Bikurim
In addition to other important elements, the festival of Shavuot is synonymous with the mitzva of Bikurim (first fruits). According to the Torah verses (Devarim 26:1-11) and the Oral Law (Mishna Bikkurim, Chapter 1), the obligation to bring Bikurim is conditioned on ownership of the land.
A landowner who grew any one of the seven species of flora which are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael (Devarim 8,7-8): wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive or date, must bring a sample of the first growth to the Bet HaMikdash, starting after the holiday of Shavuot. After presenting his gifts to the kohen who places them near the altar, the landowner declares his recognition of HaShem’s bountiful blessings, then voices a short historical overview of Jewish history:
(א) והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר ה’ א-להיך נתן לך נחלה וירשתה וישבת בה:
(ב) ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך אשר ה’ א=להיך נתן לך ושמת בטנא והלכת אל המקום אשר יבחר ה’ א-להיך לשכן שמו שם:
(ג) ובאת אל הכהן אשר יהיה בימים ההם ואמרת אליו הגדתי היום ל-ה’ א-להיך כי באתי אל הארץ אשר נשבע ה’ לאבתינו לתת לנו:
(ד) ולקח הכהן הטנא מידך והניחו לפני מזבח ה’ א-להיך:
(ה) וענית ואמרת לפני ה’ א-להיך ארמי אבד אבי וירד מצרימה ויגר שם במתי מעט ויהי שם לגוי גדול עצום ורב:
(ו) וירעו אתנו המצרים ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבדה קשה:
(ז) ונצעק אל ה’ א-להי אבתינו וישמע ה’ את קלנו וירא את ענינו ואת עמלנו ואת לחצנו:
(ח) ויוצאנו ה’ ממצרים ביד חזקה ובזרע נטויה ובמרא גדל ובאתות ובמפתים:
(ט) ויבאנו אל המקום הזה ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת ארץ זבת חלב ודבש:
1 When you have entered the land HaShem is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it,
2 Take of the first fruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name
3 Go to the officiating kohen and say: I hereby declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.
4 The kohen shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.
5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: My father went down into Egypt with a small family and lived there and became a numerous and powerful nation.
6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor.
7 Then we cried out to HaShem, the God of our ancestors, and HaShem heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.
8 So HaShem brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.
9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;
Interesting to note that the Bikurim declaration deals with agricultural produce, while ignoring the bigger implications of the Jewish nation and our great spiritual mission as HaShem‘s chosen people in Eretz Yisrael. Perhaps it was because at the time of HaShem‘s revelation at Sinai, world history was not yet sufficiently developed for the Jewish nation to make an impact. The great empires of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome were not yet developed, nor had the major religions, which grew out of Judaism appeared on the world stage.
Bikkurim in the Future
With the blessings of HaShem and the sacrifices of dedicated, loyal Jews in Eretz Yisrael, the Bet Hamikdash will soon ascend above the mountains of Judea and our landholders will bring to it their first fruits Their declaration will begin with the text that appears in the Torah; but I assume that it will be followed with an additional one to include the great miracles that HaShem is now performing for Am Yisrael.
One part of the declaration will be to point out and offer thanks to HaShem for the great material wealth that this land has given forth to us who dwell in it, as stated in the Torah. Riches that will reach the quality and quantity of King Solomon’s legendary monarchy, in which the Talmud states that gold was valued at less than stones.
Then the declaration will deal with the miraculous survival of a handful of Jews in a world that has tried in every way to eradicate our existence.
The declaration’s crescendo will focus on the unbelievable, miraculous, unprecedented establishment of Medinat Yisrael and the return of the Jewish nation from the far-flung corners of the galut.
It will deal with the Medina’s success in destructing, demolishing and devastating the false gods of Islam and Christianity, each one claiming that it replaced the Jewish nation as their God’s chosen people, with the proof being the never-ending exile of the Jews from the holy land.
Our very return to Eretz Yisrael, regardless of the spiritual level of many here, is a devastating rejection, rebuttal, denial, contradiction, repudiation and disavowal of all their false claims. As the prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) states in chapter 16:19 that mankind will admit the false traditions taught by their predecessors. The thundering words of the prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah) (chapter2):
1 The word that Yeshayahu son of Amotz prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in His paths. The law will go out from Zion; the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples; they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation; nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
May We All Merit The Blessings
However, not every Jew will merit to share in the exhilaration of grandeur that will be part of our nation’s future.
If one does not toil to bring forth the spiritual and material richness of HaShem’s blessed land, preferring to dedicate his or her energies to foreign lands and cultures, how can one expect to share in the rewards awaiting those Jews who sacrifice so much to sanctify HaShem’s name?
We should all remember that no action or thought is forgotten before the Almighty. And that, although, He is our merciful Father Aveinu, He is also Malkeinu – our King who metes out justice based on “measure for measure”. What you invest, is what you receive in return and more; but no investment reaps no benefits, only liabilities.
Shabbat Shalom and have a meaningful Chag Shavuot,
Nachman Kahana
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