Sponsored by Sharona & Josh Halickman in Honor of Moshe’s High
School Graduation
At the end of Parshat Korach, we
read about the gifts that the Kohanim receive as a reward for their service.
In Bamidbar 18:13, God tells Aharon
the Kohen:
The first fruits of everything that
is in their Land, which they bring to God shall be yours, every pure person in
your household may eat it.
We have already seen the mitzvah of
Bikurim (the first fruits) before in Parshat Mishpatim, Shmot 23:19:
The beginning of the first fruits of
your Land must be brought to the house of Hashem, your God…
Rashi explains the procedure for
setting aside Bikurim:
A man who enters his field sees a
fig that has ripened. He ties a reed around it to identify it and thereby
designates it as Bikurim. Bikurim need to be brought only from the Shivat HaMinim,
the Seven Species with which Eretz Yisrael is praised (Dvarim 8:8): “A Land of
wheat, barley, grape, fig and pomegranate; A Land of olive oil and (date)
honey.”
Sefer HaChinuch 91 explains the
reason for the mitzvah of Bikurim, bringing the first fruits to the Beit
HaMikdash (Temple):
At the root of this mitzvah lies the
purpose to set the thought of God above our rejoicing and happiness that we
should remember and know that from Him all the blessings in the world reach us.
For this reason we were commanded to bring the ministering servants of His
house the first of the fruit that ripens on the trees. Out of this remembrance,
this acceptance of His kingship, and our avowal in thanks before Him that the
fruits and other goodness come from Him, we will become worthy of blessing, and
our produce will be blessed.
May we merit the rebuilding of the
Beit HaMikdash and may we once again have the opportunity to bring the Bikurim
to Yerushalayim.