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From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-parsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       PARSHA -31: Parashat Emor


                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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                    PARASHAT HASHAVUA
                           
                      Parashat Emor
                           

   "From the Day Following Shabbat" (Vayikra 23:9-22)

                  By Rav Elchanan Samet


I. THE PROBLEM

     "When you enter the land that I am giving to you
     and  you  reap its harvest, you shall bring  the
     first  sheaf of your harvest to the  kohen.    He
     shall elevate the sheaf before God by your will;
     the  kohen shall elevate it on the day following
     the  Shabbat.  And  from the day  following   the
     Shabbat,  from  the day on which you  bring   the
     sheaf  of  elevation offering, you  shall   count
     seven  weeks.   You  must count  until   the  day
     following  the  seventh week - fifty  days,   and
     then you shall bring an offering of new grain to
     God."

     The  day  the Torah refers to as "the day   following
Shabbat" determines the scheduling of an entire array  of
mitzvot in the Jewish calendar.  On that day itself,  the
"omer"  grain  offering  is  waved,  accompanied   by  its
sacrifice.  This ends the period in which the new  year's
grain  crop  is  prohibited, marks the beginning  of  the
counting  of  the omer, and determines the  date  of  the
festival  of  Shavuot, which is observed on the  fiftieth
day thereafter.

      As  we know, Chazal (Menachot 65b) held a tradition
that  this  ambiguous  term refers to  the  sixteenth  of
Nissan,  the "day following" the first day of  Pesach,  a
tradition that formed the basis of a fundamental  dispute
between the rabbis and the heretical group of Boethusians
towards  the  end of the Second Temple era.   The  latter
group  insisted that "Shabbat" in the verse be understood
literally,  as  the  seventh  day  of  the  week.     They
therefore claimed that the day to which the verse  refers
is  the  first Sunday after the first day of Pesach.   As
such,  they always celebrated Shavuot, which occurs fifty
days  after  this day, on Sunday.  The Karaites  likewise
adopted this view, which they maintain to this very day.

II. VARIOUS UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE PESHAT

      In light of the many far-fetched attempts to find a
basis  for interpreting "Shabbat" in this verse  as  "Yom
Tov,"   we  pose  the  following  question:  When   Chazal
established  that "the day following the Shabbat"  should
be  understood as the sixteenth of Nissan, what did  they
mean?   Did they intend that the word "Shabbat"  in  this
verse be given an unusual translation - the first day  of
Yom  Tov, as opposed to what we generally call "Shabbat"?
Or perhaps they meant that although the word "Shabbat" in
the verse means what it says, nevertheless we must follow
the  halakha  as  established  by  the  Oral  Law,   which
mandates  bringing the omer offering on the sixteenth  of
Nissan (regardless of which day of the week it is)?

       Interestingly,  the  literature  of    commentaries
differs  drastically from the Gemara's treatment of  this
verse.   While the later commentators seek to demonstrate
that  even on the straightforward level of interpretation
"Shabbat" is to be understood as "Yom Tov," Chazal  never
pose  such  a claim.  Surprisingly, not one of the  eight
proofs cited in the relevant passage in Masekhet Menachot
addresses the issue of how we ought to interpret the word
"Shabbat."  What's more, the very first proof against the
Boethusians,  that of Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakai,  accepts
the  definition of "Shabbat" in the verse  as  literally,
"Shabbat."  He merely posits that a later clause  in  the
verse,  "You  shall count fifty days," must  refer  to   a
situation  where the counting began on a day  other  than
Sunday,  thus  informing us that sometimes  the  counting
will  begin on a Sunday (if Pesach falls on Shabbat)  and
sometimes  it will begin on another day (if Pesach  falls
on any other day of the week).
    
     It  seems, then, that Chazal never felt the need  to
find  a  basis  within  the text to  change  the   literal
meaning  of  the  word "Shabbat."  This is  one   striking
example  of many when the Oral Law reverses the law  that
emerges  from the straightforward meaning of the text,  a
phenomenon  noted by the Vilna Gaon in his commentary  to
the beginning of Parashat Mishpatim (Aderet Eliyahu).  He
likens  the simple meaning of the text to a stamp,  which
when  pressed against some material produces an  opposite
image.  The Gaon concludes, "One must therefore know  the
straightforward  meaning of the text, in  order  that  he
know  the  stamp."   Only by properly  understanding   the
original  "image  on  the stamp" can one  understand   its
reflection on the halakhic level.
    
