [to appoint a king] until after the conquering and apportioning [the Land], so too here. And there is a tradition that this gezeira shava is a halacha given to Moshe at Sinai as Rashi explains in parshas Shelach Lecha (Bamidbar 15:18) regarding challah. [He comments there on the verse], “At your coming to the land,” that, “This [term] 'coming' is different from all the 'comings' in the Torah, etc. because Scripture specified with one of them, etc.” I.e., since it specified regarding [the obligation of appointing] a king, that it does not apply until after inheritance and settling [the Land], so too with all of them. Thus we see that this is an absolute gezeira shava. And if so, why does the verse here need to write “and you inherit it and settle it”? Rashi answers, “This teaches that they were not obligated to bring the first fruits, etc.” Apparently this verse is talking about eating [fruits], so one might have thought there is an obligation to bring first fruits immediately [after arriving in the Land] before benefiting from them, as we say (Berachos 35a), “Whoever benefits from this world without a blessing is considered as if he committed sacrilege,” and we would not have applied the gezeira shava from [appointing] a king. Therefore Rashi has to explain explicitly, “'And you inherit it and settle it,' [This teaches, etc.”] However, above in parshas Shoftim [the verse also has to specify that it is only after settlement, as] we would not learn this from first fruits, because one might think that they are obligated to appoint a king immediately they enter the Land, because the king is appointed to lead them in war, and there is no greater need for this than during the conquest and apportionment, since that is the main time of war. Therefore the verse there has to explain [by saying], “And inherit it and settle in it,” that this [appointing] is only after conquest and apportionment, in order that they give credit for the conquest to the Holy One and not to a mortal king.

Kap. 26. V. 1. כי תבוא וגו׳. Die ganze Gesetzgebung schließt mit zwei Institutionen, מקרא ביכורים und וידוי מעשר, welche die Grundtatsachen der jüdischen Nationalgeschichte und die Grundnormen der jüdischen Nationalaufgabe in zwei Bekenntnisse zusammenfassen, deren jährliches, beziehungsweise dreijährliches Aussprechen in jedem jüdischen Mann das Bewusstsein seines nationalgeschichtlichen Ursprungs und der daraus hervorgehenden nationalgesetzlichen Aufgabe wach und lebendig halten soll. Beide knüpfen sich an zwei andere bereits im Gesetze niedergelegte Institutionen, ביכורים und מעשר, welche die Würdigung des Landesbesitzes und der daraus hervorgehenden materiellen Begüterung, diese Grundlagen der nationalen Existenz, nach deren Ursprung und Bestimmung in gedankenvollen Bekenntnistaten zum Ausdruck zu bringen haben. Sie stehen daher in engster Beziehung zu dem Lande, dessen Besitznahme eben bevorsteht, und haben daher hier am Schlusse der Gesetzgebung, für deren Verwirklichung das Land erreicht wird, ihre geeignetste Stelle.

והיה כי תבא אל הארץ אשר נשבע ה' לאבותנו, “it will be when you come to the land which the Lord has sworn to our forefathers to give to us;” basing themselves on the above line, the Mishnah in bikkurim chapter 1,4, concludes that a proselyte who offers the first ripe products of his orchard while allowed to offer them, must refrain from reciting the benediction which includes thanking the Lord for having given the land to “our fathers”, seeing that he had not been Jewish at that time. Nonetheless he is commanded to address the Lord our G–d in his prayers as “our G–d and the G–d of our fathers.” The reason for this ruling is that the Jerusalem Talmud in tractate bikkurim 1,4, has ruled that all converts are called descendants of Avraham, seeing that G–d had told him that he would become the “father of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17,5)

והיה כי תבא אל הארץ, “it will be when you come to the Land, etc.” seeing that Moses had told the people in Deut. 25,19 that the commandment to wipe out Amalek would apply only after Hashem had given the people rest from all their enemies, he has to tell them here that what follows applies as soon as they enter and make their homes in the Holy Land. Some notable commandments that become due as soon as they will reap harvests in that land, are: the bringing to the Temple of the first ripened fruit of the seven species for which the land is famous, tithing the grain harvest by giving the Levites their share, inscribing the text of the Torah in the stones of the Jordan river, building the altar, as well as reciting the blessings and curses detailed in chapter 27,12-26 on the two mountains designates for this.

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נתן לך נחלה וירשתה, "which the Lord your G'd is about to give you as an inheritance and you will dwell in it." What exactly is this verse driving at? If the purpose of our verse is to convey the legislation of בכורים, "the offering of the first fruit," the Torah should have commenced these instructions with the words תקח מראשית כל פרי, "take from the first ripened fruit, etc." seeing this is the beginning of this legislation. Why did the Torah write ולקחת with the conjunctive letter ו when there is no connection to the most recently mentioned commandment? It appears that G'd actually commanded 4 separate commandments here. 1) The Israelite should realise in his heart that it was not he nor his strength which enabled him to conquer the land of Canaan but that it was a gift to him from G'd. This is why the Torah first wrote: "which the Lord your G'd is about to give to you." G'd gives it to you in order for you to realise this. The Torah advisedly used the formula אלוקיך, "your G'd," to remind you that He gave you the land in order for you to recognise Him as such. 2) You must drive out the former inhabitants of this land. You have to do this even if it appears to you that there is a good reason for keeping some former inhabitants in this land. The Torah demands that the enemies of G'd must be expelled from His land. This is why the Torah stresses וירשתה, "and you shall possess it." 3) Dwelling in the Holy Land is a commandment all by itself. We have numerous instances where the Talmud extols the importance of the commandment to dwell in the Holy Land. Compare Ketuvot 111. 4) The bringing to the Temple annually of some of the first ripened fruit which this land produces.

והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר ה' אלוקיך נותן לך נחלה וירשתה וישבת בה, ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה, “it will come to pass when you arrive in the land which the Lord your G’d is about to give to you as an inheritance and you will inherit it and be settled in it, then you will bring of the first fruit of all the soil, etc.” The commandment to offer the bikkurim does not apply to all categories of harvest produced in the land of Israel. It is applicable only to the seven species for which the land of Israel is famous, This is the understanding of the sages in Sifri Ki Tavo item 297. This is arrived at by the fact that in our verse the Torah writes: “which you will bring from your land,” whereas in Deut. 8,8 the Torah wrote: “a land of wheat, barley, grape, fig and pomegranate; a land of oil-olives, and date-honey.” The seven species mentioned in that verse determine what is meant in our verse here. The seven species mentioned in Parshat Eykev represent the species of farm-products which serve as the staple foods of the Jewish people. The commandment is applicable only at times when the Temple is standing (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 2,1). The reason that the Torah writes the words: “when you inherit it and dwell in it,” is to inform us that the commandment becomes effective only at that time, i.e. 14 years after the Israelites entered the Holy Land.

ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה, “You shall take from all the first fruit of the soil, etc.” our sages (Bikkurim 3,1) in describing the exact procedures to be followed when performing this commandment, wrote as follows: “a farmer goes into his field or orchard to check on the progress of the fruit or grain and when he observes a fig or cluster of grapes which has (almost) ripened, he attaches a string to it (to mark it) and declares that particular fruit as bikkurim.” Once he has made such a declaration the fruit becomes sanctified even while still on the tree although it has not yet completed its growth process completely. When the fruit is fully developed and cut from the tree it does not need to be sanctified again. Bikkurim are brought only from the choicest of one’s fruit. This is the meaning of the term מראשית, i.e. “from the best “(not necessarily from the first). The term ראשית also appears in that sense in Amos 6,6, where it means: “they anoint themselves with the choicest oils.” This is a principle that applies to the performance of all the commandments, i.e. one uses the choicest materials available when performing the commandment, not something of average or inferior quality. This was the difference between the offering of Hevel and that of Kayin, his older brother. The Torah reports of Hevel that he used the choicest of his animals as a sacrifice; hence G’d turned with goodwill to his offering while rejecting that of Kayin who had used inferior material. (Genesis 4,4)

אשר תביא, “which you are to bring;” if someone has set aside his bikkurim in order to bring them to the Temple and they have been lost or stolen he is liable for replacing them; We derive this from the text here where the word תביא implies a personal obligation for the owner to present this fruit to the priest in the Temple. It is one of the few commandments which cannot be performed by means of a “messenger, שליח, the task cannot be delegated. If at the time of taking the fruit from the tree the farmer had made a condition saying that he would delegate the task of transporting this fruit to the Temple such a condition is acceptable (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 2,21).
Farmers living in the proximity of Jerusalem, must bring fresh grapes or figs as their bikkurim, whereas those living far away may bring dried grapes or dried figs instead. Bikkurim are not to be presented in the Temple before the festival of Shavuot, seeing the Torah wrote (Exodus 23,16) “the festival of cutting (grain harvest) the time of the bikkurim of your labor.” If a farmer did bring his bikkurim before that date the priest does not accept them but they have to remain in escrow until that festival and only at that time can they be designated as bikkurim (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 25-6). Concerning such situations the Torah writes in verse 11 of our chapter: “you shall rejoice with all the goodness, etc.,” etc., i.e. that the time of year when bikkurim are acceptable is the season when people are happy seeing that they started bringing in the year’s harvest. Traditionally, this period extends from the festival of Shavuot through the end of the harvest season. If the bringing of the bikkurim occurs later than the festival of Sukkot, the offering is accepted but the accompanying scriptural verses may not be recited (Sifri Ki Tavo item 297).

מארצך, “from your land.” The sages in Sifri Ki Tavo 297 write that that as long as the particular species which qualifies as bikkurim is still in evidence on the land (unharvested) and the beasts of the field have not yet consumed any leftovers of such species, bikkurim are still acceptable. This prompted our sages to rule that after Chanukah one may no longer offer bikkurim, seeing that any fruit which ripens after that date is considered as part of the following year’s crop and must therefore be stored until the following Shavuot if it already ripened at such an early time of the year. (Maimonides Hilchot Bikkurim 2,6)