Menachos 10:4 - 10:5

מהבהבין אותו באור (they parch it in fire) – while it is still in the ears, in order to fulfill through it the Mitzvah of parched ears , as it is written (Leviticus 2:14): “[If you bring a grain offering of first fruits to the LORD,] you shall bring near ears parched with fire, and Scripture is speaking of the meal-offering of the Omer.

וחכמים אומרים – first they knock upon the ears [to thresh the grain out], and not in the manner of dry grain that they beat it with a staff, but rather with moist reeds.

ובקליחות – with stalks of cabbage, in order that it would not be crushed.

נתנוהו לאבוב – for the Rabbis hold that if they parch it with actual fire, it is not called “parched ears,” but rather through another thing, which is through a utensil, that they place it in the iron tube for roasting grain, and this is a perforated utensil of copper/bronze that sellers of parched ears parch it. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

ברחיים של גרוסות (grist grinders’ mills) – that they don’t mill/grind it thin, but rather thick, for if they grind it well, the coarse bran flour of the husks will pass through in the winnow with the choice flour. And [the word] גרוסות/grist is the language of a dish of grounded beans and as such it is called grist of early ripened and tender barley (see Tractate Menahot 68b).

וחייב בחלה – that the obligation [to separate] Hallah which is the rolling of this started dough that is in the hand of the lay person/commoner after it is redeemed.

ופטור מן המעשרות – that its being evenly shaped is in the hands of that which is dedicated to Temple property, and the giving of a pile of grain an even shape that is dedicated to Temple property is exempt from the tithes.

ר"ע מחייב – this flour that remains from the Issaron of the Omer.

בחלה ובמעשרות – because they did not give money to consecrated property, therefore, the giving of a pile of grain an even shape is not consecrated property , for it is not sacred. But the Halakah is not according to Rabbi Akiva.

בא לו לעשרון – he puts in its oil first and its frankincense prior to giving the choice flour.

יצק ובלל – after putting in the choice flour in the manner of all the meal-offerings that they put oil into a utensil firs and afterwards put in the choice flour and he goes back and pours upon it oil and mingles it.

הניף והגיש – the meal-offering of the Omer requires waving and bringing it near, as we stated in [Tractate Menahot] Chapter [Five], “All the Meal-Offerings” [Mishnah 6].

שלא ברצון חכמים – that he decreed that lest one eats from the new crop (i.e., grain that ripened before Passover. The Torah prohibits harvesting and eating this produce until after the Omer offering on the 16th of Nisan) when they reap prior to offering up the Omer sacrifice, and this is already certain flour that has been harvested prior to the Omer.

ר' יהודה אומר ברצון חכמים – that they did not decree lest he eats when he harvests/reaps. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda.

והרחוקים – that do not know if the Omer was yet offered.

מותרים מחצו היום ולהלן – as its reason will be taught further on.

שיהא יום הנף – the sixteenth of Nisan that on it they would wave the Omer (see also Tractate Rosh Hashanah, Chapter Four, Mishnah Three and also Tractate Sukkah, Chapter 3, Mishnah 12).

כולו אסור – to eat on it the new crop.

אמר ר' יהודה – to the Tanna of our Mishnah, for Rabban Yohanan [ben Zakkai] ordained/established the practice.

והלא מן התורה אסור – at the time [of the Torah], when the Temple didn’t exist. For two Biblical verses are written, one verse states (Leviticus 23:14): “Until that very day/עד עצם היום הזה, [until you have brought the offering of your God, you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears,” that it implies that the essence of [that] entire day it is prohibited, up to and including, and the other verse states (Leviticus 23:14): “until you have brought the offering of your God,” that implies that after [bringing] the sacrifice of the Omer it is permitted. How so? Here (i.e., in the second part of the verse just quoted), at the time when the Temple exists; there (i.e., the first part of the verse), at the time when the Temple does not exist. Hence, we see that at the time when the Temple does not exist, the Omer is not offered, it is that the day of waving is completely forbidden (and see the parallel Mishnah mentioned above from Tractate Rosh Hashanah, Chapter 4, Mishnah 3). But the Gemara (Tractate Menahot 68b) responds that what is taught in the Mishnah: “Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai ordained that the day of waving [of the Omer, the Second Day of Passover] should be wholly prohibited [in respect to new produce],” you should not say, that he ordained, but rather that he expounded and ordained, that is to say, he expounded on these Biblical verses in public and informed them that this is the law, that the day of waving [of the Omer] should be wholly prohibited from the Torah from when the Temple was destroyed. But there are those who expound upon the Gemara (see also Tractate Menahot 68a), that the new crop is not prohibited from the Torah on the sixteenth day of Nisan at the time when there is no Temple but rather only until the eastern horizon is broken through/filled with light in the morning of the sixteenth day [of Nisan], as it is written (Leviticus 23:14): “Until that very day,” up to, but not including, and Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai ordained that the day of waving would be wholly prohibited, because speedily the Temple should be rebuilt and people would say last year, did we not consume it (i.e., the new crop) from when the eastern horizon is broken through/filled with light, that now also we will eat, but they did not known that at the time of the Temple (i.e., when it existed), it was forbidden to eat new crops until the Omer was offered, as it is written (Leviticus 23:14): “until you have brought the offering of your God. And this we explained in the chapter [of Tractate Sukkah], “The Stolen Lulav” [Chapter 3, Mishnah 12].