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Translation and commentary from Torat Moshe by Eliyahu Munk
...and you reap its harvest [in Hebrew, "ketsira"],
you must bring an omer of your first reaping to the priest. He shall wave it in
the motions prescribed for a wave offering to G-d, so that it will be acceptable
for you.
(Lev. 23:10-11)
The Torah speaks about "ketsira", "its
harvest", instead of stating "ketsircha", meaning "your harvest", in
order to drive home the point that we are reaping a blessing, something bestowed
on the land. We are not reaping the natural fruit of our labor. The fact that
the harvest is disproportionably large when compared to the amount of seed
planted is a reminder that we are recipients of G-d's blessing.
Once we bring the "omer", the measure of
barley, as the "the first thing harvested" to G-d, then the Torah describes this
harvest as "ketsirchem", "your harvest", i.e. it becomes ours. The priest
has to wave the omer heavenwards and earthwards to indicate that he is
accepting the gift on behalf of G-d, that it is not like the share of the
harvests given to the priests, or like meat portions of the animal sacrifices
set aside for the priest. This is also why the Torah stresses "acceptable for
you" , i.e. the priest does this to obtain goodwill for you, not for
himself.  | | " The seven weeks until the festival of Shavuot symbolize the seven days the woman...counts before she immerses herself in a ritual bath..." | | |
Should you wonder why the "waving" does not parallel
the "waving" of the first fruits (bikurim) of the individual farmer, when
the priest places his hand under those of the respective farmer, the Torah says:
"on the day following the Shabbat [referring to the very first day of
Pesach]". The date of the ceremony is one when the average Jew has not yet
attained the degree of holiness to enable him to participate personally. This
does not occur until Shavuot, the end of the counting cycle. Since G-d
did not want us to wait until Shavuot before partaking of any of
the new harvests, He arranged for the priest to substitute for each individual
farmer.
Verse 22 repeats the commandment to show that just as
the beginning of the harvest procedure in that year was heralded by performance
of a mitzvah, so the storing of the main crops will also be preceded by
mitzvot, i.e. provision for the needy.
The Zohar on these verses describes the Jewish people
while in Egypt as comparable to a menstruating woman. Engaging in idolatry
confers impurity of a similar nature on a person. While a woman who stops
menstruating does not automatically become purified, but counts seven days, so
the blood of circumcision symbolized the termination of impurity of the Jewish
people in Egypt. The seven weeks until the festival of Shavuot symbolize
the seven days the woman who has stopped menstruating counts before she immerses
herself in a ritual bath and rejoins her husband.
The Torah's emphasis on "on the day following the
Shabbat", that the omer is being offered on the day immediately following
cessation of the active ingredients of impurity - but before the days of
purification have been completed, explains why the omer can be offered
only by the priest. The fact that it consists of barley, essentially animal
fodder, as opposed to wheat, food fit for man, underscores that collectively the
Jewish people did not attain the status of human beings in the full sense of the
word until Shavuot, until they had completed the predication cycle.
This also explains why the Torah here refers to the
first day of Pesach as "Shabbat", instead of the more usual "Shabbaton",
such as regarding the festivals of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. The
"Shabbat" element, then, is the cessation of impurity due to the blood of
circumcision and that of the Pascal lamb which was being offered prior to the
first night of Pesach.
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