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Reuven Rubin, (1893-1974), The First Fruits, 1923, triptych, oil on canvas, coll. Rubin Museum, Tel Aviv First Fruits was painted by artist Reuven Rubin in 1923. It is a triptych, a painting in three panels, traditionally a Christian expression of homage, that can be viewed from several angles. It is a landscape. The people in the picture represent those then found in Mandatory Palestine. The Arabs in the two side panels are sidelined, in favor of the drama of the central panel, which depicts the ritual offering of the Bikkurim, firstfruits offered up during the days of the Temple. These first fruits are both real and figurative. In the panel on the right, the camel nails the scene firmly in the Orient; the lily is a symbol of renewal. ....
bikkurim â or the first fruits of the âseven speciesâ grown in Eretz Yisrael (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates) â were brought to the Beit HaMikdash in Jerusalem and offered as a sacrificial gift to Hashem on Shavuot. Jewish National Fund label sheet depicting the Seven Species. The farmers bringing the bikkurim to the Temple were obligated to recite a formulaic âavowalâ summarizing Jewish history from the time of Abraham through the Egyptian exile and the exodus, the 40 years in the desert and the entry into Eretz Yisrael, up to the current point in time. They would then proclaim, âAnd now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land, which you, Hashem, have given meâ and acknowledge that the success of their crops was wholly attributable to Hashemâs blessing (see Deuteronomy 26:3-10). ....