Our Parsha begins with a Possuk: וְהָיָה כִּי־תָבוֹא אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶר ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה וִּירִּשְתָהּ וְיָשַבְתָ בָהּ “And it will be, when you come into the land which HaShem, your G-d, gives you for an inheritance, and you possess it and settle in it.” The Possuk continues to explain the Mitzvah of Bikkurim, the Mitzvah of the first fruits, which the B’nei Yisroel were commanded to perform upon their entry into the land of Eretz Yisroel.
However, we need to understand why the Possuk specifically chose to make this Mitzvah of Bikkurim dependent upon the B’nei Yisroel’s entering into the land.
Furthermore, our Sages of Blessed Memory have said in the Talmud (Rashi brings it in his explanation on the Torah), that the B’nei Yisroel would be obligated to perform the Mitzvah of Bikkurim only after they were to conquer and divide up the land; as the Talmud states: “seven years they conquered and seven years they divided”. In that case, why did the Torah choose to render this Mitzvah of Bikkurim dependant on their entering the land?
Moreover, even according to what is written in the Sifri that “whenever the word ‘וְהָיָה’ is used it implies immediately”, implying that the Mitzvah of Bikkurim [would be] applicable immediately, as they entered the land. However, even here ‘immediately’ doesn’t literally mean “immediately”, because they needed to bring Bikkurim “To the place which HaShem will choose” as the Possuk states: אֶל־הַמָקוֹם אֲשֶר יִּבְחַר ה׳ and for this [to take] effect they first had to build in actuality a Mishkon.”
But seemingly, there were Mitzvos which the B’nei Yisroel were obligated to perform even before this stage, immediately as they set foot into Eretz Yisroel. An example [of this concerns] the Mitzvah of “Challah”, which was obligatory, immediately upon the B’nei Yisroel’s entrance into the Land, and there are some who even [go as far as to] say that the obligation to take Challah also became mandatory regarding any dough which they might have found when they entered the land.
We can see that at a basic level, regarding the Mitzvah of ‘Challah’, whereby the performance of the physical act of separating the ‘Challah’ element from the dough enables the remaining dough to become permitted for consumption even before the separated dough was given on high. This is unlike the Mitzvah of Bikkurim where the new fruits and produce themselves need to be brought to the place “Which HaShem will choose...”.
However, accordingly, we [still] need clarification! What is the significance of the emphasis in the Possuk that the Mitzvah of Bikkurim comes into effect immediately upon the B’nei Yisroel’s arrival into Eretz Yisroel?
We are therefore [forced to] conclude that there is a spiritual significance that relates to the spiritual element of the Mitzvah of Bikkurim on which entering the land depends. In other words, although the practical element of the Mitzvah of Bikkurim only comes into effect at a later stage the spiritual significance is relevant immediately.
