intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

"Shall I Reap?"- The Omer & Shavu'ot in the Mikdash
“And you shall count unto you from Mi'macharat HaShabbat - after the Sabbath - the day of rest - from the day when you bring the sheaf of the waving (Omer HaTenufa); seven weeks, they shall be complete; Until the morrow of the seventh week you shall number fifty days...” (Vayikra 23:15,16)

The cutting of the grain - "the day after the Shabbat" - needed for the Omer meal- offering inaugurated the seven-week period of Sefirat Ha'Omer - the "counting of the Omer". Beginning on the second day of Pesach, the counting culminated on the 50th day with the Festival of Shavu'ot. The date of Shavu'ot was dependent on when the Omer was cut and offered in the Beit Hamkidash.

The Tzidokim - the Sadducees, a dissident group which existed during Second Temple days - maintained that the seven weeks of the counting of the Omer as ordained in the Torah were to be counted literally "from the day after the Shabbat". That meant that the Omer would be brought on the Sunday after the first day of Pesach. Therefore if the first day of Pesach was on a Thursday (the Seder being Wednesday night), the Omer would be offered in the Beit Hamikdash three days later on the following Sunday. The counting of the seven weeks by their calculation, would then begin on the Sunday after the first day of Pesach and Shavu'ot would therefore always fall on a Sunday seven weeks later. CHAZA"L, the Sages, emphasizing the connection between Pesach and Shavu'ot, taught us that the "day after the Shabbat" meant the second day of Pesach, i.e. the 16th of Nisan no matter which day it fell on. The Oral Law teaches us that the first day of Pesach - Yom Tov - was itself the 'Shabbat' prescribed in the Torah because, on Yom Tov, like Shabbat, Melacha - a technical term usually mistranslated as "work" - is forbidden.

The Gemara preserves R. Yohanan Ben Zakkai's explanation. "One passage says, ‘You shall count fifty days’ (Vayikra 23:16) while the other passage says, ‘Seven weeks shall there be complete.’ (Vayikra 23:15) How are they to be reconciled?" The first passage refers to counting fifty days without regard to the completeness of the weeks. The second verse refers to seven complete weeks where it is understood that full weeks are meant which of course begin on Sunday. The Gemara continues, "The latter passage refers to the time when (the first day) of Pesach falls on Shabbat (and then there would be seven complete weeks) and the former passage refers to when the first day of the Festival - Yom Tov - falls on a weekday" (Menachot 65b). Therefore Shavu'ot could fall on any day of the week and not just on Sunday.

The barley destined to be used for the Omer offering was grown in selected fields, facing south for maximum sun, blessed with fertile soil, needing no irrigation and with no trees. "How was (the field) prepared? In the first year it was broken up - cultivated - and in the second year, sown seventy days before Pesach. Thus it would produce fine flour in abundance." To increase the yield and quality of the grain, only half of the field was planted each year and the other half was left fallow. The following year the procedure was reversed.

The Mishna describes how the reaping of the Omer was done at the conclusion of the first day of Pesach with as much pomp and publicity as possible.

"How was it made ready? The messengers of the Court used to go out on the eve of the Festival (Erev Pesach) and tie the (unreaped barley) in bunches, but still attached to the ground, so it would be easier to cut. And the people from the nearby towns would gather there so it would be reaped with great pomp. When it grew dark (ending the first day of Pesach and beginning Chol HaMoed), the reaper called out to the people, 'Has the sun set?' and they would answer 'Yes!' (And he would ask again) 'Has the sun set?' and they answered 'Yes!' Then he asked, '(Should I cut) with this sickle?' and they answered, 'Yes!' He repeated, 'With this sickle?' and they answered, 'Yes!' 'Into this basket?' They answered 'Yes!' 'Into this basket', Yes!"

The Mishna continues. "On Shabbat, (i.e. Friday night - the eve of the second day) the reaper would say to the people, 'On this Shabbat? (The Teferet Yisrael rephrases the question. "Should I do all these [forbidden] Melachot on this Shabbat?) The people answered 'Yes!' and he would repeat, 'On this Shabbat?' and they would answer 'Yes!' He would ask, 'Shall I reap?' and they would answer 'Reap!' 'Shall I reap?' 'Reap! The reaper used to call out three times for every matter and they answered 'Yes, yes, yes." And why did they do all this? Because of the Boethusians (akin to Sadducees) who used to say, 'The Omer might not be reaped at the end of the (first) day of Pesach." (Menachot 10:3)

The Omer offering was by tradition not a sheaf but rather an Omer's measure of early ripened barley (Note Rashi on Vayikra 23:10). Needless to say, if the flour became maggoty, it was invalid for the Omer offering. As soon as the Kohanim finished offering the Omer in the Beit HaMikdash on the second day of Pesach, the people in Jerusalem were permitted to eat Chadash - the years' newly ripened grain. Elsewhere in Eretz Yisrael, Chadash could only be eaten after noon of the second day of Pesach, the 16th of Nisan. By then, they could be certain that the Omer rite in the Beit HaMikdash had already been concluded. In fact, in the days of the Mikdash, no new grain could be harvested at all until the barley for the Omer offering had been gathered and offered. After the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, R. Yohanan Ben Zakkai decreed that Chadash could not be eaten during the entire 16th of Nisan.

"They reaped it (the barley), and they put it into the baskets and they brought it into the Azara - the Temple Courtyard." On the morrow, the Omer would be offered in the Beit HaMikdash permitting the eating of Chadash, the newly ripened grain, throughout Eretz Yisrael.

<to be continued>

Catriel Sugarman gives illustrated lectures on the Beit Hamikdash and related topics. He can be reached at (02) 652-7531 or by email at acatriel@netvision.net.il. Catriel is in the process of writing a book entitled: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim's Perspective: A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service.