The controversy with the Sadducees - not what you thought
Parasha in the everyday Life - Parashat Emor - Lag Ba'omer - Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald - 5780
This Shabbat we will read Parashat Emor, and on Tuesday it will be Lag Ba'Omer. It is well-known that the timing of the sacrifice of the Omer and the beginning of the counting of the Omer was the focus of a fierce controversy between the Sadducees and the Pharisees (Tzedukim vs Perushim). The significance of the dispute was so great that when resolved, it was decided to make those remembrance days, happy days where eulogies are not recited. But who were the Sadducees? What was their worldview? (hint, not what is usually explained) What were the basics of the controversy?
On the sacrifice of the Omer it is said:
וְהֵנִ֧יף אֶת־הָעֹ֛מֶר … מִֽמָּחֳרַת֙ הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת …
“He shall elevate the sheaf … shall elevate it on the day after the Shabbat” (Vayikra 23:11)
And in the counting of the Omer:
וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת …
“And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the Shabbat… “(Ibid 15)
What is "the day after the Shabbat"? The Sadducees claimed that it was simply what it says, the Shabbat day, and the Pharisees received the tradition from generations that the meaning is the first day of Passover, since the "Moed (מועד) ("festive season") is also called "Shabbat" because you rest from working.
According to the Pharisees Sages, there is a possibility that the harvesting of the Omer will also occur on Shabbat setting it aside! Compared to the Sadducees, where the harvesting will always occur at the end of Shabbbat.
The Sadducees (Tzedukim) and Boethusians (Beitusim) are called after two of Antigonos, the man of Socho’s students, Tsadok and Beitos. (Avot D'Rabbi Natan 5:1-2). They lived at the beginning of the Hellenistic period, some two hundred years after the return to Zion. (They and their students became heretics, and they are called so to this day).
משֶׁה קִבֵּל תּוֹרָה מִסִּינַי, וּמְסָרָהּ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ…. וּנְבִיאִים מְסָרוּהָ לְאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה.
“Moshe received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua… and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly.” (Pirkei Avot 1:1)
In their time, the spiritual leadership and authority passed by tradition the Torah and its meaning orally from the Great Assembly to the Sanhedrin.
According to Yosef Ben Matityahu (Josephus Flavius) the Sadducees were aristocratic, opinionated, and arrogant:
“And the Sadducees are also hard on their brothers and greeted their friends in anger, as if they were foreigners to them " (The Wars of the Jews, Book II, 8:13)
Some were from the priesthood families who came into contact with and were influenced by Hellenistic culture. They challenged the authenticity of the Oral Torah tradition from Sinai, and the exclusive authority of the Sages to rule and teach how to put the Torah into practice:
"And most of their ambition is nothing more than the observance of the laws; For to dispute their teachers’ wisdom is seen as a good deed. This Torah reached (only) a few people…" (Wars, Book II, 8:13). In their opinion, only "the written" was valid, and they were also given the option to "read" the script and understand it in their own way.
The controversy with the Sadducees on the "the day after the Shabbat" took center stage in the confrontation. Paradoxically, it has been pointed out that the Sadducees are more anxious about the holiness of the Shabbat, as in their view, there is no way the harvesting of the Omer could fall on the Shabbat.
The controversy came so far as to where the Sadducees even tried to deceive the Great Assembly in the sanctification of the month so that the Passover holiday would take place on the Shabbat and the harvest on Saturday night.
“The Sages taught a baraita that describes the decisive incident: What was the manner of the corruption in which the Boethusians engaged? Once, the Boethusians tried to mislead the Sages with regard to the day of the new moon. They hired two people for four hundred dinars to testify falsely that they had seen the new moon on the thirtieth day of the month. One of them was from our own, i.e., a member of the Pharisees and the Sages of Israel, and the other was one of theirs.” (Rosh Hashanah 22b). Therefore:
בראשונה היו מקבלין עדות החדש מכל אדם משקלקלו הבייתוסים התקינו שלא יהו מקבלין אלא מן המכירין
“The Mishna adds: Initially, the court would accept testimony to determine the start of the month from any person, as all are presumed to be qualified witnesses, absent any disqualifying factors. However, when the Boethusians, a sect whose members had their own opinions with regard to the establishment of the Festivals, corrupted the process by sending false witnesses to testify about the new moon, the Sages instituted that they would accept this testimony only from those men familiar to the Sanhedrin as valid witnesses”. (Rosh Hashanah 22a).
