D'VAR TORAH
Torah Reading

Sh'mini: Leviticus 9:1-11:47
Read Sh'mini here.

 
Last week, I counted RSVPs (43), tables (5) and haggadot needed (20) for our Congregational Seder; and this week, we’re counting down the days until our grandson’s 2^nd birthday (7).
 
Each year, for forty-nine days, from the second night of Passover until Erev Shavuot, we Jews count. What are we counting?  We count the days of the Omer. Whereas we typically count down to an upcoming event, in the case of the Omer, we count up, with great anticipation, to the day when we will receive the Torah yet again. 

                                           

Why do you think we count these days? 
 
According to our tradition, there are several reasons:

1. God told us to. In Leviticus 23:15 we read, “You shall count from the eve of the second day of Pesach, when an omer [barley sheaf] of grain is to be brought as an offering, seven complete weeks.”

 

2. It connects Passover to Shavuot: Passover is a holiday of great celebration. By preserving the counting of the Omer, we are reminded that while freedom is certainly joyful and worth celebrating, our Passover is not truly complete until we commemorate the giving of the Torah at Sinai on Shavuot. Freedom without responsibility is incomplete and unrealistic. By counting, we remind ourselves that the process is not yet finished.
    
3. The counting demonstrates our excitement for the receiving of the Torah. When we are excited about something, we count the days to that event. It is also true that when we behave a particular way, we cultivate the emotions and the thoughts that go with that behavior. i.e. dressing a certain way for school or work affects behavior…   When we count the Omer, we cultivate excitement about Torah in our lives.
    
4. It fosters self-improvement: In preparation to receive the Torah, we work to become better Jews. The Kabbalists point out that the Omer is counted for seven weeks of seven days, and they match each week with the seven sefirot through which God interacts with the world. Each of the seven days within those weeks are also matched with the sefirot, and those various permutations of Godliness provide an opportunity for study and self-improvement.  I will admit, I don’t yet really understand the Kabbalistic approach. Fortunately for me, another tradition during this season is to read and study Pirkei Avot, also known as the Ethics of our Ancestors, and which consists mostly of advice on proper behavior and attitude.
    

Two more modern interpretations:

1. Counting the Omer creates mindfulness:  It’s so easy these days to get distracted. Forty-nine days is a long time to do anything, especially something we’re not in the habit of doing year-round. Counting the Omer helps us to be mindful of Jewish time.

 

2. We Jews like to count people. We count people needed to make a minyan, the number of people attending services and programs, the number of children in Kesher. In the Torah, there are several censuses taken, each with a different purpose. What we can learn from this counting of people is that each person counts. When we count these days from leaving slavery to being reborn as a people, a nation, we are reminded that each one of us has a unique and essential role in the history of the Jewish people.

 
Receiving the Torah isn't something that can just be done at the drop of a hat, it takes preparation and work. The period of the Omer gives us that time to reflect and consider, to pay attention to each and every day, and to literally "count up" until the Torah comes into our lives.  So, like our ancestors, each year we make our way from Pesach to Shavuot, from Egypt to Sinai, reenacting the journey from slavery to freedom, from involuntary servitude to Pharaoh to our chosen service to God.
 
We are taught to number our days.  I always thought this was a strange idea.  I have come to understand, however, that if we are cognizant of the limited number of days that we each have on earth, we can be more aware of what we do with them.  In other words, make every day count.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Lisa Goldstein

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