Our Mishnah continues to describe the ceremony of the cutting of the Omer. The Sh'luchei Beis-Din first go out to the field - on Erev Yom-Tov, to arrange the still attached barley sheaves by tying the tops of the stalks into fistfuls (to facilitate the cutting that will take place later).

The residents from all the surrounding areas come to participate - in order to publicize the event (as will be explained shortly).

To ascertain that the time to cut the barley had arrived - the Shali'ach Beis-Din asks the people whether the sun has set.

He also asks them whether he is holding a scythe, whether what is lying in front of him is a box, and (if the sixteenth falls on Shabbos) whether it is Shabbos - and whether he should proceed to cut.

He asks each of these questions - three times.

The purpose of all this is - to denounce the Tzedokim, who maintained that the time of the Omer always falls on the first Sunday of Pesach. With all this publicity, what they are doing is bound to reach their ears too.

The Beraisa lists the days on which the Rabbanan forbade fasting and eulogizing. From Rosh Chodesh Nisan until the eighth they forbade fasting (because the Tamid was established [see also Tosfos and Rabeinu Gershom]) - but not eulogizing.

Whereas from the eighth until the end of Yom-Tov they forbade even eulogizing - and certainly fasting, because Shavu'os was established.

On the one hand ...

... the Tzedokim Darshened from the word "Ta'aseh" (in the Pasuk in Pinchas "es ha'Keves Echad Ta'aseh ba'Boker ... ") - that even a Yachid may donate the Korban Tamid; whereas on the other ...

... the Chachamim Darshened from the word "Tishm'ru" (in the Pasuk there "es Korbani Lachmi le'Ishai ... Tishm'ru") - that all Korb'nos Tzibur have to be paid for with money from the T'rumas ha'Lishkah (and may not therefore be donated by a Yachid).

The Tzedokim contended - that Shavu'os had to fall on Sunday (because they always began counting the Omer on Sunday).

When Raban Yochanan ben Zakai challenged them to present their source, all that an old Tzedoki could say was - that Moshe Rabeinu loved Yisrael, and organized that Shavu'os should follow Shabbos, so that they should enjoy two consecutive days of pleasure ...

... to which Raban Yochanan ben Zakai initially replied - that if Moshe loved Yisrael so much, why did he lead them forty years in the desert, when they could have entered Eretz Yisrael in eleven days.

The significance of the eleven days that he referred to is - that had Moshe led them to Eretz Yisrael via Har Se'ir, they would have arrived in Kadesh (close to the eastern border of Eretz Yisrael) in only eleven days, ready to enter the Land at a moment's notice.

When Raban Yochanan ben Zakai said 've'Lo T'hei Torah Sheleimah she'Lanu ke'Sichah Beteilah she'Lechem!', he meant - that the idle chatter of the Tzedokim (based on the fact that the Tzedokim had no source for their argument) was not comparable to the Torah of the Chareidim.

The problem with the Pesukim "Tisp'ru Chamishim Yom" and "Sheva Shabbasos Temimos Tih'yenah" is - that if one counts days, one is not counting weeks, and vice-versa.

Raban Yochanan ben Zakai reconciled the two Pesukim and countered that old Tzedoki with one stroke - (based on the fact that 'a complete week' means from Sunday to Shabbos) by establishing the former Pasuk there where Pesach falls in the middle of the week, and the latter, where it falls on Sunday, proving that the Omer can begin on any day, and not just on Sunday.

To prove the Tzedokim wrong, Rebbi ...

... Eliezer learns from the words "Tispar lach" (in the Pasuk in Re'ei "Shiv'ah Shavu'os Tispar lach") - that clearly, the Yom-Tov mentioned prior to the Omer means Yom-Tov (which is fixed by Beis-Din), and not on Shabbos (which was fixed by Hash-m at the creation, and no power on earth can change it).

... Rebbi Yehoshua learns from Kidush ha'Chodesh ('Maneh Yamim ve'Kadeish Chodesh, Manei Yamim ve'Kadesh Atzeres') - that just as with regard to the former, the date that precedes Rosh Chodesh (the twenty-ninth, when the new moon is born) is predetermined, so too is the date that precedes the counting of the Omer predetermined (the fifteenth of Nisan).

... Rebbi Yishmael learns from the Sh'tei ha'Lechem which is brought on Shavu'os, which is the beginning of a Yom-Tov that follows the termination of the seven weeks, so too, the Omer that is brought at the beginning of the seven weeks, is preceded by the beginning of a Yom-Tov (Pesach. and not by Shabbos).

... Rebbi Yehudah ben Beseira learns from 'Shabbos le'Matah' ("ad mi'Mochoras ha'Shabbos ha'Shevi'is Tisp'ru') - in that just as Shabbos (referring to the last day in the seventh week) there means the day next to the beginning of a Yom-Tov (and not Shabbos), so too, does "Shabbos" mentioned in the same context with regard to the beginning of the counting ("u'Sefartem lachem mi'Mochoras ha'Shabbos") refer to the day that follows the beginning of a Yom-Tov, and not Shabbos.

Another Beraisa cites additional proofs that we always begin counting the Omer on the sixteenth of Nisan. The Tana first learns from the Pasuk "u'Sefartem lachem (in the plural)" - that (unlike the Din of counting the years of the Yovel) each individual is Chayav to count the Omer.

Each Tana then proves that "Shabbos" refers to Yom-Tov and not Shabbos citing a different source. Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah proves from the Pasuk "Tisp'ru Chamishim Yom" - that one always counts fifty days between Pesach and Shavu'os (whereas according to the Tzedokim, it can be anything up to fifty-six [assuming the first day of Pesach falls on Sunday).

Rebbi Yehudah (some read 'Rebbi Yeshoshua') ben Beseira concurs with the explanation of Rebbi Eliezer in the first Beraisa (see Tosfos D.H. Rebbi Yehudah ... '), and Rebbi Yossi, according to the second Lashon, with Rebbi Yehudah ben Beseira there ('Ne'emar Shabbos le'Matah ... '). In the first Lashon, Rebbi Yossi dismisses the suggestion that "mi'Mocharas ha'Shabbos" means literally Shabbos Bereishis - because there are many Shabbasos in the year, and how would we know which one the Torah is referring to?

Finally, Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar learns it from the Pesukim "Sheishes Yamim Tochal Matzos" (Re'ei) and "Shiv'as Yamim Matzos Tocheilu". He reconciles the apparent contradiction between the Pesukim - by confining the former Pasuk to eating Matzos from the new crops, which is only permitted from the second day, after the Omer has been brought ...

... a proof that the Omer always begins on the sixteenth of Nisan, and not on the first Sunday of Pesach).