303. Yoshon: The prohibition against eating bread of the new grain before the Omer

We may not use the grain of the new crop until the end of the sixteenth day of the month of Nisan, when the Omer is brought. This grain is called chadash (“new”). Instead, we eat grain from the previous harvest, which we call yoshon (“old”). Three things are separately prohibited by this verse: bread, roasted grain and fresh grain. Each of these constitutes an independent mitzvah.

The reason for this mitzvah is that grains form our primary means of sustenance. (The “Bread, Rice, Cereal and Pasta Group” formed the foundation of the old USDA “food pyramid.”) We bring an offering of our grain to thank God for it before enjoying it ourselves. (This is sort of like the way in which we say a blessing to thank God before enjoying food.)

The laws of chadash and yoshon apply to the five species of grain – wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt. The Omer consisted of barley, which ripened earlier than the others, but bringing the Omer frees all the types of grain to be eaten.

This mitzvah applies to both men and women in all times and places. In Temple times, the new grain could be eaten after noon on 16 Nisan. Today, the new crop is forbidden the entire day, and a day longer outside of Israel, where a second day of Yom Tov is observed. This prohibition is discussed in the last mishna in tractate Orlah; in the Talmud in tractates Kiddushin (39a) and Menachos (67b-72b, but refer specifically to 68a-b and 70b). It is codified in the Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim 489. This mitzvah is #189 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and #101 of the 194 negative mitzvos that can be observed today in the Chofetz Chaim’s Sefer HaMitzvos HaKatzar.

When it comes to practical application of the law, there are opinions that it does not apply outside of Israel nowadays. Mishnah Brurah (489:45) cites such opinions and notes that the practice of most is not to observe this law outside of Israel today. Nevertheless, there are many who do so voluntarily, as well as authorities who do require it. One should consult his own rabbi when it comes to matters of practical halacha.