פרשת אמר וענייני ספירת העומר
This week’s Parsha discusses the cycle of holidays which the Jews celebrate every year. We know that amongst other things, these holidays are highly instrumental in helping us inculcate a fundamental belief and a trust in the Creator of the world. However, smack in the middle of this series of instructions, is the commandment to count the days between the second day of Pesach, when the Omer offering was brought, all the way through the holiday of Shavuos, which is a total of 49 days. Each day of this period between Pesach and Shavuos, we have a scriptural obligation to speak out loud what number we are up to in the count culminating in the 50th day which is Shavuos. Let us try to understand the apparent connection between this Mitzvah to count, and the annual festivals.
The Ramban says something quite surprising to solve this dilemma. He explains that indeed the holiday of Pesach and the holiday of Shavuos are actually one long holiday, and the counting in between can be compared to the intermediate days of Chol Hamoed to bridge the gap of this one extended holiday. This Ramban is an interesting foundation to appreciate that there is a strong connection between Pesach and Succos, but he doesn’t really flush out the full import of this relationship. In order to appreciate what this means to us on a practical level, let us look toward the Sefer Hachinuch. The Sefer Hachinuch on this commandment (306) explains that when the Jews left Egypt, their entire focus was on their eventual receiving of the Torah at Sinai like a slave yearns for freedom. They instinctively knew that this was their purpose on this earth, and in fact, the purpose for the entire creation. So the counting expressed their eagerness to reach the climax of creation and their anticipation to arrive at this monumental event. We too are commanded to count toward Shavuos in order to emulate this feeling of yearning for the Torah that we are to receive in seven weeks time.
However the Sefer Hachinuch asks an interesting question. Based on this explanation, we should be counting down and not up. When a person is eagerly anticipating a long awaited event, his impatience would dictate that each day gone by is another hurtle passed, hence he would mark it off appropriately as another obstacle overcome. Counting up in this instance would not be proper! Perhaps we could simultaneously answer this difficulty, and bring out another integral point about these days with the words of R’ Aharon Kotler. It is well known that these days are meant to be a time in which we fix all of our character traits in preparation for receiving the Torah. R’ Aharon theorizes that the 49 days of the Sefira correspond with the 48 ways mentioned in the Mishnah in the sixth chapter of Avos for acquiring the Torah, and the 49th day is the time in which we must combine all these traits which we have worked on in order to transform ourselves into evolved human beings who are capable of receiving the Torah. Each and every day we are meant to focus on a new feature mentioned in the Mishnah, each of which is essential in the ability to absorb and apply the Torah to our lives. Based on this understanding, it is certainly clear why we would count up and not down. The days of the Sefira are like a ladder, during which we ascend a rung each day and each successful day passed represents an accomplishment of no small measure. Since our goal is to ultimately reach the top, it is undoubtedly appropriate to count up toward this lofty goal.
There is a Midrash Rabbah on this week’s parsha which strongly supports all that we have said. The Midrash comments on the verse, “And you shall count seven full weeks” by saying that just as the counting has to be perfect, without missing even one single day, similarly a Jew must perfect his service of Hashem during this time such that there is absolutely nothing missing from his service and he doesn’t waist one precious day of this special period. This Midrash is teaching us a valuable lesson in our growth as Jewish people. Our spiritual work needs to be consistent. In order to truly develop as servants of Hashem, it is not sufficient to spend a few hours studying, and then take off a few hours, or study one day and miss the next. Serious growth can only take place if a person has unswerving dedication to the cause he has committed himself too, and if there are frequent gaps in that dedication, he will certainly not achieve his goal. The Vilna Gaon used to compare this to a pot in which one is trying to boil some water. If that pot is getting constantly removed from the fire, and sitting on the counter for hours at a time, its going to take a while before that pot will boil, whereas if one would just leave it on the fire for ten consecutive minutes, it would reach a ferocious boil with relative ease. The Midrash is teaching us that this principle is even more pertinent now, during the counting of the Omer than it is during the rest of the year if we hope to reach our goal successfully.
Perhaps we could conclude with the words of R’ Moshe Shwabb, the famous Mashgiach from Manchester. R’ Moshe would explain that there is another aspect of completeness which we would do well to understand. Just as the verse regarding the commandment to count the Omer uses this word “completeness”, the same exact word is used by Hashem to describe the commandment of circumcision to Avraham Avinu. This parallel is no coincidence. Rabbi Shwabb explains that although Avraham had already reached perfection in his mastery over his physical passions, Hashem commanded him to circumcise himself to demonstrate that internal perfection is not enough. A person must perfect himself externally as well. For example, we find that a person on Yom Kippur resolves in his heart to never sin again, yet shortly afterward, finds himself hard pressed to maintain the lofty resolutions he had made in action. This is a sign that although his heart is in the right place, his external actions don’t match his lofty ideals. The Mashgiach goes on to say that the opposite is even more common. We find many people who seem to make all the right moves, live in the right neighborhoods, and say all the right things, yet remain deficient on a deeper philosophical level. Their hearts just aren’t there. When Hashem commanded us to count seven perfect weeks, He was alluding to this principle that neither one of these states is acceptable. We as Jews are required to reach a complete level of perfection such that our inside service matches the outside and we serve Hashem with every aspect of our being.
May we all merit during this very special period to become Jews fitting to receive the Torah in every way!