English: “You shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground” — might one think that all fruits are liable to bikkurim? Scripture says “of the first,” and not every first. I still do not know which species is liable and which is exempt. I reason: communal first fruits and individual first fruits are both stated — just as communal first fruits are from the seven species, so individual first fruits are from the seven species. And these are they: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, a land of oil-olives and date-honey.
In Sifrei / Menachos: The word “of the first” limits the obligation. A gezerah / binyan from the communal offering of the two loaves fixes the seven species for which the Land is praised (Devarim 8:8) as the only species subject to bikkurim.
Type of Learning
R’ Yishmael #3 (בנין אב) / limiting “of the first,” plus gezerah with the seven species.
What Is Learned
Only the seven species for which Eretz Yisrael is praised are subject to the mitzvah of bikkurim; other fruits are exempt.