How To Count Shavuot
We are commanded to celebrate Hag Ha-Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks) at the end of a 50-day period known as “The Counting of the Omer” (Shavuot being the 50th day). The commencement of this 50-day period is marked by the bringing of the Omer Offering in the Temple as we read, “And you shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day you bring the Omer [Sheaf] of Waving seven complete Sabbaths. Count fifty days to the morrow after the seventh Sabbath … and you shall proclaim on this very day that it is a solemn convocation for you ” (Lev 23,15-16.21).
Some people claim that in the phrase “the morrow after the Sabbath” the “Sabbath” refers to the first day of Hag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread). While it is true that the 15th, first day of Unleavened Bread is a Shabbat, however there is no way anyone can count seven complete weeks with seven Shabbats equaling fifty days, from the 16th , unless that 16th happens to fall on a Sunday. Those who fall into that trap follow the Rabbanites’ theory according to which 49th day of the Omer is neither a Set-Apart Day nor a Sabbath. But Lev 23,16 says, “Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you count fifty days”. Therefore, there is no way one can escape this undeniable fact that the 49th day is a Shabbat. This being so, in the Rabbanite reckoning the 50th day of the Omer (=Shavuot) is never on “the morrow after the seventh Sabbath” as commanded in Lev 23,16. Instead it falls on the morrow after the 7th Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday or whatever day it happened to fall out after. Since Lev. 23:16 establishes the 49th day of the Omer as a Sabbath, the 50th day “the morrow after the Sabbath” is a Sunday.
Joshua 5,11 shows that the first day of Counting the Omer has to be the Sunday during Hag HaMatzot. It says,” And they ate of the produce of the land on the morrow after the Pesach [sacrifice], Matzot and parched [barley] on this very day. And the Manna ceased on the morrow when they ate of the produce of the land…” Remember the Children of Israel were forbidden to eat of the new crops until the day of the Omer Offering, Lev 23,14, “And bread and parched [barley] and Carmel you will not eat until this very day until you bring the sacrifice to your Elohim…” Clearly this eating of “Matzot and parched (barley)… on this very day,” in Josh 5:11 refers back to Lev 23,14.
Thus Joshua 5,11 is reporting that the first Omer Offering in the Land of Israel was brought on the “morrow after the Pesach [Sacrifice]” after which the Children of Israel were permitted to eat new produce and parched grain, which they immediately proceeded to do.
In the Tanach the term Pesach [Passover] always refers to the Passover Sacrifice while the day on which the sacrifice is brought is called Hag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread). The morrow after the Passover Sacrifice was either the morning of the 15th (i.e. the following morning) or the morning of the 16th.The term Mimoharat, literally on the morrow, means on the following morning. The Pesach Sacrifice was brought at the end of the 14th of Nissan at twilight, the beginning of a Shabbat, Ex 12,18; Deut. 16,4. The only Sabbath that falls after the day (16th) after the Sabbath (of 15th) is a weekly Shabbat, the only starting point from which we can count seven complete weeks of fifty days.
According to Num. 33,3, “… they traveled from Ramses… on the 15th of the month; on the morrow after the Pesach [sacrifice] the Children of Israel went out with a high hand in the eyes of all Egypt.” The above passage describes the day of the Exodus both as the 15th of the first month and as the Morrow after the Pesach Sacrifice. This verse conclusively shows that the “Morrow after the Pesach [sacrifice]” is equivalent to the morning of the 15th of Nissan!
Joshua 5,11 shows that in the 41st year Israel entered Canaan the Omer Offering was brought on the “Morrow after the Pesach [Sacrifice]”, the morning of the 15th of Nissan. Otherwise, they would not have been able to eat parched grain on that self same day. On the morrow (the 16th), when they went out to collect Manna, there was none; the Manna ceased. The Rabbanite theory that the Omer Offering is brought on the 16th of Nissan is clearly refuted by the above passage. Isn’t it amazing that Manna began on a 16th , according to Exodus 16, and then stopped on a 16th, according to Joshua 5:12.