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Menachot 66 – Omer, The Barley Offering
Now they would reap the barley and put it into baskets. They would bring it into the Courtayrd of the Temple and roast it over fire, in order to fullfill the mitzvah of toasting – these are the words of Rabbi Meir. But the Sages say that before roasting the barley they would beat it with soft reeds and stems, to remove the kernels from the stalks without crushing them, and then they would put it into a copper pipe to be roasted. The pipe was perforated to spread the fire over all of it.
After the barley was threshed and roasted, they spread it out in the Courtyard, to let the wind blow over it to dry it. They would then put it into a bean mill and grind it coarsely. Then they would sift it with thirteen sieves, extracting one-tenth of the total volume as fine flour. The remainder had to be redeemed with money and then could be eaten by anyone.
Art: Joseph Henderson - Through The Barley
1 comment:
The mitzvah of Omer saved the Jews... almost always
In the merit of the mitzvah of Omer, Abraham received the Land of Canaan; in its merit the Jews were saved in the time of Gideon;in the time of king Chizkiyahu, in the time of Haman, and in the time of Yechezkiel.
When Haman came to put Mordechai on the king's horse, Mordechai thought he would be executed. He told the students to run, but they said that they will stay with him. Mordechai then told them to keep learning, and he himself started to pray. Haman asked “What are you studying?” Morchechai said, “The commandment to bring an Omer offering, which was brought on that day in the Temple.” “What is this offering, silver or gold?” - asked Haman. “It is just barley,” - answered Mordechai. “Is it expensive?” - asked Haman. “No, only ten dinars,” - answered Mordechai. “Then rise,” - said Haman - “because your ten dinars are stronger than my 10,000 silver coins that I paid to the king for the right to kill the Jews.”
In the time of Elisha they brought twenty loaves of bread from the first crop, and fresh kernels in their husks, “betziklono.” Elisha performed a miracle with the bread, and it sufficed for a hundred students. However, later, this “betziklono” did not save the Jews and at the time of Hitler was converted into “Zyklon-B”. It stands to reason that Hitler was a reincarnation of Haman, who in his this time was allowed to do what he was not allowed to do in the time of Purim. Just as every curse of Balaam, which was turned into a blessing, later on did take its effect, when the Jews lacked sufficient merit, so at that time Zyklon-B could be the inversion of “betziklono,” which now was not helpful.
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