A Zeman Nakat Project
From the Omer to Shavuos · Mishnah 3 of 43 · Interactive Edition
Movement I·A · Chadash — The Prohibition Established
3 · חַלָּה א:א · Challah 1:1
חֲמִשָּׁה דְבָרִים חַיָּבִים בַּחַלָּה: הַחִטִּים וְהַשְּׂעוֹרִים וְהַכֻּסְּמִין וְשִׁבֹּלֶת שׁוּעָל וְשִׁיפוֹן. הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ חַיָּבִין בַּחַלָּה, וּמִצְטָרְפִין זֶה עִם זֶה, וַאֲסוּרִין בֶּחָדָשׁ מִלִּפְנֵי הַפֶּסַח, וּמִלִּקְצֹר מִלִּפְנֵי הָעֹמֶר. וְאִם הִשְׁרִישׁוּ קֹדֶם לָעֹמֶר — הָעֹמֶר מַתִּירָן. וְאִם לָאו — אֲסוּרִין עַד שֶׁיָּבֹא הָעֹמֶר הַבָּא.
Five things are obligated in challah: wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye. These are obligated in challah and combine with each other. They are forbidden as Chadash before Pesach, and forbidden to harvest before the Omer. If they took root before the Omer — the Omer permits them. If not — forbidden until the next Omer.
Fuchsia — Rule
Green — Positive ruling
Red — Negative ruling
Purple — Condition
Black — Case / Object
IntroIntro to Challah 1:1 and Menachos 10:7 · 3:46 0:00 / 3:46
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Series context — not part of the Mishnah recitation
Listen with Ephraim Diamond · 5:52 0:00 / 5:52
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Click any Hebrew phrase above to jump to where Ephraim reads it · Highlight holds while he discusses each phrase
A picture is worth a thousand words ▾
Two boys examining grain to determine whether it took root before the Omer
The five grains — subject to challah and to the Chadash prohibition
חִטִּים
Wheat
שְׂעוֹרִים
Barley
כֻּסְּמִין
Spelt
שִׁבֹּלֶת שׁוּעָל
Oats
שִׁיפוֹן
Rye
Two obligations — and two prohibitions
Challah obligation
חַיָּבִין בַּחַלָּה, וּמִצְטָרְפִין זֶה עִם זֶה
All five are obligated in challah and combine to reach the minimum quantity. Linked by a shared halachic definition: grain that can become leavened.
Two prohibitions
אָסוּר בֶּחָדָשׁ · אָסוּר לִקְצֹר
Forbidden as Chadash before Pesach. Forbidden to harvest before the Omer. Both apply to the same five grains — the Omer releases both at once.
The Omer as the dividing line — the rooting condition
Before the Omer
אָסוּר
New grain forbidden. Harvest forbidden. The entire crop is locked.
16th Nisan
הָעֹמֶר
The moment of permission
After the Omer
מַתִּירָן
New grain permitted — but only for grain that rooted before the Omer.
Condition 1 — rooted before the Omer
וְאִם הִשְׁרִישׁוּ קֹדֶם לָעֹמֶר
הָעֹמֶר מַתִּירָן
The Omer of this year releases them. May eat new grain from the 16th of Nisan.
Condition 2 — rooted after the Omer
וְאִם לָאו
אֲסוּרִין עַד שֶׁיָּבֹא הָעֹמֶר הַבָּא
Forbidden until the next year's Omer — a full agricultural year of waiting.
Position in the Omer to Shavuos arc — 43 mishnayos
Preceding · Mishnah 2
Kiddushin 1:9
The legal framework: why Chadash applies everywhere
Current · Mishnah 3
Challah 1:1 — The Five Grains
Movement I·A
The first application: which grains are actually subject to Chadash, and what exactly does the Omer release? This mishnah names the five, states both prohibitions, and introduces the Omer's permitting function — the central engine of the entire series.
Following · Mishnah 4
Menachos 10:7
The same halacha again — in the Omer chapter itself, with genuine textual differences
‹PreviousKiddushin 1:9›NextMenachos 10:7