How To Count Shavuot
We are commanded to celebrate Hag
Ha-Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks) at the end of a 50-day
period known as "The Counting of the Omer" (Shavuot being
the 50th day). The commencement of this 50-day period is
marked by the bringing of the Omer Offering in the Temple as
we read, "And you shall count from the morrow after the
Sabbath from the day you bring the Omer [Sheaf] of Waving
seven complete Sabbaths. Count fifty days to the morrow
after the seventh Sabbath ... and you shall proclaim on this
very day that it is a solemn convocation for you " (Lev
23,15-16.21).
Some people claim that in the phrase "the morrow after the
Sabbath" the "Sabbath" refers to the first day of Hag
HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread). While it is
true that the 15th, first day of Unleavened Bread is a
Shabbat, however there is no way anyone can count seven
complete weeks with seven Shabbats equaling fifty days, from
the 16th , unless that 16th happens to fall on a Sunday.
Those who fall into that trap follow the Rabbanites’ theory
according to which 49th day of the Omer is neither a
Set-Apart Day nor a Sabbath. But Lev 23,16 says, "Until the
morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you count fifty
days". Therefore, there is no way one can escape this
undeniable fact that the 49th day is a Shabbat. This being
so, in the Rabbanite reckoning the 50th day of the Omer
(=Shavuot) is never on "the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath" as commanded in Lev 23,16. Instead it falls on the
morrow after the 7th Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday or
whatever day it happened to fall out after. Since Lev. 23:16
establishes the 49th day of the Omer as a Sabbath, the 50th
day "the morrow after the Sabbath" is a Sunday.
Joshua 5,11 shows that the first day of Counting the Omer
has to be the Sunday during Hag HaMatzot. It says,” And they
ate of the produce of the land on the morrow after the
Pesach [sacrifice], Matzot and parched [barley] on this very
day. And the Manna ceased on the morrow when they ate of the
produce of the land...” Remember the Children of Israel were
forbidden to eat of the new crops until the day of the Omer
Offering, Lev 23,14, "And bread and parched [barley] and
Carmel you will not eat until this very day until you bring
the sacrifice to your Elohim…” Clearly this eating of "Matzot
and parched (barley)... on this very day," in Josh 5:11
refers back to Lev 23,14.
Thus Joshua 5,11 is reporting that the first Omer Offering
in the Land of Israel was brought on the "morrow after the
Pesach [Sacrifice]" after which the Children of Israel were
permitted to eat new produce and parched grain, which they
immediately proceeded to do.
In the Tanach the term Pesach [Passover] always refers to
the Passover Sacrifice while the day on which the sacrifice
is brought is called Hag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened
Bread). The morrow after the Passover Sacrifice was either
the morning of the 15th (i.e. the following morning) or the
morning of the 16th.The term Mimoharat, literally on the
morrow, means on the following morning. The Pesach Sacrifice
was brought at the end of the 14th of Nissan at twilight,
the beginning of a Shabbat, Ex 12,18; Deut. 16,4. The only
Sabbath that falls after the day (16th) after the Sabbath
(of 15th) is a weekly Shabbat, the only starting point from
which we can count seven complete weeks of fifty days.
According to Num. 33,3, "… they traveled from Ramses… on the
15th of the month; on the morrow after the Pesach
[sacrifice] the Children of Israel went out with a high hand
in the eyes of all Egypt." The above passage describes the
day of the Exodus both as the 15th of the first month and as
the Morrow after the Pesach Sacrifice. This verse
conclusively shows that the "Morrow after the Pesach
[sacrifice]" is equivalent to the morning of the 15th of
Nissan!
Joshua 5,11 shows that in the 41st year Israel entered
Canaan the Omer Offering was brought on the "Morrow after
the Pesach [Sacrifice]", the morning of the 15th of Nissan.
Otherwise, they would not have been able to eat parched
grain on that self same day. On the morrow (the 16th), when
they went out to collect Manna, there was none; the Manna
ceased. The Rabbanite theory that the Omer Offering is
brought on the 16th of Nissan is clearly refuted by the
above passage. Isn’t it amazing that Manna began on a 16th ,
according to Exodus 16, and then stopped on a 16th,
according to Joshua 5:12.
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