3,613. First Fruits and Yoveil

Hilchos Bikkurim 4:6

If someone sells the right to harvest his field, the buyer brings the first fruits but he doesn’t recite the “confession.” This is because acquiring the fruit is not the same as acquiring the land. However, if a man brings first fruits from his wife’s property, he recites the “confession” even though he doesn’t own the land. This is derived from Deuteronomy 26:11: “…which Hashem your God has given you and your household.” If his wife dies after he has taken the first fruits and is en route to Jerusalem, he still brings the first fruits and recite the “confession.”

Hilchos Bikkurim 4:7

If someone sells his field or his trees with their land at a time when Yoveil (the Jubilee year, when land is returned to its owners) is observed, the buyer only brings the first fruits and recites the “confession” in the first Yoveil. This is because the seller is not yet confident that he’ll get the land back. If he sold it again in the next Yoveil, the buyer brings the first fruits but he doesn’t recite the “confession.” This is because he knows that he’ll only receive the fruit, which is not the same as acquiring the land.