In this section we move on to Mishnah 4 (chapter 10, mishnah 4), where we learn how the Omer offering itself was prepared from the barley that was harvested in the previous mishnah.
The qualities of the barley from which the Omer is made:
The verse lists several qualities that this barley must have:
"Aviv" - grain that is ripe and fresh.
"Kalui ba'esh" - roasted over fire.
"Geres" - coarsely ground.
"Karmel" - the Gemara offers two explanations: the first, "rach u'mal" - that the barley kernels are still soft and tender; and the second, "kar malei" - like a plump cushion, meaning that the kernel is full and rounded. Rashi cites the first explanation, and Onkelos the second.
The dispute over the meaning of "kalui ba'esh":
How was the roasting actually carried out? This is the subject of a dispute among the Tannaim:
Rabbi Meir (the first opinion in the mishnah): the kernels are roasted over an open flame itself, with no vessel separating them from the fire, the way one roasts food over an open fire. Since it is impossible to hold the kernels themselves, they remain in their stalks, and one holds the stalk together with the ear over the fire.
The Sages (and this is the halachah): "kalui esh" means roasting inside a vessel called an "abuv," a sort of copper tube or pan with holes in its base. Since the kernels are placed into the vessel, they must first be removed from the ears.
Since the two opinions differ over the picture of the roasting itself, they also differ over the order of the stages that follow it.
The wording of the mishnah: "Ketzaruhu u'netanuhu b'kupos, hevi'uhu la'azarah, hayu mehavhavin oso ba'ur k'dei l'kayem bo mitzvas kali" - they harvested the barley, the three harvesters placed it in their three baskets, and they brought it immediately to the Temple courtyard. According to Rabbi Meir, who holds that the fire must act on the kernels directly with no vessel intervening, they take the ears and roast them over the fire, in order to fulfill the requirement of "kali" in them.
And the Sages say: "B'kanim u'v'kelichos chovtin oso, k'dei shelo yismaech" - first the ears must be beaten in order to extract the kernels from them. This beating cannot be done forcefully with a stick, in the usual manner of threshing, since the kernels are still "karmel" - soft and fresh, and if they are struck hard they will be crushed, and it will then be difficult to separate the flour from the bran. Therefore they use soft, flexible materials: reeds, and kelichos - cabbage stalks - which are not hard like a stick, and in this way the kernels come out without being crushed and pulverized.
"Netanuhu la'abuv, v'abuv hayah menukav, k'dei sheyehei ha'ur sholet b'chulo" - the barley kernels were placed into the roasting vessel made of copper, which had holes in its base, so that the fire would penetrate and roast all the kernels inside it thoroughly, from within.
"Shatchuhu ba'azarah, v'ruach menashevet bo" - after the roasting, the barley is spread out on the floor of the Temple courtyard, and the wind blows over it. A parable for this: fresh bread that has just come out of the oven still has moisture inside it and steam rising from it, and if it is immediately sealed in a plastic bag, it will sweat and become damp and unfit; therefore one places it in an open paper bag, so that air can get in. So too here, the roasted barley is moist and steam rises from it, and if it is not aired out it will remain damp. Therefore they spread it out so that the steam can escape and it will dry properly.
"Netanuhu l'rechayim shel grosos" - the grains were placed in the mill used for grinding beans. One who grinds grain such as wheat uses strong millstones that reduce it to a fine powder, but here they did not do so; they ground it coarsely.
After the grinding, the flour is sifted through thirteen sieves, the holes of each one finer than the one before it, until the last is so tiny that what passes through it is like dust. What remains in the thirteenth sieve is the soles - the fine flour used for the Omer; the rest is like whole flour with the bran mixed into it, and it is not used for the Omer at all.
The status of the flour that is not used for the Omer:
The Omer offering is a communal offering. The treasurer goes out to the field, to the farmer, and tells him that he wishes to buy the eiphah of barley, and he pays money for it, and through this the grain enters into monetary sanctity. But after the sifting there is leftover flour that is not used, and the monetary sanctity still rests upon it. Therefore the Mishnah teaches: "Podin oso" - the flour is redeemed with a coin. A person buys it and gives a coin in exchange, the sanctity moves from the flour onto the coin, and the flour becomes ordinary produce, permitted to anyone. In this it differs from the Omer itself, which is holy of holies and is ultimately eaten only by kohanim, and only in the Azarah.
"V'chayav b'challah" - one who buys this flour and makes it into dough must separate challah from it. The obligation of challah begins from the moment the dough is made, when the flour and water are combined, and at that point he separates a portion of the dough and gives it to a kohen. And even though the flour was consecrated property for a period of time, the obligation begins only at the moment of kneading the dough, which is after the redemption, and therefore it is obligated in challah.
"U'patur min hamaasros" - the obligation of tithes begins at the completion of the work, which is the "smoothing of the pile" - leveling the heap of kernels after the harvesting is finished, and still before the grinding. Here that point of obligation has already passed, for the kernels were already ground and sifted. And since consecrated property is not obligated in Terumah and tithes, and at the moment of the completion of the work the flour was consecrated, it is exempt from Terumah and tithes forever, even after it has been redeemed.
Rabbi Akiva disagrees on this point: when the treasurer originally bought the grain, he did not have in mind the portion that would not be usable, and therefore that portion was never consecrated at all. It emerges that the flour left over after the grinding and sifting remains in its obligation, and when a private person buys it - "mechayev b'challah u'v'maasros" - it is obligated in challah and in tithes. The halachah does not follow Rabbi Akiva.
The order of preparing the minchah:
Once the soles fit for the offering has been separated out, one takes an isaron - a tenth of an eiphah, a measure of 43.2 eggs, the fixed quantity for every minchah. From here on it follows the same recipe as every minchah: an isaron of soles and a log of olive oil, mixed together in a service vessel. The oil is put in in three stages: first nesinah - oil at the bottom of the service vessel; then the barley flour is placed on top of it (and everything placed in a service vessel acquires sanctity of the body); after that belilah - an additional pouring of oil and mixing everything together; and finally yetzikah - the remainder of the oil is poured on from above. And on top of everything the levonah is placed.
After that the minchah is waved - the mitzvah of tenufah in six directions, like the lulav, as is spelled out in the verse regarding the minchah of the Omer. After that hagashah is performed, as with every minchah: one takes the vessel with the minchah inside it, before the kemitzah, and brings it to the southwest corner of the base of the Mizbeach. Then he takes the kometz, and the kometz goes up in the fire together with the levonah, and the remainder of the minchah is eaten by the kohanim.
And in the language of the Mishnah:
"Ba lo la'isaron" - he takes an isaron of the barley flour.
"V'nasan shamnah u'levonasah" - he places its oil and its levonah.
"Yatzak u'valal" - the pouring is the third placing of oil, and the mixing is the second placing.
"Henif v'higish" - he waves it in six directions as the verse requires, and brings it to the southwest corner of the Mizbeach.
"V'kamatz v'hiktir" - he takes from it the measure of a kometz and burns it on the Mizbeach together with the levonah.
"V'hash'ar ne'echal la'kohanim" - the remainder left in the service vessel, the mixture of flour and oil that was not burned, is eaten by the kohanim.
This minchah has the status of kodesh kodashim, the highest level of sanctity. The kohanim eat it and may prepare it however they wish, but it may be eaten only during that day and the following night, only by male kohanim, and only within the Azarah.