MiMachorat HaShabbat/2

MiMachorat HaShabbat

Exegetical Approaches

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Shabbat Bereshit

Within Chag HaMatzot

Sources:Perhaps the Boethusians,¹ Samaritans, Karaites - Daniel Alkumsi the Karaite, opponents in R. Saadia GaonSefer HaHavchanahAbout R. Saadia Gaon, Solomon b. Yerucham the KaraiteSolomon b. Yerucham the Karaite, Milchamot Hashem Shaar 10, Yefet (commentary), Levi b,. Yefet, Karaites in Kuzari3:41About R. Yehuda HaLevi, Aharon b. Yosef (Hamuvchar), Keter Torah,

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.²
• 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.

Why connect it to Chag HaMatzot? One of the main questions that is raised by the opponents of this position is how one is supposed to know from the verses which Shabbat is referred to;³ it could be any Shabbat of the year!  Aharon b. Levi replies that the placement of the verses connect it to Chag HaMatzot. This position assumes that there is an overlap in time between the unit of verses speaking of the holiday and those speaking of the Omer offering⁴  and the latter's dating is thus naturally informed by the former.⁵

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 5:12-15.⁶

Various mentions of Shabbat – Alkumsi and Solomon b. Yerucham⁷ 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 for Shavuot – The Karaites⁸ 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.⁹

"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח"

• The Karaites¹⁰ 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 ‎‏(‎"‏‎‏מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח‎"),¹¹‎‏ Nissan 15. allowing the nation to eat of the new harvest on that very day. The passage in Yehoshua, thus, could support 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.¹²

"תִּסְפׇּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה" – Aharon b. Yosef suggests that this time marker is equivalent to that of "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת", with both referring to the day the Omer is offered.  He compares the phrase to that in Divrei HaYamim II 31:10, "מֵהָחֵל הַתְּרוּמָה לָבִיא בֵית י"י" suggesting that both point to a day when a sacrifice is brought to the Mikdash.

Significance of date? This approach must explain what is significant about a Sunday that Hashem would decide that the counting (and thus Shavuot) need fall out on that specific day of the week.

• Two days of rest – In the Scholion to Megillat Taanit, a Boethusian tells R. Yochanan b. Zakkai that Hashem wanted the nation to rest for two consecutive days on Shavuot, which otherwise would be a short one day holiday.
• Prevent Sabbath desecration – Solomon b. Yerucham suggests instead that Shavuot was set on Sunday to ensure that the holiday never fell on Shabbat which would be problematic for bringing a Shelamim offering.

Objections

Polemical Motivations – This reading might in part be motivated by a desire to prevent the possibility of the day of the Omer sacrifice falling on a Shabbat, necessitating reaping on Shabbat.¹³  By setting a fixed day of the week, they eliminated the need to ever have to transgress the regular laws of Shabbat.¹⁴

After Chag HaMatzot

The Omer offering and counting of fifty days began on the day following the first shabbat Bereshit after the festival of Chag HaMatzot.

Sources:Dead Sea Scrolls

Meaning and mentions of Shabbat – As above, the understanding that Shabbat refers to the seventh day of the week is supported by many verses throughout Tanakh.  This interpretation also allows one to explain all  three appearances of the word in the same manner.

Why connected to the Shabbat after Chag HaMatazot? According to this approach, the verses which speak of the Omer offering follow chronologically from those that precede them. As such, it is natural to assume that the Shabbat referred to is the one that falls after Chag HaMatzot and not within it.

Dating of "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת" – Unlike the above approach, due to the unique calendar of the Dead Sea sect¹⁵ whose year is divisible by seven, the Omer offering was always brought not only on a set day of the week but also on a set date of the month, the 26th of Nissan.¹⁶ As such, according to their calendar,¹⁷ Shavuot always falls on the 15th of Sivan.¹⁸

Lack of date for Shavuot – Since the Qumran sect does assert that the holiday of Shavuot has a set date¹⁹ it is surprising that the Torah never mentions one.  They might reply that it was simply unnecessary since the law requires one to count from the Omer offering until the holiday.²⁰

"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח" – This verse in Yehoshua is difficult for this approach as it implies that the Israelites ate from the new wheat on the 15th of Nissan, while, according to Qumran, this should have been prohibited until the 26th of Nissan when the Omer was brought.  They might reply that the verse is not speaking of eating of the new produce but rather the old.²¹

"תִּסְפׇּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה"

Significance of date? As above, this approach might suggest that really there was no inherent signifcance to the daym, but Hashem specifically chose a Sunday for both the bringing of the Omer and Shavuot so as to eliminate any need for desecration of Shabbat (in reaping or the sacrificng of Shelamim offerings).

After the First Harvest

The Omer was brought on the first Sunday following the initial harvest of the season.

