Commentary for Menachot 10:2
מִצְוַת הָעֹמֶר לָבֹא מִן הַקָּרוֹב. לֹא בִכֵּר הַקָּרוֹב לִירוּשָׁלַיִם, מְבִיאִים אוֹתוֹ מִכָּל מָקוֹם. מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁבָּא מִגַּגּוֹת צְרִיפִין, וּשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם מִבִּקְעַת עֵין סוֹכֵר:
The [best fulfillment of the] commandment of the <i>omer</i> is [that it] come from a nearby land. If [the areas] close to Jerusalem were not yet ripe they could bring them from any place. It once happened that it came from Gaggot Tzrifin and the two loaves came from the valley of Ein Socher.
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
מצות העומר לבוא מן הקרוב – from a place that is close to Jerusalem because they do forego the occasion for performing a religious commandment, therefore, when they go out from Jerusalem to search for the Omer, that grain that he finds first he takes it.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
The mitzvah of the omer is that it should be brought from [what grows] near by. It was a mitzvah, meaning it was preferable, for the omer to be brought from barley grown close to Jerusalem.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
לא ביכר – it didn’t ripen all of the way.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
If [the crop] near Jerusalem was not yet ripe, it could be brought from any place. However, if this barley was too ripe to be harvested, it could be brought from elsewhere with the land of Israel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
מעשה שבא מגגות צריפין ועין סוכר – greatly distant from Jerusalem, because the ravaging [Roman] troos destroyed all the grain that was surrounding Jerusalem.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
It once happened that the omer was brought from Gagot Zerifin and the two loaves from the plain of En Soker. The mishnah records a time when the barley for the omer had to be brought all the way from Gagot Zerifin, which Albeck identifies as being near Lod (near the Ben-Gurion airport). According to another version of this mishnah, the words are “ganot Zerifin” which means the fields near Zerifin. The grain used for the two loaves once came from as far away as En Soker, which is near Shechem (in the northern part of Samaria, or the West Bank).
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