Comentário sobre Êxodo 23:16

וחג הקציר AND THE FESTIVAL OF HARVEST — this is the Feast of Weeks,

AND THE FEAST OF HARVEST, THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THY LABORS, AND THE FEAST OF INGATHERING AT THE END OF THE YEAR. I do not know why Scripture mentions the names of the festivals with the definite article since He has not yet commanded about or mentioned them at all till now, and it ought to have said first: “and you shall keep a feast of harvest, the first-fruits of your labors,” just as He said in the Book of Deuteronomy, And thou shalt keep a festival of weeks unto the Eternal thy G-d.³⁷⁵Deuteronomy 16:9. But perhaps because He had already said, Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year,³⁷⁶Verse 14 here. and further explained, The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep… in the mouth of Aviv,³⁷⁷Verse 15. — Aviv [literally: “maturity”] means the month when the grain becomes full in its ripe state (Rashi). It is the month of spring. meaning that you are to make sure that the Passover festival is observed at the beginning of the month of Aviv, He referred back [to these verses] and said, “And as for the other festival, make sure that it be the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors, and as for the third one, make sure that it be the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year. Now all these festivals are thus named with reference to man’s activities in the field, in order that he give thanks for them to G-d who guards the ordinances of heaven,³⁷⁸Jeremiah 33:25. and brings forth bread out of the earth³⁷⁹See Psalms 104:14. to satisfy the longing soul, and the hungry soul He hath filled with good.³⁸⁰Ibid., 107:9. This is Scripture’s intention in using here the expression: el pnei Ha’adon Hashem (three times in the year shall all thy males appear — ‘before the Master, the Eternal’),³⁸¹Verse 17 here. for He is the Master who provides the needs of His servants, and when they take their part from before Him, they come to Him to see what He commands them to do. Thus the expression el pnei is like ‘liphnei’ (“before”) — before the Master. But by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the word pnei is derived from the term panim [literally: “face”], and I have already alluded to the explanation of panim in the Ten Commandments.³⁸²Above, 20:3. This is why He said Ha’adon Hashem (the Master, the Eternal), just as He said the second time, the Master, the Eternal, the G-d of Israel.³⁸³Further, 34:23. — Ramban’s intention is to suggest that el pnei Ha’adon here is not in the grammatical form of construct with the word Hashem; this is evident from the same expression which occurs a second time [in 34:23] where it is written Hashem Elokei Yisrael, thus indicating that here too the word Hashem is not in construct with Ha’adon (Abusaula). Similarly: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Master of all the earth;³⁸⁴Joshua 3:11. Tremble, thou earth, ‘miliphnei’ (at the presence) of the Master.³⁸⁵Psalms 114:7. The allusion is here to the word ‘miliphnei’ which is suggestive of panim, as mentioned above (Abusaula).

בצאת השנה. After all the harvests have been gathered in.

בכורי מעשיך, "the first fruits of your labours." This excludes crops raised by a Gentile. His work is not considered a Jew's accomplishment. We are taught in Rosh Hashanah 13 that if the crop has grown to one third of its final size while still under the care or ownership of a Gentile, it does not qualify as something from which this gift of בכורים can be presented to the Priest. This ruling is based on Leviticus 23,10: "the first of your harvests."

וחג הקציר, the Shavuot festival on which the sacrifices mentioned in Leviticus 23,16-20 including the offering of the two loaves of the first wheat harvest are listed.

חג הקציר. “the harvest festival.” Nachmnanides explains why the name of this festival has not been mentioned here. It is because all the legislation about festivals does not appear in the Torah until much later in Leviticus and in Numbers, at this point the Torah only alluded to it, without naming something we are not yet familiar with. Nonetheless, it was important to indicate that as soon as the harvest has begun, the duty to set aside for G’d or His representative on earth, i.e. the priest or Levite, whatever is due to Him. The command to “make” such a festival resurfaces in Deut. 16,10, i.e. ועשית חג שבועות לה', “you are to make a festival of weeks for Hashem.” Perhaps, in view of the fact that the Torah writes here already that there are to be three festivals involving pilgrimage to the place where G’d is in residence on earth, and the Torah had mentioned that the matzah festival occurs in the spring, the second such festival occurring during the harvest season, mention of the third such festival is related to the end of the harvest season, the Torah introduces already the first such festival with the warning, i.e. תשמור, meaning that we must make certain that all of these festivals are observed according to the seasons, i.e. the solar calendar. [with a certain degree of latitude. Ed.] They are named here in accordance with agricultural activities which predominate around the calendar dates when these festivals are being observed. Each progressive stage in food production from the earth which G’d has put at the farmer’s disposal, qualifies for an expression of thanksgiving by the farmer that he has been fortunate enough to reach that stage without his potential or actual crop having failed. To remind us of this aspect of farming, the Torah describes the address to which the gratitude is to be addressed as אל פני האדון ה', “in the presence of the Master i.e. Hashem.” It is in this capacity as the “boss” of nature that He has supervised your activities and blessed them with success.

