MiMachorat HaShabbat/2

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MiMachorat HaShabbat

Exegetical Approaches

Shabbat Bereshit

Within Chag HaMatzot

Sources:Baytusim, Samaritans, Karaites - Daniel Alkumsi the Karaite, Solomon b. Yerucham the KaraiteSolomon b. Yerucham the Karaite, Milchamot Hashem Shaar 10, Yefet (commentary), Levi b,. Yefet, R. Aharon b. Yosef (Hamuvchar) Keter Torah, opponents in R. Saadia GaonSefer HaHavchanahAbout R. Saadia Gaon, Karaites in Kuzari3:41About R. Yehuda HaLevi
What must be within Chag MaMatzot?
  • ממחרת השבת – According to the Karaites, the "day following the Shabbat" (rather than Shabbat itself) must fall within the week of Chag Hamatzot.  Thus, one could conceivably bring the Omer offering and start counting as early as the 15th of Nissan.1
  • השבת – The Samaritans, in contrast, maintain that the Shabbat itself (not the "day following the Shabbat") must fall within the holiday.  As such, one would never bring the Omer offering before the sixteenth, but depending on when Shabbat were to fall, one might bring it as late as the 22nd, after the conclusion of the festival.
Evaluation of Meaning of Shabbat – This understanding of Shabbat as the seventh day of the week would seem to be the simple meaning of the word, as supported by multiple verses in Torah.  See, for example, Shemot 20:7,10, Shemot 31:14-15 and Devarim 5:12-15.2
Various mentions of Shabbat – Alkumsi and Solomon b. Yerucham3 point out that one of the advantages of this approach is that it is consistent in understanding the word "Shabbat" in all three of its occurrences in Vayikra 23:15-16  as referring to the seventh day of the week.
Lack of date – The Karaites point to another advantage of this approach; it easily explains why Shavuot, unlike other holidays, is not dated in the Torah. According to them, Shavuot actually has no fixed date, only a set day of the week and in any given year it might fall out anywhere between 5-11 Sivan.4
"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח"
  • The Karaites assert that the year the Israelites entered the land, Chag HaPesach fell on a Shabbat, and the Omer offering was brought on the next day (Nissan 15) allowing the nation to eat of the new harvest. The passage in Yehoshua, thus, does not contradict, but rather supports their understanding of "מׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת".
  • Since the Samaritans do not accept Sefer Yehoshua as part of their canon they are not bothered by any contradictions therefrom.
Objections

After Chag HaMatzot

Sources:Dead Sea Scrolls

After the First Harvest

Yom Shabbaton (Yom Tov)

A Day of Ceasement

Week