The Lived Mishnah·A Zeman Nakat Project
Tisha B'Av Series
Mishnah 41 of 41
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
Part IV · Movement V
Anticipating the Redemption
The final ordinance looks forward: a rule set in place so that when the Bais is speedily rebuilt, no one — grown used to life without it — will stumble into an old Temple prohibition. Hope, enshrined in halacha.
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KodashimSederסדרקָדָשִׁים
MenachosMasechtaמסכתמנחות
10Perekפרקי׳
5Mishnahמשנהה׳
נושא · Topicלְאַחַר הָעֹמֶר: הֶתֵּר הֶחָדָשׁ וְיוֹם הָנֵףAfter the Omer: permitting the new grain, and the day of waving
Mishnah מנחות י׳:ה׳ · Menachos 10:5
מִשֶּׁקָּרַב הָעֹמֶר, יוֹצְאִין וּמוֹצְאִין שׁוּק יְרוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁהוּא מָלֵא קֶמַח וְקָלִי, שֶׁלֹּא בִרְצוֹן חֲכָמִים, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר.
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בִּרְצוֹן חֲכָמִים הָיוּ עוֹשִׂים.
מִשֶּׁקָּרַב הָעֹמֶר, הֻתַּר הֶחָדָשׁ מִיָּד,
וְהָרְחוֹקִים מֻתָּרִים מֵחֲצוֹת הַיּוֹם וּלְהַלָּן.
מִשֶּׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, הִתְקִין רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, שֶׁיְּהֵא יוֹם הָנֵף כֻּלּוֹ אָסוּר.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, וַהֲלֹא מִן הַתּוֹרָה הוּא אָסוּר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא כג), עַד עֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה.
מִפְּנֵי מָה הָרְחוֹקִים מֻתָּרִים מֵחֲצוֹת הַיּוֹם וּלְהַלָּן, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהֵן יוֹדְעִין שֶׁאֵין בֵּית דִּין מִתְעַצְּלִין בּוֹ.
Once the omer was offered, they would go out and find the market of Yerushalayim full of flour and parched grain — not with the Sages’ approval, the words of Rabbi Meir.
Rabbi Yehuda says: with the Sages’ approval they would do so.
Once the omer was offered, the new grain was permitted at once,
and those far off were permitted from midday onward.
After the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai enacted that the entire day of waving be forbidden.
Said Rabbi Yehuda: but is it not forbidden from the Torah, as it says (Vayikra 23): “until the very day.”
Why are those far off permitted only from midday onward? Because they know the beis din is not lax about it.
case/objectrestrictive rulingpermissive rulingTannareasonpasuk/proof textcondition
Transcript
Summary Chart
After the Omer: permitting the new grain, and the day of waving▾
CaseRulingReason
After the omer, the market filled with new grain — with the Sages' approval?Rabbi Meir: Not with their approval—
Rabbi Yehuda: With their approval—
When is the new grain permitted?In Yerushalayim: At once, when the omer is offered—
Far from Yerushalayim: From midday onwardThey know the beis din is not lax in offering the omer
What did Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai enact after the Churban?Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai: The entire day of waving is forbidden—
Rabbi Yehuda: It is forbidden from the Torah itselfVayikra 23:14
All Meforshim
Mishnah Insights
The morning after the Omer — and the whole day Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai closed off▾
עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב
R' Meir · Dor 3 · talmid of R' Akiva — רַבִּי מֵאִיר

Foremost of the five talmidim through whom R’ Akiva rebuilt Torah after the persecutions. The Gemara holds that an anonymous mishnah is R’ Meir’s (Sanhedrin 86a), so his voice underlies far more of the Mishnah than his name shows. He was a sofer by trade and, the Gemara says, was called Meir because he lit up (meir) the eyes of the chachamim in halacha (Eruvin 13b); he learned even from Elisha ben Avuya after his teacher went astray.

Why the full market was against the Sages' wish

R’ Meir reads the crowded market as a fault: with flour and parched grain ready before the Omer, people might reach out and eat chadash before it was offered, or reap before its time (Bartenura, Rambam). R’ Yehuda holds it was done with the Sages’ approval, and Rambam rules like him. The same lean shows in Chagigah 3:7, where R’ Yehuda lets a merchant who opened a cask of wine or began selling dough during the regel finish selling it as tahor even after the festival — extending the regel’s dispensation rather than holding the purity line at its end, a steady tilt toward an open marketplace over strict caution about contact with amei ha’aretz.

When those far off could eat

Once the Omer was offered the new grain was permitted at once; those far from Yerushalayim only from midday on. Rambam and Tosafos Yom Tov add the precision: they reckon by Yerushalayim’s midday, not their own, since the Omer might be brought earlier or later than the hour in their own place.

The takanah, and what it settled

With no Omer to bring, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai ruled the whole day of the waving forbidden, permitting the new grain only that night. Two concerns meet in the ruling. One looks ahead: once the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt, people should not say ‘last year we ate at daybreak, so this year too,’ forgetting that it is the Omer that permits the grain. The other looks to the moment: with no korban to release it, people might treat chodosh as barred for good, and fixing a clear time it becomes permitted assured them it may still be eaten — much as R’ Yehoshua answered those who would give up meat and wine because the altar had ceased (Bava Basra 60b).

Series Insights
Series context▾
← Previous
Rosh Hashanah 4:4
Relaxing what the Temple had required
Mishnah 41 of 41
Menachos 10:5
Guarding the memory of the Omer
Next →
Moed Katan 3:6
How the Churban changed a mitzvah's very weight

Where this sits

This is a restriction that keeps hope and guards against error. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai could have let the new grain be eaten at daybreak, as the law allowed once there was no Omer; instead he held the whole day, so the nation would not grow used to a world without the Omer and stumble when the Mikdash returns. The takanah carries the expectation of rebuilding inside it.

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