     Unique  among  the  post-Chazal approaches   to  this
verse  is that of Rav Yehuda Halevi (Rihal) in his  Sefer
Ha-Kuzari  (3:41).   He  concedes  that  "Shabbat"   means
"Shabbat,"  and the day spoken of in the  verse  is  thus
Sunday.  However, the Torah merely presents this  day  as
an  example by which to demonstrate how to calculate  the
fifty-day  period  between the "omer"  offering  and   the
festival  of Shavuot.  Should the first day,  upon  which
the "omer" offering is brought, occur on Sunday, then the
fiftieth  day,  Shavuot ("the day following  the  seventh
Shabbat"), will also occur on Sunday.  The Torah presents
this  example so as to clarify how the counting  must  be
conducted and the date of Shavuot determined, in order to
avoid  possible confusion.  However, the Torah  does  not
establish a specific date for the offering of the "omer."
The  only  requirement  is  that  it  coincide  with   the
beginning of the wheat harvest.  Then, seven weeks later,
when the barley harvest begins, we observe Shavuot.
    
     All  this is according to the simple meaning of  the
verse.  However, the Halakha established a fixed day  for
the  offering  of  the omer, namely, the  second  day  of
Pesach.  This does not contradict the peshat, but neither
is it necessitated by the peshat.
    
     Rihal's thesis that the peshat of the Torah does not
establish a fixed date for the bringing of the omer,  but
merely requires its coinciding with the beginning of  the
wheat  harvest, allows him to pose a convincing challenge
to the approach of the Boethusians.  Given that the fifty-
day  period  comes to mark the passage of time  from  the
beginning of the wheat harvest to the onset of the barley
harvest,  why  would  the  day  of  the  week   bear   any
significance?    Why   would   the   Torah    link   these
commemorations  to one day of the week  over  any  other?
Rather, the Torah mandates the offering of the "omer"  at
the beginning of the barley harvest, a day determined  by
the  people themselves, after which point fifty days  are
counted, culminating with the celebration of Shavuot.
    
     Although  Rihal's approach adequately  explains   the
term  "the day following Shabbat" in the context  of  the
counting  of the omer, it does not explain its  usage  in
the  earlier verse: ".you shall bring the first sheaf  of
your  harvest to the kohen.  He shall elevate  the  sheaf
before  God.  the  kohen  shall elevate  it  on  the   day
following  Shabbat" (23:10-11).  Here,  there  exists  no
potential  ambiguity  that necessitates  an  example;  no
confusion would have arisen if the Torah had written, "on
the  sixteenth day of Nissan."  Nor can we say  that  the
Torah  utilizes  this  expression  as  a  result  of   the
forthcoming  example, since to the  contrary,  the  later
verse  is  predicated  on  the  chance  instance  of   the
sixteenth  day  falling  on Sunday.   Additionally,  this
verse  clearly  states imperatively  and  unconditionally
that the kohen must conduct the "omer" ritual on "the day
following Shabbat;" no possible flexibility is implied.

III. A NEW SUGGESTION

     The solution to this quandary may lie in one word in
the  aforementioned verse that hasn't  earned  sufficient
attention  in  the  commentaries: "He shall  elevate  the
sheaf before God 'li-retzonkhem;' the kohen shall elevate
it  on  the day following the Shabbat."  This term,  "li-
retzonkhem,"  literally, "for your  will,"  appears   with
reference  to  an  individual offering a  sacrifice  four
other  times in Sefer Vayikra (1:3, 19:5, 22:19,  22:29).
In  all  five instances, Targum Onkelos transthe term  as
"le-ra'ava lei" or "le-ra'ava lekhon," meaning  that  God
will accept the individual's offering willingly.  Several
commentators have followed Onkelos' approach.