This refers to the holiday of Shavuos. Rashi [knows this,] as he goes on to explain, because it states (Bamidbar 28:26): “On the Day of Bikkurim ( בכורים ) . . . on your Festival of Shavuos. . .” And here, too, it is written: “The Festival of Harvest, the first fruits ( בכורי ) of your labor.” Just as the בכורים there refers to Shavuos, so too the בכורי here refers to Shavuos.

(Exodus 23:16) "And the festival of the harvest (Shavuoth) the (time of bringing the) first-fruits of your labor": The three festivals are mentioned in the section of shevi'ith to teach that (in the shemitah year) the three festivals are not to be dislodged from their proper times (though these times correspond to those of planting, harvesting, etc., operations which are suspended in the shemitah year).

V. 16. חג הקציר בכורי מעשיך, die Wiederholung des חג ist wohl zu בכורי zu supplieren: das Fest des Schnittes, das Fest der Erstlinge. Es ist dies das zweite Wanderfest, שבועות, an welchem mit Darbringung der שתי לחם vom neuen Weizen die Darbringung der מנחות vom Jahresertrag eröffnet (Wajikra 23, 17) und überhaupt das Hinaufbringen der ביכורים und (V. 19 und 5. B. M. 26, 1f.) eingeleitet wird. חג האסיף ist סוכת (Wajikra. 23, 39). — באספך את מעשיך — מעשיך אשר תזרע: der Mensch "säet seine Tätigkeit", seine mit Einsicht und Umsicht geübte Kraft, in den Schoß der Erde, dort muss sie der Gottessegen gedeihen lassen, wenn er sie im Herbste ernten soll.

וחג הקציר, “and the festival of the harvest. (Wheat harvest around Shavuot)” The Torah spelled this festival out as especially intended as one of being joyful, (compare also Isaiah 9,2: כאשר יגילו בחלקם שלל, “as they exult when dividing spoil.”)

בכורי מעשיך which is the time for bringing the first-fruits, for the offering of the two loaves that were brought on the Feast of Weeks made it permissible for the first time during the year to use the new harvest of wheat for the meal offerings (Menachot 68b), and to bring the first fruits into the Temple, (Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3) for it is said, (Numbers 28:26) “And on the day of the first fruits etc., [בשבעתיכם on your weeks etc.]” (cf. Rashi on that verse).

בכורי מעשיך, in order to permit use of the new wheat harvest products in the Temple for the gift offerings.

Permit the new crop for meal offerings. . . Whereas the Omer meal offering, brought on the 16th of Nissan, was of barley. Yet the Sotah’s meal offering, also of barley, is not brought from the new crop until the offering of the “two loaves”, which are of wheat, are brought.

אשר תזרע, “which you will sow;” you are perceived by the Torah as sowing in G-d’s field; this is why He commanded you to donate the first ripe produce to Him, as a sort of tax.

וחג האסף AND THE FESTIVAL OF THE INGATHERING — that is the Feast of Tabernacles.

וחג האסיף, the Sukkot festival, a period immediately after the last harvest of the summer has been brought in. The Torah commanded us to sit in the huts in commemoration of the times when instead of having their own crops, the Israelites were in the desert depending on the daily ration of manna. Observance of the festival of חג האסיף, an aspect of the Sukkot festival therefore is a form of thanksgiving. We have learned therefore that all of the three pilgrimage festivals are directly related to the produce of the Holy Land.

וחג האסיף, "and the festival of ingathering (all the fruit of the orchards and vineyards)". When a person gathers in all his fruits, it makes him happy. When this happiness is directed toward My commandments, the entire festival becomes dedicated to My Name.

באספך את מעשיך WHEN THOU HAST GATHERED IN THY LABOURS — For during the whole summer-time the fruits are drying in the fields and about the Festival (הָחָג is a Talmudical term for the Feast of Tabernacles) they are gathered into the barns on account of the rain that is then due.

בצאת השנה, “at the conclusion of the year, which is the beginning of the following year.”