Editing Omer offering (section)

==Omer offering==
{{quotation|Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.|Leviticus 23:9 [[New American Standard Bible|NASB]]}}

The offering containing an ''[[Omer (unit)|omer]]''-measure of [[barley]], described as ''reishit ketzirchem'' ("the beginning of your harvest").<ref>The word ''reishit'' means "beginning"; the usual word for "first-fruits" (''bikkurim'') is not used in this passage.</ref> [[Josephus]] describes the processing of the offering as follows:
<blockquote>After parching and crushing the little sheaf of ears and purifying the barley for grinding, they bring to the altar an [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/issaron issaron] for God, and, having flung a handful thereof on the altar, they leave the rest for the use of the priests. Thereafter all are permitted, publicly or individually, to begin harvest.<ref>Josephus, Antiquities 3.250–251, in Josephus IV Jewish Antiquities Books I–IV, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1930, pp. 437–439.</ref></blockquote>

The leftover of the ''[[korban]]'' are kept by the ''[[kohen]]'' and was listed as one of the [[twenty-four priestly gifts]].<ref>Michael Katz (Rabbi), Gershon Schwartz, Searching for Meaning in Midrash: Lessons for Everyday Living – Page 162 – 2002 "Twenty-four priestly gifts were presented to the Kohanim—twelve in the Temple and twelve throughout the borders. ...the remnants of the log of oil of the leper, and the remnants of the omer, the two loaves of bread."</ref>

The offering was made on "the morrow after the day of rest". This phrase was variously interpreted (see [[Counting of the Omer]]): According to rabbinic tradition, the omer offering was offered on the second day of [[Passover]], the 16th day of Nisan. According to [[Karaite Judaism]], it was offered on the Sunday occurring within Passover.
 
The omer offering was discontinued following the destruction of the [[Second Temple]].<ref>Kerry M. Olitzky, Marc Lee Raphael, An Encyclopedia of American Synagogue Ritual – Page 112. 2000 "Once the omer offering was discontinued following the destruction of the Temple, the rabbis invited the community to count (lis-por; sefirah) the 49 days."</ref>