Menachot 71a (עא.) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Elazar said to him

to Rabbi Yoshiyya of his generation [

to Rabbi Yoshiyya the amora, a contemporary and contemporary peer of Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat, the amora]:

Do not sit,

do not sit; rather, stand

on your feet

on your feet,

until you explain this matter to me,

until you explain this matter to me:

From where is it derived that the omer permits produce once it has taken root,

even though at the time of the omer it had not yet grown at all?

And we challenge this:

From where do we know this!?

Can one really ask, “From where?” The reason is הרי משום

as it is written

in connection with the meal offering of the omer: “

Spring produce

roasted in fire, crushed produce of the fresh ear; you shall bring the meal offering of your first fruits.” And

by implication

you learn from this

that there is also

produce

that is not spring produce [

produce that has not fully ripened], which too is permitted through the omer. For Scripture excluded produce that is not spring produce only with regard to the omer itself, but it did not exclude it from the permission effected through the omer. Thus we learn that produce is permitted even when it has merely taken root.

And we object:

But perhaps

produce

that is not spring produce [

fully ripened] is indeed permitted when it is at the stage of the omer,

but nevertheless

Scripture permitted it only when it was such

that it had already entered

already

one-third

of its growth before the omer. But that mere rooting is sufficient cannot be learned from here!?

Rather, Shmuel said

there is another source for permitting produce once it has taken root, as it is stated: “

From the beginning of the sickle

in the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.”

Is it not so

is it not the case that

by implication

you learn from this

that there is

produce

that is not “

within

the sickle” [

the harvest sickle], namely, produce that has not reached one-third of its growth and is not fit for harvesting, which too is permitted through the omer. Scripture excluded this produce only from the omer itself, and not from the permission effected through it. Thus even produce that has not reached one-third of its growth is permitted through it.

We still object:

But perhaps

produce

that is not within the sickle [

that has not reached one-third of its growth] is indeed permitted,

but nevertheless

it is permitted only when it was already

fodder

at the time of the omer and fit for an animal. But mere rooting does not suffice!?

He said

he answered,

Rabbi Yitzhak:

it is written

standing grain.

Is it not so

is it not the case that

by implication

you learn from this that there is produce

that is not fit to be standing grain,

and Scripture permitted it through the bringing of the omer? But fodder is already fit to be standing grain; necessarily, then, the omer permits produce that has merely taken root.

We still object:

But perhaps

produce

that is not fit to be standing grain

is indeed permitted,

but nevertheless

it is permitted only when it had already been

a reedlike growth [

produce that had grown slightly, enough for the head of the ear to bend toward its base].

Rather, Rava said

there is another source for the law of rooting with regard to the omer: It is written concerning the two loaves brought on Shavuot: “And the festival of the harvest, the first fruits of your labor, which you sow in the field.” From the expression

“which you sow”

we learn that

from the time of sowing—

that is, produce that had only been sown in the field at the time of the omer—the omer permits it.

He said

Rab Pappa raised an objection

to Rava: If so,

if from “which you sow” you learn that the omer permits produce that has merely been sown in the field, then

even

though

it has not yet

taken root as well

it should be permitted, and from where do you know that rooting is required!?

He said

he answered

him

Rava to Rab Pappa:

My master of secrets [

a Torah scholar, from the expression “the secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him”]! For “you sow

in the field”

is written,

which implies that the seed must be absorbed and take root in the field, and not merely be sown.

Mishna:

Although it is prohibited to harvest before the omer, nevertheless:

They may harvest

the produce in

an irrigated field [

a spring is found within it, and it does not grow from rainwater]

in the valleys—

For we learned below, on 85a: The omer and the two loaves may not be brought [as an initial preference] from manure fields or from irrigated fields, because their produce is inferior; and in the beraita there, the Gemara expounds that harvesting was prohibited only “from a place from which you bring” the omer. Since the omer does not come from an irrigated field, harvesting there is not prohibited by Torah law—

Nevertheless, the Sages prohibited an ordinary irrigated field; only irrigated fields in the valleys, where there would be a great loss if they were not harvested, because they ripen earlier than the others, were not prohibited.

