Sanhedrin 12A

בשני רעבון.

during years of famine. When grain is scarce, intercalating the year would exacerbate the food shortage by delaying the omer offering, which is brought in Nisan, thereby prolonging the period during which the new crop is forbidden.

תניא, רבי אומר: ״ואיש בא מבעל שלישה ויבא לאיש האלהים לחם בכורים עשרים לחם שערים וגו׳״.

It is taught in a baraita: R' Yehuda HaNasi says that this principle can be demonstrated based on an incident related in the Bible. The verse states with regard to the prophet Elisha: “And there came a man from Ba’al Shalisha, and he brought to the man of God bread of the first fruits, 20 loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said: Give to the people, that they may eat” (II Kings 4:42).

ואין לך קלה בכל ארץ ישראל לבשל פירותיה יותר מבעל שלישה, ואף על פי כן לא בכרה אלא מין אחד. שמא תאמר: חטים? תלמוד לומר: ״שעורים״. שמא תאמר: לפני העומר? תלמוד לומר: ״תן לעם ויאכלו״. אחר העומר היה.

The incident is analyzed: You do not have in all of Eretz Yisrael an environment in which fruit ripens more swiftly than in Ba’al Shalisha, and even so, only one of the 7 species had ripened at that time, as the verse testifies that he brought him “bread of the first fruits.” Lest you say the verse speaks of wheat, which ripens close to the time of the festival of Shavuot, the verse states “barley.” Lest you say that the incident took place before the omer offering was sacrificed, the verse states: “Give to the people, that they may eat.” As they were permitted to eat, it must be that the incident was after the omer offering was brought.

אמור מעתה: ראויה היתה אותה שנה שתתעבר, ומפני מה לא עיברה אלישע? ששנת בצורת היתה, והיו הכל רצין לבית הגרנות.

Based on this, say that even in the place in which fruit ripened the fastest in all of Eretz Yisrael, after the omer had been brought, only the barley had ripened. Evidently, the year was fit to be intercalated, because the spring produce was not sufficiently mature in time. And for what reason did the prophet Elisha not intercalate it? Because it was a year of scarcity, as described in the Bible (see II Kings 4:38), and everyone was running to the granary. Intercalating the year would have made it even more difficult to obtain produce.