When the Temple stood, the omer offering, made on the second day of Passover (the 16th of Nisan), is what made it permissible for the people to start eating from the new crops the year. Those living in Jerusalem waited until they knew the omer had been waved. Those outside Jerusalem started partaking midday, presuming the offering had been waved by then.
But what about in the absence of the Temple? There’s agreement on today’s daf that the new crop could not be eaten before the 16th, but disagreement about when it is permitted. On the one hand, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai says that consumption had to be deferred until the 17th of Nisan which, like all Jewish days, begins at sundown. On the other, Rav and Shmuel agree (which is rare) that the illumination of the eastern horizon on the 16th is the moment when eating the new crop is permitted. Then we learn what some rabbis actually did:
Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, ate from the new crop on the evening of the conclusion of the 16th of Nisan, leading into the 17th of Nisan. They held that the prohibition against eating the new crop outside the land of Israel applies by rabbinic law. And therefore we are not concerned for the uncertainty.
Recall that in ancient times there was often uncertainty about the start of the new Hebrew month outside of the Land of Israel. While the sighting of the new moon in Jerusalem was easily shared with locals, getting word to those elsewhere took time, meaning diaspora Jews wouldn’t always know if a particular day was the new month’s first day or the old month’s 30th day. While this might be cause for doubt for Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, they were unconcerned that what they thought of as the 17th could be the 16th. Why? Because rabbinically instituted laws allow ambiguity to be interpreted in their favor, so Rabban Yohanan’s rabbinic ruling bends.
But this isn’t the case if Rabban Yohanan’s decision is one of Torah law, which some rabbis believed it was:
And conversely, the sages of the study hall of Rav Ashi ate from the new crop only on the morning of the seventeenth. They held that the prohibition against eating the new crop outside the land of Israel applies by Torah law.
Rav Ashi’s cadre worries that their date is off, and if they partake of the new crop too early, they’ve broken Torah law. As a result, they hold off until the next day.
But wait a minute! If Rabban Yohanan’s ruling barred eating on the 16th, how could eating on the 17th — which might be the 16th — be acceptable?
And Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai is saying that eating new grain on the 16th of Nisan nowadays is prohibited by rabbinic law. And the sages instituted this prohibition only for the actual day of waving the omer offering, whereas it was not instituted for a day with regard to which the real date is uncertain.
The Gemara distinguishes between Rabban Yohanan’s ruling, which is rabbinic law and therefore bends with doubt, and the sages’ prohibition, which applied only when the omer was actually waved, not days whose enumeration was unclear.
Ravina’s family takes Rabban Yohanan seriously and combines it with calendrical uncertainty to push partaking of the new crop off all the way until the 18th:
Ravina said: My mother told me: Your father would eat from the new crop only on the evening at the conclusion of the 17th of Nisan, leading into the 18th. The reason for this was that he held in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda that nowadays it is prohibited to eat of the new crop on the 16th of Nisan by Torah law, and he was therefore concerned for the uncertainty
Later sources lean towards this strict interpretation. The Mishneh Torah grounds Rabban Yohanan’s ruling in Torah law and bars new crops until the evening when the 18th begins, a stance echoed by the Shulchan Aruch.
You’d like to think that Rav and Shmuel’s agreement means their argument would carry the day. In fact, the opposite is true, and these more recent codifications are the strictest of all the choices available to us: No eating new crops until the 17th, setting the ruling in Torah law and pushing this off until the 18th just to be sure. post-Temple, you have to wait a few more days to make that barley soup.
Read all of Menachot 68 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on March 20, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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