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Bikkurim Chapter 2, Mishnah 4: Unique Features of Bikkurim

Chavrusa Learning

Mishnah 4 in Maseches Bikkurim lists the features unique to Bikkurim, which do not apply to Terumah or to Maaser Sheni.

Bikkurim have features that Terumah and Maaser Sheni do not have:

  1. "Niknin bemechubar lakarka" - Bikkurim are separated and designated while they are still attached to the tree, and at that moment the status of Bikkurim already takes effect upon them. Terumah and Maaser, by contrast, cannot be separated while still attached to the ground, but only after they have been harvested, and only then does the mitzvah of separating them apply.

  2. "Ve'oseh adam kol sadehu bikkurim" - a person is permitted to make his entire field Bikkurim if he so wishes. With Terumah and Maaser Sheni this is not so: one must leave over a noticeable remainder at the very least, and if he made his entire field Terumah or Maaser, the separation is ineffective.

  3. "Vechayav be'achrayasam" - a person is responsible to bring the Bikkurim to the Beis HaMikdash, and if something happened to them, they were stolen, lost, or became tamei before they were brought, he must bring others in their place. With Terumah and Maaser Sheni there is no such responsibility: once they are lost, they are lost, and he need do nothing further about them.

And they require a korban, song, waving and staying overnight:

  • Korban: along with bringing the Bikkurim, a shelamim offering was brought with them.

  • Song: the Leviim would sing in the Beis HaMikdash at the time the Bikkurim were brought, and this was a requirement for the time of the bringing.

  • Waving: the Bikkurim were waved in the Beis HaMikdash.

  • Staying overnight: there is a mitzvah to remain in Jerusalem on the night following the bringing of the Bikkurim, as it says: "ufanisa vaboker vehalachta le'ohalecha" ("you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents") - only on the following morning does a person return home.

These four laws apply neither to Terumah nor to Maaser Sheni. This is especially clear regarding staying overnight, since with them there is no obligation to bring them to a particular place, and therefore the matter is not relevant at all.

In summary: this Mishnah lists seven features unique to Bikkurim that do not apply to Terumah and Maaser Sheni: their separation while still attached to the ground, the possibility of making an entire field Bikkurim, the responsibility for them until they are brought, and also the requirements of the korban, the song, the waving and staying overnight.