by Jonathan Udren
The Mitzvah of Counting
 The
first evening after the Passover seder, after we've eaten matzah and maror,
and recounted the story of our exodus, the Torah presents us with the
following mitzvah:
"You
should count for yourselves from the day after Passover, from the day
that you will bring the barley offering (omer in Hebrew), count seven
complete weeks, until after the seventh week, count fifty days" (Lev.
23:15).
From this
passage we actually learn two separate mitzvot: the first is the priestly
obligation to bring a special barley offering in the Temple each evening
beginning from the sixteenth of the month of Nisan for fifty consecutive
days, until the holiday of Shavuot.
The second
is a seemingly bizarre mitzvah, called Sefirat HaOmer, or the Counting
of the Barley Offering. Every Jew is told to count each day that the barley
offering is consumed on the altar in the Temple. Even though we have no
Temple offer sacrifices today, we still perform this count at the end
of the evening prayer service, along with a special blessing made in conjunction
with the counting, till Shavuot fifty days later.
In order
to explain this strange command, the Zohar, the fundamental text of Jewish
mysticism, speaks about Sefirat HaOmer in several places. One particularly
interesting comment that the Zohar makes is as follows:
"The
Days of Counting (the Omer) reflect an aspect of the counting of the seven
clean days before a woman and her husband can be intimate; this occurs
before the holiday of Shauvot, since it is likened to a marriage."
As we will
see, this cryptic statement in the Zohar contains two fundamental understandings
of the mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer.
Longing
for the Torah
Rav Daniel
Frish, author of the noted commentary on the Zohar: Matok Mi'dvash,
quotes an interesting midrash in his book on Sefirat HaOmer called
U'Sefartem Lechem:
"When
Moses told the Nation of Israel that they were going to serve G-d on Mount
Sinai, the Nation responded, 'Moses our Teacher, when is this going to
happen?' He answered them, 'Fifty days from now.' Afterwards, each person
counted the days to himself (until the time of serving G-d at Mount Sinai).
Therefore, the Sages set as a custom that each Jew should count the fifty
days for himself."
The midrash
illustrates the great longing that the Nation felt after being told of
the opportunity to serve G-d. There was a deep anticipation, almost an
obsession, with Mount Sinai, so much so that every day as the moment neared
their anticipation grew stronger and stronger. This is one facet that
the above Zohar illuminates: the lovesickness the nation felt as it approached
the giving of the Torah could only be compared to a bride counting the
days until she is united with her groom. In many other midrashic sources,
the metaphor of a wedding is used, in which the Jewish people are compared
to the bride, G-d as the groom, and Mount Sinai as the wedding canopy.
The seven
clean days that the Zohar speaks about are a reference to the laws of
family purity. According to Jewish Law, when a married woman begins to
menstruate, she must separate physically from her husband. After she completes
her menstrual cycle, she then counts "seven clean days," meaning
seven days without seeing blood. Only then can she immerse herself in
the ritual bath, and afterward be intimate with her husband.
Though the
laws of family purity require a deeper explanation, one simple understanding
is that they assist in maintaining a healthy sexual relationship between
the couple, even after many years of marriage. On the night when the woman
immerses in the ritual bath, she is said to be dear to her husband like
a new bride. The short separation allows for a deep emotional longing
to build between the couple, and their physical reunion allows them to
recreate their first moment of intimacy. The Zohar is purposefully using
vivid imagery to illustrate the depth of the emotional and spiritual longing
Israel had for G-d leading up to their encounter at Mount Sinai.
Counting
Towards Character Refinement
There is
another lens through which we can view the above Zohar based on an article
written by the great modern Chassidic master Rabbi Shalom Noach Berzavsky,
known as the Slonimer Rebbe, author of Netivot Shalom.
He brings
up an obvious difficulty with our Zohar: how can it compare the seven
clean days with the seven weeks of counting? If a parallel truly existed,
the Torah would have instructed that we count seven days, not seven weeks!
The Slonimer
Rebbe begins by explaining that the seven days of repentance between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur are in relation to the seven middot, otherwise
known as the seven lower sefirot in the language of the Kaballah.
These are seven general attributes or building blocks through which we
understand G-d's interaction with our world. For example, the first trait
is called chesed, usually translated as loving kindness, and the
second is called gevurah, or judgment.
Each of
the seven days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as an auspicious
time for internal work and character refinement, mirror one of these seven
characteristics. Each day during that week is a concentrated period of
time appropriate for deep personal cleansing and growth.
However,
during the forty-nine days of counting of the omer, we have seven times
seven. The seven traits are manifest not in seven days, but over seven
weeks. Instead of one concentrated day for each middah, each one
is spread out over a week, allowing one to focus on a single trait in
a much deeper fashion.
The Slonimer
Rebbe, according to the Zohar, is pointing out the spiritual power contained
during this period. Even more than the seven days between Yom Kippur and
Rosh Hashanah, the forty-nine days of Sefirat HaOmer allow for
internal work in comprehensive fashion found no other time during the
year. We each have the chance to look deep into our character and fine
tune ourselves in preparation for the wedding at Mount Sinai on Shavuot,
when we receiving the Torah anew.
This seemingly
odd mitzvah of counting offers us a chance to recognize the beauty and
uniqueness of our relationship with G-d, and how we are provided with
incredible opportunities for personal growth. If we view the Torah as
a powerful tool for self-refinement, and for cultivating our relationship
with G-d, then we too can feel that yearning for Sinai like a bride for
her groom under the wedding canopy.
~~~~~~
[First published
on our sister site, KabbalahOnline.org]
Yonatan Udren, originally from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, has lived in Israel
since 2001. He is a freelance/creative writer, currently living in Efrat.
Any comments or questions can be directed to his e-mail: j.udren@gmail.com.
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