Bikkurim (, lit. "First-fruits") is the eleventh tractate of '' Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the ''

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

'' and of the ''

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

''. All versions of the Mishnah contain the first three chapters, and some versions contain a fourth. The three chapters found in all versions primarily discuss the commandment (found in

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

) to bring the ''Bikkurim'' ( first fruits) to the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

and to make a declaration upon bringing it. As is common in the Mishnah, related matters are also discussed.

The first chapter discusses who has the responsibility to bring the first fruits and make the declaration, who needs to bring the first fruits but not make the declaration, and who can not bring the first fruits. Among those who bring the first fruits but don't make the declaration are converts, so other ''

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

'' regarding differences between the obligations of converts and those born Jewish are also discussed here. This difference for converts was disagreed with by Rabbi Judah bar Ilai and later

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

, and it is their position that has become the practice of the Jewish community. In the second chapter, a comparison (as to legal classification) is made between the ''

terumah A ''terumah'' (), the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in Judaism. The word is generally used for offerings to God, but can also refer to gifts to a human. The word ''terumah'' refers to various types of offerings, but mos ...

'', '' ma'aser'' (the second tithe, which had to be brought to Jerusalem and consumed there) and ''bikkurim'', and makes other legal comparisons between citron, trees, and vegetables; between the blood of human beings and that of cattle and creeping things; and between beast, cattle, and "'' koy''" (Hebrew: כּוֹי), an intermediate between cattle and beast. The third chapter describes more fully the process of bringing the first fruits to the Temple at the festival of Shavuot. The fourth chapter, which is only sometimes included, originates from the '' Tosefta Bikkurim''. It compares the laws relating to men, women, and those of intermediate sex, including the ''tumtum'' (one with no genitalia) and the androgynos. There is no ''

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

'' in the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

. The Jerusalem Talmud has ''Gemara'' on ''Bikkurim'', in which the laws of the Mishnah are discussed in the usual way, with a few digressions, noteworthy among which is that on Leviticus "You shall rise before a venerable person and you shall respect the elderly," and on the value of the title "''zaken''" (elder) conferred on scholars in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

and outside the Land (''Yerushalmi'' 3:3, 11a-b or 65c).כיצד מפרישין פרק שלישי
(in Hebrew/

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

)

References

External links

Full text of the Mishnah for tractate Bikkurim
on Sefaria (Hebrew and English) Land of Israel laws in Judaism {{Judaic-studies-stub

Contents

References

External links