Welcome to Maseches Bikkurim, the final tractate in Seder Zeraim. We begin with Chapter 1, Mishnah 1. As an introduction to this mishnah, let us clarify the essence of the mitzvah: the mitzvah of bikkurim is to bring the first of the fruits from the seven species with which the Land of Israel is praised - and not all of them are fruits, since some are grains.
The seven species from which bikkurim are brought:
Wheat and barley - types of grain.
Grapevine - the grapes and the wine produced from them.
Fig.
Pomegranate.
Olive oil - the olives themselves and the oil produced from them.
Honey - date honey, and this includes the dates themselves.
Bikkurim are counted among the gifts of the kehunah, and they are given to a kohen. Nevertheless, they are separated before Terumah, before ma'aser, and before all the other gifts.
When one brings the bikkurim to Jerusalem, to the Beis Hamikdash, the bringing is accompanied by a recitation - the declaration spelled out in the Torah. Our mishnah will explain that there are situations in which the bikkurim are brought but the recitation is not said, because the person or the situation is not fit for the declaration that accompanies the bringing.
The opening of the mishnah:
The mishnah opens by establishing three categories of cases:
"Yesh mevi'in bikkurim v'korin" - this is the original order of the halachah: bringing together with the recitation.
"Mevi'in v'lo korin" - there are situations in which one brings the bikkurim, but the recitation is not made.
"V'yesh she'einan mevi'in" - there are situations in which there is no obligation to bring at all.
Our mishnah and the mishnayos that follow it detail the various situations.
"Eilu she'einan mevi'in":
Before the details, let us first review the definition of havrachah (layering), which we have already discussed in earlier tractates: taking a branch of a vine and returning it into the ground, so that it will grow and emerge in another place. Let us also introduce a principle that will be explained in the next mishnah: in order to be obligated in bikkurim, the ground must be his own - "admascha" (your land). Therefore, if part of the plant draws nourishment from ground belonging to another person or to the public, one does not bring bikkurim from it.
"Hanotea l'toch shelo v'hivrich l'toch shel yachid o shel rabbim" - one who plants in his own property and layers the branch into his fellow's property or into public property. In this case one brings neither from the layered branch nor from the original plant (the mother vine), since both of them draw nourishment from property that is not his.
"V'chein hamavrich mitoch shel yachid o mitoch shel rabbim" - here the layering is done in the opposite direction: the mother plant is in his fellow's property or in public property, and he layers into his own. Here too both of them are nourished from what is not his.
One who plants in his own property and layers into his own property, "v'derech hayachid v'derech harabbim b'emtza" - the mother plant is planted in his field, and the layered branch emerges from the ground in another field of his, except that in between a road that is not his cuts across, whether a private road or a public road. Since in the middle it passes through property that is not his and draws nourishment from it - "harei zeh eino mevi" - he does not bring.
The view of Rabbi Yehudah:
Rabbi Yehudah disagrees and says: "K'zeh mevi" - in the last scenario he does bring bikkurim. Some explain that Rabbi Yehudah disagreed specifically in the case where a public road is what separates, but with a private road he would agree that one does not bring, since it is not his. Regarding a public road, Rabbi Yehudah holds like the view of Rabbi Eliezer in Maseches Bava Basra, that a person may make use of the space beneath the public domain, provided that it is strong enough to bear a wagon loaded with stones - an extremely heavy load. It emerges that a person has permission to use what is beneath the public domain.
According to this understanding, when a public road interrupts in the middle, it does not disqualify, since he has permission to use it even though it belongs to the public. However, even according to Rabbi Yehudah it says only "k'zeh mevi" - he brings but does not recite. He cannot say the recitation, since he is unable to say that this is the land that was given to him, because part of the ground is not actually his, even though he has permission to use it.
In summary: at the opening of the tractate we discussed the mitzvah of bikkurim from the seven species, their status as gifts of the kehunah that precede Terumah and ma'aser, and the recitation that accompanies the bringing. The mishnah distinguishes between one who brings and recites, one who brings and does not recite, and one who does not bring at all, and it lists under "eilu she'einan mevi'in" the three cases of layering in which the plant draws nourishment from property that is not the owner's - as well as the view of Rabbi Yehudah, that with a public road he brings but does not recite.