Sources:The Samaritan sect the Savoim,²² מישויה אלעכברי, a Karaite of the "Mourners of Zion"²³

Meaning and mentions of Shabbat – As above, one of the advantages of this approach is the ability to uphold the simple interpretation of the word Shabbat as the seventh day of the week in all its appearances in the passage.

"תִּסְפׇּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה" – According to this approach the time markers in Vayikra and Devarim complement each other.  The former ("מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת") teaches which day of the week the Omer is to be brought²⁴ while the latter ("הָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה")  explains when this day falls out during the year.²⁵

Dating of "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת" – This position, like the first approach above, assumes that there is no set date for the Omer offering; it is totally dependent on nature and can fall before, during, or after Chag HaMatzot.

Lack of Date for Shavuot – Since the date of the Omer offering varies from year to year based on the agricultural climate, it is easily understood why the Torah could not write a set date for Shavuot; it does not have one.

Disconnect from Chag HaMatzot – This position disconnects the Omer offering and count from Chag HaMatzot entirely.²⁶  It suggests that the new heading of verse 9, "וַיְדַבֵּר י"י אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר" breaks the verses into two distinct units, leaving no reason why the dating of the Omer should be related to the verses speaking of Chag HaMatzot.²⁷

"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח" – This position could maintain that the year the nation entered the land the first harvest was early and the first Sunday afterwards coincided with "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח", when they brought the Omer and ate from the new grains.

Significance to Sunday – This position, even more than the others in this category, must explain why Hashem would think it necessary to choose a specific day of the week to bring the Omer.  If the dating is so variable due to the changes in nature from one year to the next, why not allow the day of the week to be variable as well?²⁸  They might agree with the suggestion above that the choice was related to ensuring that Shabbat never  be violated.

Yom Shabbaton (Yom Tov)

A Day of Ceasement

Week

¹ See Megillat Taanit, Scholion 8 Nissan, Mishna Menachot 10:3, Tosefta Rosh HaShanah 1:15, and Tosefta Menachot 10:23 who all bring their opinion in order to combat it. These sources all have the Boethusians mark both the day of bringing the Omer and Shavuot on "the day after Shabbat Bereshit", but it is not clear if this refers to the Shabbat Bereshit within Chag HaMatzot or afterwards. 

² This would happen any year in which the fourteenth of Nissan coincided with Shabbat.

³ See, for example, the question of  R. Yose in Sifra Emor 10:12:1-5 and Bavli Menachot 65b-66a and the discussion of R. Saadia as quoted in the commentary of Yefet. See also Rashi and Ramaban who point to thsi question as being the strongest of those raised in the gemara. The very fact that so many sects accepted the idea that the word Shabbat referred to a day of the week but nonetheless disagree regarding when that Shabbat fell, highlights the problem.

⁴ Though the latter follows the former in the text, the two speak of the same time period.  Since the rituals are distinct, though, each is relayed separately, with its own passage and unique heading despite the chronological overlap.  The Rabbinates read the chronology of the verses in the same way, but the Qumarn sect do not.

⁵ Though one might argue that this still leaves ambiguity if the Shabbat referred to falls in the middle of Chag HaMatzot or afterwards, Solomon b Yerusham argues that this is as much of a problem for the Rabbinates. According to them too it is unlcear if "the day following the Shabbat" refers to the first or second Yom Tov of the holiday.  See also Yefet who argues similarly.

⁶ It should be noted, though, that in many of its appearances in Torah the word "Shabbat" might not connote a proper noun, the name of a day of the week, but might more generally be pointing to a day in which something ceased.  See, for example, its usage in Shemot 15:25-25 or Vayikra 23:3, and the opinion below which takes this understanding in Vayikra 23:15 as well.  See, though, Solomon b. Yerucham and Aharon b. Yosef who argue that the definitive "ה"  in the beginning of the word "הַשַּׁבָּת" suggests that it is a defined day, known from beforehand as the special day of the week, Shabbat.

⁷ See also the position that R. Saadia Gaon is responding to in his ספר הבחנה.  One of the main arguments of the Karaites against the Rabbinate approach was the latter's inconsistency in understanding the word Shabbat in each of its appearances in the unit.

⁸ See, for instance, Alkumsi, Solomon b. Yerucham and Levi b. Yefet.  See also those to whom R. Saadia Gaon is responding in his ספר ההבחנה.

⁹ According to the Samaritans the date is also variable but ranges between 6-12 Sivan instead.  [See above that the Karaites and Samaritans disagreed about whether one began counting on the first Sunday of Chag HaMatzot if that fell out on the 15th of Nissan.]  Such flexible dating serves to sever the direct connection between Shavuot and the giving of the Torah.  As neither the Samaritans nor the  Karaites assume that the revelation at Sinai occurred on 6 Sivan, they had no incentive to set Shavuot on that date.  [The Karaite R. Aharon b. Yosef, in his comments to Shemot 18:29, asserts that the date of revelation is 3 Sivan, while the Samaritans commemorate it on the 46th day of the Omer.  However, since the Samaritans celebrate Shavuot for a full week, beginning on the Monday of the last week of the Omer, they too end up connecting revelation and the holiday.]

