:;<=>?@>>, A=><> tinuation of these annuals, M.E. *Stern attempted in !"## to Some editions include a fourth chapter outlin- publish Bikkurei ha-Ittim, and Reggio together with Isidore ing laws related to the status of the . -is repre- *Bush, Bikkurei ha-Ittim ha-Ḥ adashim in !"#$. While these at- sents a variant tradition of a passage also found in the Tose0a tempts were unsuccessful, another annual, Kokhevei Yiẓ ḥ ak, ):&–%. did succeed. Its publication began in !"#$ in Vienna, under -ere is a full Palestinian to the three chapters the editorship of M.E. Stern, and lasted until !"%&. of the Mishnah, but no Babylonian. !"#$"%&'()*+: B. Wachstein, Die hebraeische Publizistik in !"#$"%&'()*+: N. Sacks, %e Mishnah with Variant Read- Wien (!'&(), xiii–xl (introduction); R. Fahn, Kitvei Re’uven Fahn, ) ings: Order Zera’im, vol. ) (!'%$); J. Rabbinowitz, %e Tal- (!'&%), !((–#! (Pirkei ). mud (Talmud Yerushalmi): (!'%$); S. Lieberman, Hellenism [Getzel Kressel] in Jewish Palestine (!',)1); D. Ho+mann, %e First Mishna and the Controversies of the Tannaim, trans. P. Forchheimer (!'%%). BIKKURIM (Heb. ęĕĤ üđăėüăčă ;””), last and shortest [Eliezer L. Segel ()23 ed.)] tractate of the Mishnah, Order Zera’im, dealing with laws re- lating to *rst-fruit o+erings (Deut. ),:!–!!; cf. also Ex. )&:!'; BILBEIS, capital of the “Eastern Province” of Egypt (Sharqīya) &#:),; Num. !":!&). -e commands that the *rst fruits of during the Middle Ages. It had a well-organized Jewish com- the land be brought joyfully to the sanctuary, where they are munity, mentioned in a letter written about !!(( by the dayyan to be o+ered in baskets to priests who are entitled to consume Abraham b. Shabbetai to all of the area, and also in a them in a state of purity. -e o+erers must recite a passage ex- letter written by his son and successor Shabbetai later in the pressing their gratitude to God for delivering them from slav- !)5 century. When Ashkelon was conquered by the Crusad- ery in Egypt and bringing them to a rich land. ers in !!$&, many Jews 7ed to Bilbeis; !$ years later Bilbeis was -e laws set down in the Mishnah are based on an elab- itself captured by the Crusaders and the Jewish community orate process of midrashic exegesis of the biblical texts, and undoubtedly su+ered. At the end of the !)5 century Bilbeis the Mishnah (e.g., !:)–$, ') cites some of the relevant verses was still considered one of the chief Jewish communities of and their interpretations. -us, the allusions in the recited Egypt. In a community law dated !!"%, R. Judah ha- passage to “fruits of thy land” and “the land which the Lord is mentioned as dayyan of Bilbeis (, Responsa, swore unto our fathers” were understood as excluding from ed. by J. Blau, ) (!',(), no. &#,). Documents of the early !&5 the scope of the obligations people who did not own land or century found in the Cairo *Genizah contain his signature as were not of Jewish descent. Similarly, the limited the head of the rabbinical court. In a letter R. *Abraham b. Moses precept to the seven fruits enumerated in Deuteronomy ":". b. Maimon asked the Bilbeis community for *nancial assis- From these basic premises, the Mishnah (especially in Chapter tance for the Jews in Jerusalem. Other documents mention !) develops its more detailed discussions of such topics as the Jews from Jerusalem who were visiting Bilbeis. -roughout relationships between the bringing of the fruits and the scrip- the *Fatimid and *Ayyubid caliphates the Jewish community tural recitation, the appropriate time-frame for performing in Bilbeis had its own customs, such as indicating the value the precepts, precise identi*cation of which fruits are subject of a bride’s dowry in the ketubbah. According to a late - to the obligation, what constitutes land ownership, the status ish source, the in Egypt in !&(! resulted of proselytes, and the extent of the owner’s responsibility for in the conversion of all the Jews in the city to Islam, and of the *rst fruits between the time of their designation and their the into a mosque. However, in the late !$5 cen- delivery to the priest. tury, Meshullam da Volterra mentions $( Jewish families in Most of Chapter & is devoted to a vivid narrative descrip- the city in !#"!, while Obadiah di Bertinoro estimated them tion of the ceremonial procession of bringing the *rst fruits to at &( a few years later. the Temple in joy, music, and fellowship. As noted by S. Lie- !"#$"%&'()*+: Mann, Egypt, ) (!'))), )$, &)%, &)'; R. Got- berman, the abundance of details that cannot be ascribed to theil and W.H. Worrell, Fragments from the Cairo Genizah… (!')%), biblical sources or literary convention (e.g., the presence of an !&+., !&'; S.D. Goitein, in: Eretz Israel, # (!'$,), !$&+.; Sambari, in: Neubauer, Chronicles, ! (!""%), !&,; A. Yaari, Iggerot Erez Yisrael ox adorned with a garland on his gold-plated horns, a com- ̣ (!'#&), ,(, !)#; Ashtor, Toledot, ) (!'$!), #)&; & (!'%(); idem, in: 889, mon feature of pagan panegyre) lends credence to the basic !" (!',%), )&–)%. historicity of the Mishnah’s description of the rustic folk cus- [Eliyahu Ashtor] tom. -e statement in &:# that “even King Agrippa would take the basket and place it on his shoulder” was taken by scholars BILDERSEE, ADELE (!""&–!'%!), U.S. educator and author. as an indication that the Mishnah was composed during the Adele Bildersee was born in New York City. A0er teaching reign of one of the kings of that name. in New York City’s elementary and secondary school sys- Chapter ) in the Mishnah is from a separate collection of tem (!'(&–!!), she was appointed instructor of English at traditions arranged by the formal pattern “-ere are features Hunter College and remained there for the next )( years, of . that are not in /, etc.” By virtue of the references to *rst becoming acting dean in !'),. In !'&! she became dean of fruits at the beginning of the collection, the entire source was women at Brooklyn College, where she was also director of incorporated into the Mishnah. admissions from !'## until her retirement in !'$#. She also

ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume ! "#$