Comentario sobre Sucá 3:12

במקדש שבעה – as we expound (Leviticus 23:40): “[and you shall rejoice] before the LORD your God seen days” but not outside of Jerusalem for seven days.

Introduction Leviticus 23:40 reads, “On the first day you shall take...and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.” The beginning of the verse states “on the first day” and the end of the verse says, “seven days.” From here the rabbis derived that the mitzvah of taking the lulav is for a different amount of time in different places. They read the second half of the verse as applying to the Temple, “before the Lord your God.” Hence, the lulav should be taken up for seven days in the Temple. Outside of the Temple, or according to other commentaries, outside of Jerusalem, the lulav need be taken for only one day.

במדינה – in Jerusalem, and even though it is like that which is outside of Jesrusalem in this matter.

In earlier times the lulav was taken for seven days in the Temple, and in the provinces for one day only. When the Temple still stood the lulav was taken in the Temple (or in Jerusalem) for seven days and outside of the Temple for only one day, as explained in the introduction.

ושיה יום הנף – of the Omer, that is on the sixteenth day of Nisan.

When the temple was destroyed, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai decreed that the lulav should be taken in the provinces for seven days in memory of the Temple, However, when the Temple was destroyed, there was a problem. If people only observed the commandment for one day, they would soon forget that originally the commandment was observed for seven days, at least in some places. Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the leading rabbinic figures after the destruction of the Temple, decreed therefore that the lulav should be taken up for seven days in all places, in memory of the Temple.

[He also decreed] that on the whole of the day of waving it be forbidden [to eat the new produce]. Having related one of the decrees that Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai made after the destruction of the Temple, the mishnah now relates another, similar decree. We need to note a little bit of background to understand this. On the second day of Pesah, when the Temple still stood, the Omer offering of barley was harvested and brought to the Temple and waved by a priest. After this day, it was permitted to eat from the new grain harvest (see Leviticus 23:9-14). Since people outside of Jerusalem would not know precisely when the Omer had been offered, they would wait at least half of the day before they would eat from the new harvest. When the Temple was destroyed and they could no longer offer the Omer, the rabbis derived from the Torah that the new produce could be eaten as soon as the second day of Pesah began. In other words, without an Omer sacrifice the day itself allowed the new harvest. Again, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai perceived a problem. If people would eat from the new harvest immediately on the 16th of Nissan, when the Temple is rebuilt they would forget that they need to wait until the Omer is offered. Therefore he decreed that the new produce could not be eaten for the entire day. It is interesting to note that the rabbis who lived close to the destruction of the Temple believed that it would speedily be rebuilt. Just as they began working on the rebuilding of the First Temple only 70 years after its destruction, rabbis who lived in the first and early second century probably assumed that their Temple would also be rebuilt in a short time. However, after the Bar Kokhba revolt was crushed, it probably began to dawn on many that the realistic chances of the Temple being speedily rebuilt were not good. The hopes of course never died, but this type of legislative activity making decrees lest the Temple be rebuilt quickly, were more characteristic of the pre Bar Kokhba period.

כולו אסור – and at the time when the Temple existed, when they offered the Omer [sacrifice], they would eat new [grain] on that selfsame day, as it is written (Leviticus 23:14): “until you have brought [the offering of your God].” But, when the Temple had been destroyed, it is permitted from the Torah [to eat new grain] from when the sun rose in the East, as we say: One verse says (ibid.): “Until that very day,” for it implies, when the sun rose in the East, and another verse states, “until you have brought” (ibid.); at the time when there isn’t Omer “until that very day.” But Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai prohibited [new grain] the entire day, because speedily, the Temple should be rebuilt, and people will say that last year, did we not eat from when the sun rose in the east, and now also, we should eat.