Kiddushin 38a — the Talmud in English

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he says,

that therefore they did not previously eat from the new grain in the Land of Israel, because קודם לכן they had first needed to offer the omer on the sixteenth of Nisan, which is the day after Passover, in order to permit the prohibition of “new grain,”

and afterward they ate.

Rather, according to the one who says

that “dwelling places” means

after inheritance and settlement, let us eat immediately!?

Why did they not eat from the new grain immediately? For according to his words, the prohibition of “new grain” did not yet apply, until after inheritance and settlement

? And we answer: They did not eat immediately, not because they had not yet offered the omer, but because

they did not need

to eat from the new grain, since the manna still sufficed for them as food until the day after Passover.

For it is written [Exodus 16:35], “

The children of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land.

And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until their coming to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until their coming to the edge of the land of Canaan.”

There is, seemingly, a contradiction in the words of the verse, for “an inhabited land” means that they arrived in the Land of Israel itself, on the western side of the Jordan, which is more important than the land of Sihon and Og on the other side of the Jordan. For Moses was in the land of Sihon and Og, and desired to enter the Land of Israel, and said concerning it, “the good land.”

Whereas, on the other hand, “the edge of the land of Canaan” means that they were at the edge of the entrance to the Land of Israel, on the bank of the Jordan, on its eastern side—that is, they were then still in the plains of Moab, where Moses died, in the land of the Amorites.

It is impossible to say “

until their coming to an inhabited land,”

for

the verse

has already said “

to the edge of the land of Canaan.”

And it is impossible to say “

to the edge of the land of Canaan,”

for it has already been said “

until their coming to an inhabited land.”

How, then,

can the two verses be fulfilled?

Rather,

Moses died on the seventh of Adar [below it will be explained from where we learn this], and the place of his death was at “the edge of the land of Canaan,” on the eastern side of the Jordan.

and the place of his death was at “the edge of the land of Canaan,” on the eastern side of the Jordan.

And

then the

manna ceased to descend.

And they subsisted,

eating

from the manna that was in their vessels until the sixteenth of Nisan,

until their coming to “an inhabited land” on the western side of the Jordan.

Thus, the manna sufficed for them until the sixteenth of Nisan; therefore, until then they did not eat from the new grain, and not because of the prohibition of “new grain.”

It was taught in another beraita: “

And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years.”

But

during

forty years

complete

did they eat

manna?

But

only for

forty years less thirty days did they eat!

For the manna began to descend on the sixteenth of Iyar and ceased on the fifteenth of Nisan?

Rather,

the verse

comes to tell you: The cakes that they brought out of Egypt had the taste of manna in them.

And the matter is considered as though they had eaten manna beginning from the Exodus from Egypt, on the fifteenth of Nisan, and there are here forty complete years.

It was taught in another beraita: Moses died on the seventh of Adar, and he was born on the seventh of Adar.

From where is it known that he died on the seventh of Adar?

For it is stated

at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, “

And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there.”

And it is written “

And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days.”

Thus, they remained thirty days in the plains of Moab after Moses died.

And it is written

at the beginning of the Book of Joshua, “

And it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord,”

and it is written

later, that the Lord said to Joshua immediately upon the completion of the thirty days: “

Moses My servant is dead, and now arise, cross”

the Jordan.

And it is written

that Joshua commanded the officers of the people: “

Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying: Prepare provisions for yourselves, for in another three days you shall cross the Jordan.”

Thus, there were another three days, and together they are thirty-three days from the death of Moses our teacher until they crossed the Jordan.

And it is written “

And the people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month.”

That is, on the tenth of Nisan.

Subtract from them,

subtract from the tenth of Nisan,

thirty-three days backward,

until the death of Moses our teacher.

You have thus learned that Moses died on the seventh of Adar,

and there remained from Adar twenty-three days [together with the day of his death, since the month of Adar is a deficient month of twenty-nine days], and another ten days from Nisan, and together thirty-three days.

And from where is it known that Moses was born on the seventh of Adar?

For it is stated [Deuteronomy 31:2], “

The verse states:

And he said to them: I am one hundred and twenty years old today; I can no longer go out and come in.”

For it need not have been stated,

Moses did not need to say

“today.”

And

what does

“today”

teach?

It teaches that the Holy One, blessed is He, sits and completes the years of the righteous, from day to day and from month to month.

That is, they die on the same day on which they were born,

as it is stated [Exodus 23:26], “

I shall fill the number of your days.”

I will complete the number of your days.”

This is the meaning of Moses saying that today he had completed one hundred and twenty years. Thus, Moses was born on the seventh of Adar.

It was taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: Israel were commanded three mitzvot upon their entering the Land,

and these are they: new grain, orla, and prohibited mixtures, which they were commanded to fulfill only in the Land of Israel, for in the wilderness they did not sow, harvest, or plant, and it was not possible to fulfill them,

and they apply both in the Land and outside the Land.

That is, three of the mitzvot whose initial fulfillment depends upon their entering the Land apply even outside the Land.

For “new grain” is explicitly stated in the Torah as “your dwelling places,” whose meaning, according to Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai, is in every place where you dwell, even outside the Land.

And the same law applies,

from a kal va-chomer from “new grain,” we learn with regard to prohibited mixtures and orla

that they should apply

also outside the Land—

And what of “

new grain,”

whose prohibition is lenient in three respects:

Its prohibition is not an eternal prohibition,

for the prohibition against eating produce from the new crop lasts only until the end of the sixteenth of Nisan, the day of the offering of the omer.

And its prohibition is not a prohibition of benefit,

but only a prohibition of eating.

And there is a permitted time for its prohibition,

for on the sixteenth of Nisan itself it becomes permitted if they offered the omer.

And nevertheless it

applies both in the Land and outside the Land.

A kal va-chomer applies to

prohibited mixtures, whose prohibition is an eternal prohibition,

for if one sowed wheat together with a grape-stone, what grew is forbidden forever.

And their prohibition is a prohibition of benefit.

And since there is no permitted time for their prohibition, is it not the law that they should apply both in the Land and outside the Land?

And the same law applies,

from that same kal va-chomer one must also learn

with regard to orla,

that it should apply also outside the Land,

in two respects:

orla is more stringent than prohibited mixtures in two of the three stringencies listed above. Indeed, its prohibition is not an eternal prohibition, for after three years the prohibition of orla is permitted, but it is forbidden for benefit, and there is no permitted time for its prohibition: the fruit of orla is forbidden forever, and there is no permission whatsoever for the prohibition of orla.