Inclusion and Exclusion in Jewish Ritual - Mishnah Bikurim

(3) In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the Eternal from the fruit of the soil; (4) and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The Eternal paid heed to Abel and his offering,

(29) Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. (30) And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. (31) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” (32) And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?” (33) But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. (34) Jacob then gave Esau bread and lentil stew; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus did Esau spurn the birthright.

(14) Three times a year you shall hold a festival for Me: (15) You shall observe the Feast of Matzah — eating unleavened bread for seven days as I have commanded you — at the set time in the month of Spring, for in it you went forth from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed; (16) and the Feast of the Harvest, of the chosen fruits (bikkurei) of your work, of what you sow in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field. (17) Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Master, the Eternal. (18) You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened; and the fat of My festal offering shall not be left lying until morning. (19) The chosen fruits (bikkurei) of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Eternal your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

(1) When you enter the land that the Eternal your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, (2) you shall take some of every first fruit (reishit) of the soil, which you harvest from the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where the Eternal your God will choose to establish God’s name. (3) You shall go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, “I acknowledge this day before the Eternal your God that I have entered the land that the Eternal swore to our fathers to assign us.” (4) The priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down in front of the altar of the Eternal your God. (5) You shall then recite as follows before the Eternal your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. (6) The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. (7) We cried to the Eternal, the God of our fathers, and the Eternal heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. (8) The Eternal freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents. (9) God brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10) Wherefore I now bring the first fruits (reishit) of the soil which You, Eternal One, have given me.” You shall leave it before the Eternal your God and bow low before the Eternal your God. (11) And you shall enjoy, together with the Levite and the stranger in your midst, all the bounty that the Eternal your God has bestowed upon you and your household.

(1) There are some who bring bikkurim and recite the declaration; others who only bring, but do not recite; and there are some who neither bring nor recite.

(2) For what reason may someone not bring them? Because it says, “The chosen fruits of your land” (Exodus 23:19) - so only when all of the growth is on your land. Sharecroppers, leasers, a sikarikon, or a robber does not bring them for the same reason, because it says, “The chosen fruits of your land.”

(4) These bring [bikkurim] but do not recite the declaration:

The geir (stranger/convert), since he cannot say: “Which the Eternal has sworn to our fathers, to give to us” (Deuteronomy 26:3). But if his mother was an Israelite, then he brings bikkurim and recites.

When he prays privately, he says: “God of the fathers of Israel,” and when he is in the synagogue, he should say: “The God of your fathers.” But if his mother was an Israelite, he says: “The God of our fathers."

since he cannot say: Which the Eternal has sworn to our fathers, to give to us -

Since his ancestors were not from Israel and geirim did not take a portion in the land. But Maimonides wrote that the Halakha (applied law) is not like this Mishnah; rather, the convert brings [the First Fruits] and recites [Deuteronomy 26:5-10] and is able to say, “to our fathers to assign us” (Deuteronomy 26:3), because the Land was given to Abraham and he was the father of converts, as he was for Israel, as it states (Genesis 17:5): “for I make you the father of a multitude of nations.” And expand upon it in the Talmud (Berakhot 13a): “In the past, you were the father of Aram; now you are the father of the entire world.”

And similarly, when he [the convert] prays, whether on his own or in the synagogue, he says, “the God of our fathers” even if his mother was not an Israelite.

A guardian, an agent, a slave, a woman, a tumtum, or an androgynos bring the bikkurim, but do not recite, since they cannot say: “Which you, Eternal One, have given to me” (Deuteronomy 26:10).