MIDEI CHODESH RABBI SHMUEL GOLDIN B'CHADSHO BY Faculty, OU Israel
An Omer Mystery
apparent silence on the matter; classical and contemporary scholars offer a wide variety of approaches to the obligation of Sefirat Ha’Omer. Each of these approaches lends a unique, significant aura to this critical calendar period.
Everyone loves a mystery. I would therefore like to suggest one for consideration during your hours of bidud (or semi-bidud, as the case may be). Rooted at a critical historical juncture of our nation’s history, this mystery remains particularly relevant for us today. First, some information…
essential
background
We find ourselves in the middle of the days of Sefirat Ha’Omer, the calendar period that stretches from the second day of Pesach until the festival of Shavuot. The Torah identifies this period as a time of Sefira, counting; featuring a specific mitzva to verbally count each day. No rationale, however, is openly given in the text as to why this count must be performed. Confronted with the Torah’s
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TORAH TIDBITS / TAZRIA METZORA 5780
Many scholars perceive the mitzva of Sefirat Ha’Omer as an act of philosophical linkage between Pesach and Shavuot; the holidays marking the two essential components in the birth of the Jewish Nation. Through the act of counting, we yearly proclaim that the Sinaitic Revelation, coinciding with Shavuot, grants essential meaning and purpose to the physical freedom achieved on Pesach. Through the eyes of these authorities, the Omer period becomes a time of anticipation, as each year we reexperience the Israelites’ historic march towards their fateful encounter with God at Sinai. Other authorities choose to view the days between Pesach and Shavuot
