In Memory of our beloved David Schwartz, who fell in battle sanctifying God’s name, on 27 Tevet, 5784 (8 January 2024).
“Le’David Barchi Nafshi” is a compilation of essays written on the weekly Torah reading by David Schwartz, of blessed memory. First published on the occasion of his marriage to Meital, David’s unique Torah thoughts that delve into the depths of the Torah are shared now to elevate his memory and sanctify his soul.
The laws of the holidays occupy a large section of the Torah reading of Emor. The reading covers the laws of Shabbat, followed by those pertaining to Pesach and Shavuot, and then Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In the middle of this discussion of Jewish holidays, we also find something else, namely the instructions for the waving of the Omer offering, or the waving of the barley crop in the Temple.
After the barley offering was brought at the Temple on the second day of Pesach, the Torah tells us that we are to count 49 days, seven weeks, until the holiday of Shavuot. This is the period known as Sefirat haOmer; i.e., the counting of the omer. As we find ourselves today in the middle of Sefirat haOmer, I will focus on this very relevant topic from our parsha.
Many have wondered why the Torah instructs us about the Omer offering, right in the middle of readings about the holidays. By simple observation, we could have suggested a better place for these laws of the Omer. These laws could have been instructed in the Torah reading of Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy, chapter 26). There we find the mitzvah of bringing the first grains or fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem, and the statement of praise to God recited then. Had the Torah placed the waving of the Omer in that section of Deuteronomy instead of in our parsha, it would have seemed appropriate as the omer offering is waved in the Temple as the first grain of the barley crop.
But the instructions for the Omer are instead found in Leviticus chapter 23, in parshat Emor. There is much to be said to explain this, and it brings us to the essential meaning of the holidays and their function. The Jerusalem Talmud in Tractate Shabbat explains: “Rabbi Berachia in the name of Rabbi Hiyya the son of Ba, “The Torah was given on the Sabbath and the holiday so that we could occupy ourselves with Torah study” (Jerusaelm Talmud 78a).
On the night of the seder we say, “Therefore we are obligated to acknowledge and praise … God Who performed these miracles for us.”
The Sabbath and the holidays are holy days, which were given to the people for the purpose of engaging in Torah, rejoicing in celebration of the holidays and acknowledging God for all the good that He has bestowed upon them.
Through these days the people of Israel are elevated from temporal needs and the business of work and are strengthened in Torah and with the commandments. Through such a person can fix one's character and purify one’s heart. The early hassidim explained the topic of sefira was hinted at in the verse: “a man and an animal, God will save” (Psalm 36:7). The Omer offering is brought from barley which is animal food, and the two loaves are brought on Shavuot from wheat that is human food. The 49 days of sefira counting that stand in between these two holidays are there to purify us from our animal needs (barley), which consists of a simple focus on satisfying hunger and other material wants, and they are meant to symbolically elevate us (represented by the loaves of wheat on Shavuot).
Our holy sages taught us that the words Sefirat Ha’Omer resemble the language of Sapir (sapphire) and Yahalom (diamond), from the language of purification, to purify our animal soul.
The first Rebbe of Ger, Reb Yitzchak Meir Alter (1799-1866) explains in the Chiddushei Ha’Rim that the forty-nine days of sefira are intended to parallel the forty-eight items through which the Torah is acquired. Each day has its special character. We are left with the question of why there is an extra day in the sefira count. There are different explanations for this.
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter (1809-1883) answers that on this day man is supposed to examine himself even further, and check if he was lacking in his examination of his character. After sefira was completed, the communities in Israel were accustomed to say: “Creator of the World, you commanded us through Moshe your servant to count the Omer so as to purify us and sanctify us in your lofty holiness.”
The Ramban (1194-1270) writes that a Jew needs to awaken himself from worldly matters on every day of the sefira, making a greater effort to grow stronger in Torah and in one’s character before God on a daily basis. Through this effort, a person can reach a high level of readiness for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. In such a way the connection between the omer offering and the sefira is clear. However it still needs to be explained why the mitzvah was specifically written in this parsha.
In the reading of Va’eira (Exodus 6), Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter (1847-1905) asked in his commentary the Sefat Emet why there are so many commandments in daily life that are performed as a reminder of leaving Egypt including Kiddish, Tzitzit, Tefillin, Shabbat and so on. The Sefat Emet explains that the verse, “And you should know that I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt” assures the people that they will know that God took them out of Egypt. “And this is the reason for the exile that a person should know and realize the exile … This I heard from my learned father and teacher, may his memory be blessed, it is so that a man should know that everything was from God.”
The Sefat Emet continues, “And God wanted to establish this in Israel at a time of exile to make it known that all this is so that they would acknowledge this after the redemption and fulfillment of the mitzvot that God took them out of Egypt.” And that which is written that one should remember the exodus from Egypt on Shabbat as that is a day of rest, “this is so that one realizes that it is from God. Therefore every day we say departure from Egypt before Shema to know that without his mercy we would still be in Egypt” (Vaeira, 5639).
We are surrounded with commandments that are a reminder of the exodus from Egypt in order to remind man that in his essence he remains in Egypt. “Had God not been an aid to him, he could not have done it.” The Chiddushei haRim adds, “‘And you shall bring the Omer the first of your harvest,’ because by means of the bread of poverty we feel that there is nothing to us on our own. And therefore we say, “and to purify us and sanctify us in your holiness” because alone we do not attain.” At every moment a person needs to know that it is upon him to leave Egypt. And at every moment a person needs to fight his worldly desires, and especially this labor in the days of sefira and at specific times of the year.
These great days were given to raise a person in the holiness of the Torah and purity and to exalt us from the exigencies of daily life. This is also the purpose of the holidays of the year. This labor brings a man to be fit for receiving the Torah, and likewise the days of sefira are meant for this. In light of this understanding of the purpose of the holidays, it is evident therefore, why the Torah chose to place these laws of counting the omer in our parsha this week, the parsha of the holidays.
May the favor of the Lord, our God, be upon us;
Let the work of our hands prosper,
O prosper the work of our hands!
Psalm 90:17
Translation: Akiva Herzfeld ([email protected])