Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Jeremias 5:24

והקרבתם אשה לה' שבעת ימים, the offering of the mussaph offering for seven consecutive days is to remind us that the intervening days of this festival are not totally secular in nature, although only the first and seventh day have been accorded the title מקרא קודש. The whole matter of the mussaph, additional communal offerings, has not been gone into in detail here as this is a subject treated in Numbers when this legislation appears in detail in chapters 28-29. The reason why in connection with the New Year’s day the Torah does mention the offering of an אשה לה', is that this day already qualified for a mussaph offering, it being not only the first day of the new year but also the first day of the month of Tishrey. In Numbers 29,6 the Torah once more draws our attention to this fact, [presumably to tell us that New Year’s day does not replace the significance of the date of the new moon. Ed.] If you were to counter that אשה ה' is also mentioned in this chapter in connection with the day of Atonement, remember that what is referred to there are burnt offerings and sin offerings, both on behalf of the High Priest and the people but not by each individual member of the people as are sin offerings generally, not mussaph offerings which are mandatory communal offerings. The reason why the Torah listed the Sabbath and the festival of matzot in a single paragraph is that both were legislated prior to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Each of the other festivals has been accorded a paragraph of its own. The Torah commences its reference to the festival of weeks by speaking of the Omer, and the counting of the seven weeks from the Passover until that festival, seeing that the festival of weeks is also known as the harvest festival,חג הקציר and we thank the Lord for the שבועות חקות קציד, “who keeps for our benefit the weeks appointed for harvest” (Jeremiah 5,24). The principal reason for the festivals is to afford us an opportunity to express our gratitude in prayer and in deed. For instance, an example is the appointed time for the festival during spring when we pray to G’d giving thanks for His having given us our freedom at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The Omer was an expression of gratitude for the barley harvest, the earliest opportunity to fulfill part of the bikkurim legislation, presenting the first of the ripened crop to G’d. This prayer also contains a request concerning the future. The counting of the 49 days between Passover and the festival of weeks reminds us of the need to offer such prayers on a daily basis. On the festival of Sukkot, the festival of ingathering, we thank the Lord for having enabled us to bring the year’s major harvest under our roofs.

וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת, “you will begin to count for yourselves, commencing with the day after the first day of Passover;” seeing that there are seven weeks between the beginning of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, periods when the commandment of sh’mittah is observed in earnest, the prophet (Jeremiah, 5,24) has already categorized them as: שבועות חוקת קציר ישמר לנו, “Who keeps for our benefit the weeks appointed for the harvest.”Rashi comments: “seven weeks during which G-d decreed for us two laws, that of the harvesting of the “omer and the presentation of the first two loaves of the new wheat harvest.” He sees to it that we can harvest these two species at the appropriate time of the year. Seeing that such an important part of our livelihood depends on these two harvests, it is easy to understand that the Torah expects us to keep the counting of these days meticulously. Just as we have to count days we also have to count weeks, at the end of which period we sanctify the fiftieth day after completing the seventh week. We have to do the same concerning counting for the sh’mittah year and the arrival of the yovel year. The emphasis of this whole paragraph is on the respective concepts of sh’mittah and yovel. There are a total of 49 potential disasters that the Torah warns us of if we fail to observe these two basic positive commandments. [Thenumber 49 symbolizes the number of days we fail to assimilate the social significance of those laws to ensure that no extremes of rich and poor will become permanent features in our land. [My choice of words. Ed.]

חמץ תאפינה, בכורים, the Omer was the first ripened barley; the offering mentioned in our verse here represented the first ripened stalks of the wheat harvest. This is why the festival of weeks is also known as יום הבכורים, “the day of the firstlings offering.” (compare Numbers 28,26 where this מנחה חדשה, “new gift offering” is described). The more appropriate translation would be the “gift offering consisting of the new (grain) harvest.”
The reason that the Torah added the word לה', “for the Lord,” [after all, all offerings are exclusively for the Lord, so why single out this one by name? Ed.] is that after first presenting this offering to G’d, the whole people may now enjoy the new wheat harvest. The verse from Jeremiah 5,24 which we quoted earlier, referred to the סכנה, period of “danger” which this crop was exposed to while growing during which period so many things could have happened which would have ruined the eventual crop. Thanksgiving prayers are therefore called for, expressing our gratitude that nothing of what we worried about during those many weeks actually happened. [the word חקות in that verse may mean that the laws of nature according to which the crop would ripen was not upset by bad weather, and other climatic phenomena which would have ruined all of the farmer’s efforts during the season of ploughing and seeding. Ed.] The Torah, appropriately, legislated that in addition to the two loaves baked from the new wheat, which did not get on the altar, of course, also 2 sheep, etc., were offered as explained in connection with שלמי תודה, thanksgiving offerings in Leviticus 7,13.

summer and winter—You formed them This is similar to (Jer. 5:24): “the weeks of the laws of harvest He keeps for us.” You did not alter for us the order of the years.