Menachos 10:2 - 10:3

מצות העומר לבוא מן הקרוב – from a place that is close to Jerusalem because they do forego the occasion for performing a religious commandment, therefore, when they go out from Jerusalem to search for the Omer, that grain that he finds first he takes it.

לא ביכר – it didn’t ripen all of the way.

מעשה שבא מגגות צריפין ועין סוכר – greatly distant from Jerusalem, because the ravaging [Roman] troos destroyed all the grain that was surrounding Jerusalem.

כריכות – they wrap up and tie the tops of the spikes/ears of corn as large as a fist.

מתכנסות לשם – at the conclusion of the Holy Day when they cut it.

כדי נקצר בעסק גדול – with the great sound. That the Sadducees will know that the conclusion of the first Holy Day [of Passover] they reap it, because they did not admit to this, as will be seen further on.

אמר להן – the reaper , to the people of the villages that are standing upon him: Did the sun set? And they respond to him: “Yes.”

מגל זה – meaning to say, shall I reap the grain with this scythe?

קופה זו – shall I put the grain into this basket?

שבת זו – shall I reap on this Sabbath? And they said to him: “Yes.”

שלש פעמים – he asks them about each and every matter.

וכל כך – that he would ask. Why?

מפני הצדוקים והביתוסים שהיו אומרים אין קצירת העומר במוצאי יום טוב – other than on Saturday night (i.e., after the Sabbath day), as it is written (Leviticus 23:15): “[And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering -] the day after the sabbath – you shall count off [seven weeks].” From the first day after the Sabbath of creation is implied, and it is a tradition in our hands that from the day after the sabbath which is the conclusion of the first Holy Day of Passover, whether it occurs on a weekday or whether it occurs on a Sabbath. And similarly, we found in the Book of Joshua (5:11): “On the day after the Passover offering, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the country, unleavened bread and parched grain,” for behold it states in the Torah (Leviticus 23:14): “Until that very day, [until you have brought the offering of your God], you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears,” but from after that it held in suspense the permission of the new grain on the aftermath [of the first day] of Passover, the matter was clear that the aftermath of [the first day of] Passover is what permits the new grain and on it, they reap the Omer whether the first Holy Day of Passover occurs on a weekday or whether it occurs on the Sabbath. And therefore, the reapers raise their voices in order that the Boethusians will hear it and to remove it (i.e., the practice of waiting until the Saturday night after the holiday) from their hearts. And they reap the Omer at night and not during the day, as it is written (Leviticus 23:15): “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,” and it is impossible to be “complete” unless one begins to count from the beginning of the nighttime, for the nighttime is the beginning of the day, and behold it states (Deuteronomy 16:9): “start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain,” so we see that the reaping is at night at the time when they begin to count.