But they may not make stacks,

they may not make a stack of the produce harvested there until they bring the omer.

The people of Jericho who had irrigated fields in the valleys

harvested

them

with the consent of the Sages,

that is, the Sages did not object to this

—

and they made stacks

of what they had harvested

without the consent of the Sages, and

nevertheless

the Sages did not reprimand them.

The Mishna continues explaining additional harvests that are permitted before the omer: likewise,

one may harvest -

it is permitted to harvest -

for fodder,

when it is still fodder, before it has ripened

and feed

in order to feed the fodder

to an animal;

because harvesting fodder for an animal is not considered harvesting, and was not prohibited.

Rabbi Yehuda said,

to explain the words of the first tanna [for wherever Rabbi Yehuda teaches “When,” he comes to explain]:

When

is it permitted to begin harvesting even after the grain has reached one-third of its growth?

When he began

harvesting the grain of the field

before it had reached

one-third

of its growth

[before it had grown to one-third of its full growth]; then he may continue harvesting the rest of the grain of the field for the animal even after it has reached one-third of its growth.

Rabbi Shimon says:

One may also harvest

[he may begin and harvest]

after it has reached

one-third

of its growth,

and feed it to his animal.

And

likewise

one may harvest

before the omer

because of

the

saplings,

[saplings of a tree, among which grain has been sown,] so that the saplings will not be damaged; and because that grain is unfit for the omer, as we learned below, on 85a: The omer is not brought from a field containing trees, because the trees draw nourishment from the soil and weaken the grain.

And because of a house of mourning,

if the comforters require an open area in order to recite “the wide blessing,” they are permitted to harvest, because a harvest undertaken for a mitzva is permitted, as the Gemara explains.

And

likewise it is permitted to harvest

because of the interruption of the beit-midrash,

if they require a place in which the students can sit and study Torah; they are permitted to harvest, since it is a harvest for a mitzva.

But one may not make them -

the harvested grain, when it was harvested for these reasons -

into bundles; rather, they leave

the harvested grain

in piles,

[unbound sheaves], but not in bound sheaves; the reason will be explained in the Gemara. From here the Mishna turns to the omer itself:

The mitzva of the omer is for it to come from standing grain,

which one harvests for the sake of the mitzva; but if

he did not find

grain standing to harvest,

he brings it from sheaves

that were harvested not for the sake of the mitzva.

Its mitzva,

that of the omer,

is for it to come from moist grain

[moist grain], as it is stated: “You shall offer karmel,” which is an acronym for “soft and crushed by hand”; but if

he did not find

moist grain,

he brings it from dry grain.

Its mitzva,

Its mitzva,

that of the omer,

is to harvest at night,

the night of the sixteenth of Nisan;

and if it was harvested during the day -

it is valid,

and it overrides Shabbat.

Gemara:

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Binyamin says:

One verse says: “When you enter the land,”

“and you shall harvest its harvest;”

“and you shall bring the omer,

the first of your harvest, to the priest,” which implies: You shall harvest your own harvest, and afterward bring the omer. If so, it is permitted to harvest before the harvesting of the omer.

And it is written

later in the verse: “[And you shall bring the omer]

the first of your harvest to the priest,”

which implies that the omer must be the first of the harvest, and that one may not harvest for himself before harvesting the omer -

How can this be?

How can these two verses both be fulfilled? Sometimes you may harvest, and sometimes you may not harvest:

From a place from which you bring

[it is fit to bring] the omer, from there

you may not harvest,

but

from a place from which you do not bring -

such as an irrigated field, as stated below, on 85a -

you may harvest.

And this is the reason for what we learned: One may harvest irrigated fields in the valleys, as was explained in the Mishna.