     The Sifra and Talmud, however, explain the "will" in
the verse as referring not to God's will, but to that  of
the   individual.   They  explain  that  this   expression
teaches  several  halakhot regarding the  intent  of  the
person   offering  the  sacrifice,  all  of    which   are
indispensable  for  the  korban's  acceptance.     Several
commentators adopt this approach as well.  Given the fact
that   this  term  modifies  the  individual  (e.g.   "li-
retzonkhem"  -  for  YOUR  will,  referring  to   the  one
bringing   the  sacrifice),  this  second  interpretation
better  accommodates  the simple  reading  of  the  text.
Additionally, the Torah employs different expressions  in
reference  to  God's willing response to sacrifices  (see
Vayikra 22:21 and 1:4).

      The usage of this expression in our verse, however,
differs  significantly  from the  other  four  instances.
While  the  other  four appearances  involve  individual,
voluntary  sacrifices, our context deals with a MANDATORY
offering brought by the NATION as a whole.  How  can  the
Torah require that a mandatory korban be brought "by  the
will" of the entire nation?  The Sifra explains this term
as  indicating that the community at large is not  to  be
coerced with regard to the "omer" sacrifice.  The obvious
question, however, is, to what kind of coercion does this
refer?   Only the representatives of the High Court  were
actively  involved in this mitzva - whom would they  have
to  coerce?   Additionally, why would this  sacrifice  be
singled  out  for  such a halakha, more  than  any  other
obligatory or national offering?

       According   to   Rihal's   general  approach,   the
explanation of the verse is clear.  "By your will" refers
to  the  one detail of this sacrifice that indeed depends
upon  the decision of the nation - its date.  The  nation
determines  when the wheat harvest begins, and  thus,  by
extension,  when  to  bring the "omer"  sacrifice.    This
interpretation yields the following reading of the verse:
"He  shall  elevate the sheaf before God by  your  will,"
meaning, whenever you decide, so long as "the kohen shall
elevate  it  on  the day following the  Shabbat."    Which
Shabbat  it  is that will precede the day of  the  "omer"
depends  entirely  upon  the will  and  decision  of   the
people.

      This  reading  of the verse may help us   understand
halakha's disregard of the requirement that the "omer" be
brought  "on  the day following Shabbat."  The  condition
that we bring the "omer" on Sunday applies only when  the
date  depends  upon the subjective determination  of  the
people.   However, once a permanent date for  the  korban
was   established  (on  the  sixteenth  of  Nissan),   the
flexibility afforded by the term "by your will" no longer
exists.  Therefore, there was no longer any need for  the
restriction of "the day following Shabbat."

      (A precedent for such a phenomenon, where the Torah
establishes  certain  requirements  only  under   certain
conditions,  may be the construction of the menora.   The
requirement  to include decorative balls and  flowers  in
the  menora applies only to a golden menora.  The  menora
may  be  fashioned from other metals, as well,  in  which
case  these  ornaments  are not required.   See  Menachot
28a.)

      Alternatively,  the  Torah's requirement   that  the
"omer"  be  offered  on "the day following   Shabbat"  may
mandate that the offering be brought on the day following
a  day  when  no work is performed.  In other words,  the
interpretation of "Shabbat" is open-ended:  it  can  mean
either  the seventh day of the week, or a day upon  which
we  desist  from work.  Thus, "the day after Shabbat"  is
either  Sunday or the day following a Yom Tov.  When  the
day  of  the "omer" is subject to flexibility,  then  the
most reasonable day of cessation of work to determine the
day  of  the "omer" is Shabbat, the most frequent day  of
rest.  With the establishment of a permanent date for the
"omer,"  the halakha determined that the day of  rest  to
precede this day would be the first day of Pesach.

      If  so,  then  the conventional understanding  that
Chazal  actually  interpret the word  "Shabbat"  as   "Yom
Tov,"  is,  in a certain sense, correct.  The Torah  here
refers  to a day upon which no work is performed,  be  it
Shabbat or Yom Tov.  In actuality, however, when the  day
of  the  "omer" depended upon the people's  decision,  it
occurred  on  Sunday,  whereas  once  a  fixed  date   was
established, it is brought on the day following Yom Tov.


(Translated by David Silverberg)

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved

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