Audio by Shimi Berger

פרק ג משנה ז
בראשונה

Originally

כל מי שהוא יודע לקרות

Whoever was literate [in Hebrew]

קורא

would recite

וכל מי שאינו יודע לקרות

and whoever was illiterate

מקרין אותו

they would prompt him;

נמנעו מלהביא

[but when] they [who did not know how] refrained from bringing [bikurim]

התקינו שיהו מקרין

they instituted that they would prompt

את מי שהוא יודע

[both for] he who knew how

ואת מי שאינו יודע

and he who did not know how

   

פרק ג משנה ח

העשירים מביאים בכוריהם

The rich would bring their bikurim

בקלתות של כסף ושל זהב

in baskets of [plated] gold and silver

והעניים מביאין אותם

and the poor would bring them

בסלי נצרים

in wicker baskets

של ערבה קלופה

made of peeled reeds

הסלים והבכורים

and the baskets and the bikurim

ניתנין לכהנים

were given to the kohanim.

   

NOTES

משנה ז

מקרין אותו - The basis for this was the language of the (וענית ואמרת (דברים כו:ה, which implies a call and response.

משנה ח

הסלים והבכורים ניתנין לכהנים - The רע"ב and others say that this refers to only the baskets of the poor, but that the rich would take their containers back.  Many are troubled by this, as in the previous mishna we spoke of steps taken to prevent embarrassment, infact the תוי"ט points to a [:גמרא [מ"ק כז which stated that the rich were prohibited from bringing food to mourners in such baskets so as not to embarrass the poor, who could not afford to do so.  One answer which תוי"ט, the משנה ראשונה and חידושי מהרי"ח give was that the baskets were used by the poor to supplement their bikurim, which were an otherwise too meager to constitute a proper מתנה for the kohanim

 

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