And we challenge:

Say:

Perhaps the verse came to teach:

From the species that you bring

the omer, meaning, from the species of barley,

you may not reap;

and

from a species that you do not bring—

meaning, the other species of grain—

you may reap!?

And we answer:

You cannot say that

you cannot say so,

on the basis of Rabbi Yohanan,

who earlier, on 70b, derived from the juxtaposition of “first” and “first,” from the halakhot of ḥalla, that reaping the five species of grain is prohibited in the same manner that they become subject to the mitzva of ḥalla.

We learned in the Mishna:

The people of Jericho reaped with the approval of the Sages, and heaped produce without the approval of the Sages,

and they did not protest against them:

Who is it that you hear saying

the expression

“protested”

and

“did not

protest”?

It is

Rabbi Yehuda,

who used this expression in the beraita cited below; necessarily, then, the latter clause follows Rabbi Yehuda. If so, the first clause is difficult:

And

does

Rabbi Yehuda hold that the reaping of the people of Jericho was with the approval of the Sages

and does Rabbi Yehuda hold that the reaping was with the approval of the Sages?

But it was taught

in a beraita that Rabbi Meir is the one who holds this, whereas Rabbi Yehuda disagrees and holds that even their reaping was without the approval of the Sages!?

As it was taught:

The people of Jericho performed six things, three

of them

with the approval of the Sages,

they would perform,

and three without the approval of the Sages,

they would perform.

And these

are the three

with the approval of the Sages

that they would perform:

1.

They would graft palm trees throughout the entire day

of the eve of Passover, even after midday, when work is prohibited, because they held that grafting is not a significant form of labor.

2.

And they would recite the Shema continuously,

meaning, they would recite the first verse of the Shema without interruption and would not pause to leave space between one word and the next.

And they would reap

their fields

before the omer,

as it is explained in our Mishna that their reaping was with the approval of the Sages.

They performed all these

with the approval of the Sages.

And these

are the three

without the approval of the Sages

that they would perform:

1. They would also

heap produce before the omer,

as it is explained in our Mishna that they heaped produce without the approval of the Sages.

2.

And they would permit the shoots of consecrated carob and sycamore trees,

meaning, their fathers had consecrated carob and sycamore trees, and they would permit people to benefit from the growth that sprouted from them.

3.

And they would make breaches in their gardens and orchards

on weekdays—in order

to feed the fallen fruit

to the poor

during years of famine,

even

on Shabbatot and Festivals,

because they were not concerned lest one climb up and detach fruit,

the statement of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda said to him: If they performed all these with the approval of the Sages,

all of these,

should everyone perform so!?

Rather, both these and those

the six that you mention

they performed

were performed

without the approval of the Sages;

and according to the actions performed by the people of Jericho—as Rabbi Yehuda will enumerate them—the division was different:

And regarding three they protested against them, and regarding three they did not protest against them,

although they performed them without the approval of the Sages.

And these are the ones regarding which they did not protest against them,

although they performed them without the approval of the Sages. [Two of them are those that Rabbi Meir said they performed with the approval of the Sages; of the remaining actions listed here, one is something about which Rabbi Meir said they performed without the approval of the Sages, and one is something about which Rabbi Meir said they performed with the approval of the Sages]:

a.

They would graft palm trees throughout the entire day,

unlike Rabbi Meir, who holds that they performed this with the approval of the Sages.

b.

And they would recite the Shema continuously,

unlike Rabbi Meir, who likewise holds that they performed this with the approval of the Sages.

c.

And they would reap

before the omer, unlike Rabbi Meir, who likewise holds that they performed this with the approval of the Sages.

And they would heap produce before the omer,

a ruling that Rabbi Yehuda transferred from the second division in Rabbi Meir’s statement to the first division in his own statement; there is no legal disagreement between them concerning this.

And these

are the three

that

even

they protested against them—two of them are those about which Rabbi Meir said that they performed without the approval of the Sages, and the third is an additional matter not mentioned by Rabbi Meir, after Rabbi Yehuda transferred the heaping of produce to the first division: