2004
Inner Dimensions of Counting the Omer
This week we read Parshat Emor (Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23). This portion discusses the sanctity of the Cohanim (priests) as well as the various Jewish Holidays. This weekend also marks the 33rd day of the Omer counting, celebrated as Lag BaOmer, the Yartzeit of the famed scholar Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Leviticus 23:15
You shall count for yourselves – from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving – seven weeks, they shall be complete.
(Lev. 23:15)
Your Torah Navigator
1) What relevance does this have today when we no longer bring the Omer offering? Most of the laws regarding the Omer offering are not applicable when there is no Temple.
2) What is the connection between Passover and the Omer counting?
3) How does counting the Omer represent a spiritual exercise, rather than a monotonous counting of days?
4) What is the meaning for each individual counting the Omer as opposed to a collective count by the community?
A Word
To really understand the meaning behind Sefirat HaOmer we need to go back to the beginning of the counting, Passover. Before Passover it is customary for us to search for chameitz in our homes and belongings. What does chameitz represent and why are we searching for it?
In honor of Lag BaOmer, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (author of the Zohar, the classic work of Jewish Mysticism) I would like to offer a kabalistic interpretation.
Each holiday represents an internal change that can take place within the individual. On Pessach we celebrate our freedom from slavery. What exactly is this slavery? It is very difficult to imagine or relate to what our ancestors went through thousands of years ago. Admittedly, we could propose that with such portrayals of the Exodus in 'The Ten Commandments' or 'The Prince of Egypt' one can catch a glimpse of the situation. Unfortunately it seems to have little relevance to most people's every day lives today.
The mystics describe each holiday as a great opportunity for internal change within every Jew. Passover is a time for self examination and reflection on issues of enslavement today. Chameitz represents those parts of the self that we would rather be without, that in a sense enslave us. In today's society we face many kinds of slavery - including addiction to drugs, alcohol, sexuality and materialism to name a few.
The 16th century Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (known as the Ari), explains the search for chameitz as a search within the self for negative character traits and habits. The Ari explains that the catalyst for discovery is looking though our material possessions for signs and hints of what is within. After all, if we wanted to learn about a person, a step into their house or college dorm (if you can get past the large mounds of clothes) reveals much about the individual. We tend to surround ourselves with things we love and identify with. Judaism challenges us to question "Are these things part of the real me or are they just external attachments?" - in essence chameitz. So it is through our search of our physical possessions and external surroundings that we can catch a glimpse of the inner self. We must ask ourselves, "What are we enslaved to?" Perhaps we have an unhealthy relationship to certain things or people that we would be better off without.
And this brings us to counting the Omer. Once we have discovered those challenging points in our inner lives which we would like to work on, how do we commence the spiritual rehabilitation? Like everything in life, true growth takes place over time, with check points and plans for how to achieve our goals. When the Jewish people came out of Egypt they went from zero to 60 on the spiritual ladder but ended up crashing down because they could not sustain this unnatural rise in their status.
When we strive to become better people it is important to work on ourselves one step at a time. And this is what the Omer counting represents, a gradual development that achieves true growth which does not dissipate shortly thereafter.
Each day of Sefirah corresponds to a particular attribute that we examine and work on within the self. The overall goal is to prepare for the revelation of the Torah on Shavuoth. And thus the inner meaning of Sefirah is not just counting the days to an eagerly anticipated event but, in addition, an inner spiritual build-up to becoming the best person we can be within an organized process of achievement and spiritual development. May we merit to achieve tremendous accomplishments in changing ourselves for the better.
Prepared by Rabbi Ely Allen, Director of Campus Youth Services at the UJA Federation of Bergen County and North Hudson
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Emor at MyJewishLearning.com.