In the sicha of the second day of Shavuos 5713, someone presents the Rebbe with wine and calls it “first fruits.” The Rebbe asks why a gift to a Torah scholar is compared to bringing bikkurim, and why wine has a special place. The answer develops in sections יב–טו of Toras Menachem, volume 8. The citation-bearing passage is בלתי מוגה. Its printed page is unknown. ²

The Rebbe first contrasts two forms of giving. With terumah and tithes, the kohen comes to the threshing floor. The farmer retains the choice of recipient, called tovas hana’ah. Footnote 60 cites Bechoros 26b onward and Rambam, Hilchos Terumos 12:15 onward, for this point. The Rebbe also notes that a small or ungenerous separation can remain valid. These details establish what fulfillment may look like when the giver keeps his own calculations in the foreground. ²

Bikkurim has another character. The owner selects the first of the choice produce and brings it personally to the Beis HaMikdash, with a declaration and a joyful procession. The fruit goes to a human kohen, not onto the altar. The giver may even consider himself more accomplished than the recipient. Yet the giving remains joyful. The recipient’s humanity does not diminish the gift’s service of Hashem. ²

That is the Rebbe’s comparison to supporting Torah. A gift to a Torah scholar can express the giver’s commitment to Torah beyond personal calculations. The Rebbe does not dismiss ordinary charity. He explicitly recognizes its value even when the giver receives a benefit, or when a lost coin reaches a poor person. His distinction concerns the quality of the giving, not whether only the highest motive can accomplish anything. ²

The demanding case is giving without requiring the recipient to confirm the giver’s importance. In the sicha’s sharp illustration, the donor may think himself greater than the scholar and expect no thanks. Nevertheless, he gives joyfully. The Rebbe attributes this possibility to the essence of the soul, rooted in the Divine Essence. Even amid bodily needs, a household, and worldly involvement, a Jew can serve Hashem without making himself the center. ²

Wine completes this argument through its role as a symbol of revealing what is hidden. Here, what emerges is the soul’s hidden depth. The following sections connect bikkurim with Israel’s relationship to Torah and Shavuos. The point is therefore more than increased generosity. Giving for Torah can reveal a deeper relationship to Hashem through an ordinary, physical gift. ²

Return to the Mishnah on Bechoros 26b. An Israelite must tend a firstborn animal before handing it to a kohen. If the kohen asks to receive it within that period, the owner ordinarily may not give it. Rav Sheshet explains: “Because he appears like a kohen who assists at the threshing floor.” An apparently generous early handover can relieve the owner of a responsibility and make the gift resemble payment for that relief. ¹

The baraisa then names kohanim, Leviim, and poor people who help at the shepherd’s house, threshing floor, or slaughterhouse. Their designated gifts must not become their wages. Yet the same passage continues across the page break: “In all of them, the benefit of choosing belongs to the owners.” The phrase begins on 26b and concludes on 27a. This is why the sicha’s footnote says “26b onward,” rather than treating the whole formulation as a line confined to 26b. ¹

The juxtaposition can initially seem puzzling. Why preserve the owner’s choice immediately after restricting how he uses it? The Rebbe’s distinction helps us keep two questions apart. Who selects the eligible recipient? The owner does. What is being transferred? A designated sacred gift, not the owner’s private fund for purchasing assistance. Choosing its destination does not erase its character. ¹

This is an editorial clarification informed by the sicha, not a claim that the Rebbe resolves a new halachic dispute here. His comparison gives the distinction a second dimension. A gift can fulfill its legal purpose while the giver remains occupied with his own advantage. Bikkurim expresses a further possibility: the giver himself moves toward the service, rather than treating the recipient as someone who must first earn his favor. That spiritual contrast does not make every calculated gift forbidden. ¹

The daf also prevents an overbroad reading. The Mishnah permits an early transfer when a blemished firstborn will be eaten, or an unblemished one will be offered while the Beis HaMikdash stands. At the opening of 27a, the baraisa permits a specified payment from another Israelite to direct terumah to his daughter’s son, a kohen, while prohibiting the kohen-to-kohen case. Rava then states a different rule for terumah outside Eretz Yisrael. The passage is not a universal ban on every benefit connected with giving. Its actual cases distinguish lawful choice from treating these gifts as compensation. ¹

The practical application begins with a gift we already intend to give for Torah. Before sending it, ask what we quietly expect in return. Recognition? Warmth? A public acknowledgment? Those wishes are understandable. The work is to notice when they begin to govern whether the support reaches its purpose. Choosing a recipient responsibly need not mean making the recipient responsible for our sense of importance.

For example, a teacher may not thank us as warmly as we hoped. Rather than changing our support in that first moment of disappointment, pause and recall what the gift was meant to sustain. Then make the next decision on its real merits. This does not require ignoring misconduct or funding an unsuitable cause. It means separating responsible judgment from the wish to punish someone for failing to admire us.

Give the gift a little of the personal involvement expressed by bikkurim. Within the support we have responsibly chosen, make the transfer promptly, accompany it with an encouraging message, or take time to understand the Torah learning it enables. These are suggested applications, not new obligations. Their purpose is to let joy enter the act without waiting for applause afterward.

“Without calculations” should not become an excuse to neglect a household or make commitments we cannot keep. The first calculation to loosen is the demand for a personal return, not the care needed to give responsibly. We can begin with one proportionate gift whose purpose remains clear even if no one notices us. Then the gift does more than leave our hands. It gives our own priorities a chance to move toward Hashem.