פירוש על מנחות 10:3

כריכות – they wrap up and tie the tops of the spikes/ears of corn as large as a fist.

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.
This mishnah describes the procedure that preceded the harvesting of the omer.
The end of this mishnah explains why they would make such a spectacle out of what is quite a simple act. The Boethusians were a group of Jews either similar to or identical with the Sadducees. As I stated in my introduction to yesterday’s mishnah, the Sadducees held that the omer was harvested on the Sabbath that followed the first day of the festival, and not on the evening after the first day of the festival.
According to our mishnah, they would make an exaggerated demonstration of reaping the omer in order to let people know that the halakhah was according to the Pharisees and not the Sadducees. These acts were polemical acts against a rival group of Jews. We should note that we don’t know if this was how the omer was actually harvested in Temple times. All we know is that this is how the rabbis envisioned it happening.
The mishnah itself is easily understood and therefore I have not commented below.

מתכנסות לשם – at the conclusion of the Holy Day when they cut it.

כדי נקצר בעסק גדול – with the great sound. That the Sadducees will know that the conclusion of the first Holy Day [of Passover] they reap it, because they did not admit to this, as will be seen further on.

אמר להן – the reaper , to the people of the villages that are standing upon him: Did the sun set? And they respond to him: “Yes.”

מגל זה – meaning to say, shall I reap the grain with this scythe?

קופה זו – shall I put the grain into this basket?

שבת זו – shall I reap on this Sabbath? And they said to him: “Yes.”

שלש פעמים – he asks them about each and every matter.

וכל כך – that he would ask. Why?

מפני הצדוקים והביתוסים שהיו אומרים אין קצירת העומר במוצאי יום טוב – other than on Saturday night (i.e., after the Sabbath day), as it is written (Leviticus 23:15): “[And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering -] the day after the sabbath – you shall count off [seven weeks].” From the first day after the Sabbath of creation is implied, and it is a tradition in our hands that from the day after the sabbath which is the conclusion of the first Holy Day of Passover, whether it occurs on a weekday or whether it occurs on a Sabbath. And similarly, we found in the Book of Joshua (5:11): “On the day after the Passover offering, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the country, unleavened bread and parched grain,” for behold it states in the Torah (Leviticus 23:14): “Until that very day, [until you have brought the offering of your God], you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears,” but from after that it held in suspense the permission of the new grain on the aftermath [of the first day] of Passover, the matter was clear that the aftermath of [the first day of] Passover is what permits the new grain and on it, they reap the Omer whether the first Holy Day of Passover occurs on a weekday or whether it occurs on the Sabbath. And therefore, the reapers raise their voices in order that the Boethusians will hear it and to remove it (i.e., the practice of waiting until the Saturday night after the holiday) from their hearts. And they reap the Omer at night and not during the day, as it is written (Leviticus 23:15): “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,” and it is impossible to be “complete” unless one begins to count from the beginning of the nighttime, for the nighttime is the beginning of the day, and behold it states (Deuteronomy 16:9): “start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain,” so we see that the reaping is at night at the time when they begin to count.