Menachos 66
Summary
- Today's learning on מנחות דף ס״ו continues the dispute with the ביתוסים over the meaning of ממחרת השבת, establishing that חז״ל interpret it as the day after the first day of פסח rather than Sunday after שבת בראשית. The text brings a second ברייתא with additional proofs, then has the גמרא evaluate which proofs withstand פירכא, and it develops the practical framework of ספירת העומר as counting days and counting weeks. The משנה then shifts to the procedure of הבאת העומר after קצירה, including how the grain is toasted and processed into an עשרון, and the status of the leftover flour regarding קדושה, מעשרות, and חלה, culminating with a clarification of רבי עקיבא’s reasoning.
- Today’s תנו רבנן derives that ממחרת השבת means ממחרת יום טוב, and it frames the ספירה as a personal obligation, שתהא ספירה לכל אחד ואחד. Rabbi Yosi bar Rabbi Yehuda argues from תספרו חמשים יום that any ספירה must total exactly fifty days, and counting from Sunday after שבת בראשית yields outcomes of fifty-one through fifty-six depending on the weekday of פסח. Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira derives from תספור לך that the start of ספירה depends on בית דין’s calendrical authority rather than the fixed שבת בראשית. Rabbi Yosi argues that if ממחרת השבת meant any שבת, the תורה would leave the identity of that שבת unknowable amid a year full of שבתות, and he adds a גזירה שוה-style link between שבת at the start of the count and שבת at its endpoint by שתי הלחם, concluding that both refer to רגל ותחילת רגל.
- The רשב״א in a תשובה in כלל ס״ח rules that someone who obligates payment “לאחר הפסח” must mean the first upcoming פסח rather than an indeterminate later one, and the טור in חושן משפט סימן מ״ב cites this. The הגהות בני יעקב points to the גמרא here, and the ספר שמחת יום טוב המהרי״ט אלגאזי challenges the analogy by noting that ראשית קצירכם narrows ממחרת השבת to the זמן הקציר, so the uncertainty is among the שבתות of קצירה rather than all שבתות of the year. The text presents this as creating tension with the רשב״א’s framework that repeated time-phrases default to the first or last occurrence.
- Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar reconciles ששת ימים תאכל מצות with שבעת ימים מצות תאכלו by attributing six days to מצה מן החדש, because חדש is permitted only after the קרבן עומר. This yields a proof that the עומר must be brought on the second day of פסח so that there remain exactly six permissible days of eating new-grain matzah within the seven-day festival. Tosafos notes that elsewhere these verses also yield that eating matzah on the seventh day is רשות, and the ספר המקנה בקידושין דף ל״ח explains via a ירושלמי that עשה של קודם מתן תורה does not override a לא תעשה, so the דרשות converge by implying no חובה of matzah beyond the first night.
- The ברייתא initially suggests that מיום הביאכם might allow beginning the count whenever one chooses after bringing the עומר, and it counters with מהחל חרמש בקמה תחל לספור to tie the onset of ספירה to the harvest act. It then proposes the reverse, that one could harvest and count and delay the offering, and it answers with מיום הביאכם to require that ספירה coincide with the day of הבאה. It further considers doing all steps by day, and it invokes שבע שבתות תמימות תהיינה to require starting the count at night so the weeks are “complete.” It finally resolves that קצירה וספירה occur בלילה while הבאה occurs ביום due to מיום הביאכם.
- Rava states that all the offered derashos have a פירכא except for the last two תנאים in the first ברייתא and the last two תנאים in the second ברייתא. The text adds that the רמב״ן in הלכות תמידין ומוספין פרק ז הלכה יא cites יהושע פרק ה ויאכלו מעבור הארץ ממחרת הפסח as evidence that the permission of new grain hinges on ממחרת הפסח, rejecting the claim that the verse merely reflects a year when פסח fell on שבת.
- Abaye teaches מצוה למימני יומי ומצוה למימני שבועי, and רבנן דבי רב אשי count both days and weeks. Amimar counts only days and not weeks, saying זכר למקדש הוא, and the text explains this through the Soloveitchik tradition that “זכר למקדש” sometimes mirrors מקדש practice and sometimes functions like זכר לחורבן to express loss. The בעל המאור at the end of פסחים is cited to explain the absence of שהחיינו on ספירת העומר as reflecting that it is only a זכר בעלמא and as a practice tied to lack of הנאה and to עגמת נפש over חורבן בית המקדש, alongside other views that connect the שהחיינו of פסח or שבועות to the mitzvah.
- Tosafos cites the בה״ג that missing an entire day of counting prevents continued counting due to lack of תמימות, while Tosafos challenges this by comparing it to missing תפילין one day without canceling future ימים. The text explains the dispute as whether ספירה is one long מצוה or forty-nine separate מצוות, and it presents the practical practice that one who forgets at night counts by day without a ברכה and continues subsequent nights with a ברכה based on a ספק ספקא. It notes that Tosafos in מגילה quotes the בה״ג as counting by day without a ברכה as a way to preserve sequence, and it brings supporting concepts from גאונים about stating “yesterday was day three and today is day four,” plus applications to an אונן, a קטן שהגדיל during ספירה as in the כתב סופר, and someone unlikely to reach the end of the count.
- The משנה describes that after cutting the grain they place it in baskets, bring it to the עזרה, and toast it with fire to fulfill מצות קלי according to רבי מאיר, while חכמים require methods that separate kernels without crushing them. The grain is placed in an אבוב that is מנוקב so the fire controls all of it, then it is spread in the עזרה with wind drying it, then ground in ריחיים של גרוסות, and an עשרון is produced after sifting through thirteen sieves. The remainder is redeemed and eaten by anyone, and it is חייב בחלה and פטור מן המעשר, while רבי עקיבא holds it is חייב in both חלה and מעשר.
- A ברייתא learns from קלוי באש that the grain is toasted in fire to fulfill מצות קלי in רבי מאיר’s view, while חכמים interpret קלי as involving a כלי, described as an אבוב של קליות of נחשת that is מנוקב ככברה so fire penetrates. The text resolves אבוב קלוי באש גרס to mean the toasting occurs before the גריסה because באש interrupts between the stages. The word כרמל is treated as a נוטריקון, including רך ומל and דבי רבי ישמעאל’s כר מלא, and several תנ״ך examples are brought to illustrate notarikon-style readings, including בצקלונו, נתעלסה, נעלסה, and ירט.
- The גמרא initially suggests that רבי עקיבא’s חיוב מעשרות rests on the idea that מירוח הקדש אינו פוטר, and it challenges this by citing the חכמים’ argument from פודה מיד גזבר where produce is חייב בחלה yet פטור מן המעשרות. The text then reports that רב כהנא בר תחליפא explains רבי עקיבא differently, that the reason for חיוב מעשרות here is that the money is allocated only for the needed עשרון, so the rest is not encompassed by הקדש. רבי יוחנן concludes that this is the established explanation, תלמוד ערוך הוא בפי של רבי עקיבא, that שלא ניתנו מעות אלא לצורך להם, and it leaves the continuation for “אמר רבא” on the next day.
Previous Page
Next Page
Daf Images are property of Vagshal and may not be reproduced.
Suggestions