Menachos 65
Summary
- The daf presents the Mishnah’s public procedure for harvesting the barley for the Korban Omer on Motza’ei Yom Tov and explains that the repeated questions and answers create a loud, unmistakable public demonstration against the Beitusim claim that the Omer is harvested only on Motza’ei Shabbat. The Gemara brings a Beraita from Megillat Ta’anit listing celebratory days in Nisan when fasting or eulogies are restricted, tying those dates to victories over Tzedukim and Beitusim disputes about communal offerings and the dating of Shavuot. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai rebuts a Beitusi argument about Moshe Rabbeinu’s intent and offers a textual reconciliation between counting fifty days and having seven complete weeks. Multiple Tannaim then give additional derashot establishing that “mimacharat haShabbat” means the day after Yom Tov, not Sunday after Saturday.
- A sponsorship is stated לעילוי נשמת מרת מרים שרה בת יעקב משה הרי נשמה שיהיה לו עליה. The learning begins on Menachot 65 near the top of the amud with a new Mishnah about the Korban Omer and its practical harvest procedure.
- Agents of Beit Din go out on Erev Yom Tov before the first day of Pesach and tie bundles of barley while it is still attached to the ground so it will be easier to cut on Motza’ei Yom Tov. Nearby towns gather at the site so the harvesting is done with public fanfare, and once it is dark the harvester repeatedly asks the crowd “ba haShemesh,” “magal zo,” and “kupah zo,” and on Shabbat he also repeatedly asks “Shabbat zo,” with the people answering “hen” each time. He then asks “ektzor” and they answer “ketzor,” and this repetition occurs three times for each detail. The Mishnah states that this spectacle is done מפני הבייתוסים who claim that the Omer is not harvested on Motza’ei Yom Tov but rather on Motza’ei Shabbat, and the public repetition is meant to uproot their claim.
- A Beraita from Megillat Ta’anit states *Eilin yomaya delo lehit’ana’ah behon* and that some days are also restricted from eulogies, and it lists from Rosh Chodesh Nisan until the eighth as days when eulogies are forbidden because the Tamid was established, and from the eighth of Nisan until the end of the festival as days when fasting is forbidden because the date of Shavuot was settled. The Gemara explains that the Tzedukim claimed an individual may volunteer and bring the Tamid, deriving it from the singular wording “ta’aseh,” and the Rabbis answered from “tishmeru” that all communal offerings come from Terumat HaLishkah, making the Tamid a communal-funded korban. The Gemara explains that the later restriction is tied to refuting the Beitusim who say *Atzeret achar haShabbat* and interpret “mimacharat haShabbat” as Sunday after Saturday, which would force Shavuot to always be on Sunday.
- Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai confronts the Beitusim, calls them “shotim,” and asks for their source, and only one elder responds by claiming Moshe Rabbeinu loved Israel and therefore arranged Shavuot after Shabbat so Israel would enjoy two consecutive days. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai counters with the verse describing an eleven-day journey from Chorev to near Eretz Yisrael and argues that if Moshe Rabbeinu loved Israel he would not have delayed them in the midbar for forty years, and he rejects their talk as “sichah betelah.” He then reconciles “tisberu chamishim yom” with “sheva Shabbatot temimot tihyenah” by saying the “complete weeks” formulation fits when Yom Tov falls on Shabbat, while the “fifty days” formulation applies when Yom Tov falls in the middle of the week, showing Shavuot does not always fall on Sunday.
- Rabbi Eliezer says the prior reconciliation is unnecessary because “sheva Shavuot tispor lach” makes the counting dependent on Beit Din, since Beit Din establishes the months and thus the calendar of Yamim Tovim, and this excludes Shabbat Bereishit which everyone can count independently. Rabbi Yehoshua derives that the Torah links counting days with sanctifying both the month and Shavuot, and he argues Shavuot must be recognizable from the outset of its counting, which would not be true if the start date floated to the first Sunday after a Shabbat during Pesach. Rabbi Yishmael derives from bringing the Omer on Pesach and the Shtei HaLechem on Shavuot that just as the latter is brought at the onset of its festival, so too the Omer is tied to the beginning of the Pesach festival rather than waiting for a Sunday. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira links the word “Shabbat” in adjacent verses and treats it as a festival-week framework, concluding the Omer begins right after the start of Yom Tov rather than after Saturday.
- A later Beraita derives from “usfartem lachem” that each individual counts, and it states “mimacharat haShabbat” means the day after Yom Tov while entertaining the rejected possibility of Shabbat Bereishit. Rabbi Yosi bar Yehudah proves from “tisberu chamishim yom” that the count must always be fifty days, whereas starting after Sunday could yield counts of fifty-one through fifty-six days. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira again derives from “tispor lach” that the count depends on Beit Din and therefore cannot refer to Shabbat Bereishit. Rabbi argues that if “mimacharat haShabbat” meant Sunday in a literal sense, the verse fails to specify which Shabbat within Pesach, since the year is full of Shabbatot, so it must mean the day after the first day of Pesach, and he adds the same “Shabbat” linkage proof that ties the Omer to the start of the festival.
- Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar resolves the verses “sheshet yamim tochal matzot” and “shivat yamim matzot tochelu” by distinguishing matzah made from *chadash*, stating that matzah from new grain cannot be eaten for seven days but can be eaten for six days. He ties this to the rule that *chadash* becomes permitted only after the Omer is brought, so the Omer must be brought on the second day of Pesach in order to allow six remaining days of eating matzah from *chadash*, and this supports beginning the count from the second day rather than from Sunday. The session stops here with a plan to continue the Beraita the next day.
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