In order to highlight the opinion of the Sages regarding "the day after the Shabbat", the harvesting of the Omer was held in public, with demonstration, even when it occurred on Shabbat. During the harvest, the reaper would announce each step three times, and the entire public would answer to him out loud.
כֵּיצַד הָיוּ עוֹשִׂים. שְׁלוּחֵי בֵית דִּין יוֹצְאִים מֵעֶרֶב יוֹם טוֹב, וְעוֹשִׂים אוֹתוֹ כְרִיכוֹת בִּמְחֻבָּר לַקַּרְקַע, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּהֵא נוֹחַ לִקְצֹר. וְכָל הָעֲיָרוֹת הַסְּמוּכוֹת לְשָׁם, מִתְכַּנְּסוֹת לְשָׁם, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּהֵא נִקְצָר בְּעֵסֶק גָּדוֹל. כֵּיוָן שֶׁחֲשֵׁכָה, אוֹמֵר לָהֶם, בָּא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ, אוֹמְרִים, הֵן. בָּא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. מַגָּל זוֹ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. מַגָּל זוֹ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. קֻפָּה זוֹ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. קֻפָּה זוֹ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. בְּשַׁבָּת אוֹמֵר לָהֶם, שַׁבָּת זוֹ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. שַׁבָּת זוֹ, אוֹמְרִים הֵן. אֶקְצֹר, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים לוֹ קְצֹר. אֶקְצֹר, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים לוֹ קְצֹר. שָׁלשׁ פְּעָמִים עַל כָּל דָּבָר וְדָבָר, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים לוֹ הֵן, הֵן, הֵן. וְכָל כָּךְ לָמָּה. מִפְּנֵי הַבַּיְתוֹסִים, שֶׁהָיוּ אוֹמְרִים, אֵין קְצִירַת הָעֹמֶר בְּמוֹצָאֵי יוֹם טוֹב:
“How would they do it [reap the Omer]? The agents of the court used to go out on the day before the festival and tie the unreaped grain in bunches to make it the easier to reap. All the inhabitants of the towns near by assembled there, so that it might be reaped with a great demonstration. As soon as it became dark, he says to them: “Has the sun set?” And they answer, “Yes.” “Has the sun set?” And they answer, “Yes.” “With this sickle?” And they answer, “Yes.” “With this sickle?” And they answer, “Yes.” “Into this basket?” And they answer, “Yes.” “Into this basket?” And they answer, “Yes.” On the Sabbath he says to them, “On this Sabbath?” And they answer, “Yes.” “On this Sabbath?” And they answer, “Yes.” “Shall I reap?” And they answer, “Reap.” “Shall I reap?” And they answer, “Reap.” He repeated every matter three times, and they answer, “yes, yes, yes.” And why all of this? Because of the Boethusians who held that the reaping of the Omer was not to take place at the conclusion of the [first day of the] festival”. (Mishnah Menachot 10:3)
Sages succeeded in bringing evidence from the scriptures to their own ways and then the controversy was decided: "They Rejected them by showing them they were wrong, and the Boethusians changed their minds and retracted" (Rashi on Taanit 17b). (Probably during Shlomzion the Queen’s period- Salome Alexandra or Alexandra of Jerusalem).
After the destruction of the Temple, the Sadducees disappeared, and had no continuity.
The late Rabbi Kook saw great and relevant importance in explaining the basis of the controversy over the validity of the Torah's authentic interpretation, precisely as the people of Israel began to return to their land: "We have a double duty to search our ancient treasures to know what these streams have been in our everyday lives. For it is only by knowing this that we can direct the weight, to know which stream is our own and original to us, and thereby also eternal in nature and gives us revival, etc.” ( Ma'amarei HaRe'iyah Part I 177).
A Jewish state - Values that become a State
Parsha and its Implementation - Emor - Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald - 5779
The counting of the Omer (Sfirat HaOmer), which connects Pesach to Shavuot, is also mentioned in the portion of the festivals: "
וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃ עַ֣ד מִֽמָּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖וּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם...
