Making our Weeks and Days Shine
Emor
וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם
“And you shall count… from the day of you bringing the Omer… seven weeks, they must be complete… Until the day after the seventh week, fifty day shall you count.”
The Omer offering and the Minchah of the Sotah, were the only two meal-offerings that came from barley. All other Menachos were made from wheat. Wheat is generally considered the food of man, whereas barley was primarily for animals. The Mishna explains that because the Sotah acted in an animalistic way, her offering is made of animal fodder.
Chassidus explains that the Omer came from barley, because it too is connected to animalism. The weeks of Sefiras Haomer are a time of self-improvement and rectifying our animalistic selves; our negative and self-centred emotions and drives.
The words וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם “you shall count for yourselves”, can also mean “to make yourselves shine” (the word ספיר means brilliance). The Alter Rebbe taught that we do this through refining the seven emotional drives of our animalistic selves, so that they become seven “Shabbosos” - pure and holy like the day of Shabbos.
We count a total of seven weeks, being 49 days. Each week corresponds to one of the seven Middos. The week is further divided into days. These are the more specific details and subsets of each Middah and how they are experienced and manifest.
For example, the feeling of love is not one homogenous experience. Love can be expressed in a way of open, strong love (Chessed Shebechessed), but it can also be expressed as a feeling of sternness or anger, for example when we discipline our children because of our love for them, or when we dislike that which stands in the way of obtaining our desire.
There is a well-known dispute between the Rishonim over the status of the Mitzvah of Sefiras Haomer after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, when we can no longer bring the Korban Omer.
The Rambam is of the view that counting the Omer is independent from the bringing of the Korban Omer and remains a Biblical Mitzvah in all times and places. The Rosh, Tosfos and others, understand that the Mitzvah of counting the Omer is dependent on the Korban Omer. When the Omer could no longer be offered, the Biblical Mitzvah of Sefiras Haomer ceased. The counting that we do was instituted by the Rabbis as a Zecher Lemikdash.
Rabbeinu Yerucham (14th Century France/Spain) takes a hybrid approach. From the Pesukim quoted above, we derive 2 obligations; to count the weeks “you shall count… seven weeks” and to count the days “fifty days shall you count”. In the Pesukim, only the Mitzvah of counting the weeks is connected to the offering of the Korban Omer. The Mitzvah of counting the days is recorded in a separate verse. Based on this, he asserts that whereas as our counting of the weeks of Sefira is only Rabbinic, our counting of the days remains a Biblical obligation.
When viewed through the Chassidic explanation of the Mitzvah of Sefira, the Rebbe distils an incredible lesson from Rabbeinu Yerucham’s division of the elements of the Mitzvah.
Counting the weeks represents a high-level, overarching and total refinement of each of the Middos. This is no longer a Biblical imperative. Since the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, the average soul experienced a descent, so that we are no longer capable of such a degree of self-mastery. Only the few Tzaddikim can be in complete control of their emotions.
The Avodah expected from the rest of us is to be in control of our actions and behaviours; in thought, speech and deed. These are driven by the specific manifestations of our emotions, not the high-level emotion which is still removed from application. So whilst we cannot completely master our emotional make-up, we have to work on controlling the specific manifestations and nuanced modes in which our emotions are expressed.
Therefore, the Avodah of counting and “shining” the days remains a Biblical imperative and expectation from each of us. Through our Avodah, may we merit the restoration of the Beis Hamikdash and the Korban Omer, when the entire Mitzvah of Sefira will be observed Biblically once more במהרה בימינו אמן סלה
“And you shall count… from the day of you bringing the Omer… seven weeks, they must be complete… Until the day after the seventh week, fifty day shall you count.”
The Omer offering and the Minchah of the Sotah, were the only two meal-offerings that came from barley. All other Menachos were made from wheat. Wheat is generally considered the food of man, whereas barley was primarily for animals. The Mishna explains that because the Sotah acted in an animalistic way, her offering is made of animal fodder.
Chassidus explains that the Omer came from barley, because it too is connected to animalism. The weeks of Sefiras Haomer are a time of self-improvement and rectifying our animalistic selves; our negative and self-centred emotions and drives.
The words וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם “you shall count for yourselves”, can also mean “to make yourselves shine” (the word ספיר means brilliance). The Alter Rebbe taught that we do this through refining the seven emotional drives of our animalistic selves, so that they become seven “Shabbosos” - pure and holy like the day of Shabbos.
We count a total of seven weeks, being 49 days. Each week corresponds to one of the seven Middos. The week is further divided into days. These are the more specific details and subsets of each Middah and how they are experienced and manifest.
For example, the feeling of love is not one homogenous experience. Love can be expressed in a way of open, strong love (Chessed Shebechessed), but it can also be expressed as a feeling of sternness or anger, for example when we discipline our children because of our love for them, or when we dislike that which stands in the way of obtaining our desire.
There is a well-known dispute between the Rishonim over the status of the Mitzvah of Sefiras Haomer after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, when we can no longer bring the Korban Omer.
The Rambam is of the view that counting the Omer is independent from the bringing of the Korban Omer and remains a Biblical Mitzvah in all times and places. The Rosh, Tosfos and others, understand that the Mitzvah of counting the Omer is dependent on the Korban Omer. When the Omer could no longer be offered, the Biblical Mitzvah of Sefiras Haomer ceased. The counting that we do was instituted by the Rabbis as a Zecher Lemikdash.
Rabbeinu Yerucham (14th Century France/Spain) takes a hybrid approach. From the Pesukim quoted above, we derive 2 obligations; to count the weeks “you shall count… seven weeks” and to count the days “fifty days shall you count”. In the Pesukim, only the Mitzvah of counting the weeks is connected to the offering of the Korban Omer. The Mitzvah of counting the days is recorded in a separate verse. Based on this, he asserts that whereas as our counting of the weeks of Sefira is only Rabbinic, our counting of the days remains a Biblical obligation.
When viewed through the Chassidic explanation of the Mitzvah of Sefira, the Rebbe distils an incredible lesson from Rabbeinu Yerucham’s division of the elements of the Mitzvah.
Counting the weeks represents a high-level, overarching and total refinement of each of the Middos. This is no longer a Biblical imperative. Since the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, the average soul experienced a descent, so that we are no longer capable of such a degree of self-mastery. Only the few Tzaddikim can be in complete control of their emotions.
The Avodah expected from the rest of us is to be in control of our actions and behaviours; in thought, speech and deed. These are driven by the specific manifestations of our emotions, not the high-level emotion which is still removed from application. So whilst we cannot completely master our emotional make-up, we have to work on controlling the specific manifestations and nuanced modes in which our emotions are expressed.
Therefore, the Avodah of counting and “shining” the days remains a Biblical imperative and expectation from each of us. Through our Avodah, may we merit the restoration of the Beis Hamikdash and the Korban Omer, when the entire Mitzvah of Sefira will be observed Biblically once more במהרה בימינו אמן סלה