A Zeman Nakat Project
From the Omer to Shavuos · Mishnah 22a of 43
Movement II·D · The Omer's Legacy — Movement II closes
22a · רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה ד:ג · Rosh Hashana 4:3
בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיָה הַלּוּלָב נִטָּל בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ שִׁבְעָה, וּבַמְּדִינָה יוֹם אֶחָד.
מִשֶּׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, הִתְקִין רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי
שֶׁיְּהֵא לוּלָב נִטָּל בַּמְּדִינָה שִׁבְעָה זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָּשׁ,
וְשֶׁיְּהֵא יוֹם הָנֵף כֻּלּוֹ אָסוּר.
Originally, the lulav was taken in the Temple for seven days, and in the rest of the land for one day. After the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai enacted that the lulav be taken in the rest of the land for seven days — in commemoration of the Temple — and that the entire day of the waving of the Omer be prohibited.
Fuchsia — Prohibition
Gold — Tana
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The two texts side by side — same takanah, genuine variants
RH 4:3
שֶׁיְּהֵא לוּלָב נִטָּל בַּמְּדִינָה שִׁבְעָה זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָּשׁ, וְשֶׁיְּהֵא
שֶׁיְּהֵא — without dagesh in aleph; לַמִּקְדָּשׁ — with dagesh in dalet; comma before yom hanef clause
Sukkah 3:12
שֶׁיְּהֵא לוּלָב נִטָּל בַּמְּדִינָה שִׁבְעָה, זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָשׁ. וְשֶׁיְּהֵא
שֶׁיְּהֵא — with dagesh; לַמִּקְדָשׁ — without dagesh in dalet; period and new sentence
The literary chain — how the takanah traveled across three masechtos
Original source
Menachos 10:5
The Omer chapter — natural home. RYbZ's takanah appears here first, at the end of the Omer laws
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Collection of takanos
Rosh Hashana 4:3
Incorporated into RH 4:3 as part of a collection of RYbZ's post-churban ordinances
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Borrowed text
Sukkah 3:12
Sukkah borrowed the text from RH — the yom hanef clause is irrelevant to Sukkot, and Sukkah lacks the shofar takanah that RH also records
The lulav democratization — Plutarch, Josephus, and Philo
בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה — הָיָה לוּלָב נִטָּל בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ שִׁבְעָה
Lulav was originally a Temple-only mitzva. Outside the Temple, it was taken only on the first day. This is confirmed by Plutarch, Josephus, and Philo — all describe the lulav as a Temple/priestly practice in the first century CE. The Pharisaic extension to one day in the medina was a deliberate policy of democratizing Temple mitzvos — making every Jew a participant in practices previously restricted to the Temple precinct. RYbZ's post-churban extension to seven days everywhere continued this democratization: the Temple's seven-day lulav becomes the whole nation's seven-day lulav, as a permanent memorial.
Position in the Omer to Shavuos arc — 43 mishnayos
Preceding · Mishnah 21
Menachos 10:5
Jerusalem's market fills with grain — RYbZ's takanah first appears
Current · Mishnah 22a
Rosh Hashana 4:3 — The Takanah Travels (RH)
Movement II closes
Movement II ends with the same takanah recorded twice — in Moed for lulav, again in Moed for Sukkot. The yom hanef prohibition is appended each time as a companion to the lulav takanah. Why here? Because both takanos share the same purpose: ensuring that the Temple's practices live on after its destruction. The Omer's prohibition on yom hanef is a memorial; the lulav's seven-day extension is a memorial. RYbZ built a post-Temple Judaism on memorials. Movement III now turns from the Omer to the Shtei HaLechem.
Following · Mishnah 22b
Sukkah 3:12
The same takanah recorded in Sukkah — borrowed text, near-identical to RH