Minḥa Ḥadasha; A Source-Sheet annotating a piyyut composed by Zechariah Haber, A"H

(10) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest.

וקראתם בעצם היום הזה מקרא קדש, “and you will proclaim a holy convocation on this very day.” The reason why the Torah does not spell out in which month this occurs, and on what date of this month, as it does with all the other festivals, is if it had done so, the people would not have been counting weeks and days, but would simply have contented themselves with observing the festival on its appropriate date. The counting was an important feature of these weeks as we have pointed out on verse 15. Nowadays, in the absence of the Temple, our being in exile, and having adopted (therefore?) a permanent calendar, the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover automatically occurs on the same date in the month of Sivan, the date on which the Ten Commandments (orally) were given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. In light of the fact that the counting is no longer associated with the date of Shavuot as that date was known, the benediction commencing with שהחיינו וקימנו לזמן הזה, “Who has kept us alive and well until this point in time,” is not recited.

(15) And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete:

(9) You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain.

(26) On the day of the first fruits, your Feast of Weeks, when you bring an offering of new grain to ה׳, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.

(1) How does one set aside bikkurim? A man goes down into his field, he sees a fig that ripened, or a cluster of grapes that ripened, or a pomegranate that ripened, he ties a reed-rope around it and says: “Let these be bikkurim.” Rabbi Shimon says: even so, he must again designate them as bikkurim after they have been plucked from the soil.

(5) You*you See note at 12.7. shall then recite as follows before your God ה׳: “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation.

(2) How were the bikkurim taken up [to Jerusalem]? All [the inhabitants of] the cities of the maamad would assemble in the city of the maamad, and they would spend the night in the open street and they would not entering any of the houses. Early in the morning the officer would say: “Let us arise and go up to Zion, into the house of the Lord our God” (Jeremiah 31:5).

(3) Those who lived near [Jerusalem] would bring fresh figs and grapes, while those who lived far away would bring dried figs and raisins. An ox would go in front of them, his horns bedecked with gold and with an olive-crown on its head. The flute would play before them until they would draw close to Jerusalem. When they drew close to Jerusalem they would send messengers in advance, and they would adorn their bikkurim. The governors and chiefs and treasurers [of the Temple] would go out to greet them, and according to the rank of the entrants they would go forth. All the skilled artisans of Jerusalem would stand up before them and greet them saying, “Our brothers, men of such and such a place, we welcome you in peace.”

(4) The flute would play before them, until they reached the Temple Mount. When they reached the Temple Mount even King Agrippas would take the basket and place it on his shoulder and walk as far as the Temple Court. When he got to the Temple Court, the Levites would sing the song: “I will extol You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not let my enemies rejoice over me” (Psalms 30:2).

(3) There are [laws] which apply to terumah and maaser [sheni] but not to bikkurim:Terumah and the [second] tithe render forbidden [the contents of] the threshing-floor; They have a set amount. They apply to all produce; Both during and after Temple times; [And they apply to to produce grown] by sharecroppers, leasers, or occupiers of confiscated property (sikarikon), or a robber. These are [the laws] which apply to terumah and maaser [sheni], but not to bikkurim.

ויחן שם ישראל AND THERE ISRAEL ENCAMPED as one man and with one mind — but all their other encampments were made in a murmuring spirit and in a spirit of dissension (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:2:10).

Rabbi Yoḥanan himself said that the word anokhi that begins the Ten Commandments is an abbreviation for: I myself wrote and gave [ana nafshi ketivat yehavit]. The Rabbis said it is an abbreviation for: A pleasant statement was written and given [amira ne’ima ketiva yehiva]. Some say the word anokhi can be interpreted backwards: It was written, it was given, its statements are faithful [yehiva ketiva ne’emanim amareha].

(1) ה׳ said to Moses: “Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered. (2) Be ready by morning, and in the morning come up to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to Me, on the top of the mountain. (3) No one else shall come up with you, and no one else shall be seen anywhere on the mountain; neither shall the flocks and the herds graze at the foot of this mountain.” (4) So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as ה׳ had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets with him. (5) ה׳ came down in a cloud—and stood with him there, proclaiming the name ה׳. (6) ה׳ passed before him and proclaimed: “!יהוה! יהוה*and proclaimed: “יהוה! יהוה!…” Or “and ה׳ proclaimed: ‘יהוה! a God compassionate…’”; cf. Num. 14.17–18. a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, (7) extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin—yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.”

(2) Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: “While the king was at his feast,” while the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, was at His feast, in the firmament—He arrived early,278He arrived early for the giving of the Torah. as it is stated: “It was on the third day when it was morning” (Exodus 19:16). [This is analogous] to a king who decreed: On such and such day I will enter the province. The residents of the province slept through the night and when the king arrived, he found them asleep. He positioned trumpets, horns, and a shofar, the governor of that province awakened them and brought them out to meet the king, and the king walked before them until he reached his palace. So too, the Holy One blessed be He arrived early, as it is stated: “It was on the third day when it was morning,” and it is written: “For on the third day, the Lord will descend before the eyes of the entire people” (Exodus 19:11). Israel slept through that entire night because sleep during [the season of] Shavuot is pleasant and the night is short. Rabbi Yudan said: Not even a flea stung them. The Holy One blessed be He came and found them asleep. He began positioning trumpets; that is what is written: “It was on the third day when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning” (Exodus 19:16), and Moses was awakening them and taking them out to meet the King of kings the Holy One blessed be He. That is what is written: “Moses took the people out of the camp toward God” (Exodus 19:17). The Holy One blessed be He was walking before them until He reached Mount Sinai, as it is written: “The entire Mount Sinai was smoking [because the Lord had descended]” (Exodus 19:18). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is why He taunted them through Isaiah, as it is stated: “Why have I come and there is no man, I called and there is no one to answer? Is My hand insufficient for redemption?” (Isaiah 50:2).

