Hebrew for “New.” This refers to an early agricultural-Halachic state of the five types of grain (“chitim” – wheat; “seorim” – barley, “kusmin” – spelt, “shibbolet shual – oats, “shifon” – rye) which is obtained when they have taken root before the sixteenth of Nisan. Thus, before the sixteenth, these grains are considered “chadash,” in which they are prohibited; after the sixteenth, they enter the stage of “yashan,” old, in which they are permitted. In the time of the Temple, it was the actual Omer Offering (see below) which effected the change in status; post-Temple, it is the Day itself.
