Counting to Shavuot & Waving Two Loaves

D5

We are to count seven weeks and fifty days from the Day of Firstfruits (following Passover) to Shavuot, at which time we are to waive two loaves of bread to the Lord.

Category: Days & Seasons

Type: Positive

Form: Explicit

Source dataset: Old Testament

Uniqueness: Unique

Classical commandment: Yes

New Covenant Literal Application

Applies to Person Categories: Everyone

Literal Application: mandated, optional

More explanation about New Covenant Literal Application

The New Covenant Literal Application Code (NCLA) is an interpretive guide used by the authors to indicate which person categories a mitzvah applies to, and at what level of literal compliance.

It combines person categories such as Jewish, K'rov Yisrael, and Gentile, together with male/female distinctions and an application level such as mandated, recommended, optional, or prohibited.

This code reflects the authors' interpretive opinion and is provided for prayerful consideration. On this page, the technical code is summarized into plain language to help new readers understand it more easily.

Read the full explanation from the source

Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

Acts 2:1-21

Key OT Scriptures

Deuteronomy 16:9-10
Leviticus 23:9-21
Numbers 28:26

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

" From the day after the day of rest - that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving " is the day we refer to as Yom HaBikkurim - Day of Firstfruits ( Leviticus 23:10 ). It is unique among the "designated times" listed in Leviticus 23 , in that it is the only one that is not a Sabbath. The occurrence of the day we call Shavuot is determined by counting from Yom HaBikkurim , and is unique among the Annual Sabbaths in being the only one to which Scripture does not assign a particular date on the lunar calendar; in that regard, it is similar to the weekly Sabbath. The fifty-day count from "the day after the day of rest" (or Sabbath) in Leviticus 23:15-16 is known in Jewish practice as "counting the omer ", and which one of several possible Sabbaths is "day zero" of the count, is a subject of ongoing debate. To add complication, Numbers 28:26 calls Shavu'ot " Yom HaBikkurim " as well, the reason being that there were two harvests involved. Jewish orthodoxy has adopted the Pharisaic view that the count should start from Nisan 16, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, thus causing Shavuot to always fall on the 6 th day of Sivan . By contrast, many in Messianic Judaism have adopted the Sadducean view which is that the count should start on the day after the Seventh-Day Sabbath that falls in the midst of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This causes the count to begin on the first day of the week (a Sunday), on Yom HaBikkurim , making this day the probable day of Yeshua's resurrection. A result of this is that Shavuot falls on different days of the lunar calendar in adjacent years, a consequence that seems to have been intended in the Leviticus 23 account. When requiring that there be an animal sacrifice to accompany the grain offering of Shavuot , Scripture assumes the existence of a Tabernacle (or Temple) and an operating Levitical priesthood. Since we have neither today, counting to Shavu'ot and waiving two loaves of bread in the synagogue are correct adaptations of the Scripture, and are obligatory for both Jews and K'rov Yisrael Gentiles. Gentiles of the Nations should also keep track of the count because knowing when Shavuot occurs is important for connecting them to the Jewish people, and for commemorating the Holy Spirit's appearance in Jerusalem on the Shavuot following Yeshua's resurrection ( Acts 2:1-21, 10:45 ).

Classical commentators

Maimonides analogizes the individual obligation to count the omer to the San Hedrin's obligation to count the Years of Jubilee "year by year and Sabbatical cycle by Sabbatical cycle." He also gives much attention to justifying why counting fifty days and seven Sabbaths is one mitzvah and not two, but makes no mention of when the count should begin. Meir, in contrast, does not even mention that counting both days and Sabbaths comprises one commandment, but specifically states that we are to start to count the night of the sixteenth of Nisan , and that we are to count while standing and accompany the count with a benediction. HaChinuch states that we must count forty-nine days from the presentation of the sheaf offering, which is the sixteenth of Nisan , and we must utter the day count and the week count separately. He agrees that we are to do the count while standing and with an accompanying benediction. Despite the different way that HaChinuch expresses the number of days counted, all three commentators endorse the Pharisaic way of counting - not the Sadducean way.

Classical sources

Maimonides

Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 12th century) organized all 613 Torah commandments into a structured list. These linked items show where this Law of Messiah commandment overlaps with that classical framework.

Meir of Rothenburg

Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (13th century, Germany) was a leading Talmudic authority. These reference numbers link this commandment to his halachic rulings.

MP26

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

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