"And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: You must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days…" (Vayikra 23:15-16).
The days of counting are like the "intermediate days" (Chol HaMoed) that connect Pesach and Shavuot into one festivity, similar to the intermediate days of Succot:
...וצוה בחג המצות שבעה ימים בקדושה לפניהם ולאחריהם כי כולם קדושים ובתוכם ה' ומנה ממנו תשעה וארבעים יום שבעה שבועות כימי עולם וקדש יום שמיני כשמיני של חג והימים הספורים בינתים כחולו של מועד בין הראשון והשמיני בחג והוא יום מתן תורה שהראם בו את אשו הגדולה ודבריו שמעו מתוך האש ולכך יקראו רבותינו ז"ל בכל מקום חג השבועות עצרת...
"And He commanded seven days on the Festival of Matsot, with holiness before them and after them, 'since they are all holy and amongst them is the Lord.' And He counted from it forty-nine days - seven weeks - like the days of yore, and He sanctified the eighth, like the eighth [day] of the Festival (Sukkot). And the days that are counted between them are like the intermediate days of the festival (chol ha-moed) between the first and eighth day of the Festival. And it is the day of the giving of the Torah, on which He showed them His great fire. And therefore, in every place, our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, called the Festival of Weeks, the convocation - as it is like the eighth day of [Sukkot], that the verse called the same". (Ramban, Vayikra 23:36).
The mitzva of counting is intended to connect Pesach with Shavuot - two major events in the formation of the Jewish people: The Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah. They are interrelated because the giving of the Torah was the purpose of the exodus from Egypt: "
משרשי המצוה. על צד הפשט, לפי שכל עקרן של ישראל אינו אלא התורה... והיא העקר והסבה שנגאלו ויצאו ממצרים, כדי שיקבלו התורה בסיני ויקימוה (ספר החינוך מצוה ש''ו)
"It is from the roots of the commandment from the angle of the simple understanding [that it is] since the entire essence of Israel is only the
Torah… And it is the essence and the reason that they were redeemed and left from Egypt - in order that they receive the Torah at Sinai and fulfill it". (Sefer HaChinuch 306). The exodus from slavery to physical freedom to national independence is connected to the giving of the Torah in which the spiritual identity of the Jewish people was consolidated, and its unique cultural character, which made them free from a spiritual perspective as well.
Counting the Omer has a message for generations that the people of Israel's political and spiritual cultural freedom are two sides of the same coin needing each other. There is no spiritual freedom without physical freedom. Being physically enslaved means also, being enslaved to its spiritual concepts. Political freedom is also not complete without a spiritual self-image. For in Israel the motivation to build the political framework stems from its unique ideals and spiritual values. The political framework seeks to achieve its form and manner of conduct.
This is also the essence of the connection between Independence Day and Jerusalem Day. Independence Day expresses the establishment of the state and the creation of a sovereign political framework. Jerusalem Day expresses the return to a complete Jerusalem and the spiritual values of the Holy that it represents, values that stem from the Jewish tradition that was rooted in the Jewish religion.
In the last election campaign, the issue of 'separation of religion and state' was strongly discussed. As with similar issues, the manner in which the question is posed dictates the positions that will be expressed during the discussion. The title 'separation of Church and State' attests to its connection to a discussion that took place some two hundred years ago (attributed to the English philosopher John Locke) as an uprising against the control of the Christian church in the country and its laws.
The model of the Jewish state is fundamentally different. The Western state is essentially a state like any other, established to serve as a framework that will serve its citizens and provide for their social, economic, cultural and security needs. The laws of such a state are supposed to allow this and to be based on the experience of conduct and practice, and to be determined by elected officials and representatives. The Church imposed itself on the state as a governing body that would dictate its laws.
In contrast, a 'Jewish state' is a unique model. It was established because the Jewish people wanted to establish for themselves a sovereign political framework whose framework and laws would reflect the spiritual and cultural values of the Jewish people originating in the Jewish religion. Therefore, even if we wonder what these values are, they cannot be separated from the state, because then the Jewish state will lose its unique character. On the contrary, the connection between them should be strengthened so that the State of Israel will be a moral and incorruptible model state in the spirit of Judaism.