Can I Count on You?

Can I count on you? Countdown to take off 10, 9, 8… Let’s count the seconds remaining before the game goes into overtime: 30, 29, 28… We use the word “count” a lot in our day-to-day activities, but the counting of the “Omer” in our tradition is truly unique. We are commanded to count UP: Leviticus 23:15,16: “And from that day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering … you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete. You must count until the day after the seventh week – fifty days.”

And so, beginning on the second night of Passover, and continuing for 49 days, which is the same as 7 weeks, we count each night, as commanded, beginning with the blessing that affirms that God has commanded us to count the Omer! Now the question, why? And we not only count the days, but we also emphasize the importance of the passage of time not only by counting the number of days but the equivalent passage of time in weeks. i.e. 7 days which is one week of counting the Omer: 8 days which is 1 week and 1 day of counting the Omer, and so on.

From the agricultural perspective, the counting is linked to bringing the sheaf of barley to the temple, perhaps in thanks for a fruitful harvest, or as an offering to the Kohanim, as part of a hope, prayer that the next crop (of wheat) will be equally abundant. This is an important life lesson for us as well. We must be thankful each and every day for the food we have, and we must pray that that abundance will continue, and we need to be sensitive and deeply aware of those that do not have an abundance of food, perhaps only a very minimal amount of food, And they “ count” on us for help.

There is also a deeply spiritual and historical component to the counting. Our escape from Egypt gave us physical freedom, but only by ascending, counting up, as do we for 49 days, do we arrive at Sinai to understand spiritual freedom. With the mitzvot, the commandments, we find true freedom, we find direction, we accept and affirm our covenant with God. Each day of the counting we symbolically again travel to Sinai, elevating ourselves so that on the 50 day (Shavuot – weeks) we can be there, at the foot of the mountain as God gives us Torah.

The counting of the Omer really can make us appreciate and value time, and the importance of living, as best we can, each and every moment. The counting reminds us that each day we can “elevate” ourselves, grow, become better than the day before. Each day, each moment, we are alive is a gift that perhaps we sometimes take for granted. And yes, there are times of pain, tragedy, illness, loss, but we have to have hope for the next day, that life can improve, that God’s commandment is for us to live. And as we count the Omer, there is a destination waiting for us, Mount Sinai. On the 50th day we stop counting, because we will have arrived.

Hope to see you all at the foot of Sinai (or at least at Solel) on the 6th Sivan – Sunday, June 1 in the evening or Monday, June 2 at 10:00am, ready again to count on one another to be ready to receive Torah together

Filed under: Educator's Message

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