Bikkurim Connection

The midrash Tanchuma says that when Moshe saw the Beis Hamikdash was going to be destroyed he asked what will be with bikkurim and Hashem said don’t worry they can pray.  Why is Moshe bothered more by the lack of bikkurim more than anything else which doesn’t exist without the Beis Hamikdash?  Furthermore, the avos already instituted tefilla, what was added now?  The Gemorah Ketubos (105b) says that one who gives a present to a talmud chacham is as if he offered bikkurim.  Why is it like the giver offered bikkurim more than any korban?  Why are bikkurim only offered from the 7 species that Eretz Yisroel is praised for?  Why is the mitzvah of bikkurim limited to a time when the farmer is happy?

The time of bikkurim is an opportunity for the farmer to see how all his work isn’t just a menial task he must do to put bread on the table, it can become holy work.  Through bringing the first fruits to Hashem, the farmer brings kedusha to all his work in the field.  It is specifically in Eretz Yisroel with its holy fruits that it is glaring the innate kedusha even in the fruits the farmer produces and therefore bikkurim are offered from them. The Gemorah says Hashem is a consuming fire, how can one become attached to Him?  By attaching to the talmidah chachamim (Ketubos 111b.)  That’s why bringing a gift to the Talmud chacham is like bringing bikkurim for one brings kedusha to his all his fruits by connecting to the Talmud chacham.  Moshe was asking how to accomplish this level of connection of bikkurim.  The answer Hashem gives him is tefillah.  A person infuses all parts of his day with prayer.  That serves a reminder that all his work should be for kedusha and just viewed as a way of going through the day.

The prayers of the Avos were prayers of bakashe, asking Hashem for help.  The prayer in place of bikkurim is a prayer of thanks.  The farmer thanks Hashem for all he has done for him, all the way from arami ovad avi to the present.