עצרת הוא — The word is derived from the root עצר “to hold back” and suggests: I keep you back with Me one day more. It is similar to the case of a king who invited his children to a banquet for a certain number of days. When the time arrived for them to take their departure he said, “Children, I beg of you, stay one day more with me; it is so hard for me to part with you!” (cf. Rashi on Numbers 29:36 and Sukkah 55b).

(2) At four times of the year the world is judged: On Passover judgment is passed concerning grain; on Shavuot concerning fruits that grow on a tree; on Rosh HaShana, all creatures pass before Him like sheep [benei maron], as it is stated: “He Who fashions their hearts alike, Who considers all their deeds” (Psalms 33:15); and on the festival of Sukkot they are judged concerning water, i.e., the rainfall of the coming year.

IT IS ‘ATZERETH.’ “I keep you back before Me. It is similar to the case of a prince who invited his children to a banquet for a certain number of days. When the time came for them to leave, he said, ‘I beg of you stay with me for yet one more day, for your departure is so hard for me!’” This is Rashi’s language. And these are words of Agadah (homily) in Vayikra Rabbah.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], for in six days the Eternal made the heaven and the earth, and the seventh day is the Sabbath which has no partner, and the congregation of Israel is its partner, as it is said, and the earth, this being the eighth day. It is ‘Atzereth,’ for there everything is assembled. Now with respect to the Festival of Unleavened Bread He commanded that it be observed for seven days, with the first and seventh [days] being holy, though they are all holy and the Eternal is among them. From then on [i.e., beginning with the second day of Passover] we are to count forty-nine days[of the omer], which are seven weeks comparable to the [seven] “days” of the world, and then to sanctify the “eighth day” [i.e., the Festival of Weeks] just as the eighth day of Tabernacles [is holy]; and [the forty-nine days] counted between them are in the “intermediate days” of the festival, in the interval separating the first day and “eighth day” of the festival, this being the day of the Giving of the Torah when He made them to see His great fire and His words they heard out of the midst of the fire. Therefore our Rabbis, of blessed memory, always called the Festival of Weeks by the name of Atzereth [a name here used in the verse for the eighth day of the Festival of Tabernacles], for it is on “the eighth” day of the festival, which Scripture here so called by that name. And this is the [intention of the] saying of the Rabbis: “The eighth day is a festival for itself” with respect to ‘p’zar k’shab,’ but yet it complements the first [seven] days since it is an emanation of the first days but is not like their unity. Therefore in the section of All the firstlings He mentions in speaking of the three festivals — the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Tabernacles — [that the Festival of Tabernacles] is seven days and He did not mention the eighth day, for there He said, all thy males appear etc. This is thus clear.

4) (Vayikra 23:35) "On the first day is a holy calling" — Sanctify it and (Vayikra 23:36) "On the eighth day is a holy calling" — Sanctify it. How do you sanctify it? With (special) food and drink and with fresh clothing.

(1) SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. ... And our Rabbis of blessed memory have said:198Sifre, Pinchas 147. “Proclaim them with [special] food and drink and clean garments;” that is to say, the nature of these [festival] days should not be to you like that of other days, but instead you should make them occasions of holiness, changing them by food and dress from the common to the holy. This is also the opinion of Onkelos [who translated mikra’ei kodesh as “holy events”].

(23) Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign ה׳, the God of Israel.

(2) Beit Shammai say: The burnt-offering of appearance brought on a pilgrim Festival must be worth at least two silver coins, and the Festival peace-offering must be worth at least one silver ma’a coin. And Beit Hillel say: The burnt-offering of appearance must be worth at least one silver ma’a and the Festival peace-offering at least two silver coins.

(15) A twisted thing that cannot be made straight,
A lack that cannot be made good.

...Bring the lamb tied with thick ropes until you bring it to the corners of the altar, that is, to sacrifice it before God, and the sacrifice of a lamb or something else will be called a holiday, according to the fact that on holidays we will sacrifice them in abundance: (Google Translate; I'm tired)

(27) The LORD is God;
He has given us light;fMeaning of Heb. uncertain.bind the festal offering to the horns of the altar with cords.-f

Bind the sacrifice with ropes The sacrifices and the festival offerings, which were clean and examined for a blemish, they would bind to the feet of their beds until they brought them to the Temple court at the corners of the altar. It is also possible to interpret the entire end of this psalm from (verse 17), “I shall not die but I shall live,” as referring to David himself:

(19) Thus said GOD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month,efast of the fourth month Commemorating the events of 2 Kings 25.3–7 (Jer. 52.6ff.). the fast of the fifth month,ffast of the fifth month Commemorating the events of 2 Kings 25.8–15 (Jer. 52.12ff.). the fast of the seventh month,gfast of the seventh month Commemorating the events of 2 Kings 25.25–26 (Jer. 41). and the fast of the tenth monthhfast of the tenth month Commemorating the events of 2 Kings 25.1–2 (Jer. 52.4). shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.

(1) But a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse,
A twig shall sprout from his stock.