¹⁰ See Alkumsi and Solomon b. Yerucham.  Aharon b. Yosef further points out that according to the Rabbinate position, in contrast, the verse in Yehoshua suggests that the Israelites sinned in eating from the new harvest before the day of bringing the Omer!  See below how the sages understand the verse.

¹¹ Pesach is understood to be the fourteenth of Nissan, the day the Pesach offering was brought.  This fits with the usage and dating of the term in Bemidbar 33:3.

¹² As they maintain that one can never bring the Omer before the sixteenth of the moth, they cannot explain the verse as do the Karaites.

¹³ See Tosefta Meanchot 10:23 which suggests that the Boethusians oposed the date for this reason. See also Solomon b. Yerucham's similar argument above regarding the desire to eliminate any problems bringing the Shelamim offering if Shavuot were to fall on Shabbat.

¹⁴ This discomfort was not shared by the Rabbinates who suggest in several cases that another law might supersede the laws of Shabbat. 

¹⁵ The Torah does not lay forth rules as to how one should set up a calendar and different sects chose different methods.  While the sages opted to make a combination lunar-solar calendar, the Qumran sect preferred  a solar one of 364 days and 52 weeks.  As this is divisible by seven, all monthly dates consistently fall out on the same day of the week.  New months were not determined by the moon but set to be 30 days each, with every third month being 31.
The sect set יום רביעי as the first day of its year, perhaps because on this day of creation the luminaries were established to be "לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים".  As such, both the first of Nissan and the 15th of Nissan fall out on a Wednesday, and the day following Shabbat Bereshit after Chag HaMatzot is always the 26th of Nissan.

¹⁶ Others who adopt this approach but do not abide by the Dead Sea sect calendar would say that the date is variable and could fall anywhere between the 22nd and 28th of Nissan, making Shavuot fall anywhere between the 12th and 18th of Sivan.

¹⁷ Since they maintain that Nissan and Iyyar always have thirty days, a count of fifty days from the 26th of Nissan would end with the 15th of Sivan.

¹⁸ Compare with Jubilees1:1-315:1-416:16-1844:1-6About Jubilees which also sets the holiday on the fifteenth of the month, the day which it understands to be the revelation at Sinai.  As is its wont, Jubilees roots this date with earlier events associated to the Patriarchs, suggesting that the Covenant between the Pieces, Avraham's circumcision and the birth of Yitzchak all occurred on this date as well.  As such, from early on the date was related to covenant making.
Qumran might also associate the date with the revelation at Sinai, in which case, despite their different starting point for the fifty day count, they agree with Rabbinates that Shavuot is "חג מתן תורה". [This would be another point of difference between this position and that of the Karaites above.]

¹⁹ See above point.

²⁰ Compare this response with the similar one of the Rabbis below.

²¹ See Ibn Ezra in the name of R. Saadia who raises this possibility below.

²² See the commentary of R. D"Z Hoffmann who paraphrases and analyses this approach.

²³  See R.. D"Z Hoffmann who mentions this approach and the discussion in Y. Erder, "אבלי ציון הקראים ומגילות קומראן" (Tel Aviv, 2004): 184-187.

²⁴ From Vayikra alone, as the Rabbinates point out, one might indeed not know which Shabbat is referred to.  It is only by looking at both sources together that a complete picture can be drawn.

²⁵ The description of the Omer as "רֵאשִׁית קְצִירְכֶם" further supports the connection to the season of "הָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה".

²⁶  R. D"Z Hoffmann argues against such a disconnect.  He points out that in the list of festivals in Bemidbar 28-29, the Omer is never mentioned.  If one suggests that it is subsumed within the holiday of Pesach this is not problematic, but if one wants to maintain that the two holidays each stand on their own, it should have been counted distinctly.

²⁷ The followers of מישויה try to support their position by pointing out that had the Omer been tied to Chag HaMatzot, when listing the sacrifices of the day the verse should have included the words "מלבד הנפת העומר". On other festival days, the verses list not just the sacrifices unique to the day but others that might need to be brought on that day as well, using such language.  See, for example, Bemidbar 29:1-6,  where after the special Rosh HaShanah offerings are listed, the verse adds "מִלְּבַד עֹלַת הַחֹדֶשׁ וּמִנְחָתָהּ".
One might respond that, unlike Bemidbar 28-29, Vayikra 23 is not trying to give a comprehensive listing of all the sacrifices of the day and thus, also does not say "מִלְּבַד עֹלַת הַבֹּקֶר אֲשֶׁר לְעֹלַת הַתָּמִיד" despite this being sacrificed on Chag HaMatzot as well.

²⁸ See R. David Zvi Hoffmann who brings this argument.