MiMachorat HaShabbat/2

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MiMachorat HaShabbat

Exegetical Approaches

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Shabbat Bereshit

The word Shabbat refers to the seventh day of the week.  This position subdivides regarding when the Shabbat falls:

Within Chag HaMatzot

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 of Nissan, 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 5:12-15.3
Various mentions of Shabbat – The Karaites4 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. Nonetheless, the additional directive "be complete" at the end of the phrase "שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה" is somewhat difficult for this approach, as it is unclear what it means if the word Shabbatot simply refers to Sundays.5
How would one know that the Shabbat is within 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;6 it could be any Shabbat of the year!  Aharon b. Levi the Karaite 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 offering7  and the latter's dating is thus naturally informed by the former.8
Lack of date for Shavuot – The Karaites9 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.10
"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח"
  • The Karaites11 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"),12‎‏ 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.13
"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 Sunday? 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 – Salmon b. Yerucham the Karaite 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.
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.14  By setting a fixed day of the week, they eliminated the need to ever have to transgress the regular laws of Shabbat.15

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.

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.
How would one know that the Shabbat is after Chag HaMatzot? 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 right after Chag HaMatzot and not within it.
Dating of "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת" – Unlike the above approach, due to the unique calendar of the Dead Sea sect16 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.17 As such, according to their calendar,18 Shavuot always falls on the 15th of Sivan.19
Lack of date for Shavuot – Since the Qumran sect does assert that the holiday of Shavuot has a set date20 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.21
"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 or 16th 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.22
"תִּסְפׇּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה"
Significance of Sunday? As above, this approach might suggest that really there was no inherent signifcance to the day, 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 sacrificing of Shelamim offerings).

After the First Harvest

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

Sources:The Samaritan sect the Savoim,23 מישויה אלעכברי, a Karaite of the "Mourners of Zion"24
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 brought25 while the latter ("הָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה")  explains when this day falls out during the year.26
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.27  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.28
"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?29  They might agree with the suggestion above that the choice was related to ensuring that Shabbat never  be violated.

Yom Shabbaton (Yom Tov)

Shabbat is another way of referring to Yom Tov.  Commentators disagree about which Yom Tov the verse is referring:

The First Yom Tov of Chag HaMatzot

The Omer offering is brought on the day after the first Yom Tov of Chag HaMaztot, which is always equivalent to the 16th of Nissan.

Meaning of Shabbat – The Karaites question whether the meaning Yom Tov is a valid definition of the word Shabbat.32 The Scholion to Megillat Taanit, Lekach Tov and Ibn Ezra33 respond that many other holidays are called a "Shabbaton", pointing to Rosh HaShanah, Yom HaKippurim and Sukkot as examples.34  From these one can learn that the word Shabbaton, and hence, Shabbat, is not limited in meaning to a specific day of the week, but can refer to any Yom Tov.35
Why use a word with a secondary meaning? R. D"Z Hoffmann points out that the alternatives would have been ambiguous.  The term "ממחרת הפסח" could refer to either the fifteenth or sixteenth of the month36 and the term "ממחרת החג" would likely be understood as referring to the 22nd of Nissan, the day after the entire festival.37
Various mentions of Shabbat – This position maintains that while the initial appearance of the word Shabbat ("וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת") means Yom Tov; in the later phrases, "שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת" and "עַד מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת" it means week.38 The Karaites39 point to this inconsistency as a disadvantage of this approach. R. Saadia and Ibn Ezra rebut that this is an example of normal variation and literary artistry throughout Tanakh. Often, even within one verse, the text might play with words, using the same root for different understandings.40
Lack of date for Shavuot – R. Saadia asserts that no date is given for Shavuot not because it varies from year to year, but simply because it was unnecessary.  Once the Torah set when to begin the count of fifty days, anyone could calculate when the festival falls.41
"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח" – These commentators disagree regarding the dating of "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח" and thus how this verse works with the date of bringing the Omer::
  • Fifteenth of Nissan – According to Ibn Ezra "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח" refers to the fifteenth of Nissan,42 when eating of the new wheat was still prohibited.  However, he suggests43 that the verse speaks of eating from the old grain.44 An opinion in Yerushalmi Challah 2:1 alternatively asserts that the prohibition of "new wheat" only took effect after the conquest.
  • Sixteenth of Nissan – Other exegetes45 maintain that "מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח" is the 16th of Nissan.  Since the Pesach sacrifice is eaten on the eve of the fifteenth, the next new day is the 16th. This is equivalent to "‏"‏מִמׇּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת‏‎46 when the Omer is brought and the new grain is permitted.47
"תִּסְפׇּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה" – This position asserts that the new harvest begins on the sixteenth of Nissan.  The different time markers in Vayikra and Devarim are just two expressions of teh same idea.
Polemical Motivations
  • Transgressing of Shabbat – As opposed to the Sectarians, the Sages were not bothered by the potential trangressing of Shabbat were the Day of the Waving of the Omer to fall on it.  As such, they were more concerned with setting amonthly date rather than a day of the week for the offering.
  • Shavuot and Matan Torah – It is possible that part of the Rabbinate disagreement with the Karaites related to their desire to connect Shavuot with the revelation at Sinai.  Since this was associated with the sixth of Sivan, they had an incentive to date Shavuot then.

The Second Yom Tov of Chag Hamatzot

The Day of the Waving of the Omer is the morrow of the second Yom Tov of Chag HaMatzot, which dates to the 22nd of Nissan.

Sources:PeshittaVayikra 23:11About the Peshitta, Some Ethiopian Jews48
Meaning of Shabbat – This position, as above, might point to other holidays which are referred to as a Shabbaton to support the possibility that a secondary meaning of the word "Shabbat" is Yom Tov.
Various mentions of Shabbat – According to this poistion, too, only the first mention of Shabbat refers to Yom tov, while the others mean "week".  As above, the variationm ight be attributed to the Torah's liteary artistry.
Lack of date for Shavuot – The dates of both the bringing of the Omer and Shavuot are not avriable
"וַיֹּאכְלוּ מֵעֲבוּר הָאָרֶץ מִמׇּחֳרַת הַפֶּסַח"

A Day of Ceasement

Week