The Torah instructs us in the mitzvah of Bikkurim—the obligation to bring the first-ripened fruits of each year’s crop to the Beis Hamikdash, whereby we declare our gratitude to G-d for all He has done for us. The Torah emphasizes, however, that observance of this mitzvah is to begin only once Bnei Yisrael have conquered and divided the entire Land of Israel.
Ultimately, it took seven years to conquer the Land and another seven until every family received their portion, but during all that time, even those who had already received and begun settling their land were not required to bring Bikkurim.
Why were the individuals who were already settled not obligated to bring Bikkurim until everyone else was settled as well? Since bringing Bikkurim expresses our gratitude for the Land of Israel and its fruit, it would seem that the requirement to bring Bikkurim should have begun for each person individually, as soon as he received his portion of land and began to benefit from it.
But unlike other offerings of thanksgiving, the Bikkurim express our gratitude specifically for the gifts that G-d gives us in the fullest measure. We thus find that Bikkurim are offered only from the Seven Species with which the Land of Israel is exceptionally blessed; “standard” fruits or vegetables do not warrant this unique offering. In the same vein, the declaration that accompanies the offering of Bikkurim is said only at times of joy, and only once a year, since the joy that we express in the offering of Bikkurim must be complete on every level.
The offering of Bikkurim was therefore not possible until every Jewish family had received a portion of the Land. Until that was complete, even those families who had already established themselves could not possibly feel entirely happy and blessed, knowing that some of their fellow Jews were still unsettled. For a Jew’s blessings and happiness are complete only when he knows that G-d has granted happiness to his fellow Jew as well.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 9, pp. 154–156
